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I'm So Excited!

Last night, as I was browsing other quilting blogs, I stumbled across All-Stitched-Up by Linda. What a fun site! She does all sorts of different types of sewing swaps with people from all different countries. I signed up for her latest swap...a bag/bucket swap and I can't wait to get started. She had such cute picture examples on her site, so I got lots of great ideas. But, before I start I'll need to find out the preferences of the person I'll be stitching for - Linda will send me that info when she gets everyone matched up. And, it's a secret - you don't know who is stitching for you, only who you are stitching for...I love that - kind of like a secret friend/sister!

To those of you who read my blog from a few days ago, I know I said no QUILTING allowed until I finish some binding, but I don't count this as quilting...this is sewing, so I'm off the hook!

This Week's Goal

Well, I started on my two-color green & white quilt this last weekend - got all of the squares cut...boy, did that take some time...I ONLY needed about 600 squares! But, as I was getting ready to start sewing them I was reminded of my huge stack of quilts to bind, so I have decided that will be this week's goal. I am going to get as many of my quilts bound this week as possible. Hopefully, I can cut the list in half! Wow, wouldn't that be great. Some more things that I can check off the list! I don't mind binding but it's definitely not my favorite, which is why I always put it off....it's just so time-consuming, especially for a larger quilt. But, I am ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOWED TO START SEWING ANY NEW QUILTS until I have finished binding...we'll see how that goes. Have a great week and happy quilting!!!

Two-Color Quilt

Back in April, when it was supposed to be Spring but still felt very cold, I was in the mood to make a bright quilt - since it was so dreary outside. I went shopping for fabric and saw all of these really great green ones! I love how bright and cheery they seem, not to mention that they run the whole spectrum of light to dark. I especially love the green and blue paisley one on the right end, so I bought extra of that one.

They have been sitting in my sewing room for the past few months patiently waiting for me. I am now ready to get started...yeah!!! Better late than never, as they say. I think I'm going to do small half-square triangles in a scrappy look with three borders. The total size will be about 60" by 60", give or take a little as I haven't figured out all the measurements yet. I have a white-on-white fabric that I bought for it too, but it's not in the picture. So enough blogging for today...time to get sewing!!! =)

Itchin' to be Stitchin'

With it being summertime and all, life tends to be a little busier than usual, which is good, but I'm really craving some sewing/quilting time. Every day that I walk by my sewing room and see my sewing machine sitting there all alone, I really want to leave everything else undone and just go sit and sew for hours. It's like my sewing machine calls out to me...it misses me too, I think. =) Most nights when I go to bed, no matter how tired I am or how late it is, there is always a part of me that says 'go sew; you can sew now!', but I know that I really need all the sleep I can get, so I reluctantly ignore that voice - no matter how badly I want to sew.

I really love to sew and quilt and I'm so glad I stumbled into this hobby about 7 years ago! I love that it gives me a creative outlet and lets me relax while sorting out the events of the day or just thinking about things that are going on in my life. It is also a great connection with people and keeps me in touch with old friends and neighbors. I love the satisfaction of knowing that I took some pieces of fabric and with a little creativity, stitching, and proper placement made a beautiful treasure.

I'm sure every quilter has their favorite quilts that they've done. Most of my quilts I've given away as gifts, but at my husband's request I'm starting to keep more and more of them. Probably my most favorite quilt that I've ever made was the one I made for my cute little niece, Mila (picture of quilt on left). The pattern is called Hugs 'n Kisses, for the X's and O's in the quilt blocks. The quilting on it is absolutely beautiful (I didn't do the quilting, only the piecing, backing, and binding - I sent it out to be quilted). I love the colors and the way it turned out, even without borders - it looks somewhat old-fashioned to me. I have mixed feelings about borders - I like them, but only when a quilt really needs it, and I don't think this quilt needed them.

Well, the weekend is coming up and I'm hoping to get in some well-deserved sewing/quilting time. I've got lots of quilts to finish! =)

I'm Surrounded by Athletes!

It's official! Everyone is athletic but me! I am just not a runner...I've had people tell me that I can walk faster than I can run because when I run it's pretty much an up and down motion instead of forward - almost like when you run in place. But that's fine by me because I don't really enjoy running that much - I'd rather walk, or bike, or swim.

Last month on June 20th and 21st, my dad Gary, my brother Erik, and my sister-in-law Cheryl (Erik's wife) ran in the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay, with 9 other people on their team. The relay consists of hundreds of teams of 12 who take turns completing legs of the relay. It starts in Logan, goes down to Midway, and doubles back to end in Park City, for a total of 180.5 miles. It really seems to be a fun event - people decorate their vans (you're allowed two support vehicles), wear funny costumes, and then they have a big party at the finish line.

Being there to watch everyone's great athletic feats really makes you want to do something like that - what a great personal accomplishment! This was the third year competing for both my brother and my dad. For some reason, I don't have a picture of all three of them together (that's my cute little nephew Logan with his parents, Erik and Cheryl, in this picture). Every time I attend an event like this it always makes me want to do something like that, but then I wake up the next day and convince myself I could never do it - I run in place, remember!

Also, Rick has been competing in the weekly mountain bike race series at Sundance and Soldier Hollow. They are held every Wednesday and usually alternate weeks between venues. In fact, he just competed again last night at Sundance. He is in the beginner category, since this is a fairly new hobby for him, but eventually he'll advance to Sport, then to Expert B, and finally to Expert A. Right now I think beginner is pretty good for him. He only had to do one lap last night (which took him about 50 minutes to complete), whereas the Expert A had to do 2.5 laps (takes considerably longer, but not much since they are better trained and have been doing it a LONG time). It's always funny though, because Rick will finish and say something like "That was the hardest route yet...I thought I was going to throw up! It was great!!! I love this sport!" Silly guy! I am grateful, thought, that he has found a hobby that he loves and contributes to a healthy lifestyle.

We joke that his main goal is to finish before the "8-year old", or that's what we call him. Im sure he's really not 8, but he can't be older than 12, and he beats Rick every race, but not by much. I don't think it'll be too much longer before Rick passes him by, though!

In these pictures, everyone is getting ready to start - they race up a huge hill right off the bat and then have to race up the huge hill again in order to finish (after they go through the trail on the mountain, of course). Rick is near the back in the picture on the left, white shirt with blue sleeves, yellow highlight circle around his head (if you can even see it in the picture). The picture on the right is a close-up of him - look for the yellow arrow - that's Rick! The "8-year-old" is in the yellow jersey next to him.

Here's Rick just after he came off the mountain trail and is racing up to the finish line with another racer hot on his heels - go, Rick, go! In the picture on the right, Rick is coming back down after finishing...this is what relief looks like!

Happy Birthday to Ricky!!!

A couple of weeks ago, on June 28th to be exact, it was Rick's 34th birthday! We celebrated that day by attending Young Living Farm's Lavender Days in Mona, Utah. We had a lot of fun and it was relaxing to be out amongst the acres and acres of aromatic lavander. We ate lavender ice cream, enjoyed lavender lemonade and other yummy treats. We also attended a relaxing yoga class, which has inspired both Rick and myself to become regulars at a local yoga class in town.

We also saw a reptile show there, with some of the biggest amphibians and reptiles I have ever seen! One snake they had was 14 feet long and took 10 children sitting down next to each other to hold it. They also had a really huge turtle, as well as a very pretty, and very big, iguana, in addition to lots of others.

They also had professional jousting at the Lavender Days, which we thought was pretty cool and sometimes seemed a little scary...especially when one of their jousting sticks (not sure what they're really called) splintered into a million pieces when it struck the shield of the other jouster, and subsequently made that jouster practically fall of his horse - he was very slumped over when he got back to his end of the line and you could hear them asking if he was okay over and over again. Thankfully, he was okay and went on to joust again. They told the crowd that when the sticks hit each others' shields that it is equivalent to 2,800 pounds of pressure force. That's amazing...no wonder they worried if he was okay!!!

All in all, it was a pretty fun day!

Then, the next day, Sunday the 29th, we had a family birthday party for Rick. Everyone had a lot of fun playing basketball, ping pong, jumping on the trampoline, and just visiting around the campfire pit, as well as enjoying some delicious desserts. It was such a beautiful day and just the right temperature under the trees as Rick opened his presents. It's days like that when I'm reminded of how grateful that I am for families and for the fact that Rick is my husband, not just for this life, but for all of eternity - sometimes I feel like the luckiest girl in the world because he chose me to be his wife. He is a wonderful, amazing and talented person. He is so patient, calm, relaxed, easy-going -- pretty much my exact opposite in those regards, but even still we are also very much the same. I am grateful for those aspects in which we are different - that's what keeps me grounded and helps me to enjoy life. The years just keep getting better and better! Happy Birthday Rick!!! I love you always and forever!