Saturday Sewing

Good Morning.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.
The turkey was done to perfection.
Dinner was so good.
Now on to sewing fun.

My Kona project is done!! The wonderful lady I have quilt my quilts has it in hand.
Even my son gave it his seal of approval.

After I work on a big project, I love to work on a few smaller things.
Mug rugs fill the bill.
I love to paper piece, and those cute 4 inch squares can work right into a cute rug.
Actually, I do have a list of things I should be working on.
Today, I will organize the list and get started.

Here is Ron at the computer with his posse!
Princess is in the back, Charlie in the front. They help both of us in all sorts of activities.
Have a super weekend.
Mary

Quilt shops in LasVegas

After a wonderful week on Maui, Ron and I had made arrangements to do a stopover in Vegas for a couple of days.  We arrived late and slept in.  The coming home from the islands takes its toll with the time changes you go through.  This stopover helped a lot.

Ron had found out where the greatest quilt shops were.

So after a great lunch, we were on the road.

 

 

Out first stop was Fabric Boutique.  Come to find out, the shops had just finished a shop hop on Sunday.  This was Monday.  Who knew!  Gerry, was kind enough to give me a map of the shops that were on the hop, and general directions on how to get to them.  All were in strip malls.

This was a huge shop and had a little bit of everything. I did get some LesVegas fabric.  There were lots of models and patterns.  They did long-arm quilting in the back part of the shop.  It was very well lighted. Gerry, the owner was so helpful and even told us about a place to eat when we got to our last shop of the day.

Christmas Goose was the next on the list. It was a tad hard getting into the Christmas spirit, as it was 76 degrees. What a fun shop this one was.

She had several cute and new patterns for Christmas on display right in the front.  Don't you love the "Joy", another twister pattern.

How about this adorable wreath and the cute Christmas stockings?
I picked up a couple of patterns, this being one of them.

Have you ever seen a cell tower made to look like a coconut palm?
We had a great laugh about this.

Quiltique, was the last one for this day.  Another huge shop.  They also sold sewing machines and lots of fabric.  This was a busy shop.

There was a lot of fabric lines here I have never seen, and lots of fabric in general. 
All the shops were fun to visit. Every pattern and fabric line is so inviting, you want to take some of each home.
Looks like I could be doing a lot of sewing when I get home.
Have a great day.


 

Sunday on Maui

Sunday we got to play tour directors to my sister Linda, and her husband Jim.  They had decided to take a cruise through the islands for a week before they were going to fly home.

They met up with us in Honolulu and were there for the ceremony for our Father.

 

 

They cruised into the Kahului harbor where we picked them up for a day of touring.  The cruise lines had a tour they were interested in taking, but it was $240.00 per person.  When we found out what and where it was, we told them we would take them for the cost of lunch.

Our destination was the summit of Haleakala.  The volcano that has been dormant for many years. It takes at least 2 hours to drive to the 9,740 summit.  The road is winding, with steep turns, fog, rain, cattle, buses, and bicyclist, along with heavy traffic.

 

When we reached it, the whole valley of the volcano was covered in clouds.  We were actually above them.  As you can see, it is chilly and windy at that level.

The clouds moved out a bit, and you can see down into part of the crater.

Another shot of into the crater.

The bus crowd moved out and you can see where the clouds rolled back in.

Can you tell we were cold!

This is Linda and Jim.  Silly people wore shorts!  I had told them it would be cold and windy.

As we started down we stopped a couple of time to get shots of the valley.  It is an amazing view.  We could almost make out where we were staying.

Back to a tree line.



At this height, you can see the ocean on both sides of the island, and some of the road below us.

We stopped in Kula for lunch at the Kula Bistro.  What a wonderful lunch we had.  Everything was fresh made and there was plenty of it. Plus, as tour directors, it was free!

Next stop was the  Alii Kula Lavender farm. This statue greeted us upon arrival.

Not a great picture, but lavender is one of my favorite scents.

There all sorts of beautiful flowers, and of course lavender in the gardens. The lavender farm is on the side of the volcano, so there is a lot of steep climbing in the gardens. We are still at least 4,000 feet high.

Our last stop was the Tedeschi Vineyards, Ltd.  Had to take photos of the goats running around on the hill above the winery.

We all had to purchase a bottle of wine.  The one we got has a taste of pineapple.

This is the tasting and retail store.

Linda and I went across the road to the General Store.  Looks like she met a couple of old friends!

We got them back to their ship and were in time to see a beautiful sunset.

Perfect ending to a perfect day.

Aloha

Sunday in Washington, Illinois

This morning after our son got off work, he decided to drive to Washington, Illinois to see if he could be of any help.  Here are 3 of the pictures he took of the devastation that the largest of the 8 confirmed tornado's in Illinois did.

He said it was an amazing day, meeting and helping people.

The swath this tornado laid was big.  He said even though there was so much to do, the people were upbeat.  Helping hands were coming from all around.

He and a friend found a families dog very much alive and still pretty scared.
This area is about 2 and a half hours south of us. He came home tonight, tired, but feeling like he had helped in a small way.  He has a 7:00 am start again in the morning.
Ron and I are very proud of him.  Andrew is one very special son.

Please keep all these people in your thoughts and prayers.
Mary

What a day!

What a day!

The weather is playing havoc in the Chicago area.

The Bears game is delayed and everyone is under cover.

By 9:30 a.m. we were under a tornado watch.

South of us at least one tornado has been reported with damage.

We are prepared, I have packed some supplies and all is located where we can get hold of it. Kitty carriers are available. It is a weird feeling watching the skies. One second there is sun peeking through, the next the dark clouds are rolling in. The weather people are giving us constant updates.

Today was going to be a blog catch-up day. I need to update my site with the latest blog hop I will be participating in, and changing my header, and add new posts.

We did arrive home Thursday night after a great two weeks.  We left Maui last Sunday afternoon, and flew on to Les Vegas until Thursday.  Ron and I had such a great time.   So more to come.  I printed up some of our pictures from Maui, and look forward to sharing them with everyone.

Got to run, it is raining again and there is lightning in the area.

Hope you day is doing much better then the Chicagoland area.

Mary

Maui

Right after we picked up the car on Maui, we had to check out the surfers.  There is a beach just passed the airport.

Stopped for lunch at our favorite taco place!

This is the view we will have for the next week from our condo.  We are on the 7th floor.  East is to the left over the volcano,  Sunsets will be to our right.

As well as the ocean, we have a pool to dip into.

I have to stop posting for a few days.  No more WI-FI.
I will be back to post more pictures. 

 Aloha
 

Honolulu, The Punchbowl,

Andrew and I with Diamond Head in the background.

We are here to place my Dad's ashes with Mom's at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, or Punchbowl as it is commonly referred to.  My Dad was in the Navy and served in the South Pacific during World War II.  Because he served, his ashes could be interred at this cemetery.
He made this box, which his ashes are in. 

There was an Honor Guard present.  They brought forward the flag and his ashes.  Taps were played while the flag was unfolded, then refolded. It was a beautiful ceremony, and one he would be proud of.

Mom's ashes were placed there November 18, 2011.  The birth year and year of his passing will be placed on the marble.  This is what the marble looks like right now.  He will be watched over forever here.

Alicia and Andrew, with my sister Linda and her husband Jim were there too.

The Guardian of all the soldiers in the cemetery.

The flag at the entrance to the cemetery flies at half staff until all funerals are completed on a given day.  There were 7 on this day.  Honor Guards for the Marines and Army were there as well as the Navy for Dad.

The entrance to the cemetery.  It is locked each day.

This time it is Linda and I in front of Diamond Head.

We saw no less then 5 rainbows on that day.  They were so beautiful.  I think it was Mom and Dad celebrating being together again.



What would a day be with out a few Hawaiian quilts.

I hope you don't mind my telling of why we came to Hawaii.  It was quite the day.  Dad would be so pleased with everything.  It was his wish to be placed here.
On Saturday the 2nd we flew on to Maui, where we are spending the rest of our week.
The islands are so beautiful. Actually, Maui is our favorite place to vacation.
More later.
Mary