Fitness Update

Fitness update is positive this week. I have lost 1.5 lbs this month. Hey, better than the other way. I made it to the gym 4 times last week. On goal for half hour of cardio a day and half hour of weight training every other day that is good usually I have to break up my routine into two trips to the gym. I just have to get started earlier in the morning.My goal(revised) is at least 5 days of activity. I am having trouble on Fridays. Last week I chaperoned the 7-8th grade dance after work. What fun! I think I will be invited back (by my son). I will have to do something about that music! The kids did it. Anybody know about techno?.. Headache.

Here is my inspirational photo for the day. Oh to have a stomach to show off. No that is not me(yet):)

School Picture Day.

Nicole plays basketball at school. I was able to attend this week. As I was socializing in the stands I heard from floor,"Mom! pay attention!" She was standing at the free throw line. Oops! She missed the shot but followed it up with the rebound and scored. Way to go!

Today was picture day. So as the children prettied themselves up I got the camera ready.

I told Nicole she gets to wear her hair any way she wants to the rest of the year but today I want her to wear it down. It looks beautiful!



Kevin is working on making his smile look real and not like he is in pain. I won't tell you the words he says to himself to make him laugh.


Alea is missing 4 teeth in the front she refuses to smile and show the spaces.
Eric is working hard to keep the hair out of his eyes. He knows that he will have to cut it again if he is looking through it.

Weekend Business

Saturday was a day to travel to Stockton for a Soccer tournament. Stockton is a town about 1.5 hours drive. I got lost. I have been there before but not to this particular park. I was reading the map upside down! I turned right instead of left, etc... We were half an hour late! We have had a car with a navigation system for about 4 months. I have become dependent on it. Don't ask me why I decided to to drive the other car this day.

Jeff stayed home and managed the other children with their soccer games.

Sunday is my day of rest. Our church was doing a special project of not just going to church but Being the church. Today, instead of going to church you were invited to participate in some sort of service project. The girls and I went to the park in our community and helped to serve breakfast and distribute food to those who need it. The boys went back to Stockton for day 2 of soccer.

This afternoon I got time to quilt some on my Old Tobacco road quilt. Nicole dug out the Spartan then decided she would rather piece by hand. I would prefer that also because she has one speed and that is to the floor. I am afraid for her fingers. Alea wanted to try. Here she is looking really proud. She was making a 4 patch and trying to convince me to buy her her own Viking.
Many of you are following the progress of the quilt shack (Hi Don). Here are the latest pictures. DH has decided the easiest way of squaring up the end of the building is to rebuild it. The window too.

X Bag purse

After being at the boutique at the quilt show I got inspired to make purses. I have been a collector of purse patterns for a while now however have not made one. Well that changed this week. I made 2. The pattern is the X Bag get it here. I started with this sparkly one. I had issues with the binding.

This one I bought 2 pairs of size 24 jeans at the second hand store. I cut them up and lengthened the handle to make a sling purse. The seams were too thick to sew through. Next one I will line the jeans with cotton for one of the ladies in my office.

Fitness Update.

Well, this fitness update moved to Sunday. I did not meet my goal this week but I have you to thank for what I did get accomplished. Kids and work what can I say.... I did cardio 4 times and weight training 2 times this week. Friday was the quilt show prep and so on.... But tomorrow starts a new week. I walk/ jogged twice this week on the Dragoon Gulch trail behind my office. The stock photos do not do the trail justice. I t is so beautiful back there. Maybe I'll take my camera next time.
This week on Wednesday I am meeting with a trainer at the gym to get on a new weight regiment.

Monday morning The ladies at the office and I weigh in. We put ourselves on our own weight watchers program. I will look forward to a good reading.

BOM#4

This evening I made Judy's BOM#4. It really turned out nice, I am happy with it. By doing this project I am becoming a better quilter. I found that if I finger press the middle of the triangles and middles of the square sides I can keep everything lined up.


Kevin wanted to pose with the block, and he is cute, so I included this picture

Super Saturday

Wow, Today was a busy day, and it's not done yet.
It started at 7:45am with a soccer game for DD#2. It is so fun to watch those 6yo girls playing soccer.

Then to the quilt show to set up the video to sell CDs. I took the girls and we had a blast. DD #1 was the photographer. She went around taking all sorts of pictures of the quilts and what ever struck her fancy.

We were at the show before it opened and little did I know of the excitement of folks waiting to get in. Right at 10:00am there was a mad rush to the boutique. well I had to get in on the hub-bub. There were ladies grabbing stuff by the arm loads. I did manage to restrain myself. I bought one, only one item in the boutique. A pin cushion. I had planned on making that one from cotton spice ( I still may). It has crushed walnut shells in it. It works great and the best part is it was only 8 bucks!. Here is DS#2 putting the pins in it. From one of the vendors I bought Liberated String Quilts by Gwen Marston. I am ever vigilant looking for Liberated Quilt making. I don't think I got to all the vendors, I'll have to look tomorrow.
I learned what Bali Pops are. They are Hoffman's answer to jelly rolls with batiks. Think I am going to make a bag with these. They are so exciting. I heard an elderly lady say that the only time she gets her heart rate up is at a quilt show. I know what she means.
DS #1 had a double header here at home. At home I mean Columbia College 30 minute drive from our house. I have to say today was a glorious day for a soccer game in Columbia. 70 degrees sunny, light breeze, cold if you sat in the shade. The pines are lush the sky was blue. Over all a great day to be alive.


After diner I made Judy's BOM#4.

Quilt Show

Today was the day that I got to photograph the quilt show. WOW, what fabulous quilts. I am motivated to push the envelope. Here are a few of my favorites. Boy there are so many.

Joice is the featured quilter here she is posing in front of her favorite quilt.

A Finish

Well here it is. This is the sampler for my Father in Laws wife Elisa. Read about it here. She wanted a queen size for her bed so it is 88X103, 16 blocks with 3 inch sashing and corner stones. It really came out nice.


The quilting is sparse on the top and leaves around the sides. I wanted the blocks to be the main attraction.


I packed it in a Mr. Coffee box with a hand written address label shipped standard then asked for $500.00 insurance. You should have seen the look on the postmistress's face. She was quite perplexed. I finally broke down and told her what was in the box.

The quilt show is this weekend. Tomorrow I get to photograph the quilts and make CD's for sale. I did it last year too. If you want one just email me. They cost $5.00. There are 302 entries this year.

Acorn Festival

ON Sunday afternoon we went to the Acorn Festival for the Tuolumne band of the MI-Wuk Indians on their reservation. Which is 2 miles from my home. It is the first time we have gone in the 8 years that we have lived there.

The Boys are banging on drums made with animal skin stretched across wooden bases. The sounds are very rich and deep. No two drums sound alike. They were very cool but I resisted bringing any home. If I did DH would have my hide.

There were local artisans making goods and jewelry. How beautiful. I always think I would love to make stuff like that but then I would have to sell.That would mean sitting in the hot sun and traveling every weekend. No Thanks!


I had to stop these dancers and get their picture. Their costumes are beautiful. I learned that they make mistakes in their bead work on purpose because they are not perfect. Hmmm sounds like a humility block.

I have heard a lot about Indian Tacos. We had to try one. It is a piece of fried dough(yummm) with beans, ground beef, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and salsa. Eric ate most of it. I know he will be coming every year, if for no other reason than to get an Indian Taco.


Lyndsy is my Chiropractic Assistant at work. She brought her boys 6 and 8. We were all amazed by the kids dancing.

These first two are boys doing a native hunting dance. They were very focused.
These are girls swirling their capes. I missed the significance of this dance but it was beautiful.

Square?

My DH has been framing. We decided to put sliding glass doors on each end of the quilt shack so he had to frame for them. There is nothing in our house that is square so why would we think this project would be any different? The Shack is canted but stable. Jeff assured me that his framing is square and the walls will have to be as they are.

Your eyes are not deceiving you it really is that far off.


Boy that makes him crazy.

BOM #3

Whew... I got it done, block number 3 of Judy's Block of the Month. Judy releases a new block on the 1st and the 15th and I barely got this one done in time. Even though I copied the file to my computer and printed it out I was afraid somehow I would be caught without.

This block was easy to make and did not take too much time. Most of time is spent in cutting it out. I have been really careful in my measurements so it all fits.

I am really pleased with my blocks. I am finding the block of the month format really fun. It is almost like I get free blocks. I am looking foward to the finished product. Thanks Judy!

Old Tobacco Road Colors

This is a message I got on quiltchat so I thought I would answer it here.

"Tamara,
I wanted to know what color choices you made in your OTR quilt. Love how rich the colors look.
Judi in Ohio"

I took OTR out side to photograph it. To show you more of the true colors. Individually the colors aren't anything special. The browns are kinda red/purple browns. I got them off of my mom's stash shelf. They are dated. I put some orangy browns and deep magenta with them and they played well together.

There are only 4 lights in the pinwheels and 4patches. They are creamy to slightly rusty colors.




I am pleased with how it turned out, and happy to talk about it. I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.

Fitness Report

For those of you who read my blog regularly ( hi mom) will notice that there is a new picture in my side bar. It is a group I recently joined. Crafty, Creative and Fit. It is my goal to be all three.
I really need to stop skating in regards to my diet and regular exercise. Now that I am over 40 it's not just about a few extra curves and bulges, it is about health. I counsel people every day about diet and lifestyle. I know how important is to maintain health throughout our entire lives. I need someone to be accountable to. So here you are, my blog readers. Friday is fitness report day. It is my goal to do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 6 days a week and weight training 3 days a week. Many of the participants are runners. I will have to work up to that I have never been a runner. Even when I played Basketball in college I was not a runner. I was sucking up dust in the vineyards we ran through at Fresno State.

This week I made my goal of going to the gym and walking every day. I have belonged to the Club for over a year. I have made good use of my membership.

I have a wonderful walking track through the beautiful downtown Sonora.
I also have walking path behind my office called Dragoon Gulch Trail which is 2.5 miles through the woods (to Grandmothers house we go).
I have NO excuse.

This is the book I am reading. Or I should say the book I bought this week. I am doing a Bible study on the first Tuesday of the month and Cammie is leading. She was in my office this week delivering the book. My staff wants to read it. They read much faster than I do so I let them have it for the weekend. There is a lot of excitement about this book and I don't want to be left out! Have any of you read it? What do you think?

Challenge Quilt

Last night was a meeting of the Sierra Quilt Guild. We meet once a month on the 2nd Monday of the month. This month we had our challenge quilt. People were given a yard of a mystery fabric and could make anything they wanted from it. Here is Alice with my favorite and Maureen with the blue ribbon. It was a great meeting. We are gearing up for our annual Quilt Show on the 20-21 of September. There are 302 entries. I entered 4, and 3 are from Quiltville.com.

Over the weekend we went to Rail Town State Park. This is one of the last steam engines. It was so cool.They filmed a number of movies here at Rail Town including Back To The Future III, and Petticoat Junction.