Here it is June 28, 2010 already!!!  Where in the world has this year gone???  It got to 107 degrees here today!!  And it is already harvest time in St. George.  Since we live in a small apartment with very little yard space, I only have a small flower garden in pots, but my niece Michelle and her family not only have a garden in their backyard but they are participating in a neighborhood garden.  Someone in their Ward offered up the land and 10 families have each been given several VERY long rows and each family is growing something different.  Michelle's family is growing melons.  All the families will share the harvest with each other and each other's families.  Hoo!  Hoo!!  I love melons and with this heat they should be extra good!!!  This is just a glimpse at what we are already enjoying!!!

New Dog, Old Tricks - Old Dog, New Tricks???

Now lets see, how does that adage go??  If it is "ya can't teach an old dog new tricks", then it's wrong!!!  Yah hoo!!  Last Christmas my great-niece Lauren got a needle punch kit.  She asked me, her Aunt Kris, who knows how to do ALL crafts, if I would help her learn how to do it.  Well, ol' Aunt Kris could not figure out how to use the punch needle.  Turns out, there was a piece missing, so I was redeemed.

It looked intriguing but I did nothing about it until last week when I went on my little mini shop hop with my friend Sue and found this cute little book that had some punch needle patterns in it. Well, as I read about the thread you used for these little punch needle patterns, I saw that one uses the same embroidery floss she would use if she did a lot of counted cross stitch. 

I used to do a lot of counted cross stitch, but now my eyes are not so fond of that sport and I have been wondering (for the past several years) what I was going to do with all the 100s and 100s of skeins of DMC embroidery floss that is just sitting around waiting for the day I MIGHT try a new cross stitch!!  Then it hit me - a new way I could use all that embroidery floss and learn a new trick at the same time!!

At a second quilt shop, I found a punch needle (that is ergometrically friendly) and after reading the instructions on how to use the fancy-schmancy needle . . . no more need be said!!!

You CAN teach an old dog new tricks AND its a ton of fun that I can do while my Dad and I watch the Rockies baseball games almost each and every night during the summer!!!

HAPPY CAMPER HERE!!!

I just finished my first project with the little un-loved blocks I made.  Reeze suggested a pincushion and it turned out really cute.  I got the little antique button a little off to one one side, but I decided to leave it there because the friend I am giving this pincushion to is a little off center too!!!  LOL!!!  Thank you Reeze for the great suggestion!!!

GIVE-A-WAY!!! Hand-Made Baby Booties Looking for a Home!!

About this time last year a group of us at our Church made lots and lots of these darling baby booties for orphanages in foreign countries where they have nothing.  We were asked to make booties with color because there is not any color in the orphanages and the babies are color deprived, which apparently thwarts their growth in more ways than one.

While I was cleaning out some boxes last night, I found little lost pair of booties that did not get to go with their bootie buddies.  So, I thought, hummmmmmmmm, these little booties need a good home.  Since all my great-nieces and great-nephews all have their own booties or are too old for booties, I thought this would be a perfect time for a give-a-way!!!

If you know a special little baby or baby-to-be that would enjoys these booties or if you know of a charity that would like them, please leave a comment.  On July 4, 2010, I will put all the names of the folks who left a comment in a big basket and randomly choose a winner!!!

Thank you all for visiting my little bit of heaven!!!

Today is election day (primary) here in Utah, so my Dad and I went down to fulfill our patriotic duty and voted!!!

In one of the Yahoo groups that I belong to, Carol Doak has started a block-of-the-month called Radiant.  The blocks are 12" finished and each block will be paper-pieced using designs created by Carol.  This is a free BOM but you do need to be a member of Carol's Yahoo group called Carol Doak's Quilting Group.  This group is a great group of quilters and I love seeing all the amazing projects and blocks produced by all the members.

This is my June block.  I am learning to work with batiks.  I am finding that batiks are a bit tougher for me to blend with other fabrics.  There is also a connector block  that will go all through the quilt.  I have seen several versions on how to piece the connector block and I am not sure which version I am going to make.  Stay tuned!!

Whoo!!  Whoo!  Three new International siggies in the mail this week!!!

The first one I received is from Manie van den Berg who lives with her husband Johan in a small village in the Betuwe in the the free nature between two rivers in the middle of Holland.

She has a vast collection of scissors and that is why she chose the darling pattern in the middle of her siggie. I looks like Manie hand-drew the scissors!!  She has collected the outside fabric for many years. Manie and I are the same age!! :-)

The second siggie I received this week is from Lotte Klint, who works as a lecturer in a University College and lives in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark with her hubby and 3 sons.

This gorgeous siggie portrays ravens that have been beautifully hand-stitched by Lottie. Ravens are Lottie's favorite birds, partly because of their beauty and partly because of their role in Nordic Mythology, where the two ravens Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory) were sent out at dawn to gather information and return in the evening. Then they would perch on Odin's shoulders and whisper the news from all over the world. What a cool thought!!!

The third siggie was in the mail box this afternoon. It is from Puck Booij who lives in the Netherlands.  This darling siggie has the cutest kittie on it, which I am guessing she hand-drew, and I am also guessing Puck loves cats!!!  Puck has asked me if I would make a special siggie for you that would be part of a quilt she wants to make with all Christmas-themed siggies.

Thank you ladies for these darling siggies!!!  Wow, I owe several siggies so I had better get the ones I have started completed so I can get them off in the mail first thing Monday morning!!!

When I was out on my little shop hop with my friend Sue (while on my business trip last week), I found a darling pincushion pattern.  So I decided that I wanted to make one for one of my favorite clients, CJ, using some of my beautiful Kaffe Fassett fabric!!  CJ LOVES Kaffe's fabric as do I, so here is my first one.  I altered the pattern a bit because it was too wide for my taste and as I told CJ, since it is my first one it is not perfect and I will make changes on the future ones I make, but I think it turned out real fun!!!

CJ will be able to use either side!!!  Actually, I am not sure which one I like the best!!!

Kaffe Fassett FQ Give-A-Way Winners!!!

GIVE-A-WAY IS OFFICALLY CLOSED!!!

There were sooo many great ideas that I could not just choose one, so I chose 7 winners!!!

Rolling drums . . . . . . . . . . . The winners are:

C
Nan - as Charity Queen, she offered her's as a June charity FQ
Mary Hopkins - Big Blooms - Turquoise
Cheryl
3 anklebiters
Jandi
Reeze - Paperweight - Sludge

If you would like to scroll down to the bottom of my blog and click on my eBay store you can pick the Kaffe Fassett FQ you would like the best.  If you would rather not do that, I will just pick one for you!!  Its all gorgeous!!  Then send me an email with your address and your FQs will be on their way!! 

Thank you to EVERYONE who took the time to help me out!!!  I will post pictures of the projects as they get completed!!!

This has been an interesting few days.  On Wednesday I started a Mediation Training that goes from last Wednesday through this coming Tuesday.  Because the training is in Salt Lake City (a 5 hour drive from St. George) I decided to stay the weekend with my dear friend Sue Baddley in Smithfield, Utah, about 90 minutes north of  Salt Lake.  Boy, am I ever glad I did!

A little bit about Sue.  I met Sue about 7 years ago on the internet when she was talking about how she was moving from one part of the Bay area in California to another part of the Bay and how she had to clean the house she was moving out of and how she had to clean the rental house she was moving into . . .and well, a long story short, I emailed her to tell her that since I lived in the general vicnity, I could come come over to help her clean the rental house.

More than 7 years later we are dear friends and she has taught me most of what I know about quilting.  She tells me she has been quilting for 38 years - she claims she started at a very young age - just kidding, Sue - Just add about 12 years and ya know she is still just a kid!!

Her home is gorgeous and looks like a well-appointed quilt shop!! Just a little eye-candy for your enjoyment:

Below is the bed I got to sleep in while I was there!!

This darling little pincushion was on the pillow along wioth a little mint.  I don't have a picture of the mint though,  because I ate it!!  :-)

This is Sue working on a Quilt on her Gammill!!!  I am so grateful to her for working on this quilt while I was there so now I know - long-arm quilting is NOT for me!!!  I'm saving my money to send my quilts to Sue!!!

One weekend at Sue's home was just not enough!!!  I bearly had the time to see a fraction of all the goodies there!!  I am hoping that someday Sue will adopt me (which would work because all her kids are gone now and I know she must need a new kid!!)

Thank you Sue for a great weekend!!

Oh boy, two new International Siggies in the mail this morning!!!

This one is from Ludy Nelson who lives in Maastricht, the Netherlands. She has a very busy, happy life and got the quilting bug about two years ago. Ludy collects angels and the Maastricht coat of arms has a beautiful angel on it. This is such a darling Siggie and Ludy has hand-drawn her angel in the middle.

My second Siggie is from Carolyn Hosier who lives in Des Moines, Iowa. Thats in the United States!!! :-) Carolyn created her cute, cute, cute Siggie with her calico kitty, Miss Abbie, in mind!!  Miss Abbie is appliqued with a real red string ribbon tied around her neck!!

Thank you ladies, I LOVE your Siggies!!!

I belong to several on-line quilting groups - so who doesn't - and I have chosen each of the groups for a different reason.  The "Sewmanyswaps" group is appropriately named as there is always some kind of swap going on.  I don't join in all the swaps because sometimes I don't have the time to make the blocks that are swapped or I just don't like the theme being swapped or any other really good reason.

I did sign up for the swap this month which is a 5" charm swap using all 1930s reproduction prints.  The swap consists of sets of 12 charms in the same fabric.  We can send up to 12 sets and I decided to make all 12 sets.  These kinds of swaps, as all quilters who swap know, has a two-fold purpose.  We get to use up our stash and then receive all new fabrics for new projects!!!

The other thing I really like about this group is that every month there is a charity lotto where we make a block (typically) that will go into a charity quilt for a hospital or an orphanage or other charity.  For the month of June we are to send in fat quarters (FQs) in bright kids fabrics that will be used to make quilts for sick kids at a local hospital (Lawrence Memorial Hospital) in Lawrence, Kansas.  Each FQ we send in will give us one chance in a random drawing. The prizes are include a charm pack and a cute folk art embroidery pattern and even more prizes if lots and lots of FQs are sent in!!!

So, I went through my stash this afternoon, found all the FQs above and put them in the mail to the gal who is running the June charity lotto.

Now I just have to wait to see if I win one of the lotto prizes and wait until sometime after June 30 when I get a package in the mail with 144 new prints to add to my already bulging 1930s reproduction stash!!!  All this quilting stuff is great fun!!!

Those of you who actually know me, know that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon).  Those who do not know me personally may have gleaned that fact from viewing my blog.  Well, this past week I had the special privilege of being one of the leaders at our Stake's Youth Conference.  What an amazing experience to be among so many of the youth in our Church (about 90 kids and 30 leaders)!!

We left Thursday afternoon by bus to go to Warm Springs, Nevada, an oasis in the middle of the Nevada desert just north of the Moapa Indian Reservation and about an hour and a half from St. George.  Upon arrival we all staked out where we wanted to place our tents.  It was interesting to me that the kids all just knew to set up their camp sites seperately, boys from girls.  Now, the kids that go to Youth Conference are aged 14-18.

After we set up camp we met for some interesting workshops, including one on how much music influences our lives both superficially and deep in our souls; a dating panel - where every other question focused around that most important topic - the first kiss; and a discussion of how all the new technology affects our lives. 

Did you know that there are lots of kids out there in the world that send more than 10,000, yes, thats ten thousand, text messages a month!!!  I could not understand how that was even possible and still have any kind of life so I asked a couple of the older girls how that could happen.  Their explanation was that a bunch a kids sit in a room together and text each other in the same way  a bunch of people would sit in a room together and have an on-going verbal conversation!!  Well, of course I asked WHY!!!  Their answer - because they could!!!  I don't know, I just don't know!!!

At around midnight of the first night, I heard these two little voices in the tent right next to my ear singing over and over "we all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine!!!"  Well, I found the girls the next morning and they promised no yellow submarines the next night!!  LOL!!!

Other activities included volley ball, swimming (in both a regular swimming pool and a natural pool that was fed by an underground spring), badminton, river walks (right in the water and it was flowing!!!), eating, eating, eating (we had GREAT cooks!!), wonderful talks by the Stake leaders and the Conference closed with an amazing Testimony meeting. Then the very quiet bus ride home Saturday afternoon!!

We even saw an owl and her two babies.  They were sooooooooooo cute!!

I think everyone had a great time!!  I am really happy I had a chance to spend time with our future generation of adults and leaders.  We are in pretty good hands!!!  I look forward to attending this Conference again next year!!