Thursday, December 16, 2010

Katie's Mission Call

Katie received her mission call on Thursday. Unfortunately, her father was working at the temple until late, so she had to wait until 10pm to open it.

Then she read, "England London South" and made this face. I fell on the floor laughing. It had only been 8 days since she had left London! I guess 4 months wasn't enough. Now she is making plans to return.

She will report to the England MTC on April 22, 2011 and serve for 18 months.




Sunday, December 5, 2010

Wool Quilt for Mom

 My friend Cathy introduced me to this wool & flannel quilt pattern and I was smitten. We each made one. However, I couldn't use much of anything in my stash. 


Since it was very thick, it was difficult to quilt on the machine. My mom loved it even though San Diego doesn't need a lot of wool. Nana grew up in the San Gabriel mountains and still feels cold in the winter months.



Saturday, November 27, 2010

How do Chains work?

Since the snow was impeding travel, we decided it was time for a chains demonstration. Everyone had to be trained how to install chains on the Golf and Jetta. This looks like a sales pitch!

Early Snowfall

This was my view after getting stuck in the snow. No one could get up this hill without chains, and with a cliff to the left, the woman who is sideways wouldn't accept assistance.
So after an half hour, we were able to back down to the bottom of the hill and turn around. This was the view going the other direction. Eventually, we made it to 532, crossed over, and parked at Islander's. Then we hiked back to be met by the Huff's. Crazy day!


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Quilt Design Class

I found a perfect class for me! Lorraine Torrence is teaching Art Design at Quiltworks in Bellevue. Although she's been teaching this for 20 years, I am now at the point of noticing. I want to do something original! So our first assignment was to make a few quilts showing symmetry and asymmetry. I used a simple leaf for each one so they could be a series. Then I manipulated them a bit to engage the viewer.
This is an example of radial symmetry. All of the inside pieces are fused. The blue is supposed to represent the earth.
The following asymmetrical piece was the hardest. How do you achieve balance without symmetry? I drew this piece in my sketchbook about 25 times. At the class, Lorraine suggested I paint a little yellow in the green leaves to add more color balance. Also, I should cut off 2-3" inches of the left side. I'm good with that.

Next month our assignment is to create 5 or 6 quilts with asymmetry by copying the masters. I think I will attempt a Cezanne landscape.



Quilt Photos

It's been years since I was able to take a good picture. I had a good camera, but all the hanging and the lighting is a pain to set up. So I put together my own little photo session.




Pattern from: Meadowbrook Quilts: 12 Projects Inspired by Nature. I created this using freezer paper patterns in three sizes. During General Conference I turned the edges under with Roxanne's glue baste-it. Then I took them to the machine and used monofilament and a tiny zig-zag machine to stitch them to background fabric. I love working with batiks because they don't stretch out of shape.






Pattern: Hip to Be Square. I didn't need this pattern, but just looked at the design and made it. These are all fabrics I have hand-dyed myself. I quilted it to death and gave it to my sister, Jerri.




Pattern: Eleanor Burns' Grandmother's Garden Quilt. Using lots of different appliqué techniques, it features 3-D flowers using batik fabrics. Some of the flowers are even stuffed with batting.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Sawing Logs

These little cuties have all gone to their new homes. The little black one "Trogdor" went to a Russian family in Mount Vernon. Luckily, all the remaining three were able to go together to a family in Stanwood. Why is everything growing up and leaving home?

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Love One Another

This cute Heart quilt was a Row Robin with my CIQ group. I started the quilt with the log cabins with silk appliqued hearts. Friends added envelopes to place notes and lots more hearts.


I added the top title to tie it together. 



Thursday, September 9, 2010

Howard Preparing


Trying to take a picture of Howard for his mission is a challenge. He makes every dramatic pose except the "Responsible Adult" pose. Eventually we got a great one, but why show it here?

Sunday, September 5, 2010

It's Fall!


The leaves are already starting to turn. I made this in the summer, but it seems perfect to hang now. What you see is fused woven background (Judy Irish's class) and a little Frieda Anderson influence. Everything is fused, then quilted. It must have been the fastest quilt I ever made.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Katie Always Reading

Katie was home for all of two weeks. Still, it was enough to get her immunization shots, fix her teeth, and buy her luggage. She flew to London on August 31 for BYU Study Abroad through December. If you want to see her blog (she is an incredible writer), check it out at: www.byufrontandcentre.blogspot.com

Friday, August 20, 2010

Painted Quilt

 I decided to make use of some fabric paints I had been given. I took a piece of fabric to the longarm and quilted it to death. Then I sat down and colored in all the parts. 


I was surprised by the amount of time this took. It's a small piece and still took hours and hours of coloring.


Katie helped me too when she was home for a while.


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Extra Firewood

 We had such an excess of firewood that we decided to sell a cord or two. Luckily, we have a log splitter that attaches to the tractor. The kids wanted to earn some summer money and they were quite successful.







Thursday, August 5, 2010

Roof Finished


Paul and the boys have finished the pole barn roof. Hurray!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

New Golf!


I have entered a new realm. It's the TDI world! Now Paul and I have almost-matching diesels. Of course, he has 340,000 miles and I only have 150,000, but I'm not comparing. It's a sporty little thing that gets 52 mpg which is good for my wanderings.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Frazier turns 16!

Howard gave Frazier this cool shirt that says, "Shut Up, Fool!" I gave him an Ipod. Go figure.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Marnie's Ballet Recital

We raced back from San Diego, flung Katie out the door in Provo, and arrived home in time for Marnie's ballet recital. She danced to Stray Cat Strut with gusto.
Then she was a little ballerina in Rain, Rain, Go Away. Ballet has been a great class for her and she will be continuing in the fall.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Disneyland in a Day

After planning for 3 months, we hit Disneyland for one thrilling day. I used RideMax to optimize our ride schedule, which resulted in 28 rides in 14.5 hours. We rode until we didn't want to ride anymore. The Dole Whips were delicious and the weather, perfect. Because of the Give a Day promotion, we did it on the cheap. We had 6 free tickets!
Space Mountain for the third time makes Howard crazy! But we'd all be screaming in a few minutes. It was almost everyone's favorite ride of the day.

Paul is worried that Jack is going to spin him into infinity! And beyond! We all tried our best to pass out from the spinning.

The Haunted Mansion doesn't seem to be frightening the kids much. It was still early in the morning so we walked right in. That meant we missed the line that wanders through the graveyard. We didn't stand in many lines.