Thirty days of Thankfulness - Day 2

Where is Day 1, you ask?  I wasn't sure I could make this work and I was compiling my "list" to be sure I would be able to finish.   By far, I am most thankful for my wonderful husband.

 

He is my best friend.  When our quilt guild had a challenge "Let Me Tell You About My Best Friend" he was the first thing that came to my mind

 

  I see his mischievous jokester self in this photo taken on our great adventure to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.

He is an awesome Papa, all of our grandchildren love and adore him (me too).

He is the hardest working man I know.

 

I am thankful for nearly thirty nine years with this guy.  Thankful for his love and faithfulness, his humor and teasing, and all that he brings to my life.

Sweet sadness

It's one of those sad times that has such a sweet joy connected that it's almost difficult to explain.  My friend, Patty, went home to heaven this weekend.  Patty was one of those special friends that are too rare.  She always spoke the truth, in love.  She always loved me even when she didn't agree with me.  She was absolutely passionate for the Word of God, completely sold out for Jesus.  That's why I will miss her so much.  I know without a doubt that she is in the presence of our LORD and I know that I will see her again.

I love you dear friend.



"Week Off Requires Nap"

That's the headline that best describes my week.  I've spent the last month (or more) meeting deadline after deadline, big ones!  At the end of all that busyness was our annual quilt retreat at Silver Falls Conference center.

The weekend preceeding retreat we were hit with the remnants of a monsoon.  Unbelievable rain.  It knocked out the power at the conference center so we had a delay, fortunately only a few hours.

Craziness prevailed rather quickly.  This gorgeous Sue Spargo quilt made by Mary Ross was "embellished" with assorted scraps of fabric and blocks.  Food and company was awesome as usual.

Leola was working on this magnificent applique from a photo of her dog following a class with Charlotte Warr Anderson.  It's it the coolest thing?

Everyone was busy working!

 

Getting things done!

Close view of some crazy embellishing.  What had been a simple folk art bird became "crazy buck toothed donkey bird" 

I managed to sash three more blocks onto my Spirit of Sacagawea quilt AND complete two more pieced blocks.  Just one more applique block to go and I can finish it up.  "Somebody" added some blue embellishments to my horses block.  Thanks!

 

Home from retreat on Thursday and left for camping at the beach on Friday.  How many Safeway parking lots have ships in the background?  Absolutely gorgeous weather, couldn't have been better.

 

We camped at Ft. Stevens State Park.  The park is on the beach but the campground is a ways from the water.  Fortunately...beach access.  We were able to drive down to the beach and let the dog run.  He was in doggy heaven chasing seagulls and splashing in the surf.  Wore him out!

 

Ratchet is such a lovey boy.  A bit too large to join me on the seat in the camper but he was snuggly and wanted to see out the window.  Had a great time with our daughter and her family.  Campfires, s'mores, walks, sand. 

 

So about my title?  We came home earlier than normal, in fact we were home by noon.  Unpacked, cleaned the camper, did laundry, made lunch and then crashed.  A good long nap!!  Tomorrow, back to work.

Busy weekend @ NW Quilt Expo

Up early Thursday morning for what turned into a two hour drive into Portland.  Totally miscalculated the time to drive all the way across the city.  This was my first experience teaching free motion quilting on the long arm, let alone three classes per day for three days.  Oh, my feet!!

All of the students were great, willing to explore their first time hands on or just try new things.  With an hour between classes to reload machines and get things ready I didn't have much time to explore the show.

This is the snowflake quilt I quilted for Michele (click on the picture for a closer view).  It won a 2nd place in the Free Motion category....Yay US!!!

 

A close up shot of the corner "ghost snowflake"

 

Now to finish writing instructions and patterns for a project I can tell you about at a future date and get a deadline quilt finished before Sept 30...sounds easy, right?

 

NEXT UP...Quilt retreat at Silver Falls Conference Center.  I can hardly wait!!!

 

Sneak a peak at this beauty!

Yay!  It's finally finished.  I totally underestimated the amount of detail and the time it would take to complete.  That put me about a week behind in getting it to the client.  Not good!  I'm hoping it will knock their socks off to make up for my tardiness.  It's a raffle quilt for a coastal guild so if I see it hanging at NW Quilt Expo I'll take another picture and post it.  It's a beauty!  Click on the picture to make it big :)

Goodbye summer!

Labor Day weekend has come and gone.  It was a nice break in an extremely busy month.  Our annual seafood fest at Bar View County Park was as awesome as usual in a different way.  Typically we have four or more couples, non-stop visiting, walks, and amazing food.  This year, just four of us, still great food and long walks but this year...the most spectacular weather ever!

Tillamook bay was full of crabbers and fisherman.  The bar wasn't especially rough so dozens of boats had ventured into the ocean for bottom fish and Coho salmon.

Ratchet was so happy to be able to run and splash several times a day.  He wore himself out!

To top off a great weekend, Michele brought my ribbon and certificate over today.  Along with it was a program booklet, winners list, DVD of the show winners, judges comments sheets...and a check :)

 

I'm a little sad summer is winding down, it's been absolutely beautiful.  September has too much to do, most of it good, so I know it will be over before I know it. 

 

Enjoy each day, make them special, life is short!

Pacific West Quilt Show...Excitement!!!

It was pretty exciting just being juried in to the APWQ show, I got my notification while we were camping with friends and family.  And the results are:

My quilt "Ah-ha Moment" won a Merit Award, "Best Use of Fabric"

Michele Byrum's "Sleigh Ride" quilt (I quilted it) won 3rd place in Traditional Applique.

 

Two other friends also took ribbons, JoAnn Blade won 2nd place on her quilt "Serengeti" in Pictorial Large and Nancy Dudley took an Honorable Mention on her quilt.