Summer is Here, sort of

We have been having a very unusual summer here in Utah so far.
Wet and cool and for the "high desert" is sure is strange. Sort of like being in Oregon or Washington! LOL ( I gotta stop re-reading Twilight books I guess)

Anyway I needed to deadhead the rose bush in the front garden and really trim back the canes so I ended up with some open flowers to bring inside. I know they won't last very long but they smell wonderful and are pretty.
I also took a pic of the daisies...aren't they just the happy-est flowers? These Shastas are in full bloom now!

Do I Look Fat?

Well it seems that Belle has been "treated" too well the past couple of years.
Our girl has developed a limp and along with the fact that she was due for her shots, we made a trip to the vet this past week. Good news is that she is in relatively good health, but...

she is too fat for her size! Sigh!
After talking to the Dr we came to the conclusion that she has been getting WAY too many treats even though they are good doggie treats with a little bit of people food. The chicken jerky strip she loves is like a person eating a Big Mac! That sure surprised me as I thought they were nice and lean and good for her.

So she has been put on a treat restriction...just tiny bits when she does good!
I think A was more upset than Belle seems to be LOL And for the limping, he couldn't find a "reason" with the initial exam but suspects the beginning of arthritis and the extra 12-14lbs on a sore joint. She is now taking an anti-inflammatory every day and we are to watch for a month. And also no walks for two weeks so the meds have a chance to work.

Crossing our fingers and paws!

Nothin' Says Lovin'...

Like something from the oven!
Grson I was spending an afternoon with Nana and so we decided to do some baking. I had a pumpkin bread mix in the pantry and thought it would be perfect for I and I to make.

I helped add in the water and oil and eggbeaters so Papa could have some.

Then we stirred in some chopped nuts and chocolate chips, Just for good measure.

AS you can see it was a great success and we shared it with his Mommy and Daddy and Uncle A too. He left before Papa got home from work but Papa said is was very good.
Nana was good and didn't eat any...just isn't on my way of eating but it sure smelled good. Only problem is my stupid stove as the oven doesn't maintain a constant temp and it got slightly overdone.
It was still good so I guess I can live with it for now.

Father's Day for Mr Creative

Gotta love a day when everyone gives you presents and you aren't turning a year older! LOL
DH Mr Creative shows off his presents...or most of them not including the early ones he got. I gave him a blood pressure monitor which we all took turns testing out and Mr Creative found out his was the best of all but then again it ought to be considering how much we spend every month for his meds. LOL
DD sent him a note pad with Grson A's picture for him to keep at work and Son D and family gave him a shirt that Grson I got to put his hand prints on later that day.

Mr Creative and son A ready to eat his dinner...lower fat Lasagna...after all it's hardly Lasagna without SOME cheese and the fat free stuff is like shredded plastic so we went for the lower fat variety. LOL

DH measures his blood pressure

Can you read it? 114/75

A Peek at the Scottish Festival

A few pictures to sneak a peek at what we did the past few days.
It was an adventurous weekend to say the least with lots of new friends, bagpipes and drums, great performances, and torrential rain!
Sheesh...
We had a great time and a surprise for Clan MacRae which I will write more about later.

Yesterday and Last night

Last night as I was watching So You Think You Can Dance on TV I looked out the window and saw a beautiful rainbow. Sure are hoping that is a good sign for the weekend and the Scottish Festival. Not much fun to be outdoors in the rain even if we have shelters to protect us LOL

Last of all...I bought tickets for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince , midnight showing.
Got one for me, son Big A and grson N. Called Mr Creative at work and he decided he couldn't go to a midnight show AND go to work the next morning LOL so that means we will go again a few days later and hopefully see it in an IMAX theatre.

Meet the MacRaes

With all that I should be doing I really shouldn't have used most of my time yesterday to make this but it has been in my mind for a few years and I just went for it!
Meet my new Scottie friends...Archibald, known as Archie in the red coat, Catherine in the white coat and Peter in the blue coat. Using pieces of my precious MacRae tartan fabric and my stash I spent a fun afternoon and evening making this wall hanging to be. I even cut a piece for Archie's coat out of one of my two sashes but sewed it back together about 7-8 inches shorter LOL
I adapted a pattern from Marcia's Quilters Cache.
The wool was interesting to work with as it has a resilience and bounce back that defied my iron and some steam but I think I can live with it LOL

If you look closely you can see the sparkles from the border fabric...I have in mind for the future one more doggie in the brand new MacRae USA tartan coat and some wider borders with some Celtic knot work. But that is for the future as I have plenty I need to get done before tomorrow about noon!

New Friends Show and Tell for the Week

Holy Cow, we have some great quilters in our group! Just a week's worth of show and tell.

M shows a purple bear paw that she made as a gift for a church friend who is getting married soon. She told us about how much she appreciated the chance to join a summer youth trip as the cook and wanted to give her this gift. M is a kind and generous lady and says she will never do this one again LOL

CM shows her "test" quilt made from some Moda fq's and a pattern from Quiltmaker magazine earlier in 09. She did this to test out some machine embroidery she would like to add to a larger version and it is ready to be "hooped" up on her Viking D1. C is being challenged at this time with failing vision and has vowed to only do that which she wants to do. The pattern called her name for months and she is excited to get it finished. She said there were some "not so pointy points" but on the whole is satisfied

CN shows the June Make it and Take it project for the summer months. A quick and easy Patriotic hanging. She mentioned she is getting tired of working in subdued CW type prints. LOL

Last of all here are my BOM blocks so far waiting for the last two and the center. I am loving how this project is turning out and hope my grd will love it as much. I added the applique flowers as a maybe (they are just pinned for now) and just need to decide how much time I want to take to finish the last two LOL The Center is a pretty Carolina Lily variation and I love it so for sure it will be the center of this quilt.

Block Finish

AS you can see I did finish up Carol Doak's May BOM yesterday but went to bed before I posted.
I wanted to frame it in a bright sunny yellow even though May isn't always THAT sunny here in Utah LOL

When I was almost done I noticed some "mistakes" on the block and even though foundation or paper piecing gives you the best chance to do a perfect block, they happen. I mused at how something so small as a 16th of an inch could show up so badly in this type of block and yet in MOST normal pieced blocks it can be ignored for the most part. I say live and learn

It's done and now I need to take a break to get ready for the Utah Scottish Festival...hurrah...and our booth, Clan MacRae.
Come say "hi" if you are in Utah this weekend.
More on that to come.

A Fist Full of Flowers and more progress

One of the joys of being a mother are those unexpected gifts from our children. How many times do we overlook those simple things in our lives?
The other day when my DH Mr Creative and youngest son A returned from an evening fishing trip, my son A came down to the sewing room where I was working and said..."here Mom" and handed me these beautiful wild flowers they found on the side of the road as they returned. My mind went back to when he was a little boy and the loving child he was. Being the "baby" we spent much time together and I have to admit I morned the passing of those little boy days but what a wonderful surprise to get that fist full of flowers once more so unexpectedly.
Love Ya A...as you see he found the perfect "vase" for the flowers too! LOL

I thought I would share a bit of progress on the next Carol D block and ask...
"What WERE you thinking, Carol?"
Oh my gosh 61 pieces in this block and it is ONLY 7" finished...you can see the pre-cut pieces ready for the second part of the bottom of the block. S
Sheesh! That is an hour's work for the first half! LOL

Catching up with Carol Doak

Oh I am so behind with my BOM that Carol D is doing with our yahoo group.
It happened when my April got so busy I just didn't get around to making the block before leaving for Texas. Then of course there was May's block and now June's and I am racing to NOT get any more behind.

If I just could stop the world for a week or so! LOL
Yeah...right, like that is going to happen.
Any way here is April's block all pastel and spring-like. Those corners were a pain for me as I originally used a completely different fabric for them. It is a pretty sort of pastel water color fabric but with it's light background and lighter colors just didn't frame the block well enough so after thinking about it on and off in the middle of the night I got up bright and early...ripped those puppies off and replaced them with a nice hand dye given to me by my quilt friend Leslie who is in the process of cleaning/sorting/ discarding in her sewing room. Gotta love friends who think of you during those times!
Thanks Friend!

Around the Yard in June

So...
Where have I been? Sorry for no blogging the past week. It just kind of got away from me.

But we have been doing all kinds of stuff around the yard since it is late spring and that means flowers and weeds and gardens and grass (in the flower beds and out). I snapped some pictures of my beautiful flowers this past week.
Upper L Peony, R mini rose Lower L Candy Cane rose with my climbing rose in the background and R a ripening strawberry which grson I has already picked and eaten. LOL

Grson I helping Papa, Mr Creative, with some of the tomatoes that he planted inside the Wall of Waters, I think he liked playing in the water more than helping Papa.

GrD C gets a nice sloppy kiss from Belle and Grson I is looking to escape. Belle loves to sit up on the swing with me sometimes while I read or eat.

Last of all my dessert one day...oh so yummy strawberries and whipped cream. They were a bargain at Wallyworld that day .99 a quart and so sweet and juicy. Sigh...love strawberry time.
So as you see we are still around and keeping busy, almost too busy to blog about it! LOL

A Planned Deviation!

I could call it that instead of a mistake, right? LOL
A new block for the Debbie Mumm BOM ...but not one of Debbie's blocks...I took this block from the book Block Magic 2 to substitute for one that I didn't want to make a second time for this version of the quilt. Since it will be for my grd C I think it is a great sub.
However...
When I was trimming the sizing up sashing to bring the block from an 8" finished to 9" finished I mentally figured 4 1/2 as half of 9 forgetting to add the seam allowance and thus the uneven border. So my options are to replace that side or call it a variation on the block right? LOL
Oh Well we will see.