Let's Have a Look-See

I was making some goals for this week. Yes, I know this may surprise you. Anyway, one of the things I have been thinking about is making Grandma Hall a quilt for her 80th birthday. I've been thinking of an autograph quilt with 30's reproduction fabrics. Is anyone interested in signing it?This brings me to my next question. Are her children thinking about having a party for her? Just wondering and if you are, it helps to be able to make summer plans now.

On Monday, the kids were out of school, so I decided to take ls, s, and one of their friends to Rexburg to check out the lovely BYU-I, or as we call it, the BYU-I Do. We made an appointment and for a campus tour. We got there in time to meet up with one of our favorite Jerome friends and she took us on a pre-tour-tour. Loved it. The campus tour was also a hit. You get a free t-shirt ! Woo Hoo, not to mention a ride in the Cadillac golf cart. The results: s: I can go to school anywhere they pay me to go. ls: No way! friend: I am getting out of Jerome, I have been accepted, I will be here. me: really I can see that this affordable school gives you the most bang for your buck, but mercy me, it was cold and dreary. Also I loved visiting with Peter and Leigh Ann.

These are the first quilts of the year to be completely finished. This one is a quilt as you go and is made out of my stash. I even sewed up a couple of pieces of batting so it didn't cost me a dime. I did the rag quilt next because I couldn't believe how much flannel I had left. To be honest, I think I have enough to do one more and then they are off to a charity. I finished quilting this one yesterday. It is my goal to finish up some of my quilt tops. Love this one and was so excited to be able to outside and take a picture. There was no snow or wind. Here is a close up of the quilting.

http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/12/cozy-car-caddy-tutorial.html This is the cutest little tutorial and I thought some of my nieces might enjoy it.

This morning I took the test to be a Census worker. The test was given in the basement of the old court house, here in Jerome. When I got there at 5 to 10 there were 8 other people there and they had started to fill out the application and the I-9. Please let me share some of the rare moments we had this morning. One of the questions is Where were you born? Someone called their mother to ask. 3 cell phones rang after we were asked to turn them off. An entire conversation about the legalities of concealed weapons. The test proctor showed us his concealed weapon license. He also showed us his scuba diving card It took him 5 minutes to fill out his portion of the I-9, which I figure could be done in 90 seconds A women swore that they did not tell her to bring 2 ids. The test proctor excused himself to use the rest room- we waited to start the test. We got out of there with at 5 to 12. It was a 30 minute timed test. I know that you may not need to be efficient to work for the govern...

Here is the inside of the bag I made for my mother. It is for her Kindle. I put a pocket in it for an Amazon gift card. Of course, if I had any money, I would have sent her an Amazon gift card. But as usual, when I am out of money, I send the handmade gift. I line it with iron fleece so it should be safe. As for the Kindle, I don't think it is fair that my mother has a cooler gadget than me, not to mention that I miss sharing books with her. Happy Birthday Mom!

Here is ls in her dress. My first love in sewing is construction. When my kids were little I made them all kinds of things and then came the Chinese Revolution, and no one could make things cheaper than they could buy them. Because I love construction, I love shows like, Say Yes to the Dress , and Project Runway . It blows me away when I see the designers on Project Runway free handing with the rotary cutter. So here is a project I made for ls. Notice that this pattern is a 1960's Retro . It has darts in it; good thing I learned to sew in the 60's. Here it is, in corduroy. It is a challenge to sew 5/8 seems after the 1/4 seems on quilts and to put in a sleeve; what a rush. But I must say, it is like riding a bike, it all comes back, even the zipper. I can't wait to see what she does to it. Pictures to follow.

Okay, so I am still trying to finish projects. I love this snowman quilt and I think I am going to machine quilt it myself. It may be the first quilt completed in 2010. As for this one: I don't know about you, but it seems like every year I am scrambling for a baby quilt to give away between November and December, so I put this together. We shall see if I can give it away next year. Plus I get the added bonus of finishing up the red piece of fabric as well as the 5 inch squares.

This is the block of the month I did with my quilting group. It needs another boarder. I really think it should be just plain red, but I am considering a trip to the quilt store to see if I can find a piece that matches. Maybe I should ask Allison, I am going to give it to her. Here is my calender quilt. There are not 365 strips, but about 360. I really enjoyed this when I started. I started in January, working on it every three days, then once a week, then, two times a month, then once a month, and finally, I finished the last two months the other day. And here is my Bunny Hill block of the month. I put it together with a 9 patch. I love it, can't wait to quilt it. And yes, I know it has to get in line. I am going to cut out another quilt today. I really miss going to work, but enjoy sewing all day. Of course, I know I need to go back to work to pay for more quilting. It is the cycle that I live with everyday.

Bunny Hill is doing another block of the month. Check the link below. I am just starting to put the last block of the month together. What I love about this quilt is the Irish chain. It is worth looking at. http://bunnyhilldesigns.com/dynamic/?page=Free%20Patterns

Here they are flying and then here is one of those bad boys just sitting around. We have had a longest Christmas vacation ever. R was sick the entire vacation, making it impossible to get out and do much. We did not go tubing or swimming at the hot springs, or drive to Sun Valley and check things out. Feeling like the two weeks was slipping away we followed a tip from a friend of ours and went for a ride. Our friend said he saw over 50 bald eagles in a tree. He gave us the directions. We had to wait a few days because of some snow stroms, but finally, we went on Saturday. We did not see 50 eagles, we saw 9. Was it worth it? You bet. We found the tree and it only had 2 of them sitting there. Then a few minutes later, we heard the cry and about 6 more came from another location, soaring by. We saw one more in anther tree. We were no more than 20 miles from our house. Pretty cool way to end a vacation.

One of my quilt groups does a quilt for a Hospice fundraiser every year. Norma is in charge of this and she choose the fabric, distributed it. We all put together 2 or 3 blocks and then we returned them to her. In a twist of fate, Norma was diagnosed with Cancer in the process and started Chemo a couple of weeks ago. She asked if I would put the quilt top together. I was knee deep in trying to keep 40, 5 year old busy all day, but took it and asked my friend Dixie to help. She is the architect of this quilt. I went over the other day to help her put in the center, and made 3 more blocks for the corners. She gave it to me so I could do the final press. I decided to put on one more boarder. It is lovely and shows what team work can accomplish. One of the things I love about this quilt is that 5 of the blocks are made from the same pattern. This is the disappearing 9 patch. It is an easy block and comes out very different.