HE HAS RISEN

At Easter and always, may you feel HIS presence, know HIS peace, and rejoice in the gift of HIS life.

HAPPY EASTER

QUILT SHOW

This weekend was the Umpqua Valley Quilters' Guild quilt show. On Thursday we spent the entire day setting up everything. There were over 300 quilts entered so it was an all day project. I spent the morning setting up the General Store. Members make quilt related items for sale. It's a great way to earn money for the guild. When that job was done I helped set up The Sewing Basket booth. This was the first time the store had a booth at a quilt show and it turned out to be a lot of work and worth it every minute of it. The pictures below are quilts created by the featured quilt artist Cassandra Williams. She is from Grants Pass. Her work is incredible. Who would have thought you could do all this with fabric?

Since we just moved here in September I am not aware of what kind of Spring or Summer flowers are planted in the yard. Everyday I find a little surprise somewhere around the house.

I love the tulips. In the fall I will plant more. They last a long time in the garden and make a great cut flower to brighten up the inside of the house.

Last week we celebrated Mary's birthday. We took her and Larry to dinner and came home for cake and ice cream. This is the cake I made for her. I thought the squiggles down the side resembles the meandering we do on our quilts.

This is why we don't let our non-quilting husbands in our quilt studio's. This guy was getting way too much attention.

This is a shot of The Sewing Basket booth. We sold kits, fat quarters, notions, patterns. We did very well and made some new customers who haven't visited the store yet.

These are some pictures of some of my favorite quilts. I can't post all of them but I wanted to share some of my favorites.

I love the rich colors of brown in this one. They incorporated embroidery in it.

Mary did this wall hanging. I couldn't get a picture without the glare of the lights. She got a third place ribbon for this work of art.

This quilt was done by my friend Cheryl. This is her second quilt. I think she almost fainted when she found out she got a second place ribbon. She is such a natural when it comes to quilting. She is working on a wedding ring quilt for her daughter's wedding. I can't wait to see the finished quilt.

This quilt was done by Barbara and she got a third place ribbon. I think it should have gotten first or second place. She started this at a retreat in Gold Beach a year ago, as did I. I put mine aside and she kept working on hers. I know what work and skill went into this one. Good job Barbara.

So there you have it, a few of my favorite things. Today the sun is out and it's going to warm up. The Plant and Garden Expo is coming up on May 7 so I want to get my gardens ready for some new color. We sure have a lot of weeds here. I'm also looking forward to Easter and I have some preparations for that.

Have a blessed week.

APRIL GREETINGS

I've finished writing out checks, balancing bank accounts, wrapping a present, signing a birthday card, getting ready for a BD party tomorrow, cleaning my desk, etc. and it's already 10:00 a.m. and I haven't touched the surface. So why an I posting on this blog when I have so much to do? Because I'm retired and I should have plenty of time for blogging. NOT! I'm always so busy, but I'm having so much fun. Our weather has been very mild with some scattered showers so I've been doing some gardening. Every week I find a floral surprise in the yard. The people we bought this house from really enjoyed planting bulbs. I'm loving it and this fall there will be more to come. Meanwhile, Friday a car load of us took a field trip. We visited a great little quilt shop in Canyonville. This purse pictured below was made from the pant leg of a pair of jeans and the daisy's are painted on. The lining on the inside has lots of pockets for organizing your things. This will be a new class and the Sewing Basket. I bought the pattern and some fabric for this wall hanging. I will make my with two additional circles and use it has a table runner. I'm thinking this might be a great X-mas gift. It's never too early to plan.

I love this little rabbit. I'm not going to make, only because I don't have a place to hang it but I think it is so cute. There are some beautiful panels available and I would to love to buy them all.

The lady working at this quilt shop was showing this quit she made for a challenge. I wish you could see the embellishments. It was very long so I'm showing only two rows. She let me take a picture of it and was really flattered that I asked. What's up with that? Her creativeness and workmanship is fabulous. She had so much detail, like beads around their necks and tiny buttons.

This is a picture of a pincushion we saw at Thistleberries in the little town of Riddle. It's a great quilt shop and the people who owned lived in Alaska and have items from there. The doll heads are made of wood. They were very cute.

So I have been busy in the garden, at the sewing machine, quilting with friends, and running around Oregon with friends. I'm having way too much fun. So I'm off to work. I have lots of stuff to get done.

Have a blessed week.