Summer Stash Challenge Blocks Done

It's been very hot here in St. George, Utah. Today the temperature reached 109 degrees. Last summer when it got this hot in July I found myself pacing the halls of my house, looking for escape. This year I've decided to distract myself with some great quilt projects and books on tape. It's OK to stay indoors all day because I have something fun to work on. When I used to live up North and the winter days were filled with snow, there were many times I was house bound. Here, the season to hibernate is switched.
My project for today was to finish the 16 blocks needed to make my Summer Stash Challenge.


All done!


Tomorrow's goal will be to put them in the right order and then sew them together. I'm still trying to decide if I want to add borders. I'll think about that tomorrow, too.
Now it's time to go take a dip in the pool.
It's so beautiful to swim under the stars.
My husband wants me to join him along with "Bruce and Wayne" the bats, who fly past our heads every evening at dusk. ahh.. life in the desert.

Arte Y Pico Award and Pincushions

I'm new to blogging, and was so honored to have Nanette from Freda's Hive send me this blog award! Wow! She has been such an inspiration and support to me in getting started. (Thank you a million times, again, Nanette!) I have been learning all kinds of new things the last month. Computers have never been my forte, and my family is still in shock that I'm doing this. I'm still in shock that I'm doing this!
Today I signed up for my first Flickr group with the Summer Stash Challenge. OK- I admit it. Up until a few weeks ago I had never heard the work "Flickr". One reason I wanted to learn how to blog is so I can become more familiar with my new digital camera and my computer. This site keeps me back at it every day so I can keep things fresh in my mind. And I'm having so much fun!


Tomorrow my 16 year old son leaves for our Church Youth Conference to hike Havasupai Trail down the Grand Canyon. Those who have been before say it is one of the most awsome hikes in the world. A life changing experience. Something he will never forget. Our son is dragging his feet about going. This comic in Sunday's paper helped me realize we're not alone as parents!

As quilters we seem to like to collect things. I love pincushions and thimbles. When ever I take a trip, I'm always looking to add to my collection. I have an antique Singer sewing machine that I use to display some of my pincushions.

My friends have added to my collection over the years. This one was made by my dear friend Beth and given to me as a gift when I moved from Northern Utah to Southern Utah. Every time I look at it I remember all the wonderful years and memories we have had together. Beth is the one who introduced me to quilting about 10 years ago, and my life has never been the same! Even though we now live 4 hours apart we still manage to get together quite often to work on projects and to have girl friend time.

I found this one at an antique store. The wood is hand carved and it smells musty and old.

Last April Ricci and I hosted a "St. George Retreat" for a few of our quilting friends up North. We made each one of them this pincushion to remember their Southern Utah experience. As a little tip- I googled to find out a good product to fill the inside of the pincushion. One site recommended natural cracked walnut shells purchased at Pet Smart for about $10 a bag. They worked great even though the product is usually intended to line bird cages. I had to tease Ricci by telling her to seal her bag up quick before the neighborhood birds knocked on her door looking for a potty stop.

I'm still plugging away, working on my Summer Stash Challenge. Listening to some good books on tape. Happy Happy.

4th of July Weekend

For the 4th of July weekend we headed up North to Salt Lake to visit with two of our children. Our oldest son is moving to New York and it was our last time to see him before he leaves. Bitter sweet trip.


We shared the evening with our dear friends The Fenlons. Lots of good food and fun.


My husband is known for putting together huge firework displays. Every year he would put on what was know in our neighborhood as "Cul de Sac of Fire!" This year because of traveling he had to downsize.

We still had a lot of fun being with friends and family as we lit off our fireworks.

Of course, I had to get a little quilting in while we were on our trip. I went with my girlfriend Pam to "Quilts Etc." in Sandy for their block of the month. I used to attend these every month before I moved and it was so wonderful seeing old friends.

Pat and her staff do such a great job on Block of the Month. The best I've ever seen. They come up with ways to make the block interesting, teach new techniques, and offer great sales. When I was living here they had around 1,000 people sign up for their Block of the Month. It used to be called "First Saturday", but because of the turn out they had to offer classes through out the first week of each month. The fire marshall would only allow so many people in the room!

This year the theme was "Political Threads". This month they featured "Roosevelt's Tie" and "The Great Depression Block". They asked questions about Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Depression, and those who knew the answers were given fabric prizes. Made me wish I had studied my history a little better!

Roosevelt's Tie and The Great Depression Blocks
Roosevelt was known for the saying "The only thing to fear is fear itself". ( Do you think that applies to trying new quilting techniques? ) He was the only president voted in 4 times, and he served for 13 years. He died while in office during his 4th term. It was nice to get caught up on a little trivia.

Show and Tell

Pam said this lady brings something amazing every month. A very prolific quilter.

This woman brought her Show and Tell and said it was a Mystery Quilt. When asked if she had fun doing it she shouted "No!" We all got a good laugh out of that one.

I think Quits Etc. has the best offering for looking at quilt books. A room is set aside where you can sit down at a table and relax. Who ever designed the wall feature for displaying books gets an A+ in my opinion. It offers a great inventory, and you can see most of the covers at a glance. I could spend the whole day in there and be happy.

On Saturday afternoon we went with our kids to hike "Lake Mary" above Brighton Ski resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We love to hike as a family, and this is a relatively easy trek.

Because it's July, I wasn't expecting snow! We even had snow at the trail head, and wondered what we were in for. Turns out it wasn't too bad, with only patches along the way.

I have a daughter attending the University of Utah, double majoring in Japanese and Linquistics. She has really emersed herself in the Asian Culture. For snacks to eat along the trail she shared with us "dried squid". Eeewww! Everyone tried it but me. She said it's considered an Asian Beef Jerky type treat... but only made with squid... thanks anyway, but I think I'll pass.

The rest of my family was more adverturous. Hiking along, they would look at Elizabeth and say "Squid Me!"

Not only did we have to hike through patches of snow, but creeks that were formed from the run off. The scenery was spectacular.

The majestic view of Lake Mary once we were there was breath taking!

Summer Stash Challenge

Last night when our Dixie Diva friendship group met, Melissa mentioned that she had new baby hummingbirds in a nest right outside her back door.

Mama hummingbird was away, so I went outside to peek at her babies. They were so tiny and small! Two of them were cheeping away, heads raised, looking for food. Soon their mama was back guarding her territory, so I went back into the house and viewed them from a window.

Today was another fun day because I had time to return to my sewing room to work on projects. When I first started my blog I signed up for the Summer Stash Challenge. Today I had time to figure out what I wanted to do and to get working. This is the first challenge I've ever joined and I'm excited to see how things progress.

My first decision was to figure out what fabric out of my stash I wanted to use. I found these fat quarters that I purchased at Market in May of last year when Salt Lake City was the host. I was like a kid in a candy store at Market, and bought enough fabric to keep me busy for years. My goal for 2008 has been to start using what I have before buying any new fabric. So far I've done pretty well. The only fabric I've purchased has been to complete a current project.

My next decision was to select a pattern for my Stash Challenge. I found this one out of a book I've had for a while. It's especially geared to using fat quarters. The pattern is designed for a lap quilt, but I'm going to make it larger.

The cutting out of the fabric was fairly easy. All of the fat quarters were cut the same, so I was able to stack 4 at a time.

The blocks end up being 20 1/2 x 16 1/2

I was able to complete the first two.

Diva Night & Block Exchange

I'm so happy to be home because today I had time to quilt! Hurray!




One of the first things I did when I moved to St.
George was to join the Dixie Quilt Guild. I knew that quilt people are the nicest people, and they would help me feel at home. Membership is usually around 200, making it quite a large guild. To help people have a chance to get to know each better, friendship groups are formed. At my first Dixie meeting, I was immediately approached and asked to join a group of women called "The Dixie Divas". There are 9 of us and we meet twice a month to work on projects. These are the most wonderful ladies! I count each of them such dear friends.

Right now we are participating in a block exchange. We each select our own colors, put our fabrics in a bag, and pass it from Diva to Diva each month. We make 6 blocks of a pre-selected pattern, then pass it on. Today I worked on Bev's quilt.

One of the "Divas" is Pat Peters, our current president of the Dixie Quilt Guild. Tonight we had a get- together and this is the quilt Pat brought to work on. We all like to bow in front of Pat and in a united voice chant "We're not worthy!"

Pat has been working on this applique quilt for around the last 15 months. All the flowers are made from batiks, and the rose alone has 21 pieces. She only does her applique at night and works on machine piecing during the day. This will be all hand quilted when she is done.

In the future when Pat wins awards for this quilt, we will feel lucky to say we sat by her when she was worked on it.

This is a quilt Ricci is currently working on. If you look at my header, you will notice it is the same quilt as mine, just in different colors. I have Ricci to thank for teaching me how to paper piece. A person can't go wrong with friends like these!

This is a quilt Melissa just finished, and brought for show and tell

More show and tell from Melissa

At our night meetings, we like to bring hand work. Jan K. is working on wool applique.