It Sang to Me!

My favorite part of quilting is picking out the material for a pattern. I love looking at the colors, finding matches and creating a work of art. Rarely, do I buy a "kit." Kits include the pattern and the material for the top, borders, and binding. They tend to be a little more expensive, but there is little wasted material because the cuts are just enough. One day I was in Elaine's Quilt Block (a local quilting store) and saw this kit. The colors, pattern, material, everything was singing: "Buy Me, Buy Me, Buy Me; you love my colors." It's true, I loved the colors, the pattern, the borders...I bought the kit. Good news: I had a material card full so I got a fairly decent discount on the kit.

Piecing the top wasn't too difficult. Once the blocks were complete, the quilt went together fairly quickly. I added the borders and mitered the corners to add a little difficulty. I figured the material for the border would flow better with mitered corners anyway. The time-consuming aspect of this quilt was the quilting. I used stencils on nearly every block. I'm not the greatest at free-hand quilting so stencils are a great option. Each stencil has to be drawn onto the quilt, then quilt following the pattern. With so many blocks and a different pattern for each "type" of block, it took some time. One of my more "fru-fru" or traditional floral pattern quilts. I spent so much time on the quilting and it doesn't show well in the pictures. Oh, well...I still love the quilt!

Happy Halloween!

The second Halloween for us! Halloween on a Sunday doesn't bode well in this state. We had most of the trick or treaters last night before we left for the party. A handful have been by tonight...I still have goodies left!

The 2nd Halloween Party was terrific and we had a great time. Steve P. made "grog," a wonderfully apple cider like warm long island tea (there are that many types of alcohol in it). The beverage is sweet and goes down a little too easy. Good thing I stopped when I did--haha, I was the DD so didn't drink! There was lots of good food too. Most people came in costume including the "Ghostbusters" who went to the theater in the basement and watched Ghostbusters. Steve and I looked great as Shrek and Fiona (if I do say so myself)! The cupcakes were a hit too! I didn't have to bring any home. Late night though, bedtime was like 1:30 AM!

Shrek and Fiona, a little blurry...what do you expect for "tipsy" photographers?

My Shrek!

I'm very proud of my team; tough game yesterday! Air Force played hard and the entire game...quite the 4th quarter comeback! Utah is up to #5 in the BCS Poll...soon to change I'm sure. TCU is an even tougher team and unfortunately, one of us has to lose. Too bad the BCS is so wrong, biased, and crooked. Even if Boise State or TCU or Utah is the ONLY undefeated team in the nation, the BCS will still come up with some excuse to keep them from playing in the National Championship. Seems to happen every year! In the meantime, GO UTES!!!!! 

Is it a "Flock" of Ghosts?

I told you I was headed back into the kitchen. Steve was great and tried to help me decorate the cupcakes. He wasn't sure what to do, but he tried hard. Some of the ghostly eyes ended up a little too far apart. These have a wonderful surprise in the middle--ice cream! There were a couple of "factory rejects" and they were tasty!

Maybe I should explain "factory rejects." Grandpa M. was the baker in our family. He would make the most incredible bread of all kinds and cookies galore. Christmas brought out the greatest cookies: raisin stuffed, jelly filled, german chocolate tarts, and the usual suspects: peanut butter chocolate chip, brownie bites, almond sugar, and many more. We (the grandkids) loved to go help, even the cookie batter was awesome. Grandpa used to call the not so pretty cookies from his batches the "factory rejects;" those were free to the grandkids to "taste." Seems like there were quite a few factory rejects when the grandkids were helping. 

Last night, the sunset was beautiful...The pictures really don't do it justice, but I tried.

October Goings On

October involves so much change: leaves, weather, people...At the end of the month, everyone gets to be someone (or something) they're really not. Steve and I have been to one Halloween Party, with another on the way. So, I've been a little busy trying to be creative...but again the time factor gets in the way.

I haven't carved pumpkins since I was little! I remember the newspapers being layed out all over the table and Dad "helping" JP and I with our pumpkins. After I moved away, I think I may have had pumpkins on the porch, but I either painted them or did nothing.

Well, this year, Steve decided I should get a pumpkin and carve it. (I have had a carving kit for years--never been opened). He and I went to Winco for the first time ever last night (that's another entire blog post--that place is huge and CHEAP). He picked out a pumpkin and gave me the idea for what to carve. I found the carving kit in the basement in the "Halloween" bucket pulled it out and viola! I know, it is a fairly simplistic design.
Besides the party in the last week and carving pumpkins, I have been to the last mystery quilt night (it's gonna be beautiful) and working on quilting another quilt. Needless to say, they aren't quite done. I've also been "hiking" with Steve. Well, I went hiking, he was hunting for deer. The last day of the extremely short season, Steve and I were on the mountains in 20 degree weather (or less) by 6AM. We watched the sun rise between the clouds, fog roll in and out, a fox, and sat in the snow. It was beautiful. He did get a deer with one shot, humanely and quickly. Freezer will be full (the good part). There is a story behind the hunt...just not for here.

Well, off to the kitchen (again) to start decorating cupcakes for the second Halloween party...more pics to come!

Saying Goodbye

The following is the obituary of a wonderful, strong woman. She will be dearly missed. Penny was a great teacher and one of the reasons I became a nurse myself. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family.

Penny Blount
ROCK SPRINGS — Penny Blount, 54, of 3605 Madison Drive, Rock Springs, died Friday, Oct. 15, 2010, at Sweetwater Memorial Hospital. A lifelong Rock Springs resident, she died following a lengthy illness.
She was born Nov. 30, 1955 in Hillsdale, Mich., the daughter of Luella Jean Kettle. She attended schools in Rock Springs and graduated from Rock
Springs High School with the class of 1974. She attended Westminster College for four years, graduating with a bachelor of science degree in nursing.
She married Paul Blount on May 20, 1980, in Rock Springs. Mrs. Blount worked as a registered nurse for Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County for 30 years until her retirement in 2007.
She was a member of the Mount Lilly Chapter of the Eastern Star and majority member of Bethel 13, International Order of Jobs Daughters, and P.E.O. Chapter A.E. Her interests included fishing, traveling and delivering children.
Survivors include her husband, Paul Blount of Rock Springs; two sons, Lee Blount of Rock Springs and Ian Blount and companion Amber Hempker of Rock Springs; sister, Lisa Buttaglia and husband Don of Corvallis, Ore.; step-grandson London Posselt of Rock Springs; step-granddaughter, Taylor Posselt of Rock Springs; three nephews, Matt, Josh and Robbie Smith; and several aunts and uncles. She was preceded in death by her mother, Luella Jean Kettle; son, Ricky, who died in infancy; and aunt, Esther Wells.
Cremation has taken place. A memorial service will be conducted at a later date.

All Good Things End (for a short time)

Another camping post...I know, but it's what we do during the summer. LOTS of pictures this time; I had too many cool ones to chose from. This trip was likely our last for the season. Time to winterize the trailer and look forward to a winter of quilting for me and skiing for Steve.

Since I had Friday off, Steve took the day off as well. We went a little further away than typical...Nebo Loop on the Juab/Utah County Border. The scenic byway can be entered from the north in Payson, Utah, or the south in Nephi, Utah. Steve decided we would go in through the south and find a place to camp. After driving a few miles, we found a spot and pulled in. We decided to walk a little further up the road and found an even better clearing. Looks like it's used to herd, test, and trailer cattle, but the cattle were gone from the area for the winter, so why not...right? Steve pulled the trailer in further and we got all set up.

Well in the process, we found the equalizer hitch bracket BROKE. The bracket holds the equalizer bar to the tongue of the trailer. The bracket is like 1/4 inch steel and broke completely...WOW, some stress on that. I was able to find the piece. The small hill must have been more angle than we anticipated. Then again, seems like that side has been stressed for some time and finally gave. Fortunately, it is fixable (that's a word, right?). Guess I should have taken some pictures of the broken steel, it is quite impressive.

Our spot turned out to be quite busy with visitors. There was a herd of deer frequenting the area. All does and fawns, but still amazing to see. I love waking up, looking out the window and seeing these beautiful creatures. The bucks are in hiding as the season opens next weekend. During the weekend, I saw hawks, deer, wild turkeys, and some grouse. Not to mention the incredible mountains and changing fall colors.

On Saturday, Steve and I went for a long drive on the Nebo Loop. We not only looked for off road (dry) camping sites, but looked at the campgrounds, and checked out the scenery. The drive took us down the Santaquin Canyon (BEAUTIFUL) then back up to Payson. Well, the map we were using was a little outdated, so we took a wrong exit. The last time I had to take detours was with my aunt and we stopped at quilt stores to make the trip better. Well, I said something to Steve about quilt stores on detours and the next thing I know, we pass a quilt store!!! So Steve (being the terrific husband he is) stopped! I didn't buy anything, but I still got to look. :)

Ending the weekend: another UTAH UTES win! Sorry to my Wyoming family and roots, but I must support my alma mater. Go UTES!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins

Although we have a garden, we do not grow pumpkins. I have enough trouble keeping up with the tomatoes and zucchinis. Having that many pumpkins could be troublesome. Instead I make these, sweet treat:

The frosting was tinted orange, then I tinted regular sugar orange. After frosting the cupcakes, they were rolled in the dyed sugar. Piped frosting makes the groves and green Twizzlers make stems and vines. My co-workers will likely enjoy the morning treat!

Quilt Display

My quilt is on display! Floyd and Lizzie's sells long arm quilting machines and had a booth at the Home Show over the weekend. They asked for quilts to display at the booth to demonstrate what can be done with the machines. I took my quilt to them and they used it! Looks pretty good...if I do say so myself. (heehee)

Busy, Busy, Busy

I really have been busy and doing stuff...So busy I haven't posted for a while. Here's what I've been up to...

For my birthday, I got tickets to the Capital Theater for Disney's The Lion King. Steve took me to an incredible dinner then the show. The costumes are absolutely amazing!!!! The creativity expressed in replicating the movie scenes is indescribable. The voices, costumes, scenery...it was an amazing production. Our "date night" was 2 days after my birthday. My birthday-day surprise was coming home to a meal cooked by Steve and flowers, a card, and chocolate on our kitchen island. I got to relax and do nothing the rest of the evening.

The following weekend I was on-call for work, so it was boring. But then I was a part of a conference for Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and anyone else interested in learning to care for kids. I've been on the planning committee for this conference for 5 years and it took a little time the last 2 weeks. I burn the CDs with all the presenters' slide shows. I also was a presenter again this year so I had preparations.

Just hours after the conference, Steve and I were again camping in the mountains. We went to the Mirror Lake Highway again, but did some "dry camping." It's great, no cost for the camp site. Christie and Steve P. met us there with their 4-wheelers. Steve and I were allowed to take their 4-wheelers for a ride one afternoon--I think my Steve picked a black diamond run!!! I didn't crash and had a good time so all is good. The weekend was incredible--not a cloud in the sky the entire time. I got some incredible pictures.

Provo River Falls looked so different this time--not much water. Last time we were there, it rained off and on the entire weekend. It was evident in the water falls...

Clear skies led to beautiful scenery. We could see the mountains for miles and miles and miles. The lakes obscured by overcast skies during the last trip were visible this time: Lily Lake, Trial Lake and a few others. The leaves are changing, it's a new season. It was BEAUTIFUL!