Crazy Friday

No, I did not get up in the middle of the night to fight with shoppers over deals.  I just got done putting something in the crockpot for dinner, then I'm down to the studio to work on my IT! piece for a couple of hours.  Then I head up to Salt Lake to Sidney's house.  Today we are quilting Cory's (middle son's girlfriend) memory quilt on Sidney's Handiquilter with the computerized stitcher.  We already picked out the pattern, I can't wait to see how this is all done.  I do know I love the idea of having a totally done quilt in a matter of a few hours. Pictures on the process tonight!!

I will probably stop at some stores on the way up- how can I resist? (Hey, I'm down almost 15 pounds and a pant size, and even the smaller size is loose!) We'll see how traffic is, since today is also the BYU-Utah game, in Salt Lake.

Thanksgiving here was pretty quiet and laid back- we went out, since only three of us were home.  DJ's sister met us at the restaurant, a buffet.  I thoroughly enjoyed skipping the hassle of cooking- but the food wasn't as good as ours, of course, and their turkey was downright disgusting- a processed turkey roll.  So I opted for broiled chicken and roast beef, much better.  There was lots of salad, and even some of the vegetables were not bad.  I waited til I got homed for dessert- my less than 200 calorie chocolate cheesecake.  Yum!!

All in all, I have a lot to be thankful for.  I plan on enjoying the rest of the long weekend- sewing, relaxing, maybe even a trip to the gym in there.  I hope your Thanksgiving was full of family, friends, good cheer, and gratitude.

Bleaaagh

about describes the way I've felt since Thursday evening. I did manage to get the kitchen cleaned up after our feast, but we were in bed before 9- that's how lousy I felt. And I've spent the better part of the last two days just laying around- since leaving home has not been an option even if I felt like it, for reasons I won't go into.

So I have no pictures, nothing interesting. My bead stash is reorganized to take up less space since my nifty carousel broke- I'm just going with cheap, small ziploc baggies and a container of some sort. At least that was a low energy activity I could do from the recliner while watching endless episodes of Law and Order! I have also played with the design of a small piece for group I recently joined, modeled on the 12 X 12 group that has done such interesting work for the past two years. It's due the end of December- so I won't be posting any pics of that until they all go up. If you're interested, the blog for the group is here.

To top off the weekend, the U lost to BYU in overtime. What a way to start the holiday season. It can only get better from here!

R. I. P.

Yes, there was tragedy (of a sort) yesterday. I'll explain----

We left for Scofield early in the afternoon. I managed to get shots of the windmills as we headed east up Highway 6.




An hour later, we were at the lake. We went into town to check out the small 'craft fair"- not a lot going on there, at least not for me. One of the longstanding traditions on the Fourth at Scofield is the rubber ducky race, with the winner collecting $1000. This year, 2400 (that's right, twenty-four hundred!!) rubber duckies hit the river for the race. So we decided to walk up to the bridge to see the finish.

Shannon and I found a spot to sit, right above the river but down from the finish line. Here's Shannon on my left, you can see the finish gate in the distance. (I have no idea what prompted the face on the boy in the red shirt about Shannon's head!)



We enjoyed the sun, the lovely green mountains, and just the festivities. Then just a few minutes after I took this picture- my camera fell out of its bag, and tumbled down a steep embankment into the river. It landed close to the edge, and Shannon did manage to fish it out of the water. But it took her a couple of minutes to get down the embankment, so my camera was in the water long enough that I knew it probably wouldn't survive.

We took out the batteries and the card, and dried it out. We left it sitting where there was a breeze- after all this is DRY Utah. But, several hours later, when I tried turning it on, it froze and gave up the ghost.

So, I have no pictures of the feast we enjoyed with our friends- including the killer cake Shannon made. I have no pictures of us playing Redneck Horseshoes. I have no pictures of the fireworks, or the lightning show that accompanied it behind the mountains. By the end of the night, I was having camera withdrawals.

I did manage to download the pictures I'd taken earlier in the day using a card reader I have- so at least those weren't lost. And I was up early this morning, checking out camera reviews online, and debating how much I could afford to spend. In the end, I decided on a used Pentax DSLR kit. It got great reviews, from both the pros and owners. And the price was right- less than any other DSLR I've seen, including the discontinued Nikon D50 or the Nikon D40. I should have it in a week or so.

If you are looking for camera equipment, my brother (the amateur photographer) told me about B & H Photo and KEH Camera- both places recommended by professional photographers and where you can buy used equipment with confidence. I got mine from B & H. When you're looking at used, you never know what they will have in stock!

It also means I have no photos of my washed and ironed dye runs. Next, I think I am going to do a comparison of the mercerized PFD I just got, and the Kaufman muslin I've been using.

I'm not working tomorrow- one more day to play! Maybe moe work on the dryer sheets--

Happy Easter!

I've almost got the last three Bird of Paradise cards done. The thread painting is complete, I've auditioned quilting patterns, and hopefully will get them quilted and done tomorrow night. Since we are having a group of realtors tour our home Thursday morning, I'd like to have time to clean the studio! But I'm pleased with how they are coming out, and feel I've learned something by doing this series.

I've also been thinking about the last journal quilt. I'd like to get it mostly done before we have to pack and move, and have a pretty good idea of what I want to do. It's totally different than past journal quilts- no flower or nature imagery. And, it should stretch me- but that's what the project is all about, no??

We spend a nice Easter weekend with the grandchildren. Saturday we colored eggs. I saw this idea on Gerrie Congdon's blog, and had to try it (even if it did come from Martha Stewart!) After a trip to DI (Utah's version of Goodwill), we came home with a bag of silk ties. I dismantled the ties, and ran them through the wash. Hint- if you do this, make sure you put the ties in one of those mesh laundry bags. When mine were done, they were a knotted mess, and had managed to wind around the washer agitator post. Took me fifteen minutes to unknot the mess and get them out!

You wrap pieces of the silk ties around the eggs, then wrap that with muslin or other cheap cotton. Wrap the cloth with rubber bands or twist-ties to hold the fabric close to the egg. Put in a pan, cover them with water, then add 3-4 tablespoons of white vinegar. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for at least 20 minutes. Drain the eggs- but don't rinse them. Let them cool, then remove the fabric. The result- cool patterned eggs! Most of ours weren't as bright as I'd have liked, but I think that was at least partly because I did rinse them. The kids thought it was neat, and we had fun doing it! Here's the results--


The black, white and red ones were our attempts to get Mickey Mouse onto eggs- mostly unsuccessfully. These two are my favorites--



On a last quilty note- the only big quilt show Utah has is in two weeks, and at the last minute I decided to enter the manatee quilt. Remember this one?



And, since I'm one of the volunteers that will be helping the judges prior to the show opening, I hope to learn something about how my work stacks up. Should be interesting! I'm also going to be test driving every mid-arm machine and frame there, in the hopes I can get at least a frame this year. Regardless of where we end up living, I will have room for my quilting!!