The year in review

The past few days I have been looking back on the year. Just like other years, we had some good and some bad things happen, but it seems as though the bad were a bit worse than normal.

The bad included the passing of two of Carl's nephews, and the passing of my Aunt Lillian. Of course I have to add Carl's stroke in August to the bad list.

The good was being able to take a couple really neat vacations and other short excursions.

In January we went to the 'Phoenix Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival'. This is the show I try to go to each year. It is a great place to pick up new quilting and sewing ideas and see new things. There wasn't much new stuff this year, but I think Estelle had a fun time. I was also able to take a couple classes with Kaye Wood, too!

In May we went to San Diego, CA through Fredonia, AZ and Paso Robles, CA. Carl won a free trip for 4 to Sea World the year before so we made it a week long excursion. We spent the first couple days with Kelly and family in Fredonia, then skipped through Las Vegas for a stop at the Venetian to see the living statues on our way to Paso Robles to see Trebor's family, then we met up with Spencer and kids in San Diego, CA. Of course I needed to stop at 'Quilt in a Day' before we hit our motel in San Diego. I didn't get to meet Eleanor Burns, but I did get to see her in action at her store. Carl laughing calls our vacations as 'quilt store tours' instead of vacations, LOL!

In August we went to the 'Western Legends Round-up' in Fredonia, AZ and visited with Kelly and family, too.

In September we took Estelle on the 'Maricopa Shop Hop'. We went all over the valley visiting quilt shops. I have gone on this shop hop for several years and always pick up a few neat items and ideas.

In October we went on the 'Dolly Steamboat'. It was neat trip just to be able to see another area of Arizona and the wildlife that is so abundant in this area. I think the most exciting thing we did this year was to be part of the posse at the 'Wild West Festival' in Glendale, AZ. We sat at the information booth and talked with a lot of people and had a front row seat next to one of the outdoor stages.

In November they did another 'Phoenix Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival', but this one wasn't as good as the one in January. Loretta went with us this time. It got Carl out of the house and we both had some exercise. We also had the 'kids' and their families at the house for Thanksgiving. That was nice to have the family here.

Now that this year is at an end I need to start thinking what needs to be accomplished next year. Right now the only thing that comes to mind is a lot of quilts LOL!

Until next time,

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

Afternoon!

Just sitting here watching 'The Rifleman'. It is one of my favorite programs of old. It wasn't long ago that Carl & I met Johnny Crawford at one of the western festivals. For those that don't know who Johnny Crawford is, he played Lucas' son, Mark.

This is a great break after tearing our bedroom apart and getting all the dust bunnies all cleaned up. With being off this week I am going to try and get the 'spring' cleaning done around here. I know it's not spring yet, but I may not feel like cleaning when spring gets here LOL!

I finished my latest quilt last night. I think it turned out really great! Now, I just need to get my camera going and get some pictures. Maybe right after I finish watching my shows......


Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

Day after Christmas!

 

Good evening one and all!

 

So now that the biggest day of the year is over for 2012, what do have you have planned for the biggest day of 2013? I always have big plans that fall by the wayside in about February, LOL! I do know that I have several unfinished projects (UFO's for those that are quiltaholics) that I would love to get done. I don't have to buy any supplies to finish a couple of them either! Right now I have a current lap quilt on the frame and I was going to get it done today, but decided that I really would rather take a nap. I just hope that I will be able to sleep tonight ;)....

 

Here I sit typing on my light weight laptop watching 'Remington

Steele' and they are working on a monster of a desk top computer.... how life has changed in just a few years.....

 

Happy Quilting, Sharon

"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"

Certified Instructor since 2009

 

Merry Christmas

 

 

From our house to yours!



Happy Quilting, Sharon "Quilting the Kaye Wood Way" Certified Instructor since 2009

Happy 90th Birthday, Mom!

Today would have been my mother's 90th birthday. It is amazing to me that she left this world over 26 years ago. 

This picture is one that I have had for some time, but not sure when it was taken. The print I have was made in 1973.

Every year on her birthday we always made sure she received a birthday present as well as Christmas presents. One year she made the remark that she received more birthday presents after she was an adult than when she was a kid. 

The most memorable year is the year when all the 'kids' (my brothers, sisters, sister-in-laws, and brother-in-laws) pooled their resources and abilities and put in a drop ceiling for her in the house. It was the 'girls' job to get her out of the house the weekend before Christmas while the 'boys' did the work. You have to remember that this was way before cell phones, so somebody had to have lots of coins for pay phones to check on when we could bring her home. I remember that she was ready to go home, but the 'boys' weren't quite ready for her yet. I can't remember the ploy the 'girls' played to keep her away, but I do remember when we got home. All of us 'girls' immediately looked up to see the job the 'boys' had done, but mom just kept saying, 'Something is different.', 'What's different?', 'What did you guys do?' It took her quite some time and we had to tell her to 'look up' before she noticed. I think that was one of the best Christmas' that she had.

Another time I remember is when my sister, Lissa and I went to moms alone and gave her the birthday presents we got for her. Nothing extra special that day, just time spent with the 3 of us.

So, to continue the tradition, I just wanted to say, 'Happy Birthday, Mom!' 

Happy Quilting, Sharon 
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way" 
Certified Instructor since 2009

Happy Saturday!

Yippee! The car has new shocks and struts! It is amazing how well that old piece of metal is floating over the bumps in the roads. It doesn't bounce the next 1/2 mile after hittng a bump any more.... It may just last another year or two....

So now the rest of my time off is going to be playing in my sewing room or goofing off.

Today some goof off time has been spent watching 'Emergency!', 'The Rifleman', 'The Big Valley', 'Gunsmoke' and 'Bonanza'. Last night I watched 'Kojack' and 'Perry Mason'. I sure don't miss the big bill from DirecTV and the crappy shows that were on. I really can't get into reality TV. There is to much of that in my own life to want to watch somebody elses stupidity. LOL!

Am off to watch some more 'old' time shows. I sure hope you have a great weekend!

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

Good Evening Peeps!

Just figured I'd drop in and say 'Hi' to everybody..... We just finished watching, 'Double' with Richard Gere. Not a bad movie, but not one of Gere's best.... He still is a good looking man that is for sure :).....

Last weekend Carl & I managed to get the rear shocks replaced on our old Dodge Omni, this weekend we are putting new struts in the front. Each of them have challenges getting done. I just know that the back shocks sure keep the car from bouncing after driving over bumps....

I am off work until the 27th so I will get some sewing/quilting in while I am home. I have a small quilt on the frame that I want to get done and then to start another project. Right now I sure am glad that I have such a great stash of fabric. I haven't been in a fabric store in over a month and the last time I bought any, I only spent $15.00. Anybody that knows me knows that is a very skimpy haul, LOL!

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring!

Yeah, it has been raining and pouring the past couple days, but thankfully the old man isn't snoring around here any more. LOL! He hasn't snored really bad since he had his heart surgery back in 2009. I remember waking him up when I put my hand on his chest or back because I couldn't hear him breathing. I was so use to him snoring and making the walls rattle that it was very hard to get use to the silence.....

Today I managed to get some more photos taken of things I have accumulated over the years that I want to sell. I am trying to get things cleaned out and put a little extra money in our pockets for bills. I post them on the Yahoo! sites that I joined and hope they go to another house to clutter up. The hardest part is getting everything downloaded and labeled on the computer. Since that is done I can go on to the easier part and maybe get them out the door.....

I am thinking of having a couple "Kaye Wood" quilt classes at my house next year. I have a large enough living room to have about 5 bodies sewing at the same time. These would be in addition to the ones that I have scheduled in Wickenburg, AZ at M's Quilting next year. It would be really nice not to have to drive some place else to teach.

We are sitting here watching 'Batman' on Me TV. What a hoot it is watching this station. We watch 'The Rifleman', 'Perry Mason', 'Bonanza', 'The Big Valley', 'Wild, Wild, West', Columbo', 'Emergency!', 'Gunsmoke', and 'Hawaii Five-O' just to name a few. It is a lot nicer than watching all of the 'real life' and talk shows that are on TV now. Most of 'The Rifleman' is filmed on a Hollywood set and it is fun to see if I can notice anything weird. This past trip to Kanab, UT to the 'Western Legends Roundup' we went on a tour in the canyon that had a 'Gunsmoke' town. It is so much fun to watch the program and see the town site we explored. This was another show that was filmed in a movie set in Hollywood more than on site.

I was just thinking of all these things on our way back from an open house that Dr. Buck and Tammy were having to celebrate their wedding, so I had to share.

I hope you all have a great week!

Happy Quilting, Sharon "Quilting the Kaye Wood Way" Certified Instructor since 2009

12 days before Christmas 2012......

Well, how is everybody doing with all the hoopla just 12 days before the biggest day of the year? We don't have any kids home any more so it shall be quiet around here. I'm not sure yet what is going to be going on, but I know that the following week I get to take a lot of days off together. My office is closed December 24th and 25th, then again on December 30th and January 1st and I am able to take off the 3rd. I only work 3 days a week so I get to stay home from December 27 till January 7th..... I wonder what kind of trouble I can get into if Carl is back to work :o

Well, my computer just sent me a nasty gram. Not sure what has been going on with MSN on my computers. Both at home and work it keeps saying it has to 'find' something and reconnect. I haven't 'unconnected' so why do I have to 'reconnect'? Love the technology, but hate when it messes up!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

Happy Sunday!

How is everything going with everyone? We are still plugging along out here in warmville...

This past weekend we went to the Wild Western Festival.

 

We spent our 2 days in the 'information booth' talking with lots of people and seeing everybody come in the gates. We were not that far from one of the 'stages' and had a great time watching the 'shows'. One of them was 'Concho and Lee'.

All through the day Concho and Lee rode around the grounds, every once in awhile Concho would do some fancy foot work that was cool. What was really amazing was that you never saw Lee give Concho any commands. Concho was an old racehorse that was going to be destroyed when Lee bought him. Now Concho prances around showing off at western festivals.

We also had some of the best pulled pork tacos with cole slaw. I know it sound nasty, but it is really a great flavor combination.

The weekend before we went for a ride on a steamboat called 'Dolly'.

Silly me forgot to get a picture of the Dolly or the paddleboat while it was 'paddling'.

Our first sight was the big horned sheep.

 

Here is another picture to help you see what is there.

This is a close up of the lower left side of the big picture. When the captian told us they were there I was one of the first to spot them. After we saw some a couple years ago it was easy for me to spot them. You just have to look for the white spots :)...

The other part of the trip we saw a nest that the bald eagles have been using. The captain told us they watched a couple fledglings as the grew up and left the nest last year. He also said that they saw the parents back again just the day before. The crew spotted one of the bald eagles flying overhead, but I wasn't able to spot it.

Since the western festival I have been cleaning the house. Like normal when I am working on other things the house gets put on the back burner. I now have my sewing room cleaned up, Carl cleaned up the floors that were getting the best of us and now I have to get the wash done then I will be all caught up.
 
As usual I have a whole list of things that are on my 'to do' list. The first thing I need to do is to increase my supply of hanging kitchen towels.

The weekend of the 10th I am going to set up at a craft fair at one of the local schools. I am only going to take my towels this time because they are easier to load and unload. Of all the items that I make these usually sell the best.

I guess that is for now.
Until next time,

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

Brother's birthday!

Happy Birthday Joe-Joe! 

We love you!

Happy Quilting, Sharon 

"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way" 

Certified Instructor since 2009

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Yesterday was my BIRFDAY! Yeah, that's how my daughter use to let me know at least a week ahead of time on her 'birfday!' Since she hit 30 I don't hear that as much, but I am old enough I can start saying it this way for myself LOL!

 

I was going to post yesterday, but I was just being lazy.... It was quiet except I had to work, but at least work was without any drama.

 

This weekend we will be going on a Dolly Steamboat nature cruise. They had a super deal on Groupon last August that we got in on. I have never been on a paddle/steam boat before so this shall be cool! Some years ago Carl got us tickets for a dinner cruise on Cayuga Lake in Ithaca, NY for my birthday. Well, with my birthday being in October and of course the weather starts to turn nasty and cold sometimes in the middle of September in central NY. Of course that year it had to go nasty early and we were out on Cayuga Lake in winter coats eating a fancy meal with me freezing my behind off. Can you imagine eating with winter gloves on? Back then the cold and I just didn't get along. All I really remember about that night was I couldn't wait to get back on land and get in the car. As I recall it did not have any or very little heat in the 'dining' area, it was after dark and the water was choppy. I'm sure I would go again, just not in October LOL!

 

So, this weekend is the Dolly cruise and next weekend is the Western Wild West Festival. We finally received a call on what we shall be doing as posse members. On Friday we will be in the 'souviner' booth and Saturday we will be in the 'information' booth. I am sure it is going to be a hoot! So if any of you are in the area and go, please be sure you stop on over and tell us 'Hi'....

 

Other than that we are doing just fine. Carl finally got his new phone today so now he won't be getting cut off, unable to hear you or not hear the phone ring or that message are coming in. You may have to call twice because neither one of us can figure out how to answer the silly thing ~~~ LOL!

 

Until next time,

 

Happy Quilting, Sharon

"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way" Certified Instructor since 2009

Good Morning one and all!

Happy Sunday!  
Here it is close to the end of another month in 2012.... I have been very bad about posting. Even my trips to the new temple have stopped rather abruptly.... 

Since I was here last Carl has been in the hospital again. This time there was a definite stoke that is in the part of the brain that controls your balance. Thankfully it hasn't completely thrown his balance off, at times he miss-steps, but has been able to catch himself. The other thing that has shown itself is that he is seeing double, that in turn gives him a headache. So now he wears a patch on one eye. Everybody that knows him makes a remark that he is Rooster Cogburn. For those that aren't old western movie buffs, it is a character that John Wayne played in the original 'True Grit' movie. Yeah, I know there is a newer version out there, but John did it best :)....

Now this is his new western outfit that we finished off with a trip to a western store last week in Mesa. Now all I have to do is get my outfit made. I started cutting it out yesterday, but didn't have all of the pattern pieces traced. I think I have that done now so I can get it cut out. It shall be fun getting it together. This is for our 'Posse' duties at the Wild West Festival in Glendale, AZ in a couple weeks. If anybody is in the area and you like old western movies you need to go. We have some dollar off coupons if anybody is interested, just let us know.

Well, it is time for me to get ready for church. I shall be back another day.

Until next time,



Happy Quilting, Sharon 
 "Quilting the Kaye Wood Way" Certified Instructor since 2009

Good afternoon one and all!

Well, lots of excitement around the old homestead this past week..... Carl decided he really wasn't feeling well after we went to Kanab, UT for the Western Round-up to see all of his western actors and ended up in the hospital. Scared me silly! While he was working he had a problem with talking and I ended up calling 911 for him. Now, mind you we were 60 miles apart and I had no idea where he had parked the car and had scared all of my co-workers as I was yelling at him over the phone :(..... I need to thank the young man at CVS who went out into the parking lot to look for Carl, the 911 operators that patched me through to Wickenburg 911, the police and emergency squad that found him in the parking lot and transported him to the hospital and all of the medical personnel that took care of him after he was admitted into the hospital. All of the tests came back 'normal' and they figure he had a TIA (mini stroke), which put him on a ton of medicine. The problem he is having right now is the headache and tinnitis that usually happens after this type of episode. The doc this morning said that the headache usually last between 10 days and 2 weeks, but I sure hope it lets up before then. Having a headache that bad for days on end would make anybody crazy..... At least he is here to tell the tale and have me laugh at his misunderstanding of conversations..... 

Until next time, 

Happy Quilting, Sharon 
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way" Certified Instructor since 2009

August Already!

Seven months of the year 2012 is gone, gone, gone! I can not believe it! It seems as though it was just yesterday that we went to Sea World in California!!!

Oh well, onward and upward.... Onward in time and upward in age.... LOL!

I updated the progress on the Temple this past week....

Last weekend we ended up getting 2 dust storms in 2 days. On Saturday we were at a church function and decided to get home a little early and it was a good idea that we did. We were just about to the car when we looked up and saw this---

 Then we drove through this to get home.

Then this is what we saw coming towards us the next day at the house.

And this is the storm marching right along.....

So, what do you think about our storms? Yeah dirty!

I'm just glad that the garage sale was over when these hit. This weekend I finished getting all the stuff cleaned up in the garage and Carl got all of the left over stuff hauled away. We actually have both of our cars in the garage tonight! Yahoo!!!! I still have totes to go through, but it is much better than it was a couple weeks ago.

Now I am off to post some stuff on Craig's list. I have posted on Freecycle already, so maybe a few more items will go down the road before next weekend! One can hope LOL!

Until next time, 

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

End of July 2012

Good evening everybody! How has your day been? Mine was busy in some ways and very lazy in others. Today was day 2 of 'My Trash, Your Treasure' garage sale. Can you imagine I actually cleaned out a lot of totes and am getting rid of stuff I have hauled around for years!!! Not everything sold, (so what is new?) but we got a few pennies for some of the junk and the rest is going to a second hand store.... It is going to be so nice having the garage empty enough to get both cars in it....

Now I need to get back to the western outfits. The 'reticule' is cut out and 1/2 done. I had to stop working on that to get ready for the garage sale.... I will get back to it this next week for sure. For now I need to head to bed. I hope you all have a great week!

Until next time,

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

Happy Weekend!

I just posted a new quilt on the 'Quilting World' page. Since I finished this one and sent it off to it's new owner I have started working on our 1800 outfits.

I got my bonnet cut out and put together last night. The next one shall be put together differently that is for sure!  I have several patterns by Buckaroo Bobbins that I have been making over the years for Carl. I made Carl a 'Frock Coat' some time ago, but since he has lost all his weight after his heart surgery it just hangs on him. So now he needs me to make another one that will fit better. That is on the list as well as an outfit for me. We shall see how much I manage to get done by the next western festival.....

Until next time,

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

Good evening.......

I know, I know I haven't posted in some time.... What can I say, but that I have been busy. Busy doing what, you may ask.... You can ask, I may not tell :).... but what am I doing here if I don't want to tell.... LOL!  I have to admit that I have been reading way to many books of late. I just LOVE my Kindle Fire and it does get me into more trouble than I really want to admit. I try really hard to stay away from it, but then I just want to read a few 'pages' and it turns into the whole book. It really shouldn't surprise me because I have always been like that with my books.

What else have I been up to? Well, I did manage to get another quilt done. I have even managed to play in my quilting software (EQ 6). I want to learn all there is to do in the program so I can design my own quilts. Of course I have been going to work, but that is a given anyways.

The 4th of July week Kelly and the kids were here for a few days, so that kept us busy. Of course the morning of the 4th we had a church breakfast to go to and then later in the day we were invited for supper at a friend's house. For a 'day off' it sure was busy!

When I was a kid and my sister had to get me up for school and make sure I was 'properly' dressed. We had several 'conversations' about what 'proper' meant. LOL! The conversation went something like this....
Sister Lissa, 'You can't wear stripes and plaids together!'.
Me, 'Why not? The colors match!'..... LOL!!! Can you guess who won? No, it wasn't sister Lissa..... So this picture is for you sis and yes the colors do match....

The next couple of pictures are the view of the White Tank mountains as I drive to work. The moon in this one was really cool.

This is a view of the clouds and the shadows on the mountains. It always amazes me to see the shadows on the ground out here. In NY you couldn't see the shadow on the ground because the ground was on the other side of the hill....

I forgot that we went to Cerreto's Candy factory for a tour with Kelly & son... I always wondered how they got the chocolate on the bottom of the candies or cookies and then on the top. It is just a specialized conveyor belt like I worked on when building typewriters at Smith Corona. They coat the bottom first, then pour the chocolate over the top, then drizzle dark chocolate by hand, cool, and then load on trays to go to the packer.

The ones on the left are getting dragged over the chocolate and the ones on the right have already been coated.

This is where the chocolate is poured over the top. In the reflection you can see the cookies. Not a drop of chocolate is wasted getting these cookies coated. 

Here is the person that decorates the cookies with the dark chocolate just before it goes into the cooling tunnel.

Here is the final product.  This is also the same type of conveyor belt that is seen in the 'I Love Lucy' show where Lucy & her friend are working and end up eating the cookies.

That was a great 'free' tour. The goodies that they have for sale make the 'free' tour not so 'free', but it could be if you could leave your sweet tooth at home....

Until next time,

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

Sunday July 1st!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Can you believe that the first half of the year 2012 is gone? After reviewing what I have accomplished the first half of this year, I realized that I have gotten several quilts completely done and a few more that were hanging around done and of course gotten several more things half done.... Of course there was work in there too and a vacation or 2, let's not forget the housework and laundry that is never completely finished. Now I need to get ideas for Christmas started for the grandkids. I have a couple ideas floating around in the brain, now just to get them started and finished.

This past weekend I went and had a pedicure. Boy, was that sure nice! Here are the toes in a favorite pair of shoes. I just love funky shoes, but usually stay with more conservative colors and designs, but Carl told me I needed to get these. At first I was worried about what they would go with, but I found a couple outfits in my closet that they look great with....

What is everybody doing for July 4th? We are going to a breakfast at church early in the AM. Not sure what else we are going to do at this point except enjoy the day. It says that we are going to have cooler temps that day, but we shall see. I usually do the housework on Wednesday, but will put that off until next week. We shall have family here for the weekend and it is impossible to do any of that stuff while others are underfoot. It's bad enough trying to get it done when Carl is in the house. Now I am glad that I got the floors and bathrooms cleaned up yesterday while Carl was working on my car. That will have to last for 2 weeks instead of 1....

I am heading over to the 'quilting' tab to add in my most recent quilt. Go on over and check it out!

Until next time, 

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009

Sunny Sunday!

What a nice day it has been today. Of course it is that time of the year that you don't spend to much time outside because of the heat, but I sure do love the sunshine.

I just finished posting the first installment from our vacation in May. I finally got all of my pictures labeled and down loaded. I think I have over 300 pictures that turned out. I love having a digital camera, I can trash what didn't come out and it doesn't cost me anything! I was forever taking pictures, but never getting them developed..... Lots of 'pictures' in my brain. I was looking though a couple boxes and found some VHS tapes that we have taken over the years. I am going to get them put over onto DVD in the near future. It is a hoot watching them!

Now that I downloaded the pictures from our vacation I started a post about it, so go on over and see what we have been up to!

Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Certified Instructor since 2009