Four and Twenty Black-birds

Greetings from freezing cold WA....we have had freezing weather the past few days with a dusting of snow....my bird feeders are getting a workout with all those cold little birds looking for some lunch.

We have had hundreds of red-winged blackbirds in the yard...they fly in a cloud, all in unison, and eat bugs on the ground....then fly to the feeders for sunflower seeds for dessert. It is quite a sight, with the red of their wings flashing brightly as they fly around. I have been planning to make a quilt with red-winged black birds and flowers...but they flew so quickly I couldn't get a good picture.

Our Christmas was interrupted with Ken's cold...so we stayed home and I quilted and dug around in the studio. He is all better now, so we leave shortly for my brother's to spend New Year's. The sun is shining brightly even though it is very cold, in the teens.

The fish pond is frozen over, but the critters seem to take it all in stride. They don't even go into their little shelters.

We have much to be thankful for over this season, and hope you all have a wonderful holiday and bright and healthy new year. I hope to have some new quilts to post next week.

The quilt pictured is from my friend Lori. It was huge, but I got to quilt lots of my designs in....it was a fun quilt.

In the meantime...HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. judy

Where's the ARK??

This Saturday was our Longarm meeting and we had the pleasure of going to Jo Ann Blade's beautifully decorated for Christmas home. I posted a few pix including a sideways teddy...I don't know how to flip things....sorry. Where is my guru?? This past weekend was flood zone here in our area. My friend Liz had to call the fire department and get them rescued by boat....they are safe and dry in a motel in Darrington, WA. I didn't even know Darrington had a motel...I think they will get back home today, and thankfully the water just missed getting high enough to get into the house. They did move their cars to higher ground.

The rains finally have stopped, and our pond is way down since Ken had to pump out lots of water. It was just a couple inches from the top, and with the rain and warmer weather the fish were getting a bit active. It will be raining all week off and on I guess. Tomorrow my Goofballs come and we will make a field trip to OVer the Rainbow shop on Camano Island...be sure to check it out on the web...overrainbow.com I don't remember how to link, so you will have to do it the old fashioned way. They have such great fabric. I am following my guru's advice and putting the pictures on first....I need to put more but wonder if everything will get all messed up...so guess I better just send you all this little note for now, and more pix later. IN the meantime, I hope you all have a safe and dry winter, at least for awhile....and minimal snow for those of you who live in the snow belt. I guess it is hard to escape totally in those climes...I remember from MI and CT.....

I am trying to get my schedule ready to post on my website as soon as Jan gets back from her lovely trip down the Danube for a Victorian Christmas. Have fun quilting, and will write more later...judy

It's freeeeezing!!

two more lone stars...one out of some great Christmas fabric and the other from a newer line of grapes in fall colors...pretty neat. I want to make one with oriental koi fabric and some more with Christmas fabric.

The flag was frozen the moring we left Graham, WA at my brother's ....the Saturday after Thanksgiving.....

HI to all you hardy souls out there....seems like all we get here is freezing weather every nite and frosty windows and ground every morning. THe critters are all huddled up against the fence waiting for their breakfast. Poor Brooklyn is as the bottom of the pecking order, and she gets the leftovers!

I am working on my winter teaching schedule which I hope to post on my website in the next couple weeks....with the help of my website guru Jan. She loves to do that stuff...good thing, cuz I hate that stuff and don't know how to do it anyway. I have a beautiful quilt of hers to do soon....it is a raw edge floral, and will be fun to decorate with thread. Watch the blog and I will post it when it is finished.

We are right in the swing with all the guild Christmas parties...2 down and 3 more to go, as well as our museum board lunch and big meeting this month. Otherwise pretty quiet and time to quilt some of my stuff I hope.

Then, I plan to dig out the studio...I guess I should post before and after pix....it just seems like getting to the after is always so hard.

Guess I will post a couple of my latest quilts on today's blog, and then get on to some more lone stars. I am totally taken with that block, and have been collecting any lone star designs that catch my eye, especially if they are a bit more unusual. Just hope I have time to make all the ones that intrigue me. Hope you all have a warm and happy day.....till later...judy

HAPPY THANKSGIVING....a litle late!!

Moe will definitely need to get to the beauty parlor after this bad weather!
Some Thanksgiving day pictures....we have much to be thankful for. I am grateful to live in such a wonderful nation and that our armed forces are there to protect us....I am thankful for family and friends and of course, my wonderul husband. And thankful for the many blessings God has given us over the past year.....even the snow!

Happy Thanksgiving a few days later....we had an interesting week with about 4" of snow, icy roads, and our area tied up in traffic jams and accidents. My studio had frozen pipes, and we were just trying to keep things perking along in this storm. The critters did fine, and probably loved the cold weather, especially the alpacas.

Soooo, I had a hot dog for Thanksgiving Day dinner, and we waited till Friday to take our bird and trimmings to my brother's house south of here a couple hours. Ken did a masterful job of baking the bird....it was really pretty roasted to a golden brown. I tried a new creamy type pumpkin pie......I think I will go back to my standard recipe off the can of pumpkin. I think that one is still the best! All I care about is the mashed potatoes anyway.....I have to laugh as yesterday some guy was interviewed on the radio who went on a 60 day potato only diet...he even lost 20 pounds and his cholesterol dropped 40 points or so....he was from the Washington potato board or some such thing. Now we need an icecream only diet...I will be happy to research that one!

Well, the one good thing that came out of our belated Thanksgiving was that I did quite a lot of sewing. I am nearly finished with my bordered diamonds and a couple other quilts as well. I even did some of my quilts on the longarm!

Well, that is my holiday report....on to Christmas and NO SNOW, I hope.....have a great week...judy irish

It's About Time!!

mystery picture....ha....this was 13 years of thread that had wound around the wheels of my long-arm...Ron Paul said he was glad to see I actually used my machine....now, I am watching closely to see that I don't get thread in my tracks and around my wheels. It sured gave the gals in the class a big laugh!

our snow protector over the heat pump by my studio.
This sunflower quilt was my favorite in the Innovations show...I have lost the name of the artist, but will find it and give her credit. It is painted and stitched....TOTALLY FABULOUS.

HI all....I did try to post last week, but something crazy happened to my nice long letter, and it disappeared....so I will try again today. I hope you are all enjoying a great fall and getting lots of quilting done. Ieven quilted two of my own tops yesterday and the day before. Even so, I did lots of customer quilts and am doing a very nice paper pieced block of the month. Boy, some teeny tiny pieces there. It is made by Sandra Chadwick in CT. Also received a Baltimore Album that took three years in the making...from my friend Pat Jennings in CT.

Well, after the great Leavenworth show I got busy with Innovations.

It was a great show, although not so big as usual, and there were fewer classes, too. A sign of the times, I guess. There were some really great pieces in the quilt show, and I took a class from Ron Paul on machine maintenance. I brought the head of my Gammill, and discovered I most probably needed a new motor. Well, it did sound like a cement mixer with marbles inside. We took the machine to Oregon and a great Gammill dealer and quilt shop, where I did get a new motor, my needle positioner switch replaced with a more modern new-fangled thingie, and a check-up. Guess I have to go back this spring for new gears. I didn't realize I had put that many miles on it.

Cindy Roth asked me to help her do a little program/trunk show one evening at Innovations. It was fun...question and answer and trunk show. I think it will be posted on her website...you will have to check it out. I hate to see myself on film, so likely won't look!

After Innovations I did a couple trunk shows for guilds...one in Anacortes for the Fidalgo Island Quilters...a great group of folks...and then for Bellingham, the Moonlight Quilters...another great group. It was fun, and I hope to be able to do workshops for them some day.

More teaching of quilting and woven quilts, and tomorrow I teach from The Bold and Beautiful book at Aunt Mary's at Smokey Point....then Saturday for a group of gals....machine quilting. It should be great fun.

Yesterday we had a great time giving the alpacas a pedicure...the hard part was catching them!

Our neighbor breeds alpacas, so we called him to do it....they were good boys once we caught them. The goats were curious as usual. Speaking of goats...we have two little bitty goats that live next door now....they are the cutest things, and cry like babies. I just had to check them to see if they were ok...they were! But they were sure crying like babies. They are small enough to pick up and hold and cuddle.

We have had sunny weather for 3 days. I am glad of that. We have been getting the pond plants out of the ponds and putting the lawn mowers into the barn...so I guess it is defnintely winter.

We also had to build a cover over our heat pump top keep the snow off the unit...it got pretty demolished 2 winters ago...just trying to be prepared. I don't think the insurance company will give us another one!

Oh, goodie.....chocolate cookies coming....Ken is going to make cookies later for my class tomorrow. YUM....

Well, that is about all the news for this time...I will hopefully be a little bit better about writing in the future. In the meantime, have a great weekend.....Judy

Leavenworth Quilt Show FAB Event

LOoking down the main street at Leavenworth.

The Gazebo!

One of the Hoffman challenges...it was beautiful. Don't know who made it, but it was great.

Another Hoffman challenge...all the little squares had designs quilted in them. What a job!

HI all...we are back from the quilt show in Leavenworth, WA. It was wonderful. It is too bad that there were not more people there to enjoy it. If more people knew about that show, I think they would realize what a great opportunity they have in that area to see some really great quilts. They even had the Hoffman Challenge, and, if I do say so, I think it was the best one I had ever seen...WOW....some spectaular pieces there. See it if you can.

The other guest artist was Susie Decker...she was the yo yo queen!! All her quilts are so happy and colorful. I think we needed to hand out some sun glasses to the guests...between her quilts and mine, it was a cheery show. If you ever get the opportunity to get to Leavenworth, be sure to go.

When we got home all the critters were in the right spot, although the neighbor's goat spent some time in our pasture apparently....oh, just when we got in the car on Wed. to leave for Leavenworth, we noticed our goats in the neighbor's yard...so we had to do goat patrol and fence fixin'. Then we thought we better get the fish next better secured over the koi since our not so friendly heron is back....guess who was there this morning and last evening....I wish I could figure out a way to scare him off for good...any ideas??? I guess it is illegal to shoot them!!

Then, on our way out of town we noticed our car dripping again....OH, NO! We thought our new heater core was still not fixed right...but we went ahead anyway hoping it was just some leftover drips from before the heater core was fixed...off we went, and the car worked fine, with temperature just where it was supposed to be. I love my old suburban, so hang onto it!

Today we, (Des and I) leave for Tacoma and the Innovations Conference. That is the machine quilting conference. I will be teaching and taking some classes, including one to learn how to up-keep my machine. I am bringing the new wheels I bought several years ago, and maybe can get them on at last.

Well, that is all the news for now....just packing for Innovations and our 2 hour drive to Tacoma....will write when I get back....judy

The Heron is back.....

Lunch time...almost for these poor, unsuspecting guys.....our new waterfall....

HI all.....we have had a couple pretty rainy days here....proof that the fall weather is really here. Hopefully we will have some more sunny days before winter really arrives.

We finally figured out the pond problem....it seems the liner in the old pond was enough below the new water level created by our new, powerful pump....therefore some water was overflowing the old liner in a few places.....thus leaking enough water to bring our total water level down. Now we have that fixed, but with the liner not giving us enough extra to rock in, we will have to put a whole new liner in the old pond...just like a house remodel...you never know what you are going to find when you try to add something new to something old. It will be great next summer.....we will change out the liner in the spring, I think.

Well, the pesky heron came by today....TWICE.....we have not seen a heron for a couple years...maybe he noticed out new waterfall in operation.....or just happened to take note on a fly-over. We had to make a quick mercy run to the pond guy and get another new net....the neighbor's dogs jumped on our nets and put holes in them, so we had jury-rigged up a couple of old nets....now we have 4 layers of new net, hopefully the bird will give up and move on.

We leave tomorrow for Leavenworth and my big adventure as the featured quilter for their quilt show.....another reason why we didn't want to leave the fish exposed to that pesky bird.

The quilt show should be lots of fun. I am bringing 50 quilts for my part of the show, and will do machine quilting demos during the day....as well some piecing so I don't get bored.

I will have to write about my adventures when I get back....hope you all have a great week ahead, and enjoy these last weeks of summer....judy

Plug the leak!!

A quilt from my last visit to CT....how great is that??

more fun piecing!
My new painting on the barn door...from an idea from PA barns.

Well, here we are still trying to find and fix our pond leak...we think we have it this time, and are adding water to give it another try. Hope this time is the charm...the old pond had one side so low under the edge rocks, that water went over the liner with our powerful new pump and higher water line...it forced the water to run under everything and underneath our stream liner...probably should have emptied the old pond and re-lined and started over...if this works, we won't have to do that, at least for awhile we hope.

Oh, I forgot to tell the tale (tail) of the garter snake that nearly got his tail chopped off when I was trimming liner from the old pond....snip, snip, and there was this tail hanging out from under the rocks...will have to say that it made me jump a little....I didn't expect to see a garter snake tail hanging out from between those rocks! Ken got a good laugh. I think it would have made a great funniest home videos entry.

I am looking forward to my visit to Leavenworth and their quilt show. I plan to demonstrate machine quilting and also do some piecing while I am sitting there during the slow times.

I have several samples to finish.

Well, the weather is fabulous today....just perfect, sunny and in the sixties and seventies.

I think it will be a great fall if this keeps up. I am glad I don't live near the hurricane belt! I don't do well in the wind. My sister-in-law and her hubby were waiting with baited breath to see if they could make all their connections to and out of JFK for a cruise they are supposed to catch in Italy....I think it is ok.

Well, off to see if the leak is fixed....have a great weekend. judy

Fall is coming....

This beautiful quilt was made by Janet Goad for the Busy Bee show...it was gorgeous....I loved the bright colors.
THis was another of my thread painting attempts. The silk unravelled like crazy...

SOme of the plumbing for the new pond pump...looks like spaghetti!

Greetings all...it is beginning to look a lot like fall around here...it certainly feels like it, anyway. When I feed the critters in the morning, there is a mighty cold layer of dew on their feed buckets...still better than snow and 40 below!

We had a day of steady rain yesterday. We did need it, but it was a cold, gray day. I got a quilt finished for our American Hero quilt project. You can check on line for that group...so worthwhile, and some very moving moments as we can serve our service people in such a small way.

Well, we are still trying to figure out why we have a leak in the stream/pond area where the new stream hooks up with the old pond. We are stumped, but not giving up! More investigation today. At least we have the pump working in tip top shape.

This weekend is our big estate sale at the La Conner Musueum...actually for the museum and held at the Dakota Art Center in Mount Vernon, WA. I have been helping with the pricing. We got some great junk and stuff for sale. Come check it out if you live near by. THe sale starts Saturday morning.

I am getting some samples ready for my classes this fall, including making one round quilt. It is made with a wedge ruler. Also working on another one block wonder with hollow cubes. Then I am having great fun working with the Bold and Beautiful book and painting on a quilt.

The Leavenworth quilt show is coming a week from this Saturday. I am honored to be the featured artist, and have 50 quilts to take up there. I have some sleeves to sew on about 20 quilts. I think from now on I should put the sleeve on to begin with!! Then, the week after that is Innovations in Tacoma....a busy few weeks coming up. I hope you all are keeping busy too. It will soon be time to really quilt full steam ahead. It seems like quilting is more fitting in the cooler weather for me!

I hope to see many of you in Leavenworth and at Innovations in Tacoma. Stop by and say HI!!

Judy

Cool fall weather.....

One of the gals in Houston guild did this piece in class!

Another student fish! They are so talented and do such great quilting for beginners.

The quilt above is made by my hostess Bekah....is is a beautiful cathedral windows with all the royalty portrayed...and the lovely embellishments really make this a work of art. The picture does not do it justice.

From the plane I saw this great landscape...I think it could make an interesting quilt!
My quilt...Out of Hibernation. I started and finished it about 15 years ago, I think...one of my earliest quilts when I started quilting again in the 90's. Back in the 60's, quilting was virtually dead! I like this one, but I think I should do it in polka dots. Fabrics back then were not so fun.

Oh, my! Can it be fall already. This morning there is no sun, yet, and the weather is in the 50's. It is a bit of a welcome relief with all the HOT weather this past few weeks. It should be warmer again tomorrow.

We had our pond/pump guy visit and check out our plumbing job...seems that is ok...we just needed more water to get the skimmer up to snuff...and somewhere I think we have a leak...yikes. Probably where we joined the stream to the old pond. So, I guess we are back to the drawing board so to speak. Can't just stitch it up like a quilt.

Speaking of quilts, I just got a great lone star from Freddy. It is black and white with little bitty squares all scrappy pieced in the squares and half squares around the edges of the star.....it is really neat. I am going to get it going this morning.

I tried to post pictures last time, to no avail....everything disappeared....I don't know why I am so computer challenged. SO this morning I will try to post a few pictures again. I have a few from class in Houston, and my pinwheel star I painted on the barn door. It was like the one I found on-line painted on a barn in PA.....those gals didn't know I loved red, white, and blue and STARS....so thank you girls in PA for the great barn design.

I saw Eleanor Burns new book with barn paintings, so will have to get that, I guess. Anyway, gotta get info into the shops for my classes next quarter. I am also going to teach out of the Bold and Beautiful book. It is quite inspiring and great fun. Check it out.

Well, gotta go pin up Freddy's quilt and check the fish. Have a great day....judy

PS we had great time at my outdoor quiltshow and barbecue. As usual the girls brought some really beautiful quilts to hang on the fence. Of course the weather was HOT.

Back from Houston

Hi all....I am finally back from my teaching and trunk show in Houston for the guild there...what a GREAT time I had with the Texans! Thanks Bekah....Linda, and Vickie as well as the others who made me feel so welcome. Just a warning....if you order food in Texas, bring some friends along to help eat it all....everything really is bigger in Texas.
Oh, rats...I couldn't even wear my new cowboy boots...it was tooooo hot....I decided to leave them home....I was so sad...they told me cowboy boot season is a few months off yet.
I stayed with my friend Bekah....I have quilted for her over the years, and she is a Kaffe and Liza fan to the max....she treated me to a show of her quilts piled up about 4 feet deep....Kaffe even named one print after her!!
I was welcomed into her beautiful home and got to play with her 2 dogs, meet her lovely mom, and rancher husband....he helps with their son's cattle ranch. I hope I can go back again.
One morning I went out onto the patio and my glasses got all fogged up...so much for the humid weather in TX...I left Michigan because of that humid weather, and if you have not experienced it, it really can hit you right in the face!!
But....the Painted Pony quilt shop is near Houston, and what a shop it is...check it out on line, and if ever you get to the Houston area, be sure to visit....wow....what a lot of fabric. There was a huge patriotic type area with eagles and such....then, a HUGE Kaffe section....so had to get some of that....and other fun things...oh, and not to forget the massive wall of batiks. Well, you get the idea. I had to help the TX economy a bit.
Ken worked on the pond while I was gone...still some technical problems with the pump....or something. He rocked in most of the stream, and it looks really neat....one of these days we will get it going perfectly.
Fall is here, and time to think about classes for teaching....any ideas??
Exciting news...I was asked to teach at Asilomar in June of 2012....a long way off, but it will get here before I know it...in the meantime, I have to get ready to go to the Leavenworth show in September, and then Innovations....hope you are all are keeping busy too.....more later...jude

Machine working, and water running!!

One of my thread play quilts....inspired by Mexican designs!

My Out of Hibernation quilt...started over 15 years ago....they didn't have many bright colors back then...I made 58 bear paw blocks, and this is all I used...I better get busy!

our stream in process....and our bridge over the river Koi!

Hi all.....well, after some phone calls and tweaking of the poor old Gammill, the old girl is up and running again. I got my last quilt, Out of Hibernation, finished in time for the Busy Bee Show.

In the end, I bought a new bobbin case, and some new tension springs for inside my old bobbin cases....all seems well, except for the needle position switch, which is still temperamental. My in-laws (mom and sis) come Wed for 5 days. So, the machine will get a bit of a rest for a few days.

We did our plumbing for the pond pump....it certainly looks impressive....I hope it works as good as it looks!! We are now filling the ponds as max as we need to, and then will hook up the final loop of pipe into the bog to make the circle for pumping. We still have the unveiling coming!

Well, gotta clean house for the company! Will post some pix of the pond and such next time....have a great day....judy

Machine Woes!

Oh, dear......my long-arm is sick.....it keeps spitting out the bobbins as I sew....thunk...the needle hits and breaks. It is a mystery...and an aggravating one, at that. I couldn't figure it out yesterday, so gave up finally. This morning I will call Gammill to see if they have any ideas. I know it is in the bobbin...maybe worn out springs...those silly little things are $4.50 each....wow.

I ordered some, so I can check that out. And of all times...I have 3 quilts to finish by Monday, one being a king size. At least they are my own for the show, so if I don't finish, not a big problem.

My friend from CT/NY came yesterday. She and her hubby are out here visiting so we went to museum to see the Japanese exhibit. It was a gorgeous sunny day.

Tomorrow we get the pump for the pond/stream.....it will remain to be seen if all this whole process will work. Hopefully there will be some pix next week of our stream connecting the 2 ponds...and flowing...ha....we will see!

Couldn't resist the beautiful waterlillies in our old pond...hope you like the pictures. Have a great day.....will let you know how the machine turns out, too!! Judy

The crazy days of summer!

Hi all....it is a cloudy and grey day here today...we have been blessed with lots of sunshine lately, so a cooler day will be nice. Today I am working on a beautiful applique quilt...small wall hanging, actually. It is a floral. It will be lots of fun to quilt with funky threads and such.

I have been working overtime to get all the quilts done for our Busy Bee show in a couple weeks. I may not get mine done, but got everyone elses finished, and that is the most important thing. I am working on a thread play one now for me as well, and have a huge old bear paw quilt to do yet.

The Japanese show at the quilt museum is simple smashing. Those women sure do know how to work a needle....and everything is hand pieced and quilted by hand. One gal did a machine quilted piece. We had fun taking them around, and at a picnic right on the water at SuSan's beach house. I only wish I spoke Japanese. They are so soft spoken and kind....always bowing, and very humble. When they take classes they keep the same teacher forever, and she is their mentor....the instructor also has some assistants who also stay with her forever! It is a whole different mind-set there compared to here. Whatever, they sure do make beautiful quilts.

The antique kimonos are spectacular...and some wool muslin they used was fabulous. I don't think I have ever heard of wool muslin.

Be sure to see a Japanese exhibit if one ever comes your way, you won't be disappointed...I will post a few pix of our adventures...oh....I took a handsewing class to make a beautiful scarf...I am aiming for Christmas to get it finished....it will be beautiful, if ever I get it done.

Today, more quilting, and as always working on our pond/stream project...we are making slow progress....had to re-set our waterfall rock 3 times...the third time being the charm we hope!

Have a great week, whatever you do! Love, jude

The Japanese Quilt Show is Coming

Melinda, Diane and SuSan model their jackets.

Melinda, SuSan and Judy working on projects and modeling their handiwork!

Hi all....time goes by too quickly...but I thought I would mention the up-coming La Conner Quilt Museum's next exhibit....the Japanese exhibit will start the first of July....The girls are coming all the way from Japan to bring their extraordinary quilts, usually handpieced and handquilted.

You have to see them, to believe them. It is a fabulous and once in a life-time experience!

Check out the website at the museum to see all about it...also classes the Japanese gals will be teaching. I don't quite have it down to put a link in the blog yet...what else is new??

Monday a few of us from the museum board got together to make kimono type jackets to wear for the big occasion...we look pretty good, I think. The jackets are all the same pattern, but so different in look. It took us about 5 hours to get them nearly finished, including the lining.

The pond project moves along slowly, but if the weather holds out, I may be able to get the stream bed fixed so we can lay the liner in and think about the landscaping around the edge.

Then we can put the pump in and plumb it for the big grand opening....to see if the stream will actually work!! I will post some pix either way! It may be a ditch with liner, or it may be an actual stream!....well, gotta go get a quilt up on the frame. It is due for the Busy Bee Quilt show at the end of July....happy quilting and gardening....and WEEDING, TOO. judy

Bath Time again.....oops.

OK>>>>why didn't my bath time picture get posted.....I am sooooo dumb with these computers. It was on the blog before I posted "publish blog", so where did that 3rd picture go? I am just not meant for the computer age...so here goes....maybe just this one will post.....happy days...jude

BATH TIME!!

My orange-a-licious quilt....still have at least 3 more lonestars to make.

My orange-a-licious quilt...still have 3 more to make.
Liz Theaker's Wildflowers....Liz is director of the Quilt Museum.

HI all....how does the time get away from me.?? I imagine you all are as busy as I am, so will understand that I have not written for way too long.

Since the last time, I have taught a couple classes, taken a great rope wrapped tote bag class, and worked on quilts and in the yard on the great pond project.

I taught some of the gals from the museum how to do collage quilts, and they came up with some really great "paintings". A few of us made a field trip to the La Conner Quilt Musueum and enjoyed the Hardware exhibit. The Japanese exhibit is next, and promises to be a stunner as always. They are masters at teeny tiny perfection.

Our neighbors have finally moved everything, including the cows, to Idaho. They had been letting their cows use our pasture for grazing....I will miss them, especially in the morning when they come mooing for oats when I feed the goats and alpacas. It was quite the trick getting those cows in the trailer for the move....they weren't having any of that! I couldn't even coax them with their favorite oats. The new neighbors will be coming soon. One is a doctor in town.

I had a big laugh last week when Curly, the suri alpaca decided to take a bath in our little mini-pond. It dries up in the summer, but the puddle is pretty sizeable in the rainy weather.

That is Curly in the picture posted, along with his pature mates. They all get along pretty well now, but Curly is the BOSS.

This weekend I am going to my brother's to try to sell some things at his garage sale...I hope I can get rid of some things that are still stored in our barn.

We are getting ready to form our stream between ponds so we can get the liner in and ready to try and pump our whole system in a circle with 2 waterfalls. It will be interesting to see if it works in real life as well as in my imagination.

Tomorrow we have a long-arm meeting in Everett....they are fun, and we share lots of great techniques and business ideas.

Oh, I finally finished my 9th lone star...Orange-a-licious...named by dear friend Stephanie Davis...well, gotta get going to finish a quilt and start one for Roberta Horton for the next Kaffe Fassett book....have a great day. We are supposed to have some sun today...still not here yet...Judy

off to teach!

Quilts from Dale Fleming's class....if ever you get the chance to take her class...grab it!

The butterfly is from the cover of Dale's book.
The crow...oops, sideways! is from one of my students in the woven class....pretty neat.

Good morning friends....a sunny day here in Arlington! Yeah! It seems I can never find the time to write anymore. Shame on me. Today we are loading up 6 or 7 duffel bags of quilts to take to Longview,WA. I do a machine quilting class on MOnday with a trunk show Monday night. It should be loads of fun. I am working with Lady of the Lakes guild. They have over 100 members.....a smaller guild compared to some. I think I have about 16 students in the class. I love to teach machine quilting....the girls really surprise themselves with great quilting.

Well, in the last couple weeks the calf got loose....we got her back inside the fence she jumped.....the alpacas and goats are just their ornery selves. Jessie bonked me on the temple accidentally one day when I was bending over near her...ouch! They are doing fine, and grazing away.....of course the goats beg anytime you come near the pasture. And the fish are always begging. I am feeding them every day now with the warm weather. I even saw the big catfish for a second yesterday. He comes up and eats the fish food. Usually he will stay up a bit longer. I still have not seen the baby catfish, but I know he is down there since no one is doing the back stroke!!

I took a fun class with Dale Fleming Thursday, and will post a few pix of her quilts.....she works with circles and curves. It was fun, and another technique for my brain to use in the future. I used Australian fabric, and will turn my samples into a little wall hanging I think.

OUr shop hop is in about a month here...over 60 shops. Enough to keep your head spinning and car going for 4 days or so.

Well, guess I better get going and load the car with all those quilts.....not much other news anyway.....have a great week.....Judy

critters and quilts

Another one of Freddy's quilts....watch for her new book!

Friday Harbor....so beautiful and perfect weather.

Snow geese on the way to La Conner Museum.

HI Friends....I cannot believe it has been so long since I have written...does that mean my life is dull....or am I just too busy....maybe both! In the past weeks we have chased alpacas and goats...escapees from our attempts at fencing them in....got some new koi...and I have been teaching and quilting up a storm. Yesterday was a wind storm with winds nearly 50mph.....wow....the power went off and I couldn't work, so we went to the mall and walked around and added another koi to the pond....a pretty lemon yellow and white spotted one. I hated to put her into that cold water, but in she went.

I am all finished with Freddy Moran's last 18 quilts....for another book...lots of string quilts that are really neat. So be watching for the next book!!

As for Freddy, my friend Stephanie Davis has started a brown nose Freddy Fan club on facebook...if you love Freddy, see if you can find it on Facebook...I am not much help there I am afraid. It should be fun to see who signs up.

I am teaching this Saturday for my guild....the woven quilts....and in 2 weeks I will be teaching at Lady of the Lakes in Longview, WA....I am teaching quilting and doing a trunk show for them at their guild......maybe I will see some of you there!

It is a cold and wet spring and this morning I think it was hailing, too. I am looking forward to more teaching, and meeting more gals in guilds. Last Saturday I did a trunk show and demo for the Northwest Quilting Connection. What a great group of gals. I think I will join them. It will be fun to learn from more quilting friends.

I had a great time teaching in Friday Harbor....I took the ferry there, and taught a couple of Kaffe Fassett's quilts. The girls did some beautiful pieces....and they sure did feed me well!!

Well, today I am expecting a new quilter to come by the studio...new to me....his name is Luke Haynes and you can see his work on the web. It will be fun to work with a guy quilter...there are a few out there....Scott Hansen is another guy from my guild who does great quilts, too.

Well, gotta eat some lunch and get busy on the longarm...one to finish and mail today, and another one to mail to CA.....yet this week.....so, hope you are all quilting and enjoying your moments of creativity....judy