Threads of My Life

Beginning of a new year...end of a blog

2010-01-05T08:13:00.000-08:00

I admit, it's been kind of fun blogging..but as 2010 starts up; a whole new year--I've been re-evaluating my priorities. Too much time spent at the computer and not enough time doing the things that really matter. For instance, how can I made a dent in my overwhelming stash of fabric when I am sitting here instead of at my sewing machine? Sigh. So even though I could amuse you (hopefully) with tales of our adventures in So. Africa (gorgeous place, I never expected to love it!) or our 23 hour lay over in Amsterdam (too short, especially when 12 of those hours were spent sleeping and another three were spent trying to get a boarding pass for Tom who REALLY ISN'T the Irish terrorist of the same name..who was executed 8 years ago, so why is his name still on the no fly list?) In spite of that and all the cute baby Aurora photos I could post, or the stories of my cute new Sunbeam class I could tell you.....no...

must quilt.

Must get in 10,000 steps each day.

Besides, I think in blogging, I've only been talking to myself (IS ANYONE OUT THERE?) I can do that just as easily verbally as I quilt and exercise (gak. exercise...)

Have a wonderful 2010, everyone (if there is, indeed, anyone out there reading this) Find me on Facebook and be my friend there, if you want to see photos and hear stories. lol

off to quilt!

Time with Baby

2009-11-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

Aurora is visiting us this week while her parents are off on a cruise to the Bahamas, celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary. I was thinking, what did Tom and I do to celebrate OUR fifth? Probably order out for delivery pizza! lol

Fortunately, Aurora is a happy little person and easy to tend. This morning we vacuumed. I wasn't sure how she'd react to the vacuum cleaner. The cat runs from it. Not Aurora! She laughed, waved her arms excitedly in the air, and chased it! It was such fun, I ended up vacuuming the whole house, just to watch her reaction. Funny funny girl.

She has also been enjoying chasing our cat, Taz, around the house. Taz is more tolerant this time, than when she was here in August. I'm wondering if the difference is that Aurora is walking on two feet now; and now is classified in Taz's feline brain, as a human and a source (eventually) of petting and cat treats. If I were Taz, I would run away from this little critter, but Taz holds her ground, even when a baby finger tries to poke an eye, or a baby hand grabs a fistful of hair. I'm keeping close watch on the two of them, just in case...but perhaps Taz is a bit too tolerant and should, instead, take to napping in higher locations around the house. Although, I guess Taz has found perks to all this. This morning, I found Aurora sharing her Gerber yogurt "melts" with Taz. Who knew cats liked yogurt?

Tom installed a few baby latches on kitchen cupboards, but not nearly enough, so I have chairs and other objects, blocking access to most of the cupboards. Aurora does have access to the Tupperware and yesterday, I showed her what noise could be had by hitting two pan lids together like cymbals! Oooh, she likes that!

Here are some Aurora-photos for all the baby fans out there.

Another Christmas Quilt

2009-11-03T06:25:00.000-08:00

While Tom was off on yet another business trip recently, I decided to try to get rid of some of my Christmas fabric stash. I've had the idea bouncing around in my head for years now, that it would be nice to have a Christmas quilt for each of the beds. HA! Last year I finished one, and now this year: two more! Since we have three beds (two in guest rooms), I've got it covered (lol) but oh dear, I still have more Christmas fabric left.

Taz, our Manx cat, always comes into my quilting room to keep track of what I'm doing. After all, she wouldn't want to miss anything! When I put a quilt on the HQ Sixteen, she hops up on the back of it, winds her way through the machine a few times--back and forth, and then ends up sitting there, showing me her back, like she is ignoring me. Pouting perhaps, because I'm quilting instead of petting her? I'm never sure. Once I start up the machine and start quilting, she retreats to her assigned napping spot in the room. One time when I was cleaning and rearranging my quilting studio, I neglected to factor in the "napping spot," and Taz, who is seldom vocal, let me know in no uncertain terms (meows, in her case), that I needed to fix the problem. Phew! Who runs this house, anyway?

Here is the quilt, finished. It is all triangles.
While Tom was on his last trip, I set my sewing machine up in the livingroom, in front of the big screen tv. I took over the whole house with my mess: the diningroom table became my cutting area, a counter top was the pressing station..and fabric everywhere! It was a nice change. Then I sewed and sewed. I never did try out the quilt for size, on my bed, until I was finished. As a result, it came out a bit narrower than I would have liked--but long enough for a tuck-under with the pillows! Oooh well. It is very warm...and I do have more Christmas fabric; a good start for Christmas quilt #4!

Wheeler and Wilson Treadle

2009-11-02T06:08:00.000-08:00

My husband loves yard sales and Craig's List. However, he doesn't just look for goodies for himself. Nope, nice fellow that he is, he finds surprises for me a well. Check out this latest toy! It cost him all of $15.

It's a Wheeler and Wilson treadle. W&W was the big sewing machine manufacturer before Singer took over. Actually, Singer bought them out in the early 1900's. This machine is a #9. There's a gold seal on it, with it's serial number, the company name, location (Bridgeport, Connecticut) and "patented Mar. 25th, '90--Aug. 2, '92." Of course that's 1890 and 1892. It's in useable shape, but lacking a few parts. I've located new needles, an extra bobbin, but still need the belt for the treadle. The hunt continues! Meanwhile, it's pretty to look at!

My grandmother had a treadle machine. My sister ended up with it; "gutted" it and turned it into a planter. As always, I don't know what she was thinking!

Halloween and Men in Tights

2009-11-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a fun Halloween! I don't know what it was about this year, but BOTH of my "boys" wore tights! And..they look good in 'em!

Jim and Sheena:

Jeff, Frieda and Aurora in their Halloween costumes:

My week of sewing

2009-10-20T08:19:00.001-07:00

Sometimes Tom travels a lot for work. It all has to do with his radar projects and which ones need personal supervision. Currently he's working on setting up and testing radar systems in Alaska. Since I can't go with him, I find myself with a lot of quilting time! This is good, and bad--it gets very quiet at home with just Taz the cat for company.

Here are two projects finished this week. The bear is from a pattern in Eleanor Burn's book "Christmas at Bear's Paw Ranch." I made it out of an old quilt top that was given to me, along with a lot of fabric, when I helped a littl' ol' lady clean out her storage unit. She never finished the quilt and as I attempted to do that, I could see why. It was wonky and misshapen. Quilting didn't improve it, and I realized if I tried trimming off the bad parts, I'd probably end up with nothing left! So..patchwork bears might be just the thing. What do YOU do with cutter quilts?

The quilt is from a kit and the top was finished last year, before Christmas. I dug it out of my UFO pile. The squares with the birds aren't appliqued, but rather printed on the fabric. The rest is pieced.

I have one more project to finish up, a Christmas quilt made of triangles. It just needs borders and since Tom won't be home until tomorrow (weather permitting), I should be able to accomplish that and maybe even get it in the frame for quilting!

In Which We Celebrate Jim's Birthday

2009-10-13T06:52:00.000-07:00

My firstborn had a birthday this month! You can breathe a sigh of relief that I am unable to post the video of us singing to him, but here are some photos.

I found a most annoying candle holder, for a birthday candle. When the base is twisted, it plays the Happy Birthday song! Jim thought it was hideous, of course, but the rest of us were amused. Okay, Jim was amused too, but in a horrified way! heh heh heh

Sunbeam Fun

2009-10-13T06:26:00.001-07:00

Sunday my lesson for the three year old's was about being a good example: Following in Jesus's Footsteps. One of the visuals I had for them involved paper footprints I'd cut out of construction paper. Taped on two of the walls were pictures of Jesus. One was of Zacharius in a tree. I told them the story about Zacharius from the Bible. Zacharius wanted to see Jesus but was too short to see him over the crowd, so he climbed a tree. No one liked Zacharius, but Jesus was nice to him anyway. AHA! So..we should be nice to people even if others aren't! The other picture was of Jesus praying. (morale: we should pray for others) The children each had a turn walking on the footprints to the pictures, and then telling us what they were about. They thought that was fun.

We also talked about being good examples to our family, especially our siblings. Most of the children have younger brothers or sisters, but do they know that those smaller people look up to them for how to behave? I told them about my big sister. She is five years older than I am. When we were kids, she would sometimes say, "Yvonne, do you want to go outside and play with me?" Excited, I'd get my jacket on, run out to play with her--only to find her gone. I remember calling for her and really having my feelings hurt because she'd tricked me again. Phooey! Or she'd lock me in our grandmother's basement and turn out the light. Scary to be in the dark alone. Karissa asked, "did you cry?" I admitted I did! My big sister really wasn't nice to me at all (some things never change) but I decided she was an idiot when I was about 12 years old. Okay, so I didn't say "idiot" to the children, I said, "she was making bad choices!" Marigene was 17 and dating boys. Funny, all the girls made faces at the "dating boys" idea. I laughed and told them they'd do that someday and find it fun! They looked sceptical. Anyway, Marigene was dating a very creepy boy named Rick. I told the children that Rick used bad language and was the type of person that you could imagine knocking down a little old lady, stealing her purse, and running away. Yup, that was Rick. I was 12 then and asked Marigene, "why are you dating such a creepy guy?" She told me she didn't really like him; she was just doing it to upset our parents. I asked the children if they thought that was a good reason to date someone and they all said "NOOOO!" Smart kiddos! Then I asked them if they wanted to know what happened to my sister? They said they did. I told them she got so used to being around "creepy people," that she married men who were creepy. Two of her ex-husbands spent time in jail. Not a good thing! (the other three weren't that nice either) I also told them that I have a little brother and asked if they thought I was the kind of big sister to him, that my sister had been to me. I got another resounding "NOOOOO!" from them over that too! Like I said, smart kiddos! I told them I played with my little brother and was nice to him. I knew what it felt like to have a big sister who was mean. Malachi told me that he's going to be a good big brother to his baby brother. I know he is already, even without hearing my story, but that was good to hear.

Our craft was coloring "fake feet" to remind them to follow in Jesus's footsteps. I took photos of all the children wearing theirs. Well, except for Zoe who is apparently very particular about photos. One of our recent lessons was about friends and I gave them each a class photo in a foam frame, that they decorated with glow in the dark stars. Cool, hmm? Zoe didn't think so and told me later that she threw hers away because it had "other people in it." ??? Her friends from class! That was the whole point of the lesson! Sigh. ooh well. Can't please 'em all. I have noticed that Malachi carries his class photo in his scripture bag. At least he likes it!

Here are the kiddos and their feet! Well, except for Zoe!

October

2009-10-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

What a busy time it's been! Tom has traveled a lot for work over the summer--and start of autumn, so I've had lots of quilting time. Here was what I finished last time he was away.

I put two baby quilts on the HQ Sixteen at the same time.

Here they are, finished!

For this one, I used one of those cloth storybooks. In this case, it's the Three Little Pigs.

Time to dig out more quilts. He's off again, this time to Anchorage! BRRRRR

Baby Time

2009-08-06T08:13:00.000-07:00

Aurora's Aunt Lizzie wasn't the only one who fell under her spell. In fact, I was lucky to get a chance to cuddle her at all, what with also having her Grandpa, Uncle Jim and Aunt Sheena around. Sigh.

And, TAH DAH! Here is Aurora, surprised to find herself balanced and standing up, all by herself! We clapped and cheered, which of course made her fall down...

What Happens When You Give a Baby A Fudgecicle?

2009-08-06T08:02:00.001-07:00

it leads to this:

Nephew's Wedding and Family Gathering

2009-08-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the wedding of nephew Ian and his bride, Karin. Scroll back through the messages here and you'll see the quilt I made for them. All in blues. Very pretty!

We were having a heat wave, and although August 1st wasn't THE hottest day (that had been a few days earlier, with a temperature of 106 degrees), it was still very hot. In the 90's. The wedding was outside in a garden, but there wasn't any shade. It was pretty miserable for the guests, just imagine if you had to wear a tuxedo--or a wedding dress! Still, they looked delighted, don't they? Perhaps because they were finally married and heading toward the shade!

While the toasts were being made, Ian was making goofy faces. Rolling his eyes, bugging them out... I don't know why, maybe he was self conscious with us all looking at him. I was relieved when they finished that and went to the dance floor. At least until I saw Ian dance. He is a goofy dancer too! He looks all right in the still photos, though.
Here is Ian, dancing with his lovely wife...and then with his very happy mother, Pam, who has been wishing for a daughter for a long time!

Great-aunt Betty visited from New York for this occasion. Here she is with sister-inlaw Sue, and with Aurora.

Where has summer gone?

2009-08-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here it is, August already! Summer has really flown by. First there was the trip to Spokane, then as soon as we got home...and I got the laundry caught up, off I went to Salt Lake City, to babysit granddaughter Aurora, while her sweet Mama was off on a cruise--with her little brother. Poor Jeff didn't get to go. However, he and Frieda are going cruisin' for their anniversary (and guess who gets to babysit again? WHEEEE!) Here are some photos from the Utah trip: Aurora is a very happy and agreeable baby, and we got along quite well, except when she tried out her new teeth on me. OUCH!

Even though we had fun, Aurora was thrilled when Mama got home! It was pretty cute, how excited she got. Like, "oh yes, THERE YOU ARE!"

I can understand that...I missed her Mama too!

Other Fun in Spokane

2009-06-26T16:46:00.001-07:00

We're back home again. Tom's radar project concluded; all went well. The way they test the radar is to have a pilot in a jet, zoom up the coast from Sacramento. He flies around at different altitudes, and they see if the radar can spot him. It did. Success! YAY!

One of the highlights, for me at least, of our trip was getting to meet an online quilting buddy, Teri. She rescued me one day and we visited several quilt shops, including one in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho...which isn't all that far away. We had a great time, then went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant, and off to another quilt shop.

Here is Bear Paw Quilts in Idaho. That's Teri standing there! Very nice shop. I liked the bear paw prints in the concrete of the sidewalk outside.

We went to Cosy Quilts in Spokane, then Log Cabin Quilts.

While I was in the hotel, I made two baby quilt tops, as well as a pile of blocks for a queen-sized quilt. One of the gals who came by every day to tidy my room was interested in what I was doing. When I told her I needed to make 64 blocks for the queen-sized quilt, she commented that it would take FOREVER! Well, no...not forever...but I said if I wanted immediate satisfaction, I'd go to WalMart and buy a bedspread. lol Some people just don't understand quilters!

Making Quilts for Others

2009-06-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

I like to make quilts. It is fun to play with the colors, shapes and patterns. Baby quilts are just about my favorite. Quick and easy! Almost immediate satisfaction!

In 1996, I made the first of over 100 baby quilts--all for babies born at my church. It went to Tracy Biddolph's little baby. Her husband stood up in the men's meeting, touched by the gesture, and told everyone there about how his grandmother used to make quilts for every important family occasion. He had quilts she'd made for his birth, baptism, graduation; but she had recently passed away, and he'd felt sad when he thought how his child wouldn't have a quilt from great-grandmother. That was, until I gave them that quilt. It made him feel like she'd given him one anyway--I was just the method used to deliver it! Pretty sweet. I was glad to have been a part of it.

I really had a good time making all those quilts. The Relief Society (our women's group at church) helped out financially for a while, giving me money to help defray the cost of my supplies. By the time we ran out of budget, I was the R.S. secretary and the president and 2 counselors all chipped in to help the quilt project. This, of course, got them their names on the labels! Eventually I was released as secretary and thought it would be a good time to retire from baby quilt making, at least for everyone at church. Mormons have lots of babies! My life was stressful as it was, and to make 10 to 12 quilts a year, sometimes more, wasn't always easy. People came to expect those quilts. I liked making them--I liked giving them away and making people smile. It was nice to glance across the chapel and see sweet little babies wrapped in my quilts! And..there is so much cute fabric out there, baby quilts are an easy and fun way to play with it. Not only that, but all the practice I was getting really helped improve my quilting skills! But..the downside was also that people expected to get a quilt. As if it was their due. This made me feel a bit abused after a while. It started when I gave a quilt to a woman for her baby and she made a remark about how she's been wondering when she'd get hers. It sounded as though she thought I was a slacker--what had taken me so long? Sigh. Not even a thank you. Do you know that very few people write thank you cards, much less even say "thank you" anymore?" It is a sad thing. After that, I decided to cut back, only making quilts for people I knew and liked. There is one young mother in particular. I have made quilts for all but one of her children. They, unfortunately, moved away for a while--and I missed making a quilt for their son. She is so sweet. She sends a thank you note each time and even gives me a photo of the baby with the quilt. Maybe that seems like a small thing to most people, but it makes me feel my efforts--and quilts--are appreciated.

I have been making fewer baby quilts for the babies at church. Not being in the adult class (I teach the three year old's), I haven't gotten to know many of the new families who have moved into our ward. We have a lot of young couples who move in--and out--at church, since our ward boundaries encompass several apartment complexes. Now, however, there are a few women at church whom I do know, who are expecting...so I figured I would make them baby quilts. I recently asked one of them if she knew what she was having yet--and she snapped at me, "I'm having a baby, what did you think I was having, PUPPIES?" Ookay, so that nipped in the bud any desire whatsoever that I had to make her a quilt! It isn't as though she didn't know why I was asking; I made a quilt for her little boy when he was born. It's always nice to know if I should haul out the baby girl fabric, or the baby boy fabric. However...no worries. That rude remark has convinced me--I am done making baby quilts for babies at church...unless, of course, it's for one of my 3 year old's siblings OR one of the sweet people who actually have sent or even said "thank you" when I've given them a quilt in the past. Even now, I'm finding loopholes in my determination! lol I just need to remember, when I start thinking about making a baby quilt for someone at church, to think of...puppies!

Btw, having a grandchild--I do have an outlet for baby quilts I may want to make. Well, Aurora has nine of them from Grandma! That might be enough for now. My plan is to stockpile some for future generations, just in case, like Brother Biddolph's grandmother, something happens to me and I'm not here to make grandbaby quilts in person. Fortunately, all of my offspring appreciate ol' Mom's quilts. :-)

From a hotel in Spokane

2009-06-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

Here I am, at the Holiday Inn Express on Mission street in Spokane Valley. It's a pretty nice place: the usual emenities, as well as a dog in the lobby...cookies and milk served nightly...and special dinners three nights a week. On Tuesday, they serve nachoes. Wednesday it's a barbeque and Thursday, it's pasta. Not very good for Tom's diabetes, so we'll probably skip that one tonight. Our usual fare is a large dinner salad, which I get daily from the Safeway across the street.

During the day, I hang out here at the hotel and sew (having brought my wee Janome and LOTS of fabric) Other days I wander off to explore my environment. Yesterday I did just that and ended up logging over 16,000 steps on my pedometer. That is well over 4 miles. Note to self, next time wear more sensible shoes. I did manage to get a blister, but ohboy, Safeway had "blister therapy" bandaids! There were three quilt shops along my route, so it was all worthwhile. I went down Mullan Street to Sprague, where I found a Heart Like Yours Quilt Shop. Unfortunately, I was there at 9:35 and they don't open until 10 a.m. No place to wait--a bench or a piece of shade would have been good, but alas...I will have to walk back to that one later. I continued on, to Simple Kits Quilt Shop, which is on Bowdish St. It's a tiny old house with lots of small rooms and creaky floors.
Carrie, the owner, is very friendly although her dog, Buddy, not so much. Not that he barked, but he did give me a fuzzy stare, with his bottom teeth showing. Not his fault, poor thing, he has a terrible underbite. Carrie's shop has lots of fabric stuffed in there, particularly 30's. I found a few things that came back to the hotel with me! From there, I continued north on Bowdish to Mission St. If I had gone left, I would have been back at the hotel (in another mile) but ohh dear, there was the Quilting Bee a half a mile to the right! You know, of course, I chose the right. ;-) By this time I suspected a blister was forming, but I was so close! The nice ladies there gave me a bandaid (hey, they asked if there was anything I was looking for!) Quilting Bee is a Bernina dealer and a bigger shop than Simple Kits. LOTS of fabric!
I had a good time there too. The walk back to the hotel was almost a hobble at the end, but once I heal a bit, I think I'll go back to the Quilting Bee. (they also gave me a bar of chocolate....definitely the way to my heart! lol)

Meanwhile, Tom left at 3 a.m. this morning, just like yesterday, poor man. Long days at the radar site at Mica Peak. We'll be here, all total, for 17 days.

Ian and Karin's Quilt

2009-05-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

Nephew Ian is getting married August 1st. He is the eldest son of Tom's #2 brother. Ian is our second nephew to marry this year, but Scott and Angela, who married in January, weren't interested in a quilt (alas!) However, when Ian's mother, Pam, asked Karin about it, she was enthusiastic about the idea. That's my kind o' gal! She asked for one in blue, if I wanted to make a big one for their bed. Or a scrappy one if I wanted to make a lap quilt for the livingroom. I thought that was very nice of her to give me the option. I decided, of course, to go with a bigger quilt, but even that didn't deplete my stash of blue fabric. Must make MORE quilts!

Here is the result.

The pattern is by Jan Krentz and was published in the May/June 2007 issue of Fon's and Porter "Love of Quilting" magagine. I think it turned out well. Hope they like it!

Maura's Quilt

2009-05-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a quilt made for Maura, a sweet and funny friend, who lives in New York. Maura was part of the QuiltPocket invasion of my home town in April. She loves batiks. I had a "jelly roll" of batiks in the Strawberry Fields colorway (*note: a jelly roll is 2.5 inch strips of fabric) While Carol was here and visiting her cousin in Victoria B.C. (and Tom was in Montana doing radar work), I found myself home alone for about a day and a half. What to do but sew? I snatched up that jelly roll and made Maura a quilt. Why Maura, you may ask? Wellll...like I said, she loves batiks! And even though I told her the reason wasn't because she hurt herself while she was here (she took a tumble in downtown Seattle when she tripped over a pavement stone that was sticking up)..that was in my thoughts. Shh! I don't want to encourage her to try that trick again! Maura is always teasingly asking for our quilts when we post photos of them. I thought it would be fun if she actually got one. Ironically, because of my malfunctioning computer/camera program, I wasn't able to post a photos--so this is one she didn't ask for!

PHOTOS!

2009-05-27T05:28:00.001-07:00

Last night Tom reinstalled the program on my computer that allows me to download photos--and guess what? It worked! Here is the last of the adventures of Kiwi Carol on her visit with us. We took her all the way to Mt. Saint Helens and toured around. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! Tom and I hadn't been there for years, so it was a treat for us as well.

Finally...end of a long day of driving...we stopped by the cemetary to visit Jimi Hendrix's grave.
PHEW! It was just as well Carol was heading home; I'd run out of places to take her! Although, we didn't actually visit ALL the quilt shops in this area. Hmm! Guess we'll save those for her NEXT visit!

Aurora Photos!

2009-05-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

While I'm waiting for Tom to figure out why I can't download photos onto this computer....let us pause for a moment to check out these pictures of Ms. Cuteness herself, sent to me by my sweet daughter-inlaw.

Back at last!

2009-05-19T06:11:00.000-07:00

The hard drive on my computer died, so I've been checking my email on hubby's computerfor the last couple of weeks. Not as good as having access to my own. Sometimes he wants a turn! I'm unable to download photos at the moment, and of course all the photos I'd already saved are on my dead hard drive. Sigh...

Carol's Visit

2009-05-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

By Wednesday, all my QuiltPocket friends were heading home...except for Carol from New Zealand! While I was sad to see the rest of them go (and Tom as well: he had to go to Montana for an FAA project), I was glad Carol could stay longer and play tourist. We went just about everywhere: in fact, by the end, I had run out of ideas on what to show her! Here are photos from some of our adventures (there were a couple quilt shops along the way where I hadn't taken photos)

We rode the Duck around Seattle. It was a fun tour, in an old WWII vehicle, that even took us into Lake Union.

Even though Carol doesn't like heights, she bravely rode to the top of the Space Needle! Then, from as high as we could go, we went as low as we could--with a tour of Underground Seattle.

It was a beautiful sunny day, so we did all that we could...the rain showed up a bit the next day and we were congratulating ourselves (exhausted as we were) that we'd done the Duck tour and the Space Needle the day before.

Tuesday Trip

2009-05-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

Before I get into our Tuesday adventures, here's a photo of some of our "Cabana Boys." Peter, Mike, Tom and Peter. All of the husbands who came along for Jamboree were very nice and helpful. While we were having fun together, they toured around too--and even went to a baseball game!

All right, so on Tuesday, those of us still here, got into a van--or Bob and Diane's car, and headed off to Woodenville for a winery tour. Now those of you who know me, know I'm not a wine drinker...I may whine, but I don't WINE! However, this was another opportunity to hang out with my QuiltPocket friends AND there were a couple quilt shops to visit along the way. What could be better?

We visited Gathering Fabric (where we did...gather fabric, that is!) and a Quilter's Garden.

After a delicious lunch and lots of fabric, we headed for the winery. When I was a kid, my family and I visited the Hamm's beer brewery (Great-Uncle Elmer's side of the family owned it) and I found it to be, well...pretty gross! Rotten grain, and people drink the liquid from that? Gak! The winery, though, didn't smell nearly as horrible--it fact, it smelled almost nice. A grapey smell. After the tour, where we saw great big vats with wine in them, the group had a chance to taste things. Here they are enjoying that!

It must have been good, because several of them purchased bottles of wine to have mailed home. I, on the other hand, discovered winery gift shops have chocolate AND yummy New Zealand licorice! mmmmmmm!

Goodbye to the winery!

More Jamboree Adventures

2009-05-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday was the day some of the group had to leave---so Carol, Carol and I packed up and headed back to my house. I was glad to be going home with MUCH less than I'd brought. All the Jennie quilts were off to find new homes, all the doorprizes given away, as well as all the goody bags! We got back to the house and relaxed for a bit.

Monday---MORE fun! We met the remaining members of our group and trooped across the street to the bus stop...where we rode the metro bus to downtown Seattle! I was figuring we'd pretty much take over the bus and sure enough, we did.

We visited Pike Place Market and, of course, UnderCover Quilts.

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Monday evening, not having exhausted my quilting buddies yet--I dragged 'em off to my quilt guild meeting where they got to experience an Evergreen Piecemakers Program night! Our guest speaker was Rachel Clark and we got to see a wonderful quilted garment fashion show. Here are some of the highlights:

Here are some QP friends with Rachel Clark:

Other Saturday fun

2009-05-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

Other things we did on Saturday besides having a quilt show for Carrie at the Seattle Cancer and Wellness Treatment Center:

A wallet class with Barb:

Scrap therapy with Mattie:

Shopping with Gail's Quilted Gypsy shop that came to US! Here's Dottie with some of her purchases.

A dessert and shopping party at Pieces Quilt Shop:

Jennie Sherlock Quilt Challenge

2009-05-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

Last year, on April 27th, one of our sweet QuiltPocket friends loss her battle with breast cancer. Jennie lived in Australia, but in this wonderful age of computers and the internet, was only a click away. She came to the Jamboree we had in Connecticut in 2009 and was just as delightful in person as on my computer screen! It really broke our hearts to lose her. So...what would be better than to honor her memory by making quilts to give to other women fighting breast cancer? I issued the challenge to all the QuiltPocketeers and was overwhelmed by the response. We ended up with 33 quilts, which went to the Seattle Cancer and Wellness Treatment Center. Carrie came over to pick them up on Saturday afternoon, and we dazzled her with a little quilt show as we packed them up for her to take away. Jennie, btw, loved bright colors!

Judi made a beautiful quilt and her daughter, who is fighting her own battle with breast cancer, really liked it. Dutch suggested we donate that one to Debbie---so we did! I wrapped around Judi who was very teary by that time. A fun thing, we all signed the back of Debbie quilt!

Counting quilt photos here, I see I've missed one of the 33 (34 counting Debbie's) If any of my QPocket friends can spot the missing one, I'll add it!

Hometown Swap

2009-05-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

Dutch organized a wonderful swap for us--with goodies in it from wherever it is we live. We each got a mystery package from someone else, then opened the box in front of the group. It took a long time...but was great fun!

Here are some of the highlights:

Cabana boys passing out the Hometown Swap packages.

Opening packages!

Bus Trip to LaConner!

2009-05-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

On Friday the 24th, we all piled in a bus and headed north to LaConner. The trip was skillfully planned by Maura, long distance no less! She did a great job! Some of the gals from my local quilt guild came along for the fun and I was pleased to see everyone bonding. At least one of the Evergreen Piecemakers wants to join QuiltPocket now! Well, no wonder...it is such a fantastic group!

After the quilt museum, we all wandered around town a bit. Alice and I met up with long time friend, Pat, who had been at a quilting retreat not far from LaConner. We had a nice visit and enjoyed looking at the quilts together.

After having a delicious lunch by the water, we said goodbye to Pat and piled back on the bus. Off to a quilt shop in Country Village before heading back to the hotel!

This is my favorite bus trip photo: Dutch and Maura, having a grand time!

Quilt Jamboree Continued...

2009-05-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 23rd was the official start of Jamboree. Most of our group had arrived by that day, although poor Judi from Alaska didn't get in until Friday morning at 3:30 a.m.!

Tom, Peter, the Carols and I loaded up on Thursday morning. This was one of those times when I was glad Tom has a truck! Off we went to the hotel, where we set up all the quilts and goodies in the meeting room. One of our projects for this gathering was to make quilts in honor of our friend, Jennie Sherlock, who lost her battle with breast cancer last year about this time. I issued a challenge to everyone in the QuiltPocket, coming to Jamboree or not, to make a lap sized quilt and send it to me. All of the quilts, all 33 of them, were donated to the Seattle Cancer and Wellness treatment center. But more about that later...

Here is Carol from Australia with the pile of quilts we took to the hotel:

Goody bags for all, doorprizes and some of the Hometown Swap packages:

The gathering begins...

We sat around, stitching and talking--after, of course, they all got their bags of goodies! The items in the bags were an assortment of things to delight a quilter's heart. Everyone got a book, donated by Brenda Henning from Bearpaw Productions. Fabric from Michael Miller's fabric line. Some of the group even made presents for everyone else; into the bags those went! Everyone had a good time ooohing and ahhing over it all.
Here are the Jambo attendees:

Joan from Georgia, Carol from New Zealand, Carol from Australia

Dottie from Florida, Mattie from New York, Penny from Canada:

Susie from Florida, Diane from California, Maura from New York:

Janell from California, "Dutch" (another Carol) from Pennsylvania, me--from here:

Anne from Arizona, Linda from Canada, Pat from Massachusetts:

Judi from Alaska and Judi from Massachusetts:

Here are some of the husbands who were there:
Tom, Peter from Australia, Mike and Peter from Canada

Quilt Jamboree

2009-04-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

The party's over...the mess is cleaned up...the last one to leave turned out the lights and shut the door...but WAIT! It isn't quite over yet! Carol from New Zealand is still sticking around to keep me company until May 11th. There are lots of other sights (and quilt shops) to see. She isn't awake yet, so I thought I'd work on getting my blog up to date.

Carol and Peter (from Australia) arrived on April 20th, a day after NZ Carol showed up. We'd met both of them two years ago at the QuiltPocket Jamboree in Connecticut. Tom and Peter got along so well, they were both hoarse by the end of the weekend! On Tuesday the 21st, we filled two cars and headed off to Northwest Trek. Yes, even I had to drive on the freeway to get there (I am not a freeway driver!) Both Carols bravely rode with me for moral support.

It was a beautiful day to be outside. NW Trek was a good choice for our first expedition. We took a tram ride around the park and spotted bison (even the new baby), reindeer, moose and mountain sheep (Carol said she had a hard time getting excited about sheep. Did you know there are more SHEEP than people in New Zealand?)

After the tram ride, we walked around the park on the trails and saw many more animals in their habitats. All species native to the Pacific Northwest. I think my favorite was the bear who obligingly took a bath while we watched!

Of course on the way home, we had to stop at a quilt shop...

Happy Birthday, Sheena!

2009-04-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

Last night Jim and Sheena came over, to celebrate Sheena's birthday! Her birthday is actually in about two weeks, but since that will be while we still have company from Out Of Country for the Quilt Jamboree, I thought a birthday gathering now would be better. I didn't want it to get lost in the shuffle! Hopefully they can come over for dinner next week too so they can meet our Aussie and New Zealand friends.

My sons were very nice to us, when they each married gals who have their birthdays in April. How easy to remember daughter-inlaws' birthdays! APRIL! And wedding dates: NOVEMBER! Jim says he and Jeff didn't do this on purpose, but no matter...it makes it easier to remember so I'm not complaining. Other similarities in daughter-inlaws: an allergy to gluten....Utah as a birthplace...middle names that start with the letter "M," and of course, both are lovely, intelligent and wonderful women! (no brag, just fact)

Quilt Jamboree Preparations

2009-04-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

In less than two weeks, the world is coming to my door step! Well, not all of the world, but a bit of it. AND not exactly to my door step--but rather to a hotel here in my hometown! Carol and her husband, Peter, are coming from Australia. They, as well as Carol from New Zealand will actually be at my house for a bit before our Jamboree. The others, from various parts of the U.S. and Canada, will show up a couple days later. It is pretty exciting! I've been putting the finishing touches on all the goodies I've gathered for them. Here is my pile of Jamboree stuff:

It has taken over the guest room, so now The Pile is inhabiting a corner of the livingroom.

The bags were donated by Cindy, a member of my local quilt guild, who is the driving force behind Innovations, a machine quilting conference, held in Tacoma Washington every year. You can read all about it here: http://www.mqinnovations.com/ Cindy is a fantastic machine quilter who also teaches classes in her home. (hmm!)

I have been having fun filling the bags with goodies!

The bins under all that mess in the photo contain doorprizes. I discovered a heretofore unknown talent for begging and had a great time writing to quilt companies and online quilt shops, asking for donations of doorprizes! Who knew it would be so easy to get goodies for my quilt friends?

Here is the pile of quilts for our Jennie Sherlock Memorial Quilt Challenge. I decided I'd better fold them and get them off the guest room bed, rather than run the risk of Carol and Peter being crushed under all these quilts. So far, there are thirteen of them. A goodly amount, particularly since I only made two of them! I've been told that more are coming. All will be going to the Seattle Cancer and Wellness Treatment Center, to be given out to women battling breast cancer.

I am, of course, planning a total collapse after Jamboree is over---but it will be a lot of fun and well worth the "bumps in the road" that I've encountered in the planning and execution of this event. Phew! I love my Quilting Buddies!!!

Kindergarten Auction Quilts

2009-04-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

Every year a local elementary school has an auction to raise money for their school. My friend, Cathy, is a kindergarten teacher there. Each class has to come up with something to auction off. Last year, Cathy came up with the idea of quilts.....which lead her to think of me. Funny how that happens! It worked so well that we did it again this year. Here are the results:

I like these quilts much better than last year's. For one thing, I was in control of all the fabric that went into them, so we didn't have poly/cotton fabric as the sashing. (Cathy isn't a quilter...she didn't know any better...) I found that stretched differently in the frame than the muslin did, which resulted in the dreaded "puckers" that machine quilters cringe over. Also last year, I didn't have the HQ Sixteen, which gives me a lot more quilting area than the Juki/Grace Frame setup did. This year, besides the upgrade in quilting machine, the fabric was from my stash--100% cotton, although Cathy did go out and buy the muslin.

I love the pictures the kids did! I think the pink pig on the yellow quilt, was my favorite. Then there's the "princess making machine" on the blue one. Very cute!

New Zealand Stripes

2009-03-30T19:07:00.001-07:00

Here's the latest quilt I've finished; made from a "jelly roll" of fabric strips, sent to me by friend, Carol. Carol lives in New Zealand--and the fabric is all strips of wonderful New Zealand prints. I think my favorite is the kiwi in the All Blacks rugby uniform.

Thanks, Carol! See what I made out of your fabric gift? ;-) I'm not sure Carol will see this post, but never mind...she'll be here at the end of April and THIS quilt will be on the guest bed where she'll be sleeping.

Sunday at Spring Quilt Break

2009-03-23T08:17:00.001-07:00

Sunday...the last day of Spring Quilt Break. How fast it goes by! My Sunday class was Mary's Triangles with Sally Schneider. It was only a four hour class instead of a full day, but that's about all any of us can take by the time Sunday rolls around!

Here is Sally showing quilts made with Mary's Triangle blocks.

Our last luncheon for Conference always has Show and Tell with it. I love this part, as we get to see what everyone else has been doing all weekend!

Here's Barb on the right, Julie on the left with a quilt for charity, made with blocks donated at SQB.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find my challenge fabric and didn't contribute a block.
Anita won the drawing for the other half of the blocks and chose to make two quilts with her team.
What great quilts!

Here's my Friday class with our Twisted Ribbon Star quilts.

Julie took Sally's class on Saturday and did a Laurel Wreath with Christmas Cracker border:

Here are more Show and Tell photos: (can you spot Alice behind her blue machine quilting sample? Alice doesn't like to have her photo taken! lol)

Saturday at Spring Quilt Break

2009-03-23T08:02:00.001-07:00

All right, back to the fun stuff! My Saturday class was Machine Quilting Elegant Borders with Pam Clarke. Pam lives in Spokane. She is a bundle of energy and a wonderfully talented machine quilter. I took her class to get ideas to use on my stand up quilting machine--but others were there to learn how to better quilt on their regular sewing machines. I had my tiny travel sewing machine, a wee Janome, along and let me tell you, that was tough going, trying to free motion quilt on it! I realized the HQ Sixteen has spoiled me! Everyone else did really nice with their samples, but mine...ahhh well, it is best left hidden!

Rather than marking a quilting design on the quilt, Pam's technique is to make "registration marks," so you can free motion and keep things even. It has a lot of potential and I'm very excited to try it out on the HQ. Here is Pam and some of her quilts.

Pam was the luncheon speaker on Saturday, talking about old quilts. She had several to show us and a couple were for sale! I helped carry one of the quilts around the room. Later, folding quilts up and putting them in her suitcase, this one called out to me. It has fabric in it that I remember from a quilt my grandmother made. That quilt my Nana made was the one I always cuddled under on Friday night when I would spend the night at her house. It ended up wrapped around the hot water tank when my sister inherited my grandmother's house. By the time I found out what Marigene did with it, it had experienced a couple of basement floods, as well as being exposed to marijuana smoke from Marigene's children. It was beyond salvaging. This quilt, though, kind of makes up for that loss! It is a different pattern; more complex than the one Nana made, but I still love it. Pam finds a lot of vintage quilts in antique shops and thrift stores and feels we should finish them when such treasures come into our lives. She machine quilted this one and did a lovely job on it. Later a friend told me the pattern is called "Boutonniere."

After lunch when we were back in class, Elise phoned her husband and had him bring their treasured family quilt over to show us.

Gossip

2009-03-23T07:28:00.001-07:00

I'm going to pause a moment here in the saga of Spring Quilt Break, to put in my two cents about gossip. I don't like it. It hurts people. Now I could just leave it at that, but instead, I'll tell you what happened in one of my classes over the weekend and why I am a bit upset. C. was in my Friday class, sitting two rows ahead of me in the room. C. and I have been acquainted through our quilt guild, for quite a few years now. C. reminds me of my grandmother, who used to sit at her kitchen table and watch out the window, so she could keep track of what the neighbors were doing. I think this desire to be "in the know," comes from boredom. Anyway, there we were in class. Everyone was busy sewing except C., who mostly sits around in class and complains, driving the teacher crazy trying to help her. Not that C. really wants help; she just likes the attention. I've often wondered why C. even bothers to take classes... The room was quiet, with only the hum of sewing machines making noise. C. asked me a question--from her two rows ahead of me, pertaining to my personal life. I told her it was a sad story and I'd tell her later. She kept on, making several comments to the room in general, about one of my family members. I wondered why she felt the need to share MY personal details with everyone, but I kept sewing, hoping if I ignored her, she's quiet down. One of the other ladies asked me a question about what C. was saying. Gritting my teeth, I answered with a single, "Yes." Someone else said, "uh oh..." and then no one else asked anything! Ha! Not everyone is as dense as C. C. made another comment, directed at me this time. I didn't answer. She repeated herself, adding, "Yvonne, did you hear me?" I said, "yes, C., I heard you." I went back to my sewing. C. got quiet.

During the luncheon lecture that day, Tom called me on my cell phone. I had it on vibrate, so as not to disturb anyone, but I had to leave the room to answer the phone. Turns out the power was out at home and he wanted to know if I had the phone number of the power company anywhere. Yes, dear, in the phone book! He was without power for three hours, due to a drunk slamming their car into the transformer. Poor Tom!

On my way back to the luncheon, I spotted C. sitting out in the hotel lobby. She found Zena's lecture "boring." Huh? She was almost drooling in anticipation, though, because she thought I was going to fill her in on juicy details of the "sad story" she'd asked about in class. Her eyes were shining with delight and a grin was on her face as she prompted me to "tell all." Nope. Not gonna do it! Not now, not ever. Instead, maintaining my usual calm and quiet demeanor, I told her she had been way out of line to have said what she did in class earlier. Speaking to C., I didn't raise my voice, nor did I even sound angry. Good job there, considering inside I was pretty ticked off at her! lol I quietly told her "If I had wanted everyone in there to know my business, I would have told them." Then, turning on my heel, I walked away--back to Zena's marvelous quilts and fascinating stories.

Later in class, C. passed by me twice, each time saying she was sorry she'd offended me. Each time I said, "okay, C..."

This jogged a memory in my mind, from back in 1986. Our youngest son was born too early and only lived 10 hours. After I got home from the very traumatic experience of his death, my "friend," Inez, phoned daily to see how I was doing. As you might imagine, I was an emotional wreck. My baby had died. It was devastating. Inez seemed so concerned and caring--I found myself pouring my heart out to her. Little did I know that she was telling everyone about our conversations and basking in the attention of being "in the know." For her, it was all about the gossip and having something to talk about. I suppose it made her feel important. I was lucky, though, because one of my real friends phoned and told me what Inez was doing and how she was ridiculing and belittling me in her efforts to elevate herself. What a sad person! After that, when Inez would call, I made myself scarce. Ahh, C. and Inez...they have a lot in common.

Spring Quilt Break 2009

2009-03-23T05:44:00.001-07:00

I just got back yesterday afternoon from my annual quilty vacation. I don't go far, just down the hill to a local Holiday Inn. Others travel from much farther, with some of our friends even coming all the way from Alaska. Spring Quilt Break has been going on for a long time now--longer than I've been in the guild--but I think I've been going to them for the last 17 years. (yikes!) I missed one year in 1996, when Liz was flying off to the University of Alaska to start her college life, and wanted me to come along. Couldn't afford both the plane ticket AND Spring Break, so of course I chose Lizzie! ;-)

But back to SQB... Our attendance was down (drat the economy!) but still, there were 70 of us there and we had a great time. We start out with a get acquainted social on Thursday night, with a show and tell of quilts we've finished from classes we've taken in past years. I've finished quilts started at SQB, but this is probably the first time ever that I've had one available to show. Usually they go out the door to their new home shortly after that last stitch goes in. HA! I have the tesselated leaves from a Jackie Robinson class that I was able to show. Here it is:
It's going for the Jennie Quilt Challenge next month and will find a home as a comfort quilt for someone fighting breast cancer.

Here are some of the other quilts shown on Thursday night.

Friday morning I had a class with Sally Schneider, from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Here's her website: www.sallyschneider.com She's friendly and fun--and taught us how to make a built in twisted ribbon border. This is Sally with her class sample.

Here is the Twisted Ribbon Star I did:

Friday's speaker at our luncheon was Zena Thorpe. Check her out at www.geocities.com/zenasquilts She is a very talented applique artist. I recognized some of her quilts from the covers of quilt magazines over the years. Maybe you will too!

Zena spoke about "A Look at History Through the Eye of a Needle;" which was about the way women over the centuries, have used their needlework to document their lives and tell their stories. It was fascinating, especially as she illustrated her lecture with her own quilts!

to be continued....

More Jennie Challenge Quilts!

2009-03-16T06:48:00.001-07:00

Only a little more than a month before many of my online quilting friends will be here for our Jamboree! I finished up a UFO (UnFinished Object) that I started a couple of decades ago. Never thought it would be finished, but here it is. It's the blue and yellow pinwheel quilt. The green and orange one is from Carol in Australia, and Monique from Canada made the other one. These quilts are part of the Jennie Sherlock Quilt Challenge we're having in conjunction with the Jamboree--and will be going to women battling breast cancer, in memory of our friend, Jennie, who lost her battle in May of last year. I think Jennie would like these! (especially the green and orange one--she loved bright colors!)

Siggy Swap Block Quilt

2009-03-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I have a few piles here and there, of blocks received from online swaps with other quilters. One of the tallest piles was signature blocks. Since it was threatening to topple over, I decided I had to do something!

Here is the result.

As you can see, some of the blocks had to go on the back. I was determined to use them all! The earliest blocks are from Washington Internet Quilters (WASIQ) and are dated 1998. Those weren't from a swap, but from a retreat I went on with the group. I had everyone sign a block for me. Also in this mix are blocks from quilters in the now defunct Quiltswapper group. When that group folded after several years, some of us stayed together in a group called Quilting and Friendship (Q&F). From there I went, along with others from Quiltswappers, to the group I'm in now: QuiltPocket. All in all, here and there, I've known some of these women for at least a decade! I have been lucky enough to meet a few of them in person, either through our travels, or from gatherings like the QuiltPocket Jamboree in Conneticut two years ago. They are all very dear to me. Next month some of them will be coming here, for a Jamboree. Time to renew friendships and meet MORE quilt buddies in person! Ooh...and wait until they see this quilt!

Quilt Jamboree

2009-03-05T06:23:00.000-08:00

Here are my online quilt buddies at our last Jamboree, which was held in 2007, in Conneticut. It was wonderful to get to meet so many of them. In fact, it was SO wonderful and I had such a great time, I volunteered to the the hostess for our next gathering.

What was I thinking? Oh. Well, I was thinking if it is HERE, I won't miss it! It's been fun, arranging for a party of this size. Doorprizes, meals, excursions...fortunately, I'm not doing it all by myself--there is a Committee, but of course, I'm the only one of the Committee who is physically here. There have been a few bumps in the road as I've arranged things; the biggest being the downturn in the the economy. Two years ago there were a lot of the group--not just the ones who'd been at the 2007 Jamboree, who were determined to be at this one. However, what with one thing and another--mostly financial, the number of people able to come has dwindled alarmingly. Now it looks like we will be luck to get 20 people. Alas! But...I take what I can get and hanging out with 20..or 17..or however many of my quilt buddies who will be here, will be a treat. Carol from New Zealand, as well as Carol (and her husband, Peter) from Australia, will be staying at my house for a bit of extra time. Tom and Peter got along so well at the last Jamboree, that Tom was hoarse from talking too much!

Here are two more quilts for the Jennie Sherlock Memorial Quilt Challenge. Jennie is in the photo above, standing 4th from the left, in the red vest and black shirt. The blue, yellow and green quilt is from Lillian in the U.K. The tesselating leaf quilt is one of my UFOs (UnFinished Object) from a class I took from Jackie Robinson a few years ago at my quilt guild's annual Spring Quilt Break.

It is nice to have it finished. Both of these quilts will be going to women battling breast cancer here in my local area.

Only another month until Jamboree! The world is coming to my house to play. How cool is that?

Another Cute Baby

2009-02-27T12:57:00.000-08:00

While, of course, Aurora is THE cutest baby in the whole entire world....this little one is pretty cute too. I took this photo of her yesterday, as she posed on the baby quilt I made for her. Her name is Caitlin.

Snow!

2009-02-26T05:39:00.001-08:00

This is the view from my front door this morning. Oh yeah, sure...it's pretty...but this is FEBRUARY, people! I want springtime, not more winter! phoooey.

Taz has the right idea. Here she is, curled up in my sewing room. She likes to hang out there with me and found where I'd stuffed a piece of polar fleece. Cozy! Wonder if there's room for me in there?

Sewing Saturday

2009-02-21T16:59:00.000-08:00

Tom finished the bathroom: Notice the sliding glass doors? He found those, new still in the box, on Craig's List for $20. At the hardware store, he saw the very same doors: $400. Needless to say, Tom's addiction to Craig's List has paid off again.

My day was spent in my quilting studio. I like to call it that, even though it shares space with the washer, dryer and freezer--and could just as easily be called the Laundry Room. HA! That just doesn't have the same appeal to me as Quilting Studio. Here is my new toy, a flat screen tv Tom got for me (not on Craig's List, oh well). I was watching my favorite PBS quilting show, with Fons and Porter.

And here is what is on my design wall. A WIP (work in progress)

I wish I had a bigger design wall. I can only put half a quilt up at a time. If I could only figure out how to get rid of doing laundry and storing frozen food, I'd have more space in my room and could put in a bigger design wall! sigh....

New floors

2009-02-18T06:02:00.001-08:00

On Valentine's day Tom and I were painting the kitchen and the second bathroom---how romantic is that? We finished up in time for the new floors to be installed. Here is what the old kitchen floor looked like:

Apparently this floor was installed in 1968. I will not miss it.

Our house is only just starting to get back to normal. I have a lot of cleaning up to do. The refrigerator and stove had to be moved out and were in the diningroom! The fridge was still functional but we lived on left overs, heated in the microwave. Come to think of it, that's not really out of the ordinary...

Here is what the kitchen floor looks like now!

and the bathroom, before and after:

More Baby quilts

2009-02-18T05:58:00.000-08:00

A couple of the cute kiddos in my class on Sunday, are soon going to have siblings! Not that I need an excuse to make a baby quilt---but this does seem like a good opportunity. On Sunday I sent Lena home with this one for her baby brother she'll be getting in a few weeks.

I have another one, ready for Sean's new baby sister but I don't want to post that photo yet, since I haven't given the quilt to him. His sister is due next week---so hopefully I can give him the quilt for her on Sunday. Shhh! It's a surprise!

Jennie Sherlock Quilt Challenge

2009-02-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

In May 2008, my online quilt friend, Jennie Sherlock, lost her battle with breast cancer. Jennie was a very talented Australian quilter. I'd known her, between one online group and another, for probably about 15 years. I felt fortunate that I'd gotten to meet her at our quilt gathering in Conneticut in 2007. In April we'll be having another gathering---this time in my hometown. As hostess, I decided it would be sweet to have a quilt challenge, where we'd make quilts and donate them to local women fighting breast cancer. Here are the three I have so far.

This one was made by Joyce in Nevada:

Joan made this one:

Jennie loved bright colors! I think she'd like these!

Cats

2009-02-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

! Here is a photo of our two outside cats. The orange tabby, named Spot after Data's cat in Star Trek, was adopted by Terrible (a.k.a. "Buttface"). Terrible (I refuse to call him Buttface...can you imagine at the vet's, getting called for our appointment? "Buttface can go in now!" Nope, they think his name is Ivan. Tom and I call him Terrible...it fits...) Anyway, Terrible got tossed out of our house on his furry backside because, when he is upset, he vents his wrath by inappropriate urinating. Ha! OUT WITH YOU! He also couldn't seem to resist items of clothing left on the floor, although he never peed on my clothes or worse yet, FABRIC in my sewing room. No, he kept that little surprise for Tom! He's been outside for several years now and one day, there was Spot. As you can see, they are good friends.

Cutest Baby in the World

2009-01-29T06:09:00.000-08:00

Liz posted a blog with that subject line...so I thought I'd post further photographic evidence. ;-)

Of course we aren't even a TINY bit bias, right?

Scott and Angela's Wedding

2009-01-26T15:21:00.000-08:00

Saturday we went to the first of two nephew-weddings this year. Scott and Angela were married the 24th of this month (Ian and Karin have set an August 1st date) Scott is the youngest son of Tom's eldest brother, Karl. The wedding was at a hotel downtown, which was built in the 1890's. Lots of personality and character; a perfect setting for this wedding, as Angela and Scott are full of personality and character too! The ceremony was probably the most amusing one I've ever witnessed, as they'd written their vows themselves. They had everyone laughing!

Liz, Jeff, Frieda and Aurora were all in town for the wedding---which meant we had a houseful! Here are some photos from the Event. Congratulations to the Bride and Groom! May they have many happy years together--and lots of adventures along the way.

Angela was beautiful, of course, but I think Aurora was definitely in the running for the belle of the ball. The extended family hadn't met her yet, but not only were they lining up to hold her--complete strangers came up to admire her and tell us how cute, how perfect, how sweet she is. She is the youngest Hamilton, although I guess now Angela is the NEWEST Hamilton. ;-)
Here is Aurora with Great-Uncle Karl:

Great-aunt Susie:

Cousin Kristi:

Of course Uncle Jim had to hold his new niece:

Here we are:

Jeff, Frieda, Liz, me, Tom holding Aurora, Sheena and Jim.

and lastly...Ms. Cuteness herself (as she is back in Utah now, I need a baby-fix. This photo will have to do...)

Home again

2009-01-22T07:06:00.000-08:00

Home again....but with lots of warm wonderful memories of our All Girls Adventure! This is definitely something we need to do again, maybe every two years or so. But where to go next time? Hmmm!

Last Day

2009-01-22T06:43:00.000-08:00

After taking Sheena to the airport, we headed out to see what might be left to see. Mostly we'd already done it all! We drove to the Blow Holes, which apparently were better before Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

We visited the Wreck of the Ten Sails Park. The park is on the eastern tip of Grand Cayman and commemorates the island's most famous shipwreck. On February 8, 1794, the Cordelia, heading a convoy of 58 square-rigged merchanat ships en route from Jamaica to England, floundered on one of the treacherous East End reefs. Its warning cannon fire was thought, by the other ships, to be a call to band together because of an imminent pirate attack. Nine other ships ran aground. The locals rescued all 400 of the seamen, as well as the cargo.

It was very windy.

We ended up at Rum Point, where Liz and Frieda went in for a swim. Aurora and I lounged around on a beach chair--she napped. I cuddled!

Then it was back to the hotel. Stuck in the back seat with Grandma!

Mastic Trail

2009-01-22T06:32:00.001-08:00

On Sheena's last day (she had to go home a day early), we decided to hike the Mastic Trail. This is a trail that was used in the 1800's as the only direct path to and from the North Side. According to the guide book, it's a "rugged 2-mile slash through 776 dense acres of woodlands." We were lucky enough to spot quite a few Cayman Parrots, as well as hermit crabs and lizards...lots of lizards!

Aurora was interested in it all.

Smith Cove

2009-01-22T06:17:00.001-08:00

7-Mile beach is all right, but full of people and not as interesting as Smith Cove. The first day we discovered it, we didn't have our swimsuits along (we learned to travel with them!) Here are a few beach photos to warm you up. I know I need that today. BRRRR!

Creatures of the Cayman Islands

2009-01-21T06:48:00.000-08:00

We saw lots of critters on our trip. Blue iguana, which are an endangered species, seem to be thriving, at least in the Botantic Garden. Then there are lizards--everywhere! And chickens. Sorry, no chicken photos to show you...Sheena took a few of those. We also saw parrots and other birds. But...here is the CUTEST creature I saw on the island!

Stingray City

2009-01-21T06:23:00.000-08:00

One of the big touristy-things to do on Grand Cayman is go to Stingray City and play with the stingrays. That isn't as dangerous as it might sound, as these are stingrays that are very fond of tourists--not to nibble, but for the pieces of squid we feed to them. Mmmmm...raw squid! Well, if you were a stingray, that would get your mouth watering! They see the boats coming and flock around us. Our first stop was Stingray Sandbar, where the water was only about waist deep. We all got in the water and were surrounded by hungry stingrays! A stingray's mouth is on the bottom side, with their eyes on the top, so they can't actually see what they are eating. They suck out conch from shells quite effectively, we were told. Caution: do not wipe your hand on yourself after you've fed the stingrays a piece of squid. Hmm. good to know! I got a piece of squid out of the container and was instantly the best friend of a large female stingray (the males are smaller--this one was BIG!) Our guide told us to make them work for their food--but she was so eager, she nibbled it out of my hand in seconds!

Stingrays are rough on the top, with a sand-like texture. Good thing, since they burrow in the sand to sleep and their rough surface blends right in. Underneath, though, they are white and soft. Feel the inside of your cheek with your finger. Go ahead, do it! Yes! That is how the stingray felt when I got to hold one. The guide told us we had to kiss the stingray, since it is a tradition and gives one 7 years good luck. I'm not sure, it might just be a thing they have tourists do for the video, so they can chuckle later about how silly tourists are and how they can get us to do anything! Nevertheless, we all kissed the stingray. Aurora was her interested water-baby self, looking around intently and trying to taste the water. She didn't mind kissing...or was it tasting? the stingray. She even got to sit on one, held up of course, by her mommy, Frieda.

Our next stop was a little further on: the barrier reef and snorkeling. Aurora and I stayed on the boat for this part of the adventure. She was ready for a nap and I have to sneak in the grandma/granddaughter cuddling time when I can get it--what with Aurora's two doting aunties around. Off they went, to explore the reef. The guide played with an eel and they saw lots of fish.

After a while, the guide hopped back on the boat. I asked him how long he gives the group to play at the reef. He replied that they all come back on their own eventually. I thought to myself, "he doesn't know Liz!" Sure enough, one by one, the rest of our group came back to the boat. Several of them said, "we're all here, we can go now!" HA! No we can't! I told them my daughter was still in the water. By this time, there was another boat load of tourists in the water, so it wasn't that they were really trying to leave Liz behind... About that time, Liz popped out of the water, having noticed the rest of our group was gone. She told me later she could have stayed in longer--she was having fun--but felt guilty about the rest of us sitting there, waiting for her. Oooh well!

Aurora in the pool

2009-01-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

Very fashionable in a one piece suit, Aurora hung out around the pool at the hotel, and even went for a swim. She really seems to like water--be in in the bathtub, the ocean or the swimming pool. She also wants to taste it...

7-Mile Beach fun!

2009-01-20T15:13:00.000-08:00

Since today has been chilly, with a thick pea-soup fog hanging around all day long, I thought I'd continue with the Cayman Island Adventure and post some beach photos. I'm missing the 80-plus degree temperatures already. How long until summer? sigh...

Seven Mile Beach is actually only about 6 3/4 miles long, but I guess that name doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as 7-Mile Beach. It was a lovely sandy beach and as you can see, the water was a gorgeous turquoise color.

More Cayman Island Photos

2009-01-20T06:31:00.001-08:00

One of the places we visited was the Turtle Farm. The Cayman Islands were called Las Tortugas by Christopher Columbus (which means The Turtles) because of the abundance of sea turtles in the area. Unfortunately, they are endangered now but bred here at the Farm. Some are released back into the wild, but others end up as main courses in restaurants!

Cayman Island Adventure

2009-01-20T06:03:00.000-08:00

I just got back late Sunday, from a week long holiday in the Cayman Islands, with my girls! Daughter Liz was there (as usual, the Instigator of Adventure--thank you, Liz!), daughter-inlaws Sheena and Frieda, and granddaughter, Aurora. Aurora is three months old now. Pretty sweet that she has her own passport! We had a wonderful time. Who would have thought that four women could share ONE bathroom for a week and still get along. hmm? This was the first time Aunt Lizzie and Aunt Sheena had met Aurora. Needless to say, I had trouble getting MY cuddle time with my granddaughter, but they did share now and again. We stayed at the Grand Caymanian, which is a very nice resort beside a golf course. It isn't on 7-Mile Beach, which is the popular place to be, but we rented a car and were able to go wherever we wanted...which included the beach.. Aurora has a tiny swimsuit and we discovered she loves the water! We visited the Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Gardens. Here are some photos from that excursion. We saw so many plants that I recognize as houseplants here, but there--they are tree sized!

2009-01-08T06:34:00.000-08:00

First we had more snow than I ever remember seeing here in my lifetime....and now it's raining torrents. I-5, a major freeway, has 40 miles of it closed due to flooding. Trains have been cancelled between Portland and Seattle. The passes are closed because of avalanche and mud slide problems. I've never been SO glad to be on high ground! Let's all try to keep to higher ground, friends...

Stay safe. I'm heading to the beach...

New Sunbeams

2009-01-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

I have a smaller class to teach at church this year; only seven 3 year olds instead of the nine or ten who were in my class last year. That means there isn't a second teacher for this class anymore. But never mind, even though I will miss Evelyn, I think this will go all right. Today was the Sunbeams first day in class. A change from the nursery and they didn't seem entirely sure they liked the idea. There were a few tears (theirs, not mine!) but they loved music time and did well, too, once we got to our classroom. Brooke gave the opening prayer, then we had a lesson on how we're children of God. There was a book for them to color in, and the stickers went over well! Paige gave the closing prayer, all by herself. All in all, they seemed to have a good time. Only one little girl, Karissa, didn't go to class with us. Her big sister waylaid her and insisted Karissa go to HER class! oops. When we were finished with our lesson and going back to Sharing Time, my little line of three year olds encountered Karissa's dad in the hallway. Of course, he wanted to know where his daughter was. I ratted out his older daughter, MacKayla, so hopefully Mom and Dad will have a talk with Big Sis and next week, Karissa will come to her own class. MacKayla has learned all of the things from the 3 year old class, but Karissa hasn't. She needs a chance to do that, as well as to form friendships with the other three year olds. Besides...we have fun and it will be even MORE fun with her there!

Here are the new 'Beams:

Hello 2009

2009-01-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

Doesn't it figure? Just about the time I'm used to writing "2008" on my checks, it's time to start writing "2009." Where did the year go? It was a good one for our family, though, with the sweet addition of Aurora in October, so I'm not complaining, but it did seem to go by pretty fast.

Do you make New Year's Resolutions? This is the time of the year I always stop and think about what I want to change in my life. I set some goals and then remind myself of them for the next 12 months. Sometimes I actually accomplish them! But even if I don't, I have something to aim for and hey, I'm be glad to get closer to where I want to be, or whom I want to be. For several years, there has been the usual "lose weight," on the top of my list, but I've made progress with that one in 2008--finally. I topped out at one point at a whopping 180. (eek! That is as much as my husband weighs!) I've managed to lose over 30 lbs (gained a bit of it back--it's still a daily struggle to not over indulge in yummy things like chocolate! lol) But now at least I'm at a healthy weight. But what about this tummy-bulge? That has got to go, or at least get smaller! I think my stomach had forgotten it has muscles. This year, I'm going to remind it. That's on my list. Get rid of some of that belly fat! Pare down.

Which brings me to my fabric stash. Ahh yes, any quilters out there reading this know what I'm talking about. Boxes, bins, and piles of lovely fabric! Rainbows of colors that tempt us to buy them and bring them home. Do we really need to have it all? I may not have it all, but looking around my quilting studio, it looks pretty close. Like my physical shape, there is an unwanted bulge in my quilting life. The large Rubbermaid tubs under my HQ Sixteen can hardly keep their lids on. A huge drawer is stuffed so full of fabric, I'm afraid to open it for fear I won't be able to get it closed again.....and we won't even go into the shelves with the fat quarter bins! My goal for this new year, then, is to not buy any fabric. Period. No ifs, ands or buts. No fabric buying! What can I make with what I already have? Looking in there, I'd say I have the makings for an embarrassingly large number of quilts. One year might not be enough, but it is a start. Check back here on New Year's Day 2010 and we'll see what I've accomplished!

Goodbye Sunbeams!

2008-12-29T06:18:00.000-08:00

One more post today and I'll be caught up! I just wanted to post these photos of the cute 4 year olds in my Sunbeam class at church. Next week they move up to the next class and I'll get a new fresh-from-the-nursery group of three year olds. They will be cute and wonderful too, but I will miss this bunch. They have been a source of much amusement to me--the things they think up! I know sometimes they drive their parents crazy, but being "of a certain age" and not usually having contact with 4 year olds, I've found them nothing but delightful and funny! Some of them were upset at the thought of not being in my class "the fun class" anymore (thank you! how sweet was that?) so some of my lesson yesterday was geared towards trying to make them feel better about it. We talked about how much they've grown and all they can do now--compared to when they were babies, for instance. Life is change. Nothing stays the same. But that's part of the adventure! We have SO much to learn before we get back to Heavenly Father. I explained to them that I have taught them ALL I know--so they have to have a new teacher now! ;-) That seemed to make perfect sense to them and I think...I hope...I helped them get excited about the change next week. Oh yes..I did tell them I'll love them forever and they can always say hi or give me a hug when we see each other. I hope they take me up on that...sigh!

Extended family gathering

2008-12-29T06:02:00.000-08:00

I like Tom's side of the family. Liz referred to them as "normal" but I'm not sure I'd go that far. Who is normal, after all? And do you want to be? But I suppose, compared to MY side of the family, they are. At least they aren't "psycho" like my sis and others. Ahh well. I'm not even going to address those issues here. I am just grateful we have such a fun and loving family. Not all of them could make it, but we had a pretty good turn out anyway--in spite of the weather and work conflicts. The gathering was here, for lunch Saturday, before Liz had to fly back to Alaska. It was the attraction of seeing Liz, of course, that got people to come! Her Aunts: Pam and Sue, her uncle Karl, and cousins Kristi and Sean,all came over for some Liz-time.

Taz was intrigued by all the company, particularly Sean who is 6 ft. 8 inches tall and has feet bigger than she is (especially in those boots!) She was circling him, wanting to go and say hello..but hesitating. Perhaps she was worried he would accidently crush her! Not an unreasonable fear. I finally picked her up and put her on his lap. She felt better being formally introduced and discovered he is a gentle giant. After checking everyone else out, she finally collapsed on the rug, the center of attention, showing everyone her tummy. Anyone foolish enough to rub it was met with the usual: claws and teeth! HA! But that was her evil plan, of course. She is a real people-cat and enjoyed all our company too.

Next month there is a family wedding, then another in August. 2009 will be a good year for extended family gatherings!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-29T05:33:00.001-08:00

It was a lovely Christmas! Liz managed to make it here from Alaska, after having her first flight cancelled due to weather. Weather HERE, not in Alaska! Seems SeaTac was low on de-icer, so the airlines was hesitant to fly in planes that might not be able to fly out again. Christmas morning, Tom headed off to the airport to bring our girl home for her way-too-short-visit. She still had to leave the 27th. Ohh well. Any Lizzie-time is better than NO Lizzie time. Jim and Sheena came over for breakfast and stayed for Christmas dinner...with present-opening time in between.

Jim and Sheena got a new quilt for Christmas. The pattern is from "Quilt In A Day" (deceptive name, like it REALLY would only take a day? HA!) It's called Tennessee Waltz. I really liked the fabric in the border. The rest of the quilt evolved from that. Jim confessed earlier that Sheena...sweet petite Sheena, is a quilt pig and takes all the covers at night! That's why they got another one for Christmas. It is 90 inches wide and 120 inches long. The BIGGEST quilt I've done yet (although...I think I can go bigger, what with the HQ Sixteen having leaders 106 inches wide. Hmm!) It wasn't until they pulled the quilt out of the bag and laid it out on them, that it struck me how pretty it turned out. I think it just looks good on them!

It would have been a perfect Christmas if Jeff, Frieda and Aurora had been able to make it here (it was Frieda's side of the family's turn...oooh well! NEXT year we get 'em! Aurora will be 14 months old then. What fun that will be!) Both Frieda and Sheena are gluten-intolerant. Frieda worked very hard, complying containers of rice flour, baking mix, and other goodies for Sheena. The package was so heavy, I had to drag it across the floor to get it to her. Jeff gave Jim a bit of nostalgia, with Transformer toys--the best of all was a vintage one (don't ask me WHICH one!) It turns into a gun and kept Jim amused while he tried to remember how to transform it.

Liz was thrilled with her new video camera. She's going to South Africa in March so I'm expecting to see some movies of lions and elephants--and the Dutch Verbaan cousins!

Santa gave me the traditional box of 50 fat quarters of fabric (at least I hope this is a tradition!) Think of this as the "before" photo. I hope to turn them into a quilt before Christmas 2009!

Poor tired Lizzie! Taz was glad to have her here too.

Playing in the Snow

2008-12-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

Today, while I was slaving away in the kitchen--doing some pre-Christmas dinner preparation, Tom decided to play in the snow! It started out innocently enough, with shoveling, yet again, the walkway and driveway---but see where it lead! (Tom is the one in the cowboy hat, btw)

Here are some more snow photos:

Cat in a Hat for Christmas

2008-12-23T08:49:00.000-08:00

Taz posed for these photos, modeling a Christmas hat. You can tell by the look in her eyes, that if she were REALLY the fierce savage lion she imagines herself to me, I would be her mid-morning snack for subjecting her to this indignity.

Home for Christmas

2008-12-23T05:23:00.000-08:00

Funny how the snow started out looking pretty and now has, at least to my mind, turned evil. Yes, EVIL! Because of all this dadblasted annoying white stuff, daughter Liz is stranded in Anchorage, instead of in our guest room! She was supposed to fly home for Christmas yesterday....but now it looks as though she'll be lucky to get here at all. She's got a seat on a flight landing at SeaTac on Christmas morning, but will still have to leave on the 27th. Ahhh well...any Liz time is better than NO Liz time.

Hittys in the Snow

2008-12-22T08:46:00.000-08:00

When I was a little girl, I read the book, "Hitty" by Rachael Fields. It's the story of a small wooden doll and all her adventures. That Hitty was quite the world traveler. Now, eons later, having fallen in amongst a group of Hitty-fans, I have my own Hittys. One in particular, Hitty Elizabeth, has gone on trips with me. Here we are today, snowbound, so I decided to take Elizabeth and her friend, Emma, outside to play in the snow. As usual with Hittys, there was trouble...

l

Watch out for that bump, Elizabeth!

Don't worry, I'll get you out!

More Snow

2008-12-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

Last night we had the Pacific Northwest version of a blizzard. The snow wasn't drifting down from the sky gracefully and gently...noooo, it was coming down in sheets, buffeted by strong gusts of wind! BRRRR. Church was cancelled today (no wonder there) which is kind of sad, not only because the Sunday before Christmas, there always is a special program in Sacrament meeting, but also because now I only have ONE Sunday left with my current batch of 4 year olds. Oooh well. I was glad I gave them all their Christmas gifts at the Christmas party on Friday night.

3000 people were stranded at SeaTac airport last night. Some of them are still there, waiting for flights home for Christmas. Hotels near the airport are all filled up, so those poor folks had to sleep in those uncomfortable airport chairs. I've done that. It's not a good time.

This morning Tom and I ventured out to explore the frozen wasteland of our neighborhood. We saw a couple cars going by but most of the inhabitants were staying inside. That is where we're going to stay now. The weather forecast is for more snow. Liz flies in tomorrow from Anchorage. Hope she can get here!

Christmas Quilt

2008-12-17T06:51:00.000-08:00

At least not being able to get out of the driveway because of the ice...I've been getting things done around the house! Here's a Christmas quilt I just finished up yesterday. It's from a pattern at Bonnie Hunter's website www.quiltville.com. I think it's called Bricks and Stepping Stones. Joan, if you are reading this, yes..this is the same pattern as the quilt I made for Neal. This one is just bigger! It's a great pattern for using up scraps; in this case, lots of Christmas fabric! It's on the bed, ready to welcome Liz home for the holidays next week. :-)

BRRR!!!

2008-12-15T05:53:00.000-08:00

Like most of the U.S., we're also in the midst of a deep freeze here. Usually our winters are rainy, with maybe a dusting of snow now and again. Here is my front yard on the left, and a photo of the garden and Tom's shop in the backyard. As you can see, there isn't a lot of snow, but it is cold. Very very cold! Temperatures are below freezing and will stay that way all this week and maybe most of next week as well. We're due more snow on Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday, with the roads all icy, I thought church would be cancelled. But no...it wasn't. Tom thawed out the car and off we went, slipping and sliding! Tom likes to "test the road" and see where it is slippery, so riding with him in this kind of weather is an adventure, to say the least! I just hang on and hope for the best!

Someone made a snowman out of the snow that had blown up against the church.

Four of the children in my class were there, so I was glad we'd made the effort. However, they were SO wound up from the snow, that I didn't actually teach them the lesson ("How we can help at church") We did make a thank you note for the bishop and I tried to talk with them about how they can keep the church clean, and how they can be reverent when they walk down the hallways, but I don't think anything sunk in. They were too excited about SNOW SNOW SNOW and that's what they wanted to talk about. Sammy, for instance, told me how there had been a car on the hill on the drive to church and it was having trouble in the ice and snow. So his dad made their car "jump OVER the car in front!" Jump? Uh huh! This from the fellow who said his name isn't going to be Sammy when he growns up. And what is it going to be, I asked? ROCKET SAMMY! Well, of course! I should have known....

Mostly I entertained the children by drawing a snowman on the chalkboard (see? I made a snowman and didn't even have to wear mittens!) I had a craft for them to do: a wooden snowman ornament with a photo of each of them inside. They colored their snowmen with felt tip pens and had a good time doing that. Cameron said it looked like the snowman had eaten them because (giggle, giggle) they were in his tummy!

All of the children said they'd be making snowmen after they got home from church, but the wind was blowing, it was bitterly cold, and the snow is really too dry to pack. I hope they all stayed inside and stayed warm! BRRRRR! That's what I'm doing today!

A lion and a lamb

2008-12-10T08:45:00.000-08:00

I've heard that Manx cats are like dogs (no offense to any Manx cats out there reading this), but the characteristic they share is that they like to be with their people and follow them around. This is definitely true with Taz. She trots after us, from room to room, wanting to be in the same room we're in, even if she is napping while she's there. Yesterday she was in my sewing room with me, as usual, but in order to keep an eye on what I was doing, she got up on the ironing board...where I'd set a stuffed toy lamb. The lamb became her pillow. Was she dreaming predatory dreams of lamb chops for lunch? We'll never know, but here are a couple photos of our resident "lion," lying down with a lamb.

Christmas Video

2008-12-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

I spotted this on a friend's blog. Go to this site and play the video. It is lovely! Thanks, Bonnie!

http://www.joytoeveryone.com/

End of the year with Sunbeams

2008-12-08T05:39:00.000-08:00

The year is coming to a close. All good things come to an end, right? One of those "good things" involves the class I teach at church. They are all four years old now and in January, will move up to the next class. I'll be getting a new group of three year olds, fresh from the nursery, and starting all over again. Back to the "sit on your chair, please." "no..with your bottom, NOT your face!" Sigh. While the new Sunbeams are cute, I always feel a bit sad at this point. For one thing, by the end of the year, the children are doing so much better at sitting and listening! And...for another...the biggest reason...I've gotten attached to them over the months, and really have grown to love them. Yesterday I told the children I'll miss being their teacher, but anytime they wanted to say hello and give me a hug, I would be happy for that. Lucy, who was feeling particularly grumpy since her best buddy, Cameron, wasn't there, stood up--hands on her hips and declared she didn't want to be in another class--she wanted to STAY IN THE FUN CLASS! How about that? Lucy usually acts like she doesn't want to be in my class at all, and here I find out she thinks we have fun! That's good to know. While secretly pleased, I assured her that her new class would be fun too.

Here are the Sunbeams, with Evelyn, the other Sunbeam teacher, but minus Michael (who was home sleeping--they have a new baby at their house), Treavor and Cameron. Can you spot Lucy The Cranky? ;-)

Gumby Tom

2008-12-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

Before Thanksgiving, Tom flew to Anchorage and took an arctic wilderness survival class. Since he has to wander about in the Alaska wilderness at times, working on the FAA radar, they decided it was prudent to have him know what to do if faced with bears, moose, or snowstorms. One of the things demonstrated in the class was a winter survival suit, which Tom, of course, volunteered to model! He went outside in shirt sleeves with the temperatures in the 20's. Very cold at first, but once he got into the suit, he was "toasty." As you can see, it isn't a suit you can walk around it, but rather wear while you wait out a storm or wait for rescue. When he took it off, he found he was cold again by the time he got into the building. Brrrr! Everyone at work decided Tom looks like an orange gumby, hence the title of this posting.

aha! Liz told me that the suit actually IS called a Gumby suit. So there you go...but isn't Gumby green?

50 Fat Quarter Quilt

2008-12-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

On a quilty note, here's the latest quilt finished. For the last two Christmases, one of the gifts Tom has given me has been a box with fifty fat quarters in it. For non-quilters who might be reading this, a "fat quarter" isn't a body part. ;-) It is a piece of fabric that is 18 inches by 22 inches--a more useable shape than a quarter of a yard of fabric (which would be 9 inches by 44 inches) I think it's pretty impressive, that Tom would go to the quilt shop by himself, wander around, and pick out fabric! Fat quarters are already cut and ready to go, but still, for a man....a non-quilter...that's pretty good! Ahhh, but here is a man who knows what I like! FABRIC! The first year, I used up the fat quarters randomly. One here, one there, until they were all gone (sigh!) This last year, though, I decided to use them all in one quilt. I got the pattern from Fon's and Porter's "Love of Quilting" magazine. It is in the January/February 2004 issue and is called the Barbara Frietschi Star. It actually calls for fifty fat quarters. I added a neutral for background in the stars, but other than that, the top is made only of those fat quarters--including the borders and the binding!

Thanksgiving in Utah

2008-12-02T07:04:00.000-08:00

We got back on Sunday from a long Thanksgiving holiday in Utah, with Jeff, Frieda and Aurora. This is the first time we've gone out of town for Thanksgiving in...I can't remember when! We had an early Thanksgiving with Jim and Sheena, so I actually didn't get out of cooking a turkey--but we did send most of the left overs home with them (I kind of miss those left overs--but Christmas is coming, so here's another chance for left overs!)

Tom got to meet our granddaughter for the first time and as you can see, he is smitten. Yes, another big person Aurora has wrapped around her wee finger!

The weather was wonderful; no snow. They "always" get snow for Thanksgiving, but not this year. That made traveling the 800-some miles very easy, though, so I'm not complaining.

Frieda cooked the whole meal herself. Oh wah, poor me--I didn't have to do anything but cuddle Aurora! heh heh heh

Here are some more photos from our holiday:

Frieda is blessed with a nice family--brothers and sisters that actually get along!

Here are photos of Aurora with the stocking I made for her. Well, she is IN the stocking! Also the redwork quilt I finished in time to deliver in person.

Aurora was blessed at church while we were there. Which, of course, meant a family gathering.

More baby photos, in case you haven't gotten enough yet! (I haven't! lol)

.

Redwork Quilt

2008-11-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, my loyal Quilt-Holder-upper is out of town at the moment. He's in Anchorage, Alaska, taking an arctic survival class on what to do while installing FAA radar and a bear...or a moose...or a snowstorm..gets in the way. Sounds interesting (but better him than me!)

This quilt is for Aurora, seeing as how I worked on the redwork blocks last month, when we were waiting for her to be born...as well as during her first week of life, when I was visiting in Utah (and waiting for a turn to cuddle her!) Aurora's nursery is pink and brown. Redwork is red! How to combine it all? I hunted online and was delighted to find fabric with a pink background, with red, pale pink, and brown spots on it! One of my favorite places to hunt for specific fabric is www.virginiaquilter.com I love that site. Their fabric is searchable by theme, color, manufacturer or designer. That makes it so easy to find exactly what I'm looking for. I think the quilt turned out pretty cute!

Quilted Kitty update

2008-11-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

I received part of my order from the Quilted Kitty today. At the end of July, during their sale, I ordered TWO sets of their fat quarter bundles. Each bundle contained 15 fat quarters (for you non-quilters, that's a piece of fabric 18 inches by 22 inches) Now the way I add 15 plus 15, I come up with 30....but I guess the folks at the Quilted Kitty are using a new math, as they only sent me 21. What happened to the other 9, which I have, btw, paid for? I am SO frustrated with these people! Three and a half months to get me part of what I ordered and it still isn't right.

arghhhhhhhhhhh

More Baby Goodies

2008-11-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a fun baby quilt I just finished, being held up by my loyal and overworked Quilt-holder-upper, Tom. Oddly enough, it isn't for our new granddaughter. I must be slipping, eh? This one is for a friend who is going to have a daughter in a few weeks.

But don't worry, I'm not neglecting Aurora! Here is a project I just finished for her---a set of fabric baby blocks. The pattern is from BH&G "Quilts And Gifts to Give," 2008. Very easy to do---the sides of the blocks are 3 inch squares. Sew four of them together in a row, then connect them on one end to make a "box" with no top or bottom. Be sure to use a 1/4 inch seam allowance when you sew. Start your sewing 1/4 inch in and stop 1/4 inch from the end. This will make it a lot easier to sew the top and bottom of the blocks on. Add another 3 inch square on each end but be sure to leave a gap in one seam, so you can turn the blocks right side out! If you go to www.allpeoplequilt.com/061, you can get the patterns for the letters, which are sewn on with a buttonhole stitch. I traced the letters on a fusible web first, then ironed them to the fabric I was using, cut out the letters and ironed them onto the 3 inch squares. As you can see, the blocks can spell out Aurora! I added enough letters for other important words: Mama, Daddy, Jeff, Frieda. It was fun finding novelty fabric in my stash, with animals and other cute images for the sides of the blocks without letters.

I made enough blocks to fit in a cake carrier from WalMart. It has a nice snap on lid as well as carrying handles.

Quilted Kitty quilt shop, Nebraska

2008-11-12T07:42:00.000-08:00

I've tried to only post positive things here at my blog, but I am so frustrated, I need to complain a bit. What better place than my blog?

What happens when you order from an online shop, and don't receive your order? What do you do? The Quilted Kitty quilt shop has been, for at least the last decade, one of my favorite online shops. Items I ordered were good quality and always mailed promptly. When I was needing something, I always checked the Quilted Kitty first. I never hesitated to recommend it to a quilting friend as a reliable source of all those goodies we quilters seem to need. So, at the end of July, when the shop was having a week long sale, I didn't think twice about placing an order for some fat quarters. A few days later, another sale item caught my eye, this time for a Minkee kitty quilt kit. Perfect for the granddaughter due to be born in October and ordering it at the beginning of August, I would have plenty of time to make the quilt for her. HA! I waited for the items to arrive, hoping they'd put them all together in one package. However..here it is, mid-November, and I AM STILL WAITING! Aurora was born October 15th. While she has six other quilts from this Grandma, there isn't the Minkee one that I was planning on making. No big deal, except the non-existent quilt kit cost me $49.95 and I have nothing to show for it!

I have emailed Nanci, the shop owner, a couple of times. She isn't answering my emails anymore, which btw, were polite and friendly--with the tone of "what's going on and when can I expect my order?" After all, I liked Nanci (notice the past tense? Yes, I am feeling cranky!) I know it never does any good to be all riled up and I'm not the yelling sort anyway. After all these years of good service from her, I knew there had to be something wrong somewhere and was willing to cut her slack for that. But really, is it too much to expect to receive what I've paid for--and in a timely manner? Nanci's excuse is staffing problems. Apparently the person who was filling the online orders had been terminated, because she was doing a lousy job. That's for sure! Nanci promised, in her email, to send my order out soon. Okay, so that was back in September when I found that out and but now, with it being mid-November, I am wondering what her definition of "soon" is? And..I am way beyond the point of being sympathetic to her "staffing problems." Two weeks ago I spoke with Nanci on the phone and she promised to send me the fat quarters (where have I heard that before?), but was out of Minkee for the kit. Well, at least I'd get the fat quarters, that's a start. Drumming of fingers....wait wait wait...where ARE they? Today I called the Quilted Kitty again and spoke with Roz, an employee at the shop, since Nanci is out until tomorrow. Roz told me Nanci is at least three months behind with the online orders but seemed hopeful that eventually I'd get what I'd ordered. I am not hopeful, however, considering how Nanci has been making promises and not keeping them for months now. I am VERY FRUSTRATED! I told Roz I want what I ordered, or I want my money refunded. Oddly enough, there wasn't any problem at all with them charging my credit card--August 4th is the date on my credit card statement. Pretty prompt with that, aren't they?

I will never, EVER order from Nanci again and am warning my quilting buddies to avoid the Quilted Kitty as well. It is apparent that Nanci's word can't be trusted. Where is her integrity? What about good customer relations to insure my continued business? Why tell me she'll sent the fat quarters immediately and then NOT DO IT? Phooey. This is very disappointing.

Consider this a warning. Shop at the Quilted Kitty at your own risk!

Has anyone else ever had a problem like this? And what did YOU do?

UPDATE: I got back from the store to find a message on my answering machine from Roz, the gal I whined to at the Quilted Kitty this morning. SHE has my fat quarters packaged up and ready to go out in the mail, today or tomorrow. Although I have had that promise before, from Nanci, I am feeling a glimmer of hope--and feel I was lucky to have caught Roz when I called, instead of Nanci! Roz also said that Nanci would be contacting me about the Minkee Kitty quilt kit, since they still haven't gotten the fabric back in stock. Phew. Maybe this will work out after all.. Thank you, Roz!

(psst...they've still lost my business F-O-R-E-V-E-R, but that isn't so surprising, now is it?)

Christmas Stockings

2008-11-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

Christmas is NEXT month, people! Are we getting ready? I have quilts to quilt, so I am wondering why I'm sitting in front of the computer, blogging. Tsk tsk tsk...do I have time for this? Before I head scurry back to Santa's Workshop (a.k.a.: my quilting studio), here's a photo of two of the Christmas stockings I just finished. I love making these stockings! They are such fun.

Ian is one of my nephews. He's getting married summer 2009 (can you hear his mother cheering? She's getting a daughter-inlaw! YIPPPEEEE!!! Daughter-inlaws are absolutely wonderful, and can lead to even more wonderfulness: grandchildren! ohboyohboy!!!) Karin is the name of Pam's soon-to-be daughter-inlaw. I haven't met her yet, but as a welcome to the family, I thought it would be fun to make her a stocking. Of course since I hadn't ever made one for Ian (oops!), I had to make one for him too. I also made a stocking for Aurora, with fabric Frieda picked out. It's so big, I think Aurora could fit in it! I'm not showing you the photo of that one right now, because...Frieda or Jeff might stop by my blog...and I want to surprise them with the stocking IN PERSON!

Pass this on...

2008-11-03T16:16:00.000-08:00

I got this in my email today and thought it was worth sharing.

"If I Had My Life To Live Over - by Erma Bombeck
(written after she found out she was dying from cancer)

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later.. Now go get washed up for dinner.' There would have been more 'I love you's' More 'I'm sorry's.'
But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute, look at it and really see it, live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!
Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what. Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us."

That last part, about not worrying who doesn't like you....or who's doing what...struck home with me! Those of you who know me and my life situation, are probably nodding your head right now and going, "uh huh!!! Pay attention, Yvonne!" lol Okay, it's time to cherish the relationships we have with those who DO love us! That sounds like more fun anyway, doesn't it?

Another Dinosaur in the family

2008-11-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

Back when Jeff was small, maybe 7 or 8 years old, there was a Halloween when he wanted more than anything, to be a DINOSAUR! Having already gone all out in previous years, making a Captain America costume for Jim, and a Spotted Elephant for Liz, it was Jeff's turn for a special costume. Of course, as with the others, I couldn't find a pattern and had to "ad-lib." It turned out very cute, dark green, with a long tail that had yellow spikes on it. The spikes were also on the hood he wore on his head...and they matched the claws on the hand and shoe covers. I found a plastic dinosaur "nose" with an elastic band, that he wore on his face. He accompanied the whole outfit with a very growly dinosaur "ARRRGHHHHH!!!" Very cute. Very Jeff! So...you can understand how, when I walked into our local Fred Meyer shortly before leaving for Utah to meet Aurora, I couldn't resist the Little Monster costume! When I brought it home and showed it to Tom, he laughed and said I was "incorrigible." Hmm. He may be right, but who is to say that is a bad thing?

When I got to Jeff and Frieda's house, I pulled the costume out of my bag and tossed it at Jeff. I told him I'd bought that for him. Of course, being as how it was a newborn size, he had to let Aurora wear it. He was delighted, having fond memories of that dinosaur costume--which he wore often, until he finally outgrew it. He still has it, btw, so maybe someday Aurora will wear that one as well!

Here is beautiful Mama-princess with her sweet Little Monster. (thanks to Bev, Frieda's mom, for sending me these photos. It's good to have the "local Grandma" as a source for photos!!!)

Bath time!

2008-10-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

Aurora's First Video

2008-10-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

Aurora with her quilts

2008-10-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

I made six quilts for Aurora. That doesn't seem excessive to ME, especially considering one of the gals in my quilt guild, made a dozen quilts for her granddaughter--before the baby was even born! I might have done better if Jeff and Frieda hadn't waited so long to tell us they were expecting. We didn't find out until June! That only gave me four months to make quilts! But never mind...here is Ms. Cuteness with her quilts.

Those of you who are counting, yes...that is only four photos! Check out the previous post for one more--the quilt by Grandma, and quilted by Grandpa green and lavender quilt. That makes five. Missing is the "blessing blanket," a silky wholecloth quilt. Aurora will be blessed next month; I'll get a photo then!

However, here is the wholecloth quilt my friend "Dutch," sent for Aurora! This one is all handquilted. Incredible!

Welcome to the World, Aurora May!

2008-10-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

I just got back a few days ago, from hanging out with my son, daughter-inlaw, and their beautiful new daughter, Aurora May. Aurora was born the 15th of October and weighed 7 lbs, 3 oz. She was 18.5 inches long. I took over 200 photos while I was visiting, but I'll just share my favorites with you!

The happy family:

Brand-new Aurora:

Me with my baby, who is holding HIS baby! How sweet that was, seeing Jeff's tenderness with his daughter. Aurora is such a lucky girl, having two such wonderful and loving parents.

Aurora with the quilt Tom quilted for our granddaughter:

More Aurora photos!

One of my favorite photos is that one with Aurora, napping on her Mama, and holding Frieda's finger.

I think maybe I took too many photos--and Aurora got annoyed with me....

Oops!

Happy Birthday, Jim!

2008-10-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm a few days late with this, but it's been a busy weekend! We got home in time to celebrate our eldest son's birthday with him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIM!!! Unfortunately, his sweet wife was working and couldn't be there too, but I sent home lots of leftovers with Jim for Sheena to enjoy later. That is only fair since everything I made was with her gluten-allergy in mind. Here is Jim, blowing out the candles on his (gluten-free) Cherry Dump Cake. He asked when he would be old enough not to have candles on his cake. HA! How about never? Out of courtesy to him and his ears, though, we didn't sing to him this time--but hahahahahaa the birthday card we gave him played MUSIC, which was almost as annoying!
Annoying our children, just another service we offer...kind of like posting silly photos of them on my blog, huh? LOVE YOU, JIM!!!! he he he

Home Again!

2008-10-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

It's good to be home. Tom had radar work to do in Dallas, Oregon, and I got to go along, one of the advantages of having an empty nest. With my wee Janome (sewing machine) and several projects to work on, I managed to stay busy. Dallas is a small town near Salem. The hotel we stayed at was the Best Western (very nice, btw) and is located a mere 9/10ths of a mile from the local quilt shop! Here is Grandma's Attic and Sewing Emporium, which I visited at least four times in the 17 days we were in town. It's a very nice quilt shop and I was glad to have someplace to visit when I got hotel-fever (similar to cabin-fever, of course!) My days were spent sewing in my room...walking around town...and going over to Safeway for our dinner salads. There was a Goodwill right across the street, by the Safeway, so when I ran out of paperback books to read, AHA! I had a source.

The park was inhabited by large squirrels, some the size of a small cat.

Here are more scenes of Dallas, City Hall and the Japanese garden at the park:

Poor Tom worked long hours but did manage to have ONE Saturday off. We drove to the beach and walked along the shore for a bit at Lincoln City. The most interesting thing there were the pelicans, swooping over the waves.

Tom had Sundays off, so of course we went to church--but in Corvallis, where we lived 26 years ago. Here is a photo of the duplex we lived in, at Adair Village, when Jeff was born.

The highlight of the trip, however, was visiting with old friends from our Corvallis days. Dick and Carol, wonderful people and our #1 favorites during the time we lived there, invited us to dinner at their home. Good food, good friends, what more could one ask? Well, maybe WHERE have the last 26 years gone and how come they whizzed by so fast? It was a good thing I happened to hear the Grandfather's clock striking the hour, or we probably would still be there, talking!

Projects I worked on during the trip were a Tennessee Waltz quilt top (still needs borders), a signature block quilt with blocks from internet friends (also needing borders), a Christmas quilt, and a baby quilt. I also finished up three blocks for my quilt guild's block of the month, and a stack of maple leaf blocks. I think I have 48 now, must be time to make them into a quilt too!

I do get a lot done, quilting-wise, when I go on a trip with Tom but I think about one week is all I can stand, and then I get b-o-r-e-d! Especially since he wasn't around much, having to leave early in the morning and getting back late at night most days. I could have stayed home, sewed...and had the cat to talk to!

One unusual thing that happened while we were in Dallas. I got mail at the hotel! I was in an Autumn swap with some quilting buddies and Hannah, who had my name, decided instead of sending my swap goodies to my house--she would surprise me by sending them to the hotel! She certainly did that, all right. I think my favorite item is the "Magnificent Grandma" mug.

Speaking of grandmas...we passed a town named Aurora on the way to Dallas! Granddaughter Aurora is due to make her debut into the world SOON!

Siggy Blocks

2008-09-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

One thing my online quilt friends like to do, every few years, is swap signature blocks. We recently did this again and I received 56 lovely blocks. As I was looking for something in my "almost" organized sewing room, I came across another batch from 2006...and later, a few from 2004. Hmm. I'd forgotten I had those! Of course none of the batches of blocks were the same size, and the earlier ones are even a different pattern. Nevertheless, my goal is to put them all together in ONE quilt. Stay tuned. Here is a photo of the first two batches, lined up on the floor. Of course Taz is investigating. She feels it necessary to supervise my quilting projects.
And give her opinion....

Patchwork Puzzle Balls

2008-09-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

Here's another one of the patchwork balls I've been making; a good "in front of the tv" project when I don't have a quilt to bind. I hand-stitch them. They really don't take long to make, once I got the first one figured out. The pattern is from Jinny Beyer's book, "Patchbook Puzzle Balls." I made one for Aurora, granddaughter-on-the-way, and then I started thinking how cool they are and wondering if my Sunbeams (4 year olds in my Primary class) would like them. Were the balls too babyish? It has been a long time since I've had munchkins this age; what DO they like? I couldn't decide, so I took one along to church on the Sunday that Michael was supposed to tell me if he was getting a new brother or a new sister in December. His mother had an ultrasound and the answer was known, but wanted Michael to have the thrill of telling his teacher the results. Unfortunately, by the time I saw Michael in class, he'd forgotten! Some thrill, hmm? Never mind, I had other sources so I'd already found out the answer anyway. I gave him the ball for his BABY SISTER and told him to hang on to it for her. No reaction from the other children until a week later, when Lucy came up to me, out of the blue, her hand on her hip and said, "I have a baby sister. You didn't make a ball for HER! I think my feelings are hurt!" Too funny! I think it was the hand on the hip that cracked me up. I maintained a serious exterior, though, and told her I didn't want her feelings to be hurt, so I'd bring a ball for her baby sister the following Sunday. When I gave Lucy the ball that day, Cameron said, "I have a baby brother! MY feelings are hurt you didn't make one for him!" Oookay, another ball to make and give away! By this time I was starting to suspect... I mentioned to both Lucy and Cameron that if they wanted to keep the balls for themselves, that would be all right too. They both admitted that is exactly what they wanted to do! AHA! Four year olds DO like the balls! Now I know! I told the rest of the class that I'd make one for each of them: Holly, Sadie, Grant, and Sophia.
Here are the Sunbeams, minus Sophia. They are a fun group.

New Toy

2008-09-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

In July, I upgraded from a Juki TL98E on a Grace Frame, to a HQ Sixteen. My Grace/Juki system was lovely, but the HQ was an opportunity too good to pass up! My quilting room had to be totally reorganized, since the HQ is longer and wider than the Grace is. It is a wee bit more cramped in there now, but well worth it. My quilting room is, unfortunately, also the laundry room. If I could figure out how to get out of ever having to do laundry, I could get the washer and dryer out of there, and have a lot more space! But since that isn't ever likely to happen...I can deal with it being a bit cramped. Here are a couple of photos of what my new room looks like.
Notice Taz over by the window? She got upset when I first set up the new room, as I had forgotten to put in a cat-sleeping spot! What was I thinking?

Tom, as an engineer, is very interested in machines and how things work. Once we got the HQ Sixteen up and running, he has been wanting a chance to play with it. Yesterday I loaded a quilt in it, for Aurora, and let him have a go! The plan is to have a label with something on it like this. "quilt top by Grandma, quilted by GRANDPA!"