The little quilt Mom blog

Good bye sweet boy

2012-02-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

Caleb Moody. I have been loving this little boy since he was born 7 years ago. I have had the honor of caring for him in his home and partaking of his spirit for most of those years. I have dearly loved every second I spent near him and his sweet family.
He returned to Heavenly Father Friday afternoon in his mothers arms and surrounded by family.
Once, when his physical therapist was working with him, I saw him stand upright on his cute chubby, never been used feet. Of course he was completely supported by the therapist, but that sight made me cry. It was so neat to imagine him walking and talking. He is now walking and talking and I hope I will get to hug and kiss him again someday. I love you little boy blue.

Food Chopper

2012-01-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

I found this at a yard sale last summer and couldn't resist buying it because of the memories it evoked. Let me tell you about it.

When I was a very little girl, I'm guessing about 3 or 4, we went to visit my grampa Ziegler. This was Lester D Ziegler, everyone called "Dutch". He lived on a ranch outside of Salmon, ID. We had to drive down this long lane, get out and open a gate, drive through, then close the gate and drive some more, to get to the house. There were big fields on all sides of the house. I went exploring, as a little girl is apt to do, and someone was put in charge of me, I think it was grampa's daughter by his second wife Helen. I can't remember her name. Anyway, I went running out to see the geese. Everyone was screaming at me to stop but I just didn't register any danger so I kept going. I was in the field with the geese when I realized first that these geese were bigger than I was, and second they were running towards me, necks stretched out in a very aggressive manner. I turned around and ran back to the fence and barely made it through to the other side by the time the geese reached me. All the adults were horrified at my close call. I did'nt know birds could be mean! (Remind me to tell you my turkey story someday). Anyway, those geese patrolled the perimeter of that fence the rest of the day, honking and yelling at everyone who came close, ruining all the exploring I wanted to do. I was forced to go into the house with all the grownups. There I saw my grampa with a cool jar thing, pushing the knob on top up and down. Coooool!! I went over to see what was going on. He would put a few spoonfulls of food, or a piece of meat in and then push the red knob up and down real fast.It had a spring in it that made it pop up everytime you pushed it down. There was a little blade at the other end of the knob that chopped the food up, against a little wooden circle at the bottom of the jar. He then spooned the chopped food onto his plate and ate it. He didn't have any teeth for some reason and this little contraption chewed up his food for him. I guess it was the first blender.
Isn't it funny that seeing that little food chopper made me think about mean geese?

Girls quilt collage project

2012-01-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas was great. All my children and grandchildren were here except Betsy and her family. We had all kinds of fun dancing to "Just Dance" on the wii, (yup, even us old uncoordinated folks), playing games, eating and doing projects. Here are some pictures of one of our projects.
I started out with my 4 oldest Granddaughters. I had them draw a big picture on a sheet of paper. Then we traced it onto a piece of muslin and I gave them bags of color coordinated fabric scraps and told them to cut little pieces and glue them onto the muslin. When they were finished with that, they cut them out and glued them onto a background. We made a quilt sandwich and quilted them by machine, sewing as many raw edges down as possible and then bound them. Here they are: Oh yeah....I forgot to mention that the mothers came down one by one and joined in the fun.

Here is Sarah's little "Hooter". Of course she had Ben draw it for her so Her daughter Brynn says she cannot really claim it. I know for a fact that Ben didn't put one piece of fabric on that drawing, so I think Sarah can claim it.

Here is a "Handy" little quilt by Val, the school teacher. Could you have guessed?

This little tree with falling leaves belongs to Hannah.

This little red posie was made by Livy, Age 10.

Brynn, age 8, made this Christmas tree with decorations and a star on top.

Abby made this wonky little sun to brighten up her day.

CJ age 12 made this eclectic rose bud.

Kaitlyn, age 10, made this swimmingly fun fish!

Didn't they do an amazing Job?

Christmas Quilts 2011

2011-11-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

It's time to pick your Christmas Quilt. This is the order of the draw. Dad drew the names so don't blame me.

Julian and Deanna
Hannah and Kendall
Joe and Andrea
Caleb
Betsy and Russell
Sarah and Scott
Ben and Val
Abby and Kam

There are 10 quilts so hopefully no one will feel like they are getting the dregs. Jule and Deanna, email me as soon as you decide so Hannah and Kendall can pick. etc. I will put names under the quilt as soon as I hear. Some of the quilts are big and some are little couch quilts, so pay attention to the size.

"Amy Butler Chains" (Amy Butler designer the fabric) 98 x 78 Sarah and Scott

"Roses on the Beanstalk" 70x 79

"Floating Squares" 72 x 55 Abby and Kam

"Peachy Spring Flowers" 88 x 70 Joe and Andrea

"Ducks and Pinwheels" 67x 57 (This one looks more masculine in real life. The colors aren't good in this picture.)

"Lattice in the Den" 67 x 55 Caleb

"Grampa's Churn Dash" 67 x 57 Julian and Deanna

"Jewels in the Sky" 92 x 82 Ben and Val

"Happy Pinwheels" 94 x 82 Hannah and Kendall

"Cotton Candy" 81 x 71 Betsy and Russell

I Love you all. Have fun, Don't fight.

To Bee Or Not

2011-08-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

When I was seven, I was playing on the swing set at the end of the trailer park where we lived in Dayton, Nevada. There were yellow jackets buzzing around and I swatted at one that came too close. It became very angry just like the one above and started dive bombing me. In abject terror I took off running for home. Home was at least the length of 4 long trailer houses away. I ran as fast as I could and could hear that yellow jacket just over my shoulder the whole time. When I got to my front door, while I was fumbling to open it, it stung me. That is how I explain my fear of Bees.

When we lived in Kentucky I was in the van with all my children in front of the high school looking at the reconstruction that was going on. My window was rolled down, we were stopped but the car was in drive.Suddenly, a bee of some sort, I think it was a wicked yellow jacket, flew in my window. I felt overwhelming terror and jumped out of the car. Yes, I abandoned my children to the bee and left the premises. Unfortunately, the car was still in gear and it started to roll away. My kids were yelling at me, incredulous, and I finally realized what I had just done. I jumped back in the car, even though the bee was still there, and saved my family. I realized then that I had to get over my fear. I still hate them, but I don't think I would jump out of the car again.

Today my cute hubby brought me a flower and a card that had a cute picture of a bee on the front. It said
"I would totally throw myself on a bee for you.......totally". My Hero!

New quilts and Lea Marie

2011-07-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

This is pink Pizzazz, made from my stash.

This is Pinwheels and Buttons, but I haven't put the buttons on yet.
This belongs to my 12 year old granddaughter, CJ.

This is Spring Garden.

This is my Bella Bella Quilt, imitating the tiles on the floors of cathedrals in Italy.

And, oh yeah, I entered 2 quilts in the Springville Art Museum Quilt Show and Got a ribbon for this little quilt, called RED FISH. It got "BEST DESIGN". See the big blue ribbon?

I think it won because of the Gold whiskers.

This is the other one I entered. It is called "Midnight in the Garden".

I finished a bunch more, but haven't taken pictures of them.

My 22nd grand child was born in June. Lea Marie

I went to Portland to play with her.

The Women's expo

2011-04-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

I went to the Women's expo this weekend....twice. It was soooo fun! I discovered new products and businesses and talked to a lot of very interesting people. Here are a few new things I discovered.

The Applecore cord manager. These cute little applecore looking things have already added colorful organization to my drawer full of earbuds, headphones, and power cords. They are so cute! http://www.apple-cores.com/. Save 10 percent online with coupon code "scrapbookusa".

Heritage makers had the cutest "Go fish " cards that you can make with your family's pictures and names on them. Do you have any Grampa Porter's? http://heritagemakers.com/

Having a brain block trying to think of interesting things to do for date night? Sign up at seeyouatseven.com

and they do the work, you pay the bill and show up for better than average dates. !st month free, promo code: HERO.

FEET HURT? Try these Happy Feet insoles.http://www.happyfeet.net/ I bought some and I LOVE THEM! You can even where them with thongs. (not These............!

THESE!

Try out eyelash extensions at Fab-u-lash in Provo or Lehi for a reasonable price. No web site.

XPB

Xcellerated Performance Bands

Iv'e got mine on. It improves your strength, balance and flexibility. I'm going to need it because I've joined a new gym.....

AAAAAHHHH!!!

What have I done?

Beaded thimble holder

2011-02-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

I am thinking of teaching this project at Quilt festival in September. I have to send the proposal in next week. I think I will also send a proposal to teach the Toni Whitney Grizzly bear "Autumn Eyes".

It will be hard, but fun. I am teaching the thimble holders to my Knotthead friends at our quilt retreat in March, which will be at my house. We are actually the Knotts group but knottheads kind of fits. I have to clean my house and move out my furniture so there will be room.

That was fun!

2010-12-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

Wow! That was fun! Everyone has picked a quilt and they liked doing it. I got a kick out of the process so I will probably do it again. I actually have enough quilt tops done already for next year, I just need to quilt them.
Just to clear a few things up.
Ben, These are "Use" quilts. You will probably have to inherit the "Look at" quilts. Sorry, you will have to paint that wall after all.
I know it appears that the order was from whitest (Sarah) to not so white (Val), but that was pure chance, and also very funny. Maybe next year I will have someone from a remote area do the drawing. When Sarah was drawn first I expected someone to say, " Yeah, because Sarah is Mom's favorite." Sure enough, Sarah herself said it. But I let the draw stand even knowing I was going to get flack. And you have to admit, her excitement was pretty funny. Sometimes having children is a huge chore even when most of them are over 30! I'm glad Val ended up with the Valentine quilt, cause she is Val. I thought that was appropriate.
Abby already claimed her quilt.
Caleb is only 16, I'm not wasting a quilt on him yet. Maybe next year.
Love you all. It sure was fun that you were excited to get one of my quilts.

Quilts for Christmas

2010-12-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you will all be happy to know that I now have teeth!
I have decided to give all my children a quilt for Christmas. I am putting a picture and description here so they can pick which one they want. Since I'm sure they will all want the same one, I will draw names to see who will draw first, second etc.
This is the order of the draw.
Sarah
Andrea
Betsy
Hannah
Abby
Valerie

Here are the quilts.

Purple Mystery-56 inches x 56 inches

Crazy Hearts-54x69 (Abby)

Valentine Hearts-78x85 (Val)

Cowboys-67x81 (Sorry for the bad picture) (Hannah)

Civil War X's and O's- 75x83 (Betsy)

Simple Frustration-71x86 (Andrea)

Purple and Turquoise Boxes- 63x75

Homespun clover-72x98 (Sarah)
Pick which one you want and I'll get it to you, starting with Sarah. There will be one left over. Love you guys

I can't believe I'm sharing this

2010-11-19T09:06:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'm sharing this. Last week I had some teeth pulled and bone grafted. I cannot have any temporary teeth until the graft is safe, another 1-2 weeks. I HAVE TO GO AROUND IN PUBLIC LIKE THIS FOR 3 WEEKS!!!! I try not to smile at people and I talk with my lips covering my teeth, but can only maintain that for about 4 1/2 minutes. So I get a lot of funny looks and spend a lot of time explaining my dental woes. It is painful to eat so I dropped another couple of pounds (not a bad thing). This time next year I should have a mouthful of beautiful teeth.

In the meantime I am finishing a lot of quilts. This cute bear is my souvenir from Alaska. Great fun to make and awesome to look at.

This is the Christmas quilt I finished last year but didn't get back from the quilter until January, so I didn't bind it until yesterday.

This is one of the quilts I sold to pay for my Ipad.

This is another one I sold to pay for my Ipad.

By the way. I LOVE MY IPAD!

Also, I won another ribbon with my "In the beginning" quilt. I've entered it in 3 shows and came home with 3 ribbons. Nice....

.So I need to hide in my basement and finish a bunch of quilts. I have 12 waiting to be quilted.

Alaska Cruise

2010-09-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

We went to Alaska on a cruise. I wasn't real excited about going someplace COLD on a cruise. That just seems wrong somehow. Until I saw Ketchikan. It looks just like Northern Idaho which I LOVE. I absolutely loved the whole cruise. This is Ketchikan.

We went with 10 people in Jim's family, and some of us rode in a float plane! It was so fun!

We saw a family of Orca's.

We saw Humpback whales from the side of the ship everyday. I got several pictures of "Flukes" which are their tails as they dive. They were huge and magnificent. I wish I could have touched them.

The scenery was nearly prehistoric. I couldn't catch my breath.

We saw several Glacier's. We sailed down Tracy's Arm to see Sawyer's Glacier which was the biggest we saw. This one came clear to the water and big pieces would "calve" off. There were mini icebergs all over in the water.

Of course it was very COLD by the glacier.

We even saw fresh steaming bear poop on our hike.
I lost my cell phone, found a great quilt shop in Skagway and ate myself into a near coma. All in all, a great vacation.

The wedding

2010-07-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday my youngest and last DAUGHTER got married. (sniff) Here she is with her cute new husband Kameron.

Jim and I with the newlyweds.

Abby and her Gorgeous sisters!

Her beautiful bouquet that was made by my Daughter Betsy, See andersoneverafter.com

All the beautiful, artistic pictures were taken by my daughter-in-law, Valerie. See alittlebitothisnthat.blogspot.com.

It was lovely and perfect and I'm glad it's over.

Catching up on stuff

2010-05-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

For my birthday (almost 2 months ago), Jim got me a Kindle. It is SO COOL!!!! I read and read and read and even better, my Kindle READS TO ME! Most books are text to speech enabled so I can have it read to me. It is a computer voice that reads phonetically so sometimes it is quite hilarious, but you get used to it and it sounds totally normal after awhile. I can read and sew, or read and clean, or read and work on the computer to my hearts content. It is a multi-taskers dream. Thank you Jimmy.

This is what I woke up to this morning, MAY 24, 2010, almost June!

Branches are breaking and it is still snowing. What is going on!

One Month Later

2010-03-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

Exactly 1 month later, this is how full my M&M jar is. My friend suggested I measure my family as well.

Hank's funeral

2010-03-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

Not long ago I blogged about going to see Hank because he was supposed to be dying. I was glad to have made the trip but I didn't believe he was very close. He died the morning of Valentines day. I had to teach Young Women that day and random things kept making me cry. It was a rough day.

The funeral was Friday in Boise and I had to speak. It was very difficult to find good things to say, but it was a great thing for me to do. I had the opportunity to remember the good times and the good things Hank did. He was not completely evil, he was a great drum teacher. His methods would have him in jail these days, but his students revere him. Three of them played at the grave side ceremony. It was very touching.

There was a military ceremony that was very touching. A soldier played Taps, and the flag was folded ceremonially and given to Jane, his last great love. It was great. I liked this part better than the funeral.After the funeral, there was dinner at the church for the family. I saw lots of family that I had not seen for decades, some that I had never even met, ie stepbrother's children etc. I also saw family that I love to bits, like my Danelle.

It's over. Hank is gone. Strangely enough, I think I will miss him.

Valentines Day

2010-02-21T20:19:00.000-08:00

He went to Jared!

My valentines gift from Jim. What's up?

23 bags of M&M's

2010-02-17T17:27:00.000-08:00

I got this nifty Jar for Christmas. It was originally filled with lemons and limes and has all my grandchildren's names on it. I put shortbread cookies in it for awhile and a few M&M's that I had. Which led to the question, How many bags of m&M's would it take to fill it? I got a bunch of M&M's on clearance and went for it. Hannah, Kendall and Caleb guessed how many it would take and Kendall was SPOT ON! 23 bags!

M&M's are everybody's favorite thing to have in the jar, but nobody is content to look at it as you can see. The next poll is "How long will 23 bags of M&M's last in the jar?"

Family Theme 2010

2010-02-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

Jim, Mom and I went to Boise to see Hank. He is frail and in a lot of pain, but was still sharp and witty. He had a hard time functioning through the pain and it was obvious he was a demanding and frustrating patient. Poor Jane is worn to a frazzle. She put him in a Nursing home temporarily so she could get some rest. She feels very guilty about it. If Hank could get comfortable, life would be easier for everyone. I don't think he is as close to death as people have implied. I think he is months away, much to his dismay. He is tired and in pain and ready. I am very glad I went to see him. I remembered how good he was to me. He sent me to college and was present at every important event in my life. My poor excuse of a father never bothered. Hank was a mean, violent selfish man, but could also be generous and loving. I will try to remember the good times. The bad thing about this picture is that I lost 25 pounds and still look like a porker. I just started back on my diet.

My cute friend April inspired me to have a Family Theme this year. I used President Monson's question, "What did you do for someone today". I bought and painted a magnet board to put it on. Underneath is a quote form Elder Uchtdorf.

Sorry it is sideways, I forgot to turn it around before I imported it. I love the thought that the number of prayers we answer may be more important than the number of prayers we say. We ask each other what we did for someone today whenever we think about it. I actually woke up the other day with the thought "What can I do for someone today". That is the idea, to make it be a natural part of our thought process each day, make it be a habit. It is a little hard for Caleb since he is at the "ME" stage of adolescence, but I think it will really help him. Thanks for the idea April.

Thanksgiving Day "Gift from God"

2009-12-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

We went to Albuquerque as usual, to spend Thanksgiving with Sarah and her family. We found Sarah running around getting things done for Thanksgiving dinner, and in labor. We convinced her to go to the Hospital at about 11pm and Nathan was born at 12:14 am on Thanksgiving Day. She wanted to name him Micah, but Jared promised the baby before he was born that he wouldn't let Mom call him that. Sarah decided that Nathan means "Gift from God" and he was definitely that, born on Thanksgiving. Very special.

We took pictures of the kids with Nathan as Baby Jesus. The one that I like, with the color desaturated, wouldn't download, but I'm sure you can see how cute this picture is.

We went to see the petroglyphs in New Mexico. It was an easy hike, then the kids stood on the edge of the mountain so we could take pictures. Hannah would not have been pleased.

I left NM and came home to the rat race of getting ready for Christmas.

Oh yeah, Cell phone update. Caleb's cell died, Abby's cell died, I washed mine, Val washed one of hers and dropped another in the tide. All of us have working cells now, thanks to ebay and friends. Jim's cell is starting to have issues. It's like swine flu for cell phones or something. Just in case anyone cares.

Cell phone tragedy

2009-11-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

Not long ago, my Daughter-in-law, Val, washed her cell phone. It went through the wash cycle in the washing machine. Needless to say she had to get a new phone. I must have subconciously wanted to try that. I started a load of wash late at night, especially needing to wash the jeans I was wearing. About 15 minutes later I realized I didn't have my phone and had the chilling thought that it was in the wash. I ran to the machine, opened it, and as it stopped spinning, I saw the light of my cell phone whirling around. I took it apart and set the hair dryer on it. It is 2 days later now, the "Y" doesn't work and the right side menu button. Betsy said I sounded like I was talking under water when I spoke to her yesterday. The charger keeps saying that it is too hot to charge, but I still have hope. This is my second phone this year. It simply MUST recover. (Or I could get myself an iphone for Christmas) hmmmm.

I just realized that nobody read my last blog because it didn't update on peoples blogs. I wonder why?

New quilts.

2009-11-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

I realize I have dropped out of blogging for awhile. I have been too busy. I actually spend tons of time on the computer but don't take the time to blog. I love to read everyone else's blogs though. I have finished a few major quilts. Sarah, you will be happy to know your wedding quilt is finished----only 10 years late!
This quilt is "Sarah's Roses". I even quilted circular feathers in the white blocks.

I finished the top of this unnamed quilt which will be my nieces wedding quilt. It is a collage of beautiful Asian fabrics.

This is a king size 30's quilt in a pattern called "Stepping Stones" Tons of sewing!

I finished my Dear Jane Quilt. I Finished it in time for it to hang at the Quilt Festival Quilt show with several other Dear Jane Quilts. I am so happy to have it done.

Truth #4 Don't believe everything you think.

2009-09-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Education week was very inspiring and uplifting and EDUCATIONAL! Fancy that. There is one thing though, that I can't get out of my mind. It is one of those true things that I wish I could share with everyone, because it can make their lives easier if they understand. Carrie Wrigley talked about it at education week. She is a licenced clinical social worker (Therapist) and a singer, so she was able to zing the truth of her words to our hearts through her music. Her message in part was "Don't believe everything you think. " People's thoughts are often twisted, in fact there are 10 forms of twisted thinking, but in our culture we typically employ 4 main ones.
1. All or Nothing: You see things in black and white, if a situation falls short of perfection, you see it as a total failure. If your program was great but one person suggested something you could do better, you feel like a total failure.

2. Self Blame: "It's all my fault" You think that everything that happens reverts back to you. If your child is having trouble at school, you think it is because you are a terrible mother.

3. Jumping to conclusions: Mary didn't say hi to me today she must be mad at me. or I'm going to blow my test, and flunk out of school. You interpret things negatively even though there are no facts.
4. Mental Filter: Focusing just on the things that are wrong. That program was great and you had 49 wonderful comments, but the only thing you remember is the one negative comment you heard. You obsess about this negative comment and ignore all the good.

There are actually 10 forms of twisted thinking and there are ways to replace good thinking with bad. As you talk to your friends you will notice these patterns. It's all in a book, The Feeling Good Hand Book, by David D. Burns, MD.

Anyway, when I start to feel depressed, If I slow down, I can recognize some form of twisted thinking going on. It is really powerful.

Just sharing something I know strongly to be true. Love you all
Kathy

Lightsaber

2009-08-12T09:32:00.001-07:00

Ben fixed this picture so it has REAL lightsabers!

California

2009-08-10T15:50:00.001-07:00

We just came home from California where I met my new Grand Daughter Zoey Maeling

We attended her Blessing on Sunday.

We went to the beach where I discovered that some of the seagulls can catch a sandwich in midair. Actually, they can stop flying and remain in the same place in the air for several seconds while waiting for me to break off a piece and through it. How do they do that?

We went to Adventure Land where we built this addition to this fort. See my cute Grands in our little room?

The funnest thing we built was this giant On-OFF switch.

We also played with Ben's light sabers. It's funny what happens to a fully grown person when you put a light saber in their hands.

Brother against brother--no mercy!

Of course a trip to California is not complete without a trip to Fenton's. Afterwards we sat on the curb and watched the cars go by, or counted blue ones or something like that. (See "UP")

It's good to be home.

chicken pasta recipe

2009-07-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a great chicken pasta recipe that we had in Knotts yesterday. YUM It makes enough for an army but the recipe can easily be reduced.

Pasta Salad

1 pkg. bow-tie pasta (12 oz.)
1 pkg. spiral pasta (12 oz.)
1 20 oz. can pineapple tidbits
2 cans sliced water chestnuts - chopped
2 c. chopped celery
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup red grapes, sliced
1 can cashews
1 pkg. or craisins
1 lg. can mandarin oranges (I used two small cans)
6 large chicken breasts, cooked and cubed. (I used 3 cans Costco chicken)

Dressing:
1 bottle Kraft coleslaw dressing mixed with
1 cup mayonnaise.

Cook the pasta, drain. Drain all of the canned items. Mix together in a giant Tupperware bowl with dressing. Chill, Serve.

Springville Quilt Show

2009-07-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention that my quilt, "In the Beginning" won a Teachers choice ribbon at the Home Machine Quilting Show last April. Encouraged, I entered it in the Springville Quilt show at the Springville Museum of Art.

See That Blue Ribbon? It's for MY QUILT!!!!!!!! I got a ribbon and $100.00 for Best Machine quilting and Embellishment. I of course will share that with Kim Peterson who machine quilted it for me.

I just had to take a picture of it hanging so beautifully at the museum, and remind you all of what it looks like. It will be hanging there until September 2, in case you want to go see it. There are some absolutely incredible quilts there.

I am also helping hand quilt a quilt for President Monson. His daughter asked Sharon Wright to make a quilt for her parents. Sharon is letting people help with the quilting. That is a really cool thing. Maybe I will get extra blessings for that.

Life is too fast!

2009-06-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

This summer has been exhausting so far, quilt show, my dad's heart problems, cruise, New Mexico, Girls Camp.... I am ready to stay home the rest of the year! We do need to go to California after grandbaby number 19 is born. I probably will be recovered by then. Here we are at Kaitlyn's baptism in New Mexico.

Kaitlyn was so adorable. Here she is just before her baptism with her dad, Scott. It was so touching. I am so glad we got to be there. It was my favorite trip so far.

This was my favorite time of camp. It rained, snowed, hailed, sleeted, and at all the most important times.....The sun shone! The stake leaders heated up some water and put some good smelling stuff (by this time a GOOD smell was pure heaven) in the water and we soaked our feet for hours, well at least 15 minutes. The girls were, well, girls.....and I really learned to love them. I also learned a huge appreciation for heaters and soft beds and hot water and tubs and husbands that make a 2 hour trip to the wilderness to fix your flat tire and bring you rasberries.

I love you Jim.

Cruise 2009

2009-05-25T17:53:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Puerto Rico where our cruise began with damaged luggage. The wheel broke off. It was over 40 pounds and too heavy to carry so we were forced to find a piece of luggage within walking distance of the hotel to replace it. The airline basically said, "Too Bad".
Our friends missed their flight and for awhile we thought it would just be us, but we like each other so it wouldn't have been too bad. Here are a few of the things we did,

Played with snakes.

Saw a "drive in volcano".

Rode Segways. We LOVE them!

Learned to sail!

It was all very fun. We are completely exhausted and happy to be home to our wonderful bed, our boring food, our busy lives and our large loving family.

BYU Graduation #6

2009-05-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

This is Abby, my sixth child and the sixth child to graduate from BYU! Go Cougars! I think she is the youngest also. Graduation was last week. Jim is the Associate Dean of the College of Life Sciences and his graduation was at the same time as Abby's, so she went to His! The best thing was that he gave her her diploma and got to have his picture taken with her and Dean Brown.

SO CUTE!!!

Caleb will be next.........a long time from now.......he's only 14. He's about as interested as a 14 year old can get.

Mira was much more interested! Maybe SHE will be next!

First "Show " Quilts

2009-04-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

This quilt is titled "In the Beginning", Doodle #1. I took a bunch of my doodles and reproduced the shapes in bright fabrics made brighter by putting them on a black background. Kim Peterson did some fabulous quilting and then I put almost 1000 swarofsky crystals in the middle.

This quilt is titled "Love Multiplies" . It was made from another one of my doodles by the same name. This is the story that goes with the original drawing.

I was taking a Lamaze refresher course in preparation for the birth of my fourth child. The teacher was expecting her second. Her reaction upon hearing that I was expecting Number four was “We are only having two children. We don’t want to have to divide our love between more than two, it wouldn’t be fair to the children.”I was literally speechless. Didn’t she know love multiplies? It doesn’t divide or subtract, it adds and multiplies. The more you give it away the more you have to give. So this piece is dedicated to my mother and all those she has taken in and loved, and all her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She taught me that ‘Love Multiplies.”
I have entered both of these in a quilt show. My first. I am nervous about having my stuff judged. I am hard enough on myself without voluntarily paying someone else to criticize me.

I went to a quilt retreat with my Bee. We made these table toppers called "crazy Eights" . It was fun and easy.

I turn in the show quilts on April 18. Then I will be powerless to change things and will have to just wait and see what happens. GLUGHHH!

I think I will take up knitting!

#18 Afton Elizabeth Anderson

2009-03-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, March 4, Little Afton was finally born. My schedule had been "tentative" for a week, thinking she would make her appearance earlier. The hospital wanted Betsy to come in at 9 am to be induced so I went to AF to pick up the boys. Caleb had an orthodontist appointment at 10:15, so I picked him up at school and took him and the little boys to the dentist. Afterwards I left the little boys with Caleb and raced to the hospital to be with Betsy when Afton was born. Russell was texting me the whole time, keeping me informed. He asked me to pick up a hamburger for him on the way. As I was finally on the home stretch to the hospital, Russell texts, "She wants to push!". I text back "Tell her to stop!!"

I made it 5 minutes before Afton was born. If that hamburger had made me miss Afton's birth, I would have been mad at Russ forever.

I have spent a great deal of time since then watching Porter and Reid.

I know at first glance this looks like a suave young man with a pencil mustache and a smoking jacket, but it's just Reid wearing his pajama top for a coat, after having a meal of good garden dirt. Russ said his diaper the next day had enough dirt to plant daisies. Oh well, that's the way gramma's babysit.

mission call????

2009-03-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

I have a friend who says the only way she is going on a mission is if she gets an email from the Lord. She told me last week her email came. That ran through my mind when I walked outside on Friday night and found this.

the poster says "Congrats Bro & Sis Porter. Siberian South Mission.

Then I thought, "Oh no, some sweet person put this at the wrong house! That has happened before. Then Jim said, "I don't think there is any such mission as the Siberian South Mission" How would he know that? He went inside to his computer and looked it up. Sure enough---no such thing. We then recalled that our pranking mischeivous daughter and son-in -law had been here earlier in the evening. After a call and poorly disguised pretense of innocence, Betsy admitted guilt. We have had several calls from neighbors wondering where the Siberian South mission is, and how come they didn't know we were thinking about a mission. Funny....

New Quilts

2009-02-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

It's been forever since I blogged or even read blogs. I have been busy with other things. I finished 3 quilts.

This is the "Swirl" Quilt that I started at Quilt Festival last September. I took a class from Louisa Smith. The Quilt is interesting, and I would make another swirl quilt, but I would not make my own fabric "strata" like Louisa does. It's not fun. It was beautifully quilted by Kim Peterson. (Kimberwood Quilting).
This little "Harvest" Quilt was a group effort. My Bee divided the tasks, I did the plums, somebody did the pears, someone else did peaches etc. We ended up with this cute thing. I embellished it with bug buttons.

I learned how to do this "Fractured Stained Glass" quilt last year at Bryce Canyon Winter retreat. I fimnally finished it because My Bee wants to learn how to do it. I didn't love it till I took this picture. It really looks like the sun is shing through a stained glass window. Cool.

The best thing Iam doing lately is taking care of Caleb Moody, a Darling little boy that I took care of when I was doing Pediatric Hospice. He surprised everyone and decided to live. He was expected to die shorly after his birth and he is now 4. He has a trach, a g-tube and is on a ventilator at night. He only has one eye. The other eye is closed and has eyelashes so he looks like he is winking. You can check out his blog winkfromheaven.blogspot.com, the link is on my blog. He is such an angel. It is very rewarding and uplifting to love him and help his family. It is just what I needed these last dreary days of Winter.

Quilt Studio!

2009-01-21T10:30:00.001-08:00

Real quilters have quilt "studios". Untill 2009 my quilt room was in my closet next to my bedroom. I finally felt so claustrophobic that I couldn't sew. I tried moving my sewing machine to the kitchen but everybody complained, not to mention that food kept getting all over my projects. So I sold the airhockey table, got rid of the big TV and kitchen cupboards that were in the basement and turned it into a studio!

This is my giant design wall made of styrofoam insulation covered with flannel. Oh yeah, that is my Doodle quilt hanging there, awaiting borders.

Jim, my favorite (and only) husband, built these shelves for me. Oh how I love a man with talents! I wrapped my fabric on things so that it looks like a mini quilt store. The tupperware containers have the smaller pieces of fabric divided by color.

Just another view.

Another view that shows my New Joy "Magic" quilting frame. My talented husband and son moved it from my bedroom to here and made it 10 feet instead of 8 feet. The really wonderful thing is...I had them make it 12 feet and decided it was too big for the room, so they had to take it all apart and make it smaller. They are so awesome.

My sewing machine, allready with fabric piled on the table, and my cutting table in the corner. I nned more light there. My machine faces the TV so I can watch old movies while I sew. Ahhhhh, life is good for a REAL QUILTER!

Grand-pairs

2009-01-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

My grandkids mostly come in pairs. Not Twins! They each have a cousin that was born within a few months of them, with one exception.

Cj. Cj is the oldest by a couple of years. She had to start the ball rolling all by herself.

Livy and Kaitlyn came next.

Then Brynn and Jeston

Mia and Addy are our Drama queens. Actually, I could say that about all the girls and half the boys.

Sam and Jared showed up, we were happy for more boys.

Then

Porter and India.

Then Luke and Xander

Then Reid and Ellie.

Finally, Mirabella and Brigg. They are a little farther apart than the other pairs, but I still count them.

I took most of these pictures during dinner at the cabin, and some of the kids were not willing to tear themselves away from the food for a pic. I'm not 100 percent sure I got the pairs right.

I have 1 more grand-pair coming this year, one in March and one in June. Which

reminds me....at the cabin, we have to be careful of the water, there just isn't enough when there are a lot of people there. The rule is "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down" . Inspite of that, we ran out of water. Poor pregnant Val was morning sick and came out of the bathroom apologizing because she just threw up and could not flush it down. Russell asked what color it was, if it was yellow, there was no problem!

More cabin fun

2009-01-03T18:05:00.001-08:00

We organized a little family "War" at the cabin. We divided into Porters and non Porters. If you were born a Porter, you were on Team Porter. Otherwise you were a non-Porter. That meant couples were split up and children followed their fathers. It was fairly even numbers.

This is Team Porter. Little Porter Anderson (center front) was on this team because of a technicality. He was born a "Porter". This is their fort.

This is Team Non-Porter. (We have to think of a better name.) Our fort has a face and a personality. We had planned to have an all out snowball fight, but it thawed, rained and froze overnight and left us with ice forts and ice balls to throw. We decided in the interest of safety to take turns trying to destroy each others forts, the last fort standing wins.

We had some interesting attempts at destruction. Scott tried a flying kick which nearly broke his leg.

Kendall put his whole body into it, we nearly had to use smelling salts to bring him around.

Val tried a little karate "Crane" kick. Keep in mind, the forts are nearly solid ice. After everyone was injured they finally decided to use "Tools". It no longer mattered who won, it was the principle of the thing---we had to destroy the forts! They used picks, shovels and axes and finally demolished the forts to ice cubes. I didn't get a picture because when the axes came out, I went inside.

The most interesting thing was how competitive everyone was. There was talk of midnight raids on the other teams fort. There were secret strategy meetings. It was a riot. Next time we divide into teams, we might need to keep couples together so that the women can control their men. Everyone knows wives are very "controlling".

Winter Wonderland

2009-01-02T11:52:00.001-08:00

We just returned from spending time at my Mother's cabin in Idaho. All 31 plus my mom (32) of us were there. The cabin only has 3 bedrooms but there is a heated loft above the garage that has a bedroom and a living area. Can you see a problem here? We let the families duke it out for possesion of a bedroom and Jim, Mom and I got a motel.

Not here....................................................

Here, at the Bears Knight Inn. It was as much fun as the cabin. Us old people actually got to sleep and shower everyday. Due to crying children and bad water pressure, not everybody else did.

Chocolate Mug Cake

2008-12-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

Jim keeps bringing home goodies from work. I really like it, but the thought of reciprocation totally zipped past my head. Jim finally said, "I feel kind of bad that I didn't get anything for anybody". I interpreted that to mean, "Kathy, how come you didn't make anything for me to give people at work?'. So I made Chocolate Mug Cakes, something I saw at my Mom's house. I got cute Christmas mugs at Kohls, they are 75 percent off and I had a 20 percent off coupon, so they were a couple of dollars each. I put the dry ingredients and recipe in each cup, and put two in a gift bag to give away. I think they are cute.

Here's the recipe. The top recipe goes in each mug. The bottom recipe is the whole thing. I actually put both in the mug, in case they want to make it again.

Chocolate Mug Cake

Pour dry ingredients into a large mug
Mix well and add
1 egg
3 Tablespoons Milk
3 tablespoons liquid oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir well
Add chocolate chips
Stir well and microwave on
high for 2 ½ minutes
Do not overbake.
Microwaves vary in power so you may
have to adjust the time.
Do not be alarmed if the
cake rises over the mug
This cake is very rich.

Chocolate Mug Cake
“The Most Dangerous Cake Recipe in the world”
1 Large Mug
4 Tablespoons Flour
4 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Baking Cocoa
Mix well and add
1 egg
3 Tablespoons Milk
3 tablespoons liquid oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir well
Add chocolate chips
Stir well and microwave on
high for 2 ½ minutes
Do not overbake.
Microwaves vary in power so you may
have to adjust the time.
Do not be alarmed if the
cake rises over the mug
This cake is very rich.

Shoes

2008-12-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

The other day I was having a conversation with my daughter Abby about a new boy she had met. In the course of the conversation she paused, sighed, and said disconcertedly, "I'm trying so hard to judge people by their personalities and not by their shoes".........Well...........I burst out laughing, it was the funniest thing I had heard for ages. Then I realized she was totally serious. You can read her blog for her explanation. She thinks you can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they choose to wear everyday. Anything to do with shoes is totally foreign to me, I am not a shoe person, but Abby's comment stuck in my head as I looked over my own shoe collection.

These are the shoes I wear everyday, summer and winter, to work and play. Notice I have a dressier pair with jewels and a warmer fur-lined pair. What does this say about me?

I don't wear crocs to church though. These are my 10 year old black church shoes. They are a little too small and the heel is off one of them but I consider them still servicable.

Abby made me worried about the impression I was giving people because of my shoes so I bought a new pair of church shoes when I ran into a clearance sale last week. I admit they are pretty cute, I like to look at them, and they look cute on my feet. But I guess I am an inexperienced shoe buyer because when I wore them to church last week, I couldn't keep them on. I had to kind of drag my feet a little to keep them on. It was a lot of work! I had tried them on with bare feet and was wearing nylons to church. I could not walk normally. I finally took off my nylons and was able to finish the day, but even then I was walking a little funny trying to keep them on. I don't think I can wear them again and I can't return them. Maybe Hannah will be able to wear them. Nice try though. Do I get points for trying?

I also bought these little brown shoes. I don't know yet if they will stay on. Basically I'm glad I still have my old black ones. I also tried wearing different shoes for everyday, not crocs. My feet hurt. I think that is why I am not a shoe person. I cannot find cute shoes that fit and are comfortable. I don't mind sacrificing comfort for style once in a while, but not everyday, and not if I have to walk like a dork. I don't know what it says about me, but I am back to my ugly old crocs. Why can't they just make crocs cuter?

Welcome to the 21st Century

2008-12-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

I am in Idaho visiting my mother, introducing her to the 21st Century. She got a computer for Christmas. I bought it and played with it for a couple of weeks and finally worked up the courage to take it to her. I have spent a couple of days teaching her how to use it. Bear in mind, she had never even used a mouse, has no knowledge of computer language or anything.

Doesn't she look like she's really getting it!

I think we have mastered "point and click". She has a hard time finding the big red "X" to get out of a window.

I wrote detailed instructions on accessing the internet, checking email, and writing email. Abby promised to help her more when we go to the cabin. She can get to everybody's blogs so she is caught up on the family. It is nice to have her at my fingertips finally.

Whew......

Truth's #2 and #3

2008-12-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning compelled to write this. I haven't even put my make-up on yet (horrors!) and here I am.
I grew up, as my sweet friend kindly puts it, in the poster family for disfunction. They of course believe they put the "fun" in disfunction. As a small child I always felt there was something better. My Mom was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Mormon, but was inactive. She took us to primary a couple of times when we were young and I remember every visit, because it felt good to be there. By the time I was 10 I was going to primary regularly, it was on a weekday after school at that time. My parents were divorced and I had a lot of responsibility at home and generally felt fragmented but always felt at peace in church. I began finding rides for myself to get to church on Sunday as well. I would like to say I was welcomed with open arms but the people there didn't know what to do with me. I knew nothing about the Gospel except that I knew it was good and I wanted to be a part of it. I was from a crazy family and church members were pretty nervous about them. I was never invited to girls camp or other things, I think they were worried that I wouldn't feel comfortable there, or that I couldn't afford it, which was true. Not growing up in the church I didn't know I really didn't need to be invited. Even though I felt like an outsider, I knew it was the right place to be and kept going. (Whew, I need to condense this story a little).
I went to BYU because it was the cheapest way to leave home and go to school. I was always very self concious about asking my stepdad for money or anything. He had a way of keeping you in his debt that was very "not good". I loved it there and at the same time felt like a fish out of water. I was so naive about the gospel and the culture of active mormons. I was called as a family home evening leader, having never experienced Family Home Evening. Basically, I blundered through my early years learning how to speak and act, the hard way. I decided somewhere on this journey that the way to be happy and have a great family, was to marry a man who was truly committed to the Gospel, not just a follower, not someone who was wishy-washy about the church, someone who really truly believed it. It is a credit to my strong youthful innocent faith that I believed someone like that would look twice at me. Heavenly Father loved me and helped me find Jim.
We were married in the Oakland Temple less than 6 weeks after he returned from his mission. I waited for him of course, I was still guided by that feeling of knowing what was right and in what direction happiness lies. None of my family was with me in the temple which made the experience bittersweet, but extremely right nonetheless. We had 7 children and I taught them the Gospel while I learned about it myself. Jim was the Priesthood leader I wanted him to be, always leading us in righteousness. I know I have been an anchor in his life, slowing him down, keeping him from reaching his highest potential. I don't do it on purpose. I am still that little girl from the misfit family who knows where she should be, but doesn't know what to do when she is there. I find myself in uncomfortable situations all the time. How do I know how to be a Bishops wife? I am very uncomfortable accompanying Jim to work dinners or activities related to his callings. I never regret going, because I get that sweet feeling that I am in the right place every time. I sometime feel like I don't want to go to church, or read my scriptures etc. But, knowing life from both sides, I cannot deny that Heavenly Father sent the Spirit to me when I was a little child to lead me on this path of righteousness. I cannot deny the truthfullness of the Gospel and its goodness. I can never, ever do anything that would lead my children to think that I am not completely sure that this is the right place to be.
There are a lot of truth's in this very condensed story. Here are just a couple.

#2 Heavenly Father loves even obscure little girls from mixed up families.
#3 The Spirit will always let you know when you are in the right place, even if you are sure you will not be comfortable there.

Aspen Grove

2008-11-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

Aspen Grove

These are my friends Judie, Louise and Brenda. We spent 4 days and 3 nights sewing and laughing so hard we almost wet our pants. Even old ladies can have fun!

We were at Aspen Grove for a quilt retreat. This is the view from the room where we sewed. This is a true RETREAT. It was easy to forget there was a busy , bustling world out there.

We all sewed and visited and ate and sewed and laughed til we were bleary eyed. We slept only when we had to and started working again as soon as possible.

One of the funnest things is this little quilt kit in a urine cup. It is so tiny I can carry it in my purse. It has everything I need to complete a tiny log cabin quilt.

Quilters are amazing. Can you believe what they come up with?

That's my son!!

2008-10-31T09:54:00.000-07:00

Some of you know my son Ben produced a darling little cartoon called "Pajama Gladiator" while he was an animation student at BYU. It recently won "Producers Choice" from Nicktoons and he got to go to Los Angeles for the presentation of awards. His award came in the mail and Val says it is big and heavy and beautiful, kinda like an Oscar. Pajama Gladiator was shown on Nicktoons and the Nicktoons website for 24 hours and viewers were given a chance to vote for it. Several others were given their 24 hours also. Well......IT WON VIEWERS CHOICE TOO!!!!!!!! It can't be made public yet because it is still in the running for other awards. I am BURSTING with pride in my Benny. WAY TO GO BEN! I love you.

Pottie

2008-10-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

Jim grumbles everytime I say I have to go pottie or when I tell my dog to go pottie. He insists that dogs don't go "pottie" and neither do grown women. I'm not sure what he wants me to say? What is a polite, grown up way to say pottie? Well last night I got a clue.
We were ready to turn the lights out, trying to decide who had to get out of bed to do it. He finally said, "I haven't gone pottie yet, I'll do it". Then as he walked out of the room, grumbling to himself, he said "I can't believe I said pottie. Full grown men do not go pottie........we go wee-wee."

I finally controlled my laughter enough to fall asleep, but woke up giggling this morning.

Tagged

2008-10-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

OK. I was tagged by my friend Brenda like 2 weeks ago so I'm finally getting around to it.

1. Where did you meet your husband?
At BYU. He was from California, I was from Idaho. We both went to summer semester at BYU right out of High school. We were in the same Family group.
2. How long did you date before you got married?
You mean each other? This is a hard question. We dated about a year, then Jim went on his mission and I dated other people. Then he came home and 7 weeks later we were married.
3. How long have you been married?
34 years
4. What does he do that surprises you?
Not much, he is a creature of habit. He buys the same shoes and jeans year after year after year. I can almost guess every move he will make. There is something comforting about that.

5. Favorite feature.

His ear to ear grin, it is absolutely irresistible.

6. Favorite quality.

His quiet strength. I always say he is Clark Kent, a mild mannered reporter on the outside, but underneath he is superman.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Briney Marlin (means darlin), or Matilda

8. Favorite Food. Donuts

9. Favorite Sport. BYU Football

10. When and where was your first kiss? He is the romantic one, so he would remember this. I think it was our second date at lagoon.

11. What is your favorite thing to do together? Go on cruises and road trips.

12. Do you have children? HA HA HA We have 7 children and almost 18 grandchildren, and several other children that we fostered or simply loved into the family.
13. Does he have any hidden talents? He is the "Toot" master. Don't ask.

14. How old is he? 55

15. Who said I love you first? I'm sure it was him. I was too wary of committing myself unless I was sure of him.

16. What is his favorite music? talking

17. What do you admire most about him? His spirituality and committment to living the Gospel, and his committment to being a good husband, father and grandfather.

18. What is his favorite color? BLUE

19. Will he read this? I doubt it

20. Who do you tag? This tag is tooooo long. Nobody

Music

2008-10-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to put music on my blog for months but didn't have a clue how to do it. I asked Abby when she was here to tell me how but she said, "It's too hard Mom", I think implying that I was too dumb and it would be too hard to explain it to me. I was offended! So Nyah-Nyah-nyahnyah-nyah Abby. I figured it out all by myself!

James Christenson paintings

2008-10-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

My Husband, Jim, recently got a new job description. He is now an Associate Dean of the College of Life Sciences. For now, he is still the Chairman of the Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology (phew) also. He has a new office on a different floor as Assoc Dean, which is smaller than his office as Chairman, so he doesn't have room for all the pictures that were in his Chairman office. They belong to us but we bought them for his office and I've never been able to have them at home. I brought 2 of them home. They are both by James Christenson and I love them to bits.

This is "All the World's a Stage". It has characters from lots of Shakespeare's plays and it is fun to try to identify them. We are trying to see all of the plays so we will recognize the people. It's funner to SEE the plays than to READ the plays.

This is by far my favorite Christenson painting. It is called "Sometimes the Spirit Touches us through our Weaknesses" The stool the little guy is sitting on says ,in Latin, "After clouds, sun". I love the humor , yet poignant meaning to his paintings. The one in Jim's new office is called "The Oldest Professor" These aren't my actual pictures because you can't take a picture of a framed picture without getting Major glare. I have had to move stuff around to find room for these picures in my house. I kind of feel like I have to paint now.

When I went to quilt Festival, one of the national teachers, Laura Wasilowski, showed us a picture of the tomb of the unknown sew-er (think needle and thread). I finally found it and got a picture.

I survived Quilt Fest....sorta

2008-09-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

I survived Quilt FestivaL!!! Sorta....

This is a class I took from a National Teacher, Louisa Smith. Very interesting but HARD and stressfull. It is on my design wall looking for just the right fabric to finish. Thats why there are random fabrics stuck to it.
We were able to buy chances to win "Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Quilts" I won this cancer block that was made into a clock. It is actually my block that I donated last year. Don't tell anybody but it is 2 boobs, one pink and perfect and one odd but lovable.
We also bought chances to win donated mini-quilts. (A lot of gambling going on it seems). I won this one although I did not buy a chance on it!! I can't figure that one out.

My convergence class was pretty good. Here are some of my student's quilts (almost done). They really did a good job. I have pictures of all of them and their quilts, but won't put them all up.

I was also nearly mugged the first night on my way back to my hotel. Ogden is a SCARY place. Heavenly Father was watching out for me even though I made it really hard by putting myself in a dangerous situation. I had to remember to BE Careful.

Convergence

2008-09-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

Next week is Annual quilt Festival where I will be teaching "Convergence" which is a method of converging 4 pieces of fabric together to make a neat art quilt. I am teaching "Tropical Convergence" which is the parrot one above. However, Between February (when I sent in my proposal) and August (when It was accepted and people actually signed up to take the class) the parrot fabric became obsolete.
This is a problem since I agreed to make kits. So I made "Harvest Convergence" above

Converging Bats
and "Converging Apples and Bluebirds" to entice people to want a kit for them instead. So I have lots of kits and I just hope people will be ok about this.

I am also teaching a beading class and was not able to find the same ribbon I used for the sample. I really don't want to do this again!

I just want next week to be OVER!

Truth #1 Jesus Wants me For a Sunbeam

2008-09-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

I read my 20 year old daughter, Abby's blog about the sign in the grass that said "Don't step on me I"m growing". She wished she could wear a sign like that also. How cute and philosophical is that! So I started thinking a little deeper just for a moment.

I recently read a book written by a Psychiatrist which consisted of 30 truths he had discovered in his life experience. I agreed with some and thought he was looney at other times. I decided that I would write my own personal truths (when I figure them out).
So this is my "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" truth.
In church, I have occasionally had jobs that I just don't care for, or jobs that are really time consuming or isolating. I struggle and struggle and find myself complaining and not enjoying church or the job or life in general. I often think of moving to get released. I am currently the Junior Primary and Nursery Chorister. Yes, it was "one of those jobs".
I dreaded Sundays, until one week I looked into the eyes of one of the kids and saw how much he was enjoying the music that I was so bored with. I had a Eureka! moment when I realized I had the power to help those children LOVE primary music. I started researching how children learn and every week I look into the eyes of those kids and love what I am doing.
Any way, the truth is, if you have a job you hate, chances are you will keep getting that job again and again, until you learn to love it. If you learn to love it, it doesn't matter if you get released or not, you will be happy.

Quilting, not just a hobby anymore.

2008-08-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Front of Carry-all. Pocket for ruler and rotary cutter.
Back of carry-all....Ironing surface, and pocket.
Inside of carry-all, cutting board and organizing surface.

I am in charge of planning the programs for the Utah Valley Quilt Guild. Yesterday we had a meeting that I have been working on since April. I think it went well, actually better than I expected. I had decided nobody would be interested and it would be the poorest attended event for the last 5 years, but in actual fact, LOTS of people came. The thing I am GLADDEST about (I just finished reading "Pollyanna") is that it is over and I don't have to worry about it anymore! I taught a class how to make a mini quilting carry-all. I designed it. I am GLAD to have all the kits gone and out of my kitchen.

My next stress is Utah Quilt Guild Festival next month. I am teaching 2 classes with optional kits. I am also in charge of door prizes that have been accumulating in my house since April. I am sure it will be the worst door prize meeting they have had for the last 5 years.

I am also making a "Dear Jane" quilt. Jane Stickle made a quilt in 1863 with more than 2200 pieces. The blocks are tiny and intricate and every one is different. Each block takes 1-4 hours to make and there are 225 blocks. I have 5 rows finished but with deadlines constantly on my horizon I have been setting it aside more and more. So I live with the stress of knowing I am getting farther and farther behind. There is going to be a "Dear Jane" quilt show in one year that I need to finish it for. Oh dear, my stomach hurts.... I'm sure it will be the worst one anyone has seen in the last 5 years anyway.

My version of "Dear Jane"

SanFrancisco

2008-08-15T10:36:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure I am doing the pictures right but at least I put some up. It as a random bunch to be sure but it is a sampling of the pics I just downloaded onto my computer.

We recently returned from visiting Ben's family in California. I still love California. The cost of living is attrocious but the weather is so mild and delightful. I love the wierd vegetation and the smell of Jasmin and Honeysuckle and the neat/wierd people. I don't mean Ben and Val are neat/wierd, I mean the general public, not that Ben and Val aren't part of the.... oh forget it. Ben and Val and the 3 little hippies are so much fun, I REALLY hated to leave. I bet Ben and Val are happy to be able to sleep in their own bed in their own room and only have to feed their own crew. Love you guys

All my daughters and daughter-in-laws ran a 1/2 marathon a few weeks ago, well, except Hannah who had JUST had a baby. (Is that really a good excuse? We just found out Betsy ran it pregnant!) There is a serious lack of macho men in this family. I can just imagine the comments I am going to get about THAT statement. Relax guys, I'm just baiting you. I started running when I had 4 little kids and lived in San Francisco. Jim packed all the kids in the car and followed me as I ran through Golden Gate Park to make sure I was safe. I know my sons and sils (sons-in -law), are watching their kids so their wives can get out and maintain a semblance of sanity. They are sacrificing for their wives. Good job girls, you married well.

Gulp! And now it begins....

2008-08-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have spent most of the day reading about blogging and getting familiar with this blogsite. In plain english that means I have been working up the courage to start my own blog. I hope it will be fun for me and not too boring for my family who are the only ones I expect to read it. I tried to put a picture on, but on two separate computers full of pictures, there are only 3 pictures of me and I was at least 15 pounds heavier so forget it. I will try to take a picture of myself soon.

I know that blogs without pictures are BORing.

Tomorrow is our 34th Anniversary and we very nearly forgot about it! Honestly, trying to figure out how to celebrate is just another stress. Probably not for Jim, he's the romantic one. I think a nice dinner would be great and then forget the whole thing. Poor Jim.