Friday School with Grammy

On Friday, Collin has been spending the morning at Grammy's while Mommy and brother Ryan head to story time at the library.  We usually do some homeschool related activities and always have fun.  Last week, the weather was so beautiful that we sat outside at the table on our front patio.  

We are at last beyond our "hotter than the hinges" season and the weather is heavenly. In fact, it was almost chilly.  We enjoyed a mug of hot cocoa as we read about Arizona history and did some coloring pages.  Collin is learning about the United States, as well and we had postcards to read from far away family members & friends.  He is eager to learn and it is great fun to help with his lessons.  Grammy learned something new, too!  Did you know that the copper star on the Arizona flag represents the copper mining in our state?  Or that the 13 sunburst rays are for the 13 original colonies?  I didn't, but I do now!          

Signs of Autumn

In the Midwest we had cooler weather and beautifully colored leaves to signal autumn's arrival.  Here in Arizona, we have cooler weather (yes, 95 degrees feels cool after weeks of 110+ temps), but no beautifully colored leaves.  Well, not in Phoenix, anyway.  Instead of pretty leaves we get......

BALLOONS!!!

The hot air balloons are back!  They don't fly in the hot, hot months of summer, so when we see those first balloons in September, we know autumn is right around the corner.  They launch near our home, so as they fly over us they are still quite low in the air.  Sometimes there is just one balloon.  Sometimes two or three together.  Sometimes we see as many as a dozen at the same time. The photo on the left was taken from under our patio roof.  Some Saturday mornings we wake to the sound of the burners as the balloons go over the house!  I always feel like a kid on Christmas morning when I wake to that sound....I jump out of bed so I can see them before they soar too high.  It's a gorgeous sight against the pure blue Arizona sky, and so welcome after the hot summer.  

  

25 Fat Quarters for 25 Years

At the end of June I celebrated a major anniversary - 25 years as a cancer survivor!  I wanted to do something fun & special to mark the day, so decided to go to my favorite Phoenix quilt shop and purchase one fat quarter of fabric for every year of survival. Twenty-five fat quarters = too much fun! When the appointed day arrived, reason and logic overcame my celebration spirit.  Realizing that at $2-$4 apiece my fat quarter extravaganza would take a fat chunk out of my wallet, I decided to think on it a day and come up with a more budget friendly way to celebrate life.

Flossie Featherweight with 25 Fat Quarters & 80 Hearts

What a nice surprise it was to open my email the next morning and find an offer from Keepsake Quilting - a lovely fabric shop in New Hampshire - for 25 fat quarters at $1 apiece!  It seems that they, too, were celebrating a 25 year anniversary and were offering customers 25 lovely chunks of premium quilting fabric for only $25.  The only downside was that they made the fabric choices. I thought about it for, oh, less than two minutes, then placed my order!  The package arrived Saturday; ALL the fabrics are gorgeous.  I also ordered a package of 80 die-cut heart shapes in 1930's vintage prints to sweeten my celebration.  All in all, a great deal and proof that "good things come to those who wait."  Happy 25th Anniversary to me and Keepsake Quilting!

Kickin' Up Some Dust

Road to Paducah

Kicked up some dust in the sewing room and found 4 more U.F.O.s!!!  Two are baby quilt  kits from Patchers at the Lakeshore from many years ago.  They will be quick to complete as they are already cut and the batting provided requires very little quilting.  Also found a quilt top for a sweet preemie baby who was born last year.  It's tiny, as she was, so will be a quick project, too.  And then, how could I have forgotten my Road to Paducah Quilt?? This is a favorite project and I can't believe I "forgot" about it.  I was working on it only a few weeks ago.  Could this be the end of the list??

There was a colossal dust storm here on Tuesday! I've always said this state has some serious dust, but this  dust bunny was thousands of feet high and about 100 feet wide.  If you search on Google for "Phoenix dust storm" you will find lots of links to incredible videos and photographs.  I tried to post a link, but can't get it to work so that you can just click through to the site. Check it out if you haven't already seen the news stories.  It's more amazing than my growing U.F.O. list.  Really!

A List of U.F.O. Sightings

Here's a list of recent U.F.O.s which have been spotted on sewing room shelves, discovered in drawers and found in fabric stashes. The list is fairly complete, but I wouldn't be surprised to find more!  It's
good to have them gathered in one place, as it squashes the ever-present desire to start a new project.  I need that!
Or perhaps you hadn't noticed??
"Little Quilts" Flag for Joan's new house
Ryan's Cradle Quilt
Peter's Kitty Quilt
Susan Wingett Quilt
Tami & Jeremy's Wedding Signature Quilt
JoAnn Fabs Block-of-the Month Star Sampler
Butterfly Baby Quilt 
Seven Stars for Seven Sisters (Good grief - I started this in 1996!)
Blue Folded Star  (Yikes - this one is from 1982!)
Thimbleberries Pine Tree Quilt
Desert Star Medallion Quilt 
2001 Christmas Row by Row Quilt
Christmas Round Robin Quilt - Blockhead Babes
Purple Sampler Blocks - 50th Birthday Quilt
1999 Pink/Green Row by Row  
Snowballs in the Garden
2009 Summer Mystery Quilt  
2010 Summer Mystery Quilt     
"Bull's Eye" Quilt
Apple Core Charm Quilt
Antique Dresden Plate - quilt blocks from Mom
Aunt Grace Pinwheels 
Teddy Bear Baby quilt 
Jackie Robinson Wildflowers Quilt
Charity baby quilts I & II (oh, dear..took these kits home from a guild meeting years ago!!!)
Road to Paducah Quilt
Daire's Baby Quilt
Mom's Sunbonnet Sue Quilt
2013 Summer Mystery Quilt

A No-Sew Week

Didn't sew a single stitch this week!  Sad, but true.  However, lots of other stuff has been going on.  Baby Ryan got his "cradle" quilt and really seemed to like it.  He also got his very first haircut this week!  This photo was taken while he still had his baby curls.  On Tuesday we took a trip to Prescott, AZ to celebrate Laura's birthday. Prescott is in the mountains about 85 miles north of Phoenix. After browsing the shops and having lunch at the Adirondack Cafe, we went to Goldwater Lake in the Prescott National Forest. The drive up was beautiful.  The town is historic and picturesque. The park was gorgeous and peaceful.  I hope you enjoy the pictures!  With any luck, there should be a newly completed U.F.O. to report after the holiday weekend.

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!