Spring Quilt Camp with NimbleThimbles

 I went up to quilt camp at Emmanuel Pines last Friday for the weekend.  It started snowing on the ride up and snowed and snowed!  Very little of it stuck, but it was snowing for hours.  I have not seen snow in quite awhile so it was fun--really felt like Christmas on April 1st!  I worked all day Friday and a good bit of Saturday on making Bonnie Hunter's Love Shack!  I love how it came out. It was a super fun project to do at camp because it involves lots of different  blocks.

 I have wanted to make Love Shack for a long time but it involves several patterns on quiltville (maverick stars, strings, happy scrappy houses, wonky hearts and letters) and also lots of size adjustments which are not my thing.  I was so proud of myself for figuring all this out--even though I counted the blocks wrong in the one column and so made the blocks too big and had to eliminate a maverick star or start over!  I will be keeping this one and hanging it in the living room or dining room.

 Saturday Kathy, Kathy, Becky and I took a hike to stretch after all that sewing. We wound up going four a half miles (20 min for each mile) and made it out to the road.  Really good conversation all the way too. So glad to have quilty friends who sneak exercise in too!

 Saturday night Barb helped me make sixteen trivet Christmas presents.  I made them all out of Christmas fabric and will be making more in other fabric too.  They are made from a hexie ruler and lots of fabric folding.  The tricky part is pinning them just so.  That is the part Barb is much better at than me!  You stitch around the outside and flip them out at the center and they look great!  When I was done with all that and the quilt auction I continued working on En Provence.  This quilt A is for Adaminaby from 2012 was my auction quilt and Kathy O (the tall Kathy from the walk picture) won it for 25 dollars.  I ran across this little quilt which I had forgotten I made two of and decided it was a good auction quilt.

 Sunday morning we hung out some of the quilts (some people did not hang anything out--not sure why) and you can see the center of my En Provence on the right top.

I would never have even gotten it out if not for the fact that Marguerite had not brought her finished top and her daughter Laura was busting butt working on hers all weekend (along with other stuff).  Seeing Laura making progress motivated me to get to it!  Not sure why I was dragging my feet on it as I usually am right on schedule with getting the mysteries done but this year the trip to New Mexico to get my my son and his girlfriend and her kids (flat tire, no money and diabetic ketoacidosis and hospitalization was involved) knocked me off track.  This quilt has his hospital gown fabric in it.  Stitching the memories in.  Sunday morning I got the borders mostly made but thought I was four star point units short...turns out I was not.  I got home and discovered I started with the wrong star point color.  Of course I did not figure that out til I made the four star point and attached them.  HAHA!  Last night I fixed and attached the first borders and did some ironing.  So this morning (Monday) I attached the last border, did ironing and made the backing and cut the binding.  I still need to get a picture of it though.

Bucket List Checks!

 

 Last Sunday my cousins and I met up at the Grand Canyon to hike Bright Angel Trail and Plateau Point!  My Uncle Rick and his daughter Lindy flew in from Wisconsin with their exchange student Caca (Katja) and a good friend of the family Kersten.  My Aunt Lisa was unable to come so Kersten was a last minute substitution and she decided to hike too.  My cousin Tricia flew in from Minnesota. We left about 8:45 AM and this first picture is the before picture!

 Rick and Kathy stayed above and spent much of the day spotting us!  I texted all day as we reached different points and they used the color of our ever changing clothes to find us!  Here we go!

 

 I had my first blister about a mile in!  It is so steep.  In the end I wrapped both my first and second toes on both feet.  I will prewrap and buy sock liners (a friend told me about after) if I ever undertake something like that again!  It was beautiful and so amazing to do this journey at this point in my life.  We made it to Plateau Point and saw the Hudson River far below.  Very few people were out there and it was like being alone!

 

One of us has a picture of the five of us out there, but I don't have it yet, so here is the one of the four of us that Tricia took.

On the way up we separated into two, sometimes three, groups.  It was 301 flights of stairs up, 12.7 miles total and took me 8 hours and 55 minutes!  The average time is 9 hours so I was pretty happy with that! Caca is a hiker she beat us by 45 minutes--she is 17.  Kersten got a migraine and was sick all the next day and in the ER.  I think she didn't have time to train though she is 20 and in great shape.  She beat us by 30 minutes.  Tricia stayed back with Lindy and I and cheered us on or she would have been up with or before the others.  The altitude was killer.  My body held up great and I felt strong, but my heart would get pounding and I needed more air way too often.  It was so much harder to breathe on the way up than I have ever experienced. 

T

 Here we are with a group hug at the top!  I will cherish this day always and am so proud to check it off my bucket list!

 

 Here are the after pictures.  We are still smiling and there is still daylight! 

 And now for bucket list item number two--you may be more interested in this one as it is quilt related! Kathy and I put some quilts in the Arizona Quilt Guild Show this year.  We ran over there and took some pictures late this afternoon. 

Kathy with Allietare!

Me with Talkin' Turkey!

Another Nice Weekend in Arizona!

 Not a ton of sewing this weekend.  Kathy and I did a hike on Saturday morning, then I worked all afternoon while she did homework for medical coding and billing classes.  After work I went to a meet up with the "Chubby Chicks" which is a great group of ladies! Coree had us over to her house and we made sugar scrub!

 I made a lemongrass one and a eucalyptus orange one.

 Meanwhile, I got to talking to Jeanne and she invited me (and Kathy) to go on a hike with her and Liz.  We wound up inviting new to the area Gena along too!  The four of us met up and drove way over to Liz' side of town and she took us on a great hike!  This is the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and we did the Lost Dog Wash Trail.  It has an overlook at the end where you can see Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West.  It has been on our list to tour that, so I think it just moved up!

Jeanne took this picture so she is not in it, this is the overlook area where you gaze at the gorgeous view and then turn around!

 Afterwards, Kathy and I went to Roadrunner Sports and got me a new pair of trail shoes!  I went down a half a size and did not need wide in this style.  I love them, they are super comfortable.  My old ones suddenly seemed a big big.  I will wash them and will still use them now and then as they are still in decent shape, but it was time. They were regular shoes too but these are trail shoes...will see if I like them better!

 Finally got in a little sewing.  Very happy the Temecula Quilt Company gave us a nice easy block this week for Circa 2016.

Kathy and I also did our 35th Ave. BOM QOV blocks.  

Next weekend I am hitting a craft sale up north with mom Friday afternnoon (yay afternoon off work!), doing a workshop all day Saturday and the CC group has planned a hike (same one Becky and I did a few weeks ago) based on my recommendation so it too shall be a busy weeknd!

Mug Rugs for the Z Crew and Staring Circa 2016!

Yesterday  I went hiking with the Chubby Chicks Meet Up group again.  After about 15 minutes our leader got sick and so she and her adult daughter headed back down along with another gal who was feeling dizzy.  That left only me, Michelle and and Donna to continue on the hike.  We were at South Mountain and we did Beverly Canyon on to Ridgeline and then Javelina Trail back.  I had done the first two trails (though not together) and had no idea about Javelina.  We managed to find our way along with only one small detour.  It was alot of fun and close to four miles and 83 floors...new hiking record on the floors for me.  Was killer sore after and we stopped at Ikea and wished we hadn't!  Kathy went hiking on her own so she could take it easy but she had her longest hike post surgery yet.

 

One of my jobs is in video relay....phone interpreting.  I work with a fabulous group of people and it makes the job (which is the hardest I have ever had) so much more enjoyable.  I have a mug rug at work that I use in whichever station I wind up working in.  Jenn asked me if she could have one, so I made her this one.

That led to a few other folks wondering at how they get a mug rug.  I then decided I would make a few a month and eventually make one for everyone who wants one.  The cherries were for Lori.

 The heart was for Becca.

 This one was for Kelly.

And one of these is for Christine and one is for Nicole--our cat lovers. 

I have cut out three more cats (this is Lori Holt's Barn Cats Mini Quilt pattern from FatQuarterShop) for Christmas gifts next year.  They are all kitted up to take to camp or get to when I am in the mood.

Here is my first bit of Circa 2016 which has just started over at the Temecula Quilt Company blog.  I love her little sewalongs and am happy to be playing in my civil war fabrics again.

New 35 th Ave. Block of the Month for 2016!

You may remember that Kathy and I were participating in a $10 quilt from 35th Ave. Sew and Vac. three years ago and then two years ago again.  Last year we were not impressed with the quilt choice and we took the year off. This year we are excited to see the above quilt is what we will make.  Funny the outer stars are the same every month just as they were in SoScrapp's BOM last year.  So I will be doing more of those!  I am kind of hoping to make an extra block each month from my own stash so that I will have at least one donation for QOV at the end.  We may wind up donating them all for all I know.  

 This is the first block sample--I have a whole month to get mine sewn!

 Yesterday Kathy went for her first hike post knee surgery (almost 8 weeks ago) and she did great.  We went slow and mostly flat though a little incline in the middle.  We took Lombardi with us and he was happy to get out again.  I then went home and put in 30 on the elliptical because it was not enough of a workout for me, but I enjoyed it anyway!

 So today after BOM, Kathy dropped me off to hike at my own pace and she ran to the grocery store.  I did a great hike (72 floors) and explored a new trail. We parked on the other side of the mountain and eventually my hiking led me back to the Ridgeline trail that I am familiar with.  I have decided I LOVE South Mountain and all the trails I get to check out!  I am also enjoying being migraine free the last few days--I had a shot of Toradol and 5 days of steroids to get me out of the cycle of migraines I had Christmas week.  I wish my head could feel like this all the time.  It is fantastic to not have a migraine constantly.  Hoping it keeps on when I am done with the steroids tomorrow.

 Home from hiking and I made homemade spaghetti sauce for dinner.  I make a HUGE pot and we freeze several different containers so we have it once a week or so for the next month!  In that way I can help with cooking dinner even though I am working til 7 PM most of the time.  We have fallen in love with edamame spaghetti noodles (we get them from Costco) and this makes a super tasty dinner.

And in the mail today is a diffuser and some lavender and peppermint oil to help with relaxation and migraines.  A gal at work swears by the diffuser and often brings hers into work.  Worth a try!   Now to get back to Allietare!  I picked up a few more goldish yellows to add variety to my center blocks and I am ready to get to it!  I also ordered and recieved this twister pattern. Looking forward to making several of those eventually!

Stitching up Little Stuff

 Last Wednesday I took a few mental health hours and did some sewing.  I put together this tiny tablerunner with the We Wish You a Merry Christmas blocks, then I was motivated to quilt and bind Christmas Past and Presents from last year.

 A co-worker, Jen, asked me to make her  mug rug because she saw I always use one.  I made the one above for her and the one below for a fellow sewer down the line.

 After putting those together I decided it was time to quilt and bind this pop bottle.  This is from the paper piecing class I took several years ago.

 I went hiking this week too.  Listened to some music and an audiobook.  I love it out there!

 We also got another cat.  I know--we are nuts.  She is nine years old and needed a home. Her name was Ashley so we named her Stash (so it sounds similar) but I hate people names for animals!  At least first names.  She is SLOWLY acclimating to our zoo--we have put her in the Packer room with a gate so she can come and go as she likes but has a place away from the rest.  We are hoping she and Singer Kitty become buddies, but so far it is not looking like it.

 We had my nephew Ben overnight last night (which used up lots of my sewing time) and we took him to the Ostrich Ranch (Farm) where we got to feed and pet lots of animals. Ben loved it!  They have added Parakeets since we were there and the rainbow lorikeets were a hit as always.  Ben really liked the fallow deer too because they ate from his hand gently.

 I did manage to cut my hst's and rip the paper while watching Finding Nemo with Ben.  Later I sewed up the most recent clue for the Nimble Thimbles mystery.  Whew, caught up til January!

Sunday Funday!

 I got up early and went hiking to South Mountain and did Beverly Canyon and the Ridgeline trail with my music in my ears. Went almost four miles.  Felt so good to get in the exercise so I could get home to sew!

 Last night I cut the first clue of the Nimble Thimbles mystery which came out in October while I was on my cruise with Becky and Bonnie.  I really wanted to make this mystery because when I first joined NT they had just made one and all had displayed them in the quilt show.  I thought that was so cool and wanted to get in on that!  So I have begged and begged for another mystery--the timing was not good for me but I really felt obligated to get to it anyway.  Luckily it is much easier than a Bonnie mystery so here is step one...

 And clue two is done.  I am all caught up til December 8th when we have our Christmas Party and get the next clue!  I love being caught up!

 Randy's daughter Rachel is in town since he had a heart attack a few weeks ago.  I took him to the ER and was there when he went into cardiac arrest.  I have never seen real CPR or a defibrillator used in person and it was one of the scariest times of my life.  This was a few days after Kathy's complete knee replacement surgery and she could barely walk so she wasn't even with me.  Anyway, luckily for all of us Randy recovered (100 percent blockage they said he would not have lived had he not been right there when it happened...three stents later...) and quit smoking!  He and I go WAY back and I helped raise his daughter Rachel who is a year younger than my daughter.  She flew in to be with him (she is the one that lives in Norway) with her three year old son Leon.  So good to see her again and meet Leon!  Here she is with Coleman tonight.

 And we had to Skype Hannah so they could hang out too.  These two are sisters at heart.  So good to hear them talk about way back when they met and how they became fast friends at 9 and 10 years old!

 I managed to cut and sew up the last two Talkin' Turkey blocks tonight too!  One blue, one peach.  Here they all are...just waiting for sashing and then borders.  I still have til July to get this one completely done as it is my guild's PUP challenge for this year!

Linking up with Angela of SoScrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  This one has been in the works for awhile!