New Year, New Quilt, New Challenges

I am working on a quilt using the pattern called Sawtooth Star. A very simple star is formed in the block, with the corner squares being in a light color. When I copied the fabric in the catalog, and duplicated it many times to have enough paper representation of the fabric to make a dummy block, I was very pleased with the block. When I sewed the first block and hung it on my design wall, I could see that the edges of the star were often lost because of the large white spaces in the packed roses. I had three choices - to have a disappearing star (which is very "in" in some quilting circles, but which I don't like), to purchase other fabric, or to alter the rose fabric. Liking the third choice best (remember, it's still cold outside), I got out my Polycolor pencils, and began coloring each little square that will make a flying geese. Eureka, it works - and I can do it while I sit at my ease, using my lap desk and thinking about other things at the same time. Now I can't finish sorting out the stacks of filing I still need to do (my usual New Year's job), but it will make some busy work for some time, and should result in a more beautiful quilt. There is always a solution of some sort to the problem, even if it's one that results in a little more work. (This was supposed to be a fast quilt.) Wish me luck. These are the same two blocks - the top one untouched, and the one below, the colored one. Quite a difference.

Time to Celebrate

Today, we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. (We will have to live into our late 90's to reach 50.) Obviously, this picture was taken in younger days - about 20 years ago. We spent our wedding day in typical fashion for those of us who are more mature - I had a doctor's appointment in Logan, then Ron sat in the car at JoAnn Fabrics, we went to a book store and browsed, and then went to lunch at our favorite Logan restaurant, The Coppermill. And, one good thing about eating out when you have lived longer - you usually end up with as much as you ate to take home and make a second meal out of it.

There were many remembrances of the day we got married in Bellevue, WA. The day began very early - I had been staying with Mother and Dad; the children had already moved into Ron's house in Tumwater. He went early to the post office, pounded on the door, and explained that the wedding ring he needed for the day had not been delivered, so they found it for him. One hurdle overcome! Mother, Dad, and I got to the his house, and we proceeded to drive to Seattle. This was the short period of time that Mother's cancer seemed to be in remission, we were so happy to have them present at the temple for the ceremony. I haven't found the pictures that were taken that day - but I know that Judy and Bob, Julie and Mike, Andrea, and many others were there. Were you there, Ann? Where is that picture???? It's supposed to be in the album, but I've neglected them for years and can't find it. I remember that the pansies were blooming, and the day was warm enough to walk around the grounds without a jacket. This was during the time of the ERA, and there were pickets outside the temple grounds.

When we went back to the car, after being in the temple, it wouldn't start - a door had been left slightly ajar, and the battery had run down. Fortunately, there was help, and a man came with his battery charger. We had lunch at the Tyee in Tumwater with family and friends, and then proceeded to load Andrea's things in the car to take her to the airport to leave for the MTC in Provo. Part way there, Julie and MIke caught up with us with Andrea's coat, which had been left behind. When we got to the airport, I stayed in the car, and drove around and around and around so that the battery would be charged up, while Ron took Andrea into the airport. What a day! Memorable in all aspects.

Rylee and I

Here are some pics of Rylee and I that were taken today. She has been having a fever all day at 103.3 poor girl, she just keeps getting sick. After giving her some medicine she was back to herself though. We took some goofy pictures together, she has such a fun personality! oh and she loved wearing her new tutu skirt!

Pics of Rylee

Rylee is so much fun. Her personality is sure coming through. She's such a flirt and growing so big. Yesterday she turned 10 months old! She's a big healthy girl too, hitting the scale at 24 lbs and 29 in. long. Enjoy the pics!

The Birches on fabric

A muslin base with crayon drawing and coloring plus a little thread-painting with the sewing machine is all it took to compose this picture from a photo that I took in the fall. Double click on the picture to look at it more closely. The finished size of the center is 16 1/2 x 16 1/2.

Rylee's First Christmas! 2010

Rylee had a wonderful first Christmas. She had a blast opening up all her gifts, (of course she needed some help from her mama). Then later she got all dressed up for pictures but she just wasn't interested in getting all dolled up or getting her pictures taken. In fact she was very very upset about taking pictures. She sure looked cute though!

Her over all first christmas experience was a success and I'm so blessed to have a wonderful daughter! I love her to death and only want the best for her.

This is What Christmas is About

Admittedly, this picture is a little fuzzy, but I can't go back and take it over. However, the message is one that we need to remember at all times. Isaiah's words sing with the wonderful message. May everyone's Christmas season be blessed with those things that you need the most.

Ron's Christmas Present

There has already been quite a lot of use for the snowblower this fall, and with winter beginning today, there will be more. Ron got tired of coming into the house looking like the Abominable Snowman, so when he got an advertisement for this wonderful cab to attach to the snowblower, he bit - says it's his Christmas present. It came promptly, but he found that the parts to attach weren't compatible, so it took him a day to figure things out and go get more connection parts. Ta-Da - he was successful, and it works! Pretty classy, don't you agree? See how the snow blows - and never back on him anymore! You could get a real snow bath in this one!

Rylee and her teeth!

These pictures were taken a week or so ago. She's showing off her 4 teeth!

More Depictions of the Nativity

This lovely cornhusk Nativity Scene with Mary Joseph and baby Jesus came from Ohio. This is part of my Nativity set made by the Petersen family (no relation). One wise man and only a part of a shepherd are missing from this picture. I fell in love with the beautiful olive wood carved nativity scenes in Bethlehem, but gulped at the price, so I ended up with this tiny silver-plated one found in a shop in Jerusalem. This set was lovingly painted by its owner - children found it appealing.

The Celebration of the Nativity is Worldwide

This poignant reminder of the Flight to Egypt reminds us that life was never easy for Mary and Joseph after the birth of Christ. We think that he was older than depicted here when they were warned to flee into Egypt. A look at the map tells us that it was a way of hardship to leave Bethlehem and travel the long way to Egypt. And artist Jim Shore combined quilting patterns and the figures for the Nativity scene for a pleasing effect - especially to all quilters. The background to this charming scene was all in gold. Difficult to photograph, but you get the idea. I loved the e-mail we got where one of the wise men in a Nativity pageant announced that they brought gold, common sense, and fur to the baby. May we all have that middle trait to smooth our path along the way.

Unique Creches

As I said before, many cultures and countries were represented in the 261 scenes in last weekend's display. Obviously from Peru - This one is a little difficult to see, but I loved the furry camel and the wonderful donkey. This Lego Nativity set was a family project - enlarge this picture so you can see a little bit of the story. In fact, enlarge all of the Nativity scenes - more details become apparent.

Another Group of Creches

The interpretation of the scene for the birth of the baby Jesus is widely varied. This one was painted on white-washed wood, and is lovely in its simplicity. I thought that this set was made of clay, but when I enlarge it, the texture looks like some kind of felt fabric. This Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus was enclosed in a large evergreen wreath. As you can see, the lighting did not help with the photography. This charming home-made set fits in nicely with the counted cross-stitch sampler. These figures were hand-crafted by a friend of mine. She said that when her children saw them, they begged for a similar set, but she felt that "once is enough". Each figure was between six to eight inches tall, and the stitching on the hands and some of the details can't be seen in these pictures.

Creche Display for Christmas

This afternoon, we enjoyed a cantata performed by about 140 teen-agers with a sprinkling of adult singers to bolster them It was beautifully done, solos and all. As a part of the two-day celebration of preparing for Christmas, there were 235 creches on display. It was a breathtaking display, and a very diverse interpretation of the Nativity. People who live in this valley may seem provincial, but, amazingly, they have lived in Africa, Europe, South America, Central America, on Indian Reservations, and almost any place you could think of as they served missions for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Here are a few of the nativity sets in the group. I do not have the histories of all, because, although they were written out by each set, it is a feat of memory that I don't possess. This decorated gourd, hollowed out, and prepared with a special Nativity scene, came from Africa.

Winter Doesn't Wait for December 21st

Our little boy garden statue looks very cold, indeed. He is holding a frog that is covered up with snow. Not to worry - when spring comes, he will warm up again. Note the snow embedded in the brick wall - the wind did blow hard that way, but that's probably snowblower snow. This is a picture of the sundial last week - before more snow fell. It's too cold to go repeat the picture today. A neighbor from the Big Horn Basin were we Blood children grew up was complaining that it never snowed so much in Wyoming - I seem to recall a few snowstorms of mammoth proportions. Snowed all day today, but finally stopped, so Ron has gone out to blow the snow off one more time - the third today. Isn't winter fun?