Well, fall is gone and winter is here. Wait isn't that what I said on my last blog post? No...I think maybe it was summer is gone and fall is here....anyway. Christmas is over. I got almost all my projects done but I forgot to get pictures of all of them. I made Itty,Bitty Poochie Bags to hold the gifts for my granddaughters. I crocheted an afghan for my six-year-old grandson, and made a quick quilt for my five-year-old grandson. I didn't get the slippers done for one of my sons-in-law but they will be done soon. My daughter and her husband and kids flew up from Houston. It was wonderful to have everyone together. They fly back home tomorrow morning. I have a few days before I go back to work. Maybe I can get some quilting done. What a novel idea. Maybe Hummer will still work for me. I sure do love that machine. It has been raining all day and somewhat gloomy with fog every now and then....at times very beautiful....at times depressing but I really do enjoy rainy weather as long as the sun appears every few days. I'm ready for a new year.

Wow....summer is gone and fall is here. I haven't blogged in a long time. This has been a difficult few months for me but my daughter just yelled at me because I haven't blogged in so long. This blog is for Carrie. Did I make you happy? I did just finish a couple of things but I can't post the pictures yet because the receiver hasn't received them! I get to visit the knee doctor next week. Of course, the swelling is almost gone from my knee after almost four months and it isn't hurting quite so much. Hopefully he will tell me to get back to the gym. I'm working on several other projects but still haven't finished many UFO's. If you need a project to have fun with go over to Jodi's blog. She's doing a Sew Scraps Along. I really want to do this but there is so much to do and so little time.

Jodi is one of my most favorite peoples and blogger. If you don't know about her blog you are missing out.

I know...I know...two posts in one day but I have to tell you about a new blog that Jodi from Pleasant Home has started. Go check out SEW PICTURE PERFECT. Jodi is one of the most talented people I have ever met. I guarantee this is a blog you won't want to miss and she's having a give away!

After the P&P party was over it was "Hang in there until the school year is over!" I finally made it and actually worked an extra day to keep the library open for summer check out. It will be open several times during the summer and I will work for three hours on those days. So far we have had several families in checking out books. Keep Reading!!!! There were only a few more days until my sister flew in for the Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop. Deb was coming along with us or we were going with Deb...whichever way you looked at it. We were off! We managed to visit 39 shops in four days and had a blast. We didn't go out on the sound this year but did go over Deception Pass...twice. Deb managed to not look out of the car so she made it both ways. I'm proud of you, Deb!

This is at one of the many stops along the way. My sister was kind enough to bring good weather from San Diego. One of the lasts stops was at The Wild Rose Quilt Shop in Orting, Washington. This shop had to be one of best of the Shop Hop.

Here is Wild Rose! The shop is amazing and the staff was the best. I would recommend this shop to anyone visiting the area. I would even say take a special trip to see it.
The upstairs of the building is a retreat center with room for ten people to sleep and a small kitchen area. The center of the room is a huge classroom. (That's Deb taking a picture of Wild Rose.) I was sure I would win the grand prize from the shop hop.... a retreat for up to ten people but, alas, I didn't win. The retreat area has incredible views of the mountains and I was told that Orting was a well known biking, hiking area. Did I happen to mention that we had tons of fun? We came home exhausted but ready to go to more shops. After we came home I wrecked my knee and then have been fighting with bronchitis. I think I'm on the mend now but last two weeks have been a bust. I think I need to go do some quilting now!

One of my friends gave a Pride and Prejudice party. She is in love with Mr. Darcy. Her Mr. Darcy took some pictures for us. Some came in the appropriate dresses. Others of us were just happy to be there. It was potluck and if possible we were asked to bring food from that era.

No Smiling!
There was even a test. It was hard. Some of us helped each other a little bit but the cheaters didn't win. I think we had the most fun!

This is my daughter who is taking five of my grandchildren and moving to Houston in two weeks just so she can be with her husband, and our hostess's daughter. For those of you who like Jane Austen I would suggest having a P&P Party.

The next day my hubby and I went to the cemetery, met my brother and his wife, and put flowers on Mom and Dad's graves. I find cemeteries to be fascinating. Each headstone has a story to tell. This particular cemetery has beautiful scenery and to the right of this photo an incredible view of Mt. Hood.

In the middle of May I was able to go to the Aurora Colony in Aurora, Oregon to honor Emma Geisy. She is a distant cousin of mine. Jane Kirkpatrick, one of my favorite authors, has written a series of books about Emma and the Aurora Colony. She gave a lecture about her writing and then we visited the Aurora Cemetery and went to the Keil House for a dessert. Jane's lecture was very inspirational. Then we went to the cemetery and listened to stories about Emma and her family and other colony members.

Her oldest son became a very well known surgeon in Portland at OHSU.

This is Emma's mother's headstone. She is my great-great-grandfather's sister. I feel a connection with Emma even though my ancestors went to Utah instead of Oregon. If you are ever near Aurora you really should visit the museum and then shop at all the incredible antique stores. The museum has many quilts and artifacts from colony life. These people contributed greatly to the establishment of Oregon. I have to mention the quilts, again. Every Tuesday morning the women get together at the museum and hand quilt. The quilts that are on display are incredible. There is even one made by Emma. Jane wrote a book about the Colony and it's quilts. It is entitled Aurora: an American Experience in Quilt, Community, and Craft. It is a fantastic look at history.

Summer is supposed to be here but I am freezing! The furnace has been on the last few days. I'm not sure it's even July. However, by Wednesday we will be complaining about the heat. I have many pictures to post but I am going to take the next few days to get all of them posted. Today I just want to tell all of you that I am so grateful to be an American. I'm grateful to ancestors who felt the need to come here for religious freedom. We are truly a blessed nation.

This is the traveling memorial for fallen soldiers. Right now it is in our town. The field is filled with flags. That is my husband's command car. I think this memorial has even more meaning for me because my oldest son served in Iraq for twelve months at the beginning of the war. We are very fortunate that he came home safely to his family. My heart goes out to all who have lost loved ones in any of our wars and conflicts. Because of them freedom still rings in our country.

My hubby has been busy going to several cruise-ins. He has become quite knowledgeable about WWII and loves to visit with veterans and hear their stories. My father-in-law was a WWI veteran. We have his journal that he kept during the war. He was in England and was an airplane mechanic.

The top picture is at the Suburban Auto Group Cruise-In in Sandy, Oregon and the picture just above here is at the Sherwood Cruise-In.

This picture is at Living History Day at Camp Withycombe in Clackamas, Oregon. If you haven't been there before take the opportunity to go next year. It is an exciting adventure. This year they actually shot some blanks from a tank. It proved to be not quite what they expected. All eras are represented and you can talk to many veterans.

To top it all off.... hubby was asked to bring his car for a movie shoot! He can tell you all about it.

Have a great day and I will be back with more fun things I've been doing in the last couple of months.

I've been busy, busy, busy but I have finished two projects.

I call this one crazy, wild quilt. I made it for the school's family fun night silent auction. The picture didn't turn out very good. I think it's because it is so colorful. Anyway, my principal keeps asking me how long it takes to make my quilts. I don't know. I just sew until they're done. So......I actually kept track of this one. It was quick and easy. It took about 18 hours start to finish...that doesn't include choosing the fabric. Fabric fondling is way too fun to count as work time!

I made this quilt for our school volunteer of the year. I love the colors! Again, the picture doesn't do it justice. The dark squares are brown or green and the border is a dark brown and black print. One of the volunteer's friends went to her house to get color ideas. We had a lot of fun figuring out just how to make it. I love the pattern. It is from Anka's Treasures. The book is somewhere in my mess of a quilt room so I can't get the title of the quilt. It was a very enjoyable pattern to make. I just might have to make one for myself.

Our volunteer of the year just celebrated her tenth year as a heart transplant survivor. We are all so blessed to know her and work with her. Her outlook on life is incredible and makes you appreciate each day you have to help others. We are all hoping for at least forty more years with her!

Hey! Did you know EQ7 is being released soon? I am so excited. I don't get to use EQ as much as I would like to but it has saved me a number of times.

I finally got the label put on Ian's quilt. He is six months old now but at least I finished it. One less UFO!

I'm trying to be more creative with my quilting. I actually did some OK hearts on his quilt.

I hope to start doing some longarm quilting for pay now. I'll start with basic and hope to get better the more I do. I've actually been working on a beautiful project. I wish I could keep it but it is a gift that I was asked to make for someone. Once that person receives the gift I will post some pictures. Each week I seem to be getting better from my sinus surgery. I will never sound the same but I'm not sick anymore and my energy is returning. I guess this means I should go back to the gym......or not.

I thought I should get back to blogging. While I'm not fully recovered from sinus surgery I'm doing much better. I thought I would be doing really well two weeks after surgery...didn't happen. However, I'm glad I had the surgery and each day I'm getting better. Before I had surgery our quilt group got together and helped me with a charity quilt top.

I had a wonderful group of helpers.

Chikako just kept cutting more and more 2 1/2 inch strips.
I'm almost finished with the top but have enough fabric to do about four more tops.

My daughter graduated from phlebotomy school and just passed her exams last week. She's looking for a job but is helping her instructor as her assistant. She is an official "vampire" now!

Two days before my surgery I got my haircut. Beth wanted to prove to me that I could get my curly hair to go straight. Guess she showed me! Hmmm...is that grey I see there?

During Spring Break we went camping at Memaloose Park in the Columbia River Gorge. It was chilly but only rained one night. It was a very relaxing time.

This was the view I saw as I knitted or read. We Went to Hood River and visited WAAAM...the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum. It was well worth the visit. There are two huge buildings full of airplanes & cars. Everything there must run. They have a schedule so that everything runs at least once a year. On the way back to camp we just had to stop at the local quilt shop. Of course....I couldn't leave empty handed!

I finished a quilt for my granddaughter. Her older sister wanted to know if she was getting one. She told her, " No.. because grandma doesn't love you as much as she loves me." (or something like that) We had a good laugh over that comment. You have to understand....they are both teenagers and our family teases each other.....a lot. I love them both. They are truly a delight to be around.

This is a closeup of the squares.

I hope to get back to doing more quilting. I'm making a quilt for someone at school and I still have many, many UFO's to finish. I'm on the road to recovery. Look out world....here I come!

May I just say that sinus surgery is not for wimps. When I am feeling better I will explain that a little more.

I Just Won 10 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com

I Just Won 10 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com

Thought I better share some good news. I finished my first UFO of the year. I'm not sure if this really counts for me because I think you have to have some of it cut out to qualify as a UFO. I've had the fabric for the table runner for awhile but didn't have any of it cut out. At this point....I'm just happy that I finished something.

This pattern is called "Simply a Pleasure." It is by Nicole Chambers. I quilted some cherries on the black squares.

It is quick and easy to make. Now on to bigger UFO's.

January is a busy birthday month for our family....seven birthdays in one month! For my birthday I got to go to the doctor and then go get a CT scan of my sinuses. I've been sick for most of January and finally after two rounds of antibiotics my doctor said we needed to find out what the real problem is. He called this afternoon to let me know I have acute rhino something or other. In other words...my right sinus is totally full of junk and can't drain. Now I get to take seven more days of antibiotics and seven days of steroids. At least I should be feeling better soon. I got lots of happy birthday wishes. My granddaughter's class called from school to sing to me over the phone. Hubby brought me one of my favorite flowers....yellow roses.

Regena made a darling candle mat and sent some delicious cake.

This granddaughters's cake didn't have licorice on it. I just crossed out her name.

Hubby did a good job of blowing out all of his candles. It's a good thing we didn't have enough candles to actually put on the right amount!

We'll be getting together on Sunday for a family dinner and birthday party. It's always fun to have most of the family over to celebrate. I wish everyone could be there but one son and family live too far away to make it. Smile...it makes life a lot more fun.

OK....I think I can do this. It is time to start blogging, again. Even though I am still sick my daughter is giving me such a bad time about not blogging that I better get busy. This last year has not been a good one healthwise...nothing serious just not feeling real good. This time I will overcome...no more sinus problems, colds, headaches, etc. No way...No more!!! There, I feel much better. I have actually been doing some quilting.

I've had these blocks done for several years. I did them in a class. I posted about one of the tops I finished but I was going to do two more quilts...not happening. Since my daughter is moving to Houston and taking three of my granddaughters with her I'm not making them matching quilts. They each have very individual tastes and will get their own bedroom. They share one right now so I thought three quilts about the same would be fun. That freed up a bunch of blocks so this is what I have come up with. I'm sewing the rows together now and will have it finished soon. Hopefully the longarm will quit skipping stitches so I can get it quilted. I did manage to get all the Christmas presents finished...nine pairs of slippers, two scarves and two bags.

Everyone seemed to be happy with their presents. I'll share some Christmas photos next. See you later. :)