Panguitch Rewind

The first part of June we went to Panguitch for the annual Quilt Walk Festival.  As usual it was lots of fun.  I entered four quilts into the show this year.  Hey, I am proud of myself for getting anything accomplished!  Wahoo for me!  Regular readers will recognize these.  

Viola's Jewelry Box, designed for McCall's Design Star contest, machine quilted by me also!  Little A's cheesy picture face is too funny!

Midnight Garden, also designed for McCall's, quilted by Yvonne Willden

Unnamed quilt (left), designed by me, machine quilted by me.  

Lava Lamps, designed by me for my dad and machine quilted by me.  

Little A and I went walking around to look at all the quilts.  When we found the quilts in the picture above she ran over to them and started petting them and just touching every part she could.  For those of you who are not of the quilting world that is a BIG no no.  They don't want anyone touching anything!  Usually she doesn't touch the quilts, but since they were mine I guess she thought it would be okay.  Well, I got some not so nice looks from the ladies that were standing around us!  I'm not sure they believed me when I said they were my quilts. 

My mom and I also did a "make and take" on Thursday night.  We knew about it for months, but we just couldn't come up with anything we liked, finally three days before we decided to make a traveling pouch for our hand tools.  

The inside of the pouch, along with our seam ripper, stiletto and ream presser.  

The outside of the pouch, on the right the rolled up shot, and on the left the expanded shot.  

These are just a few of the pouches that were made by the ladies that stopped by.  

It was the best project!  We used bamboo felt, which feels like a thinner wool, but it is not as expensive!    We sewed the pouch so the only thing the customers had to do was make the flowers and glue the ribbon on.  They were a big hit!  

Since this is going to be a long post anyway I will just keep going.  

While we were in Panguitch we made a little side trip to Bryce Canyon, and with it only being 30 miles away it was little.  It was a last minute decision so we went in flip flops, which wasn't the best choice but we survived.  Oh yea, and a bonus was when we got there it was get into the park free day or something like that, so we didn't even have to pay the $25 to get in, bonus for us!!

Here is one of the views.  

The little spindly (that is a word right?) things are called hoodoos.  

Here is another view.  It is hard to see from the pictures but it is an amazing sight!  They have trails you can walk down into the canyon, or you can drive to the different look out points in your car and walk a few hundred feet to see the canyon from the top.  

We met a little friend on the way!

It was a great day!  I'm glad we decided to take a little time to go walk around as a family and enjoy some amazing scenery.  If you want to find out more about Bryce Canyon go here.

WIP Wednesday

I am pretty sure I have a disease!  Unfortunately, modern medicine will not be able to cure me.  I have "new projectitis."  This is a condition where no matter how many UFO's I have I will always start another quilt before one is finished.  This disease has affected my life in the following ways.  

*  large fabric stash

*  multiple projects going at once

*  guilt at have non-finished projects

*  lost pieces (you know, the ones that didn't get put in the right place, 

and are lost until you have already made new ones)  

*  projects taking too long (I have some in the "years" category)

This week I have given in, once again, to this disease and started another new project.  My triangle quilt is still hanging on the banister, hopefully I will finish the top before school starts.  Anyway, back to my new project - recently my mom and I went shop hopping in the Provo area.  We saw so many beautiful quilts and great ideas but a pattern from Cornwagon in Springville just called out "buy me! buy me!"  It was loud enough I had to answer.  

This pattern has 15 pieced blocks, and alternating nine patch block things (I say things because they are nine patches, in a larger nine patch block).  These blocks are 4 3/4 inches right now, which as quilters already know will make them 4 1/4 when they are in the quilt.  

Here are the 4 I have finished so far.

Aren't they cute?  I have a dream of make a Dear Jane quilt someday (after most of my UFO's are finished).  I thought this would be a good way to test the waters and see if I have enough patience to tackle a quilt as intense as Jane.  If you don't know what I'm talking about just google "Dear Jane quilt" you will find tons about it.  

As far as testing the blocks I am loving it!  These are all paper pieced and I love how precise I can get, but these are the easy blocks.  I picked 4 of the blocks with the biggest pieces and they only get smaller from here.  Actually there are some that have squares that are about 1/4 inch!  Yikes!  I'm planning on doing one of those blocks today.  Wish me luck!  

Head over to Freshly Pieced to see what else is going on.  

Design Wall Monday

Well here we are, another Design Wall Monday!  I sure didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked to during the past week.  Here is the progress on my triangle quilt.   

I know I promised some "fabulous applique" in the plain strip and I even made vines, and flowers.  When I laid it all out it just didn't look right.  As much as I wanted it to it wasn't jiving with the rest of the quilt.  The pieces hung on my railing for a few days, waiting patiently for me to decide what to do with them.  

I can say I am happy with this result.  It still needs something for a border, maybe that will be next week's Design Wall.  If anyone knows how to drag something out it is me!!

Head over to Patchwork Times to see what else is going on!

Rewind to Mother's Day

I wanted to rewind and show you the fun activity my family did for Mother's Day.  My sister Robyn loves art, and is a huge reason why I love art too!  Since she lives in the "big city" she knows all of these cool things to do.  For Mother's Day we went to Painting with a Twist.  They are a national company that teaches people how to paint.  This works by you picking a day to paint, (they have different paintings on different days) then show up and they lead you step by step through the entire process.  The paint and canvas is provided, you go home with a finished piece and they keep the mess!

(It kind of sounds like a commercial but I promise it is not.)

Here we are (me, mom, sister in law and sister) at the beginning, blank canvas and smiles!  We decided to go with a variation of Van Gogh's Starry Night, the Salt Lake City version!  

I have to admit I was really nervous because I can't draw, I don't even doodle well.  But after three hours we had a finished product!  

It was amazing how they all turned out a little different.  It was pretty easy, we just took it one step at a time.  Even though there are things about mine that I don't love, I am really happy with the end result!  Plus I have a "real" painting by me in my house.  

We had a great time, lots of laughs and candy eaten during the time we were there, and we were still smiling by the end.  It is something I would do again!

Design Wall Monday

Well it is kind of late to get this posted but I am so excited to share something.  Remember I told you I was in love with grey fabric lately?  This is my attempt at something a bit more manly!  Here is what I have so far, lots of triangles.  

I plan on adding a little turquoise between the columns and please imagine some fabulous applique in the wide section.  It takes a lot of imagination right now!  Oh wait, did I say I was going for a manly quilt before?  Well maybe it will be half manly!

I took the first pic and not 5 minutes later it looked like this.

The neighborhood kids came through my house.  My husband teased them and told the kids I was going to be really mad.  In reality I wouldn't have it any other way.  We have kids going through our house all the time and I love it!  This problem will be solved when I get a sewing room, until then I will have many designs to look at!

Something New!

I am absolutely giddy with excitement right now!  I have just cut into new fabric!  I feel like a dork for admiting that but it is the truth.  I sure hope other quilters feel the same way.

I have been collecting grey fabrics and I am ready to get started.  Grey fabrics are so lovely right now, I am putting off my unfinished projects to start a new one.  (typical me)  It will have  lots and lots of triangles.  Hopefully it will turn out the way I want it too.

Well I have more triangles to cut, wish me luck!

Old, but new quilts

I wanted to quickly share some of the older quilts I have made.  I am trying to make a quilt journal so I am rounding up all the quilts I have made, but after 12 or so years of quilting I can't remember every quilt!  

I made this first one for my brother before he was married.  I think it is called Friendship Star or Friendship Chain.  It was one of the quilts I have loved the most.  I used scraps and it was really easy.  

This quilt was made for my brother and his sweet wife for their wedding.  It was just a layer cake, white fabric and easy, raw edge machine applique.  I don't remember the name, but it did come from a magazine that is lost at the moment in my house.  

When we were at their house a few weeks ago I snapped these pictures so they could be added to the journal.  

It was great to be there! Although we almost tripled the amount of people who live in their apartment since we added 5. They made us delicious breakfast every morning, and were really good about us crashing there.  

They are expecting their first baby in August and Evan (my brother) wanted to try out their new stroller.

I think my three year old is a bit bigger than what they will be pushing around for awhile.  Oh yea, he was really excited I took this picture! 

While we were there we went to Hill Air Force Base to watch the Thunderbirds air show.  It rained all morning and I think we waited in traffic for about an hour.  But it cleared up enough to see a few really great shows.  

It is really hard to take a picture of planes that are moving so fast!  I don't know if my children appreciated it as much as my husband and I did.  It was a really amazing show.  

This is kind of a goofy picture because right after it was snapped the wind blew my hair into my face, but is a great shot of my cute hubby.  

This is what the kids looked like, wrapped up and comfy!  The younger two spent most of the show under the blanket giggling and having fun.  

It was a great way to start out our summer vacation.  

Happy Birthday

I just wanted to wish my mom a Happy Birthday!   No spilling the beans on how many birthdays she has had, but we know she will have many more to come!  We spent part of the weekend with her at the Panguitch Quilt Show (more on that later).  We had a great time at our "make and take" night pictured below.    

We left her a little surprise for when she gets home from church today.  

Tied to each balloon is a note from us.  

I hope she knows how much we love her and love having her live close to us.  

Happy Birthday Mom!

What do you think?

I have never been great at growing plants but this year I decided to give it another try.  These are the pots that sit outside my garage.  

Both pots were planted at the same time, and I am pretty sure I give each one the same amount of water, they get the same amount of sun.  But can you see the difference between them?  

The only thing I can think of that is different is the one on the bottom was planted first with Miracle Grow potting soil and the one on the top was with mostly Miracle Grow and the top layer with a knockoff brand because I ran out.  

What do you think?  Would different soil make that big of a difference?  

Sneak Peek!

Here is a sneak peek of what our make and take will be in Panguitch.  It holds all our tools and is really easy to make.  I can't wait to get started!

Panguitch Quilt Walk

It's time again for the Panguitch Quilt Walk.  

You can find my post from last year here.

It is happening this weekend in, where else, Panguitch Utah!  The quilt show runs from Thursday to Saturday, you can find all the info at the Quilt Walk website.

Westenskow and Sons will be peddling their wares all three days.  On Thursday night there will be a  "make and take" at our booth.  We will be making a cute traveling tool holder!

If you have a chance please stop by and see the wonderful things happening in Panguitch!  We hope to see you there.

Design Wall Monday

I'm back!  I am still alive, no traumatic events, everyone is doing well, just a busy time of year. School is out, my days are not mapped out to the minute, but I am getting nothing accomplished!  Well not as much as I would like to.  I am glad to say I have something for Design Wall Monday! 

These quilts were made for three girls in my church who graduated from high school a few weeks ago.  I pieced them and the younger girls in my ward tied them.  I would have loved to quilt them but then the other girls wouldn't get a chance to learn how to tie quilts!  Would you believe they had never tied a quilt before?  I had to give them a lesson on how to thread a needle.  They did a great job and who knows, maybe I will make a quilter out of someone.  

Anyway, here are the quilts -

I didn't name any of them yet.  But the green and blue one is my favorite.  Each quilt has a minkee back and no batting.  We made them just right for sitting on the couch or taking in the car.  

I need to give a huge thank you to my mom for binding each quilt.  She does an expert job at binding and at helping me out when I am in a bind!  (ha ha pun intended)  Really, I don't know what I would do without my mom living right around the corner.  I wouldn't have it any other way!  Love you mom!