Daisy is here!

I have a beautiful new great niece, or is that grand niece? 

Either way, I have it on good authority (the unbiased grandparents) that she is a beautiful baby. 

I know she'll be much loved by her two big brothers as well.

I wanted to make her a nice girly quilt so chose to make another pink/green quilt. I made one earlier this year for another grand niece, Elsie, and loved the pattern so much that I decided a repeat was in order.

I tweaked this one a bit with fewer blocks and a wider border and I'm happy with it.

I found some fun new dot prints to add to the ones I already had.

My favorite thing about the quilt is the backing. The quilt was completely finished and ready to be wrapped when I found out that the baby's name was to be Daisy. I think the flowers on the backing look like daisies so that was a happy coincidence.

Finally a finish

I've been working on this quilt top for much too long. 

It's been a real challenge for me and to be honest I'm not particularly proud of the job I've done on it: Too many mismatched seams and too many missing points, but....at this point I'm happy to have it done. 

I was too excited to take a picture to wait for a nice day when I could take it outside. 

I'll get a better picture after it's quilted and bound.

For now though,

IT'S DONE!

Picture problems

I've tried posting several times and keep getting error messages about not having enough storage. What? 

Here's one more try with a random photo to see if things are fixed yet.

Well...things seem to be working again. Now I don't have an excuse to be behind on my posts. Sigh. 

Confused seasons

 

Mother Nature is really confused this year.

 

We had winter last month in October



 

 

and now we're having fall in November.

 

 

Winter already?

I went out to get the paper this morning and this is what greeted me. It's too early for the snow we're getting and my poor flowers are in shock. The rose was trying to be brave though. 

It kind of looks like it's wearing a Santa hat!

Shakespeare and Bryce

“Before there were any Indians, the Legend People, To-when-an-ung-wa, lived in that place. There were many of them. They were of many kinds – birds, animals, lizards and such things, but they looked like people. They were not people. They had power to make themselves look that way. For some reason the Legend People in that place were bad; they did something that was not good, perhaps a fight, perhaps some stole something…the tale is not clear at this point. Because they were bad, Coyote turned them all into rocks. You can see them in that place now all turned into rocks; some standing in rows, some sitting down, some holding onto others. You can see their faces, with paint on them just as they were before they became rocks. The name of that place is Angka-ku-wass-a-wits (red painted faces). This is the story the people tell.”

Legend of Bryce Canyon by a Paiute elder

We visited Bryce Canyon on a brisk and drizzly fall day.

The rain made the trails a little bit slick and since I'm not very sure footed anymore we didn't want to hike very far. It's been 20 years since I hiked to the bottom of the canyon. This time the high elevation (8500-9000 feet) left me huffing and puffing. 

The canyon is beautiful from the rim but even more intriguing from inside where you can see fascinating formations (hoodoos).

Maybe the weather will cooperate next time and we can try again to hike further down.

But for now views from above will have to suffice. 

We enjoyed a great getaway to Southern Utah, staying three nights in Cedar City. It's always fun to visit the Utah Shakespeare Festival there. This year we enjoyed Hamlet and Les Miserables. 

Beautiful scenery, good food, entertaining plays, chocolate, shopping, 

and time with my best friend; 

what more can I ask?

...only God can make a tree

 I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray.

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

-Joyce Kilmer-

As a child growing up I never realized how well read my mother was and how she loved poetry.

The above poem by Joyce Kilmer was one that she quoted often to us and became one of my favorites.

Doug and I spent a wonderful afternoon hiking the Indian Trail in Ogden Canyon today.  The leaves were beautiful and the sun shining on the trees made for a glorious sight and I kept thinking to myself  "only God can make a tree."

We had the trail to ourselves and it felt as if we were hundreds of miles from civilization, rather than 10 miles from home and only a mile or so above the canyon road below.

I thought of another favorite poem when we came to a fork in the trail. Robert Frost's classic "The Road Not Taken" came to mind. 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler ere long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth. 

I loved reading mom's well-worn copy of "The Best Loved Poems of the American People" and was so thrilled when she found a reprint of the treasured book and gave me my own copy after I was married. 

We spent two days enjoying the beauty in our own backyard; and while the light wasn't as favorable on the first day, as indicated by these last two pictures, both days were glorious. They brought back fond memories of my mom and also taught me that you don't have to travel the world to find beauty. Sometimes the greatest beauty can be found in your own back yard. 

Back from the framer

These have been stitched for quite some time and waiting to be framed.

The initial plan was to wait and frame them when we got the wall painted and then I'd get them hung immediately on the freshly painted wall.

To be honest, the wall may not be painted in this lifetime and I want to 

enjoy them now. 

I can  always take them down to paint, right?

This is one of my favorite sayings. It's easy to get in "pity party" mode sometimes but a quick look around me makes me grateful for my own set of problems. 

These will hang in my laundry hall/room/area along with my grandma's washing boards. 

A new hobby!

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar.

I love not the man less, but Nature more,

From these our interviews, in which I steal

From all I may be, or have been before,

To mingle with the Universe, and feel

What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

-Lord Byron

I've always had a fascination with photography but since I have so many other hobbies it was never anything I really pursued....until now.

I bought a new camera, which is much smarter than I am, and have been having so much fun playing with it. 

 I love trying to capture the beauty of nature in a photo. I'm taking classes at our local shop and hopefully will also participate in some workshops soon.

 There's so much to learn, so many new things to take in, but it's so fun!

I'm discovering that photography, like any other hobby, can be expensive and time consuming, but so very enjoyable too.

There's still been plenty of sewing going on too but since everything I'm working on now are gifts, those photos will have to be kept under wrap for a while.

Not all pictures have been taken outside. I also have a fascination with food photography. This will give me an excuse  opportunity to make some yummy treats!

So much yet to learn and such a huge learning curve. After years of using a "point and shoot" camera only there are many things for this old brain to try and remember. Oh well, as usual I'm getting ahead of myself and need to remember to focus (ha ha!) on one thing at a time. 

Elsie's quilt is finished

This was such a fun quilt to do. It worked up fairly quickly too. 

I love the swirls she quilted on it for me and I think the striped binding turned out really cute. 

The pieced back is a little bit wild and crazy but I was trying to make the best use of fabrics on hand.

All bundled up and ready to be gifted. I hope Elsie and her mommy like it!

Quilting progress

I'm beginning to believe that I might actually finish my batik quilt in this lifetime.

Maybe.

I took some time away from this to make up a baby quilt. The quilter has it now and hopefully I'll get it back in time to get it bound before the baby shower. So now I'm back to batiks.

I've found that changing to a fine needle and fine quilting thread has really helped. I wish I had realized that when I first began the project. 

The eight half log cabin blocks (four down, four to go) will be trimmed straight across and then sewn onto the center medallion which will be set on point. Clear as mud, right? 

I finally ordered and received the backing for it and soon will be able to start assembling all the components. I just need to redo the center medallion since I used the wrong colors and it just looks "off" to me. Everyone I show it to says it will be fine but I know I won't be happy unless I redo it.