Removing a Pond

 When we purchased our home in 1999, it had a little pond in the front yard. There was a water pump, but it wasn't working so I replaced it. We've added fish and they thrived even under the ice, but they couldn't survive the racoons. 

One time Marnie had a goldfish in a bowl in the kitchen for a long time, but when went on vacation, I put it in the pond. It became enormous. I added floating plants to keep the pond cool and safe. 

Over the years, however, it became more and more high maintenance. It became an eyesore, even though it was still attractive to deer, racoons, and wandering bighorn sheep.

I trimmed the yews and started taking out the stones. Then I dragged out the liner and threw it away. I realized the yews would have to go too.

Once the ground was filled, I placed flat granite stones around and filled with small rocks. I moved that old wheelbarrow in the back to the front and planted chrysanthemums.

Rush Job

 Dodi asked me to quickly quilt up a sample for the upcoming International Quilt Market in Portland. It was small and quick to do, but it is funny to see it on Instagram just a week after it was on my machine.

When there is an empty block, it's an opportunity to add a ghost image of what is above or below.

This is quite a cute pattern using sweet, fresh fabrics.

And there it is. The pattern and fabric collection was presented on a big board alongside other Riley Blake designers.

YaYas plus Sujata

 We were happy to invite Sujata Shah to our YaYa group today in Mount Vernon. It was a day for show and tell because many of us had finished quilts recently. I also had finished a few for fellow quilters.

Here is Cathy's New Hexagon Millefiori, all bound and finished. I quilted this one, just as I am working on finishing my own version. 

I love how Cathy curved these edges. It just makes sense with the shape of the melons.

Merry made this beautiful quilt for a Cherrywood Challenge. It was a challenge for me to quilt. I really wanted to create more circles because it was so angular.

Cathy made this bead quilt from a Sujata class, so it was a good time to show it off to her.

She decided on raw edges, and I decided on heavy lined quilting. It is a textural dream.

Here is my Island Love. Opal is the one who inspired me to make improv trees. This is pretty tame compared to her improv pieces!

And there's Sujata. She brought a wonderful log cabin piece to work on. It is enormous and she hand quilts so tightly.

Jordan River Temple

 We took the opportunity to visit the open house for the Jordan River Temple since we were in Salt Lake. Grandma Helen came with us; she was the only one of us who had been inside pre-renovation. I had always been told that it is a sister to Seattle, so I was curious. 

The impressive chapel seemed to go on forever. And the staircases were enormous. It did have a feel of Seattle, but more open. Seattle feels more utilitarian where Jordan River feels more ornate. 

While we were at the Willards, I took a picture of Charles and James Howard Willard, brothers from Illinois, born in 1894 and 1885. They are quite handsome.

I'm on the Cover of a Magazine!

 On the way to Rexburg I got a phone call from Dodi Poulsen in Poulsbo. We have a common friend, Jen Bay, whose father-in-law was Paul's mission president ages ago. Anyway, she wanted me to do some quilting for her that would go in a magazine. How exciting. 

There were two in this batch. She explained that magazines require quilt submissions to be more on the beginner side of the scale. At times she has had to dumb down patterns and designs to suit them.

Unfortunately, when I got to the bottom of the quilt I realized something was terribly wrong. I had to unstitch my quilting and then unstitch the turned block on the right corner and restitch it back together. That was the second time I'd done that for a client. It actually doesn't take that long to do. There are deadlines to meet!

Now that looks a lot better. I hope I get to work with Dodi again. She has been designing fabric for Riley Blake and is very busy.

Organized Chaos

 I loved Sujata's Organized Chaos when I first saw it. It's found in her book, Cultural Fusion. My preference or aesthetic is grid-based. Even if the fabric patterns are wild and crazy, there is stability in the grid. I can appreciate a lovely pictorial quilt or a Baltimore Album, but I prefer a grid.

Another secondary design coming through--bonus points! I could make this quilt 15 times and they would each look different.

So many options for placement!

I threw the rest of the fabric line onto the back. 

Even Chuckles approves.

Marnie's Bag

 Marnie requested a handbag and I happened to have the perfect pattern in mind. I just needed to stop by Quilting Mayhem and pick up the hardware.

I took a class from the woman who makes Bag Bits and she is dangerously brilliant. It can be scary to sew around metal, but you can do it! I wish I had a riveter, but not now. Maybe when I retire.

A little Kaffe and a strong strap and she was ready to go.