Marnie Birthday

Marnie's Party features Chocolate Fondue. At 6 days before Christmas, Marnie was thrilled to have so many friends come.

Games and Fun!

Beaver Lake

We enjoyed a fabulous hike in the cold winter weather yesterday. I forget how much I love hiking in the Cascades until I get out in it. 

Beaver Lake is a forested lake north of Loup Loup Pass. It's not drop-dead gorgeous, but offers hikers the rare chance to see terrain recovering from the devastating fires of the Okanagon Complex in 2015.

Jackson's Birthday

We celebrated Jackson's 15th Birthday with a big chocolate cake.

I think chocolate is his most requested flavor based on the evidence.

Modern Improv

 I am currently in love with vast fields of grey. It's probably a fad, but I  adore it. In a few days I created this modern improv quilt. I finally used the Nigerian print I had in my stash for years for the backing.

Dancer's Halloween

The girls were excited to celebrate Halloween at the Dance Academy. Jennifer and Marnie and their friends had a great time. 

Tractor Work

 There is enough yard work to keep us busy every Saturday of the summer. This time, a tree came down and it is too high to reach. Let's see what we can do.

Problem solved.

Welcome to Lake Tahoe!

Our first family reunion at Lake Tahoe with the Willards! We stayed near the state border at a great resort.

Calvin went shopping for t-shirts and found a Brazil jersey. He is pretty confident that he will be called to serve in Brazil. We'll see!

We rented some kayaks so Frazier and Calvin could run around on the lake.

Marnie isn't very adventurous in the water, but she does love to throw rocks and put her feet in.

Paul and I had pool duty when the kids wanted to swim.

I've never seen such crystal clear water! The elevation is 6,200 so the air is a bit thin, but at 75 degrees, it's perfect weather!

Stanwood Fair

 We love going to the Stanwood Fair. Mostly I enjoy the quilts and the animals, but there's always time for a few rides. There is a little measuring to do and few tickets to purchase, and then screaming.

A Quilter's Home

I've been working on a quilt for a Quilt University class online. I believe the adage that the first 50 drawings should go in the garbage. It takes a long time to flesh out a good design.

This is just from my sketchbook. Not everything is easy to translate into fabric. Most things are fused.

Here's the first row. I decided to go a little brighter on the trees and subdue the houses so they appear further in the distance.

The lights in the house are silk and since it unravels so much, I've cut out the windows and put the silk underneath. During class, Lorraine told me I needed more balance on the sides and something at the bottom. 

There she is, finished. It's hard not to touch the little sparkling windows. Thank goodness for Heat 'n Bond and a quilting machine. A simple practice piece can become a pretty piece of art.

Buying a New Bed

 Over the years we've had great successes and terrible failures choosing beds. Our first bed was a double from Grandma Helen's mom. It was exceptionally small. Katie never slept with us. When we got to Lubbock, we bought a king sized bed. It saved our marriage. That Serta Perfect Sleeper lasted for 20 years. 

Then we bought a Sealy from Costco that I swear lasted 6 months. The above shot is the old bed that had to go. And this was the new bed. It didn't last long.

We decided to just pay the money and get a good bed. Although it is really firm, there is no movement, so when one of us gets up, the other doesn't feel it. Sometimes I imagine I'm on the beach because it feels like wet sand. That headboard is from my parents' bed. We shipped it up from San Diego years ago.

The Garden calls...

It's so difficult for me to be inside when there is gardening to do!

This particular rose may be a Charles Lawson. I found it on the property and moved it to a better location. But it continues to send up shoots in its previous home. It wanders on its own roots through butterfly bushes and vinca major. The deer don't eat it when surrounded by plants they hate.

David's Wedding

Calvin's good friend invited him to be his best man at his wedding. We enjoyed the afternoon in Seattle with many of his friends and some great music. Calvin performed his duties very well and even accompanied David in a song for his new wife.

Quilt Top New Definition

For anyone who has ever googled "Quilt Top" and produced guitars, you may know there is something unique about the term. I decided early on in the year that I needed to make a Guitar Quilt for our wildly successful choir director at Stanwood High. Since I adore www.RobbiEcklow.com I used her pattern. This now hangs in Eric Ronning's office.

Remember Stack 'n Whack?

Bethany Reynolds' Stack 'n Whack book was first published when I was a beginner quilter. I ran to Fabricland and picked up the cheapest cotton I could buy. This had beans of all shapes and sizes and was $1.67/yard. I couldn't imagine a more hideous fabric!

I think I made 2 or 3 of these before running out of fabric. Stack 'n Whack only uses half of the lengthwise fabric. One of my friends loved it so much, I made her one. This one ended up in the Quilt Shop Magazine a few years ago! One Block Wonder is a type of Stack 'n Whack.

Measuring the fabric repeat is the same. For fun I bought Sara Nephew's book and added a few hollow blocks since they are based on 6 diamonds. With the blocks all together without sashing, it can be overwhelming visually.