After dinner it was time for gingerbread house assembly. After hearing about the gingerbread village of the past, Richard thought he would give it a try. Being a chef and all, his house was just perfect. Brandi and Richard have a Dr. Suess theme going.
A hardy breakfast at Camilla Grill. Eggs, sausage waffles, grits and to finish off the meal, apple pie a la mode. Homemade apple pie, warmed on the grill. Doesn't everybody have pie for breakfast?
Yes, I loaded the pictures backwards again. We finished up the day with ice cream at the Creamery. Best ice crean in NOLA according to Richard, he knows these things.
Brusco modeling his new Christmas collar with polar bears.
The bird nesting continues.
Brandi is filling in the empty spots on the lower branches.
Richard was trying to find the light plugs.
We were lunching at Cafe Masperos. Fried seafood galore. A nice relaxing day for all.
Up to Baton Rouge to spend Thanksgiving with the family. Cousin Shela recieved new china for the occasion. Feed on the Word china, each plate, bowl etc. has a different scripture verse on it.
A new table and chairs to go with the china.
Aunt Kathryn made the stuffing.
Richard sliced on of the turkeys.
Travis messaged Louis' feet. Louis was a bit tired today but was able to join us for lunch. Radiation treatments are done and maybe more chemo on the way.
Everybody pitched in to help with lunch. Richard and Brandi made mac and cheese. Family stories told after dinner were a hoot. Everything from Aunt Thelma being run over by her sister Agnes to Aunt Beck and her way of giving directions. A good laugh for all. You never know who will or will not be here for another holiday so it was nice to have the day together with family.
Wednesday we hit the WWII museum with Rick and Connie.
Mid afternoon we were worn out and ready to rest before dinner. Dinner we were off to Dick and Jenny's for great food.
Brusco was happy to see us.
Brandi and Richard's quilt was ready on Monday morning. Lucy helped me get the binding on by machine and I stitched the rest by hand and finished at 11:57 Monday night so I could carry it down to NOLA. We packed it in the carry-on because we all know what idiots work at MSY. They were happy with the fleur de lis pattern.
Hey! We're here, safe and sound. Off to Commander's Palace for dinner. Start the vacation out right.
Richard booked us at the Chef's table in the kitchen. What service. Check out the menu below.
Crab, lamb, Paddlefish caviar, chocolate pie, ice cream and the list goes on and on. What fun to sit in the kitchen and watch the whole food prep process, not to mention the service. Each course served personally by four chefs and each dish explained by the chef that prepared it.
Chef Tory was making pies for Thanksgiving. Books are signed and turkeys are stuffed. We turkeys will not need to eat again any time soon. Of course Dick and Jenny's on tap for Wednesday with Richard's mom and dad. We are off to a good start.
Stack and Whack quilt 2. Lucy has lost her marbles and is doing another Stack and Whack for Alison. This quilt features a 6 piece design of coral reef.
As with all Stack and Whack quilts, you stack layers of fabric and pinpoint certain designs before cutting. Lucy needed 32 stacks of the first of three fabrics cut from the coral print. Three and a half hours to cut 32 stacks of triangles. Now only two fabrics to go.
Zelda popped in to help with the cutting process just in case we tried to add a 1/2 inch on to something. After 3 hours you start to loose your mind and rulers just don't read the same late in the day. Not to mention the print on the fabric turned downhill and we couldn't get a full 5 inch strip out of 12 inches of fabric. We even made up little songs about the triangles to Christmas music tunes. Desperate times call for desperate measures. No pun intended!
Pinwheels, stop borders, miter cuts, and finally binding.
All done! Finishing the binding by hand with the blind stitch is time consuming but looks really nice. I think I got the hang of it.
The quilt is made with Laurel Burch Fanciful Kitties fabric. Check out the newest Laurel Burch Jungle prints at pmquilter.com or bighornfabrics.com. Her fabric is bright and fun. Will I ever make another Stack and Whack? Hummm...... maybe, but no time soon. I will say that making the Stack and Whack as a first quilt was a challenge, but now I think I can handle most any pattern out there.
Sewing with Cindy, Has a nice ring to it. Maybe a tv deal in the making. Breakfast with the gang
Wednesday morning at Cracker Barrel. Cindy is showing us how to blind stitch our quilt bindings. Hard work! Zelda and Vicki are checking out Cindy's latest projects.
Christmas stockings for her Grandbaby and friend.
Santa and reindeer wall handing for the holiday season. Nothing is to complicated for Cindy.
A nice breakfast for all and we learned something new about quilting. Can't go wrong when you get together with friends.
