Slow Going

Wiggly babies

The U.F.O's in my desert don't come with aliens.  And there is no traveling at light speed in my sewing room.  Everything takes longer than I think it will or should.  That is a lesson for me to learn and remember. There's something in the Bible about counting the cost before you start a project. I need to find that verse and commit it to memory.

I am not fast, but I am making progress. Grandson quilts are nearly finished! Ryan's needs hand sewing on the binding. I'll do that this afternoon, then bind Peter's quilt tonight. Then it's back to the wedding quilt.  I feel more competent in free-motion quilting skills having worked on these smaller projects.  The old saying "practice makes perfect" is so true.

Can you see the words in the background of the kitty blocks?

Here's a couple
close-up photos of
Ryan and Peter's quilts.
The kitty faces turned out so cute and
I am pretty pleased with myself for the quilting on the background of the
cat and baby blocks. Practice is good!

There was time for some outdoor activity last week as well as sewing.  Tom and I rescued a baby Mockingbird from the pool very early one morning. We wrapped him in a scrap of quilt batting and set him on a  baker's rack next to our grill. The pool water has been so cold in the morning and the little guy was shivering. We weren't sure he was going to survive.  After putting him on the baker's rack, we noticed an adult Mockingbird flying back and forth, as if it were feeding him. Later in the morning, he hopped out of his batting nest! Still later, we noticed he was gone. Hope that means he's okay and off somewhere learning to sing like a grown-up Mockingbird.   Also, we enjoyed our first summer afternoon in Grammy's pool.  Water has taken a long time to warm up, and it was still a tad chilly, but we had a lot of fun.  

Cold baby bird!

Baby Boy Projects

Ryan's Cradle Quilt

This week I'm working on a couple baby boy projects. Only half our grandsons have the quilts they were supposed to receive at birth (Bad Grammy).  Ryan's will be cradle-sized like the one his big brother received ON TIME (it pays to be the first grandchild!). Petey's quilt is larger as he is in his big boy bed now. It will be a good size for naps. There's a lot of work already completed on these projects and I think I can realistically hope to finish them by next Monday.

Peter's Kitty Quilt

The wedding/anniversary project is coming along nicely. I worked hard on it last week, logging many hours of quilting time. Six of sixteen blocks are quilted!! But, I'll take a brief break this week to work on these small projects, which are close to being finished. The boost that comes with completing a project will keep my motivation up for work on the larger quilt.  

I'm thinking about creating a list of all my U.F.O.'s, but can't decide if that would be motivating or just plain discouraging.  Maybe, if I have a few things finished in another week or two, I will post a list.  Maybe....

U.F.O.'s Sighted in Phoenix, Arizona!

All right, friends and family....are you ready? It's time to get back to a little blogging, but with a new theme for the summer of 2011.

Little Flag for a friend with a new home

Back of Flag Quilt with hand drawn label

Do you believe in UFO's? I sure do because I have about 20 of them in my sewing room. No, they're not the kind with little green aliens. They are incomplete quilting projects, otherwise known as Un-Finished-Objects. 

 This summer I plan to try to finish a handful of these UFO's and will post my progress here, along with other tidbits of fascinating news from the Sheps in AZ.  Here's a glimpse into Mission Control Headquarters where we'll be keeping tabs on all the UFO sightings.  Most days, we just call it "Grammy's Sewing Room."  

   

Craft table and fabric storage closet

Cozy spot for hand sewing

Betsy Bernina, faithful friend

I made the Flag Quilt over Memorial Day Weekend just to reassure myself I knew how to start and finish a project.  Cutting and sewing went well, quilting was fast because the project was small.  I had a hard time recalling details about binding techniques, but in the end remembered it all without referring to instructions.  Guess my quilting brain is still functioning after all.  

The project on the sewing table is a signature quilt - a wedding gift for friends. Blocks were made ahead of the date to have on hand for wedding guests to sign at the reception.  These friends are celebrating their 10th anniversary today. Oops! Where did the time go?? Hopefully, it will be completed by the end of June and become my first finished UFO.   Stay in touch for news of future UFO sightings!

Does anyone other than me feel surprised that it's been three years since we left Muskegon? Or that we have three MORE grandsons than we did that day?? We drove away on February 6, 2007. There was plenty of snow on the ground and it wasn't a very auspicious day to begin a cross-country trip. We had planned a leisurely drive to Phoenix, which would include visits with family/friends in Illinois & Texas.

A horrible ice storm delayed us by a couple days; we barely arrived in time for Tom to begin his new job on February 12! But, here we are 3 years from that trip; life has settled into pleasant routine and familiar patterns. We could still stand to decrease some of our worldly possessions to fit more comfortably into our home, but by and large we are unpacked, organized (and re-organized) and settled in. It took longer than I thought it would to reach this comfortable point, but we did a lot of painting and fixing up of the house along the way, which had us in redecorating mode for a long while. We miss far away family, friends and grandsons; but this is truly home now and we enjoy our life here so much.

Our Yard

A friend in Michigan has asked to see pictures of our yard.
Here are a few recent photos, taken on a particularly beautiful day:
Our lemon tree, my pool boy (hmm - slacker?), west side of yard
and a northeast view. Isn't that sky gorgeous?

Cannonballs in the Pool - Like Father, Like Son!

The Khatir Boys work on their cannonball stylings, some of which involve landing on Grammy's head.

Owl Sighting!

A couple weeks ago, we discovered a young owl in our front courtyard. It was hopping around by the front door, perhaps searching out something to eat. When we stepped outside, it flew up into the tree near the patio we got these great photos. He puffed himself up to look huge and scary and his eyes were like saucers! After a while, he settled down and got to looking a bit smaller.  We think it was probably a Western Screech Owl, according to information in our bird books. Collin thought he was cute and wanted to pet him. Grammy and Pa assured him that was NOT a great idea, but we sure enjoyed watching him while he stayed around.