Mother's Day Flowers

Nothing brightens up Mother's Day like flowers.  After church, we always receive flowers to plant in our yards or containers, so we have a living reminder of mothers.  There is something symbolic about receiving a living plant on this special day.  Anyway, thank you from the North Carolina Dorothy and Sara for sending these from your great distance.

Roses on Fabric

This was just for fun.  I have enjoyed taking the online quilting classes from a site called Craftsy (one sees their ads all over the place on the internet.)  This one was taught by Beth Ferrier, and involved a different way of doing applique, using pattern templates and glue, and then stitching onto the background and quilting.  There is a machine quilting suggestion that says a person should practice a little bit each day before doing the actual quilting.  I took a real shortcut on this one, so why you enlarge the picture, please do not look closely at the machine quilting.  Still like the colors, and the brightness of the whole piece.

Shamrock Time in May

Last year, our local quilt guild, The Preston Piecers, had a quilt block exchange every month.  A group of us agreed to make the same block each month, and then there was a drawing to see who would win the blocks.  One of the nicest things about the blocks, is that each one is signed by the quilter who made it, so I'll have reminders of these good quilting friends for a long time.  Try enlarging to see if you can see any of the names.  Although I'm certainly not Irish, I won the March drawing, and ended up with 15 shamrock blocks.  Nine went into this little table topper, and the remaining six will be divided into two table runners.  The leprechaun in the middle block came from a book of transfers that I have; he was enlarged and then colored with crayolas - (back to the fun of school.)  His gold coins didn't gleam enough, so I had to satin stitch them.  The neat thing about this quilt is that it is so seasonal, that I can finish a bunch of other quilts before I need to get this one done for next March.  Because there were some months when there were two sets of blocks, we ended up with an extra set of December blocks - a stocking.  I won the drawing for those blocks, so I'll have to get creative with them.

May Day Unusual Celebration

Life is full of lessons - I am aging, but there is always someone older than I;  I can't do as many activities as I used to, but a friend has to use a walker; we had about an inch of snow last night, but Denver had 12 inches.
We woke up to this scene this morning - the trees in bloom in the orchard must be shivering.  My lovely hyacinths are wearing a snowy cap, but we do know that at this time of year, the snow won't stick around long.  By the end of the week, I should be able to go outside and finish pruning the roses (which should have been done a couple of weeks ago.)  Spring really is coming - some time.

Sweet Hyacinths and Neighborly Love

Spring coming to Preston at last brings these fragrant, beautiful hyacinths in bloom, and their existance is a story about kindness and service.  Last year, in early summer, I got the usual wonderful offers for bedding bulbs to be sent in the fall for late fall planting.  Of course, I assumed that I would be able to handle this, and enticed by the beautiful pictures, I ordered a good assortment of hyacinths, daffodils, and tulips.  What I didn't count on was being knocked out of commission for two months and more, unable to carry out the work of planting when the box arrived around the second week in October.  One of my neighbors, a young mother, came to see me, and asked the usual "Is there anything I can do for you?".  Instead of my usual response, "No, thanks", I told her about the box of bulbs and suggested that she take them home and plant them in her yard.  I didn't hear any more for a couple of days, but when Saturday came, the three young mothers who live in our cul-de-sac were outside cleaning out my four flower beds, and asking for instructions about where I wanted the bulbs planted, as well as how to plant them, because none of them had every planted bulbs before.  I could still demonstrate which side of the bulb goes up, and tell them about my plans.  Everything was done in the yard in a few hours, and I was totally amazed.  (Ah, youth!)  You can probably tell that we really love this cul-de-sac where we live.

Sara's Blooming Nine-Patch

The Blooming Nine-Patch was a challenging quilt for me - I think backwards, so there is lots of fun in putting it together.  The top picture really shows that I need to press more carefully before this quilt goes to the quilter.  The quilt is too big to go on the design wall, so the bottom crags on the floor and the sides overlap - but you can get the gist of the colors.  I loved the batiks that went into this quilt - We can find such beautiful fabrics today.  I feel like celebrating today to have this quilt this far along.  (As far as I'm concerned, pressing is drudge work, but it's very necessary before the quilter sees this.)  The quilt is for Sara - if she wants it?

Check This Out!

The internet was made for carefully exploration, and I've been doing just that this morning.  Since I am a member of the Utah Quilt Guild, I went to their web site,   http://www.utahquiltguild.org/.  (I know, you'll have to copy, cut, and paste that URL.)  Last fall, I had finished a quilt called "Grandmother's Garden" (Eleanor Burns' design), and so in between everything friends entered that quilt in the Utah Quilt Guild's Quiltfest show that was in St. George Utah.  Much to my delight and surprise, the quilt did place.  If you'll go to the above-named web site, you can go down on the left-hand side of the home page and click on gallery, choosing the show winners.  Just enjoy scrolling through the winners, and you'll find my second-place quilt!  Big deal for me and probably the only time I'll ever get that ambitious.  And, since I have not got any pansies in the yard yet, I include this block (probably put it on here before, but oh, well) for my share of the pansy parade.

Ramblings on a Sunday Morning in Preston

This is a "wish" picture - taken last year.  So far, these tulips on the south side of the house show lots of green, but nothing is blooming as yet.  We get very anxious for spring in this mountain valley.  Pictures of the flowers in Salt Lake that were shown during the last General Conference lets us know that, as usual, we are a few weeks behind, although just 100 miles to the north.

The whole family, with its assorted blogs have been doing zilch.  Did we all get tired at once?  Sunday mornings are quiet times at our house.  Ron leaves for meetings before 10, I have choir practice at 12, and then Church meetings beginning at 1-4.  Nothing unusual for those of our faith - Sunday is a busy (restful?) day, but the activities are different from the week days we have.  The longer I live, the more the weeks fly by - there are still so many things I want to do before I leave this world.  Right now, Judy, Ann, and I are getting ready to work on a joint project that we've discovered via the internet.  Who will finish first?  I'm betting on Ann, since I'm still working faithfully on the Blooming Nine-Patch for Sara, but I know that my project will be done by summer.  This morning, half of the quilt top is up on the design wall, so I just have another half to put together!  Then I will post it for all to see.

Easter Morning

The winter has been extra harsh this year, with a January that saw below zero temperatures for most of the month, and deep snow that covered the ground from before Christmas to now when there are still a few patches left in shady places.  I wondered if any of the bulbs in the ground, or perennials would come back this year.  Glory be!  On this Easter morning, hope is alive for all things, because this tiny iris has given us a bloom to remind us what this day signifies.  May everyone have a beautiful day, and have hope in the future.

Posey Patch Quilt

The weather continues to be cold, but snow is beginning to melt.  Progress for the weather report for today.  (Snow this morning, but it didn't do much.)  Now, about this quilt.  In 20000, Ron and I went to stay at Tanner's, Ron to take a wood-turning seminar, and I  to help Ann recuperate from her diverticulitis surgery.  As the week went along, Ann began to feel better, and since she knew there was a quilt show in downtown Provo, it was logical that we should go to it.  And so we did.  The quilts were wonderful (This was the Utah Quilt Guild's annual Quiltfest, which I didn't know anything about then), and we enjoyed ourselves, finding chairs for Ann to rest so that she wouldn't get overtired.  Quilt vendors were there also, and we didn't take much time to shop, but the kit for this quilt, which included all of the fabric for the top, was for sale at Mormon Handicraft.  I already owned the book, so it was logical that I should purchase the kit.  I came home all fired up and made two blocks.  That was enough for me to realize that this is a quilt that, if done properly, takes a lot of time.  So....away into the box it went for another day.  This year, 2013, is the other day to finish up projects like this.  I chose some construction techniques that were much easier than my original blocks, using fusibles and machine stitchery.  I'm sorry to say that the quilt has a few flaws in it because of my "hurry up" techniques, but it is a happy pattern, and, hopefully, will make somebody happy.

Pretend it's Spring/Summer

Yesterday, Ron was at a neighbor's house, and he was surprised to find him out in the yard with his snowblower.  We have had piles of snow on the ground since before Christmas, and he wanted to see if there was any grass under all of that snow.  So, I decided to find a picture from last summer just to remind us that spring will come (although March has already failed its' duty) and things will get green again - the grass will grow and will need to get mowed, and it will get too hot in July and August and we will complain about that, perhaps yearning for cooler weather.  We are winter weary, however, and impatiently waiting some snow melt and see if any of the plants lived through this frigid winter.  Forecast for today?  100% chance of snow/rain.  We'd prefer the rain.  Is there really a perfect climate in a perfect place?  Perhaps heaven?

Flowers for Cheering Up

Snow has covered the earth for a long time - we can finally see most of the street, and some of the dried grass under the evergreen trees is beginning to show.  The weather continues cold, although we do have sunshine today, refuting the weatherman's prediction of snow.  Ron recently had a bout of a very severe flu virus that sent him to the emergency room of the hospital Saturday morning, with a stay of two days.  I thought that I would escape, but it was not to be - after friends took me to emergency, we ended up in side-by-side rooms.  My stay was short - only about 16 hours.  Julia and Mike sent us these Get-Well Flowers - a beautiful bouquet of favorite flowers that brightens our days. We think of other friends and family who are coping with injuries (Ann's broken leg and ankle, especially, and Benjamin's scoliosis surgery recuperation), and hope that things will get better soon for all with the coming of spring.

The Incredible Art Project

Lauren's Mother sent this wonderful picture.  She had to construct a costume from shopping bags as an art project for one of her college classes - Enlarge this one and look closely.  Of course, as a proud grandma, I think it clever to the nth degree.  Surely this is Marie Antoinette incarnate.

New Snow

When I taught music on the Arapahoe-Shoshone Indian Reservation in the long-ago world, there was a 1st grade song that went, "Oh, it snowed last night, it snowed last night, The sky bears had a pillow fight...."   And, it certainly did.  Anyway, yesterday the snow had melted enough on the sundial that we could actually see part of the top - and then came last night's snow.  And we are looking for more tonight and tomorrow night.  More fun.  Thank goodness the snow blower worked for Ron, and I  shoveled out the front sidewalk.  The hard part is that as the path gets deeper, one has to throw the snow higher on the piles at the sides.  And our poor Christmas deer are completely buried - but the red and white greeter hanging from the light pole may stay there until spring - no climbing through that mess to retrieve him.  The neighborhood kids do love this snow.  As the front-loader scoops up the snow from the culdesac, the operator piles it on the edge of the property, making wonderful places to slide - right in one's own front yard.

More Pictures from Olympia

As I've said before, funerals are a sad-glad occasion.  Sad because we've lost the companionship of the person who is gone, but glad because there is still family to cherish.  This picture was taken at Judy and Bob's house the last night we were in Olympia.  Mike's white beard looks distinguished, Julia has her amazing smile, Andrea looks as lovely as ever, Ron looks good, and I didn't close my eyes.  However, pictures do help us analyze, and I've decided that a green sweater I thought was bright and cheerful is a little much.  Oh, well.  See part of Bob's lighted Christmas village behind me.  That village goes almost around the whole living room, and is like an enchanted village.  If I were him and Judy, I'd leave it up all year - or does it then become common and not magic?