Being bad tonight!

I have been sooooo bad this evening! After Carl came home from work we went to his favorite Chinese restaurant for supper.  They have a buffet and we can pig out all we want. After we pigged out we came home and I jumped on the computer. Well, one thing led to another and I found myself surfing for quilting blogs. So, two or more hours later I found a couple that do giveaways and decided to try for this one, 44th Street Fabric. You get extra chances if you put a link on your blog, so here I am. If you want to join in on the chance, just follow the link and the rules and you will have a chance or two to win also! The contest winner will be announced on August 2nd, so get over there quick!

Carl has to work tomorrow so I will be on my own in the morning. I haven't decided if I want to go on our weekly estate sale trip or stay home and sew. I do know that I need to finish my wash so we don't go naked next week!

Speaking of naked, it reminds me of a time when we were trying to teach our oldest grandson the alphabet and words. We play a game called 'The Alphabet Game' while driving. You start with 'A' and find a sign that has an word that begins with 'A', then say 'A is for whatever the word is'. Well, Ashton was on 'N' and when he found his 'N' he said, "N is for, Pa I don't know what that word is." Pa says, "Spell it for me." Ashton says, "N. U. D. E., what's that Pa?" He is told, nude. Next question, "What does nude mean?" Yep, you get the picture.

I am trying to get rid of some of my 'stuff'. You know the 'stuff' that you just had to have and never have had the time to do anything with. Well, I have lots of books, patterns and other goodies hanging around that I seldom look at or even use that I want to get rid of. I would rather have other quilting stuff that I just might use! Of course I went to a quilt shop sale the past 2 weekends and picked up some more fabric. Just what I needed, huh? Well, I did manage to get the material for Carl's 1800's shirt I need to make for him for the Western Film Festival the end of next month. He has shrunk so much everything is way to big on him so now he needs some new duds. I have his shirt 1/2 done and his pants cut out. I'd really like to get them done tomorrow, so that may be what I will do. I'll let you know how that goes, but for now I think I'll finish posting on 44th Street Fabric to get my chances to win that Moda Bake Shop gift pack.

Happy Quilting, Sharon

Good Evening Everyone!!!

I decided to review my blog tonight to see what quilts I have posted and what I have rambled on about over the past year or so. While doing that I found a link to a sew-along quilt pattern  that I have been looking for! Yippee! I won't be getting into the drawing, but I will be doing the quilt for sure. I like all of the blocks posted except for 2, so I should be able to deal with that. I bought my extra fabric I needed right after I saw the post, so I am ready to go with that. I also found another pattern I was looking for the other night and thought I had lost. So, now I have 2-'to do's'.......

I dug out an old 'to-do' this past week and started working on them. In 2006 I join a Banner of the Month club and got all of the patterns. It also included the buttons and fabric, which was nice. I loved the banners, but didn't love the technique, it is applique, which is hand work, which is not my favorite thing to do. Well, I only have 3 banners left to do the hand work on, but 8 to sandwich, quilt and bind. I AM going to get these finished! I did all the prep work this past week and am starting on the 'yucky' part. I will then put the patterns on the internet to sell. I would love to make these again for a present, but know I won't do it. Mine have taken me 4 years to complete, what makes me think I'll get another set done?

Here are the banners that are complete. I will be so happy when I get all of them done!

So, on with the blog review...... Last year was a series of ups and downs and I am so glad that I had Heavenly Father along for the ride. I do not know how I would have survived one day to the next without His help!! Thank you, Heavenly Father for all your support and love you show to me and my family!

I thought I had shared a picture of the 'Star Wars' quilt that went up north to a grandson. Two years ago he was learning to read and I told him that I would make him a quilt when he reached book number 150. Now, you have to understand that he was 5 at the time and his mom was trying to encourage him to read. Well, the stinker worked his tail feathers off and finished a lot sooner than I thought he would. He read me book number 150 one day in August that year. A little while later I took this picture:

I thought I had one with a happy smile, but could not find it. It must be on a disc in the drawer.....

Well, enough of the blog review, it's getting late and I do believe that the body is telling me to get to bed. Besides, I need to get my beauty sleep so that I can go shopping tomorrow at a local quilt shop (better known as LQS). They are having a Christmas in July sale and it looks really interesting!!

So, everyone have a great night and better tomorrow!

Happy Quilting,
Sharon

Good Evening Everybody!

Lots going on lately. I had a lesson to teach in church this past week, grand-daughters birthday party and of course lots of quilts to sew and dream about.

I did finally finish the Princess quilt for the 'Princess'! Here it is.

I only put 3 borders on 3 sides. The top border is only the thin purple one. I also made a pillow case to go with it. The little miss was quite pleased with my efforts and that is what matters!

Yesterday I traced out a new pattern for pants for my darling husband for the western festivals that we both love to go to. I use Buckaroo Bobbins patterns and sometimes I have a dickens of a time getting them right. These patterns are suppose to be authentic patterns from the 'wild west' era. They are hand drawn and sometimes frustrating to figure out. A few years ago when we were living in our camper I made Carl a frock coat. That coat took me a month to finish and he looked really great in it. Wellllllll, now it swims on him since he lost so much weight. I guess I need to dig that pattern out as well. I know I will use a different lining this time around! I don't know what I was thinking when I used the same material for the lining as the coat itself. That coat is so heavy only a muscle builder can carry it. 


I am going to work on selling off some of my 'stuff'. I have so many sewing patterns that I have collected over the years that I don't use any more. I also have a few quilting things that I won't ever use so will be offering them up also. I am on a couple quilt forums and a sew it's for sale forum. I am debating on getting a Accuquilt GO!
so that I can cut quilt kits to sell. Then I will see about saving up for my Homesteader Quilter. I have been drooling over this machine for a long time, but every time it seems I may be able to get one something happens. I'm sure I'll get there someday, but for now my little system is much better than pushing a quilt through the machine by hand.

Well I am off to bed. Work comes way to early in the morning and I couldn't get back to sleep after I woke up at 5 this morning. Of course I didn't have to work and I really wanted to sleep in!

Happy Quilting, Sharon

Happy Sunday!!!

Good morning all! Beautiful morning around here. Of course it is hot, but what do you expect for June in the desert? It has put a damper on my walking, but that just means more time to get things done in the house especially in the sewing/quilting room.

Happy Father's Day!! When I was a kid my Dad wasn't around so I never got into the Father's day thing like I did with my Mom on Mother's day. My husband has had a tradition since I have known him that he has steak and eggs for breakfast. With church starting at 9 AM I was going to fix it for him after we returned home, but I guess he's hungry now because I hear banging in the kitchen. After he had his heart surgery last year and was laying around he got hooked on the show 'NCIS'. So for Father's Day I found a good deal on the first 6 years on DVD and got that for him. It arrived on Friday and of course I couldn't keep it till today...... So we have been watching 'NCIS' the past 2 days. Not much else any good on TV right now until the summer series start up.... Yes, I love 'The Closer' and 'Leverage' so am waiting for them to start again. There is a new series that starts in July that I just may view at least once. 

Friday was a day off of work for me. Yippee!!! I was able to spend the day with my friend Lynne. It was great to be able to sit around and talk. For days after we have a visit I think about what we have talked about and I am always amazed at the different topics that we discuss. It is not the usual 'gossip' session and of course we always solve the worlds problems while we are at it!!! Thanks for a relaxing day, Lynne!! Of course I have to tell you how sneaky this friend is, there was a surprise in my purse when I got home!!! Thank you dear friend. I have a feeling an empty spot on my wall is going to get filled one day soon! You KNOW I WILL get even!!!

I have been in a funk with my quilting lately. I just have not had any inspiration to get out into the sewing room, but saw this quilt that caught my eye.

It is a quilt along that I am going to try to keep up with. I love stars and have gotten into scrappy. I have been trying to figure out the main colors 'cause I sure don't need to buy any fabric!!! I did spend Saturday in the sewing room, but not doing what I should have been doing. I have a quilt on the frame that needs to be quilted, but I just have not had the desire to get it done. I know that it will only take me a couple hours to get the blasted thing quilted, but unless I am in the right frame of mind it will not go well. So, instead I dug out a paper-piecing project and completed that. I am so glad that I have a fabric stash and a great variety of patterns so that when I do get an idea I can just go put it together instead of having to spend time getting the supplies. Well, DH is in getting ready for church so I guess I had better get my buns in gear and do the same.

Have a great day everyone and a special 'Thank you' to all the fathers around the world that are in our military. I truly appreciate your service and dedication!

Happy Quilting, Sharon 

Can you believe it has been 15 years???

As of today May 23, 2010 Carl and I have been married 15 years!! We did our first road trip in a long time. I wanted to see the new bridge they are building to bypass Hoover Dam so we spent Friday night in Kingman, AZ then took the tour at Hoover Dam. Nice weekend and a couple neat surprises.

Here is the first site of Hoover Dam.

It is an amazing site. Lots of visitors. We went on the tour and we were so lucky because it was the first one in the morning and there were only 6 in our group including the guide. Once we got inside the dam I could not tell you which way I was facing. I still don't have a clue, but it sure was neat. A couple years ago when my brother, Joe drove back from NY with my oldest sister, Loretta we stopped here. We weren't able to do the generator room due to his defibrillator, but I'm sure he would have been fascinated with all of it.

One of the places we went to while inside the Dam was a vent that faced downstream. 

  

This was looking down at the water.

This is looking up and at the new bridge.

Here is the contraption that helped build this bridge. Our guide told us that when the wind get to 35 miles per hour they shut down construction. It is a long way down that's for sure!

This is one of the generator rooms. Only 3 generators were producing electricity. In the lower right there is another generator that produces all of the electricity that is used at the Dam. There is no public out of pocket monies used to build or take care of the Hoover Dam. The sale of the electricity pays for all of it. What surprised me was that the major reason this dam was built was not for the electricity. It was to control the flood and drought along the Colorado River. 

Here is one of the designs in the floor in the generator room. It depicts the water power here. I think it would make a beautiful quilt.

This one depicts the electricity.

How about some exercise?? I have no idea how many stairs are here but these went way down, down, down!

Turn around and you can go up, up, up!

We exited the dam on the walk way over the dam and here is the picture looking straight down.

Carl remembered that there were large fish in Mead Lake and we had to check them out. We were actually able to get some pics of them. Now, you have to remember that the water is a long way down from the top so they look small in the pictures, but these have to be huge!

Then on the way home there is a road that goes down to the Colorado River that is a park. I just wanted to see what it was like down next to the River. As we are winding our way down the side of the mountain I yelled at Carl to 'stop!'. I could not believe my eyes when I saw a flash of this creature standing on the side of the road. Carl stopped and we took a few pictures. He sure wasn't upset that he was getting his picture taken.

We went on down to the river side turned around and drove right back out and he was gone! Not a sign he had even been there except his 'road apples'. Our surprises weren't over with yet. Again I yelled to Carl to 'pull over!' This was our next surprise.

They were so far away that we could not tell what they were until I uploaded them into my computer. Can you tell how many are there? We counted several times and came up with 4, but Carl kept saying that he thought there were more. I'm glad I kept taking pictures.

There really are 5 in this bunch. I have never seen wild Big Horned Sheep before. They knew that we weren't a threat as they just stood there ignoring us!

Our final joy of our weekend was being able to attend the Gila River Valley Temple Dedication. The dedication was televised into all of the Stake Buildings in Arizona and we were able to attend. This was the first Temple Dedication I have attended and I sure hope it won't be my last. What a beautiful way to celebrate our anniversary!

It is so great to be able to look forward to more road trips. Carl and I have missed being able to just take off for a day or two and be able to just spend time together. We are planning on visiting grandkids in California and 'upstate' Arizona this summer. We also want to go back to Old Tucson and Tombstone. We are hooked on the 'wild' west and love to visit these places and learn about the history. I also want to hit Prescott and Jerome. I love the shops and the craft fairs and of course the cooler weather!!

Happy Quilting, Sharon

End of another month!!

Well, good evening everyone!!

Tomorrow is the end of another month in the great year of Twenty-Ten. I sure wish someone would put the brakes on!! I guess I just need to set more goals. There was a  hint on one of the forums that I am on that suggested that you set a timer for 20 minutes and just work on one thing. It doesn't matter if you actually do anything physical with what ever you have picked, you just have to do it for 20 minutes. Maybe it is just going through your quilt books looking for a pattern, or sorting your fabrics---the idea is to just do it! Another idea for clean up was to use 4 yardsticks, form a square with them and clean just what is in that square. Before you know it everything will be clean! Both are great ideas that I just might give a try!

It has been quite nice around here until the past couple of days. The wind has been blowing and stirring up all kinds of dust! Can't get out and walk for exercise and barely able to go from work to the car it's so nasty out. When it gets like this it's hard to see the mountains that surround us. Just kinda' dark lumps on the horizon.

Onward to the quilting progress. It seems as though I have less and less time to get into the sewing room. Right now I have a quilt on the wall that I promised for a grand-daughter to go on her bed in her new bedroom. I hope I will be able to get the last border cut and on this weekend. Then the joy of quilting, but first I will have to get my frame level. The last quilt I did on the frame I just did a quick level job on and I need to do something more permanent. You get one area level and it throws off another area. It just takes time and patience to get it done and I have been in short supply of time since we moved in here.

I started working at the office full time this week. Just until we hire another MA (medical assistant). This training is the pits!!! I no sooner get someone trained and I have to do it over again. I guess I had better get use to it because my doc wants to have 'externs' (we knew them as 'interns') in the office. We have had 4 so far. Some are good, some are okay, so we shall continue to search to find the good ones to join our office.

Well, I am off. It is time for me to get some sleep.



Happy Quilting, Sharon

BOGUS E-MAIL FROM ME

For all that didn't get my 2nd e-mail last night you need to know that I have NOT purchased a new phone!! Somebody must have pirated my e-mail address. I am now having problems with my e-mail list in hotmail.

PLEASE don't open the link included in the e-mail dated April 23rd at about 8 PM.

Here is the content:


hey,
how are you ?
Just received  my iphone 3gs 32gb from this website. (web site was here, I removed), much cheaper than others and genuine . if you would like to get one,you can check it out,

Regards,
Sharon

Also, I NEVER sign my notes, 'Regards'
So, Happy Quilting,
Sharon