Life is blooming….

July 21, 2022Leave a comment

My garden is in full bloom, even under the heat! I have been fixing the parking strip and planting perennials there to help keep out weeds in the coming years. During the heat of the day, I have been downstairs in my lovely cool sewing room. I have bound 3 quilts, almost finished sewing together the setting parts of the 2021 American Patchwork and Quilting BOM. Still have loads of tiny squares to cut and sew together before it’s finished but it’s coming along nicely.

This weekend is the annual Gentry Cousins Family Reunion at the Sandberg Ranch in Widstoe, Utah. It looks like a very small turnout due to the cost of gas and food which I totally understand. I, too, have to budget my money in order to be there. But it’s a priority for me, unlike many of the family. We used to have a great reunion or so I thought until speaking with my oldest sister, Vicky. She remembers fights at those reunions amongst the grownups that were started by our mother. Doesn’t surprise me at all since she did it every time we had a family gathering that she wasn’t in charge of. She didn’t like to be out of control of everyone around her and often got into arguments with others over the tiniest of things. I guess she was mentally ill and my father was in denial about it all. Funny how the closest person is usually the last person to notice what everyone else can see, isn’t it? I have worked hard over the years to get to know a lot of my cousins but they just don’t want to make the effort to be at the reunions anymore so this year may be the last one I put on. Just not worth it if only a couple of families come. I will still be going to the ranch but not something planned. I like the quietest of the place compared to the city which is why I go there. National parks nearby and places to fish, hike, sightsee too.

Time to pack up the SUV. I need to get some cookies baked, salads made in preparation for the weekend. Plus a shower. I really need one after working in the garden all morning. You all have a wonderful weekend and I will share my latest quilt creation next time I am online here.

Life in the slow lane….

May 21, 2022Leave a comment

Wow, it’s been a really long time since I last posted to my blog. No excuse except my laptop died and I didn’t have easy access to the desktop since my husband uses it all the time. He’s gone for the summer, so I decided to hop on and start blogging again. He is being a nanny for our middle daughter who welcomed a beautiful little girl a couple of months ago. Childcare costs for a newborn are enormous so he was asked to come north and live with our youngest while caring for the baby at the middle daughter’s house during the day. Food and gas are his pay. Pretty cheap since his vehicle doesn’t use as much as mine for city driving. He’s enjoying seeing the girls and helping them both out. We talk almost every day and I do see him once a month if I want to drive 3 hours to do so.

I have been busy working on my UFO lists. I competed the tops for 7 quilts in about two months and sent 5 off to the quilting spa. She has 3 of them ready for pickup when I get up north again. It’s over 3 hours to her house. I recently bought a new Husqvarna Viking sewing machine. I bought a Sapphire 930 that loves my Aurifil thread and is a joy to sew my projects with. Even the 100 Days of Christmas is getting finished using this machine due to how easy it is to sew tiny half square triangles on it. I am also working on the Lady Tulip BOM by Laundry Basket Quilts. I chose the precut version and I wish I’d known how easy it was to sew together. No waste scraps and easy peasy to put together. I have two more BOM coming up in August and September that will come from another online quilt shop. Can’t wait for them to start coming in the mail. I enjoy getting mail more than I ever did before. Must be the slower pace of life here in rural Emery County, Utah.

One of the downsides of moving far away from the city and into a rural community is that you have to drive quite a way to see family or friends. Doctor visits are combined with other errands too. Anything to save on the cost of gasoline right now. I pay anywhere between $4.99 – $5.29 for premium here in my area. So, it’s not cheap to fill up my tank. I even schedule visits to the local quilt shops on my days when I’m going up for doctor visits.

I’m currently working on my yard. Weeding, growing new flowers and vegetables to add to the garden, and designing a couple new beds that will help fill up the back yard and get the weedy areas taken care of. I planted a cutting garden that is about 10 feet by 12 feet. I planted 107 different bulbs and tubers. Mostly dahlias and laitris but I also put in peonies. I have lots of seed to get spread down for the front strip along the road. We put in tulips and other bulbs last year, but the weeds are taking over so I want to get the wildflowers that are perennials going in there to take up the spaces between the bulbs. I really dislike weeding!

When I’m not outside weeding or planting something, I’m downstair working on current project. Right now, it’s a Jen Kingwell BOM that I took a class on at Quilts, Etc. in Sandy, UT. My sister, Laura, took the class with me and mine is almost done where she is just getting started on her pieced blocks. I even cut out several of the months for her! Funny how we all have different ways of getting things done. She works for other people and does a lot of charity quilts. Her personal quilts get put to the back of the list all the time. I am working on one project of someone but that’s it. Once it’s done, I will probably not do any more quilts for others unless it’s family. I’m finding it really hard to do handwork due to a disease I am dealing with. If it gets resolved and I get my mobility back in my body again, I hope to do more. As it is, I have donated several bins of fabric, scraps, books and kits to the Navajo Quilt Project. I hope they were able to use them all. I may have more before I’m done too! 30 years of fabric accumulations means I have more than I could ever finish in my lifetime!

I hope life doesn’t throw too much at me in the future and I hope you all have a wonderful summer!

Letting go ….

October 2, 2018Leave a comment

Let’s try this one again. I’m learning a new way to post my blogs and it’s been a real learning curve for me.

Recently I got a good lesson on letting go. I transport injured wild animals, mostly birds, to a wildlife rehabilitator in Price, Utah. I took some time and volunteered at her place last month while her helper was on vacation. It was during this time period that she let me see the sad side of her work. I had brought her a Cooper’s hawk that was badly injured and through the stress of it’s injuries and the two hour ride to the center, it was dying. I held it as it was helped on it’s way to a peaceful death. During it’s last few minutes of life, I listened to it’s heart beat, it’s breathing and watched as it bade life farewell. It is not something I want to do on a regular basis and I cannot imagine how hard it is for my friend to do this as part of her daily work. It takes a real dedication to helping animals to know that sometimes death is the best thing for them. We cannot put our human values of life on wild animals. We have to think of their quality of life if we tried to keep them alive. Some animals just cannot make it in captivity.

I also sent a couple of my quilts to the local county fair. I did well there but not so well with the same quilts at the state fair. Oh well, it is what it is. Next year I will be putting in some totally different quilts compared to anything I’ve ever done before and hopefully they will get a good reception from the judges too. Great blue herons 2, Lee Kay Ponds, 9-7-18

I recently took a short drive over to the Lee Kay Ponds Conservation area just as it was getting dark and got this beautiful shot of two Great Blue Herons in the sunset. Nature often reminds me of the glorious colors and textures around me that I can use in my life. Now back to quilting. I have a deadline for several small wall hangings that are going over to England in 10 days. Working on the quilting part today with my Aurifil thread collection. Life is never boring!! More to come! Badger, Rest stop Evanston WY, 7-31-18.jpg

This is a badger that lives at the state park in Evanston, Wyoming. One of several that make it their home. Taken on a recent trip to Yellowstone, it’s one of my favorites and one that may show up in a quilt in the future!

Summer lovin’

July 17, 2018July 17, 2018Leave a comment

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I am loving our hot summer days. I recently went on a road trip with one of my sisters. We travelled through Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Nevada before heading back to our home state of Utah. Along the way we stayed with a cousin in Declo, Idaho, who was a hoot! Loved his family and his place. He installs hardwood floors and his own were works of art. I should have taken a photo!

Next stop were to the quilt shops around Boise, Idaho and surrounding towns as we made our way to Pendleton, Oregon, for the night. Then after church services at the LDS ward in Hermiston, Oregon, we travelled up to Lacey, Washington to see our Uncle Dan and Aunt Susan. They are both getting up there in years and Uncle Dan was recently diagnosed with dementia. He recognized me but not my sister which is understandable since they haven seen each other in years and I go up several times a year to see him.

The next day we were hitting the quilt shops again as we did the Row by Row Experience 2018. We met a lot of people that were so talented at all the quilt shops we visited. We stayed one night at a KOA resort then spent a night at our cousin’s house in Sedro Wooley, Washington, were we had a fabulous time. I spend a lot of time there as well. Then on the road to more shops as we headed down the Oregon coast to Gracie’s Sea Hag – home of the worlds biggest strawberry shortcake. It was a destination that my sister has been wanting to visit for 39 years when she was there with our parents. It was the same restaurant but not exactly the same strawberry shortcake. It was delicious though so well worth the stop!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

We headed home through Sisters, Oregon, then down some back roads as we visited more quilt shops participating in the Row by Row. Spent the last night in Winnemucca, Nevada, in a dive motel but we were so tired we didn’t care. It was marginally clean and our vehicle was still in one piece when we got up. Beds were comfortable too. One final push home, stopping at quilt shops and then home. Nine days away from home and my loved one was an experience. I am so thankful for my family. I’ll be posting pictures in a later post when I figure out how to transfer them from my phone to my google account! That will be a day long adventure, I’m sure!

In the meantime, I’ll be enjoying seeing our lovely state as I travel to family reunions, transport injured wildlife and head to the mountains to see the birds. I hope you are having a great summer too!

Holidays make me happy

July 25, 2016Leave a comment

My favorite time of year is any holiday! I love them because I usually have a slow day at work and I get to enjoy some me time. Today is no different. I will be at work this evening and hope to finish my embroidered quilt. Just needs some quilting and a binding and it’s ready to hang up in the shop.

Oh, did I mention that I’m quitting and becoming a stay at home mom again? Yup, I’m going to be home and maybe I’ll get caught up on the projects in my urgent pile!! I may even get caught up on the Splendid Sampler and the 365 Challenge. Life sure does go by fast. I’m almost four months behind on them both thanks to work. Oh, I know, that’s a long time to not quilt but I’ve had a lot of other projects for work that had to be done. Also the decision to put my knee replacement in the forefront and get that done before the family reunion in September became more important that working. Can’t work if you can’t walk!

Today is the 25th but yesterday was a special holiday in our state – Pioneer Day. It’s a celebration of the brave men and women who crossed the plains and settled in Utah and parts of Nevada and Arizona back in the 1800’s. My ancestors were part of that event and I’m very proud of that pioneer stock. They gave up everything they had to come to Utah and settle here. Most never saw their families at home again. My father would tell us stories about his ancestors who settled in a little town called St. Thomas, Nevada, and had a hotel there. It doesn’t exist any longer due to the Hoover Dam being built and water covering the town back in 1939. Now you know a little piece of history!

I’ve been traveling around for the past few weeks. Put almost 8,000 miles on my truck as I went on the Row by Row adventure throughout the entire state of Utah then up to Washington and Oregon and parts of Idaho. I think I just added another project to my pile of Unfinished Objects! Lol! Anyhoo, you all have a wonderful day and remember to enjoy the little things of life!! Love others and always always be kind!

Another small step…

July 20, 20161 Comment

Well, it’s another Wednesday afternoon. I have work in a bit. Life is never slow, quiet or simple for me. I’m still working on “Little Blue Bird” by Pat A. Sloan. Maybe it’s because it’s not my own design but I’ve been having a real hard time getting motivated to complete it. Does that happen to you? I’ll be posting a photo of my completed wall hanging when I finally get it done.

My baby baby sister is having her first baby today. Emergency C-Section so this is a short blog. I’m going to be out of town for a few days to visit her and for a family funeral in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hope to get to Henderson to the quilt shop there and pick up a couple of things to use in the Splendid Sampler challenge and in the 365 Challenge which has been kicking me in the past few weeks. I’ve been so busy at work and it’s been so hot here that I can’t stand to be in the quilt room for very long. I’m motivated to complete them however because they are so awesome and they will be heirlooms for my children to enjoy. I also have four other quilts in various stages of completion that need to be done before the end of the year. I really quilt more during the winter than any other time. So watch for my posts. I should be really kicking out some fantastic work by October! Lol!!

Fairs are coming up and I have several at my LAQ to get back and bound then on the way to the fairs. I love entering my quilts in fairs because I feel that they are judged on their own merits and not compared so much to the other quilts running against them. Plus the advice from the judges is a lot nicer. Hopefully, by next year, I’ll have something to put in the HMQS event here in Utah but it depends on how well they do in the fairs. You’ll see them soon. I still need to transfer photos to my computer to upload here.

Enjoy the little things of life and keep on quilting!!

A beginning .. my start in quilts

July 18, 2016July 18, 2016Leave a comment

After 23 years of quilting, I’m going back to the beginning to show how far I’ve come as a quilter.

My first quilt was a red, pink and white patchwork heart quilt for our youngest child who was 2 weeks old when I went to my first quilt guild meeting. I received the pattern that first night and decided to do a baby quilt. I didn’t know you were supposed to prewash the reds and when I washed it the first time, it bled so bad that I had a red, pink and pink quilt. Could never get all the red dye out of the white so I put it away. I even hand quilted it. Over the years I forgot about it and recently tried to find it to no avail. While visiting my oldest daughter, I found it at her house, well loved by her little girls. Seems she wanted it and removed it out of the house without asking me. I’m ok with it but I wish she’d have told me she wanted it so I didn’t think I was losing my mind when I couldn’t find it!

Then I tried trapunto. I designed this Halloween wall hanging way back in 1998. I wanted something with cats on it. First time I did my own machine quilting with my domestic machine and a walking foot. I had a lot to learn.

I have done many wedding quilts over the years with my sister, Laura. She is the person responsible for my first attendance at quilt guild and has been my cohort in many quilting adventures over the years. The most recent was a quilt retreat at the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah. We took a machine applique class, wool design class and learned all about Aurifil thread. Plus we got to see lovely creatures out our hotel window. Deer, foxes and marmots came down to the pond there and enjoyed the water. It was a lovely sitting.

My niece and her husband received this lovely quilt from me as a wedding gift. One of the most difficult quilts I’ve ever done.

My latest quilts are all in a state of flux. I have several at my long arm quilter, Paula Murray, of Wellsville, Utah. She has quilted almost all of my big quilts. One of the most talented quilters I’ve ever known.

Time to call it a day. More of my quilt beginnings later after I finish my busy week of work, doctors and hospital visits. You all have a wonderful time getting to know my work!

ckquilts

Tag: quilting