Birthdays and Landscape Quilts

Kat and Greg drove down, with Evan and niece Crystal,to pick up Mandy today. Crystal is a month younger than Mandy, and they have grown up together, so she rode along as a surprise. (Mandy in back, Amber middle, Crystal front)

Yesterday was Kat's birthday. When she was born, a few years ago, her father worked at his family's weekly newspaper, "The Fowler Tribune", and since the paper was printed and mailed out on Thursdays, nothing else was ever supposed to happen that day. Kat, an independent young woman, chose to be born on Thursday afternoon, which complicated things considerably at the paper office. I did, however, have her in the old, since closed, Rocky Ford Hospital, instead of at the office. To celebrate her day, we picked up Mom, and had lunch at Big Daddy's Diner in Canon City.

Big Daddy's is in the local truck stop (actually, in Canon it is the tourist stop, more tourists than truckers here), which is a Fifties style diner decorated with Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and James Dean memorabilia, as well as photos of restored automobiles from the era, and serves yummy comfort food. Amber was also with us since she spent Mandys last night here with her "slumbering". Three teenage girls with three cell phones; Joe and I think they were texting each other through the drive and meal.

Last night, while Amber was still at work at the Burger King, I showed Mandy the landscape quilts in the book, "Luscious Landscapes" which has a couple of our Allie Aller's lovely pieces. Then I showed her some of Rian's quilts and her tutorial of her method. It sure helps to have these talented, creative quilting buddies to help me teach Mandy, via their blogs.

For several years Mandy has been doing drawings of stylized mountainscapes that I believed would make wonderful quilt designs, so I had her draw one on freezer paper and number the pieces, which we then scanned and printed for the pattern; she then cut out each piece and ironed them on the backs of some fabrics that she chose from my stash. She then began cutting out each piece, leaving a quarter inch allowance around the freezer paper patterns. I think it is going to be quite nice, but will have to wait until she can visit again to see the finished piece. Anticipation!

Remember That Great Reading Pillow Pattern?

I'm now able to do a little typing with both hands; but I can't grip or hold any weight, or drive the car, or fasten my bra, etc. I'm also having more problem than usual holding books to read, especially hardbound books, so I remembered that great pattern that was hanging above my cutting table and dug thru my vintage stash for a heavy cotton fabric, suitable for that kind of wear and tear.

I found several yards of a big floral from the 30s or 40s which I got a few years ago on eBay and have never figured where to use. Since it makes me feel good to look at it, and I'm not in the best of temper, given my level of frustration, I decided to use some of it for the pillow. I still have to find a coordinating fabric for trim and welting.

Here are the pieces, minus the trim for the pockets and bias strips for the welting. If I can't find the appropriate coordinating fabric in my stash, I hope I can manage to drive to the Creative Cloth Closet tomorrow and see what Denise has available.

I'm less grumpy already, now that I'm working on a fabric project. Mandy wants to make one, also, and wondered if she could do it out of denim. I think denim would be great. She has sewn a couple of interesting fabric collages while here which lead me to believe that I'm going to have to introduce her to landscape quilting.


The other project I managed to do while still wearing the splint, without the sling, was the Quilting the Names of God block for week 4, the Thousand Stars for the Everlasting/Eternal God/El Olam.

"Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the Lord, the Eternal God." _Genesis 21:33

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." _Isaiah 40:28-29


I used black and white fabrics with gold stars on a gold background. The block is fused and machine appliqued with gold zigzag stitches.

My daily Bible readings, lately, have been in Genesis and Leviticus where God gave instructions on the clothing for the priests and the decoration for the tabernacle. They were to use red, blue, purple, gold, and white on the high priest's garments. So I decided that I need to find a purple with gold fabric with a geometric design to go with the fabrics I've already chosen. Green is not one of the colors listed but I've already used green and since it is the color for growth and nature, I've decided that I still choose to include it.

Suspended Animation

Yes, I am still here, but seem to be in a state of suspended animation since my spell in the hospital. I am not a human blimp any longer, and can breathe, but have little energy, either physical or mental/emotional. I am doing a lot of sleeping, sitting and reading and fretting about all that needs to be done. I am really enjoying sitting out on my new patio by the back door during the cool evenings (with lots of Off and mosquito candles).

Joe has been such a dear and pulled a cart full of weeds and elm seedlings from the flower beds around the front door, even though he is so busy with all the refrigeration jobs brought on by the hot August days.

We are expecting our third great grandchild in September, and I naturally wanted to make a baby quilt. I had received a bundle of fat quarters of the Laurel Birch Mythical Horses collection last year and decided that was what I wanted to use. I knew that I was going to have to come up with a very simple pattern, in order to get it done in time. Luckily, I was able to find a panel and yardage of a wonderful striped fabric online and have gotten a top sewn up. I cut broad stipes from the fabric to border the panel and used the turquoise swirl fabric for cornerstones. I think I'll have it machine quilted by one of our local quilt guild members, since I just don't have enough energy to quilt it myself. This is the only quilting I've done in a couple of months. I hope that my energy will increase when the weather cools off a bit, hopefully soon. It just is not natural for me to feel so lethargic.

ChoCho was very happy to test the quilttop for napability.

WIP not Wednesday

My current works in progress are not quilt related. The rhubarb patch had gotten quite big and was about to go to seed, which is a definite no no. Then when I walked into the supermarket there was a special on large containers of California strawberries. (We have a few strawberry plants in our yard, but not enough to make anything from, and they are not bearing yet.) I brought home the strawberries, picked and deleafed the rhubarb and pulled out my great strawberry rhubarb jam recipe, and cooked
up some jam. It looks gorgeous in the
making,looks gorgeous in the jars, and tastes better than gorgeous on fresh hot breads. I can't eat much, due to my healthy living program, and I don't normally eat much jam or jelly anyway, but it is nice to have this on special occassions. Plus, I usually give away quite a few of the jars to friends and family. One jar went across the street to my neighbor Wally and his wife this morning.



The other work in progress is not nearly as much fun; it is sales tax report time for our refrigeration service business, so I am doing data entry and tax reports on the computer.


Did I ever mention that I name my computers? When we got this Dell PC, I immediately knew his name was Adam. When my Dad and his family migrated from South Dakota to Rocky Ford, Colorado in about 1930, when Dad was 14, the family rode in an old Ford, while Dad and a family friend, Adam Dell, drove their belongings in an ancient truck. The story of the "Big Migration" is a family favorite and a scream; especially when these "country hayseeds" drove through "the Big City of Denver" and discovered streetcars, stop lights, and penny gum machines. The Dells were close friends for years, and my closest cousin, Geraldine, married Adam's son in the Fifties, so we all became one family.

Here is a photo of Ditto helping me work on the tax report. At least I didn't have to do it alone.
From the looks of his eyes, I think he might be putting a hex on the tax collectors.