Wow, it’s been awhile since I posted an update to my WordPress page. Life and a multitude of surgeries have been keeping me away from quilting. I’ve had three knee replacements in the past 18 months. Emergency hernia repair surgery last Spring and to make my schedule even more hectic – I started volunteering as a Wildlife transporter for several wildlife rehabilitation centers here in Utah. That has really been taking up a lot of my time.

One of my favorite rescues was this little river otter found along I-15 in Utah county last summer. It was taken to the local animal shelter who contacted the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah in Ogden for help. I was then asked to pick it up and transport it to their facility in Ogden where they named him Oscar and after months of care and rehab, he was deemed non-releasable so they found him a home with a mate at the Alameda zoo in New Mexico where he will live out his life, raising babies with his new mate, Susie. I’m glad I was able to help get him help. It gives me a great feeling if I’m able to see a positive outcome for the animals I transport.

I have been working on redoing a room in our basement that will be my new quilt room. I am downsizing my stash and library so that as I move things, it all has a place to go. Part of my decluttering phase of life as my husband gets ready to retire next Spring and we hit the road with a little trailer. My life is going to be going through another stage as we get used to being with each other 24/7 for the first time in 20 years. He’s been working nights for all but one year of that time and was away on three deployments before retiring from the US Army National Guard after 39 years in the military. So other that his days off, I’ve had the house to myself and have been able to follow my own whims with my time. I think I’m getting a little stressed out by that big change too. I’m so used to doing my own thing by myself but I know he loves that same things I do that we should be okay. I’ll probably drop him off at a museum while I look around the quilt shops. Lol!

I will leave you with a picture of my last quilt that I won top 5 of the nation last year! It was part of the Northcott Fabric company’s Pony Express Challenge. I was able to get it quilted and sent back to New Jersey where it was picked out of all submissions as one of 5 to go to Canada for the final pick. I got a Fat Quarter bundle back with my quilt after the challenge was finished last November! I will be putting it into the local county and state fairs this year!