Almost September

Oh, my gosh, tomorrow is September 1!

This past weekend we went camping with our sons and their families at Big Lava Lake in Central Oregon. There were such lovely views of the mountains, and it was a very relaxed, enjoyable time. One son has a bed for us in their trailer, so it works out great for us.

I never did post about our trip to Seattle with our DGDs. We had a lovely time and they were well behaved. We went up in the Space Needle and then they went on quite a few rides at the Seattle Center. They also went to a park and to the Children's Museum, so had a full couple days. Aubrey (9) is on the left, and Tylee (7) is on the right.

Quilting-wise, I have been so frustrated with my Juki, which I only use for the actual machine quilting process. Thankfully, there is a store that sells and services machines just a couple milse from home. First there were serious tension problems and problems with skipped stitches. They got the tension f ixed, but the skipped stitches have been a nightmare. It will skip a half-inch or so, and connect for one stitch or a few, and skip again. Finally, they are ordering a part, and I sure hope it takes care of the problem. It has been more than frustrating. Having the quilting issues does mean that I have been pretty successful in getting some piecing done, so that is a plus, I guess.

Today's ramblings

Oh, my, where does the time go?

We have gone and watched our oldest grandson's football practice a couple times. He is quite a good little player, and yes, I'm prejudiced, but he really is. He also is playing "fall ball," which is baseball, and he has a game Sunday.

I can't believe how fast the summer is going. The kids will be back in school before we know it, and boo hoo, we have picked the last of our blueberries. We enjoy them for a couple months in the summer, and then presto, summer is nearly gone, and it's back to berries from the freezer. However, there are still fresh peaches, so that's a huge plus! Gravenstein apples will be at the farmer's market probably this week, and I want to buy a box and make applesauce in my crockpot. Yum-yum!

Next week we will take our two granddaughters to Seattle for a couple days. They are beside themselves with excitement. I hope the trip lives up to their expectations. Seattle is such a pretty city, right on the Puget Sound.

The beautiful days have made it a joy to get out and walk for a while. We have a much harder time pushing ourselves in the winter, when we have so much rain, and it's cold. Maybe we just look for excuses to stay hunkered down inside, do you suppose?

My Juki is in the hospital hopefully getting its tension issues and skipping stitch issues resolved. I certainly have found plenty to do in the interim. I put together my guild row quilt, and I am making the braids for my second French Braid. I want to have both French Braids ready to give to our two sons and daughters-in-law for Christmas, or if I can't wait, sooner. I THINK I can do it!

Darling granddaughters

Well, I said I would post pics of my cutie-pie DGDs all dressed up and made up at Tylee's birthday part at the tea house on Saturday. Tylee is the one with the crown, and Aubrey is the other little girl. Tylee just turned seven and Aubrey had her ninth birthday a month ago. They just looked so cute and had such a good time.

The first thing they do is pick out shoes, dress, jewelry, etc. and get dressed. Then comes hair, makeup and nails. After that they take pics and then have the tea party and the gifts. It is all so cute, and the little girls just love it.

What fun!

I started this post earlier and did something dumb, and lost it, so I will try again and hope to avoid whatever it was I did.

Yesterday was a day pretty much filled with the four grandchildren being here. We had a very large fort constructed in our living room, with quilts, chairs toys, the couch, etc. I do wish I had taken a picture, as it was quite impressive. Each of the kids had their own "room," which involved, of course, quite a bit of crawling to get to. And then, of course, they each had to have an assortment of toys in their "room," so we had quite an assortment of stuff spread all over. All too soon, the kids will be too old for things like this, so we need to enjoy it while it lasts.

Today is our darling Tylee's seventh birthday. There was a birthday party at a tea house near here for her and her little girlfriends today. They dress up in dress up clothes and shoes that are there, and then have their hair, nails and makeup done. They looked so cute. Then they have "tea," which consists of lemonade and little snacks suitable to their age group. (No cucumber sandwiches there!!) I will plan to post a picture another time of Tylee and her cousin Aubrey there, all dressed up. Before we know it, they will be doing their own hair and makeup. Time goes so fast.

We're nearing the end of our blueberries in our back yard. We have four bushes and have enjoyed a very good crop this year. We will go back to frozen berries when the home grown ones are gone.

I think Dick and I will go to the beach Monday or Tuesday and spend a night there. It's about two hours from home, and the weather should be just wonderful. We have some friends staying there all week, so we'll spend a little time with them and walk and walk and eat and eat, and just relax a bit. The Oregon coast is just drop-dead gorgeous, so if you ever get a chance to see it, you should take advantage of the opportunity.

At the top of the Space Needle

These two handsome lads are our two DGSs. We took them to Seattle this last week for a couple days. We saw a Mariners/Boston Red Sox game and they swam at the motel.

The next day we played at Green Lake Park and then went up in the Space Needle. That was a super experience, but Anson (the little one) thought we were going on the space shuttle, so he was a bit disappointed. We had lunch at the cafe, and the kids rode a few rides that are there at the Seattle Center. Dick rode the log flume and roller coaster with Tanner, and I rode some other thing that goes very, very fast. Anson rode some little kid rides, and was pretty thrilled with the little rockets he rode. Maybe that made up for not going on the space shuttle, I'm not sure. :-)

Our weather has been awesome - not too hot and not too cool. We got out and took a nice walk this evening. Tomorrow Dick is going golfing and I will stay with two of our DGC so our son can go with Dick.

I am working on completing a couple throw pillows. I embroidered birds for the center, and then am doing log cabin-type piecing around the birds. They are for two good friends. One is blue and one red.

We have really been enjoying our back yard this summer. Most mornings we go out with our coffee and look at the paper, and then eat quite a few meals out on the patio. I know, it's a rough life.

This quilt is probably my most rewarding so far. It had quite a bit of hand applique, which I enjoyed, and the piecing was challenging. It seemed to go on forever. I finished it in January of 2008. The pattern is Spring Beauty by The Rabbit Factory - yes, The Rabbit Factory!!

My first post

Oh, goodness, where do I start.

I am a wife, mother, and grandmother. I have been married 41 years to a terrific man, and have two sons and daughters-in-law. We all live in a Portland, OR suburb. One son and his wife and two DGC live across the street, and the other son and his wife and two DGC live a little over a mile from us, so I am very, very lucky in that regard. Each family has a boy and girl. Their ages range from four to ten. We see a lot of all four, and enjoy them immensely.

I first start quilting in about 1979, and did a few things, and then never went back to it until 1998, when the first grandchild was on the way. I made quilts for each of the grandchildren, and then when the third one was on the way in 2001, I took a beginning quilt class, and I have been hopelessly addicted ever since. I have made a lot of quilts, and enjoy every aspect of the process. I like to piece, paper piece, applique (both machine and hand), redwork, and quilt. I do my machine quilting myself on my Juki. I've made small and very large quilts.