It did snow . . .

This is what we woke to this morning - tried to take the picture in the same place as yesterday when the snow wasn't get "sticking". I think we ended up with a bit over 6 inches It has been very coo all day and it is supposed to get really cold overnight as it has cleared off.

I went to our art group gathering tonight. It is a group that comes together once a month and some share work they have done. . . some don't. I rarely share anything, but I do enjoy seeing the work of others. Tonight we did have a good, but rare, discussion about what we could do in the future to have a few work sessions. It will be interesting to see where that goes. As in all quilt groups that I have known there are a few who are very outspoken and maybe not real flexible - and they seem to set the direction of the group. The rest of us just show up and mostly keep our mouths shut. Once a year or so the group does have a show and this spring there will be a showing of some of the work at the Pioneer Museum. It should be a good show. I had thought I would show the small wall hanging of heavy quilting I did just before Christmas, but it doesn't feel right to show it so I have decided not to - not the right fit for this show.

Snowy springtime . . .

Great big snow flakes have drifted down off and on all day. There may be a couple inches by morning and it will continue off and on tomorrow. The mountains will see more. As you can see, the grass has just started to green, but there will be no leaves on those trees for another couple weeks at the least. It is colder than normal.

I have been writing my blog in segments to see if the subtitle still fits. I have not had anything related to the "food" part yet - but that might come. I want to continue with the segments for a while.

Fiber . . . I did a quick visit to day to 4 quilt shops. I want to start doing more customer quilting again as I haven't done much for the past couple years. I actually didn't ever plan to take new customers again. I kept quilting for a few customers I had had for quite a few years. But, I have had some new customers come my way recently. When I took this finished table runner to our Breakfast Club quilting group where we started them, I had several requests for quilting. I did quilt one other members table runner and it was well received. I have given it some thought and I have come to realize that I have thoroughly enjoyed quilting for customers again. So I am off again to get a few more new customers.

I am trying two things to see if I can bring in some new customers. The first thing I am doing is to personally hand out a special business card that is specific for 20% off "edge to edge" quilting. This ends on June 30th. I will pass these out next week at Breakfast Club and I have given them to a few previous customers. The second thing I am doing is to revisit a couple local quilt shops and let them know that I am in the business for new business again. I gave each of them a little card worth one free quilting on a sample/display quilt to be used in the shop. I will see what happens from that. I enjoy quilting and I particularly like quilting shop samples as the quality is very good and the patterns/fabric are current and fun. And, it is a way to help out our local shops where things are not quite so economically flush.

Friends . . . Today I returned the quilt I showed yesterday. She is a new quilter and we were very good friends 35 years ago while in graduate school. I was a young, divorced mother with two young sons. Last night I was awake in the middle of the night for some time struggling with the thinking that I wished I could have provided my boys with a more stable growing up environment. Today, as this quilter/friend and I were reminiscing about those days long past, she said, "You were such a dedicated, loving mother to those boys." Without even thinking, tears just rolled down my cheeks. It was such good medicine after a sleepless night. No coincidence - but rather a special blessing.

Low and slow . . .

When I am tired - or at least think I am tired, I like to "fly low and slow" - that was the way it was today.

Fiber . . . I finally got my April block done for the online group block of the month. These are all batiks in various reds, a couple blacks, light pink, and oranges. I really like them. I am not sure how many I will get done - these three might be it and they would make a nice table runner, huh? We started in February so the second picture shows the three blocks together.

Friends . . . When we were in Flagstaff on our way home a couple weeks ago, we met a wonderful family from Australia. They flew over to the west coast, purchased a motorhome with a tow behind car and are spending most of a year touring the USA. They have three young boys - twins who are 7 and a 9 year old. We invited them to come see us as Yellowstone Park was on their "must see" list and we so close to the park. Today they called and will be here sometime this week. We hope they will stay and celebrate Easter with us here. I did tell them that there is still a lot of snow in the park, but at least some of the roads are open. I am not sure they are prepared for spring in Montana.

Family . . . I am going to Missoula later this week to pick up Mom and bring her back with us to enjoy Easter together. We will have a brunch here with an egg hunt for the little guys.

Fun . . . I watched a few basketball games in the past couple days as it is the start of the NBA playoffs. I have a couple favorite teams and if I don't watch during these first games, they may be gone. I enjoy watching San Antonio, Denver, Portland, and Boston - so I will see how far they all manage to get. All of the games that I watched were really good ones.

Wonderful day . . .

Fiber . . . First off, I finished my first pantograph design using the software "Art and Stitch". I tested it yesterday on some muslin and made some adjustments so it would stitch smoothly. Today I used it on a new customer's quilt. She made this sampler in a class at one of our local shops and she wanted it quilted so it would be "soft" and not very much quilting with thread that "really blends". I think this looks good and I hope she will like it. She and I were graduate students together over 30 years ago. She retired a few years ago as well, but she just started quilting.

Family . . . Fun . . . Food . . . This evening we went to Stan and Rainy's for a yummy supper. Rainy fixed the best baked chicken with brocolli and couscous. She has a wonderful caprese salad and for dessert she had black bean brownies with ice cream. It was all wonderful and very Weight Watchers friendly. The purpose of the evening was to celebrate Bob's birthday which was really in March while we were in Arizona. It was a really special evening with very special loved ones.

Friends . . . And then a major "ah-ha" for me this morning. Friendship should not be so hard! If it is hard work to be a friend, then it is not meant to be. Sometimes when you meet someone, things seem to really click with humor and common interests. And then, it seems I end up doing all of the work to maintain the "friendship". Today, I finally realized that I just plain try too hard and true friendship should not be so hard. Good friends are a blessing and a gift. But, I must remember that not all situational acquaintances are meant to become true friends. They may be enjoyable and even inspirational - but should be enjoyed for the moment and then let go into the wind. Life just got so much simpler!

Whew . . .

Where does the time go? And why is every minute of it so much fun? I feel like a teenager in the summer.

Well - I guess life is good, huh?

I have been in the deep end with my quilting and grandkids for the past week since we got back. I love time with the little guys and when they are not here, then I am in my studio or meeting with customers and getting around to the quilt shops to let them know I am back. Life is good for sure!

I have been doing quite a lot of digitizing and testing patterns. It is so much fun, but now I need to get a couple customer quilts done. Pictures later - promise!

If you need - or want - anything digitized, just let me know. I am using Art and Stitch and can save in any quilting or embroidery format.

home again . . .

We got home this afternoon. We enjoyed our time visiting the area around the Grand Canyon and a couple days in southern Utah where we connected with some good friends who had also been in Arizona and were on their way home.

After a quick trip to the post office, I stopped and picked up my Weston and Walker for a fun few hours. We did a little shopping . . . a little supper . . . lots of laughs and some great hugs.

It is good to be home. But the memories of the past 6 weeks are luscious!

Off to enjoy more wonderful moments.

Still on the move - a little . . .

We are moving north - slowly - and we are still in Arizona. We came up to Flagstaff yesterday. We are in a nice campground so we took off with the jeep today and drove the loop to see the south rim of the Grand Canyon. I had not ever seen the Grand Canyon and I was so humbled that I started to cry. So much emotion about how little we really matter.

Our time in the Mesa/Chandler area was wonderful. We were on the run every day visiting with friends - old and new - and seeing lots of sites.

But, that hectic pace and two days of traveling have caused us to say, "What is the hurry?". We really don't have to be home on any certain day so we might just hang out here for a bit longer.