Do we really have to leave?!

Who's out there!!!

It is hard to believe that we will be leaving for the north country in a couple of weeks.  We keep asking ourselves where has the time gone, has it really been over 5 months?? Well guess it has for in another couple of weeks we'll be leaving.  What is really bad - snow is still falling in Edmonton as I type this little blog, and there's plenty on the ground. It has been a bad year for snow. It is rather depressing if one thinks about it too long.  It's been pretty much a given that we will be dealing with another six weeks of winter once we return....ugh!!  Our little girls with fur coats will lose their freedom to run about the yard with reckless abandon, barking at everything they see and don't see.  The neighbours will be happy to see the patrol dogs "gone".   The picture that you see on the left is a picture that a lady painted for me.  I thought she did a wonderful job.  The points of interest in the picture itself are locally around Yuma, which give it significance.  I'm hoping that next fall when we are down she'll be able to do a couple more pictures.

Sonya and Wilf

Paul has a couple of sisters that have come down to Yuma.  Sonya and Wilf was here for a couple of days.  It was great to see them, today they were heading over to Tucson and then on up to Phoenix area.  His other sister, Penny and husband Gary are staying in a RV Park not too far away.  I'm hoping to get a picture of them before they leave.  In the next day or two, Penny's son Curtis and wife Karen will be arriving, it will be good to see them.  It is always good to see family.

Frilly Scarves

It would definitely take a while to catch up the blog as to what has been happening this past winter.  Meant to write 2 or 3 blogs while being here, but it just never happened.  Paul has been busy with golf, and he went into Phoenix a few times for hockey games and a car show.  We've only been to Mexico once this year.  We usually go at least twice, unfortunately not this year.  We have thoroughly enjoyed our "new" to us home.  Especially since this winter was much cooler than we've ever experienced in the evening and mornings and a house certainly is much warmer to live in than an RV.

Rhinestone Art

For myself, clogging and my crafts have certainly kept me busy.  This winter has probably been one of the more "crafty" type of winters that I've had, completed two quilt tops, knitted 10 frilly scarves, made  2 table runners, cool placemats, gadget bags, rhinestone art on tee shirts (that is fun!), card making and a project in progress which will be the focus of my attention for the next several months and will be the main topic for the remainder of this blog.

Screen Shot of shapes in software

At the moment I've been working on an applique quilt, Fiesta de Talavera, designed by J. Michelle Watts.  This quilt is a stunning piece of art.  Saw the pattern and became totally smitten by it's beauty.  The challenge of this quilt, of course, is that it is applique which quite often is done by hand, but for me I had to think of another way that it could be done and still look beautiful. I can't imagine anyone doing the hand applique technique, it would take absolutely forever!! So, this is where the Silhouette Cameo (die cutting machine) has been put into good use which by the way is doing an excellent job of cutting out the shapes, making all the shapes exactly the same.  With the aid of a scanner, the layout of the pieces have been make into a .jpg file which is then brought into the Silhouette software and by using the drawing tools I've been able to make the templates of the designs on the block and save the designs as cut files.

Fabric ready to be cut out

pieces cut out

 These files are then sent to the Silhouette Cameo via the computer. Pieces of fabric which has been bonded with 'Steam a Seam' sheets are laid onto the Silhouette cutting mat which is then placed into the Silhouette Cameo to be cut out. This process is repeated until all the shapes are cut out for the block.

Block 2 - all pieces laid out.

Block 2 - First stages

Once all the pieces are cut out, they are arranged as indicated by the block template layout that is provided in the pattern.  Each block finished size is 20 inches square and has anywhere between 90 to 130 applique pieces.  It is addictive as you begin placing the pieces creating this little master piece.  Once you are satisfied with placement and it looks good, then you take a hot iron and begin fusing the pieces to the block fabric, being very careful not to disturb the layout.  Once the fusing is completed, then the fun really begins.  Each piece must be sewn down.  Most machine applique consist of a small zig-zag stitch, being careful not to have the stitches too close together which would create a satin stitch appearance.  A bit of planning needs to be done as to where the stitching will begin, requiring the background pieces of each of the design components to be stitched first and the top design pieces to be stitched last, not entirely sure if that makes sense.

Block 1- completed

Block 1 is completed with the stitching, it does take a bit of time, i.e. a couple of evenings.  A decision has been made to take the blocks home and do the stitching on my 830, it has a huge throat space the machine can be dropped so the work surface is flat.  There will be nine blocks in total that need to be done along with a border is very ornate and it will take a while to do. The quilt itself finished will be 72"x72".  In the past, have done some pretty time intensive quilts but I do believe this will be the most demanding of any.  I will keep posting the blocks as they are completed.


Just one last little picture of a bug that was crawling around on a Oleander bloom the other day.  Really quite weird looking.  After I snapped a few pictures I think he got fed up and left.  Was kind of wondering if he was of preying mantis family.  Probably not, huh.

It is time to run along, so until next time...here is a sweet little pansy face from our flower garden.

Mostly about quilts and stuff...

Emma checking things out!

I can't believe it is almost time to leave for our southern home.   The warm summer we had is now handing over the gauntlet to Fall, the cool autumn winds are blowing with leaves turning yellow that are falling to the ground.  Many of the trees are bare now, then others are barely yellow.  All in all it is our signal that it is time to go. So many things to attend to before we leave, medical appointments, dental, forwarding mail; ensuring passports are up-to-date, travel insurance, and last but not least, making a list of things to take.  Which each year seems to be a little less. Mostly because we are leaving more stuff south.  This year we will not be taking the motorhome so packing will be different. This next week will be busy filling the cargo trailer.  The girls are good little travellers and adjust quickly, their main concern is just being close to us.

center 

Finished up the last project that had been on the "to-do" list.  When first starting the blocks, way back in Yuma this past spring, it seemed like a really cool idea.  Then it must of came to me in a dream, maybe too, after a glass or two of wine, had helped.  The vision or thought was a center block with applique would be the "backdrop" leaving lots of empty space so it could be filled up with skilled quilting. Now doesn't that sound wonderful!!! That always looks beautiful on other quilts, but for what ever reason it wasn't really grabbing me like I had hoped.  All the colors were coordinated and blended well enough, unfortunately my "vision" was diminishing at an exponential pace. Realizing there was no pattern to follow it was pretty much a "crap shoot' as to what it would look like when finished.  May I be the first to admit that piecing is not my 'fav', love the longarm quilting!  Regardless of how it looks, it's pretty much done.  The binding needs to be put on and it can be put away in the quilt stash and along with the pillow shams that were made to go with it.

pillow sham

Winhouse Quilt - front

A good analogy for longarm quilting - it's  like having a huge art canvas which is the quilt top to paint or doodle on with thread. Doodling has always been a favorite pass time activity. It has been a while doing the hand guided quilting, since getting the Prostitcher (was on a mission to learn how to use the program), so the confidence initially wasn't there, finally everything kicked in - along with the thought "that I'm the artist and this is the way it was planned".

Winhouse Quilt - back

Over this past month did another for charity quilt.  The backing on the Winhouse Quilt really showcases the edge to edge design.  As I have come to realize that the less patterned the fabric is as well as being lighter in color the the more it will showcase the quilt stitching. Which over the years has come to be as important as the piecing itself. The one downfall is the margin of error has to be minimal or it will scream at you with a loud and unforgiving voice, that you screwed up!!

Jocelyn's Quilt

Had the opportunity to do some real custom work on a quilt that my son's girlfriend had pieced.  She did a beautiful job piecing so it was easy for me to visualize designs that complimented the fabric theme and quilt blocks.  It's actually a tablecloth, so hopefully she doesn't mind me putting it on the bed so an over view picture of the completed project. She was very happy with the results.  Of course it goes without saying, if she's happy - so is yours truly!!!  It is kind of a nerve wracking experience in a way, because another person is entrusting you with something they have spent oodles of time, cutting, sewing the pieces together, not mentioning the copious amounts of money on quality quilting fabrics. Then they turn around and pay to have it quilted, so all in all it's not a cheap hobby.  Definitely not like grandma's day when flour sacks were used or pieces of clothing that no longer served a purpose.

Jewelry wraps

Here's pic of a another project that I have done quite a few since this past spring.  They are jewelry wraps.  They are relatively easy and quick to make and make such great little gifts.  Gave one to my cousin, MJ for her cruise in another week. Lucky gal!!  When she showed it to one of her friends, they asked if they could have some made up for gifts.  Wow...paying customers!!!

Back in mid-September, my dear husband celebrated his 72nd birthday.  His daughters, Bonnie and Julie invited us out to lunch.  It was great to see them, and what Paul didn't know was that he would also get to see his latest granddaughter, Calladora, born August 12, and meet her mommy, Tanya. He was thrilled to pieces.  In the picture on the left, from left to right is Tanya, Julie, Paul and Calladora, Bonnie.  The baby was so good she just slept the entire time.  Doesn't she look like an angel.

Calladora

We had Thanksgiving on Saturday, and my daughter and family were down from Cold Lake, and my son was able to make it before heading off to Fort St John.  It will be the last time I'll see them until next spring.  Seems like that is so far down the road, but knowing the way time flys by Spring will be here and we'll all be another year older! sigh...

My son, Rob has made rumblings that he and Jocelyn might come, no promises, just depends on work.  They both may decide on more exotic venues, Yuma is warm, but not exotic.

So until next time....

"There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle."  Albert Einstein

An Evil lurks within all of us....

Well the devil made me do this. OMG!! The guilt I felt, NOT!! It was so yummy, after the first mouthful it really didn't matter how many calories there were; each one, was absolutely delectable.  The way I see it every now and again, we have to pamper our taste buds.  That should do me for another several months. 

Gosh, I don't know where to begin. (This is pretty much said in every post, for the most part it is the absolute truth.) It has been such a long time since last posting.  Did think about posting many times but it seemed as though I just never got around to it, obviously, so it was decided today will be the day of reckoning and get my rear in gear.  Being creative can be a lot of work!!

It has been a busy Spring and summer. It seems as though every time we get back from Yuma we are just busy until we leave again the following October. Which by the way is just around the corner. Where does the time go!!  All in all it was a beautiful summer this year, it has been a long time over due. The mosquitoes were for the most part non-existent which was fantastic. 

Dakota & Paka

Paul's oldest granddaughter, Dakota graduated from high school this year.  He is so proud of her. Of course he see her as a little girl with pigtails.  Not so much anymore.  All of Paul's grandchildren call him Paka, which is ,I think, grandfather in Indonesian.   Not too sure about the translation.  

Earlier this spring/summer, I did something that I thought I would never do. I sold my wonderful,  Nikon D700 camera and all the lenses.  It had served me extremely well over the past four years, unfortunately as time marches on so has time taken it's toll on my hands. I found that it with the weight of the camera, along with the lenses was just getting too much.  Fortunately, I have many beautiful pictures in our home that I have taken over the years with this camera.  Am I done taking pictures? Certainly not! I just switched to a smaller camera (mirrorless) which is much lighter in weight, and the lenses are smaller and lighter.  It takes great pictures - is there a noticeable difference? I don't think so, the only person that might notice difference of quality if there were any all could be a professional photographer but maybe not.   


My granddaughter came for her 
annual visit in late July.  She has grown into such a lovely young lady.  Over the past years, we have tried to get in a picture taking session. She loves it and it gives me practice. So I have pictures of her for about the past 6 years - my goodness how much she has changed.   There is one frame that I use and update it with the most recent picture and the older pictures are at the back.  So one gets to see first hand how much she has changed over the years.  As always there is one that speaks out to me and I do a portrait painting in photoshop, the technique is called smudging.  It always takes me a week or so to do.  I work on it for an hour or so and then go back a day or so later and do some more.  

Little wildlife adds to ambience...

The first part of August we went to Sundre and spent a couple of days at Coyote Creek RV & Golf course.  It is a beautiful spot and very nice 18 hole course.  We met Paul's brother and wife there and had a couple days of golf.  The weather was really nice the second day.  On the second day in the evening, there was a huge anvil shaped thunderhead that was just north of us, it was amazing.  Before noticing the nasty looking cloud, Paul and I were just chatting, enjoying a glass of wine and in the distance I thought I heard a rumbling of train, one could actually feel a vibration coming from the ground, this continued on, then finally we turn and looked to north east and this is what we saw. It looked like a lightening bowl and just a little bit on the scary side, what a relief to see that it was heading away rather than coming towards us.  

The video is only intended to show what was going on, my editing skills, well I have none.  It has been trimmed down considerably. Sort of beefed up the thunder too!! It prevents a severe case of bordom!!

Chateaux de BeaumontPaint Crew

Paul is very busy with the building maintenance committee that is in our condo association.  The condo association has been doing changes to the fence, painting, and any other projects that need to be attended to. A week or so ago there was a painting marathon and quite a few turned out.  I have been involved being the secretary for three years and treasurer got included over this past year. Definitely more than I wanted to take on, unfortunately it is difficult getting people to serve on the board.  

Computer Guided Design

Grinchmas now quilted

Since getting back in the Spring I have dedicated all a lot of my free time to my long arm quilter for this the only time that I can quilt, it is way too big to be hauled back and forth and we don't have a space big enough to set it up. so the winter months I try to get at least two if not three quilt tops made.  Don't ask me what I'm going to do with all the quilts, I've already given several away for gifts etc.  I guess I may have to start all over again.  I'm starting on Paul's grandchildren, that should keep me busy for a day or two. 

Win House (front)

the back is like another quilt

The Grinchmas quilt top was in an earlier blog, but now it is quilted. It's been in Central Sewing for the past month, they has some Christmas type projects that will be up coming in the store and thought that the quilt would be a nice addition to the display. 

Got myself a Prostitcher program for the longarm quilter needless to say has presented a pretty steep learning curve.  The Prostitcher is a computerized program that run the longarm quilt which in turn stitches out beautiful quilt  design patterns.  It has been challenging yet fun to learn how the program works, selecting different designs and putting them to cloth.  It has opened the door to endless possibilities, with hand-guided combined with computer guided quilting.   I am even considering the possibility of quilting for others.  So to get more practice I have been doing a few quilts for Win House which is a support group for women in distress.  There is a group of volunteers through Central Sewing Machines in Edmonton, who sew all types of clothing for women and children, household dec stuff and quilts etc which is donated to Win House.  It is a tremendous amount of work that these people do for a very good cause.  I believe all the fabrics and materials are donated.  

Win House Quilt

 A lot of people have huge fabric stashes and as with most these stashes over the years need to be trimmed down so there is reason to purchase new fabric. Its pretty much a standing joke amongst quilters and seamstresses, to buy notions, any gadget or nifty tool related to sewing sometimes not, but it looks so cool.  The probability of ever using it is slight.  But you just got to have it for you never know when your going to need that nifty gadget.  Well, fabric is simply another story.  It is like an addiction, honestly.  I have some beautiful wool pieces in my collection.  That I look at maybe once or twice a year and sort of pet it, but it has such a beautiful touch or as seamstresses say "hand".  I got it a few years ago, thinking that these pieces would become suits.  Well guess who never wears suits anymore. It could make beautiful riding suits, but now a days the girls want two pairs of riding pants (jods) and there is only enough for one pair. It should be sold.  It is a 120 Superfine Australian wool that you would never find in a normal shop especially not places like Fabricland.  Finding fabric stores that carry quality suiting are very sparse.  Particularly when most people, me included, shop at Costco.   Whew that was a significant rambling.  

Board meeting will be starting in another hour, so guess it time to end the post, so until another time...

Hey...I thought it was Spring

Fillmore, Utah

This is not fair, one day your wearing shorts the next day...a snowsuit!! As the old saying goes, "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get"; the weather is the same when you are traveling in the Spring. We took the girls out to do their business - all they wanted to do was play. They look like huge snowballs, they did nothing significant, and now we have two very wet little girls. Getting the snow off of them was quite another matter. I should have taken a picture but we were too busy trying to get the snowballs off.

The sun is out now, so hopefully it will melt the snow. Even with the improvement in the weather, it's too late for us to leave, our next stop would be Pocatello, Idaho and it is a fair distance from Fillmore,Utah. We will keep our fingers crossed that it does not snow anymore and that the roads will be dry in the morning.

Just before St George, Utah

Up until now the trip was very uneventful (mind you, we only left on Wednesday), very pleasant drive. Our first night was spent at Needles, California, which was hot. Las Vegas was actually quite quiet when we came through the traffic on the freeway was light in comparison to other times.

I'm always amazed when we drive through the canyon just before St. George when heading north.  Not really sure if it is the scenery so much as the road that goes through the canyon. I always have these visions of the people who built the highway, blasting their way through the corridor which in my opinion seems much more exciting and challenging.

Regardless is a very scenic drive. Spotted a Mormon Temple while going through the City of St. George.  It's the first time I've ever noticed it.  It looks huge from a distance.  Not sure why I've never noticed it before.

Mormon Temple

We were hoping the Salt Lake City Corridor would be the same today, being that it is Good Friday and a holiday for most, unfortunately that did not happen.

Oh well, we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Time to leave...

Wilf, Sonya, Paul

Paul's sister, Sonya and husband Wilf, were here for a couple of days.  It was great seeing them and totally enjoyed their company.  Unfortunately their schedule was tight so we didn't do a great deal.

We took them out to the Imperial Date Farm, one of several around here and treated them to a date shake.  Wilf graciously declined but was coaxed into taking a sip.  It is a big attraction here, there are always hordes of people there no matter what time of the day you go.   Also had the opportunity to watch some of the workers trim shoots from date trees.

Wilf and the not so wild burros

Then we started our trek out to the desert, while enroute we had a bonus of finally seeing wild burros.  Paul and I have been coming down for 4 years and this was the first time ever that came upon the little beasts of burden.

They were quite docile, in fact Wilf was petting one, it was obvious they had a pretty good life and had been around humans a lot.

Admiring the scenery

We continue on to Castle Dome Mountain, and bumped down the rocky, dusty path, actually it is a road only wide enough for one vehicle, preferably one of the 4x4 variety, cars would not have the clearance.  The objective was to get far enough off the road so they could enjoy the desert flora and snap a few pictures.

The ladies from Cocopah took our clogging instructor, Janice out for lunch in appreciation of all her hard work and efforts in teaching us those neat steps.  Which isn't all that easy at times!!

We went to the Garden Cafe.  It is very unique and shall call quaint. It is a outdoor restaurant with a huge canopy of trees overhead with the sounds of birds flying and chirping.  It was beautiful day and the wind was a gentle breeze.  About 15 or so ladies were able to come; loved the camaraderie, the food was excellent so all in all it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.  Must admit we all cleaned up pretty good.  

Everyone is leaving...

Paul brought the motorhome up to our site; then the cargo trailer.  For the past few days, all the sewing paraphernalia, clothing was sorted as to what will stay and goes home.  No matter how much planning goes into this, always something will be forgotten.  This past week lots have left Cocopah, for the most part the park is resembling a ghost town.

What seems to be increasing in numbers is the doves that are abundant all over Yuma.  We will be heading home the middle of this week hopefully Wednesday.  It is a bit later than what we originally planned but not by much. A waterline valve had cracked and would like to get it repaired before we leave.  The RV parts person wasn't all that optimistic about getting the part.   If we don't, it means no access to water other than the water we have packed with us. It could prove to be an interesting jaunt home.

Yellow Prickly Pear

Good Morning....

I really don't mind leaving a bit late...as it has given me an opportunity to take some pictures of the cacti in the park.  So in my quest of looking for things to take pictures of I found another variety of Prickly Pear Cactus that produces beautiful yellow blooms.

In bud

My most coveted cacti picture is of a small Saguaro Cactus that had three huge buds.  Should say, I think it is a Saguaro.  I found it in full bud,  about three days ago, so on a daily run I would check it to see how close it was to actually blooming.

In bloom

Then yesterday in the late afternoon it was in full bloom and had already started to wilt.  I couldn't believe it, for the just the day before it was still in bud.  Somewhere I had heard or read that the blooms last only a day. There was quite a strong breeze blowing which didn't help when trying to keep everything in focus.  They were so pretty, I will have to find out if it was really a Saguaro.

That pretty much sums up things at the moment, and in a few days we'll be leaving.  Which means I had better get busy and finish off the last minute cleaning of the 5th wheel and putting things away.

I saw this and thought to myself how true, so I will share it with you..."Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance".  

So there you go, until next time...