Happy Birthday Charlie Brown......

and Stacy. Yep, it's my birthday(for another 44 min). I always love my birthday. It signifies spring, growth, and the fact that life allowed me another year. I don't mind getting older. In fact a lot of the time I wish I was already in my early 70's. All that experience behind me and no reason why I can't be as crazy as ever. Spoiling the grandkids, making crazy old lady crafts. But I know that in order to have any peace and be the old lady I wish to be, I actually have to have those experiences. Rats! On the up side, I only have 40 or so years left til I hit those golden days in my dreams, almost half way there.
I had a great Birthday! weekend. I love how having my blog this short time has already given my activities more value and made my life fuller. There doesn't seem to be many quilty/crafty bloggers in my area, and I haven't been able to break into the quilting community yet, so when I saw this blog on Thursday I was thrilled. Joanna is a beautiful quilter and loves appliqué as well...but the best part...she only lives 45 min. away. As I read through her blog I saw we had many things in common so I sent her a little note. She wrote back just as excited and asked if I wanted to go to the Machine Quilters Expo with her on Sat. It was in Manchester NH, an hour away as the car drives. This would be my first quilt show and my first real live bloggy meeting. How could I refuse?
I was so excited that I set all my clothes and supplies out Friday night, set 2 alarms and went to bed early. Bright and early the next morning I set off and got there without a hitch; and it's a beautiful drive to boot! We had each read each others entire blog so we knew what was going on in our lives and to me, it felt like I had known her for years. Joanna brought her fantastic little girl(7 going on 30) Sofia. She got restless a few times but we let her go free with the camera and I promised her any fat quarter she wanted if she hung in with us without getting too cranky. They were both such a delight(even though they plum wore me out). And...Joanna had stayed up late making her and I matching little bags, mine for my birthday. I love it. We live close enough that we can get together often to work on quilts and projects and go shopping. Yay.
The show was good too. They had tons of long arm machines and dealers there. Those machines are a trip. I did take a few pictures. There were so many quilts, so I decided to focus on a group of whimsical cat quilts(see, I think I am already becoming an old crazy cat lady). I will show that whole group tomorrow. They are by different artists but all(or most) all had the same green cat fabric. I have seen it before but can't remember where. I am sure many of you will recognize it. There are also a few others thrown in. I loved this 4 seasons one. The appliqué is adorable.

I had a pretty relaxed day. I will celebrate my birthday with my family next weekend when I am home, but I had a few pressies from Doug's family to open that are great! I got an away Wakefield RedSox Jersey! He is my favorite player and now I have something to wear to the games(or game as it usually turns out lol). Doug has a custom made one as well but in the white "home" colors. Thank you Joan and Jim, I love it. I didn't get a pic of it today but I will soon. I also got some fat quarters and quilting notions from Doug's sisters. They just read my blog and figured out what I would like...and they were spot on. Doug got me some wonderful framed Tolkien Trilogy vintage book covers and prints, and also another really cool set of paperbacks to complete a set we have.
As the day wore on with no cake magically appearing I decided I had to have a birthday dessert. So I decided to make the Cherry Delight that Vickie and Lily blogged about here. I even made the crust from scratch and let me tell you, a delight it is. It tastes so light and refreshing, and no cooking necessary. I did feel it needed a little decoration though. It looks like all the animals are floating on top of the snow, around a big cherry pond. I think Doug was a little horrified but he knows I love my little fairy lands of talking animals and cherry ponds.
Since I leave early Wed. morning for AZ I only have 2 full days left, and tons to do. I need to prep all the blocks and stitcheries to do at home, pack all the fabric ect, make sure I have all my medicines filled, make sure Doug has enough to eat while I am gone...and on and on and on. So I better get started. I will try to post once more before I go. I am sure I will check in while I am there too. Have a great week everyone! Love Stacy
p.s. I don't think it is Charlie Browns birthday, it just sounded good : )