Mother's Day and Blogger Woes

Wow I have no idea why my banner looks so strange all of a sudden.  If anyone could enlighten me on this, I would be so grateful! Now read on as I gush about my lovely family. :)

Happy Mother's Day! Darling daughters:  Genevieve, Hannah, and Emily, and happy Mom (me)! It has been MANY years since we were all together on Mother's Day.  Oh happy day!

All gathered around the table - my preference over brunch in a restaurant at $40 each! My daughters can all cook, too!  Scott, Hannah, her fiance Danny (they just secured their wedding venue for next year!), Genevieve's boyfriend, Dave.

Scott and Hannah.  

Danny, Dave, Genevieve, Matt, and Emily.  It's a special Mother's Day for all of us because Matt and Emily just moved back to our area (Illinois) from Texas! 

There was a theme to this year's gifts:  the pool! I have a goal of going to the pool weekly this summer.  Tote bag and cool shades...

...nice big towel, plastic zippered pouch for essentials, shades again...

...coverup (maxi dress), bling-y sandals...

...best gift of all, a lovely dinner at home surrounded by my loved ones.

Now if someone could help me figure out the changes they have made to blogger! I used to know how to use it, really I did!  But now I can't figure out how to make my banner look awesome like everyone else's....plus it takes me forever to make each post, probably why I don't post very often.  Oh well, I know it's not a big deal, but sometimes it's the little things that can be the most frustrating!

I hope that all of you had a lovely Mother's Day! 

Sunset Inspiration

Back in September of 2011, my nephew got married in a "destination wedding" at the Outer Banks, N.C. Although the day started with hints of a few clouds, and perhaps rain, it cleared up and produced the most amazing sunset.  The rainbow colors were something out of a picture postcard.

Miranda's dad created the wedding arch out of some old wood, accented with fish netting and seashells.  We all gathered on the beach for a special ceremony, for a special couple.  

Although this photo is not from the wedding day, it echoes the same purples, oranges, and pinks we saw that night.  This was from their wedding website, and I used it as a "map" to create a wedding quilt keepsake gift for them.  First step, shopping for some gorgeous batiks! (never a bad idea)

Sorry I don't have a better photo of the finished quilt! I asked Nathan to send me a picture of the quilt hanging in their house...I will post it when I receive it.  I simply cut rectangles and pieced in a bricks pattern.  Quilting was done in organic horizontal lines, in various thread colors.

Quilting detail.

I do like the look of parallel lines quilting, but it is quite time consuming! I was so pleased that Nathan and Miranda were happy with the outcome.  Pretty memento to a their beautiful wedding.