Surprise in the Mail

The mail brought a package last week with these wonderful fabrics and patterns.
I had to dive right in and start with the top kit.  Check out the ric-rac!  Orange is so not my color, but this combination just shouted "happy, happy!  Me first"!  Keep reading and scrolling to see the finished top.  It just makes me smile because it is so bright and cheerful.

 The second kit is a Christmas table topper called Figgy Pudding.  Yes, Christmas is not that far away, especially for quilters and crafters!  This one uses 10" squares cut into four different sized pieces and put back together with strips of sashing.  This kit came with fat quarters so if there is a cutting error...oop-p-p-p-s....there is plenty left to cut another piece.  I love the new Christmas colors, especially the blues and stripes.

Here are the finished tops.

 Sorry the picture isn't quite in focus.  There is a strip of wide lime green ric-rac across the middle of the top piece and the bottom piece.





 Popp'n Posies by Izzy & Ivy
Kit from Thimbles & Threads

Happy, dancing flowers.

Finally, here's Figgy Pudding from Mary's Cottage Quilts.
Kit is from Thimbles & Threads.

Can you believe that I found some Christmas decorations in August?  The little bags are filled with balsam needles from our niece who lives in Maine.  They make and sell wreaths and always send us one along with these cute little bags.  I save them every year and put them in a red basket! 

Plum Jam

Yesterday we made nine jars of plum jam. (One is already missing!) Our big old plum tree didn't produce much this year but we did get enough for one batch. Last year the tree was loaded with plums, and our dog, Sam, loved to eat the ones on the ground and the birds really enjoyed pecking bits out of the ones still on the tree. Not so this year. Maybe it's an every other year thing.

Mushrooms Anyone?

I found these beauties growing in odd spots around the yard.  These were sprouting under our spruce tree.  Really strange looking.  The middle one looks like a glass of beer with the foam overflowing...really dark beer.  Not quite sure about the small one, but I'll watch them.


These little guys were growing next to a piece

 of wood.  The peaked tops were quite shiny and if you zoom in there are wonderful striations of color that almost looks like wood grain.

 This one was all by itself between two pieces of wood.  Much darker brown cap.

I guess they like the dampness of the wood because here is another group on the other side of the log. 

Last year I found a giant puffball in our yard.  Of course I had no clue what it was when I took the picture, but after much research, not only did I find out what it was, but that it is edible and has a texture sort of like a marshmallow.

Nature provides us with many, many interesting and unusual things to see and wonder about if we take the time to really look at our surroundings.

Kathy's Project

My daughter, Kathy, asked me to help her with a project she needed for Nursing School.  It had to be "creative" and tell the story of her journey to become an RN.  It also had to show her future goals.  She had decided to make a "quilt".....designed and finished in 10 days!  Between classes, exams, full time job, and three girls still at home, plus studying and maybe a little sleep.

 She did it!!  We raided my stash and supplies and since she doesn't really sew and isn't a quilter (yet), I suggested fusing the whole thing.

So, this little quiltlet shows the road from CNA to LPN, to RN with her BRN to be achieved in the future.  A little pleat on the curves became 'speed bumps', a flower button by the rest area sign,  beads representing the rocky road, burning the candle at both ends, and lots of other little things to show her journey.  She has worked really hard (and almost quit a few times) to reach her goal.  We are so proud of her!

Road Update

Looks like we are entering another phase of our road construction.  There has been a lot of activity the past week.  Trucks full of gravel carefully winding their way around some small front end loaders, small yellow shovels and a big one too, plus a grader and even a water sprayer.  I just took our dog out and OMG! they are putting in some jersey barriers on the drop off side of the road.  No more fear of some loonie driving over the edge and adding to the scrap metal pile!  Yes, there are quite a few people out there who don't think the barriers and the "road closed" signs at each end apply to them.  A few have gotten stuck over the last few months and have had the joy of backing down this steep, narrow, unfinished road.  Some have been good for a chuckle or two.  I'm beginning to think that things may be a bit boring around here when if it's all done.
Maybe it's time to get out of my quilting slump and finish some things!?!?

21st Century Technology

Road construction has been progressing slowly but surely. This morning there was a lot of activity with quite a few guys....not a lot of motorized activity, mind you, but a lot of "get down an dirty" stuff. I didn't realize just what was going on until this guy and two other workers were almost out of sight, so you only get to see the "down and dirty" guy. No, he's not hurt or taking a break. He's really working hard! If you click on the picture and maybe zoom in, you will be able to see a string just about eye level. He's got "laser vision"! Yes, he's using the old fashioned method of making sure the string is right on with the other stakes and string. Hm-m-m, I wonder if he's a hunter who is used to lining up the sights of a gun or even a bow.

We still have things being done and then re-done, such as deciding that the retaining wall isn't quite high enough in one section, so off come the caps and on go a few more levels and then back on with the caps. A few minutes ago two cement trucks went past, so maybe it's almost time for the next phase.....but.....it will be much more difficult to un-do concrete than plain old sandy dirt.

Remember the "junk-yard" at the bottom of the hill? Well, three guys were trying to un-junk it a bit, but got caught by one of our police officers. He watched them for about 10 min. and called for back-up. The cops were pretty sneaky and the un-junkers were so engrossed in trying to clean things up that they didn't hear anything until it was too late. Mr. D and I drank our morning coffee on the deck watching all the action. Their car was towed away along with some of their stuff, but we're not sure what happened to the "un-junkers".

Gee's Bend Quilt

Have you seen the quilts that the ladies of Gee's Bend, AL have been making? I love the simplicity and geometric designs. This pattern is called "Housetop Denim Quilt" and is all hand dyed fabric. It has been so relaxing to just sew straight seams with almost no matching. AND no points to line up. A quilt store in Kansas City had several of these quilts on display along with a few kits. I don't usually buy kits but this one wouldn't let me move on until I decided that it had to come home with me! Any ideas for quilting designs?

Perfect Rose

This morning was gorgeous! Warm and sunny with a mild breeze just doesn't get much better. This rose was kind of hidden on the side of the bush so I didn't see it right away, but had to grab the camera and share it with you.

Hope all the great Dad's out there had a great day!

Road Update

Yea!!!  We have a fire hydrant installed!  No recent disasters although the "water problem" area was dug up and filled in a couple of times since my last report.  It is finally beginning to look like a road and the retaining walls have gone up quite fast.  Big Blue is at the edge of our backyard putting the last bit of gravel between the wall and our yard.  Maybe there really is an end in sight!  Any bets on the finish date?

Cottage Stars

Finally! The top is finished! The photo shows about 3/4's of the top because it is quite large....85 1/4" x 102 1/4".....and not quite enough space to hang the whole thing. There are 50 star blocks plus 18 side units plus 4 corner units. Each star block has 20 pieces and each edge unit has 10 pieces......oh, plus the four corner units, but who's counting!? (1204 sound about right?) It's a good thing that Cathy is on my "A" list. Yes, there was a lot of cutting and lots of pinning (which I seldom do), but I think it turned out really nice. Can't wait to see it quilted!

This is another shop sample for Cathie Z of Thimbles and Threads in Draper, UT. She's busy getting her new shop ready for the annual Shop Hop which begins all too soon.

The close-up picture shows the stars much better. You will just have to ignore the wrinkles from being folded up. It really does lay nice and flat.

We're not in Kansas anymore,

Bubble Tea and BBQ Ribs!  M-m-m-m good stuff!  Our Son and Daughter-in-law love to try different cuisines (so do we) and restaurants, so it seems most of our travels include finding good food.  Sometimes I think we should have been food critics.....wouldn't that be interesting?  We tried Spanish Tapas, Mongolian BBQ, Italian Pizza, a great breakfast place, etc.  Sounds like we spent our week eating, but we did a lot of sightseeing as well.  The WWI Museum was awesome.  History books can tell you about things, but when you can actually  see the weapons and reconstructed living conditions it really brings things into perspective.  

 
We really enjoyed our trip to Kansas, but it's good to be home.  Why is traveling so tiring?  It's always fun to experience new things, but then you need a vacation to recover from your vacation!  

This is one of the hidden bunkers. 


































This is the WWI Monument and entrance to the museum.

This is another monument in Rosedale Park.

Fun in Kansas City

Kansas City has some wonderful things to see, eat and visit.  So far we've done a lot of eating!  Last night we had a wonderful meal of Tapas.  What a wonderful variety of flavors and textures, and a great way to sample many different dishes.

Our plane trip was quite an adventure.  Everything was fine until we were ready to leave Denver for KC.  Before we took off, a tornado warning and storm came in.  All of a sudden we were asked to deplane as quickly as possible, leaving everything behind.  Once inside, the alarms kept going off, and announcements to go to safe areas and away from the windows.  Did anyone listen?  Of course not!  After more than an hour we finally re-boarded and took off for KC.  During the flight, the weather channel came on and Denver got at least six inches of hail....golf ball to baseball size!  They showed pictures of front end loaders clearing streets!

The weather here is pretty warm and a bit humid, but beautiful.  Had to share a few pictures from today.

Rain, snow, cold, and mud

We've had a lot of rain the past few days and even a little snow yesterday.  Water and dirt equals mud. Loose dirt on a hillside along with lots of rain equals mud slides.  Yes, there was mud sliding down where the new road is going.  The crew brought in gravel and stones this morning to try to fill the hole a bit.  But....this afternoon they dug it all back out because of all the water pooling at the bottom.  They dug down to the drainage pipe that was put in some time ago.  I'm not sure what is going on at this point.  We are going to Kansas City for a week, so it will be interesting to see what has happened while we are gone.

Hole in the Hill

This photo was one of several that I took on May 19th. Yep, they had to stop working....again. After a big conference with about 10 guys, they concentrated on a different part of the road. At least nothing fell in and no one was hurt this time.

Bloggers Quilt Show Entry - click here

This quilt was made during a class on Ricky Tims "Convergence Quilts".  We were able to put the whole top - background and borders - together during the two hour class.  The appliques and embellishments were added after class.  The fish and starfish are fussy cut, and the seaweed were free form cut and fused.  I added bead "bubbles" and machine quilted it using metallic thread, outlining some of the background images.  You never know just what your finished quilt will look like, so there is a lot of anticipation while sewing all of the strips together.

Click on the title of this post for all the links to all of the quilts

Bloggers Quilt Show

It's time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival! Visit Amy's Creative Side to either enter a quilt or follow all the links to see all the eye candy created by so many talented quilters.
Just click on the above button to read all about it.

Road Progress?

These are some pictures taken Wednesday. The first one is the end of the road at this point. You can see the end of the retaining wall. Second picture, things look pretty good. They made a lot of progress during the time I was away. It's even beginning to look like a road!

O-0-0-p-p s! Spoke too soon! Looks like a cave in the side of the hill! We know there is a lot of water draining down the mountain and it looks like it wants to join the creek below. This hole is only about 10 feet higher than where the front end loader fell in.

Teton Patchworks Quilters Retreat

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post!  Lots of things have been going on during the past few weeks, so I will be posting pictures, etc. out of order, but that's normal for me, too!
Nine of us lucky quilters just got back from a wonderful weekend retreat at Teton Patchworks located in Tetonia ID, which is also the home of Lea and Jim Hardy.  Lea taught us Ruth McDowell's technique of curved piecing to make these wonderful roses, and Jim was our chef!  What a treat to be able to sew to our hearts content, learn a new technique, have brunch and dinner cooked by someone else, AND not have to clean up the kitchen!!

Anne's Purple Rose, Kaye's Orange Rose




Pat's Whimsical Orange, Cathie's Red Velvet

 Bev's Red, Marilyn's Pretty Pink






Sue's Retro B&W, Laurel's Peach

Anna's Pink





and finally, Lea's class sample

  





We had two days of intense sewing, unsewing, re-sewing, and a lot of muttering trying to put some of these puzzle pieces together, but we had a good teacher and we all helped each other.  Some got their top completed, while some of us still have a few more seams to finish.
We also had alot of laughter along with some clowns......or should I say Elmer Fudd?

Sorry, Cathie.  Way too tempting not to post this!  (She was really cold and took all the extra blankets).  Yes, it is her hat and she did bring it with her.  No, it wasn't really cold for the rest of us.

Here's the whole group.....Pat, Anne, Cathie, Lea, Kaye, Laurel, Bev (me), Marilyn, Anna, and Sue in front.

Road Construction Update

We now have three big shovels digging up the rest of the hill.  In addition to big blue, there are two big yellows happily moving dirt from one spot to another.  When all of this began last fall, there were trees and brush, deer, raccoons, pheasants, and lots of birds and other wildlife.  Then all of the trees were cut and everything else was removed.  Nothing else happened for quite some time, until the big equipment finally started to reconfigure the natural landscape.  Since then, dirt has been taken out, dirt brought in, more dirt taken out or moved from one spot to another, gravel brought in, drainage pipe laid and then taken back out.  Retaining walls started being put up and then back to the drawing board.  Since the "near disaster", there have been many (that we have seen) meetings with drawings and plans laid out, along with many surveys, new markers, and on and on.  There are now four, yes, four tiers of ground.  Pictures just don't show the depth of these, but it starts with our lawn, then the first drop-off which is a good ten feet, where we thought the actual road would be, now another lower tier with at least another ten foot drop-off.  Not finished yet!  One more drop-off to the bottom.

Why?  No one can really give us a good explanation as to why all of this is being done.  Now all we see when we are on our deck is dirt, and the junkyard left behind by the former landowner who lived right beside the creek.  What would almost make all of this worth while would be a nice little park / green space beside the creek, maybe a couple of picnic tables and benches.  I know, I know.  Just dreaming a little of what could be done.  Something to suggest to the city.

This guy had to use his shovel to pull himself back up.

Big blue is way-y-y down on the third tier.

 





Another survey and check the plans.

If you click on the picture you can see some of the junk that's all over the area beside the creek.  Yes, there was a house (kind of) there.  The garage is still standing, bulging with more stuff.