Airborne and Special Operations Museum/Foundation

God bless our troops.  Simple 4 words?  Perhaps.

You see my whole family has or is serving.  My father in the Navy, my husband Army, my daughter and her husband Air Force, and my nephew is Army.  I've never put on the uniform of our nation, but I too have served.  I have given my most precious commodity - my family to the defense of our nation.

I don't care what your opinion is of the war we are currently participating in, but please remember the men and women who are fighting this war are not to blame.  Please remember them in your thoughts and prayers.

Now on to my story!

This summer I was privileged to attend a reunion of my husband's old Brigade, the 35th Signal Brigade (Airborne).  We celebrated with his friends, their families and other warriors of the Brigade.  The reunion was held at Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, NC.  We visited the Airborne and Special Operations Museum.



The Airborne & Special Operations Museum Front Entry

The larger than life statue is "Iron Mike" - and if you've been to Ft. Bragg (or served there) please do NOT panic!  The original Iron Mike statue is still on post where you last saw him.  This is a faithful rendition that graces the entryway of the museum.  For those of you who have never had the privilege of going to Ft. Bragg, Iron Mike's plaque reads:

If you ever have a chance to go to the museum, it is well worth the time.  Entry is free!  If you can't get to the museum here is a link to their website:  http://www.asomf.org/

While the reunion group was there we dedicated a marker to honor the Brigade.

 It was awesome to see the men and women who have served in this Brigade over the years.  I was humbled and found that my eyes filled with tears more than I'd like to admit. 

Above is the stone set in the walkway.  These are all the places the Brigade has served in combat. 

So tonight, when you get ready for bed, please remember to include the men and women in uniform who serve night and day to keep us safe.

Grandson's Quilt

Currently my husband and I are the proud grandparents of FOUR grandDAUGHTERS.  I've longed for a grandson!  I love my granddaughters very much!  I have loved making pink quilts and attending tea parties and playing Barbie dolls.  However, probably because I had 3 girls myself, I've wondered what it would be like to have a grandson! 

Our oldest daughter is due in late October and she is having a boy!  She and her husband are so excited!  My husband and I are excited!  Unfortunately, she lives about 12 hours (driving) from us and we can't get out to see her before the baby is due.  So I shipped her 3 things I made for the baby.

The first was a quilt:

This quilt was a breeze to make!  I had a coupon for 50% off one item at my LQS (Local Quilt Store) so I obtained the fabric "layer cake" for about $20 dollars.  The border, binding and backing were all in my stash.  I used the MODA line "Ten Little Things" because my daughter loves owls and the fabric had trucks and things on it!   I'll do a separate blog on how to use a layer cake to make this quilt.

Here are some closeups of the fabric.

 I backed it with some soft flannel and it looked like this:

I quilted this with echo quilting - just sewing around each triangle.  I used a low loft cotton poly blend batting.   The back is a piece of baby flannel that I had.  I like to back baby quilts with flannel, I think it makes them softer. I hope she likes this!

My other two handmade gifts were self binding receiving blankets.  Here is what they look like:

These are literally the easiest thing I've ever made!  I mean E-Z!  It takes a 40" square of the print flannel and a 30" square of the solid, about an hour and you're done.

I learned how to make these from Jenny at Missouri Star Quilting's YOUTUBE video lesson - here is a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqwdNqMZ8Ro

I can recommend this pattern to anyone.  It is fast, easy and not expensive at all.  If I were to do this over again, I'd get some extra flannel and make some matching burp cloths!

Anyway these all went in a UPS box and should arrive at her home tonight!  She promised to call me when the box arrives and open them with me on the phone.  I can't wait!

What's around the bend?  I'm working on another quilt with the same pattern using a layer cake, except this time I'm documenting the steps so I can post it for you to use.  Look for a blog sometime in the near future with the instructions. 

Caruso McKitty

This is our baby, Caruso.  Just your average American Kitty.  Caruso came to us six years ago in February when we lived in New Jersey .  A work friend of mine rescued him from the streets of Philadelphia.  Her cats didn't like him so she found him a "Forever Home".  I saw his picture posted at work and sent it to my hubby, who was in uniform at the time and away from home (Army).  He said okay we could give the cat a try.

Now Caruso's original name was given to him by my friend's nine year old daughter.  She called him Prince.  This would not work for him at our house.  I can't picture my husband and I crooning, "Here Prince" so we had to find a new name.  Since he would "sing" every time he came in or left a room, lept up or down, we came up with Caruso.  I figured he sang like Enrico Caruso.  If you remember, this is the same time that the musician Prince renamed himself and referred to himself as "the artist formerly known as Prince".  Yeah we did the same to Caruso, he is still jokingly referred to as "The cat formerly known as Prince".

So Caruso came to live with us.  I think it took me 20 minutes to fall in love with him that first night, Valentines Day 2006.  My husband came home that Friday to a terrified cat.  My hubby wore combat boots and for whatever reason (we think a man in boots must have hurt him when he lived on the streets) Caruso was TERRIFIED.  So late that night, after we had gone to bed, my husband got up not feeling well.  He went to lay down on the couch and watch some TV and be sick without waking me.  Caruso, who still hadn't really warmed up to my hubby, came and laid on him.  Even though he was scared he wanted to be with my husband.  THAT WAS IT!  Caruso was ours - PERIOD!!!

And so began our life with Caruso.  We've not looked back and cannot image a day without him in it.  Caruso has decided that he loves to quilt, knit and clean!  He lives to help me do things.  He is quite the craft kitty.  I'm sure as time goes on I will blog tons about Caruso.  

Here he is helping me with a quilt for Granddaughter #3  We call him the Quilt Police

Inspecting a baby quilt before it was gifted to a good friend.



No matter what we are doing in the house, Caruso is there to supervise and to help us.



Thank you NM Sis

My New Mexico sister has been blogging for a while.  She was my main inspiration for starting my own blog.  She is my second to youngest sister and she lives far away!  But she is one of my best friends.

Thanks NM Sis for your encouragement, comments and most of all your love.

Always,
Cee Cee