Afternoon Watering

 There are few things I enjoy more than afternoon watering. I know it's not great for roses to be watered in the afternoon, but that time of day is magical to me. That last hour before the sun goes down. 

Hide and Seek

 I love to hear Jim and Bonnie playing. They are nearly the same age and love the same things. Playing hide and seek is their particular favorite right now.

I found you!

Quilt Canada

 Since the best of Canadian quilting was coming to Vancouver, our little group decided to take a field trip north. How I love spending time with these women. Each of them is very skilled, but have their own quilting personality. Always encouraging, throwing out opinions, laughing, creating, and sharing their ideas. There isn't a better group to belong in.

Opal and Merry were more familiar with the area than I was, but I was driving. We enjoyed the show and then wandered around Granville Island. My goodness, I loved this day.

If you can keep yourself from thinking that you are a terrible quilter compared to what you are seeing, you can recognize what kind of quilting you like. I certainly don't like everything, even if it is well-pieced and designed. I have my own preferences, and you do to.

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.