Happy Anniversary!

Thirty-nine years ago we got married, at the Fort Carson Hospital Chapel in Colorado Springs.  We were both in the service and I was stationed there. 

 These cacti blossomed for us today!  They are so beautiful, but also short-lived.  

Our friends have a beautiful, inspiring yard.  There is a lot I want to do in our yard when we get back home. 

 We really need some walls to create protected areas for plants.  The plants we moved to the east side of our house when we built the sun room are doing so much better, protected from the prevailing winds. 

House and pet sitting!

We had a great trip to Tucson to house sit and dog sit for our friends while they vacationed in Panama. 

We took the slightly longer route through the mountains and were rewarded with poppies blossoming. 

Before we left I did laundry as usual.  When I went to reach in my clothespin bag, I felt some weeds.  Since we had had some severe winds, I figured a tumbleweed had been blown in there.  Instead what I discovered was a well built bird nest.  Fortunately there were no eggs in it yet.  I'm sure it's likely a house finch nest.

 

Fourteen delivered!

I was able to finish a total of fourteen quilts to deliver to Dr. Kaufman!  She was most happy to get them and had a teenager in the hospital that she wanted to give a quilt to.

This is one I put together with my own leftovers.  It was just alright.

I used a hockey patterned flannel backing so it would be suitable for a boy.

This was the last of the blocks Sherry gave us. Pat put this one together.

I made this top with a jelly roll that Jonna gave us.  It was my entry in the Phoenix retreat lumberyard challenge.  It didn't win, but I'm sure will brighten a child's day.

I used a black backing and quilted it with gray thread in a spiderweb pantograph.  The border fabrics had spiderwebs in it.
 

 

Sunrise, moon set, and a quilt from leftovers

We're still getting beautiful sunrises. They throw a pink glow and light towards the setting moon, which is easier for me to photograph.  

Pat put together this top from pieces and parts leftovers donated to us.  I think it turned out great.

I had the perfect backing for it in my stash.  Love when that works out.

Reached goal

Today I finished two more quilts, and I now have a dozen quilts to deliver to Dr. Kaufman this week.  

Among the finishes this past week was this frog quilt, which I put together with paper pieced blocks from Judy H.  I think it came out really cute. 

 

The backing is solid red, though it doesn't look like it in these pictures, and I used a frog pantograph by Dave Hudson.

Pat put together this top with blocks from Sherry.  There must have been a lot of blocks in this swap because I still have one more top with these blocks to quilt.  

 Oops, when I joined the backing fabric, some of the fish are swimming upside down!

 

More finishes

I've been working on my pile-o-quilts that I have to quilt.  This lovely quilt from Tove was already finished!  

  Sherry gave Pat and I so many blocks from a long ago swap she did.  I put one together with appliqued blocks, and Pat has done a great job with these blocks.

I have two more tops made with these blocks to quilt that Pat put together.


This one, I put together with blocks from Yetta.  I quilted it using a truck pantograph and am hoping some young boy will like it.
 

This is another quilt made from the Jacob's ladder blocks that Kathi E. gave us last year.  I haven't even started quilting all the tops I got this year at the Phoenix retreat.

I used my new owls pantograph which I'll be using to quilt Pat's quilt, and wanted some practice.  I love Judy Lyon's designs and have my eye on her new Egyptian inspired pantographs.   

Sunrises, sunsets...

Yesterday morning the day dawned with clouds and the mountains were all cloaked in snow.  We got a nice third of an inch of much needed rain.  

I see a jellyfish in this cloud formation. 

The snow is still there this morning, but clouds in in the eastern horizon made it another winter morning spectacle.  

 

Pat and I sewed on Friday.  She is nearly done with the baby quilt for her niece she started at the retreat in Phoenix.  I love this quilt!

I finished quilting the two Hungry Caterpillar quilts Pat had put together.  I used Lotsa Ladybugs, pantograph which worked well.  I thought there was enough backing to do two more of the caterpillar quilts--but there wasn't, so I didn't have to feel guilty about not getting my two done from the fabrics Melody gave us! 

I'm starting to get a stack of quilts to deliver to Dr. Kaufman.

Sunsets have been pretty spectacular as well, with this one a couple of days ago.  I love our light shows, twice a day!  We're sewing again today, so I better get.