Something for the Mr.!

A new quilt at the White house, made just for the President to go in the Ground Force 1. Do you get it? If you don't, let me explain. The official White house President always travels in Air Force 1 but at this White house we travel in a 5th wheel trailer, hence the GF1! We are just waiting for the license plates to make it official. I started this quilt last fall while traveling in our new trailer. I picked the fabric up in St. George on one of our trips there. I ran out of a couple of the fabrics so I just pushed it aside for awhile and kind of forgot about it. It wasn't until I was looking for something in my sewing room that I ran upon this UFP(unfinished project). To make a long story short I located the fabric pieces I needed online and finished it just in time for mine and Stuart's 30th wedding anniversary gift.

Ramona finished the quilting and I got the binding on. Unfortunately I didn't get it bound before I had to give it to him. I finished that job while I was teaching at a retreat in Fairview.

All finished up and ready for snuggling.

I think he's enjoying it already, what do you think?

Happy napping!

Yummies for your tummy!

Here are a couple of favorite recipes from the White house. I have been making these two yummies for many years. The first recipe, Stuart's favorite. A chocolate chip bundt cake. The second recipe was given to me several years ago while we were on a camping trip. The kids have been enjoying it ever since. I made both of these treats to take down to the Super Spring Quilting Retreat. I thought you might enjoy them too.Once in awhile my cake will stick to the top of the pan when I turn it over, leaving the best part of the cake in the pan. That part makes me really angry but this time it came out perfect, yahoo. How do you like my vintage cake plate and dome? It belonged to Grandma Verl and it's in mint condition. It's just perfect for this cake. Can you even find these in stores anymore?

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

1 small box of instant chocolate pudding

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup veg. oil

4 eggs

1 small bag of chocolate chips(They only make large bags now, just use half of bag. So this tells you how old the recipe is)

1 cup sour cream

Mix cake mix, pudding mix and sugar together.

Add oil and water.

Beat with a wooden spoon one egg at a time.

Add sour cream and chocolate chips.

Bake in greased and floured bundt pan at 350 for 50 - 60 minutes. (I found that the Pam Baking spray works the best) Cool 1 hour before removing.

This recipe is called Candied Chex Mix. You can use all sorts of goodies in it. I used the spring plain chocolate M&M's in this batch.

2 cups Karo Syrup

2 cups sugar

2 cubes butter

Combine ingredients and bring to small boil. Pour over your choice of mix, here are some suggestions, you choose your favorites.

1 box Rice Chexs

1 box of Wheat or Corn Chexs

Coconut

Peanuts

Cashews

M&M's

Candy Corn

Sixlets

This makes a fun Easter treat or any other seasonal treat, just change your M&M choice.

I think I can finally say, happy spring.

Number 30, oh my!

Two weeks ago today(am I that far behind?) Stuart and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. Wow, where did 30 years go? I can still remember that day like it was yesterday. Looking back now, we have raised kids through school years, vacations, dance reviews, HS graduations, weddings, College graduations, and now 5 grandkids later, I can see that time does really fly. I hope the next 30 years are just as eventful.

We took an overnight trip to Salt Lake with Kira and John. We started Saturday night by eating at Pat's BBQ. Great food and atmosphere.

We have been wanting to try Pat's ever since we saw Guy on the T.V. show Diner's, Dash In's and Dive's. He gave this resturant an awesome review, we were not dissappointed. Kira and John enjoying their night away from the kidlets. A well deserved get away for both of them. I remember those day's.

The anniversary couple.

What's this? A surprise from Stuart. What should I do with this guy? He's always so thoughtful and kind. I think I'll keep him! What's inside this small box?

Let's open it and find out.

One happy girl. Just look at that face!

It even made me cry!

After dinner we checked into our rooms at the Marriott. We fancied up a bit and off we went downtown to the George Strait and Reba concert.

We have been to many of George's concerts but we have never had 19th row seats. This picture looks like he's a million miles away but we were right there in front. As always the show was awesome. Great food, good company and great music.

Sunday morning we woke up to this. Wow, what happened to spring?

Snow, snow and more snow. But it was quite beautiful.

Just chillin' waiting for breakfast.

Ahh, breakfast in bed! What a great way to start the day.

Time to head home, just as soon as Stuart clears all the snow off the car. This is crazy!

And when we got home, we saw this. The wind and the snow reaped havoc on one of our trees out front. It's April for heaven's sake. But then again it snowed on our wedding day too.

For lunch later that afternoon Jacob and Angie celebrated with us at Ruby River Steakhouse.

Number 30 only happens once, celebrate in a big way, right? Thanks everyone for the anniversary wishes and helping us celebrate.

Oh, and if you are wondering what was in that little black box, it was this. Isn't it beautiful?

A diamond and ruby ring for someone special, ME(Ruby)!

Need shoes!

Every sewer should have a pair of these in their closet!

For $795.00, they can be yours. Are you going to sew in them or wear them to Quilt Market? Which by the way is in Salt Lake this year. I'll be there, will you?

She said, "Yes to the Dress!"

The day before I left for my trip Kira, Kaitlyn and Myself met Angie and her mother, Becky in Salt Lake to help her pick out the perfect dress. It was fun getting together for a day of shopping and lunch. It's all about you, girl. Please check in here for your clerk. Angie had a really nice lady helping her out with the dresses and vails.

Even baby Teegan got in on the wedding shopping. What's a girl to do? There were so many options, it was hard to decide.

I think that's the one!

Yippy, skippy she said, "Yes to the dress!"

Now you have to wait until July to see what she picked out. Just a hint, it's beautiful!

A Winning Weekend!

We won, we won, we really won! As I was putting my tickets into the sponsor bucket raffle I told Stuart it was going to be our lucky night. And sure enough , it happened! Saturday night we attended the Sportsman and Fish Wildlife banquet and auction. V-Bar Guns and Ammo, as in the past has donated a couple of guns for their raffle. For this, they seat us and give us an envelope with different tickets for all the raffles going on. All of my sponsor tickets went into that bucket because I didn't need a new gun. Stuart did the same.

And the winner is.....................V-Bar Guns and Ammo! OMG, I screamed and just about fell off my chair. We looked at each other in awe. We had just won a four wheeler, we laughed about the preminition I had had earlier. It was meant to be wasn't it? We are still floating on cloud nine and can't believe it. This will be so much fun to use while we are out camping with the kids. They even outfitted us with bags and bags to go with and two shiny new helmets. Were picking her up today. It's going to be a great anniversary week already, I can tell.

Trip Treasures!

Here are a few of my favorite things I brought home from my trip.

First of all a wall hanging, showing the handwork of the Amish people from Sylvia's Quilt shop.

A few things from the Kettle Kitchen Village in Intercourse, PA. I found these cute bracelets for the girls. They are called Viva Beads. Check their website out, they really have some cute stuff. Of course I had to get one for myself too. Jams and salsa for Stuart from the Village Jams and Jellies and chocolate for everyone. My little purchase from Pennsaylvania Fabric Outlet. They had such a great selectionof button and the zippers were cheap! I think the buttons I got would make some cute vintage bracelets. I probably will regret not getting more. Oh well. Here are some things I picked up at the quilt show. From Attic Heirlooms I picked up a cute wool felt pincushion and bracelet kit From The Old Country Store I found chocolate bars for the girl's at work. Look at the cute wrapper. Chocolate wrapped in a quilt, can it get better than that? Yeah, eating it! This boothe had the funnest toys for quilters. The Quilters Toy Shop had any kind of gadget a sewer would want. I found these cute fat quarters, a new scissor leash and the coolest pocket eye glass cleaner. Perfect for the sewing drawer or bag. The Beckoning Cat shop was full of Japanese fabrics. Her diawabo selection was just beautiful. She had charm packs already cut. And look at this piece from Amy Butler. It's from a line called Sunbloom. I understand it was from her first line of fabrics printed in Japan. It's a nice linen, it will make a great bag.

A new ruler and quilt book from a wonderful quilt shop from Hagerstown, MA called Wilson's. This shop reminds me of the Corn Wagon, alot of the same features and fabric that we sell. This ruler has the same concept of the Twister ruler only you can use it on strip piecing and 9 patch blocks. When should I get started?

Are you into the civil war fabrics? OMG this boothe had lots of precuts. Lancaster Traditional was the name of the boothe. His website is http://www.quilts123.com/. If you are wanting precuts of some of your favorites check this site out. I think it will be time worth spent.

And from Quilts Plus I picked up some bag patterns and supplies. I'm hoping to do some of them in bag classes. The prices on her hardware were very reasonable. Connie had several purses made from Diawabo's. I am going to use my charm pack for one of her new designs, the Bogota Bag. Pictured in the front. Won't that be cute?

So there are a few of my favorite things. Of course there were little odds and ends along the way like my chicken pincushion from Lapps Quilting, my wooden quilt pin from Rob Nettleton of the Wood Quilter. He does some pretty amazing things with such tiny pieces of wood. Sorry I don't have pictures, to much stuff to remember. I'll try and get a picture for you. But check out his website to see an array of projects he has. Hope you have enjoyed my show and tell.