Dr. Quiltmom

A New Bathroom

2011-12-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

Eric's 16th Birthday

2011-11-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday DD#1

2011-10-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

The other day Kevin declared it Nerd Day and dressed nicely with suspenders.
Today is a regular day and here he is, I think it is clash day.

Our Darling Daughter Nicole turned 14. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful, thoughtful, and kind 14 year old girl.

I spent my day off learning how to bend wire. Not too bad I think.

Granola Models

2011-09-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, not really modeling granola but, this morning I made homemade granola. Oatmeal, pecans, coconut, butter, and honey baked in oven 300 for 30 minutes. I added chocolate chips and dried cranberries when it cooled. Kevin wanted to know it you eat it like cereal with milk or if you have to eat it dry.

I started stringing beads into jewelry.

Here is Alea modeling a creation I styled for Lindsay, a lovely young lady that works in my office.

Kevin took it upon himself to declare it Nerd day at his school. This is what he came up with. He was bouncing around this morning powered by granola anticipating his friends participation. I thin one of his friends came to school dressed like a Hippie.

Macaroons

2011-09-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get a taste for something just out of the blue? I was treating a patient yesterday and I got a strong taste for macaroon cookies. It may have stemmed back to Chiropractic School. I was a macaroon junkie. Every day I would buy one or two in the student store and eat them in class. I just must have been reminded of something that triggerd that memory!

I went to the trusty web and got a recipe from this web site. The cookies were so good. I adapted them for a gluten free diet and WOW they were great. I did share with Kevin. He is the only one in the family (besides me) that likes coconut. Try them they are yummy and easy.

First Day of School (in August)

2011-09-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

Summertime

2011-09-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

This summer has been filled with fun and excitement for our family. We started in June with a family reunion in our neck of the woods. Twain Harte Ca. We stayed 3 nights at the Lazy Z Resort about 15 minutes drive from our house. I could go home every day and water the garden.

Kevin and Alea did a triathlon this summer. Had a blast.

I finished Roll Roll Cotton Boll and put it in our guild's quilt show. It looked stunning hanging there among all those incredible quilts.

Me and the Love of my life.

Prom Night

2011-05-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

Eric went to the prom last weekend. His date Sydney is on his right and her sister Ashley is on the left. He is a Sophomore and they are Seniors. It was Thursday morning and he called from the other room, "Mom, do you care if I go to the prom on Saturday?" "Hu?" was my immediate reaction. "With who???" As it turns out these beautiful, smart, involved young women wanted to go to their prom so they asked Eric and his other Sophomore friend to be their dates. He said they had a great time and even got dinner out of the deal.

Our new favorite place in town is here! I have been telling Jeff for years we needed a serve yourself yogurt place in town. One that has original Tart flavored yogurt. Here it is!! We are frequent visitors

here. I think we paid the rent for the first month.

It was Mother Lode Roundup this weekend. The county celebrated with a Parade and a Rodeo. Kevin got to ride in a Camero

sponsored by Sierra Motors. He is riding with my friend Tammy, her husband and son.

Eric and his Dad.

This made me laugh.

Life at the Lund's

2011-05-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Easter at our house. My daughetr and her cousin were joined at the hip.

The rest of the kids played video games.

Little House on the Prairie Days . I did get the chance to exercise my sewing skills making a bonnet, skirt and apron.

We have been enjoying the weather and all the yard work that comes with trees falling down.

Softball and baseball have started. 3 nights a week we are out for games.

Kevin, Alea and I ran in the Old Mill Run. They ran in the 2 mile race. Kevin took 5th place and Alea 16th. I stepped out and pushed the envelope and ran the 10K race. I felt really good about the race I did not even stop to hyperventilate.

Sonora Art Trails was last weekend. That is where 20 local artists open up their studios to the public. This is Patricia Cherry. She has a wonderful variety of talents. There is watercolor and oil and landscapes, portraits and abstracts, very talented.

This is Irene Taylor, she is a friend of mine. Her work is absolutely stunning. I offered her space in the reception area at my office. She is going to bring work down and hang it in my office. I am so excited!

This is Leslie Carabas, she also is a friend of mine. She belongs to my Guild and is a fiber artist. Yep, that work behind her on the wall are quilts. She is preparing for a one person show at a New York gallery. She had definitely inspired me to branch out and try more art quilting.

WoooHooo Winner!

2011-03-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

Earlier I posted about Eric's first tennis tournament. Here he is with his doubles partner and they won! How exciting. It was really fun watching them play.

Nicole came along to cheer on her brother, she was mostly bored, It was an all day thing.

Grandma came along too. She was very proud of her grandson.

Then we had ice cream. Yummm what a great day!

Baby Quilt

2011-03-07T05:21:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I am having so much trouble arranging pictures in blogger. I really wanted to move the quilt pictures to the top. They don't move and I can't delete the ones I have changed my mind about sharing. So you get what is here.

My #1 DS is now on the tennis team. He and his soccer playing friends have decided to invade the the JV team (last week). The team only consisted of 4 players and now it is 8. The coach said that they may pull it out and make tennis players of them yet. Their first tournament is today. I am really surprised at his level of enthusiasm for it. I will keep you posted on the outcome. Should be fun.

DS #2 on the right is preparing for a snow boarding day at Dodge Ridge today with his friend.

We have a lovely community with a big duck pond near us. Here is DD #2 enjoying time with her friend.

DD #1 Loves playing Basketball She takes it most places.

Here are those quilt pictures I was talking about. I made this "Shaggy Quilt" for a friend of mine who just adopted there 2nd baby girl form China. What a selfless act form a wonderful giving couple. They have 2 older daughters that are 22 and 24. This quilt matches this quilt I make for her sister a couple of years ago.
One of the ladies in the guilt made a quilt like this one and shared it at show and tell last month and it was the hit of the event. She was so kind to write out the instructions and share them me. I could Email them to you if Email me your interest.
My attempt at photography art. I thought the ice sickles were kinda cool! Poor roses.

Snow Storm

2011-02-21T17:00:00.000-08:00

Since I can' t move this photo to the bottom I will explain it right out of the gate. We found these little critters on the floor right after we got the snow pants out of the shed. My DD put on her snow pants and these fell out! Yuk! I was way more upset about it then she was. These bugs weren't even dead. When I started to clean them up they started moving their crawly little legs! They went straight to the fire place.

We had quite the snow storm this week. This live oak went down in our driveway. Here is Kevin posing. We spent 4 hours cutting and clearing this big guy. I got to help because I couldn't get out to go to work.I really wanted to work on a baby quilt for a shower next week so I truged my way out to the Quilt Shack for a little while. The heater had been on for a couple of hours and the temp only made it to 48 degrees F.
My daughter had to do a science fair project this month. We (I) decided we should water a plant with microwaved water and also boiled water. I heard about this one when someone emailed a scary post about microwaved water killing her plant. Just a bit too sensational, we had to see for ourselves. As you can see the microwaved water grew the plant just fine, maybe even better. But it certainly did not kill it.

Catch Up

2011-02-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

Hi, remember me. It has been a month since my last post. I have not forgotten you. Life seems to get busier and I get more tired.
I have gotten half of my RRCB sewn together. I love the way it is coming out.

I did finish the quilt made from a Bali pop. I got it to my DSIL in time for Christmas.

We not only got a new septic tank we also got a new leach field.

We are having a lovely February, The children spent the day playing out side.

Today we started athletic season. The Orient Express run was sponsored by the Sunrise Rotary today. Eric, Alea and I ran the family fun run mile. Next year my goal will be to run the 4 mile. I would have attempted it today but my excuse was that I would run/walk with Alea. She beat me and I ran the whole time.

After race refuel.

We walked the neighborhood today selling Girl Scout Cookies. A good couple of hours and the rest of the exercise.

Roll Roll Cotton Boll

2010-12-27T14:42:00.000-08:00

I have caught up. Although I haven't gotten too far behind. I am in the process of doing Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery. It started the Friday after Thanksgiving and clues have been released every Friday since. I did fall a bit behind when it came to 60 string blocks. But a weekend of sewing got me where I needed to be.
This is the 6th clue done and ready for next week. I am taking next Friday off from work. Not just so I could sew but because it is my birthday and it is New Years Eve.
It is easy to spend hours in your sewing room when watching a good movie on your computer. It is for me anyway.

Alea Turns 9

2010-12-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

My darling daughter turned 9 recently. She chose to celebrate her birthday with one special friend and make a day of it. We started the day with a basketball game. The girls had a short 5 week season. Their team won the end of the season tournament. She has decided that basketball is her favorite sport.
She chose Perkos for lunch. Not because she loves the food so much but because they sing and give the birthday person a piece of pie or ice cream.

We went to Walmart to cash in her gift card (thank you grandpa Don). Choosing a birthday gift for your self is a long and agonising process.

We next saw Tangled, a 3D Movie. That was pretty fun. I was not sure it was worth an extra 4 dollars each for the glasses but what the heck, it was a treat.Our plan to see this movie next.
Alea and Candace had a lot of fun playing with the birthday gifts.

Every year the kids request that I make them a worm cake. usually I cut it a part and make a worm out of the bundt cake but I assured her this is a worm cake, it just looks like a doughnut.All they are really interested in are the gummy worms anyway.

Happy Birthday Alea!

Seven of Eleven

2010-12-03T06:11:00.000-08:00

Here are 7 of the eleven grandchildren that were able to get together for Thanksgiving in Fresno.
It was a lovely day with the sun shining about 65 degrees. This is my Darling husband and me.

My husband's brother and his lovely bride.

Little Bits

2010-11-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

Today is a day that I am sitting at my desk watching the weather rain/snow down. Needless to say that it has an effect on business. I have a few minutes to update my blog. I realize I that my work here (in Blogland) has been somewhat lagging but I just have not been doing too much sewing. I did start Bonnie Hunters latest mystery and have completed step one. I am glad I got to that on Friday night after work because the power has been out all weekend. on and off yesterday and today. It has snowed more than a foot and trees are taking out power lines. It is still so early in the season that the trees still have their leaves.

This picture was taken on saturday when the storm was in the exciting phase and playing in the snow was fun. Eric is throwing snow balls and Kevin is hitting them with a shovel.

We are going to throw in the towel and change our Thanksgiving plans. We are moving the party to The Brother'in-law and sister-in-law's house in Fresno. We are not taking the chance of power outages spoiling the turkey.

I took some pictures of the family at lunch the other day. These are mostly for the Grandparents to enjoy and oogle over but the rest of you can enjoy them too.

Inspired by Color

2010-11-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

As I spend time reading art quilt books they say collect pictures that inspire you. I pulled this picture out of a clothing catalog. I am not sure which one, maybe Land's End. I don't ever order anything from the catalogs so I don't feel bad tearing out pages. The color of these shirts really struck me so this pictures has been hanging on the wall in my quilt shack since spring. Last weekend was a rainy mess so I dedicated one day My Day.
I fished through my stash and came up with similar colors and went for it. Cut and sew and cut and sew and came up with this. I am really pleased with it. Good thing, because if my first attempt with art quilting was a disappointment it may have been a while before I tried again.
It is my plan to make long narrow accompanying pieces to go on each side.Halloween was a fun time for the kids. We were invited to a friends house to go Trick or Treating. Our neighborhood would have been a flop. We never get trick or treaters It is probably because we have a long dark driveway that snakes up steeply through the trees.

I went out on a limb and tried a new recipe using tomatillos. I have never used them before, they are quite pretty. The peeling was flower like and kinda sticky. The finished product however was not as appealing. It looked awful and was not tasty. I won't make that one again but fear not, I won't stop trying.

A Day of Soccer And Stiching

2010-10-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

I finished something! This is the baby quilt I made for the Beautiful Lizzy Brennan. She was born at Stanford University Medical Center this past Tuesday.

I sat and watched Soccer on Saturday while stitched the binding. It is a simple Chinese Coin made with my stash.

I free motion quilted it with flowers and leaves. Turned out pretty good.Eric is refereeing Nicole's game.

Kevin and his buddy Hunter. These boys are a couple of hams.
Eric is playing goalie.
So is Nicole.

Maybe these boys are a bunch of hams too.
She is going to fake out the other team and her own team too.
This a picture of Kevin's traveling soccer team. They are in a more competitive league. We have to travel to Sacramento for most games. That is about 100 miles from our house.

Mourning the Passing of Summer

2010-10-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

This has been a busy time for our family and for me. Getting the kids and myself to all of our events takes a lot out of me. We have been fishing again. Here we are at New Malones Reservoir on Labor Day. It was only 102 degrees when we left at noon. Our 14 year old DS was complaining about the sweat dripping down his arms and his legs sticking together. I did remind him that he was at a lake and could go swimming with the other kids but I think he was too cool. This is Alea and her friend Candace.

I have developed a love affair with millet. A little spoken of grain that is gluten free and mixes into a variety of dishes. Here I cut up peppers, onions, tomatoes, and zucchini. Added corn and dried cranberries. I made a simple dressing and ate it for 3 days. Yummy!

My design wall has a quilt top on it this has been my summer project but I have probably only worked on it 3 or 4 times. It started as a Bali Pop and a piece of yardage I got at our guild yard sale for 5 dollars. That white spot on it is the sun shining through the window.

I did start a baby quilt the other day. One of my friends and a mom of one of my kids friends is having a baby soon. This week or nest I think. I had better get to work so that baby has something to be wrapped up in.

My DD Nicole celebrated her 13th birthday this week. She did assure me that she would not be one of "those teenagers". Such a precious girl.
I have completed 6 triathlons this summer (that is where my sewing time went). This past weekend 3 of my kids and 2 of my friends did it too. It was so nice to have company.
We all had a great time. I was glad I could get Eric back into it after his last attempt with a broken bike.
And just because I thought you all should see this.

End of August

2010-08-23T22:08:00.000-07:00

The beginning of school has come and gone. They have been in for 2 weeks now, and loving it. I am fortunate that the children get up and out of the house with out a problem.

Eric has his first job!! Yeah! He is a referee for soccer. He makes money for doing what he loves.The fishing people are rising!

No Sewing In Sight.

2010-08-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

There is no sewing going on at my house as of late. Summer is in full swing, well school starts this week but we are still in summer mode. We are triathlon-ing. Kevin and Alea participated in Tri for kids. and I did another sprint triathlon. I don't know if a triathlon that takes 1 hour and 47 minutes is considered a sprint but there it is. I decreased my time by 6 minutes this time.

Kevin has been asking me to go fishing for a couple of years now and I have tried to explain to him that we are not "fishing people" and he should go with his fishing friends. Well I got to thinking about that and decided it would not take to much to become "fishing people" so a trip to Walmart ensued. Two rods and a box of tackle, whalah.... We are fishing people!

We went from the above fishing hole, New Malones to below to Pinecrest lake in the same day.
We have spent several lovely days here fishing, swimming and diving off rocks. Summer has been fun and now, back to school.

Finished, I Think.

2010-07-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

I have finished this quilt. I quilted it by shadowing all the flowers. It got a little heavy there so then I just ditch stitched the stars. When I look at in this photograph it needs more in the sashing. It is already bound and ready to give this weekend. If I do more quilting what color thread would I use? Oh well, I will see how I feel about it later. For now I will leave it as done.

Oh, Inspiration

2010-07-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

This week we had a meeting of the local quilt guild and our guest speaker was Sally Collins. She was great and so inspiring. She had a a two day class but I have to work. Jeff gets cranky if a cancel a day of work to quilt.

Nicole and Kevin went to camp this week. I miss them. We did raffle this quilt to help raise money. Sorry Marion you did not win, but I was rooting for you. A lady named Dot won and she had the spot already for it and promised to take good care of it.

Go Giants.

2010-07-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I went to a Giants game yesterday. We had a very nice time. It was 104 degrees at home so it was a nice reprieve when it was 60 degrees in SF. Your body does not adjust quickly to that big a change in temperature. 60 may not be too cold but I was freezing. Fortunately I had my car quilt in the car to keep my lap warm.

These Guys were Huff's personal fan club but about half way through the game they put on their shirts and sat down.

The fog rolled in about the 4th inning.

Excited to be here.

Can't seem to edit so here is a bonus picture. Kevin is making his own gluten free pizza. He is not gluten free but his momma is so you gotta do what you gotta do. He liked it, and so did I.

Summer Fun

2010-07-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

A post for the grandparents that like to see pictures of their kids having fun. We went to a BBQ party at a friends house like we do every year. Hot day, cool pool, too much to eat. What fun!

Eric-14Eric
Nicole-12
Alea 8, Rachel 12

Keanu-10, Kevin 10, Eric 14
Kevin 10
David 9
Mike 40something, Eric 14

Kevin Turned Ten

2010-07-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

Kevin turned ten. A great time was had by all. We rented the community pool and had it all to ourselves.
Here is Kevin with my cousin's son Nicolas. He is 5 and thinks the world of my kids. He is a great little guy.

We did another triathlon last weekend. this time Kevin, Alea and their friend participated. I did too, and still fit in my wetsuit. Don't worry I did not include that photo.

This event took place in Rancho Seco California. It is the home of a non operating nuclear power plant. See the towers in the back. This is the cooling reservoir for the plant. Kinda creepy hu?

They are the 2 in the back. They rode and ran together. So much for racing.
A proud girl finishing her first triathlon.
He still loves his Mommy.

Looney Tunes

2010-06-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to Magic Mountain and Universal Studios. Here we are as we entered MM park. The kids were less than interested in the photo op when those roller coasters were calling to them (us).X2 was the 2nd roller coaster we rode but the others don't compare. They were OK but X2 was the best ever! It reminded me of skydiving. The boys liked it too. It was a bit much for Grandma and the girls. They spent much of the time in Kiddie Land and the ball house.

Waiting for the meet up at the merry go round the boys made good use of their time.
I di dspend a little time quilting on my vacation. I think I made a mistake early onin the quilting style. It is taking me forever to get it done. I am thinking about changing to an all over thing but the quilting shows so much on the back I better suck it up and keep going.

I dropped my camera and broke it so there are no more pictures of our vacation.

I am enjoying the pattern and the colors. It is from Moda's Bake shop.

Race Weekend

2010-06-08T06:42:00.000-07:00

Ok I know it is Tuesday but this past weekend was race weekend. Kevin participated in his first triathlon. He loved it and can't wait to do it again. Maybe next month?Eric Participated in a Duathlon where you run, bike, run. His bike broke and he was not really having a good time. I wish he could have a redo.

My first time in a wetsuit. I am really motivated to keep my weight down or it wont be pretty. It is not too pretty now.

Have you ever tried to run after a bike ride?. Your legs feel like lead for a little while.

I finished 318th out of 532 so I am really happy with that. Here is a link to more pictures if you are interested. http://picasaweb.google.com/drquiltmom/Triathlon20100606# I haven't figured out how to put a slide show in yet.

Last Day of School

2010-06-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

Finally the day has arrived, the best day of the whole year. The last day of school. Here they are, the celebrates (is that a word?). compare them from the first day of school here.

De Young Field Trip

2010-05-27T06:27:00.000-07:00

The Girls , my Mom and I went to see the Amish Quilts on display at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. What a neat exhibit. Too bad they don't let you take pictures in there. You can however purchase the book. My mom and I went into the exhibit and the girls went straight to the tower to look at the beautiful city and the water. When I made the girls go into see the quilts they each picked Tumbling Blocks as their favorite independently. I think they liked the 3D effect, I know that's what caught my eye. This is probably the most recognized quilt, It is one of my favorites.

This is the observation tower view.

Mother of the year...NOT

2010-05-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a day that I was being a bit selfish. I woke up early and got to work on my Chocolate stars quilt. I will probably call mine something about stars and diamonds because the diamonds are the first thing that hits y our eye. Maybe I should have switched the color selection. But, I digress. I finished piecing the top and pinned it. Lost in my own little world DD#1 (12) asks, "aren't we going to church today?". With a heavy sigh, "I think we will stay home today, will that be OK?"came out of my mouth.Later, with a nice day looming and some errands needing to be run, grocery shopping, friends birthday party, and the girls asking if we could play tennis,... guilt got the best of me. I took them to play tennis and romp in the great outdoors. I sat in the car and read. I told you I was not "Mother of the year".
They were happy and I was happy, all was good.Then I got some quilting done. Now, all was good.

Guitar Recital

2010-05-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

DS #2 had a guitar recital last week. He had been practicing 15 minutes a day for the last few months. We installed a white board in the kitchen for every body's responsibilities and activities. It also includes the dinner menu. It has been received well and most things get done. If not done before dinner....it is done during dinner. There have been many dinner serenades. Needless to say he has improved measurably since last recital.His guitar teacher Kelly. She is a friend of mine and has been teaching guitar and piano for many years. She was a music teacher for several elementary schools at once but that was a little too stressful and now "simplify" is her motto.

Open House

2010-05-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

This week the elementary school had an open house. The kids always love showing off their stuff and classrooms.

This is Alea's 2nd grade class, She was the teacher and her brother and sister were sitting on the carpet in-front of her. Maybe we have a teacher in the making.
This is Kevin with Mrs. Thompson. She is the neatest lady who really gets the kids to do their best. I think she is partial to our Kevin.
Nicole is the one who absolutely made sure we had Open house on our calendar. She loves her teacher Mr. Williams and is always coming home with stories about him.

A New Quilt Shop and a New Cleaning Boy

2010-05-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

Timeless Calico Designs

Meet Lindy. She is the owner of Timeless Calico Designs in Sonora on historic highway 49. I have been meaning to stop at Lindy's store for a while now and yesterday was the day. "hold on kids" while we made a last minute turn off the highway when I saw her sign.

A Beautiful little store that boasts, "We have the largest selection of 19th century historic reproduction fabrics in northern California".

Here is the cleaning boy for the week. He has been after me for a while to let him make some money. Our regular office cleaning lady was on vacation this week so Eric got his chance. I was pleasantly surprised by his efforts. He will be be my backup boy. His comment," Are you really going to blog this?".

Meet Bob

2010-05-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

The kids have asked me to make them dolls. I thought that they should make them. Kevin was first in doing his designing. I helped by doing the cutting.
He did the applique.

Then he lost interest, I stuffed and closed. Quite nifty hu? This is BoBA picture of Nicole just because I want to share.

A Thank You Quilt

2010-04-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

I have a very good friend that gets to start over after a divorce. This happens to be the same friend that taught me to quilt in the first place. Her life is so busy that she does not have time to sew. I am going to make her a new quilt for her new bed. I am excited to start a new project and excited to give a great big thank you to a friend that took a semi willing participant to a quilt store and changed her life.This is the focus fabric. I got it at the last quilt show I went to but they only had one yard. I searched high and low at the 4 quilt shops mere in our area but no go. I found it here at the www.oldcountrystorefabrics.com I ordered on Thursday and received it on Monday! Way faster than I expected. I will shop there again. I am going to make this pattern that is in the Moda Bake Shop. Designed by Vicky at spun sugar quilts.

I took the girls to the Ben Franklin to shop for the coordinating fabrics (not the novelty blue).

In the mean time I opened up my Bali Pop and started sewing. I saw a great pattern that I thought I could replicate pretty easily. We will see how it turns out.
With the weather being so nice I can't justify keeping the kids at home while I sew my little heart out. I know that I can't let these days pass by and not absorb all the vitamin D I can.

Columbia Field Trip

2010-04-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to accompany the 4th grade class to Columbia State Park.
It is a gold mining town that is authentic to the gold rush to California in 1849. These are the kids I chaperoned. What a great bunch. I am glad to know that my child has the ability to listen and is actually the one of the better ones in the class! The kids learned about the fires that destroyed the town and got to participate in a bucket brigade race. Signs of spring, but I was freezing all day.

Best of the Valley

2010-04-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

After the triathlon on Sunday my mom and I went to a quilt show in Lindsey. Here are some of my favorites

Weekend Wonders

2010-04-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend was opening day for softball. Here are my stars. Nicole is playing a team called the Crush and is pretty competitive. Thankfully the coach is really good with the girls but the classic line came from my lips. "There is no crying in baseball".Alea you may recognize from opening day of baseball a couple of weeks ago. Now is her debut in softball. Good thing she is young and has lots of energy!
Speaking of young and lots of energy, I competed in a triathlon this weekend. Just to let you know I am old and I used up all my energy by the time I got to the run. Run a little, walk a little, run a little. I realized that if I walked too much it would take way longer. I am going to have to train a little better for the next one. Maybe next month. I don't know though. It is a 1000 yard swim in a lake. I don't have a wet suit. A 12 mile bike on hills and a 4 mile run. Excuse, excuse. Maybe I will just get over it and get out there.
It sure does feel good to finish.

Ponytailable?

2010-04-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day. It started after school with a hair cut. My DD has the most tender head I have ever seen. A ponytail is standard equipment for Nicole. Every few years I can talk her into a cut (or insist on one).
She wasn't sure, but is pleased with it because it is still ponytailable.Then there was a baseball game. Go A's

Boys at the skate park.

And softball practice.

2010-04-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

I took this book and drafted my own pattern for a skirt.Over the weekend I thrifted the fabric ($.75 for 2 yards) and made this skirt. As I now look at the ensemble It looks like a spring skirt with heavy winter boots. It kind of reflects the weather but I will wait until a cute pair of flats will be appropriate.

Spring Snow

2010-04-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning to a beautiful white landscape, so pretty in fact that I had to pull over and take this picture to share with you. This is an apple orchard (with an Oak tree) that I get to drive past every day. It was exceptionally beautiful today.My blocks of the month for guild are all made and waiting for Monday. I have not participated in BOM for a while. The first year in the guild I made one or some every month, I never won. Maybe this time will be different. Maybe I will take my darling daughter Nicole with me. She is the luckiest girl ever. I always let her but the tickets of any thin we do any raffle ticket buying.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Nicole participated in a children's production at church last night and today. We attended church on Saturday night and the kids were confused this am. This pm we had an Easter egg hunt. Here are the remnants of laundry and candy eating on this relaxing Easter day.
This picture shows me just how much these two look alike. Kevin 9, Alea 8. But boy, how different they are!My Mom and her sister, my Aunt Sherry. Sometimes they look alike and sometimes not at all. They too are very different from one another.
My Dear Sweet Loving Mother kept my kids for the whole week. My husband made dinner.....yummm... Bacon Wrapped Fillet Mignon and a salad. He really loves me.

My Dad's visit concluded this week, I already miss him.

The boys got new skateboards this week. Fortunately they have a skate park near by. I know I should make them wear helmets. No one else does here but when we travel they are mandatory.
I have been a negligent blogger in days of late. I will try and post a little something everyday for a while.

Kaleidoscope Raffle Quilt

2010-03-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

I finished my Kaleidoscope quilt. It was a lot of fun to make. It was fun to quilt too. I have decided that this is the quilt the kids are going to raffle off to raise money for summer camp at Hume Lake. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20 If you want tickets I can send you a pay pal invoice or you can send money. Email me.

I have it hanging on the wall of my office and I forgot to measure it. I will get that done and posted. It is throw size.
My wonderful father came from Rochester Mn. this week to visit us. He always wants to be kept busy. Well, I had the project for him. "Hey Dad, How about painting my Quilt Shack?" That is right up his alley. Earlier we painted it yellow but that was a terrible mistake. It looked horrible so the job never got completed. But, How about Barn Red? yeah, I am really pleased with the color choice. Now I need to paint a quilt block so I will fit in with the barn quilts in Iowa.

2010-03-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

This is what I am working on. I got all the blocks together today. This is an easy one from Eleanore Burns. Kaleidoscope quilt.
I do not know why the pictures turned out so dramatically different but here is another shotA photo of three of the four children, the other one was not ready for school I guess. Kevin is dressed up for a field trip to the symphony.

The boys got hair cuts.I helped out in the class for a St Patrick's Day party. All the geen food! The Pickles were more popular than I would have imagined.
Children at play. I remember when I could ride one of these without getting sick.

Softball season has arrived.

Art?

2010-03-12T21:19:00.000-08:00

I finished making a Day and night from Eleanor Burns. I Made it throw size and it is just right for my office wall. It is fun to look at through out the day. I made it for my niece, she doesn't know about it yet....Maybe she never will? No, I quilted her name through the border in several places. I am committed. Her birthday is next month It will make a good gift.

Mucky Field and a Day and Night

2010-03-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was DS#2 End of the Season soccer tournament. The recent rains made the field a mucky place. These rubber boots from Walmart came in handy. The boys had a great time playing in the mud. The ball doesn't go very far on the wet grass. The boys played 4 games took home the 3rd place trophy.

I am in the process of making a Day and Night from Eleanore Burns. My niece loves purple and I have been thinking about it for a while. When I saw this pattern it spoke to me. It went together well but I do advise reading all the directions first. You don't cut all the strips the same way.
(ooops)

Super Bowl Sunday

2010-02-07T23:12:00.000-08:00

No Football in site.

For several weeks now I have been planning on taking the girls to San Francisco to visit the De Young Museum. There is an exhibit of Amish Quilts I would really like to see.

While crossing the Bay Bridge the the girls turned off the video player and the magic of the city took over. While stopping to program the Navigation system the girls asked to get out of the car and take a walk. While appreciation of the camaraderie was in order I plugged in Fisherman's Wharf for a side trip.
The Girls wanted to visit the Aquarium of the Bay.

So we did.My favorite exhibit was the Sea Nettle. This is what Wikipedia had to say about them.

"The sea nettle is radially symmetrical, marine, and carnivorous. Its mouth is located at the center of one end of the body, which opens to a gastrovascular cavity that is used for digestion. It has tentacles that surround the mouth to capture food. Nettles have no excretory or respiratory organs. Each sea nettle is free-swimming and can reproduce both sexually and asexually."

Who can visit Fisherman's wharf and not get Saltwater taffy? This is what I brought home for the boys, but, oops we ate it. Sorry boys!
The Golden Gate holds such mystery, (maybe because it is not gold?) We had to cross it.

Vista point was incredible. San Fran is truly a beautiful city. Especially when you can see it not enshrouded in fog. It was a lovely day at 59 degrees and sunny.
Knowing time was running out we went to the Museum anyway. We arrived at 5:15 pm. The parking attendant told us the museum closed at 6:30, We were in! The woman at the ticket booth told us the exhibit closed at 5:30. We were out! No too disappointing though. It just means we are up for another road trip. I did get my souvenir post card book so I can pick a favorite before I get to see them in person.

Had to show you How we spent Saturday. Watching Kevin play 2 soccer games in the pouring down rain. They had a great time the field was muddy, mucky and slushy. What more could boys want?

Wall Candy

2010-02-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well, it's finished. Carolina Christmas Mystery is hanging on my wall in the office. I get to look at it all day. It looks awesome. Bonnie Hunter you are a super quilter, designer and teacher. Thank you for putting up with all of us in Quiltvillechat It reminds me of spring, windmills and blue skies. I think I will call it California Spring. I made all of the blocks but decided to use only half of them to make the quilt. I was not ready for another big quilt just yet.
I quilted it trying to simulate wind gusts but it looks like lines and spirals. Oh well. I Did free motion quilting with my DSM. This one was much easier then the king size one I finished last.
Looking forward to the next mystery.

Janurary Progress and a Formal.

2010-01-31T07:52:00.000-08:00

I have been quilting the Carolina Christmas Mystery. The quilting part is not my favorite but having a completed project hanging on my wall definitely is.
The sunlight in my Quilt Shack is perfect this morning to show the quilting progress.A good friend of mine gave me a box of goodies for my birthday. I am just thrilled. I will and have used every single thing in this collection. She included 3 packages of bent safety pins because I recently bought safety pins at the dollar store and they were so dull I couldn't get them through the fabric. She thought I should have the real thing. I was just about to buy a new pair of little snipers because mine were getting dull. Thank you so much Lynnann.

My DS#1 went to his first formal dance last night. I was almost as excited as he was. I never went to any high school dances when I was in high school. Being 6'2" in high school I was not the most popular girl. So now I am living vicariously through my children. Is that wrong?

I was not nearly as excited as she was. That smile was a permanent fixture on her face. Very sweet, they had a good time.
Kendra was so nervous she could not even pin on the boutonniere. He was afraid for his life. Just like his father when I am anywhere near him with sharp objects. I don't know why, I am usually pretty trustworthy.

Cactus Patch

2010-01-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

I have finally finished making my Cactus Patch Quilt from Bonnie Hunter's book "Scraps and Shirttails". The inside of the blocks are made from 2 inch strips of men's shirts. It finished at 114X112. I used cotton Batting and LOVE the feel of it. I haven't washed it yet. I think yellow walls are in order but couldn't wait to post the picture. I think that's why I haven't posted in a while. I would really like to post a photo of a finished bedroom but then you run the chance of never seeing it.

I I quilted it with my DSM (domestic sewing machine). I needed to visit my chiropractor when I was done.

For the back I used a 100% cotton sheet that I got at Overstock.com for a really good price. However it was not big enough. I pieced a big cross through it. I used a micro sharps needle. It worked really well, but the thread left a lot of lint.
Here is the sunrise this morning. I had to get up super early to get DS#1 to a bus headed to San Francisco to do a "Walk for Life" with his youth group (girlfriend) and their families. He wouldn't let the rest of us go along.

Next project is to get this baby quilted. Again, Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery Carolina Christmas. I made all of the blocks but am only using half of them for a good size throw.

Bonus picture of DD#1.

This Week

2009-12-31T15:46:00.000-08:00

I always take this week off of work. It typically is slow and I don't like to sit around, at work any way. I like to sit around in my Quilt Shack. I am making big progress on quilting my Cactus Patch quilt. It is for my bed and is 112"X114''. Just the borders left to quilt.
I have made all the blocks for the Carolina Christmas quilt and put half of them together. I think I am going to stop here. I am tired of making big quilts.
A friend of mine, Marla made me a pin cushion. Isn't it nice and cheery? I know it is a small accent in a big room but it is perfect. I love it and now have a place to put all those flat headed pins. I have a selection in my other pincushion but can't bring myself to throw away all the round end ones that aren't sharp enough.

Christmas came and went. The children had a great time always lots of presents. Well, not as many this year because 2 of the grandparents sent money for us to take care of. When I gave the children the option they wanted door number one... the cash. With saving some, and giving some, they torn with what to buy themselves. Maybe they will be like Alea our 8 yo. She wanted a laptop and after a year of saving she got most of it so we kicked in the rest for her Christmas present.

We made yarn Christmas Ornaments. Now we are up to about 20. Hmmm good thing cheap yarn is cheap.

Today is my birthday and this is the ceremonial chair for the picture.And our annual bowling adventure. Eric won with a whopping 165.

Christmas Recital

2009-12-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Kevin and Alea had a music recital last night. The teacher, my friend Kelly started out the show with a nice resounding round of Christmas caroling.

Alea is playing the piano

Kevin with the guitar.
The children enjoyed themselves and did ham it up a bit.

Fun Long Week

2009-12-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

have had a lot of fun since my last post.

We had a snow storm that closed the schools for two days. My DH is from MN and just rolls his eyes when they close the schools here in Ca. for a little snow and ice. Here we are walking down our driveway (the car parked at the bottom) going back to school.We had an 8th birthday.
Sewing away on Bonnie's Mystery. Here are the blocks.

Sore Butt.

2009-11-29T15:38:00.000-08:00

I have been working hard on staying in my quilting shack this weekend and getting a lot of sewing done. I am working on Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery that we started this weekend. I have completed step one and two and anxiously waiting for the next step. It seems as though I never work at this pace when it is a regular quilt pattern. I am having so much fun! Most of you reading this know what I mean. Family on the other hand, is glad I have something to do that I like so much. They are even the recipient of a handy work once in a while.

The instructions are really well done, and easy to follow.

This is step one: 192 two patches, and 104 HST(half square triangles).
This is step two: Take those HST and make these thingies. There are 4 blocks here. I liked how they looked in this arrangement.

While waiting for the next installment I decided to cut 2 inch squares to use as a leader/ender project.
I had company while I sewed and watched the trilogy of Pirates of the Caribbean. The DC(Dear Children) came and went but mostly they entertained themselves playing Monopoly.....Together. The game we have has been trampled and pieces lost. For their sisters birthday they pooled their money and wanted to get her a new game. Do you know how many editions on Monopoly they have now? Well we got this one. No railroads, but airports. Property costs millions.

We celebrated Alea's birthday at the Black Oak Casino and Family Fun Center(Bowling alley arcade). Her Birthday is not until the 4th of December but I will be out of town at a continuing education requirement. Don't feel too sorry for me. I get to go San Francisco and spend a weekend with 2 very good friends. The days will be spent in a hotel conference room with excellent food and done at 5.

Alea is 2nd from the left.

Crumb Love

2009-11-25T06:43:00.000-08:00

My chat group has been talking about crumb blocks and I thought I would give them a try. I am in love! They are so fun to make while mindless sewing. These crumbs are from shirts used making my cactus patch quilt which I am almost done with.
Each year my DSIL makes a family calendar. Here are the photos requested. DH and DS#2 have birthdays in June. One of DH and I to celebrate our anniversary in may. I was just wondering if a casual photo at the pizza parlor over a pitcher of beer is acceptable.

This or That?

2009-11-19T23:32:00.000-08:00

Bonnie Hunter is at it again. She is going to start another mystery quilt the day after Thanksgiving. It is called Carolina Christmas. I have already made the announcement to DH and the DC that I will be sewing that day. He put it on our calendar.

Bonnie's colors suggestions are red and green, cream and gold for Christmas. I can't decide if I want to go with those or Blue and gold, cream and deep red/brown. Either would be fine. I don't have a red and green quilt yet so it might be the right time. However I am drawn to blue like the sea and sky. Which DH reminded me I recently finished this quilt with those colors in it.

So Which should it be? This one....or...

This one?
Well which ever one I decide on I would like to finish the cactus patch (Bonnie Hunter again) first.

Getting Caught Up

2009-11-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

I have been spending bits of time in my quilt shack. I have managed to put my blocks together of Bonnie Hunter's Cactus Patch. This pattern is in her book Scraps & Shirttails. It is going to go on my bed when completed. I think a nice wall of periwinkle or maybe burnt orange will be the right accent.

Down Under

2009-11-07T22:29:00.000-08:00

I recently went on a trip. Two friends and I went to Sydney Australia. Yea, that's right, I left the hubby and kids behind. A friend got an invitation to teach at the Chiropractic Pediatric Diplomat Program in Sydney and invited me and another friend to go along. A 15 hour flight and 4 nights stay.

This is me at the beautiful and unique Sydney Opera Hall. Shaped like sails. Did you know that if you took apart the pieces of the building you could put them back together as a perfect sphere.
Looking left from here you see the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We went on a twilight bridge climb and saw the harbor at sunset. WOW that was fantastic.
This is not us but it could have been. There were only 4 of us. It was spectacular.

This is Darling Harbor where we took a Ferry to Manly Beach
We took a bus trip around Sydney and saw the sites. This is Bondi beach.
We spent some time in Paddy's market.
Shopping.
The Queen Victoria Building for more shopping. Great floor, hu?

We tried to get to a quilting shop but did not have the transportation. There was a Lindcraft in the shopping mall but nothing special in the way of Australian fabric.
It was a great and a super opportunity to see a part of the world I may never had the chance.

Green Fancy

2009-10-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

This week I got another finish. This one I call Lyndsy Green. I guess because I made it for my friend Lyndsy and her favorite color is green. Her birthday was last month and I had to give her a rain check.I started by calling this one and another one Flee Market Fancy because that is the name of the quilt the tutorial is from by Crazymomquilts. Little did I know the quilt was named for the fabric line it was made for. Well now I have to come up with my own quilt name.

It seems I always have a model or two when I try to photograph a quilt in the floor. After my heavy sigh I came to my senses and appreciate the charming little folk for their playfulness.
I did all this free motion quilting. It felt like it took forever. I went through about 2000 yards of thread. The quilt measures 86X68.A little free piecing for the back to add interest.

A little red thrown in for variety. This is probably the most photographed landmark in our area. It is referred to as the Red Church for obvious reasons. Learn more about it here.

Birthday Week

2009-10-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

Nicole celebrated her 12th birthday. She was born and raised in California and is Minnesota Twins fan through and through. Go Joe Mauer. What she wanted for her birthday was a Twins cap and a Mauer Jersey. Such a happy girl.Eric celebrated his 14th birthday. I don't know he got so old. He just wanted cash. So that's what he got. With all the money he bought himself an iTouch. Another good leverage tool. I made cupcakes for his soccer team but the powdered sugar frosting was lumpy and not very attractive. So while we were at the soccer tournament DH Jeff scraped the frosting off, bought some canned stuff, and made a soccer ball out of them. Isn't he clever?
Kevin is working on his tooth pick project for school. He learned that hot glue is really hot. I know he has craft sticks here, but he is building two towers so he can make a tooth pick bridge across them.And Me? quilting, quilting, quilting...

Not An Ordinary Day

2009-10-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend I participated in my first Triathlon. I know I have been kinda secretive about it but I did not want to commit myself publicly for the obvious reason. I have never done anythig like this before. I have never been an endurance athlete I have always been a very poor runner and never cared for it. I did not even own a bike. I did however swim competitively growing up. I have not swam laps in 30 years though.
I decided to do this in June when talking mater of factly about the physical condition of triathletes. After looking up what exactly a Triathlon consisted of I said to myself "I can do this". It was tongue and cheek for a while when I said I was triathlon training, my DH would give kind of a chuckle. But I did it and not only finished, I finished 21th out of 65 women competing in the short course, 4th in my age group.

I did well in the swimming leg. I am here somewhere but you will have to find me.Transition from the swim to the bike. It takes longer than you think to to put clothes on over a wet bathing suit.
After a run I crossed the finish line! Wooo Whooo. Here I am with a friend of mine who also competed in the race, his first too.

For the Grandparents

2009-09-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

Nicole dribbling for warm up.

Eric in his dance outfit that he did not go to.
Jeff and Alea watching soccer.

Kevin being cute as always.
This is where I had lunch the other day. I was reading my art quilt book about texture saw some here.
Went for a jog at the high school the other day. The trees caught my eye.

Neon Day

2009-09-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

Today is Neon Day at the high school. I tried to tell him he hurt my eyes but he did not seem to care about my eyes.Not much action on the sewing front. Life is way too busy to carve out a little time to sew. However, yesterday the best hour of the day was when I got to sit at soccer practice under a tree and read my new book.'

I only got to page 6 and I did not look ahead. I am savoring the pictures. That's funny because I will eat a cake as fast as I can.(?).

I need a bigger wall

2009-09-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

I need a bigger wall. Here are My Cactus Patch blocks. They are fun to make and I am not tired of making them yet.Went to a Soccer Tournament in Lodi this weekend and one of the games was canceled due to lightning. A woman in the next town was hit by lightning that morning. We were sorry for all the bellyaching about calling the game after 2.5 hour drive.

Eric had a school game this week. He is doing a flippy thing to throw the ball in. That is his signature move and the ball just flies.

Productive Weekend

2009-09-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

I got to spend a lovely long weekend at home sewing. I tried my hand at those daisies i took a picture of last week. Here is my problem: I used heat and bond to stick the fabric together and when I went to sew it down the needle got all gummy and the thread kept breaking. How should I handle this problem?

I got a little frustrated so I put it away and pulled out my Scraps and Shirttails book by Bonnie K. Hunter. I really like the Virginia Bound quilt but didn't want to start on another paper piecing project quite yet. I was looking for a project to use my shirt scraps. I pre cut these strips at 2 and 3.5 inches a while ago.
I decided to start on Cactus Patch. Instead of paper piecing strings I striped pieced a 6.5 inch blocks and made 2.5 inch HST for an 18 inch block.

Pointy, Pointy.

2009-09-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

Done Done! I have finished the Geese in the Forest. BOM from Twittletails. Here is the Flickr group for the Geese in the Forest. I stitched the last of the binding last night while the kids ran wild. Not really, they were getting ready for bed. I am really happy how it turned out. I think I am really really happy that I am done with it so I can start something new. Not to mention I signed it up to go in the local quilt show Sept 19-20. It is a really big show for our small community. I take the pictures for the CD for sale and last year I took 325 photos of quilts. Any one intrested in making a trip to Sonora Ca for the show email me and I can hook you up. If you want a CD let me know that too.

Here is a closeup of the quilting. Just kinda shadow, nothing special. I thought about doing more but done is done.
Here is the happy me.

Times A Changin'

2009-09-02T20:00:00.001-07:00

High School soccer started with a game against the other HS in town. Our team are the Popsicles (ooops)...I mean the Bears. Eric did very well. There are 24 kids for both Varsity and JV so they may have to cut the JV team. That would be sad. This being my first HS game in many many years I was surprised to learn that I needed to pay 5$ to get in to see my son play. I had to go back to my car and collect coins out of the ashtray. Fortunately I had enough, Ill have to keep a fortune in small bills in my glove compartment for future games.

Guess who made dinner tonight. You are looking at them. Nicole helped Jeff make corn and bean salad and Eric made Flat Chicken Cordon Bleu, Pilaf and Green beans. He has Home Ec. (oops) I mean Foods in school. Half of the class requirement is making dinner at home. Tonight included some much needed Father/Son bonding time over a broiler pan.
Went to the post office and saw these lovely flowers. So lovely in fact that I went to the fabric store and got matching fabric

School Starts!

2009-08-25T06:09:00.001-07:00

We have been so busy around here. School started last week and here is their 1st day of school picture.
2nd grade,4th grade, 6th grade and a freshman! who would have thought.

4 Kids on 5 soccer teams, that keeps us really busy too.

I got this baby together and pinned and 1/3 quilted. Its a good thing too because I entered it into the quilt show mid Sept. Along with this one and this one.

Not Pretty

2009-08-11T07:06:00.001-07:00

Not Pretty but certainly Yummy! This cake is the first thing I made from a new cook book that a friend gave me. Gluten Free baking classics by Annalise G. Roberts

This is a lemon Layer cake with butter cream frosting. I love to bake but the problem is that I won't let it go to waste and I eat it all. I will leave it out today while I am at work and maybe the kids will eat it. DH can look at it all day and not even be tempted. Hummm something I aspire to.

Here are those pointy Geese. I am liking them better and better. I think I am going for shock factor in the quilt show. The application deadline is the end of the month so I better get going.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

2009-08-08T20:30:00.001-07:00

This week we took a little trip to Santa Cruz. Fun was had by all. Just a little nippy on the beach.

The rides are always a good time.
These boys think they are cool. Well I guess they are.

Healthy Cupcakes?

2009-08-01T08:08:00.001-07:00

I made these grain free, sugar free coconut cupcakes. They are surprisingly delicious. I found the recipe here at a great blog.

Another Kid Filled Weekend

2009-07-28T06:17:00.001-07:00

First an apology to my 7yo Alea. I mistakenly said on the last post that she did not practice the piano. I was wrong. She does practice in a drive by style. She will walk by the piano and shoot out her rendition of "Old MacDonald has a Song" then be on her way. Last night the girls organized a piano recital. There were invitations and posters decorating the refrigerator and chairs put out for the audience. Even an intermission. My 11yo Nicole held a flashlight as a spotlight on the performance. One DD organized and one DD performed. I can see how this is going to play out.

We had a Sunday afternoon trip to Pine Crest Lake. There were a lot of people, but I knew there would be. We had to circle the parking areas 3 times to find a parking spot before we found a guy loading up to leave. I blocked traffic for a while but hey, where were they going to go anyway? DS and I swam a few laps to the buoys and back the water was great and refreshing!I thought this was a cool tree. Probably sick or something standing all by its self.

There was a Craft Faire in Twain Harte this weekend. We had to go and see what was there, and who was there. My kids can't believe how many people I know. But really, our community is quite small. We joke about not running out for a quick trip in your PJs because you will run into 3 or 4 people you know.
I saw Betsy and Doreen from our Guild selling raffle tickets for the opportunity quilt.
A quick game of miniature golf and we were on our way.
I have those Geese arranged in a way I like them. Now all I need is a chance to sew them together.

We're on fire. There is a fire burning in the Stanislaus National Forest about 15 miles from our community. Yesterday is was estimated 650 acres were burned and the fire is expected to last about a week. There is a lot of smoke in the air and lots of people with respiratory disorders. But, I did get a shot of the sun rising through the smoke. Very dramatic and very orange.

Big Enough?

2009-07-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

I have been diligently working on freezer paper piecing these blocks for the past few months and kinda on a power piecing binge for the last few weeks. This morning I put them on my design wall (nice to have one). I found that these blocks make me a little anxious. All those points! Here are 56 of the 80 blocks that I have done. I think I am done making blocks.I feel that I am cheating by quitting early but, I guess it's my quilt. My next step will be arranging the blocks in a an appealing manor. I hope I can continue this one through to the end. Calming suggestions appreciated.

New Favorite Place

2009-07-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went on an adventure. Being local to a wonderful mountain community that has a variety of wilderness activities I decided to take advantage. We embarked on a trip to a place that I have heard a lot about. A place called God's Bath on the Clavey River. I asked several people how to get there with those directions being pretty vague, when I googled God's Bath I got a horror story of a woman leading a home school group there. After overcoming that obstacle my friend gave us a website that had specific instructions.

We set off. After a 22 mile drive and about a half mile of rock hopping we arrived. We found a fabulous swimming hole.I hiked in and carried my camera only to arrive and find my battery was dead. There was a lady there that let me put my memory card in her camera and she took a few pictures. The rest of the kids were down the river swimming. Here Alea is looking up at a 40 foot cliff with someone waiting to jump off into this little pool.

We Have A Winner!

2009-07-18T06:40:00.001-07:00

We have a winner! The kids were so excited about pulling the winning ticket. If you remember they were selling raffle tickets for Double Delight to raise money for camp. Kevin got to pull and Nicole got to read the winners name. The Drum Roll please..... Ms. Terrie Miller is the winner! Congratulations Terrie. Yes, I was sure to put tickets in the drawing for everyone of my blog friends that bought them. Thank you all for supporting us.

On a different note our summer has been busy.

Kevin has been taking Guitar lessons. His teacher said he was an expert beginner. Alea has been taking piano lessons too. I cant get a picture of her practicing because she doesn't do it.
My bucket garden is coming along nicely. Will cucumbers ruin the roof?

I think I will have a tomato salad today.

Still making those Geese. 28 more to go.

Here are some on the blocks. If you turn your head sideways you can see them better. I tried to upload this picture twice, it wants to be sideways.

I have been sewing.

2009-07-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

I have been sewing. I have finished a few blocks for the Twittletails BOM, Geese in the Forest. These take about 20-25 minutes each. they are slow going but are worth it.

This one is block 6, the last one but I only have about half done. I was hoping to finish this one and get it into the local quilt show in September. We'll see.

I made Bonnie Hunter's Quiltmaker Mystery Blocks.

I had to join a different gym because my old one closed. It is a bit more expensive but I think it will be worth it. I am training for something special. I made a little purse to carry my Ipod.

4th of July

2009-07-05T22:37:00.000-07:00

We celebrated at my Mom's house in Fresno where it is legal to shoot off fire works.

I think we are raising a bunch of pyro maniacs.
Fun was had by all. No injuries to report.
Just a bunch of explaining why I was not going back to the fireworks stand to waste more money.
Oh yea, I got a pedicure.

Give Away

2009-07-01T07:18:00.001-07:00

Here is a wonderful Give Away from Quilt Qua. These fabrics will look great in Christmas Lights.

Quilt Raffle

2009-06-30T07:37:00.000-07:00

My children are trying to raise money to go to Hume Lake Christian Camp this summer. I have told them they have to raise half of the money. My Darling Daughter came up with the idea last year and expects that each year there will be a quilt raffle for their half. Well we will try it again. She asked me to post it on my blog to reach more people so here goes.

Win this home made and crafted quilt. Made this year as a mystery quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com. The quilt measures 76''X90''. It has large meander quilting with a flannel backing.

The donation price for tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. I know this is more than you normally spend for a raffle ticket but I only intend to sell 100 tickets so your chances of winning are good. If you would like tickets please email me and I will let you know what to do from there. Legally, no purchase is necessary to be entered.

Summer is a busy time.

2009-06-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

The fair is here in Tuolumne County. Kevin is the cow.

Whirling fun Nicole.

Swing ready.

The oldest is here somewhere running around with his friends. I thought I would not embarrass him by chasing them around with a camera.

Happy Birthday Kevin

2009-06-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

How many birthday cakes does one 9 year old need? The answer this year is 3. While on Vacation with the family he shared one with his 7yo cousin Lucas.

While visiting my Dad and Step mom he got another with a pizza party.

When we got home He got to choose his favorite dinner (spaghetti and meat balls) and Fun Fetti cake.

Oh wait! the answer is 4. He is having a birthday party with friends this weekend at the community pool. You all are invited.

On our vacation to Door County Wis. we visited family and here they are. We had a great time.

This is us.

Mystery.

2009-06-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

O.K. I give. I can't resist a Bonnie Hunter Mystery. I have to throw my hat in and do it too. Christmas Lights in Quiltmaker Magazine. Here are my fabric selections inspired by these photos from Jacquie at TallGrass Prairie Studio.
The girls had a friend over and had a tea party. I was very impressed with my 11yo's initiative. She found an espresso set to have tea in. She set the table, set fruit out and had "tea" which was water and flavored stevia. I love having a friend over that includes the younger ones in the games.

Playing?

2009-06-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

Playing or lack of direction? I finally got some time to sew and I cant decide what to do. I have pulled fabrics 3 different times for Old Red Barn's Quilt along. Haven't cut into it yet or if at all. I have searched the Internet for Bonnie's Quiltmaker Mystery. Maybe Ill do that, maybe not. I want to expand my skills and do more art quilts. I have bought a couple of books at Diane's Blog suggestion.

I did practice some free motion embroidery.....Tah Dah.... This was fun I think I will do a wall hanging.

Got this project out of this book by Ann Fahl. She does a great job with lots of tips and instructions.

I did a few more blocks for the Geese in the Forest BOM from Twiddletails. I really love how these are turning out. I am using freezer paper paper piecing. These block took me 45 minutes each to do. I hope I get quicker with practice because there are 28 of these to be made.

Eric's 8th Grade Graduation

2009-06-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

My oldest son graduated from 8th grade last night. I did get a little tearyeyed not sure why. Maybe it was the nervous tension in the air. There were only 34 kids in the class and 8 of them are girls. He reported that the girls did not dance at the dance because their strapless dresses were not as secure as they would have liked. You might say "Strapless Dresses?" Yes the up doos and spiked heels were ruling the stage. In our community they make a big deal about grammar school graduation. I don't ever remember that growing up.

Happy Birthday to DH

2009-06-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

Jeff celebrated his birthday yesterday against his will. The children were so much more enthusiastic about it.

I went on a field trip with my first grader. It was a lovely cool day at a community lake. The kids were not suppose to be swimming but who is going to keep a bunch of 7yo out of the water.
The dog got a shave and the cat did not recognize her.

By the way Twiddletails is having a give away visit and enter. I am really loving the Geese in the Forrest BOM From Anina.

Maybe Today

2009-05-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

Maybe today is the day I can get some sewing done. Saturdays are busy kid days. There were 4 softball games. Last ones of the season, and two birthday parties to attend.

Nicole and Alea.Alea

Nicole

Kii Kellerman turned 10 and had 18 kids at his house for a celebration that included a scavenger hunt involving 10 neighbors. A wheelbarrow race involving wheelbarrows. And a potato race that was the funniest thing to watch.

Andreaux Smith turned 9 and had the classic pizza party. My darling Kevin is sporting his new hat. I am not sure how I am going to get it off of him. Who would have thought that an 8 YO would wear plaid shorts and a plaid fedora.

2009-05-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

Had a great time in Seattle. We walked about 10 miles. So fun and a good way to induce exercise in those opposed to it.
Here are two reasons to hang your tomatoes. One would be that the sun is better in the morning, and two, the deer can't reach them. See how they ate my sweet 100 and peppers?
Alea had a soft ball game in a faux snow storm with 90 degree weather. Look carefully, the cotton woods were shedding terribly. The sky was pretty cool too.

Dress Making

2009-05-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

Don't know why but I have been in the mood to sew clothes. Maybe it's this post from Amy Karol at Angry Chicken.I have made 3 skirts in the past weeks and now I want to make a dress. This is the one I chose. It looks easy enough, it does say easy on the pattern envelope. I found this pattern review site it has been most encouraging.

I chose Katie Jump Rope fabric called Ribbon Sunflower by Denise Schmidt. I had some help choosing. I ran errands with DH and ended up at the fabric store. He helped me choose the fabric. I tend to wear a lot of brown and black so he encouraged me to expand my pallet. He has this great sense of design and color. It was a fun day.

You can get the fabric here at Sew Mama Sew.

When we got home from our errands (weed eater, fabric and pattern, lunch, postoffice, office, he was even sport enough to take me to a thrift store!) the kids were home from school. It was homework time and getting ready for a baseball game-Kevin, and a softball game-Alea. No more project time.

Eric is on his 8th grade camping trip to Yosemite for 3 days. What a blast.I know he is going to have a great time. We as a family don't camp, I don't see the point myself. We live in the woods. Maybe we should try it sometime. Looks inviting doesn't it?

DH and I are planning a weekend getaway this weekend. Guess where we are going. Yep, no kids.

Filling Time

2009-05-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

Tomatoes growing up after just 3 days.

Made a skirt. New Look 6757
Made 2 more blocks from Judy's Block Of the Month. One more to go. The BOM is over but I am still plugging away.
Finished the Cat/Bird quilt.

Looks like trees and flames.....Santa Barbara!
Open house quilt, with Ms. Thompson
Alea with her teacher.

2009-05-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

I have been looking for Topsy Turvy Tomato planters at our local stores and they have been sold out for weeks. I got tired of waiting and my tomato plants were looking for their home. So I made my own.
Two 5 gallon pails, a big drill bit to make the hole in the bottom, a sponge, and a couple of hooks to hang them. Here they are. Any thing has to be an improvement over my last years yield. My flower beds were not a good choice of location for my plants. They are hanging on my Quilt Shack.

I started looking at blogs on Artful Quilters Blog ring and saw inspiration from Diane here.
I am behind on making my friend her cat quilt for her birthday this year and I got very excited to see something I could probably do. My attempt at art quilting is not so original and a pretty close copy but I lack artful imagination. I am trying to bolster that quality in myself.
I remember watching a utube video about thread painting by Nancy Price. well here it is a thread painted branch. This is my first practice but decided it was ok to use. Actually I was afraid the next one would not turn out as good. The cat and the bird are applique.

A Parade

2009-05-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

Alea was in the 52nd anual Mother Lode Roundup Parade on Saturday. Her and all her little Daisy friends sang and walked 1.5 miles Down the streets of Sonora.

Nicole.

Some Things

2009-05-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

Well here it is. I figure this is as picked up as it is going to be. Just tilt your head a little sideways and imagine me sitting in my chair and just staring off into the stash shelf.

My exercise area has turned into a sitting room but still enough room roll out my mat and ball.This is the first project I made here. It is a comfort quilt for a friends 20 yo daughter that has cancer.

This is my progress on Geese in the Forrest. I might call mine geese in the fall.

2009-05-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

Today is our 19th anniversary. This is our wedding photo.

We got married at about 7AM over Yolo County Airport in a hot air balloon and then jumped out! Jeff and I met skydiving and it was a big part of out lives for a very long time. We are retired now and glad for all the friends and memories.

A Hair Cut and a Fancy Dinner

2009-05-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

DD #1 had a black and white dinner at our church this week. She said she did not have a black and white dress so she could not go. I did convince her that a purple dress would be acceptable. As she endured all the compliments she asked it they were true.

There was another hair cut in our family. Too bad is was not a more positive experience. Number one son was having trouble keeping his hair combed and out of his eyes. The solution was a cut. I even took him to the hair stylist. It looks really good but he is not looking forward to school tomorrow.

I got my stash put away. I went out there to take a picture of the lived in quilt shack this morning but I need to straighten it up first.

Quilt Shack Done

2009-04-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

It's done! The inside of my quilt shack is done. I have moved a few things inside. The bookshelves need to be anchored so I haven't filled them up yet. Maybe tonight.See the spot for my design wall and the exercise area?
A few posts ago I posted my favorite quilt for the virtual quilt show. It was Old Tobacco Road in fallish colors. I really like the colors used in that quilt so I pulled out the scraps and took inspiration from SoScrappy. Wonky stars with the center squares already completed.

Saturday

2009-04-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

This is the new hair do. I tried to put a pony tail in but no go.

Slugger!
Pitcher! He only pitched to one player and he got him out. I held my breath the whole time.
Deep breaths before every pitch.

We delivered her lock of love to my friend Margie at "A Touch Of Heaven Day Spa and Salon". She sends donations of hair to make wigs for children who have a need. The organization is called Locks of Love. Check them out you might have a ponytail to donate.

My quilt shack is almost finished. The base boards and touch up paint and it should be good to go.I took my lap top out there checked to see if I could get Internet through our router. I can. I put an aerobics CD in and did a half hour before dinner. I had to be careful not to punch a hole through the ceiling with the dumb bells.

Stash Give Away

2009-04-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

I entered a give away thanks to Dione at Sew Many Quilts for posting about this one. Here is my comment on granny day celebration. Go on over and check it out.

Blue, blue, I vote for blue. Whenever anyone asks me for my openion it is usually blue. I love blue because of all the beauty associated with it. Feelings of contentment and happiness like the vivid blue skies of warm sunny day of cold clear day. The clear waters of a sandy beach.

Online Quilt Festival

2009-04-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

Amy at Park City Girl is hosting an on line quilt festival. Here is my entry.

This is Old Tobacco Road designed as a mystery by Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville.com. There are lots of these quilts out there so it is not so original like most of the other work at this quilt festival, but it is my favorite. Maybe its the colors, maybe its because it was such a surprise, maybe its all the little pieces? I just really like this quilt. I have decided to give it to my SIL but can not bear to part with it yet. After I enter it into the local quilt show in September I will ship it to her.

I used free motion quilting on my regular Viking.

Enjoy the show.