August Update

In August we went up into the mountains for a family reunion with my extended Frankman family.  Many of my cousins and their families slept in cabins, but I prefer my own bed and since it was only 1 hour away, we opted to go up early on Saturday.  Most of the time was spent eating and talking family history.  We did do some paddle-boating on the lake.  There were canoes too, which looked much faster and more fun.  But Brian and I have tried a canoe and had a difficult time steering.  Since we would have our kids with us, we went the safe route.  Truthfully, it was tiring and a little boring.  :)  We will have to be more brave next time and try out the canoes.

Brian, Tanner and Eric played some Horseshoes.  

And here is a fun picture of my cousin's son in traditional Mongolian clothing.  He recently returned from serving an LDS mission there in Mongolia.  He sang for us in their native language.  My cousins brought a map and marked where all the children/grandchildren/great grandchildren had served missions.  We had pretty much covered the globe.  It was really neat to see that.  Grandma and Grandpa Frankman would be proud!

Another exciting, but less fun, experience in August was Tanner's stay in the hospital.  Isn't this photo sad.  ):  I kind of feel like a mean mom for having taken the picture at all.  

Tanner has asthma, which is usually not too bad.  He has had a few bad attacks brought on by the common cold.  Well, he got a cold, his breathing was not good, but I kept thinking he was getting better.  By the time I took him in to the doctor, his attack was too far gone and his little body was just too tired.  After doing breathing treatments in the doctors office, rather than his oxygen level going up, it went down.  By the time we left his oxygen was in the low 80's and they insisted we take an ambulance to the hospital so he could be on oxygen.  Tanner was so scared he didn't appreciate the experience at all.  (I didn't really, either, but I had hoped that he might think it was kind of cool.)  When he heard we had to go to the hospital he tearfully said "But I don't want to die."  It was so sad.  Just typing it makes me teary-eyed.

We got a little smile out of him once his brothers came to visit.  (And just a side note, when I took Tanner to the doctor I had left the older boys home.  I ended up calling a friend who took the boys to the park, fed them lunch, and kept them safe until Brian could get home.  I am so grateful for kind people!)  And Tanner had an even bigger smile one his cousins, Max and Zoe, came to visit.  Their visit was what really helped him perk up that day!

Below you see Tanner a day or two later -- no more oxygen.  Yay!  In order to leave the hospital he had to maintain a good oxygen level while sleeping.  On the third night he finally made it through with his oxygen mostly in the 90's.  Hooray.

Primary Children's hospital did a great job making the hospital experience as fun as possible.  They had an Xbox in the room, movies, toys, and very nice nurses and doctors.  They also had a playroom -- Tanner wasn't able to go until the last day when they were confident he didn't need oxygen so much.  He had a great time shooting hoops and moving around.  He certainly looks like a healthy boy here in this picture, huh?

One of the difficult things about this hospital stay was that school started that same week.  We went into the hospital on Monday and the older boys started school on Wednesday.  I was stressed about them being anxious because I wasn't home, but they did great.  Tanner had actually started school the week before -- so he went 2 days, then missed 5.  

Table Toppers

Sometimes it is so nice to whip up a quick project!  I bought this cute Boo Crew fabric last year after halloween.  Love it.  I made 2 of these Web Table Toppers.  The pattern is one I picked up in a local quilt Shop Hop, but I have seen it around online too.  I tried making it a couple years ago and my fabric selection was off and my seems did not match up at all.  Making it this time, I see I have improved!    

 

Then there is this table runner...it is quite long so I had a hard time getting the whole thing in the camera frame.  It is made of several "school" fabrics -- paper clips, lined note paper, puzzle pieces.  I made it for my sister-in-law who is a school teacher.  We finished it just before the family birthday party -- wrapped it up nicely -- and then left it on our kitchen counter.  So now it will be weeks late.  Bummer.

 

Fish Mountains Quilt - Finish Q3

Another finish for the Finish Along!  This quilt is for my brother -- it was inspired by his love of fishing and the outdoors.  The fabric is a Riley Blake fabric called "Trail Mix."   The pattern is on the Moda Bake Shop, called "S'more Mountains."  You may notice that the picture isn't taken in the usual spot on my back fence.  I wasn't home when I gave him this quilt, and realized I hadn't taken a picture.  Luckily we at least had a cell phone camera.  And how handy that there was a very pointy mountain down the road, there especially to match the quilt.  ;)

Can you see those fish in the pictures below?  I spotted this fabric online and figured I'd better use it for Dave's quilt.  Dave has loved fish ever since I can remember.  My dad is a fly fisherman and Dave has followed in his footsteps.  He also had multiple tanks of fish as a teenager.  I think he only has one or two now -- he is taking care of other things (4 children) instead of fish.  

You can't tell from these pictures, but the mountains are actually made of corduroy.  I love corduroy.  I ran out of the dark brown corduroy and so I threw in a few tan corduroy mountains.  I like the variety.

I had someone else quilt this one -- she suggested a woodgrain pattern.  It looks great...better in person. 

Things I learned:

1.  Love the corduroy, but the intersection points are a little bulky.  My quilter said it wasn't a problem, but I was worried.  Next time I use corduroy I'll want to remember that and pick a pattern with less bulky intersections.

2.  Bias Wonkiness -- the pattern warns about this, and has you create extra large blocks and then trim down.  It was a good thing because all that cutting on the bias did cause some distortion.  

I am linking up to the 2015 Finish-Along at On the Windy Side

and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.

Falling Persimmon Charms - Finish Q3

Another Finish for the Finish Along.  This is another quilt using the "Falling Charms" pattern by Missouri Star Quilt Co.  The fabric line is called Persimmon by Basic Gray.  And the back is a beautiful panel and yardage from Kate and Birdie's Autumn Woods line.  If you can believe it, I only paid $1.00 a yard for this fabric!  I should have bought the entire bolt!

Points I pondered while finishing this quilt:

1.  I had the backing yardage on hand, and was happy with how it looked with the front.  But after it had been quilted, I saw that the quilter used navy thread to match the front, and off-white thread to match the back.  You can see a lot of dots of navy on the back where the thread from the front pulled through.  I read once that it is very difficult to get the tension exactly right and so I don't blame the quilter.  I just need to remember not to use such a contrasting backing.  I already did it once on something I quilted myself.  Hopefully I don't make the same mistake 3 times!

2.  I machine bound this quilt.  I have tried this method before, and failed miserable.  And I didn't set out to machine bind -- but I accidentally sewed the first side (raw edge) of the binding to the back instead of the front.  Argh!  This meant I would have had to hand-bind to the front, and I wasn't sure if the stitching would be too obvious.  So I decided to try and machine bind.  I glue basted the binding onto the front, and went for it.  The glue basting helped, and if I ever machine bind again, I'll use that method.  But I still had a hard time keeping the binding straight and my stitch straight.  I also didn't have orange thread, so I used tan....it doesn't look horrible but you can definitely see it.  I enjoy hand binding and will continue with that method.

And in closing, say "Hello" to my very smiley preschooler.  It was his first day of school this week.  An hour before this picture he was quite worried about going to a new preschool.  While watching lunch we happen to watch Daniel Tiger on PBS -- he was going to school too.  Tanner perked up, sang Daniel Tiger's song..."First get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, put on shoes and go to school!"  He went off as happy as can be.  :)  When I picked him up and asked how it was, he said "At first it was kinda weird.  But then it was fun."

I am linking up to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday and Quilt Infatuation's NTT.
I am also linking up to 2015 Finish-Along at On the Windy Side.

July Update

On July 4th, we usually go to the Murray Parade with Brian's sister, but their family decided not to go this year.  Instead Brian and Eric washed the car while I took Andrew and Tanner to a new Splash Park.  It was great -- not many people there, probably because it was a holiday.  

In the evening we drove into the mountains and did some hiking.  It was 20 degrees cooler (yay!), and even though it was 75 degrees we still found a pile of snow that hadn't melted.  

Tanner has to "pose" in every single picture.  It is hard to get him just smiling.  Goofy Kid.

Eventually we arrived at a small lake -- it was a good hike.  I have always been a pretty poor hiker, even when I was in shape.  So now I my endurance was pathetic.  Andrew and Eric were so thoughtful on the hike....each taking turns to stay back with me to rest, and holding my hand on the steep parts.  (Luckily I didn't fall because I would've just taken them down with me!)  If I told them to go ahead, they would say "No, that's okay Mom.  It's not very fun to hike alone."  It touched me to see them being so thoughtful.

We enjoyed lighting off some fireworks when we got home.

We also started swimming lessons this month.  It has been great!  Tanner bravely jumped off the diving board.

My sister was in Park City with some of her kids and some of my brother's kids.  We went and hung out with them -- swimming at the Condo and then going to the Olympic Ski Museum.  Here are some of the kids piled into a Bobsled at the museum (Anna, Andrew, Tanner, and Eric.)

And Uncle John came to visit one weekend.  We went to Wheeler Farm -- a Historic Farm that we used to go to quite a bit when the kids were younger.  It was fun to go back and see all the animals.

Here in Utah we have a State holiday on July 24th -- Pioneer Day.  Since Brian had the day off we headed up to my parent's cabin in Island Park.  It was great.  It was much cooler -- in the 70's mostly, but the last day we left it was in the 40's and raining!!!  I loved it.  :)  My brother and his family were also there, and my sister came up for a day too.  

The first day we went into West Yellowstone and went to the Bear and Wolf Discover Center.  We got a close-up look at the bears.  Eric took some great pictures of them playing.  

 The rest of the days we spent at the cabin.  The kids had a great time playing on the lake and riding the 4-wheeler.  It was so nice having my brother and his family there because Max and Tanner are good friends and it really occupied Tanner well.

And I just had to throw in this last picture.  It is possibly the only picture that I have with Tanner simply looking at the camera (rather than doing a goofy pose.)  And of course, Eric had to do "bunny ears" on him.  Oh brother.

Falling Honey Charms - Finish Q3

Hooray!  Another finish for this quarter.  This pattern is from Missouri Star Quilt Company, called Falling Charms.  It is a really quick finish using Charm Packs and Jelly Roll strips.  I used a line of fabric "Bee My Honey" by Mary Jane.  I love this line of fabric.  It has bees, honeycomb, and even little honey dippers.

I have a couple of brothers who love honey so much that my parents bought honey in giant buckets.  When we would visit Seattle, while we girls were buying handmade jewelry at Pike's Place Market, my brothers would buy little straws of honey.  I think these memories are what makes me love this fabric so much!

Eventually, one of my brothers became quite interested in bees.  I remember him picking me up from work once and I asked what he'd been up to.  He told me he'd been at the library watching a documentary about bees. (This was pre-Internet...well, I think it was around, but not quite the fountain of knowledge it is today.)  He must have continued reading and studying, because eventually he decided to keep some bees of his own.  You can imagine the surprise when my parents got a call from the Post Office informing them they had a box of live bees that needed to be picked up immediately.  ha.  (I hope I'm remembering this correctly.)

This brother also has a pretty incredible garden -- so having this backing fabric for the quilt was perfect!  Not quite the right color of yellow, but given the theme, I used it anyway.  

Next I'm on to the Persimmon version of Falling Charms.  I prepped all this "persimmon" binding, and now I'm wondering if it's too stark against the navy background.  I have thought about finding a navy print for the binding instead, but since I have this prepped....it'll probably be orange.  Hope I like it!

I am linking up to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday and Quilt Infatuation's NTT. 

I am linking up to the 2015 Finish-Along at On the Windy Side.

May - June Update

I am sitting down to write a quick update, but I've already been interrupted twice (We have 5 places to sit in our living room, and only 3 boys sitting in there...yet, they have to sit in the same place I guess!  Argh.  At what age does one finally figure out it is easier to just give in and find a different spot?)  Anyway, we'll see how far I get!

We went to the Payson Temple Open House.  It was a lovely day and a beautiful experience.  It was very crowded though -- next time I will make sure to get there before the last day of the event!  

The week after school ended we went to Southern Utah and stayed at a condo in Brian Head (a ski resort) in Southern Utah.  The Ski Resort is high up in the mountains and the boys felt a little nervous driving up the canyon -- Tanner kept calling out "Death of Fall!" when we were drove past steep parts of the canyon.  Not sure where he got that phrase, but we all enjoyed it.  :)  It was very quiet at the condo and the kids enjoyed the pool.  

On the drive there we stopped at Cove Fort -- this is a "fort" built back in 1867 to assist those who were traveling through the mostly desolate region --  it was a sort of way station where people could spend the night, eat, send telegram messages, etc.  The fort itself is made of Lava Rock and Limestone and still stands solid today.  It was a great tour and had we come prepared with a picnic, I would have liked to stay a little longer in the shade of the trees and enjoy some lunch.  

Here you can see Tanner pretending to shoot through the holes of the fort -- they were there in case they had to defend themselves, but the missionaries told us that was never needed.

Before heading to Brian head we stopped in Cedar City for some groceries.  We also went to "Discovery Park" where the older boys played soccer and Tanner enjoyed the playset.

One day we went down to a place near Parawon where there are some dinosaur tracks.  Here Tanner has his hand on a track.  Eric is pretending the track is a horn I think.

There are a bunch of Petroglyphs just past the place where we saw the dinosaur tracks (well, really we just found 1.  I guess there are more, but we couldn't find them.) You can see some of them in the picture below on the rock just behind the boys....in person they are much more visible.

Brian has a Great Uncle who is buried in Parowan, so we stopped and aimlessly wandered around the cemetery.  We didn't find the grave, so we went to the DUP (Daughters of the Utah Pioneers) Museum and found some very resourceful ladies there.  They told us where to find the grave, plus took Brian over to see the house where his relative lived.  A couple of the ladies had even had Brian's Great Uncle for a teacher in high school.  You gotta love a small town!

We went to Bryce Canyon and enjoyed the amazing scenery there.  There was forecast in the rain, but it rained very little while we were there.  It was perfect weather for me because I really don't like the heat.  The clouds were cool too.  

Eric and Tanner were timid to get anywhere near the edge of the canyon.  So here they are at a safe distance.  They eventually felt comfortable enough to go up to the edge when there was a fence.  

In addition to Bryce Canyon, we went to Cedar Breaks.  It was really beautiful too.  The younger boys, by then, were tired of the routine and not too excited to jump out and see more red rocks.

Finish-Along Goals Q3

I've decided to make my list of goals a little more realistic this quarter.  I only finished 2 things last quarter, but there are a few that are very close....so maybe I'll go for 5 finishes this quarter.

1.  Solids Charm Quilt -- I have finished the top, and even started machine quilting it.  After only a few straight lines I had serious puckers.....ugh!  I either stink at basting or I stink at machine quilting.  Hopefully I'll figure out how to get it finished!

2.  Falling Charms Quilt: Persimmon -- This is at the quilters so I should manage to finish it!

3.  Falling Charms Quilt: Bee My Honey -- This is also at the quilters!

4.  S'more Mountains Quilt

5.  BOM Quilt

Okay, so I guess I'm just an unrealistic goal maker -- or maybe I just want to keep my options open?  Just two more:

6.  8 Zipper Pouches for gifts.

7.  Desert Quilt

I am linking up to the 2015 Finish-Along at On the Windy Side.

Bluebird Park Quilt - Finish Q2

This is my 2nd and last finish for last quarter.  I didn't do too well on my lengthy list of goals!  But at least I finished this!  I started it sometime last year, and may not have gotten back to it if not for the Finish Along.  

This is made from a Kate & Birdie line of fabric by Moda called "Bluebird Park."  As for the pattern, it is from the book called "We Love Color."  The original quilt was done with solids, which I really loved.  I thought this gentle curves pattern would look good with the fabric....kind of like a leisurely walk in the park. 

Things I learned:

1.  I chose this pattern so I could practice curved piecing.  The improv curves weren't as difficult as I expected.  It helped that they were improvised, so I didn't have to follow an exact curved line.

2.  I bought a bundle of Bluebird Park because I really like this line of fabric.  I don't often buy bundles and actually kind of wish I had just selected my favorite prints from the line.  (I think I would have pulled the yellow out.)

3.  Speaking of that fabric -- I really love the sketchy lines in the background.  Kate & Birdie lines often (always?) have that and I really like it.

I am linking up to the Finish Along Linky Party.