Good-bye 2008

As 2008 draws to a close, I thought I should post one last time this year. I am not going to finish all my NYE challenges. I am a bit sad about that, but grateful that my business has done so well and kept me so busy. I did finish two and I finished this quilt for my new niece Addyson born in June. I have had it done for awhile, just hadn't gotten around to taking pictures of it. It was a mystery quilt from Superbowl last year....CaterCorners. It is not my favorite, but I do like the fabrics, and bonus I didn't buy a thing...hence the pieced border, not enough fabric.


A group picture from Christmas...we had two of the four kids and their babies here to enjoy Christmas, it was fun.


So on to a new year with lots of new possibilities.
Happy New Year to All!

Holiday grandkids!

Well, I have comfiscated holiday pics of some of the grandkids....It is too bad when a Grandma has to "steal" pictures of her very own grandkids (I hope that is making some of you feel guilty LOL!)
We made it tradition 5 years ago when our oldest little granddaughter was born to buy the grandchildren their holiday attire. It has just plain become a quest now for just the right thing. This Christmas we have three little grandsons, I did have their pictures taken professionally and will try to post a pic of that soon, but in the meantime here is a pic of two of them with their big sister and grandpa:



And another....





Here is a picture of Sophie our youngest granddaughter...she has the sweetest little smile, dimples on both cheeks...just like Dad!

Will try to get updates on the other two quickly....
What a bunch we feel very blessed! Check out that hat...Ty-kell has one too! They are ready to roll with Great-grandpa in the model A's

A week full of excitement!

This week was a busy one full of fun and excitement! First my daughter and I canned butter (yes butter!) and some pinto beans.

On Wednesday our third little granddaughter made her public appearance...rather late in the day but she is healthy and doing well and so is Mom....Dad didn't do to bad either. They will call her Sophie.

I finished baby Sophie's quilt just in time! Her Dad (our son) helped pick out the fabric, despite the fact that he is thrilled about a baby girl, he is not overly excited about "pink" (and it is Sophie's mom's favorite color), so we tried hard not to have too much of that color in the quilt, just for Dad!

Sophie's quilt is also another finished NYE Challenge project....YES! Another thing to cross off.

A trip, a monumental birthday and lots of fall color!

Is this not the most beautiful site? Okay maybe not for you, but for me this is one of my favorite views. I am standing at the Train Depot in Boise, Idaho and overlooking the city...wow the fall colors are just beginning to appear! I wish I could adequately describe the smells, because that is all part of the experience. I miss this city, especially this time of year. I think my son in law said it well this day when he said he felt safe there. (Coming from Tucson where there are lots of unsafe places...well you get the picture).

We got to travel to Idaho this past weekend to celebrate Grandpa Clayton's 75th birthday. It was a surprise for him and we pulled that off. Here is Grandpa with baby Ty-kell as we all surprised him Friday morning. We had a great time seeing all the family (we missed you missionary boys, Mandi, John and Spencer, Chad and Rachel). Grandpa took all seven of his cars out for a spin and let the sons, grandsons and some of the granddaughters take them for a drive. What a great time for him, a "Family Parade"!

We had a surprise party Saturday with all the fun elements, homemade ice cream, pies, Aunt Diane's sugar cookies and don't forget all the old friends and family that gathered. It was such a great time, better than a family reunion! Pictures of some of the great grandchildren playing.

Here we are at the depot, DH with granddaughter Kaylie! She is definately a northerner I had on a sweatshirt and was cold...notice she has on no shoes! !
And finally baby Ty-kell with his mommy and daddy enjoying the beautiful fall weather .

I Finished something...okay really two things!

In August I helped my friend with this quilt for a young friend of hers. Kayla is a little girl she helped take care of before moving here. She comes every summer to spend time and they had decided they wanted to make a quilt. We kept it very simple, but Kayla did help quilt it on my frame and machine. It was fun to watch her excitement. Lots has happened since then and I hadn't gotten it bound...I did that last night...It is officially finished!

Here is closeups of the backing and the quilting...She wanted the money fabric...so funny...


I also replaced a zipper in her son's pants....finished!

I just got tagged!

I think I might be too old to play this game...but okay Christy I will give it a whirl....now lets see if I can remember....

1o years ago I...

1. Was in my thirties....
2- I lived in Boise Idaho
3- I think that was the year I started working for Joe and Walt in the Machine Shop
4- Loved my house and was looking forward to all that needed to be done
5- That fall my oldest was a senior in High school

5 things on my "to do" list today (or tomorrow...)

1- Do the laundry
2- Work on my embroidery order for the retirement community
3- Finish a vinyl order
4- Have dinner ready at 5:30 for Gary, he has a late meeting at work and needs to be to the church early tonight
5- Ironing

5 Snacks that I enjoy...
I am typically not much of a snacker...but

1- water with ice
2- An Eegee
3- apple
4- chocolate
5- chips or something salty


5 things I would do if I were a millionaire...

1- Be completely out of debt.
2- Pay off my children's school loans and make sure they all have a place to live
3- Help others
4- Put money in the bank (or some reliable source of saving)
5- Indulge myself and get a long arm machine and build Gary the shop of his dreams

5 places I have lived...

1- Tucson, AZ
2- Boise, ID
3- Twin Falls, ID
4- Provo, UT
5- Tremonton, UT

5 jobs I have had...

1- Wife/ Mother
2- Daycare at a Bowling alley in Orem Utah
3- Hair on LaDiDolls
4- Worked at Purple Rhino T-shirt screening and embroidery
5- Worked for R-Tec Machine Tool as the accounting clerk


I tag...
Kimberly
Andrea
Kim
Heather
Aimee

Not for the Faint of Heart....

This may be the reason I don't so much enjoy living in Arizona. I really don't enjoy the heat, but have tried to focus on the 8 - 9 months of near perfect blue skied days that we enjoy... I try not to miss the crisp cool air of fall too much, although I always do get a tad homesick for fall leaves and apple harvest. I have grown accustom to "our" green here, and the fact that there is little to no yard maintenance...but or maybe I should say BUT....
I have not learned to enjoy the "critters"
I just went out side to get something from my car....look what was habitating in the driveway! Ewww! At least it is not a scorpion, or wild looking spider...but ewwww!
The rock next to it is about the size of a dime....



We have had lots more insects this summer, I am sure due to all the rain. We need the rain so I guess we will have to endure the "critters"....

Finn's New Year Eve Challenge!

Okay, I did it I took the challenge....
I am going to try to finish 5 projects before New Years Eve. I think I can do it, it seems easy enough. Heaven knows I have a lot more than 5 but that sounded like a great number to start with right now.
Here is my list:
Ty-kell's baby quilt
C and R baby girl quilt
Old Tobacco Road
Leftovers from the Orange Crush
Celestial Migrane

Well here I go!

Old Tobacco Road Mystery

In an effort to feel like accomplish something in my days...here are my fabric choices for Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt "Old Tobacco Road". It is sure to be fun! She started it Friday before Labor Day....but I am behind (as usual). I am excited to get started on the 4-patches which I think I will do in the neutral with green tones...haven't completely decided. If you have not seen Bonnie's work go check her out at http://www.quiltville.com . She has amazing quilts all made from scraps and stash.

My quilt has some stash in it, but I did purchase the red border fabric and some of the greens and blues. I do think I might pull in some brown-reds and blacks.

Maybe this weekend....(I am wishing...I am hoping......)

Baby Blessing

Okay it isn't a quilt, but I did do some sewing! Yesterday the new baby was blessed in church. It was an occasion for celebration. His mom and I made him this cute little outfit, he certainly looked like a little man all duded up and especially with the head of hair. Just to get an idea of the size of this, we used a cabbage patch doll pattern and lengthened it for him. It still was a tad large in spots. His little blanket I embroidered for him for his special day.

We also made his dad a tie to match. Dad thought that was great! So hopefully this afternoon will find me on to other adventures in the sewing room.

Thinking and Remembering

I haven't done a whole lot of sewing, quilting or much creating at all in the last almost 4 weeks. Baby Ty-kell has had a rough start which has kept this gramma busy. Not to mention my other responsibilities. Anyway over the last couple of weeks I have passed some anniversaries of sort. I typically don't give it much thought, but this year I have thought alot about it. Fourteen years ago this month my mother passed away from pancreatic cancer. It was devasting at the time, and I have missed her so much over the last 14 years. She was so young and had some many things left to share with us. Don't get me wrong, I have a wonderful belief system and a strong knowledge of where she is at and that we will see and be with her again forever...just for some reason this year...well I am missing her. It might be the new baby and the other two coming. She would love to be apart I am sure. As my life unfolds with all of its trials, blessings and adventures, I guess I must yearn to be able to share it all with the one who gave me life!
So to mothers everywhere who give so much and expect so little in return, may your lives be full of happiness and joy for all the little things your do and the many big things that you do!

Grandbaby #1 for 2008

The first of three grandbabies that are due in the next few months arrived Sunday afternoon. He was a bit early and he is kind of small, but doing great. I am sure he will grow fast and in no time have lots of fat rolls. Here are pictures of the crib his grandpa (my DH) made for him and pictures of the quilt his mommy made (our daughter) for him. I quilted it for her. It is "crayon box" from http://quiltville.com/, by Bonnie Hunter. It is an easy quilt. We did it more controlled as far as scraps, but I think it turned out darling... I don't have the bumper pads finished yet, but will post a picture when they are done. Grandpa also made him a changing table/dresser. We got to go set it up last night already for his arrival home today. He is a sweetie and we are so happy to have him be part of our family. In honor of baby Ty-kell, I am changing my background to 'blue'....

Oh the things I could do....

Where did the last two weeks go! I have been crazy busy and as such haven't had the opportunity to do much quilting. I did spend all day yesterday sewing...it was good, I finished the tops for the next two grandbabies quilts. They are the same pattern as Parkers (see below) just different fabrics. They go together very quickly. I had turned the tv on in my room, so I kept getting sidetracked by what they were doing to make these home beautiful (HGTV...). If my body could keep up with my brain....oh the things I could do!

Summer Stash Quilt? Completed!

Well this little quilt might be a stretch where the summer stash is concerned...I did have all the supplies here and I didn't purchase anything else to finish it although I did kind of want to go get more backing fabric for the binding...I used what I had...

This is a cute little pattern that goes together fairly quickly. It finishes at about 39 inches square. It is an Alex Anderson pattern from her newest baby book. There are several patterns in there I want to try as they make great stash quilts and perfect charity size. This is a quilt for my grandson Parker.

Printer Surgeon

Well, as many of you have read...I have been rather hard on mechanicl/electronic items this last week. Not to stop since I was on a roll...I preceded to do in our printer yesterday printing items for seminary. (Yes, I teach an early morning religious class to youth in our area) Well apparently one of the labels came off the page and stuck rather magically to the printer head! This was obviously quite the fete because it has taken quite abit to get it off. My resident printer surgeon has been busy at work and just extracted the offensive object, now to get her back together again to see if she survived the ordeal!

Here is a picture of the surgeon at work. He is my hero, even if she doesn't work when he is done...but I am pretty certain she will!

PS. All three machines are home, but I don't dare touch them.....

What is done, what to do and how to do it!

I thought I would post what I did Saturday before taking in the embroidery machine. We have two grandbabies coming this year...a grandson in August and a granddaughter in October. I have been working on a few baby items here and there. I made a burp cloth the other day and hadn't gotten around to embroidering on it. Saturday when I was trying to get the machine to work right, I did this design. I thought it turned out pretty fun...I think his mom and dad will like it.

This is my last year Snowman block of the month. I just finished stitching all the blocks Saturday night. I have cut the borders for the last two blocks, but can't sew them on yet. I am debating how to quilt this...I asked for opinions on the Pfaff grand quilter board, and everyone but one said don't quilt through the snowmen. The pattern has you do large hand quilt stitches around each snowman block, but I am not sure if that will be enough in that area, as those blocks finish at 8 x 10.5....any suggestions. I will quilt in the borders and it has another homespun border....What do you think?

Decisions, Decisions!

Summer Stash Challenge!

Okay while I should be doing stuff to get ready to go back to school, I was busy reading everyones blog. I found the cutest blog....Eileen's Attic! Yeah, she started a Summer stash challenge...okay a month ago, but I want to see what I can do too...
I did do the Orange crush without a purchase, so the other things I have bought in the meantime don't count right because I didn't know...
So today it is official...
Let the fun begin (okay as soon as I get that machine back home!)
Good news there, they will have it fixed by Thursday! YES...I was so excited...
So here is to the challenge...click on the picture and you can join too!
Summer hugs
Tricia

So Sad!

I have a Brother 750-D stand alone embroidery machine. I purchased it last fall along with a Pfaff 2056. I have had lots of problems with my Brother machine. I just got it back from the machine doctor Wednesday afternoon and it had to go back again today. The big guy at the shop is saying we need to call Brother and see about having it replaced as it just isn't wanting to stay running....
Then I came home tonight and went to sew on my Pfaff...it jammed the fleece down in the dog feeds and threw it out of timing...so Monday it will have to go in. No sewing for me! I am sad as I teach a class for high schoolers and our school starts in less than two weeks, I was really hoping to get some projects done...oh well, I just hope the timing is all I did to it.
Hope your Holiday weekend has been a good one!
Tricia

Another Quilt!

My friend Nan and I finished a quilt I helped her do for her oldest son! This is a huge accomplishment for her as she has really never sewn much before. She had a great time! It has been fun to watch her discover the possibilities and to see her ideas come together. She wanted a pirate theme on the front and Star Wars on the back. His two great loves! She got so excited to find out she could make him a pillow with the leftovers. She is coming over shortly to finish two pillow cases and then I will post the finished pictures.
It was a simple pattern, and we just tied it, but it turned out nice I think!

Why I Quilt

I thought maybe I would post a bit more about myself, although that is not my forte' at all. I will give it a go, here it goes.

I have a fabulous husband who supports my addiction to fabric and mediums to create. He is one of my biggest supports and fans. I can always count on him to give me his honest opinion about a quilt or creation. He really loved the Orange Crush quilt from the beginning, I did too. It was when I started adding the orange and aqua that I got a bit scared, but it all worked out.
I have two sons and two daughters, all as different as can be....how does that happen that they all were raised in the same home, but have such different takes on life? They have great spouses. We have 4 absolutely adorable grandkids, we are not prejudice, they are adorable! I think there might be days when their parents think otherwise, but such is the way and they can always count on Gramma and Papa. We have two more babies coming this summer and fall, we are so excited as they are close by.

My love of sewing comes from a long line of women who create! My mother, grandmother and great grandmothers. I am very fortunate. I have embroidered blocks that my great grandmother embroidered that have set into baby quilts, just need to find time to hand quilt them. I have another set of flowers she did that I want to do the same thing with them.
One of my great grandmothers came across the ocean on a ship with her younger brother when she was 9, to have religious freedom. She sewed to support herself and send money back home so her parents could join them. She was gifted beyond belief, what she could do with all the gadgets and beautiful fabrics we have now! I feel blessed to be able to have this ability to create, can't imagine my life without it. Thankful that I have a very supportive husband who also loves to create.
I am excited to join the world of blogging, I hope to be able to express myself here in another form and share my love of creating with you.
Quilt hugs
Tricia

Orange Crush Finished

I finished my Orange Crush quilt! I love it! It was a mystery quilt from Bonnie Hunter and her great site http://www.quiltville.com/. She is a very talented lady, and I absolutely love her stuff. She works with scraps and her quilts are fabulous. Go check it out if you haven't been there.

Anyway, this was a tad controlled on the scrappy as I had some leftovers and wanted to use them up. I made it smaller than called for, but have enough blocks left over I am going to make a preemie isolate quilt. It is a project we are working on with my church group. Feels good to have a project done. It didn't stay here long I gave it away as a baby shower gift for a dear friend.