Happy Hands

 I got a sweet little card in the mail today from Grey and Micah. Plus a Valentine photo. Don't they have a clever mother? My granddaughter, Becky, is always creating darling little things to make life memorable! My mother, the artist, would be so delighted to see all the cute things Becky does!

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 Some of you have been getting glimpses of these twins as they have been growing up. They are almost three years old, can you believe it? On Becky's blog she often shares conversations with the boys. For example:

Micah: I want a cookie!
Travis: You can have a cookie after you eat your dinner.
Micah: Hmm. I think you're tricking me.

Naturally, I laugh at everything they say and do.

More later, my computer is so slow today that I am done waiting!

For all of you out there in the frozen snow and ice, my sympathies. I put in so many years of that  and I know what you are going through. Thankfully I am in Arizona now and basking in a surge of winter warmth -- 85 degrees today!

PS: Happy Birthday President Lincoln! We still love you!

Oh Happy Day!

The wedding! It was Saturday, October 10, 2009, at the LDS Mt. Timpanogos Temple. It is a beautiful temple nestled in the foothills in American Fork, Utah. The bride, Rebeccah Froelich, is shown here with her beautiful mother (my daughter) and her sisters, Lisa Tsang, Kathryn and Mary.

Oh these pictures are all scrambled, so I will try to give you some details of the past week. Above is the quilt I made for Becky's wedding. I actually made it a few years ago and never had it quilted. When she announced her wedding I decided that this would be a lovely wedding quilt. Rosemary Skinner, a local quilter, did a beautiful job on the quilting. I got a lot of compliments on the quilt at the LQS, and I am happy with the way it turned out. I hope Becky loves it too. The pattern was in a magazine, I think McCall's Quilting, a few years back.

This photo shows Becky and Travis Pitcher in the center, with Becky's parents, Polly and Chris, on each side. Everyone is glowing with happiness! It was a good day!
The photo above shows Becky with her two short grandmothers! Me, and Mary Brandt of St. Michael, MN, both quilters! I know Mary made Becky a quilt also, but I haven't seen it yet.

There are more photos, but this gives you a quick view of the big event.
This photo shows my husband, and my pregnant daughter-in-law, Keira, and her husband, my son, Renn. They were married earlier this year and are expecting in December. Look at those beautiful bright mountains. That is the view from my son's backyard. I haven't pent any time in Utah in many years and it was really nice to be there. The weather was lovely--sunny and cool, but not cold. We enjoyed seeing friends and cousins that I haven't seen in a very long time. Everything was lovely and I am happy that it is over! Now I am at my son Matt's house in Mesa, AZ. It is beautiful here this time of year and I have more relatives to visit. The fun never stops!

Thank you to all you nice friends and your kind words in my last post regarding my husband's sister. I haven't had a chance to visit everyone yet, but will begin trying to do that. Michele's comment about sunshine and shadows certainly describes what life is all about. We know quilts that follow that plan, but I never applied the term to life's joys and sorrows before. It is so applicable. More later!

FLYING INTO THE WESTERN SUN

Joy and sorrow have taken their measure this week. First our sorrow at the passing of my husband's 51 year old sister, Liz Armbruster, of Simpsonville, SC. It was a shock to all of us. She suffered a brain aneurysm and quickly left us. She and her husband had six children, two are seniors in high school, two in college, two working and not living at home. We are suffering from the shock of it, as she seemed to be in perfect health. You just never know, and that is the truth. I won't dwell on this, as you don't know her, but there is no shortage of reminders to cherish each day and love those around you. When this type of shock comes into my life I am like a mother hen and I want to gather my chicks around me, for their sake or my own I do not know.

Now for our regularly scheduled program before I share the good news.
Saturday night I took a class for this quilt, Western Sun. I signed up for it three weeks ago, and at the time I thought, "what are you thinking?" (Do you ever think, "what are you thinking?"?) The class was from 6:00 to midnight. I figured I would leave early, but wouldn't you know it, there was a magnetic pull to my sewing machine, perhaps brought on by the Western Sun as it dropped out of sight. I stayed till midnight and really enjoyed working of this project, as well as visiting with everyone.

I first saw this design in Barbara Brackman's book, Butternut and Blue. I loved it! I always hoped to make it one day. That is why, when it was offered as a class, I jumped at the chance. Well I ask you, could you have resisted?
Above is our delightful teacher, Sue Troyan. Sue teaches lots of different classes and is always a hit. She works magic with reproduction fabrics, and this quilt surely demonstrates that. Sue also has unlimited skills and techniques up her sleeve and energetically shares them in class.

So now you see I have succumbed once again to diving into another project. If you ask how many I have in the works I could not honestly tell you. But this one I could not resist, and if I could I would sew madly on it for a couple weeks, BUT, I have other news!

My darling granddaughter Becky, (remember Becky who stayed with us last summer?) is getting married Saturday, October 10, in the L.D.S. Mt. Timpanogos Temple in
American Fork, Utah. I am leaving tomorrow, flying into the Western Sun, for Utah! We are all in a tizzy getting everything lined up for the big event.

So I am ending this post on a happy note. We live, we love and hopefully we find happiness and share it with those we encounter along the way. I will be back in a week or so with photos!

SPEAKING MINNESOTAN

I am packing up this top to be mailed to the quilter at long last! It is one of the first quilt tops that I made, and it never got quilted. When I first started quilting I fell in love with the 30's prints. They are so clean and fresh, and such cute little prints! I thought this quilt would look lovely in a beach house, like the one we had when we lived in Minnesota. We always dream of returning to that lifestyle. In Minnesota they call it "the cabin" no matter how big the house is. But it was the summery, beachy look that I was longing for. I was always going to make one more row so that it would fit a queen bed, but that never happened. Now my four year old granddaughter is asking for a quilt of her own, and it occurred to me that this one would be perfect and I could get it done fairly quickly. Today I prepared the binding. I cut a multitude of colored strips. They all look so pretty to me that I feel inclined to make another quilt from 30's prints! Now here is the sweet part of this story: I am sending the quilt to the Plumpkin's other grandmother, who is a long arm professional quilter. She will give it the finishing touches that will make it beautiful! Hopefully some day Plumpkin will find it special to have a quilt that both her grandmother's created!

Above is a picture of my latest purchase! I love all Judie Rothermel repros, and was so excited to find this fabric on sale at a local store for $3.50 a yard! I bought the whole 8.25 yards left on the bolt. My darling granddaughter Becky, pictured below, was with me, and I commented in jest to her that she would inherit all my fabric some day. "Well then don't buy THAT!" she replied. Sorry dear, you are out of my will. It is essential that my large and glorious stash go to someone with my same vision for beauty!

Becky left today to go to Minnesota. We loved having her here for the past six weeks. Last night Becky and I watched that Renee Zellweger movie, New in Town, which takes place in Minnesota. It was kinda cute and hokey too. I wondered aloud how actors can speak with a Minnesota accent because I lived there for forty years and I can't talk that way. Becky immediately started speaking Minnesotan. It was so funny to hear it coming out of this home-grown Minnesotan girl who never speaks that way, but obviously has the ability. The accent comes from a high percentage of people who are of Swedish decent. Ya, and Norwegian too, don't cha know. No one can make fun of Minnesotans as much as they make fun of themselves. The Sven and Ole jokes are a good example. Minnesota is a great place to raise a family. Funny thing, all the movies focus on the cold winters, and the truth is, if they ever made a movie about Minnesota in the summertime on the lakes people would be flocking to move there. You can't beat it!

"So, Ole --- I see you got a sign up that says, 'Boat For Sale'. But you don't own a boat, Ole. All you got is your old John Deere tractor and your combine."
"Yup, and they're boat for sale."

HONOR GUARD

Finally something quilty to show! I was afraid you were going to kick me out the the ol' quilt bloggers club if I didn't post something about quilts soon! Well, things have been in very slow progress. I don't know why I seem to have so many distractions in my life. Part of the blame lies with you other quilt bloggers who distract me with your wonderful posts. I showed a piece of this quilt a while back, and have been waiting until I finished the directions to show the entire quilt. I still need to get the covers printed, but look! I got a photo! That is half the battle for me! Yesterday was an overcast day and perfect for picture taking.
Look how cute this is as a table topper! And each eagle has a word of advice: Honesty, Kindness, Gratitude and Faith. I have struggled with a name for this quilt and today it came to me. HONOR GUARD! What do you think? I hope you can see the quilting. It was beautifully done by Rosemary Skinner of The Quilted Fox in Virginia Beach. Thanks Rosemary! Her quilting is the perfect finish. I love designing and making the tops, but that is as far as my talent goes. I am ever so grateful to each talented quilter who completes my work!

On another note, Granddaughter Becky was talking on Skype with her boyfriend Travis who is in Utah. Becky has still not gotten a job, although I have been thrilled to take advantage of her computer skills in creating better images for my new pattern. Travis remarked to her that maybe she could do batting for me with my quilts. She said, "Do you even know what batting is?" No, he admitted, he did not. I am sorry Travis, if you are reading this, but I keep having fits of hysteria as I imagine what a batting job might entail. Beating the quilts with a bat perhaps? Or maybe me getting to a certain point in the quilt and calling out, "Hey batta-batta-batta-batta"! Got any other suggestions?

Time to go. Batter up!

THE RAVEN AND THE RAVENOUS

THE RAVEN by Edgar Allen Poe - 1845

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
Only this, and nothing more."

Becky hears a tap-tap-tapping! She opens the chamber door into my sewing room and what does she find? The Raven! He came to live with us a few months ago, but he freaks out my husband, so he has taken up residency in the sewing room. Becky looks a little freaked also.

My great grandfather had a raven that would sit on his shoulder or head and walk around with him. When he walked up to the front door of his home the bird would swoop down and land on his shoulder and walk into the house with him. Apparently he was quite talented at hiding shiny objects around the house, like keys or scissors. Don't you wish you had a raven? That is all I need is someone hiding things from me! I do very well with that on my own. (OK fine, I confess that my raven is a fake).

Becky's friend Lauren has gone back home to Arizona. We miss her. Now I am Becky's best friend. Luckily Becky is very good at entertaining herself, and she has decided to set some goals for while she is here. One is to learn to cook, and another is to learn to sew. She has been finding recipes on line and practicing on us. We are happy! We like to be fed! Yes, we are the ravenous!
Becky and friend Lauren (are not Quakers) have an interesting family history connection. They both have ancestors that came over on the Mayflower! Lauren is descended from William Bradford, the well known leader of the Plymouth Colony. Becky is descended from Joseph Rogers, who was 17 years old at the time of the crossing. His father Thomas passed away that first winter and William Bradford took Joseph into his home for several years. Odd that we should even know that, isn't it? But this is all a matter of recorded history. It does make one wonder how many of our ancestors have crossed paths in the past? Or for that matter, with whom of our ancestor's descendants have we crossed paths? That's OK. I can't even keep up with the family I know!

Hope you have all been having a lovely weekend. It has been raining buckets here in Virginia!