Yippee! Yo Yos!

One of the projects from our Sister's Quilt Retreat was a Yo Yo flag. This was my niece Tresa's project. She wasn't able to come but she made us all a really cute kit containing a Clover Yo Yo Maker (the small size), red, white and blue fabric squares and a cute hand drawn pattern for us to follow. We worked on them in the evenings while watching TV and Gayle and I worked on them while riding in the car. Poor Kaye had to drive us everywhere and so she didn't get as much yo yo time. I have never really thought I would do a yo yo project. They always seemed like a lot of work...... but......if you use the Clover Yo Yo Maker they are SO easy. What a great gadget! As of this writing Connecting Threads is having a really good sale on the them. I suggest you get some for yourself.

This is my finished Yo Yo Flag. I love it! It was so fun and easy to do. The yoyos are about 1 inch in size and so the flag is about 10 x 7 inches.

We had so much fun making them that mom and I bought all of the other sizes too!

Clover has also made a Flower and a Heart Yo Yo Maker. There are two different sizes of these but we only bought one. You have to draw the line somewhere!

It was so fun making this project! I think I will make it again but with the extra small yoyos. Wouldn't that be so cute? Thanks, Tresa.

Olympic Fun

Well, they are almost over. Hasn't it been great? I wasn't able to watch every night but I loved the nights I could watch. Of course I mean the 2008 Olympics. I know this has nothing to do with quilting but I couldn't let the Olympics pass without at least a nod from me. Well done Michael Phelps! Nice try, Canada! (that goes out to my niece, Denise)

So, before we say, "We'll see you in four years!" I wanted to share a video I found on another blog. This is Paul Hunt of Murray, Utah at the 1988 Olympics. Funny, funny, funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO_BnsrWMnI


Oh yeah! We'll see you in four years!

Postcards from Canada

It has been a busy couple of weeks since we had the Sisters Quilt Retreat and I have finally found a few minutes to tell about it. We had a great time! Lots of time to talk and laugh and quilt and knit and shop hop and sight see and......well you get the picture. The time just flew by and each day brought something fun and new to do. Gayle and I drove up on Saturday, July 19th, her birthday. We thought the 12 hours would really drag but because we really don't get to see each other very often we talked the whole way and before we knew it we were pulling in Kaye's driveway in Lethbridge. We were so excited to be together! Kaye had our rooms ready and even had a mint on our pillows! We each had our own room (thanks Eric!) and I felt so pampered.

On monday the Retreat officially began and we each presented our projects. We decided when we would work on each of them and planned out the week. Kaye had some great ideas on places to see. I was so happy we were together and that I could have a whole week of sisters and quilting that I was up for anything and everything!

There is so much to tell that I have decided to tell about one project per blog and post a picture of the finished project.

My project was quilted postcards. I thought it would be fun to send some postcards home from Canada. This is something that has been popular for a few years and I never really thought I would ever do them but I felt like this was a good opportunity to try them. I bought a couple of books and even practiced a little. I was surprised at how easy they really are. According to the books you can really send them in the mail if they are only 1/8 inch thick. They suggest that you have them hand canceled at the Post Office. We forgot to do that on the two we mailed but they made it home just fine. The hard part was deciding what fabric to take so that we had a variety of things to choose from. I took a LOT of fabric and had to endure some good natured teasing about it but I think it was fun to have many choices. Here are some pics.

This is the practice postcard I made at home. You can't see them very well but there is a crystal on each of the bows.

This is the postcard Kaye made for our mom. Really cute buttons! We didn't mail this one because of the buttons. We just brought it home and gave it to her.

I made this one for my daughter Emily and mailed it from Canada. It arrived in the mail with Vanessa's about ten days after I mailed it. She performed in the Wizard of Oz at her high school this year.

I made this for my daughter Vanessa and mailed it from Canada also. She has a cat named Pre.

This is the back of Vanessa's postcard. You can see where it went through the machine and the postage was canceled. Cool!

Gayle made a couple of really cute postcards for her granddaughters and started some others for her grandsons. Kaye made a really pretty one for her daughter's friend that took care of their house and garden when they came to Utah.

I'm so glad we decided to do this and made it happen. I know it will become one of my fondest memories. Thanks for all of your hard work, Kaye, and for hosting the First Annual Sisters Quilt Retreat! I hope we can do it again next year.

The First Annual Sisters Quilt Retreat

I have two sisters. No, make that two really great sisters! My oldest sister, Gayle, lives in Utah too but about 2 hours away from me. My next oldest sister, Kaye, lives in Alberta Canada. Many hours from me! We all lead very busy lives and consequently don't get together very often. Usually it's Kaye and her family that come here to see us about once a year. Well, this year Gayle and I are driving to Canada to Kaye's house and we are having the First Annual Sisters Quilt Retreat. I call it that in the hopes that we will have a 2nd Annual, a 3rd Annual, a 4th Annual and so forth. I can't think of anything more fun than being with family and there is something really special when it's the sisters getting together. It's been several years since we have all been in Canada together and so I look forward to a really fun time. The only disappointment is that our mom can't come as well. She loves to quilt too and has the greatest stash in the world! It's the envy of us all.

Since this Retreat is at Kaye's she is in charge of the itinerary for the week. She has asked that we each pick a project that we all will do. We are supposed to bring all of the supplies needed for the project. I am keeping my project a secret. I like surprises! But I've decided to give a little teaser. The picture is of some of the fabrics we may use. Some are from my stash and some are from mom's. It's going to be so fun!

A Quilt for Oliver

We have had a couple of very busy weeks around here. I have so many things I want to blog about but I thought today I would show you the baby quilt I made for my nephew's baby. It was really fun to make and it went really fast because it was a preprinted panel. I added some borders and a nice flannel back. I fussy cut the animals for the blocks in the four corners from the backing fabric. For some reason I had trouble with the horse. The first time I made the block I cut off part of his back-end. Not much, but enough that it bothered me. I heard somewhere that if it bothers you so much that every time you look at the quilt that's all you see that you had better take it out. It bothered me that much. I did ask my non-quilting daughters what they thought and Emily said it was fine and "really cute" but Vanessa said, "Oh yeah, that would bother me too." So I pieced it again. I guess we all have our "bother" point and I did feel much better having taken the time to do it again. I used a polyester batt that was a little bit heavier than I have used before and so it was thicker and fluffier. I think it will be nice to lay the baby on. I'm encouraged to use that kind again. Welcome to the world baby Oliver!

The First

Aren't firsts always scary? The first day of school, your first date, your first kiss, your first job, your first fight as a married couple, your first pregnancy, your first day home with your first baby, and so on. So now I am starting my first blog and I will admit, I'm scared! It's a little scary to decide to let people read about my life. What will you think of me? Will you be bored? Will you quit reading after the first blog? All fears I have.

Despite all of that I decided to set aside all of my fears and jump in! This blog will be mostly about my journey as a quilter, a quilt pattern designer and a partner, with my sister Kaye, in a business for quilters called Patchplay. All things I am excited about and excited to share with you.

If you read my sisters blog, Patchplay With Me!, you will find out about how we got started and why we are calling ourselves Patchplay. We are doing things when and how we can given that we live so far apart and in two different countries! It feels as though sometimes we move at a tortoise' pace and other times we are like the hare, we can't talk or write fast enough about all of our ideas. We want to share our journey with you in the hopes that it will keep us motivated to keep going when we have little time, little resources and little fears. I think the Tortoise' motto, "Slow and steady wins the race!" will become our mantra. Any encouragement from you, the readers, will be welcome and appreciated.

Today is Mother's Day in the U.S. and so I can't finish without wishing all of you mothers, and especially my own, a Happy Mother's Day! It's been a happy day for me. All of my children are home and we have had a great time together. I have a really great family, not only my own but the one I grew up in! Next time I will tell you a little about them. So, until then, find some time and some fabric and play!