Happy Birthday to me. ;)

My birthday was last week and I've been celebrating off and on for almost two weeks now.

It started with a much needed family vacation to celebrate both my birthday and Father's Day. We had been planning it for a long time. And sometimes when you do that, the expectation builds up and the plans don't seem to hold up to those expectations. Not the case this time! We went to Natchez Trace and it was so beautiful. I had intended to take lots of pictures, but we were having so much fun that I forgot to most of the time. I do have some though to share.

The most beautiful parts of the area in my opinion were the areas covered in ivy. I've never seen anything quite like it.

We had a beautiful view to wake up to and the kids got to pretend to be little forest rangers, too cute!

They also went on their first hike. They really aren't very in to the outdoors, so I did listen to a few complaints here and there. LOL!

Since then I've had wonderful gifts from family and friends...each on a different day. Even Rita Smith (at our LQS, Quiltsmiths) gave me a birthday discount. But, it's not all about "me", I'm even offering quiltstores two different sales for my patterns.

Classes and My Ostrich

Woohoo! I'm going to be teaching two classes this year.

• "Twisty Cakes" - June 28th, 9:00 - 4:00, Cordova, TN


• "Sassy Sixteen" - October 4th, Great Escape Retreat, Maple Mount, KY

The "Twisty Cakes" class is $20 and that includes the pattern. Email me if you will be in the area and are interested.

The "Sassy Sixteen" class is during the much anticipated PUP's Great Escape 2008 Retreat! Other teachers for the retreat include: Jill Eugenia, Tanja Todd-Kellum, Easie Cecil and Karen Combs. We still have a few spots open, so let me know if you would like to come.

My "Ostrich" is finally coming along. A few months ago I completed the third round, Yin Yang. I used ribbons with knots in the middle to add dimension, texture and balance. Light purple fabric with dark purple ribbons; dark green fabric with light green ribbons; half of the ribbons are vertical and half are horizontal; a much more straight and structured round after the completely reckless round prior to it...all about balance.

The fourth round, Paradise, really gave me a lot of grief. Not so much in regards to actually doing the round, but in deciding what to do. Defining what "Paradise" means to me and then coming up with a design that represents that meaning, that also works with the previous rounds...well, it took forever. Finally, inspiration struck and all was revealed. So, what does Paradise mean to me? The Lord and all the blessings he continuously pours out to me...my cup runneth over! I know the picture is rather wonky, but if you look in the corners you will see goblets and they are overflowing, running over, all over the place. :)

Celebrations and Acknowledgements

There have been a lot of reasons to celebrate the last few months and I'm going to acknowledge most of them in this update.

Let's start with Hailey. My sweet little girl turned 10. She loved the Pretty Horses quilt I made for her birthday. She also loved going for a ride on a friend's horse. She is in the in-between stage where she loves big girl things, but was still extremely thrilled to get her American Girl doll.

Now, on to Gentry. He graduated from Caterpillar Club this Spring and will be moving on to Youth Club in the fall. He had a great "picnic" celebrations. Gentry's BBQ sandwich kept giving him some problems. LOL!

Gentry also had a fantastic time in Mini-Dribblers Basketball. I love the pics where his feet are off the floor!

And I can't forget about my mom, who was married this Spring. Congratulations to my mom, Marie, and her new husband, Jim. Isn't this picture fun? If you like it, be sure to check out Photo Enhancements.