Inter Faith Quilters of Longmont Colorado

I am a new member of the Interfaith Quilters of Longmont, a not-for- profit organization that meets most Mondays for quilting and fellowship.  It is here that I have found a group of quilters that sew for charities. they share their art and skills (and warm hearts) to fellow quilters and the community.  I am so glad I found these Ladies just a short distance from my home town in Dacono Colorado. They give me companionship, encouragement, and most of all friendship.  www.interfaithquilters.com

Here are the two quilts that I have made for the interfaith quilter's charity.  I was thrilled by the warm response that my quilts received from all the ladies.  I was very humbled indeed.



Used scrips to make up this quilt.  I call this "The Secret Language of Woman"

 I call this simple quilt "Karma in Motion"

Graduation Quilt finished

Months of work, thousands of stiches, Hours of sleepless nights are over. The graduation quilt is finished.  Everything about this quilt is all about my oldest Grand-daughter Katie. 

What a joy to see her face when she discovered that Grandma had made her a quilt.

Great Second Hand Finds

What a week for second hand finds.  First off, there was a donation of Free embroidery threads at the Senior center area.  I couldn't believe my luck, a lot of the threads were rayon and some linen!  Now I will be able to start working on my stump work with the fairy prints.... I know ... almost all of you ladies have done that.... so I guess you know how thrilled I am to get started.

Then on Saturday I went to Longmont to a quilt show where I was just thrilled to find a group of (50-60) quilters meet each Monday to quilt for charity.  This group is open to people of all skill levels to join them in making quilts.  Wow, I am excited to find these ladies, my only companion 24/7 is my dear husband.... and I could sure use a social break to meet other woman in the community that have the same interests as my own.... let alone learning new quilting skills.  May-be there will be some CQ ladies.

I must admit that the quilt I had my eye on was snatched up as soon as I blinked my eyes.... That's OK, it found a good home.  I did pick up some gallon sized plastic baggies filled with quilt scraps, squares and fat quarters.  I ended up with a garbage bag size of beautiful material to add to my stash.  My quilting friends already know about my new found goodies and they will be planning some stitching time at my house soon.

I had no Idea that this show would have such treasures to share.  I'm use to going to the huge Shows at the Denver Mart where there are hundreds of exhibitors and displays.   I really like the small show so much better.... the Quilting ladies were out going and friendly.

After the Quilt show, I decided to take a chance and go to a jewelry show at the Denver Mart.  I wanted to pick up some charms for my CQ.  I was able to get some pewter charms... you pick out your charms, they get weighted and you pay per gram!  That was a new experience for me.  I did find some lovely spider webs, roses, and lock and keys.  I love lock and keys, I think it go's back to when I was 14 and I gave my first boyfriend a key.... to my heart.  (I still have that silver heart) LOL.

Last but not least here are some photos of my Sewing studio.  It's really the basement, but I don't like the sound of "Woman's Cave".  I like my embroidery machines.  My husband insisted on the 6 needle. So  I have 2 sergers, a quilter, another Babylock embroidery machine and a felter.  I keep my fabric stash in a walk-in closet, and I store my extra stuff in drawers and boxes all over the place.  I try to keep my beloved hubby out of my sewing studio because he keeps insisting that I reorganize. That's why my threads are organized on the wall by number and not color... Thanks Honey!!!   Now I don't go out to the garage to organize his tools! 

Got to go,  I have lots to do downstairs.  I hope you enjoyed this posting.  I know that I wake up each day to see what is posted in all of your blogs.... I love seeing them.  Such talented ladies.... wish you all lived close to my house here in Dacono, Colorado.

Grand-Daughter's Graduation Quilt

Hard to believe that my first Grand-daughter will graduate this coming May.  When on our last RV trip to Amish Country, I went on a Barn Quilt tour which happens to include some Fabric shops.  I fell in love with some Studio E fabric that was all about the MUSIC.  My grand-daughter wants to be a Music Major... and her voice was golden when she was even 3 years old. (at least to the family.)

Katie has taken up Acting, Voice, and 3 musical instruments. (Drums, Sax, and strings) She writes her own music.... A cheerful girl, but why not.... If your hearing music all day long.   ANYWAY, When in Wisconsin I fell in love with the Music designs and knew that I would be making something special out of them.  I came home with a special panel and 3 yards of related music material from the Harmony Rose collection.   Later on the Studio E website, I found a free pattern for this collection of fabric.  Needless to say... I needed more material, but no one in the Denver area carried the material I needed.... Taking samples of the collection to my local fabric store... I was able to buy some coordinating material to get this quilt started. 

Katie's Graduation Quilt

Part of me wants to add some QC hand stitches, and the other part of me wants to stitch in the ditch and do some feathers.  My quilt sits in the studio all pined up.... waiting for me to become inspired... What to DO?  It has to be ready by May....  I also have enough material for a pillow.

Neil Diamond's I am, I said

This is my first crazy quilt that I have ever made. Recently Neil Diamond's tribute at the Kennedy Center caught my attention. "I am ... I said" bore a hole in my soul. As If it were the first time that I've ever truly listened to the words of the song. My AH-HA moment was that the quilt was about the song and the song was about the quilt. A lover of Frogs... and always feeling like the LONER.... I worked with a fever to bring this quilt alive. Thank you Neil Diamond for providing the words to my feelings.


The embroidery butterflies have Bullion bodies. the frog beads also have Bullion feet. The Bees on the quilt almost remind me of the flight of the bumblebees. I believe they are humming to the music of the frogs. (above)

I wanted to show that the Dragon Fly were in motion,
so I added the curly motion stitches to show the flight of the dragons as they crossed the quilt.

It took a couple of hours to hand sew the seed beads to the background material.

Stump worked grass hopper.

This was worked out on Puff Foam and the extra wings were embroidered out on Organza material.

The golden button is a frogs head and these unique heads graced the laced seam line.

The Button box came out of hiding ... what better way to display them.

What fun it is to go to the party when the music is LIVE.

I'm sure that the Frog couples are having a swinging time dancing to the live music of the Night.

What with Buzz of the bees, the dragon fly's humming, the grass hoppers and crickets chipping. Everyone wants to play with the band and sing along with the music.

There seems to be a party going all around you. . . . Surrounding you on all sides.

The quilt has over 50 frogs  and another dozen or so of insects  and flowers that grace the top of the quilt. I think everyone is celabrating the Frog becoming a king. 

 That's a good name for the quilt don't you think? 

The King's Party!

 

This is the chair that did not hear. When you say "I am" and it comes from the heart. Wouldn't it be nice for someone to hear.

The chair was embroidered on puffy foam. The flowers and leaves are stump worked on my Baby Lock Sewing machine....

I love my Baby Lock. I added Buttons and Hand Embellishments on the seams .

 

A some-what view of the whole quilt.  the borders were stenciled with oil sticks.  The woodsy look brings the whole quilt together. Hey! When you can't find the right fabric.... design it yourself!

I love the frog that dreamed of being a king.

 Here he sits alone as the party of life moves all around him. He's at the top but all he can hear is the sound of being alone.

Here is the music.... notice the key. 

The key unlocks something... But what?

Notice the Red Heart.... There's the lock.... Ahh... Music is the key that unlocks the heart!!

Enjoy the collector's button... the Hand embrodery... and other emblishments.

 This wall quilt will hang on the studio wall while I play Neil Diamond music....

The Kings Party serves a dural purpose.  It displays my ever growing brooch collection of frogs and insects... much better to be displayed instead of sitting in a box or drawer.

Label for the quilt.  If I ever gave up this quilt... it would be to Mr. Diamond himself...

 and he would have to come to the house himself to claim it.

Hot Springs swimming

Here we wrap up our visit with Christine, Brett, and granddaughter in Deweyville Ut. At the Hot springs swimming area, I had an encounter with a little 3 to 4 year old in the pool. The little guy had walked out pass his neck.... and was in DEEP water... really!!!

Little hands were grabbing me from behind and almost pulled me down into the water (backwards), when I turned around.... a little head was bobbing up and down in the water... gulping for air.... It took a split second to grab the little child up out of the water, and he clung to me with all his might... he started crying, he said he was scared. There was no adults or other children watching this little guy in the pool.

Long story short.... Where were the parents? The little boy said that his mom was going down the slide. I let the boy go when we reached the safety of solid ground. Thank you God for letting me be his angel at that moment he needed strong arms to lift him to safety.

Antz for travel

Here we are again... we have traveled over 1400 miles in 3 days and hit 6 national parks. My husband dreams of traveling... While I on the other hand like it.... if it doesn't interfere with my sewing and crafts. All my friends seem to envy my early retirement and carefree lifestyle. We have traveled 4 states... counting Colorado.

Riley our dog is Bored...but enduring. We both smile when Ben plans his traveling plans... we are willing to be his constant traveling companions... no matter what it takes. However being full timers was not what we signed up for. So he won't hear it from our lips ... we know that staying home day after day would drive all of us to the funny farm... A good wife never complains out loud.... right!
PS... I hate hotels!!! Give me an RV anytime! By the way, when you go RV, your bags travel for FREE!!!

Add a few vacation pictures

C

Almost Christmas, All is well.

Ben's knees were replaced on Nov 1, 2010. and as of today, I am totally tired. I didn't realize how much energy it would be to take care of my husband at home.

Time Is Not Sitting Still

For the second time, Ben's Doctor has delayed/ canceled the surgery. This time we were given a 3 week delay. Under stress and in pain, Ben fired his doctor and is going to go to a new one. Now if we were to call the hospital and Doctors and give them delays or cancel (the day before surgery) you know that we would be charged for it!!!!

We worked around the house so hard to winterize and secure it. After his knee replacements, who would do the mowing, blow out the water sprinklers, winterize the RV and Central Air conditioner? He paid bills weeks before they were due... so that we wouldn't have to worry about it later. Flustering!

I won't be doing any craft shows this fall and winter. I can hardly plan anything... because of the uncertainty of when he will get his knees replaced, or what his recoup time will be. I can't book a show and expect him to help me when he can hardly walk. Let alone sit with me at the show, help set it up, move boxes to and from the show. There is always next year. I have only one husband.

I have a lot of finished picture mats finished. Beautiful. working on so much, yet the stress has taken away the Joy of making all of it. I just want our lives to get moving. I feel like I am sitting in a time warp. ANY ONE OUT THERE?

Labor Day Outting

Just had to get out of the HOUSE.... cabin Fever or I would rename it .... DEPRESSION>

So we drove up to Bailey to get a hot dog... ha ha... Took over an hour to drive from Denver, a half an hour to stand in line in front of the hot dog shaped building. Barely found parking. 15 mins. to eat the foot long dog with onion rings and a pineapple shake. 2 1/2 hours to drive back in Labor day traffic. IT WAS A GOOD DAY.

I took Riley for a walk... noticed a smoke plum covering the sky. The Sun was RED. It looked like dooms day. Our breathing was heavy, our eyes watered. Riley and I went back home to get inside the house. It is a big fire in Boulder.... which is over an hour away from us.

Pulled out of my depression.... have to get Ben through one more operation and we should be back to normal. I don't know if anyone is reading this. I don't ever hear from anyone. OH well ... if there is anyone out there ... have a good day.

September 2010

This month is going to be a busy one too. Ben's son his somewhat recovered, but that's another story indeed. I don't think he is the same person as he was before his coma... I'm trying to be nice, so that's about all I'm going to write about this.

The Cancer seeds were placed in Ben a couple of weeks ago, and now we have been delayed until the 28th for his operation to replace both knees. He's getting short tempered and sharp with me.... Hummm that's all I'm going to write about this.

I find myself fighting depression and forcing myself to rise above the occasion. I'm tired, simply put. And I'm bored too. I realized that I've forgotten to take my heart pills these last weeks... or is it months? Just been too busy with other worries and concerns.

I don't know what I want right now. May-be I'm due for some Me-time. Yea that's it!

No new pictures to add to the blog. Haven't been anywhere lately.

HOME AGAIN

We will be home for the rest of the summer. After that only the fates will know which way we will travel. Ben's Son, Carl in PR is in a coma and has been for over a week. Our travel and activities depend on his condition and Ben's medical condition and procedures that are coming up in Aug.

I will attempt to install pictures. The last trip we went on included the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah. Jobeth was right.... Montana has the Blue Sky... and open spaces... And you don't really know what " Can't see the forest thu the Trees" until you go to these states.

I feel that I am writing into the never-never zone of space. I don't hear from anyone much.... except Anna, Jobeth, and Cathy. (THANK-YOU) Guess I brought that on myself when I had to quit my job to go traveling with Ben when he retired. Now it's 24-7 with Ben ( which I still love) except that I still like associating with other people too.

I got to thinking that if anything ever happen to my husband... I would have to go back to work, volunteer, or something... just to get that human contact into my life. You know.... I must be feeling the sorrow of Carl being sick... his little boy isn't even 2 yet and loosing this step-son would be such a loss.

June travels

We have been in the Badlands, to the Montana lands. and everything in between. Custer's last stand was a chilling...haunting place where the spirits from the past still drill. It was gray and dismal to tour this area. Before the tour... I felt the hair on my arms stand up and I got depressed very suddenly.... It's a place in your mind can see the drama play out, as the blood soaked into the ground. how sad.

We are going to leave the RV here in UT, take the pickup back home. We will check on the house, pick up the mail, take care of some chores... then go back to UT for the RV. We are going to hit Idaho, Washington, Oregon, maybe Canada. There are Amish communities up there and I would love to visit them while we hit some more national parks. Ben wants everyone to know that so far we have visited 60 national monuments.... so far.

Right now we are getting ready to go the the season's last game of T-ball.... where our granddaughter is the star!!!!

Hope your getting my postcards.

Nebraska Tornados

Tornado Alley! Hiding in basements, in state park restroom facilities, watching gigantic cloud systems hover over your head. Golf size hail, wind so strong it takes your breath away... that's our first day here in Nebraska.

We came here so I could get my kid fix with my four grandchildren. They all like the little gifts from Hawaii. Everyone came out to the lake for a picknick... which was interupted by tornado warnings and hail. This morning we see that the forecast is more of the same for the rest of the week. Did we bring this weather with us from Hawaii?? What gives? You know it's got to get better, question is when.

Bottom line is the freedom to travel. I am worried about Ben, it's 9 am and he went back to bed for a nap? He's cold and looks pale. Too much travel?

By the way, I posted over 50 pictures in my facebook page.... I just had bad luck posting them here. GOGRANNYGO on facebook. Check it out if you can.

Love everyone.

Travel Hawaiian pictures

Enjoy... I don't know how many I can get on this posting.

Hawaii pictures

Hooked up to the main computer and downloading the Hawaiian pictures. Having trouble typing because my home office is not set up like my work office. Sometimes I miss the work I use to do. Hope my replacement likes that job. It wasn't a bad job, it had it's challenges and everyday was somewhat different. But it's the people around you that can make or break your day....

What am I doing? Stop it Jacki.... when I get back from this next adventure, I will just have to visit my Fidelity Friends. Meanwhile Live in the present ... enjoy everyday Ben and I share... and thank god for all of it.

Tomorrow we will start another RV adventure to include a 5 state loop. So far we have visited 91 National Monuments out of 388. I'm looking forward to my postcard views as we travel across the highways. Yes, I am traveling it with Ben. We have talked about getting a dog.... but it hasn't happened yet.

We had to postpone our New England trip due to medical reasons.... but that's personal and I don't feel like posting any details here for all the world to see.

I welcome the emails from friends. I also hope that I will be able to write more on my blog as we travel. Hawaii was so hard to get a net connection. Hope that the next couple of weeks it will be easier to post pictures.

First week home from Hawaii

I am so tired this first week. But I have to get ready to go again, may-be I should have married a man 20 years older than me? I'm just getting use to the time change and getting my energy back, as Ben is planning the next adventure. He hasn't even stopped for a breath... as if he did... time might stand still.

As for our adventure in Hawaii... everyone should try it once. We saw so much... yet there was much more that we didn't have time for. It rained almost everyday when we were on the ship... But fear not, I did get 4 days of beach time. The water was so blue. I thought I would have seen more of the island's beaches.... but that simply didn't happen.

We did see Pearl Harbor twice. That meant so much to Ben. It was an emotional journey for him to view the harbor and take a tour down history's past. So many young lives.... such a tragic time... reminds me of our 9-11. Suddenly and tragic for the world to bear.

we have to get some hookups to another computer for down-loading pictures.

ALOHA

Aloha
We overnighted on the island of Maui. We met up with 2 South American Men that speak zero english. Ben has been adoupted as their personal travel guide. Poor guys thought that they had to pay extra for their food.... All of us rented a car and explored the island. Theres so much to see. we explored the vocanos, the beaches, the stores,waterfalls and fish exhibits.

I did do some shopping... always for friends and family. Now we are packing up a box to send some stuff home... and I am not done yet. HAHAHA

hawaian day 3

we just got back from the lula....wow
sunshine is great... water is wet...sand is warm... our feet hurt from all the walking. we are so busy. went to pearl harbor today.

Love swimming in the ocean... make new friends everywhere. Retired people are so friendly. we have a very busy adjenda... our musles in our legs are starting to hurt due to the extra waling and swimming we are doing.

tomorrow i get to do some shopping...YEA!!!

We also have a brand new best friend named eric... hes 5 years old and thinks Ben is his new best friend. An only child that cant get enough attention... and very well mannered... guess we are going to play grandparents here on the island whenever Eric is around.

aloha