Quick picture and post

OK there are tons of things I need to be doing but just had to share my morning's work!
Camp Nana begins today and I am really behind with preparations so I got up early and made the pillowcases and cuddle blankies for the kids.
Somehow I managed to not get enough of any one fabric so they get a mish-mash of train prints for this year.
A and I will be getting blankies...A's with the big Thomas print and the same flannel from his Curious George blanket and I is getting a different train flannel with a smaller Thomas print. The boys will get a really neat realistic train print pillowcases and C will get the same Thomas print as A...shew
OK back to preparations!

Celebrate with Howard!

Just a few photos from tonight's birthday celebration in AF with the whole family!
Sorry the present handle is blocking C's face! don't' they all look good with Papa? Only problem is that Papa has his eyes closed...must of dropped off for a nap...old people do that you know! LOL
As you can see he liked his quilt and is looking for the "secret" messages I had the quilter quilt in the quilt. I hope I can get a good photo of the quilting cause she did an incredible job!
Bye the way do you know how hard it is to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time? LOL

Happy Birthday Howard!

Oh somebody has a birthday!
DH Howard is celebrating his his 57th birthday today by heading to SLC and the Family History Library to spend a well deserved day off by doing something he loves! Lucky for me an acquaintance from church is giving him a ride up so I will not have to take him to the bus/traks and he can stay as long as he wants or at least until dinner time LOL!
I didn't get his quilt bound...way too much going on but hopefully that will happen next week when all the busy-ness is done!
Happy Birthday Howard...you look pretty good for 57!

We Still Love the Osmonds!

Back in the day...yep the late 60's the "original boy band" was the Osmond Brothers and being the teenage girl I was of course I had a crush on them in general but my true love was Jay Osmond! I just knew if he could meet the "real me" he would fall instantly in love and we would have a happily ever after...fast forward 40 years and who would have ever thought that the Osmond family/brothers are still performing together and those of us who chased the tour bus "still love the Osmonds!" LOL

OK so things aren't quite the same...some of us have grandchildren just like our crushes do and there isn't a need to chase after the tour bus any more but it's still worth it to come early to a concert to try and get the best seats and spend time together as friends/fans however we mostly have found a different life than we had planned as wives as one of the Osmond brothers LOL Living in Utah there are sometimes occasions when I come in contact with an Osmond...my youngest son "A" attended school with my former "true love's" oldest son and one day while shopping in a bookstore Marie interviewed me for her radio show...how fun!
Others still travel where an Osmond is performing and makes sure they have a loyal fan supporting them in their career.

The family was invited to appear with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during the annual Pioneer Day concert this year as they ended their 50th Anniversary World Tour for two performances and also Music and the Spoken Word on Sunday and the news went out that free tickets would be available by lottery. That meant all those still loyal Osmond fans did their best to get friends and family to apply for tickets and in the end had plenty of seats for both evenings of the concert and those loyal ladies (and one or two guys I am sure) invited me to join them for the concerts.

I enjoyed a great concert at a pretty darn good seat however my old lady eyes could have used some binoculars! LOL Flash pics were not allowed (not that it would have helped much) so I turned off the flash and took a pic of the big screen and ended up with a very "artsy" but not so great pic of the performance LOL I don't have space to tell all that went on but on the whole they sounded incredible and even though it is a mini version of their regular concert, they each had a chance to shine just a bit depending on their fame factor...in other words Donny and Marie got a bigger share of the spotlight than the others but that is to be expected right? LOL Of course being a fan you noticed they all moved a bit slower and didn't dance the same as in the 70's and the biggest thing was missing Donny's young boy voice where he was given solos...IE... One Bad Apple and Lazy River LOL
As I thought about it someone could say the same and more about me! LOL

I am so lucky to have my oldest friends to share this wonderful event with...Darlene and Sandra and I share not only the Osmond times but also we joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at about the same time and still share that connection with each other through the Osmonds.

My friends are now back to Georgia and Virginia and I need to prepare for Camp Nana and H's birthday today. Time goes on and I am blessed to be able to enjoy it all! The last photo is of the infamous door where I waited for hours and then ended up being kicked out of the line for a purse infraction...LOL Not really this turned out to be the no purse line which no one had bothered to tell those in line until 2 seconds before the doors opened!

Pioneer Day and Old Friends

It was Pioneer Day here in Utah...the day we here remember the first white settlers in Utah who arrived on the 24th of July 1847...
It's a state holiday and all kinds of fun activities but I commemorated it with two old but still dear friends with a wonderful trip to Archivers...a terrific Scrapbook supply store and Lunch at Mimi's "my" favorite out to eat place!
I have known both of my friends S and D since HS and even though we live far apart we still are good friends.
I also have posted the family photo from our cook out dinner in the backyard with whoever could come LOL
Dinner was steaks, yummy Lime/Tequila marinade Chicken breasts and polish sausage from the grill, chips and salsa, grilling beans, homemade Mac n Cheese (sort of low carb)and a cut up zucchini from the garden. Told DH we would have Zucchini every night now until frost! LOL We have started giving it away as well..."look out here they come with more zucchini to give away!"
For desert we had s'mores for those who could handle the sugar and I made a mixed fruit cobbler that I served either sugar free or low fat ice cream depending on your needs! Still have plenty of cobbler so come on over!
No sewing or quilting today...

Clean House

Wish I had the Clean House team here today as the family and I did some not so fun house cleaning LOL
My oldest friend from HS that I still keep in touch with arrived to spend a couple of days with me and the family from the Atlanta area. We have known each other since 11th grade and 16 years old. Gosh that is now ummmm (should I say it?)...36 years now! Gosh who'd a guessed!
Sandra is here to take in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Osmond Family concerts in SLC Friday and Sat. after having spent a week in Las Vegas at the Donny and Marie shows there.
AS you might have guessed we were young Osmond fans in the 70's and she and many others have kept up the "fandom" over the years. I jump in with them when the stars align right LOL

No quilting or scrapbooking to share today although I did get one block done for the Civil War Love Letter book group that is forming starting next month in my area. I am the leader so I am kicking off the first get together and choice of blocks.
I will try and take pics tomorrow if I have a chance.

From our garden

Not that you want to know what we eat for dinner but I thought I would share the yummy stuff from our garden.
The Spinach and tomatoes are from the garden some little cherry type and mature spinach. Ya know I don't know who decided that cooking spinach is the way to eat it but if kids ate it in salads raw I bet kids would be very happy to eat it!
Also the zucchini is from the garden that I sauteed with some yellow squash my friend gave me at our quilt group meeting.
Of course the chicken comes from the store LOL

Layouts from the swarm

Like I said before not too much accomplished at the swarm but these three layouts!
First layout is a Storytellers Club Kit that I have had for quite a while. I thought it would be perfect with these pics. My dd didn't really come prepared for being in photos and she is really at her natural best and I think she is beautiful!
I wanted pics of Alex in his Blessing outfit and this is what we got...there are more but I saved them for another layout in the future.
The next two are Camp Nana 07 pages and are the end of the Camp Nana pics! Yea! Just in time for the beginning of Camp Nana 08 next week!

Swarm results

So all day long this is all I got done! LOL
On the upper left is a grab bag of supplies we got and then you can also see the cute mug that Lori "cricut-ized"for us.
good news is that I think I am DONE with Camp Nana pgs for last year! LOL

At the Swarm

We had a great time Sat at the Cricut Swarm in Roy Utah. I didn't take too many pictures because I really tried to get things done LOL!
I don't know what it is about scrapping away from home but I never get as much done but anyway it's always great fun!

At the Quilt show part one

I promised to share a bit from the Steel Days show and here we go...sort of
Of course I forgot that my batteries were low and only managed 5 shots before they went kaputt!

Luckily my friend C will take lots of pics so I will share hers next time.
The first pic is of the Donation corner with a few of the challenge quilts displayed along with others to be donated.

Second is the baby quilt I gave to my grson A..his Curious George quilt. I got a 2ND place on it...which is good, however I know I will be knocked down on binding and not straightening the quilt before binding...It was very very straight when it went to the quilter but alas came back a bit warped! LOL It may be hard to tell but the pinwheels are 3-D. I love the blocks done this way and tend to turn to them and 3-D flying geese for baby quilts! LOL I might put a tutorial on the blog one day as they are easy to do and add some fun to regular piecing.

Third pic is my favorite as I got a Best of Division ribbon! Whoopee! I think the judges might just be a bit blind ha ha ha I showed the quilt before quilting several days ago and I managed to get it done and in the show...lucky me! Love the board they hang on as it makes it easy to change them with the seasons. My friend's DH made 4 or 5 of them and I was lucky enough to speak up for one. I painted mine the lovly sort of Jadite green and it looks great in my living room too. The other two quilts below are mine as well...the left is the Tulips version and right one is Mother's day version. I played with different fabrics for these...the Tulip one is wayyy to blend-y for me but I wanted to use some fabric I had gotten in a fq pack several years ago...the Mother's day one is wayyyy busy for me but again I was using fabric that represented May showers Bring May flowers for Mother's day. The others were made by my friend P and she has such a joyful way of putting her quilts together! I love that she will use images from "old fashion" post carts and other pics on her projects...Way to Go P!

The last pic is the judges choice for Best Interpretation of Theme...Every Season Is Quilt Season!
My friend CN did these and the award is well deserved! She is able to take a pattern and make it hers and make it even more beautiful. CN had the best style and I wish I could choose fabric the way she does. We used the book Quilters Dozen Plus as our BOM but she created her own inserts and I love what she did. I did three of the four seasons but still need to quilt fall and make summer I will share my interpretation when I get Fall done so you can compare! LOL

For now this is it but I will get C's camera soon and share more!

WE have a great show and it is not to be missed!

Today it is off to a Cricut Swarm...up in Roy, Utah with a bunch of other scrappers. I have my stuff packed and ready to go but I know I will forget something important LOL
I will report in later .

Cute Kids!

Did a bunch of this and that yesterday but had a visit with my grkids and had to share a few photos.
Grson's A and I sometimes think of Nana as a person with a silver box in her face! LOL
A is still stingy with his smiles and I was much too busy to stop for pics but aren't they cute?
Grson B got out the Lincoln logs and kept busy building his special structure...not sure what it was but it turned out so great he wanted a picture of himself with it! Way to Go B!

Heading to the quilt show later today and taking some pictures to share.

I also started packing for my scrapbook day tomorrow and realize I am almost out of pictures to scrapbook....OK not really OUT but at least out of those that are already printed up! LOL
I am going to have some printed today for later

At the Utah Valley Quilt Fair

Each year the Utah Valley Quilt Guild hosts a fun afternoon with mini classes, vendors, a fund raising Auction and bake sale for interested quilt lovers in the area. I went with my friends J and M.A. and we enjoyed an afternoon at the fair, lunch at Mimi's Cafe and a quick stop at JoAnn fabric.
I was a very good girl and managed to resist the vendors mostly but did pick up the stuff I showed in the last post and bought a "factory second" book by a new designer to use those charm Squares with LOL and at JoAnn I bought a book on finishing quilts...more on the books later.
Took a few pics at the Fair for fun
The kitty quilt was at the Auction and brought in $535...I think but is is so cute whatever it's price! The quilt was made by one of the local "bees" called KNOTT and they always have a great contribution to the auction each year as they are all very involved in the Utah Valley Quilt guild as a group. There were several other great quilts donated too but I don't have pics.

Next was one of the mini classes on Aprons with a short overview of vintage aprons but emphasizing current patterns and fabrics. Didn't know they are now a "fashion accessory"! LOL Gosh mine are for use in the kitchen to keep me clean...who knew?

Next pic is of the last year's BOM for the guild set together in a pack of patterns for $2....great buy but I will not be doing this one LOL Got too many irons in the fire right now! Love the brights she used in her quilt.

Last of all is one of the great vendors and happens to be the booth of the charms and book I bought at the fair. LOL She uses only squares and they can be any size to create different sizes of quilts. Pretty ingenious I think.

I had a great day there and it makes me want to mess about in my sewing room!

A Bit from Yesterday...

On Tuesday Howard wanted me to show off his tomato plants...how darn big they have gotten LOL
I wish we had ripe tomatos to show off but not yet...plenty of green baby ones tho' so there is hope for the next month or so.

Then we have A and friends off for their "Excellent Adventure" to AZ...sure hope all goes well. I waited and waited for him to call and let me know he got there OK but ended up calling him and of course he "forgot" as he got busy settleing in his friends house.

Last of all some new fabric for my stash...first pic is what I bought at the Quilt Fair...more on that later. I was a good girl and kept my buys small this time. I got the charm packs on sale and the blue/green/yellow ones are a great match for my newly redecorated bedroom and will one day become a great wall hanging or throw for my bed. The second pic shows a trade from J...my friend C's dil for some lovely Amy B fabric I won. I love to look at it but it's not exactly my style so I gave her 3 fq's and she got this great stuff...for my Civil War quilt to be...in trade...everyone is happy!

More later as I upload pics.

Baby Challenge Quilt

Our quilt group each year has a challenge fabric for the local Newborn Intensive Care unit in our hospital
We each get the fabric near the first of the year and then at our show in the middle of July we show off our quilts!
This year's fabric was a challenge to me...you can see it in the middle of my quilt with colors that aren't in my stash four sure LOL
So darn it all I had to go shopping for stuff to use. I played a bit with some quilting ideas and tried something that turned out to work great!
Using my Cricut Electronic Cutter I created a 4.5" cardstock template of an elephant head and then sprayed it with quilt basting adhesive. That way I could move it around the quilt and not have to pin or baste. I then dropped the feed dogs and using invisible thread quilted in the elephants. I did manage to catch the paper once in a while but not until the end did it fall apart! LOL
I included a close up of one of the heads.

Our show accepted quilts today and ended up with a total of 105 for the quilt show and not sure how many for the donation corner of the show!
Wow that was a great improvement over last year's 60. We got some great response from the community this year and it's great seeing the quilts all hung and ready for judging.
I only entered the Curious George baby quilt and my Flower Block wall hangings this year as I didn't get Aaron's grad quilt bound...I hope it will still be here next year! LOL
I forgot to take pics of the group hanging the quilts unfortunately but I will be sure to take some pics when I am on hostess duty during the week.
I sent DH out for Chinese today as I am just too pooped to cook.