Some Sad News and some Good News

My Uncle Dan passed away this past month.  He flew to Arizona for a Spring Break trip and collapsed in the airport.  It took a bit for his body to come back to Wisconsin, so last week we had the funeral.  Combine that with my Mom's health declining (she went in for chemo and changed her mind since the prep caused another heart attack) I decided to go be with the family for the week.  I tried hard to pace myself so I would not get worse again this summer as I did last summer.  Here is my uncle's obituary:  

Obituary

Dan, age 59, of Eau Claire passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday morning, March 21st, 2023 in Phoenix, AZ. Dan was born February 7th, 1964 at Luther Hospital in Eau Claire, WI to DeLos and Charlene Walker. Dan was a loving husband, Dad, Papa and brother.

Dan married Babette King on June 21st, 1986 in Eau Claire, WI. Together that had two beautiful daughters, Taylor Ann Walker and Ashley Marie Walker, one Grandson Brayden Walker. All were a very important part of his life. 

Dan graduated from Memorial High School in 1982 and attend UWEC and graduated in 1986 with a BS in Accounting. Dan received his CPA License in 1987 and was a Partner at Wipfli LLC where he worked for 37 yrs and had planned to retire on May 31st, 2023. 

Dan loved spending time at his Cabin (his happy place) on Lower Long Lake, in New Auburn, WI and enjoyed fishing for hours with his grandson Brayden. Dan also loved hosting family and friends at the Cabin during the summer months. Dan enjoyed playing golf and taking Brayden golfing as well. Dan was an avid sports fan and enjoyed going to Packer games at Lambeau Field, as well as attending many other sporting events with family and friends. Dan was a walking encyclopedia when it came to sports. Dan coached both his daughters in basketball, and loved attending all their sporting events, and other milestones in their lives and was very proud of both his daughters' accomplishments and loved them dearly. Most recently Dan enjoyed being involved his grandson Brayden’s sports activities which included hockey, baseball and football, etc. Brayden was Dan’s “mini me”, buddy and partner in crime. Dan loved and cherished his family dearly.

Dan was a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts (AICPA), Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accounts (WICPA), Wisconsin Government Finance Officers Association (WGFOA), Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA), and Eau Claire Jaycee’s.

Dan was preceded in death by his mother Charlene (Rushman) Walker and father Delos Walker. Along with his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and other family members.

Dan is survived by his loving wife Babette (King) Walker, daughter Taylor Ann Walker, daughter Ashley Marie Walker, and grandson Brayden Walker who gave his Papa absolute Joy! Dan is also survived by his Brother Steven Walker of Eau Claire, WI, sisters Toni (Gary) Hirn of Marshfield, WI, and Nancy (Greg) Pederson of Tilden, WI along with many other close relatives and friends. 

I quilted my Kathleen Tracey Mini Sampler with baptist fans a few weeks ago.  Pretty happy with how it turned out.

I got the binding on my Hawaii Sunset quilt after it came back from Melissa who quilted it.  

I finally made this cute Red Button "Little Blooms" pattern that Barb made awhile back.  I admired hers so much I had to make one.  I plan to quilt it with a meander.  I ordered a new template/pattern to use and am looking forward to getting to it.

My brother Sam and his wife Ashley and youngest son, Bear flew in for the funeral and to spend some time with Mom and Dad.  Bear and Hazel hit it off immediately.  It was really fun to watch them play together.

Barb and I sewed the April block for A Quilting Life's BOM.  Mine below.

 Barb's.

In better news, we put bids on six houses and finally got the last house.  It is still in the process of closing so keep your fingers crossed.  If all goes well, we will be moving in May.  We will be about 13 minutes from Hazel and granddaughter two!  I have parathyroid surgery tomorrow and am hoping for a fast recovery and we scheduled movers for mid May.  April is kind of a whirlwind and May is looking the same.  

Hawaii Sunset is a Flimsy--Cue the Singing Angels!

 I spent some hours today making the other three borders for Hawaii Sunset and then tonight I managed to get them all attached!  The pictures are not great but I could not wait to get some and call this one done!

 So happy that Jo got me started and Amy, Andra and Angela were willing to join me in making one!  It was great fun--now that it is done!  I am astonished that I was able to do this one with magazine directions, I think I might finally be an intermediate quilter, lol!

 Kathy is coming along on her Jelly Bean block for Wanderlust.  This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern from Quiltmaker--my favorite quilting magazine.  She did not screw up the part I thought she did...she just has the center star to go.  Really super cute block!

Tonight we went to the Nimble Thimbles (and two other guilds too) Barn Quilts presentation.  The door prize was this cool metalwork quilt block!  Suzi Parron (who wrote the first book on Barn Quilts) was the speaker and she was great.  She is working on her second book on the topic now.  She showed us quite a slide show and I loved the "I'm Lovin it" quilt block on the side of a McDonalds which was really unique.  I could not find a picture of it online so I guess we have to wait for the next book to see it again!

Here is Suzi, she signed my book for me! 

Hawaii Sunset Bucket List Quilt Sees Progress!

If you have a great memory, you may recall I started working on the Hawaii Sunset quilt two years ago when I saw Jo of Jo's Country Junction making one.  That led to a little challenge in which Andra, Amy and I exchanged some little geese and then Angela got in on the action too!  Andra finished her quilt a long while ago, Amy finished hers this past week and Angela was about done the other day too!  So since I don't want to be too far in the dust I decided to take advantage of the fact that I only worked one job today and so was home early for me.  I started with the middle row--I was dreading the sashings and the on point setting.  I wound up just cutting the sashing diagonals as I went, made it easier for me!

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 Pictures of something this size suck at night...I have to drag it outside in the sun to do it justice but here it is sans borders (which are not yet pieced though the four patches are made!).  I am SEW happy that my bloggy friends kept on with this quilt and that pushed me--this seriously could have been that one UFO that just hangs out forever.  Funny it took a few hours to get the top together tonight but I did not have to rip even once and it really wasn't near as hard as I thought it would be the three times I dug it out and put it back!

 

Hawaii Sunset Update and More

 Coleman brought me a cup of coffee in bed this morning so I hung out and read my library book for a bit.  I love this author, this is the third book of hers I have read this month!

 Yesterday I pulled out Hawaii Sunset and cut the dark blue sashing strips.  I attached them to the larger setting triangles and figured out that my smaller setting triangles seem off...at least there are only four of them but I may have to redo them or adjust.  Linking up with Judy at the Patchwork Times  for Design Wall Monday!

 I hadn't cut the green squares for the sashing strips, so I did that.  I hope I counted right.  I feel like this last part is complicated because the directions are basically a picture.  It is far too big to lay the whole thing out in my quilting studio so I am hesitant to even try to do this--and it is further complicated by the fact that the edge strips are to be cut on two different angles and must be placed right for it all to work out.  I have not even attempted that part yet.  Most of it is back in the box except for this bit on the design wall.  Angela and Amy and I will get this done (really Andra and Judy!) one of these fine days but for me it will not be today!

 Instead I played around and followed the idea of the Bloomin Patch but I did not quilt as I went.

 The one below with the strawberry start will be going to Norway with Randy in a few days.  He is off to see his daughter Rachel (my honorary daughter) and her son Leon.  I am sending a few books for him but wanted to send her something I made.  That little strawberry scrap is leftover from a quilt that Randy now has.  I thought she might get a kick out of that.  I was pretty happy with how they turned out considering there was no real pattern and I was happy to use some of my red strings!

 And her is Kathy holding up what she worked on today.  She has her flimsy of her Crossroads blocks together.  She plans to quilt it herself and gift it to her great nephew Noah.  She has blocks done for his brother Jax too.

Kathy also got a scrappy purple binding on her Kaleidoscope of Kolor BOM from last year (yes, mine still needs that border fixed!) after getting it back from Ros.  The quilting is really pretty--you can see it a little better in the second picture that Ros took.  This one is for her niece Bree (the mom of the boys mentioned above).  This one has been a long time in the works and I know Bree is going to be thrilled with it!

Farewell to Yellow and More

 I finished up the last of the yellow lozenges and a few other rainbowish ones that I had also cut along the way so I now have a total of 320 done at the half way point.  My goal was 405 so with six colors left to go I will easily pass that by!  All my yelllow Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks are done too and I am ready for the next color!  Linking up with SoScrappy!  We are halfway through our rainbow and this week we will post the first half of the rainbow, so be looking for that!

I got the binding on my Ring around the Hexies quilt.  This is really one of my favorite quilts.  Hand sewing the hexies, piecing those gorgeous Bonnie blocks and the quilting is great!  Ros is so talented and knows just what I want even when I don't!  Thanks Ros!

 Here it is hanging above the bed (which wasn't made so it isn't in the picture!).

 Last night we watched "How to Train Your Dragon" while sewing a bit and I made these three little churn dashes.  I am getting quite the stack, they are really fun!  Today is our work "picnic" and we are all going to see part two of the movie and then to Oregano's to eat.  Tomorrow sewing with Becky and the other Kathy (and maybe Barb), the last two I haven't seen in forever, so should be fun.  No idea what I am going to bring to sew, thought maybe the long forgotten Hawaii Sunset

which I FINALLY got out.  I cut the remaining blue strips and attempted to figure out the angles needed for the cornerstones/side triangles.  GRR.  Not as easy for me as I would like.  I also discovered I didn't cut the remaining green squares (why of why didn't I?) so I have plenty more cutting to do!  I think it might be too frustrating to work on while gabbing so I may need to prep something else tonight or drag out a WIP that is easier!
Oh in WW news, I lost 1.8 this week so almost to 43 pounds.  People are actually stopping me and asking me what I am doing so it is noticeable finally! :)

Finish Along

Lately I feel like I am always working on a BOM or RSC blocks and though I am making progress, I am not really getting anywhere!  I saw one of my regular blog reads (Fluffy Sheep Quilting) is participating in a quarter two finish along, so I had to follow her link and check it out!  I need a bit of a push to get some of these quilts finished!  So the first step is to post about projects that I will finish between now and July 6, 2014 and then link up!

I started Hawaii Sunset many sunsets ago, lol and have seen Andra's lovely finish and Amy's blocks come to life after our swap ages ago....I love this quilt and really just need to take the time to get it finished and quilted!  This goal might just help it see the light of day.  Maybe Amy will join in with me and put hers to the front of the line too! :)

I am so tickled with Ring Around the Hexies and need to get a backing and binding made for it and get it quilted too.  I want to hang this on the wall of the bedroom--I thought about hand quilting it, but I want to see it done sooner than that (and I have enough hand projects!) so I think I will get it out to my longarmer next time I see her and this one should be an easy finish this quarter!

I still have lots of star blocks to make and then I need to get My blue/PURPLE Heaven together and quilted and bound.  I was really enjoying this one but have been stalled out, so since it is purple month at the RSC I suspect I may get these blocks done and get to putting them together too!

After looking at many of the linked up posts, I have come to the conclusion that I need to add more to this post so I am adding in an eye spy or two.  I have a bin with lots of cut fabrics to make up this quilt again...

 And this quilt again....and one is always in need of eye spy quilts for baby gifts!  So I will play in these fabrics and try to get in a finish or two with these before the quarter two challenge ends!

 

So here is to my first FINISH ALONG goals!



Saturday Sew Down at Home!

 We started out our day bright and early picking out a new iron.  I went with the Shark Professional--the most expensive iron I have ever owned and I am liking it so far.  Kathy, Randy and I went and saw "Gravity" which was good and made me thankful I don't work in space, I was getting sick just watching Sandra go in circles for long periods of time!  Then we came home and I got to work with my iron on the Hawaii Sunset blocks!

 I made three more zippy strippy bags for Christmas gifts.

 I cut and sewed the setting triangles (and the corner triangles though they are not pictured).  I still need to get the darker blue fabric so these triangles will get one more strip to really be done.

 Then I got to work on the black/grey color of the month from Angela's  Rainbow Scrappy BOM.  Here is Talkin' Turkey!

Kathy sewed on and off all day...here is her Scrap Jar Stars in black/grey.

 We watched several movies today (Contact was pretty good) and then watched the entire first season of "The Survivors" which we really liked.  Nothing like sewing and movie watching for an entire day!  So the last thing I sewed was another Wild and Goosey which gives me an even dozen (plus one modern/messed up one).  I tied up the sewing room and am ready to climb into bed with a good book!  I am beta testing "Eleanor" by Jason Gurley and I finished it last night.  It will be out soon and I highly recommend it!  No spoilers for now, but the story was pretty page turning and I know it is the first in a trilogy and I already want the second one!  :)

Hawaii Sunset Rises Again!

After six days with migraines and a half a sick day from work, today is the first day all week that my head didn't hurt at all!  I was SO happy when I got done with work I came home and plunked down in front of my sewing machine and remained here for eleven hours!  

 I sewed all the little geese into rows and then sewed them on the blocks and sewed the cornerstones on...

 Then I was slowed down a bit because my iron decided to die before I could iron the big blocks with the geese!  I got out my tiny travel iron and did the best I could.

 VIOLA!  All twenty five blocks are sewn (but not yet ironed) and I am really ecstatic that I got this far with the blocks.  I still need to buy the blue that goes in the sashings and border but I can work on the setting triangles in the meantime if I want.

Whew!  Thanks again to Andra and Amy for swapping fabric and geese with me and for the tantalizing blog posts that have helped spur me on! :)  And thanks to Jo's Country Junction for getting me hooked on this quilt in the first place!

Hawaii Sunset Rises Again :)

Some of you may remember my Hawaii Sunset bucket list quilt...just looked back through my blog and I see it has been about a year since I worked on this quilt.  Where on earth does the time go?  Today I got all the sashes and cornerstones on the nine patches.  I had to cut a few more since I apparently eye balled the count back then!  I also picked out fabric for the border triangles (there are a few consistent fabrics to tame this scrappy quilt) and realized I still need to buy several yards of dark blue for the larger sashings--so that is on my list for next weekend's shop hop.
Check out Andra's blog at http://simplifyandquilt.blogspot.com/2013/09/sunset-in-my-living-room.html to see her completed Hawaii Sunset--it is stunning and Amy has her blocks done over at http://skattebo-skattebo.blogspot.com/2012/12/hawaii-sunset-blocks-done-easy-street.html so I am catching up to these gals.  We swapped fabric awhile back and it is so much fun to see fabric I recognize in their quilts!
I made a a big pot of Chili for dinner tonight (despite the fact that it was about 100 degrees outside) and now am about to settle in with Stephen King's "11/22/63" about traveling back in time to stop the JFK assassination.  I have been reading a lot (which means sewing less) lately..I have missed it!  A friend recommended Hugh Howley's series a few weeks ago and I read all three--"Wool," "Shift" and "Dust."  I really enjoyed them--love to read time travel and dystopian books for some odd reason!  have a great week folks!