Las Vegas and Latest Embroidery

Happy Thursday!

It's hard to believe that the end of October is here already! Seems like October just began and Halloween is in a few days. I have a couple of costumes to choose from for a Halloween kids' party on Sunday, so I just have to decide which one to wear. 💀👻

I was in Las Vegas for a work conference last week and it was...exhausting! (You thought I was going to say fun.) I mean...it was for work. I'm not a gambler, however, I did play one slot machine...just for the heck of it...and after winning $24, I walked away a winner!💲

One thing about Vegas that I discovered is all the walking! Everything seems near enough but then you walk miles to get there. One of the ballrooms in the hotel where the conference was held was a quarter mile of walking each way. Now, that may not seem like much but when you walk it several times a day, the steps really add up. The good news is, I did get all my steps in last week! My tip for going to Las Vegas is to wear comfortable shoes!

Me in Vegas

Amy Pohler was one of the main speakers at the conference and she was really interesting to listen to. I was excited to be able to sit near the front of the audience and got some good photos of her.

Amy Pohler in Vegas

More photos from Vegas

My next trip is in a few short weeks for vacation. As mentioned in a previous post, I'm going to Tennessee for a Lizzy & Erin craft show. I'm just really excited to be taking a vacation for the first time all year! 😃

After I got home from Las Vegas and rested up quite a bit, I finished an embroidery piece I've been working on for several months. I was happy to be done with it and have moved on to another embroidery project for Christmas. And yes, I know, Christmas is looming!

My latest finished embroidery project

The printed fabric for my latest finished embroidery project is from The French Needle (link on the right) and the thread colors are my own. Most of the thread I used is from Sublime Stitching (link on the right). My next embroidery project is also from The French Needle and I'll post it when I'm done with it. It's a small piece, so should go pretty fast.

Happy Quilting, Embroidering, and Traveling!

Writing and Quilting

Hey there!

I just returned from the Dallas Fort Worth Writers Conference (DFWCON) and it was a fantastic conference! Not only do I learn so much about writing at these events, but I also get to meet great people. And since I write fiction in between working, being a Nana, quilting, and embroidering, I'm always excited to go. 

I actually met an author...cannot remember her name (I'm terrible at names)... at the conference who also quilts and we sat and talked about quilting and shared photos of our quilts for about an hour. I was so excited and so was she! She'd only been quilting for about a year, so she picked my brain about quilt tips. I'm always happy to help out fellow quilters! Needless to say, even at a writing conference, the highlight for me was chatting about quilting. LOL!

Next week I'm headed to Las Vegas (first time ever!) on a business trip and then definitely looking forward to actual vacation time in November. I probably won't take any embroidery to Las Vegas but will take it to Tennessee. I honestly need to look for "airplane" scissors so I can sit and embroider on the plane. Any suggestions? I've been meaning to search for some but have been way too busy.

The weather in Texas is finally starting to cool some (well, today it's 91 out) and I was able to spend some time outside with my youngest daughter yesterday. We made some bird feeders out of toilet paper rolls, peanut butter, string, and birdseed and hung them up in the trees. 

This was a fun (sticky) crafty project that you could do with your kids or grandkids. It's also a great way to repurpose toilet paper rolls rather than throwing them away! 

Here's a short video on how to do it.

We love the birds!

Homemade bird feeders

As you can see from the photos, we already have several bird (and/or squirrel) feeders in the yard. The squirrels love to raid the bird feeders! 

Viva Las Vegas and Happy Quilting, Sewing, and Crafting!