~ A Little Summertime Fun ~

Summer fun is having lunch with your dear friends...

being graced with little

homemade gifts

 like this sweet apple cozy made for me by Lori...

 this darling fabric covered tin full of adorable fat eighths

and trims... from Nanette...

 a pinwheel pincushion with homemade pins... from me to them...

and a pile of vintage aprons to share from

 our cute friend... Barbara from Texas...

Summertime is also a perfect time for

ice cream...

and stopping off at your favorite antique store...

where you find treasures like this picnic basket

that reminds you of the one that your grandmother used

on those special picnics you had with her growing up.

I even found a thermos or two that was like the one that my dad

carried to work with him each day.

I totally love the old tins...

and vintage magazines...

not to mention... linen towels with beautiful stitchery...

which ended up going home with me!

How about the newly painted vintage furniture...

  

that just happens to be that perfecr color of blue...

It was hard for me not to take this home with me!!!

  

Then... there is the birdcage that beckons you to

"take me home"...

or... the sweet

  little rocker that tries to tie itself to your heartstrings.

These are the items that made their way into Lori's heart

and then her car. Sweet!

No day would be complete without stopping off

 at one of our favorite quilt shops...

"Material Girls"...

where I spied all of these "Darling" pillows!

Nadine always has the place decorated so cute with projects galore!

Hope you have enjoyed being with me for "A Little Summertime Fun"!

Until next time ~

This is...

Lori... on our way to celebrate her "BIG DAY"!

This is Lori's new purse

 (which I am trying not to covet) and her adorable ring.

This is "Dear Lizzies"... Lori's favorite place.

This is so Lori... Vintage Shabby Chic all the way!

These were some of her favorite things

that she saw while in Dear Lizzies.

These are two silly girlers (our nickname for the gang)

just having some photo fun!

More fun to see on her blog... Bee In My Bonnet.

These are the wonderful cupcakes sold at Dear Lizzies...
Yummmm!

This is Lori holding her boxed sugar cookie

 and thinking... "I can't get enough of this fun store!"

This is my special birthday gift to Lori.

This is what was inside one of the gifts...

"I Love Lucy" glasses... each filled with 3 FQs to match.

This is a vintage butter cube maker of mine 

that Lori had been coveting so...
I just had to give it to her!

 Hmmm... does that mean I will end up with her purse? LOL!

This is a beautiful silver spoon bracelet given to Lori

by our other dearest girler friend... Nanette!

This darling gift is to me... a miniature colander with a miniature bundle of vintage FQs... from that ever so sweet Nanette that joined us for lunch. 

She brings sunshine where ever she goes.

Thanks Nanette! ;p

This just happens to be an apology for not taking a picture of Nanette :( I got too excited about that little gift she gave me and the sad thing is...

she looked so pretty today. Sorry!



One Thing I Love Most About Christmas

One thing I love most about Christmas is getting together with friends and going to lunch at our special place... "Food For Thought" in Draper. Most always when we get together for these special luncheons there is some kind of gift sharing going on.  

With that in mind...

I decided to gather together a little of this and a little of that

to see what I could come up with that they might like
 and...

I ended up creating these...

a "Quilter's Christmas Tree"!

I found by adding a fat quarter in the bucket...

it helped to hold them right in place.

Oh... everyone had such wonderful little surprises

 up their sleeves as well... as you can see!

 Lori gave us each a darling red and white polka dot, tall hot chocolate glass filled with the cutest mini marshmallows, Swiss Miss hot chocolate, Dove chocolates and a candy cane with a lid and all! 

Not only that but...

 to top it off she made a quilted mug wrap for it so we wouldn't burn our fingers while sipping our cocoa. 

TOO CUTE!

Emily was new this time. She came bringing this adorable ninepatch pincushion. It was fun meeting her and learning of her pattern company...

Aunt Em's Quilts.

 I was very delighted to learn that she had a blog...

Em's Scrapbag.

It is always great to have another blogging buddy!

Who does this look like it could be from? If you guessed Nanette... you are right! When she is not busy at Freda's Hive she is thinking of wonderful unique gifts that she can put together and this is one... homemade marshmallows... mmmm... hot chocolate on a stick that you just stir in milk... and... she has that little something that she always adds... 

like the cute post it notes and a pen.

My friend Susann joined us for the first time too. It was fun to have her! She had made the cutest... vintagie

(is that even a word... no... but it sounds cute)

homemade gift tags that I have ever seen. I simply adore them and want like heck to use them... but if I do... I won't have them to look at... LOL! 

Do you know what I mean?

Kim surprised us this time with this darling flying geese bag to hold all of our small quilting goodies. This will sure come in handy when I head to my next retreat... for sure! Now if you look really close you can see that she also made a tiny metal name tag with beads... so that we wouldn't get them mixed up with the others should we all end up at the same retreat. Sweet! 


Well... I better scat! I have a ton to do in the next few days. How about you?



Blessings and Gratitude

There is a price with friendship...

it's called
 ~GRATITUDE~

My quote for you this year...

"Gratitude left unexpressed is like living in a dark world. Light up your life by expressing the gratitude you feel in your heart... especially for others."
Quote by Rae Ann

I often wonder where I would be without family and friends. I am truly grateful for the friends that I have made in this, my first year of blogging and for the love and support that I receive from you all. Looking forward to another great year of inspiration, quilting and sharing.

To all of my friends out there...

a special wish for a

Happy Thanksgiving!

From my heart to yours...

Thanks for being my friend!

Love to all~

Rae Ann