Now, that's a striped bass!! Pictures for my dad!

We all grew up on this Island, so it's natural for everyone in the family to have done some fishing in their time. My husband used to surf cast, but does not have memories of catching fish. He decided to go with Rob to the ocean tonight to see if Rob would bring him any luck!!

Well, this is Kenny's happy face! Seven fish in one night!! The two of them had a ball!!

They are cleaning the rods and laughing like men who made a killing on the sea! Rob was the happiest ever....because...

He caught THIS!!! His biggest striped bass ever!! Notice the bumper sticker on his rear window..."Gut Fish?"

It was 39 1/2 inches long!! Boy, are the men around here happy. They said that they each brought luck to the other tonight! I had a quilting class in town that did not end until 8:30 p.m., and I totally expected to see them home and in the house long before I got back. But, no, they were just getting home when I did. I knew it had to be good when I heard their voices and saw their faces! Right now, Rob is cutting the fish up into several future dinners. They will sleep well tonight.

Halloween is coming!!

Kenny made me these wooden Halloween decorations a few years back. I had seen them in Martha Stewart Living and just had to have them. We shine a big light on the front of the witch, cats, bats and crows. This is what they look like from the front.
The coolest part though, is that the shadow of the witch and one of the big cats shines right onto the top of our house! It is huge that it covers the house.

Yes, I do have one of those ghetto blow-up decorations! I just love them! We have at least one for each season. No one else is using them around here anymore, but until they die out, I will keep putting them up.
This is the cat that shows up on the house next to the witch. It is black, of course, but the flash made it look light.

About four years ago, I made this little wall quilt for Halloween. It hangs above the television so we can look at it all night while we watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer (we have all the seasons!!) or something else spooky. My mom tried to sneak this one out of the house before they left to go back to Florida, but I would fight over this one. I offered her my witch wallhanging, but no, this was the one she wanted!! :)

When my parents made the journey to Long Island earlier this month, my dad had a special surprise present for Evelyn!! I will devote the next blog entry to that one. You will love it!!

Mariners Compass quilt for dad's 70th!!

My dad turned 70 this week and my parents came back to New York so we could all celebrate together. About a year ago, I started thinking about making him a Mariners Compass since he is an avid fisherman. I found this Quiltsmart pattern and started making it. This is the first section.

Two sections put together.

Half of the medallion together. My husband LOVED the colors in this quilt.

Here is the center medallion done. It is enormous!! For sure, it will take up the entire center of the bed. I have never done a quilt with just one center image, so it was cool to try it.

I put the center on this light blue (it's just placed on it here, not sewn on yet) and then put darker blue borders around it. The center is appliqued on and then it is ready for quilting. Since there would be so much blank space, I had the quilt quilted by a professional. She did the most amazing work on it. The blank space is a work of art by itself. Once the quilt is home at my parent's house, mom will take pictures of it and do a close-up of the quilting. I was stunned by that alone. Due to the weight of the quilt, the quilter said she would never do another one, so I guess I got lucky!!