Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween everyone!

Here is our family rock band LAST halloween:

We had alot of fun a couple of weekends

before making our tie-dye shirts.

Here we are in all of our finery!

Aren't we cool?

I've been switching back and forth between a

new operating system and an old one that was having problems.

I don't want to delete the old one yet because I don't have

all of the stuff that I want transfered over to the new one.

Like my pictures!

I signed in today using the old system so I could have

access to last year's halloween pictures!

Tonight we'll attend the Boojum Tree Halloween party

and I'll post pictures of our costumes tomorrow.........

Have a great and SAFE halloween!

Halloween is coming!

Today I completed our halloween costumes!

Yeah!

For the past 5 years of so my family have attended a really fun

party at the Boojum Tree which is owned by a really good friend of mine.

Last year we had a group costume......

we were a rock band.

We got together several weeks before halloween and tie-dyed shirts,

then we wore black curly wigs, a headband, sunglasses, hoop earrings

Oh, and we tied rocks to our beltloops so we could be a "rock band".

Unfortunately I don't have access to the pictures at the moment but we

looked really funny! Whoops, I mean "cool"

We are going as a group again this year too.

Pictures to follow in a few days..........

Earlier this week I attended my monthly Bunko meeting.

What a great group of ladies!

I am truly blessed as I have been friends with all of these gals for over 20 years!

Last night Mike and I got some dance lessons.

Our dentist whom we have gone to for ages mentioned that he

was teaching "couples dancing" to some of the people at his church.

So we have been going and doing "okay".

Mike and I have taken dance lessons several times over our 30 year marriage.

The first was when we were newly married and we went to a local country bar

and learned the 2 step. We were pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

A few years later we signed up for a ballroom dance class at the community college.

A little history here........

my husband is from TEXAS............

he is NOT a smooth

ballroom dancer.........

so when the instructor said that she noticed an "oilrigger"

I knew just who she was talking about........

A couple of years ago we did another stint at the

country dance lessons in preparation for

dancing at our children's weddings.

We are doing okay at these ballroom lessons,

but have decided that it is impossible to

make a silk purse out of a sows ear..............

I don't think we will ever be smooth

ballroom dancers........

there is just too much country in our style!

Pumpkin Patch

It's been a LOOOONG time since I posted last and lots of things

have been happening.............

I'll start with our fun evening last weekend when I had 15

or so people over to carve pumpkins............

Here are some of the finished pumpkins in the pumpkin patch:

Our Pumpkin Patch after dark:

Alot of fun was had carving up the pumpkins.

We set up 2 large tables and provided tons of carving tools.

Last year after halloween I bought some battery operated

pumpkin carvers.....those little babies took pumpkin carving

to a whole new level!

While some were carving pumpkins others were in the kitchen

cooking up some pizza!

Grandpa and Grandma were seasoned pizza makers.

I learned a new trick or two from grandpa!

This little guy already looks like a pro and it was his first time making pizza!

Brian, of course, has been tossing pizza in this kitchen for YEARS!

When the kids were growing up one of the most favorite activities

was to have friends over to make pizza.

What fond memories I have of those days!

If you have never tried having a pizza making party I would highly

recommend it. You just can't help but have a good time!

At the Baldi house you just can't let a fall night pass without

having a bonfire! Here are the men of the family getting the

fire started.

What a WICKED evening!

HeartString Quilts: It's time to pay the Piper..........

HeartString Quilts: It's time to pay the Piper..........

It's time to pay the Piper..........

A week ago Monday I boarded a cruise ship bound for the unknown.......

well, not really........ I knew that we were going to

Catalina Island and Ensenada.

We did this same cruise last May, except that it was in the

height of the Swine Flu epdemic and we didn't get to

go ashore in Ensenda...........

this time we did!

We got to do the mandatory life boat drill...........

Our friends Paul and Kathy went on this cruise with us

and we had a blast.

The shows were wonderful, there was a really funny comedian,

and a FANTASTIC hypnotist.

Kathy and I attended BOTH of his shows.

We took a speed boat tour in Catalina

(I got stung by a yellow jacket!)

and in Ensenda we went on a winery tour.

Now if you have ever been on a cruise ship

you know about the tasty

food that is very plentiful!

I spent the week BEFORE the cruise dieting just

so I could eat and

not feel TOOOOO guilty about it.

Lost 6 pounds...........

Well, wouldn't ya know it..........

those 6 pounds found me on the cruise!

So now I am paying the piper and am carefully

watching what I eat again.

It was worth it!

Before the cruise we attended a Coyote's hockey game

with some friends and our kids.

Brian came over earlier in the day with his recused

greyhound, Audrey.

Here she is smiling for the camera.

Doesn't Brian look like a proud daddy?

MIke and I were backup players for the game.

Ya right........

Here we are posing for pictures.

This was the Coyote's 1st home game of the season

and everyone in the place was wearing white in support

of the team. There has been quite alot of controversy

about the possibility of the team not playing in Phoenix anymore,

but being sold and moved to Canada.

There was a ton of fan support for this opening game..........

unfortunately we lost...........Hopefully they can turn that

around and keep the support of this town.

I know that my husband and kids would be sad if the Coyote's left town.

On the quilting front..........

I"ve recently finished up two quilts for Maryanne.

She has been out of town all summer and is really anxious to

see her quilts, so I promised her I would post pictures on my blog

so she could at least see pictures of them since she won't be back in

town for several more weeks.........

So Maryanne......here they are!

Detail shot of the quilting on the back:

This Bullseye quilt was made for her husband Ken.

Detail of quilting on the back:

Camp Reach for the sky Quilts

One of the charities that I support is Camp Reach for the Sky.

I've blogged about it before..........

Rosie's Calico Cupboard in San Diego, CA visits a camp

for kids who have cancer and each one of those children

AND thier siblings get a quilt.

The quilts are pieced and quilted by volunteers

and I happen to be one of those volunteers.

This is one of my most recent quilt tops that I have

quilted. I like to try out different patterns on these quilts.

On this quilt I used designs from "Flower Power"

by Diana Phillips. I really enjoy making flower centers

in blocks!

Close up:

The following quilt is also for Camp Reach for the sky:

On this quilt I used "More Meandering Magic"

by Suzanne Earley. I quilted butterflies in the

outside border, so I chose a meandering butterfly

pattern to do in the center.

I've been asked to quilt butterflies on a quilt before

and I never really had a pattern or something to look

at to do this, so when I found this I figured that this

quilt would be a great place to try it out!

We are off to go and deliver these quilts to San Diego

tomorrow and then we'll be going on a short cruise!

Mike had 5 more vacation days to take and the only

way I can get him NOT to work on his vacation is to take

him out to sea!

I'll let you know how that goes!

Quilt Festival - Fall 2009

Click on the above title to go to Park City Girl's website to

the Fall 2009 Quilt Festival.

There are HUNDREDS of links to see quilts that people

have put on thier blogs!

Love in the Cabin

Quilt designed by Tammy Baldi

Completed approx. Fall 2004.

I chose this quilt for the quilt festival because

it has a really neat story.

The Friday Night quilters had a strip swap

with the assumption that we would ALL make a

quilt from the strips we were given.

The only rules for the quilt were that it was to be

a Log Cabin and it should have a red center.

I believe 8 of us finished our quilts and they hung

together at our guild's quilt show.

It was so neat to see the variety of patterns

and the creativity that evolved from this challenge.

We all used the SAME fabric, but the quilt were all

very different and quite beautiful.

I only with I had digital photos of all of the quilts!

In making my log cabin quilt I used a traditional log

cabin pattern, but I wanted to create a curved rainbow

border. The hearts that grace the centers are made

from teeny tiny scraps placed in gradating colors on a

foundation base and then free motion quilted to hold

them all together. The heart was then cut out and

appliqued onto the quilt.