My Kind of Guy

Any body else out there feeling a little stressed? With 13 people staying at our house as of tomorrow, I still have cleaning to do, baking, sewing, and a list a mile long. On top of that, we're dealing with a grumpy teenager, which makes for a grumpy mom.
What to do? Mr. Cactus to the rescue. (After 30 + years of marriage, he's catching on).

For today, Mr. Cactus became Mr. Clean.

Valentine Hangers

I've been playing with my Valentine fabric. May sound a little crazy with Christmas only a few days away.

A local quilt shop has asked me to teach an easy one hour class using Texture Magic for the spring schedule. The display will come out as soon as Christmas is over.

These coat hangers work up fast, and I can show how different stitches bring different texture.


I've increased the pattern a little, so I can cut two hangers out at a time.

And with the left overs, there was enough fabric to make some stuffed hearts.

The Valentine hangers will join this example. I'm not done playing yet. I have a few other color and layout ideas stewing in my brain, but they may have to wait until after the holiday is over.

Pomegranate Table Runner

I've been trying to finish up on some Christmas presents.

I haven't worked with wool for the longest time, and it was so nice to be back with a needle and thread.

I thought it was only fitting I work on a project that has pomegranates. I even made another batch of pomegranate jelly last night.

I love the texture and variety of working with hand dyed wools.


The pattern is called "Antique Pomegranates" by Ginger Sanchez Designs

Dear Santa

Dear Santa:

I don't need much this Christmas. The most important thing for me is to be with my family, and that is going to be possible this year.
But... if you want to throw in a little extra, I'd LOVE to have some LOVE...
as in Soul Love by Amy Butler.

The Fat Quarter Shop even offers Soul Love in a fat quarter bundle.

I want to make Sexy Hexy Love Quilt. Wild isn't it? This is a big throw back in time.
Takes me back to the 1960's where I was raised near San Francisco. But you know all about that Santa, don't you? (Because you used to deliver my presents there!)
Groovy man. And Peace and Love.

Lo and Behold

Mr. Cactus went out to get the paper this morning while I was making breakfast.
"There is a picture of our house on the front page of the newspaper this morning!" he exclaimed.

Lo and Behold there it was. Our house right on the front page of the St. George Spectrum.
Shouldn't someone have asked our permission first? Agreed we are a small town, with a small newspaper, but it was still a bit of a shock.
A landscaping measure has been proposed by the city council, and I guess the newspaper's photographer felt our home fit the bill.
St. George wants to require 30% of all new front yards to include landscaping features that encourage the "use of native plants and other low-water plants" that promote water conservation.

Our backyard backs up to 62,000 acres of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.
We used a lot of xeriscape landscaping because of the desert location.

We have a lot of cacti and desert plants that Mr. Cactus covered in Christmas lights for the holiday season.

If the law passes, each new yard will be required to have at least one tree. Do you think our Beaked Yucca will count?

We brought in a lot of big red rocks to blend in with the reserve behind our backyard.
In fact, this made me think of a funny story as we were putting in our yard.
I was not home the day they brought a big crane in to lift the large rocks around our backyard. Our pool had been dug and lined with gunite, but the plaster had not been applied yet.
Mr Cactus called me on my cell phone.
"Honey, I have good news and bad news." he said.

"The good news is the slide works."
"The bad news is the biggest rock we paid a lot of money for is now two smaller rocks."
The guys operating the crane had accidentally dropped a very large rock on the hillside, where it promptly began rolling down the slide, landed in the bottom of the pool, and broke in two.
More good news: the pool was fine.