How can I sew.....

When I could hold this adorable bundle of pink instead?

Katelynn's mommy painted her toes! So cute to see them sparkle.

I have a new 4th of July quilt started for the entry way. I'm not sure it will get done this year....sigh. I hung up my old quilt. I still love it. It's one of the first quilts I made back when I used to hand quilt.

Making Memories

Gary spent last week fixing up an old truck that Jonny gave him. (Gary traded his truck in on the Explorer in January). It’s nice to have a truck again. Runs really good. He cleaned it inside and out. Got new tires. Flushed and cleaned the radiator We decided to take it 4-wheeling last weekend. Loaded up the trailer and headed up Spanish Fork Canyon. We got as far as the first Spanish Fork exit. It was running hot. Gary called Jonny who was following us in our car and told him we were pulling off because the truck was running hot. Then KABOOM! The radiator blew.

So Jonny, Bek, and I drove back home and got his truck, went back and hooked up the trailer and off we went. Jaycee got it right. She said you can say “Remember that time we went 4-wheeling?” They all seem the same. If you say “Remember that time we went 4-wheeling and the radiator blew? Well there you have a memory.” We didn’t let it ruin the day. We still went and had fun.

When we go I try not to drink anything that morning. I try not to drink much when we ride. I hate having to take my roll of TP and head off to the trees!! Jon, Bek, and Jaycee wear the Camelpacks when we ride. Jaycee drank all of her water and refilled her pack with a couple bottles of water. I said to her “You’re going to have to pee like a racehorse!” She replied “No I won’t. Teenage bladder!” Uggg…this getting old is no fun!

At the trailhead they had a bunch of cattle ready to take up the canyon for summer grazing. Jaycee and I went to look at them. The momma cows started mooing at us, afraid that we were there to take their babies. After a couple of minutes they were all mooing so loud we had to leave. It was funny what a ruckus we started.

Thank goodness we were through with our ride by the time the horses and cowboys arrived to start herding them up the canyon.

Grrranimal

I love this jungle print fabric.  It was the last fabric Jamie ordered for our store.  It went fast…really fast.  I wish I would have brought more of it home before it all sold.  This isn’t a very good picture.  Jonny was holding the quilt up so I could take a picture.  He kept doing crazy leg dances or putting his head in the way.  It’s off to my niece, Paige.  She’s having a little boy in a week or two.  I bought a new book last week.  Tracy showed me this book at the Cotton Shop last week.  She was buying it…so of course I had to have one too.  I love the idea of  a bed runner (like they have at hotels) in the summer!  Much easier to fold up at night so you can sleep cooler.  I bought a fat quarter bundle/fabric for baby quilts last week too.  I got home and just couldn’t make a quilt with it….didn’t look the way I wanted it to.  I think I’ll try a bed runner with it instead.It’s been an interesting summer so far.  Some big “life changes” in our family right now.  Gary had been working with his dad in his family business (mattress and furniture store) for the last 15 years.  He’s been running it the last few years since his dad is retired.  They got out of the business in May.  The man who they  they bought their mattresses from is leasing the building and operating under the same name.  It was a bittersweet decision.  Really hard to leave a place where you’ve raised your kids and grandkids in the back room.  Jamie had worked with Gary there for over 9 years and had taken her 2 kids to work with her.  Jonny worked there for a few years and still helped with deliveries now and then.  Jaycee had been her dad’s delivery help for the last few years.  She loved finding Lady Ga Ga songs on the radio and laughing while Gary sang along to them with the windows rolled down.

 

Where do we go from here?  Gary is catching up on all the projects and things that need to be fixed around the house.  Working 6 days a week and getting home late really took a chunk of his time.   I’m excited to think that we can take real vacations again…not just a day or two here and there.  We could even leave the state of Utah…WOW!!  I know that he’ll find another job soon.  He’s such a talented man!

Scrappy blocks in progress

I'm loving the scrappy blocks. These are Maverick Star blocks. I've seen them on several quilting blogs lately which inspired me to use up some of my scraps. I love the randomness involved in making them.

It's nice not to have to worry about being symmetrical and perfect with the star points....the wackier the better. I'm thinking of just sewing the blocks together without any sashing on this one to see what it will look like. It's the weekend.....I'm hoping to get some sewing time.

One step forward…..two steps back

Gary got the garden tilled and planted the first of this week. We are late getting it in because of the weather and because he was finishing up cleaning out his things from work (more about that another day). He was out working in the yard and let the chickens out…like we always do.

When he went to check on them he found out that they had eaten all of the cucumbers and zucchini plants. BAD BIRDS!!They got locked up for a couple of days!

He replanted the garden and made cages to keep the hens out.

I seem to be having the same “one step forward two step back” luck today with my quilting. I’ve been waiting all week for today with big plans to spend it being productive in the quilting department. I put on a quilt top I made last year. I did a feather stitch along the top border to start off the quilt. The stitching was funky, something off with the tension. I tried unpicking it…for 2 hours…getting more frustrated with every passing minute. Ugg! It was a mess and made a couple little holes in the fabric. I pulled it off the frames and tried again.

I tried to put on another border but didn’t have enough scraps of the fabric. Plan B. I took off the top row and threw it in the trash! Somehow that made me feel better, like I won! I put the quilt back on the frames and tried again with an easier pattern and adjusting the tension.

I think summer is here

It got hot overnight. …really hot. We went out on the 4-wheelers this weekend. Silly me…I had everyone stick a jacket in the pack just in case. We all came home with sunburns.

The creek we cross to get to the reservoir was really deep from all the spring run off. I was nervous to cross, but after watching Jon and Gary go across I tried it too. I must admit I really hit the gas to get it over with, but it was fun. Water splashed everywhere and your feet and legs got soaked. It was so hot they were dry again in half an hour.

The clouds were really pretty. It felt so good to get out again..away from it all for an afternoon. It was just what I needed. Life has been a little crazy around our house lately.

This is my summer reading project. I’ve always wanted to read Wuthering Heights. When I was at Target last week they had it for $2.50, so I bought one. It’s making my brain work to figure out some of the old English style of wording…but I’m really liking it so far. My next day off I think I’ll put my lounge chair under the apple trees and read….ah the lazy days of summer!

Finally….the weekend!

It’s been a long, long week. So glad the weekend is here. I’m too tired to head down to the sewing room. We’re all just sitting around on our computers…chillin’. I never posted pictures of the completed bathroom project, so thought I’d do that today.

It’s so nice to have 2 showers again. I’m loving the completed project. We painted our room the same color….I really like it. We put one of my favorite quilts on one wall.

Now if I could just find the energy to get the new bedspread quilted! I can’t find my King size leader cloths for the quilt frames. I think on my last cleaning spree I dejunked a little too much and threw them away. It’s not hard to make new ones, but I’m just not in the mood!

She's here!

Jodi had her baby this morning at 1:50 a.m. I got to go with her. It was so exciting!! Jodi did really good....I'm so proud of her. She weighs 6 pounds 9 ounces and is 19 inches long. She has a lot of dark hair about 1-1/2 inches long, but not as much as Jodi had when she was born. In the above picture I think she looks like her dad, but she's a pretty good mix of both of them.
I cried when she was born. Such a special moment to see a baby come into the world. The doctor let me cut the cord and I was shaking...but it was so cool! She had trouble breathing at first and they had a few people working on her. To see her breathing so hard and struggling made me cry again. They took her to the nursery and she quickly recovered. They brought her back to Jodi about 40 minutes later. So cute to see her as a new mom.
She's about 40 minutes old here. No name yet but they have it narrowed down to a couple. Jodi came home as "Baby Girl" and we didn't name her for a couple of weeks. The nurse teased us about that, and said maybe it would be nice to send her daughter home with a name. I don't know, maybe we should carry on the tradition of "Baby Girl" for a couple weeks.