GREATFUL!

Scott's birthday cards. Scott got lots of attention, cards, gifts and facebook messages. He loves attention! 

Does he look 64? What a great guy!

Tumble quilt is basted, ready for quilting. Baby shower is soon! (great niece or nephew) Happy event, fun project for a cold, snowy weekend.

More snow this weekend - are we grateful for that?

As much as people complain about our long, cold and snowy winter, I guarantee - spring is on the way!

Mug Rug Photo Shoot!

Santa's elves were busy right up until Christmas Eve, making a mug rug for everyone who opens gifts here on Christmas morning.  It was a fun project for me during the busyness of the holiday season, and it was fun watching everyone pull them out of their Christmas stockings.

I got the idea from a blogger friend Kelly, over at pinkadot quilts, who had a great tutorial on making cute but simple mug rugs - you can see it here.

I decided to make each mug rug somehow personal and different.  This is for Emily, in pretty blue scraps (all mug rugs were made from my scrap bin, including the backings...did I even need to say that?).
I wish I had posed all of them for a group shot on Christmas morning, didn't think of it. Pretty soon everyone had taken theirs home, or to their offices, so I had to beg for some posed photos.

Genevieve's arty glamour shot, I love it! They have a lovely view of a forest preserve from their apartment. Her mug rug was vibrant reds, with some dogs (they have two pups) and some hearts.

This one belongs to Matt, Emily's boyfriend.  I had previously made him some coasters of these earthy batik prints, and he loved them, so more batiks showed up on his mug rug.

Here is Nick's - Nick is Genevieve's boyfriend, and I chose red, white, and blue for him because (a) he was born on the 4th of July, and because (b) he loves Captain America! Love this photo too.

Scott's mug rug - you'd think it would be easy for me to get a photo of Scott's, but he had taken it to his office, where he uses it every day.  He brought it home so I could snap some photos.  I chose brown prints for Scott - coffee colors, his favorite color and beverage!

Danny, Hannah's boyfriend, love the Chicago White Sox, so I chose black prints (you always wear black to a Sox game!), and did some fancy stitching in red, to mimic that done on a baseball. This one was fun.

Hannah's cute mug rug - I tried to include soft, Hannah-like colors in hers.  Also, the strip of a heart print in the center was also used in a Valentine quilt I made for her.
There you have it, 7 mug rugs completed in about 2-3 days, right before Christmas.  I guess I usually work best under pressure!

More snow! and a sewing play date!

Lucky us, we are getting more snow today - they say, 6-10 inches by the time it's done. This morning, we woke up to about 2 inches, so Scott wanted to clear it off right away, especially the sidewalks.  That Minnesota blood (our homeland) runs deep, must keep those walks clear! That's Minnesota pride!

Doggies watching and waiting until Dad comes back inside.  Or, maybe they are supervising?

I must work this morning (piano teaching), but then I get to play this afternoon! Bought some new fabric this week, for a tumbler pattern baby quilt (my nephew and his wife are due in May, so exciting!).  Not sure if the stripe and other prints on the right will play nicely with the others I just purchased...may search my stash for others as well.  Gotta love a scrap quilt!  But - I don't have a tumbler ruler, so I drafted a pattern with paper, ruler, and pencil, and cut a template from template plastic! I really had to search for that, bet I haven't touched it in over a decade. (note, the quilt photos above are from another blog, quiltstudio22, her work is lovely!)

I also might work on this project - this is just a teaser, don't want to show the whole thing as I am almost done! This project has been a long-time brewing...started summer of 2012, I think.  I can see the finish line, though, so stay tuned!
It's a new year, and a new month, and I have challenged myself to blog on a more regular basis.  Good luck to me!

Erica and Dan's Wedding!

We were fortunate to attend 4 weddings this summer! Erica and Dan (above) had a huge, traditional church wedding, followed by a lovely reception with all the bells and whistles.  Erica has a huge family, and I think they were all there!  Dan is the brother of Matt, who is my daughter, Emily's, boyfriend. Dan and Matt have a very small family, and because of that, we were treated like family all day.  We sat in the second row in the church, right behind Dan and Matt's dad and uncles.

Matt was Dan's best man, and did a great job.  Emily looked stunning her her deep teal lacy dress - and I can't believe it but I helped her do her hair! The wedding planner at the church said she got the "best dressed" award for the day. Incidentally, they are both beautiful inside, too. :)

Not a great picture, I know, but this was Matt delivering his Best Man speech.  He spent a lot of time writing it - it was really personal and meaningful.  You can see how lovely the room was, too.  And as "family members", we were right by the head table, too!

Emily and Scott, looking cute!

Matt and me, right after we shared a special dance.
It was a great day!

Beautiful Wedding...on a Budget, and in a few weeks!

It CAN be done! The groom, Stuart, is the son of dear friends, and he is also a former piano student of mine.  Stu met his love, Tatjana, while they were both working on a cruise ship on the Mediterrean Sea.  A long-distance romance continued after the cruise job was over, they got engaged, and were married in just a few weeks' time! Tatjana is from Croatia, so there were immigration issues, and time was a factor. Bottom line is - you CAN throw a perfectly lovely backyard wedding, on a budget, on short notice.  Love their sweet flower girl, throwing rose petals, leading in the bride and groom.

The happy couple, coming down the aisle to get married.  They had white chairs and white tents set up, which was a good thing - it was a slightly cool, drizzly day, but no one seemed to mind.  It was such a happy day!

They exchanged their vows under another white tent, complete with the candle lighting ceremony.  A couple things you could not see:  the wedding was being skyped to her family in Croatia (there's a laptop on a table just to the right in the picture), and there was beautiful, live jazz music being played throughout the day, by a jazz combo just inside the house.  Stu is a professional jazz musician, so we were treated to great music.
A friend/neighbor catered the event with delicious food, the wine was flowing, smiles all around.  Congratulations Stu and Tatjana!

Fall recital, fall color, comfort food

Look at that concentration! I tried something new with my students - a piano trio! The girls played "Agent 003", as in secret agents...get it? Left to right, Katherine, Emery, and Ella.

We thought it would be fun if the girls dressed the part - they looked awesome, and sounded even better! So proud of them, and all of my students!

The colors this past week have been just spectacular, especially the reds.  I grabbed some of our maple leaves on the way to work, to enjoy during the day. 

Scott tried a new recipe the other day for pork tenderloin with apples (find the recipe here). It looked beautiful, and it turned out really juicy and delicious. I would definitely try this recipe again - but next time, we'll have the mustard-y sauce on the side.   

Open House Chicago 2013 part 2

Chicago is a beautiful city! Look at that gorgeous skyline, from Lake Shore Drive! Lake Michigan, our "ocean", is just to the left of the road (past the beach). 

We chose to visit the historic Green Mill Lounge, in the Uptown area.  It is still used as one of the premier jazz performance venues in the city - and it popular with many of the mob figures back in the 1930s. 

Even though they will use this night club, it still looks much the same as it did 80 years ago.  

There are now modern townhouses in the Prairie Avenue neighborhood, but they are built in period style.  It was a beautiful, sunny day - perfect to appreciate the autumn colors.

Next, we were excited to visit the Prairie Avenue district, which is just south of The Loop (downtown Chicago).  Above is the Wheeler Mansion, one of the oldest homes in all of Chicago. It is now a boutique hotel.

You would certainly have sweet dreams in a room like this! The down comforter was so fluffy soft and thick, and every bedroom had a fireplace.  So peaceful and lovely!