I know :((…I haven’t posted for a LONG time. Where oh where did the month of May go?
There was Senior Prom for grandson, Noah, a quick trip to Minnesota, planting flowers at the cemetery, Mother’s Day, 8th grade dinner dance for Sophia, a retreat in Spring Green, WI, and a tour of Taliesin, graduations, dance recital, gardening, and, of course, finishing!
Senior Prom
Sophia 8th Grade Dance
A visit to the Mall of America, in Bloomington, MN for a few days with my DH. Very relaxing, fun and a sight to behold with 520 shop and 50 restaurants! And then on to Mother’s Day!
Me, Daughter-in-Law Heather, Granddaughter Haley (15) and Heather’s Mom Carol
Oh…and I mustn’t forget grandson, Max (12) and his band finale…he plays alto sax.
A Stitching Retreat at Country Sampler in Spring Green, WI with five other fun friends for three days. Country Sampler is a lovely Quilt/Needlework Shop. It is chock full of primitive patterns both quilting and needlework, bundles of wool, and beautiful civil war style quilts. Also did a tour of Taliesin (you can see photos on Southpaw Stitcher blog).
May was also for graduation. My grandson, Noah (18), graduated from Marian Catholic High School. His sister, my granddaughter, Sophia (14), graduated from 8th grade at Mother Theresa Catholic Academy. And my little granddaughter, Maya (4), graduated from pre-school in Boulder, CO! We are so proud of all of them! It was a marathon weekend.
Nick, Daughter Kathleen, Sophia and Noah
Granddaughter Maya (almost 5)
Son Michael, Maya, DIL Michelle from Colorado
This was also the month for Sophia’s dance recital. She is a talented, graceful, lovely dancer in all forms of dancing with a strong stage presence in everything. She was in 9 different performances with 9 different dances and celebrated her 10th year of dancing. It was an amazing 3-1/2 hour performance!
Sophia in Center
The garden needed a lot of attention. After a walk in the wee-early morning hours, I tried to spend a couple of hours a day working outside. Hard on the old body, especially the knees (even with professional knee pads)!!!
And then there was the joy of FINISHING!
Pat L. stitched this beautiful Merry Christmas.
Tina stitched two Halloween pieces…what fun to have these ready for the Fall to come! I added a little spider and web to this first one and a bright orange ribbon to the second!
Pat L. also stitched two fun quite large pillows. Both are lovely, but I am awed by her bright pink pillow!
Marcia T. stitched this special seasonal Prairie Schooler piece and chose a flat fold finish for easy storage. I hope one day to do one of these for myself. Love it!
The Southpaw Stitcher, my prolific stitching friend, quickly finished this lovely May piece and also chose a flat fold.
And Vivian loves to do primitive pieces and finished another pillow…this one for Halloween! She loves to antique her fabric before she stitches! Nice work!
And last but not least for the finishes that I am able to show this month is a special order from The Tinsmith’s Wife for some tea bag holders.
Whew….this was a long post!
Summer is finally arrived with crazy weather….cold, hot, cold, hot. But I do love the hot days of summer and love to sit with a cup of tea in my garden! Happy summer to all!
Amities, Averyclaire
Averyclaire 
Cheryl
Jun 08, 2016 @ 21:33:41
Such a lovely family. Congratulations to all, and the finishings are perfect!
Anne Leonas
Jun 08, 2016 @ 22:09:36
Wonderful blog, Karen! Great pictures and beautiful finishing as always!
Sent from my iPad
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Brigitte
Jun 09, 2016 @ 04:16:57
You;ve been a busy bee, Karen 🙂 Such a lot of family events. Thanks for sharing all these lovely family pictures. And then the finishing, how wonderful to see all these pieces you made for your clients.
Annie
Jun 09, 2016 @ 05:52:14
What a gorgeous happy family! You’ve recorded some wonderful times to remember. I’m partial to dancers and love the ballerinas!
Your finishing is just so perfect. Don’t know where you found the time to do all of those. I can certainly understand why that business is growing!
Barbara
Jun 09, 2016 @ 11:33:06
You certainly know how to make a beautiful finish to work unfinished.
Family is always important, you have a lovely family and must be very proud of them all. Enjoy your summer, hope you have lots of sunny family days.
averyclaire
Jun 09, 2016 @ 11:35:31
Thanks for your kind words. Family is fun and important to me. Alas no photos of my oldest son in this set. I love the creativity of the finishing work. Thanks again!
Loretta Tulke
Jun 09, 2016 @ 18:43:39
I so enjoy the pictures of your finishing projects but the icing on the cake was pictures of you and the family. Sounds like you are enjoying life to the fullest as we are! Love to you, Loretta
Southpaw Stitcher
Jun 09, 2016 @ 21:58:11
You certainly have a good-looking family. Noah reminds me a lot of Bill. Your friends are cute, too. 😉 Beautiful finishing as always, and I do love the finish you did for my Lizzie-Kate piece for May.
terrygraue
Jun 10, 2016 @ 10:10:40
I enjoyed this blog post! Beautiful pictures and super finishes!
Margaret
Jun 10, 2016 @ 19:27:24
Love your finishing work. Everything looks so great! It’s so cool to see how you get to enjoy the same things with your grandkids that I got to enjoy with my kids. Amazing! You must be so proud! I’ve always wanted to go to the Country Sampler. Lucky you!
Elizabeth Braun
Jun 16, 2016 @ 06:19:36
Thank you for your very kind comments on my blog this morning. =)
Glad to see you’ve been busy with enjoyable things and projects. Well done!
Carol
Jun 21, 2016 @ 07:32:31
What a lovely family you are blessed with, Karen! So talented and happy 🙂 I sure hope I’m lucky enough to become a grandma some day (before I’m too old to enjoy it!). Your finishing work is simply perfect–glad your business has done so well and I’m sure it will only keep growing!
Hope you’re enjoying a lovely summer!
Sheryl
Jun 23, 2016 @ 12:29:13
Lovely family photos, thanks for sharing. Great finishing work as always. Our weather here in N. Spain is the same, hot, chilly, rain, hot, chilly.storm.
Rachel
Jul 02, 2016 @ 21:35:21
Lovely! I love seeing dance pictures, and your stitching is wonderful. Thanks for sharing!:)
Nanouanne
Oct 01, 2016 @ 14:20:07
oh…I could find the new way to post a comment clicking up the left side of the title…Indeed, you have a nice family, and I am so glad to be able to read so joyful news about Michael, Noah and everybody else around you.