Halloween's Past

Halloween is on Sunday this year so the Trunk or Treat was on Friday Night. Paul and I put our Pumpkin in the trunk again and I put on my witch hat. He was asked why he didn't wear his Clown costume. See him here last year at the Trunk or Treat and me as the Burbank Grad. I didn't let him pass the candy out this time, too much of it went into him instead of the trick or treaters bags. The wig was right by my Hat, I should have grabbed it. HURRY, HURRY has been the routine since we got home. I want to take my oldest daughter's advice and do some reminicing for my Sunday Post. Halloween and I have a Love/Hate relationship. Some years we just skipped it, at least there is no photographic proof it happened. Maybe that was just the years it fell on a Sunday. Please endure my trip down memory lane with my children... This is me Halloween 1977- the year Milton was born. I made a Raggedy Ann costume for myself. In 1980 I was the Merrie Miss leader and two of the girls came to help us go Trick or treating. They used stuff from our "Costume Box". KayLynn wore my Graduation gown and Mortar board, Tanya wore the Raggedy Ann costume, I wore my leotard and made Cat Ears. Joe was a sailor and Milton wore his Engineer coveralls. It's 1983 already and the Connell Ward did a Halloween Carnival complete with Cake Walk and costume parade. NaDell wearing a flour sack Muu Muu. The Crowther Brother's as the scarecrow and clown. The family as it was in 1984. Paul and I as Raggedy Ann and Andy, Milton as a cowboy, Joe my cat ears and NaDell in her Witch's cape and hat.Two pictures because Brant was really there too. We had a Neighborhood party because we found that we missed treating each other's kids while we were out and about the Mesa/Basin City area. In 1986 we moved away from the Farm right before Halloween. Here are the Crowther Kids minus Janessa who wore her blanket show costume. Remember Hermiston the 8 Weeks we were there??? Year 1of the "Ghosty Sweats" with Glow-in-the-Dark decals. Milton as a Pirate, Joe- The Bat cape, NaDell in my Cat ears, Brant as the Cowboy, and Jeff as the sailor. The sweats got a lot of use on the cold and snowy Halloween night in Umatilla 1987, a handy-me down pair of Army fatigues for Milton, a Cape with the ghosty sweats for Joe, super-me cape for NaDell, Brant was He-Man with the Ghosty sweats, Jeff in his superman jammies and Janessa in the Clown costume I made to go with Joe's old clown ruff. Back to Washington in 1992. In Burbank, Dad decided he would put on the Ghost apron to answer the door on Halloween. When the children got too old to go out, they got to "Trick the Treaters". Here are the two youngest Crowther children with Paul ready to go haunt the Neighborhood in Burbank in their Jammies. We recycled a lot of things in the Costume box for costumes.And skipping ahead to 2010 we have the Crowther Brother's back together again. Joe moved into his Big brother's Ward so he thought it would be fun to dress up as Milton circa 1989 for their Ward Chili feed and Trunk or Treat. He found a wig with "mullet" style and a Jeans Jacket and added his name tag and picture. I'm so glad they are such good sports. Tonight in Walla Walla, the Youth will be here for a Bishop's fireside. There used to be a spot on TV every night at 10pm that said, "It's 10 O'clock, do you know where your children are?"

Blogger's Quilt Festival- FALL 2010

It's the time of year for the Blogger's Quilt Festival and my quilt is ready and up for viewing. This Quilt Layout design I share with my Quilt Buddy, LYNN. I was the chair of the Raffle committee and because I sew with her she got wrangled into helping me with the commitee. We collected blocks from the guild members which took from Sept to April to get enough. When we put the blocks on the wall in a straight setting we looked again and saw the possiblities of the on point medallion style. The quilt earned money for our Guild. I knew it would NOT be fair to win it, even though I bought a bunch of tickets. It was fun collecting the floral prints that looked more realistic at the March Quilt Show in Tri-cities. One month after we showed the guild the actual raffle quilt, we had our versions ready as a "flimsy". It was a big "TA-DA" the night we showed them both. Lynn is the Mathamatician of the two of us and getting the white space measurement was a challenge. On the pattern we hope the measurement is right. It is in the Testing stage right now, I hand-delivered the pattern to my cousin who is testing it for us. We also made it in a 2-color quilt, but that quilt is still being quilted. It is so close to be published. I am showing the picture of the back so you can see the quilting I did on Lynn's APQS with Side Saddle. It wasn't easy but I did it! To do the 'white space' I turned and floated the quilt 4 times. That's the main thing I really learned to do with this quilt. It took a while but I think the resulting quilt is beautiful. A BIG "Thank You" to Amy for letting me show this Quilt. Click on the button below to see the many quilts in the BQF Oct 29th-Nov 5th.

What a Ride ---the last memories.

Jeffery put his dress Uniform on so I could take his picture before we left on Saturday. He had to work so we did this Friday night. On Saturday Pam from KC came and picked me up to go back to the EXPO. It was so nice of her to come and meet and take me. We looked around for an hour or so mostly looking at the Georgia Quilt Show and Hoffman exhibits and walked by the vendors. I posted this picture before, but here we are again. Pam wanted to take me to the quilt shop in Parkville so we followed the directions and eventually found it. They had signs up saying NO pictures of the Shop Hop quilt, so I just got their block pattern and some background fabric that I can use for my swap blocks. Our flights were later that evening and we got into Salt Lake late Saturday night. Our plan was to get up and go to the Broadcast of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We slept good and were there early in line to go into the Conference Center. Before long we heard that the Choir would be in the Old Tabernacle for today so we hurried over there and sat on the front row. Spencer Kinnard introduced and made announcements before the taping began. It was nice to see hime there again. The Choir was dressed in their Lavendar dresses. and they had guest Harpist and flute players for one of the songs. I left my camera in the car since I thought we were going into the Conference Center and they have discouraged all electronics in the past. People were flashing picture and using their Cell phones all the time the Choir rehearsed, and again after the taping ended. Here's the two drowned rats who got caught in the down pour after. We arrived home around 7:30 Sunday evening. It rained most of the way to Nampa where we had to stop back at the Fairfield Inn to get my pillow that I left. We saw a bit of snow coming over Tollgate. It's been rainy and getting colder now that we are home but the tomatoes still haven't frozen. I'm repeating the words of Dorothy from the Wizard of OZ this week..."There's No Place like Home!"

Part 4 -"FUN" for me day

This was one of my favorite days of our trip. I really liked the Museum, but if you really want "MAMMA HAPPY", take her for some Tactile therapy! I told Jeff I'd be happy "ALL DAY" if he dropped me off at the Kansas City Original Sewing and Quilt EXPO. It wasn't far away and I'd seen on Facebook that M'Liss Rae Hawley, designer of fabrics for Hancock Fabrics was going to be there. My Blogger friend, Pam had emailed me a list of the local Quilt shops too and there was a SHOP HOP happening. It started on Friday though and this was only Thursday. :( Jeff had to go and escort one of his soldiers that morning, but took dad and I with him to Ft Leavenworth, Kansas that morning. We dropped Paul off at a Barber shop so he could have his haircut and gave him directions to the quilt shop where Jeff was dropping me off. Dad loves to walk around and explore. The shop wasn't even open yet. I was the first and only customer in there for a while. The two workers were kind and quickly found the Marti Michell Templates that Lynn had asked me to look for. They had a "Quilt School" flag up to show it was the day for the ladies in that class to come. They came in with "Show and Tell". This is my Show and Tell... don't look too close Paul, the fabric was on "sale"! I can see him rolling his eyes...

A Turkey pattern that was 3-D from Jackie Robinson, here is their cute sample. Some "Aloha" Fat Quarters to go with my leftover Fabrics at home. The Olivia fabric was being cut for a backing and there was 1/2 yd left so I took it. NO PEEKING Olivia! A Civil War charm pack and some bargain fabrics to "Boondoggle" when I get home. I left my Rotary Cutter out of my luggage, just in case the Airlines would allow it. The Book is of "Prairie Children and their Quilts". They had a few of them displayed above the arch between the rooms of the shop. This is their version of the "Shop Hop" Quilt that they designed at "Quilters Quarters". Made from sparkly fabrics and the blocks made for the other 6 shops in the shop hop. They were nice and let me take a picture of it since I would get to come back for the HOP. Check them out on their website, they might have the pattern there. The gold and silver Fabric is 'Georgette Christmas' by Windham. Quilter's Quarters showed this quilt at Trends in Portland this Fall too. Click HERE for their website. Paul came by the time I was paying for my purchases and we went next door to the Antique Mall. Rooms full of things to see! I could have stayed there all day. Jeff joined us there and went looking with Dad. They came out empty handed. Everything I looked at I had to think, "how would I fit that in my suitcase?" So, I only bought one little item. Paul and I had combined our luggage to use one bag so we didn't have to pay to check his bigger bag. Before I left the Antique Mall I had to ask if they had any "featherweights". They had some very old Singer, one was a Treadle machine, both at a good prices, but no way to bring them home this trip. A lady showed me the only Featherweight they had. It had the case, which was broken, and the throat plate was missing. The asking price was $325. As we left Leavenworth, I saw several more Antique Shops. On to the EXPO for Paul and I. Jeff had to go and do his PT test at the base. Paul was willing to go with me to the EXPO, I was surprised. I looked around with Paul a bit and saw the "NO PHOTOGRAPHY" signs after I took some pictures of the "New from Old" Display sponcered by The Alliance for American Quilts. They are holding an ONLINE Auction of these quilts. Click the link if you want to see the whole gallery. They had the Georgia Quilt Show prize winning Quilts, Faculty made Quilts and the Hoffman Quilt and Doll Challenge on diplay. All there with the dreaded NO Photography signs. Way to pop my bubble! I lost Paul when I went to the Hancock Fabrics Booth and had to wait in the line. Here is my picture with M'Liss. This was after we visited and she signed 'siggy' squares for me and Lynn. I bought the Book because it was called "Round Robin Renaissance". I had to fly to Kansas City to meet a Designer from Whidbey Island, WA. I also met Vendors from Northern Idaho, but they were so busy I only got them to sign one square each, no pictures. Many vendors had a "Make and Take" in their booth for a nominal fee. Good idea, but I should have stopped at the ATM before I went in so I could pay the $5-$6 for each one. That kept me from doing any of them. One other thing I noticed was that the EXPO in Puyallup is much bigger! 3 times bigger I would say. We were done looking way too soon. On the Fashion Stage Kathy Ruddy showed us "Comfortable Clothes that Camoflage". NaDell called Dad so he didnt' stay for the whole presentation. Kathy is also from Washington State. I'm sure she has been at the Expo when I've gone, but I've missed seeing her. I think I learned some tricks and stopped by her booth and bought some Elastic. She talked about making pants that you can "eat cookies" with. I had her measure me for the right length of elastic for my pants. We filled out our entry for the door prizes, and waited by the fashion show stage for the drawing of the day. We toured the TWA museum before we left the building. Paul took this picture of me so I could show I was there. SEE HOW HAPPY I AM AFTER BEING AT THE EXPO! P.S. We went to the Price Chopper grocery store and bought food to cook while we were at Jeffery's apt to save eating out. I think he enjoyed my spoiling him a little. I made him French Toast twice and Breakfast burritos one morning. We ate Roast w/Potatoes and carrots the first night, then I made stew the next evening after the EXPO. BTW, for the person who wants to know what Jeffery needs for Christmas ~ Call me!

What a ride -Day Tres

Today - a week ago we were in Missouri/Kansas City with Jeff. He wasn't thrilled to take us into downtown Kansas City, but we made it with a few stops to check the GPS. My friend, Mignon told me about the "Arabia Steamboat Museum" and that it would be a good place to see while we were there. Here is Jeff and I by the Steamboat paddle wheel.

This is from the Arabia that sunk in the 'Mighty Mo' back in 1856. Below is another view of it.

Pictures weren't allowed in the area enclosed by glass to protect the artifacts that the four Salvage/explorers dug up in the corn field back in 1988-89. Jerry Mackey, Greg, David and Bob Hawley were the men who found and dug it all up. The steamboat was loaded with over 200 TONS of brand new merchandise. You can see some of it on display in the museum. They still have more artifacts to prepare/preserve and restore in their on-site Laboratory.

Here is Paul and I by the paddle wheel.

After we had taken the tour and wandered around the Museum for a while we met David Hawley and I had Jeff take my picture with him. He works at the Museum and his mother was there that day but we didn't get to meet her. I did buy some postcards and a brass Christmas ornament to remember the day.

This is the Stern of the Steamboat preserved with a special solution of poly-glycol that was sprinkled overhead (see the pipes above the wooden stern) when they brought it all up out of the water. The process was very interesting to hear. You can learn more at their Arabia Website. Jeff took us by the site of where the new Kansas City Temple is being built. The ground breaking was just this past August. Thanks Jeff for taking us to visit the Steamboat Museum and all over the country. Jeff took us on a different route each time we went out. Next up is the 'Fun for me day' at the KC EXPO.

What a Ride - Part Deux

We left to go to Idaho Falls after the Funeral dinner. It was nice to go and celebrate with Christopher and see the Primary Program. The BEST Sunday to attend the LDS Church IMHO!!! For Sunday Dinner we had corn. I had to take the picture of Caleb helping Brant. Brings back memories of "This is the way we husk the corn" in Umatilla. Tina blogged all about Christopher's BirthdayHERE. Grandpa and I wore our Grandparents t-shirts to travel on Monday. I asked the grandchildren to sign on the back for my Mothers day, then had the picture we took of us with 13 of the 14 grandchildren before the Goodson's moved to AZ ironed on after. Janessa's family gave grandpa his for Father's Day. Since I don't remember going to see the "This is the Place Monument" in SLC, and Paul took the family when they went to a Utah Nash Reunion without me...it was my hope to get to see the statue of Captain James Brown of the Mormon Battalion. There is no map of where the statue is, so I never found it. I guess I get to go back and look another time... I did find this Statue of Anson Call however and Paul took my picture with it. Just another of our Pioneer ancestors who settled many of the Utah colonies.We went by Paul's Aunts home in SLC and then went to my Cousin, Renee's for dinner. We decided to get a hotel and park our car there instead of getting up an extra hour early the following day to fly out. Here is the Denver Airport. it is supposed to look like the Mountains, but it really resembles a circus big top...

and here we are waiting for the flight. Gotta love the hold the camera out as far as you can and hope to get the self-portrait shots... with double chins, gray hair and all.

Next Stop Kansas City....

What a ride...am I jet-lagged? Part one

I have to try and synopsize. The plan was to go to Salt Lake city, fly out to Missouri and come back to Idaho Falls. Going to Aunt Thelda's Funeral changed all that.

Friday afternoon we left for Nampa after Paul worked the "early" shift in Wallula. Drove to Nampa and stayed at the Fairfield Inn where my cousin's family was staying. Went to the viewing and saw all the people who came. Some cousin's who we haven't seen in a very long time! Took a few pictures and then it was back to the hotel. Paul and I headed for the hot tub, but two ladies beat us to it so we just got wet in the big pool. Jeanine was too tired to join us. They came to the pool room door and invited me to come see the stuff they had sorted from her Mom's. Some of her girls were there choosing a keepsake too.

At the viewing Jeanine handed me a BOX. It held some real treasure. Sorry to my family, I'm keeping it! Pictured is my Mom's Blessing cap, some corners crocheted by my Great Grandma Mann before she passed away and pillowcase edging. Here are the Long-Lost Cousins- Clora & Dorel These next two pictures are of the display in Memory of my Aunt. The Squires family with their spouses at the Cemetary. Each of the children spoke at the services. It was very nice and the music fitting. Thanks to them for letting us share their memories. These are the Cinnamon Rolls that Tami made for the dinner after the Funeral. Note the "Simplot paper"??? One of the memories mentioned were Aunt Thelda's cinnamon Rolls. I remember the paper, do you? I think it made them taste better. I can't not put all my pictures in here so I'll have to break up the next few days postings to put more pictures in.

Design Wall Monday 10-25-2010

Here is my Wall at home presently holding my version of the Block of the Month by Marti Michell. This pattern is given out each month at our Local Guild meeting, because I sew with Lynn and she is on charge of the BOM, I got the patterns early. I need to put on just one more border then I can quilt this one. It was nice to have the fabrics chosen already for this quilt, but I had to change it up a bit since it is my 2nd one. This one used her fabrics and has all the blocks in the right places, but I changed it to a straight setting and used Friendship stars instead of the Stars in the original. It made the quilt much smaller than my first one. I am 5'4", and you can see the difference. I have plenty of Bed sized quilts. Pictured above is the first one I made with Robyn Pandolph Fabrics. I had a great week last week and got to meet KNITOID in person! she Blogged about what we did on her Blog Stash report Sunday. She helped prove to me that Quilters really are the nicest people! Go to Judy L's Blog to see other Design Walls this week.

Design Wall Monday 10-18-2010

First I get to show you that I did finish making more than half of the Stars for the Christmas Swap. They were only cut out and pready to sew last Monday. I realized they don't need to be sent until mid- November so I have time to make the individual muslin labels for each one. I need to find a little more Background fabric for the rest. My quilt Buddy; Lynn and I had too much fun playing with these new Boondoggle rulers.

Sewing together pieces and cutting them out of Novelty fabrics with the smaller one. I had to see how they would look all together. I plan to separate them with a solid Boondoggle diamond in the finished version. The Ruler, made by the company called 'Bella Nonna'. The creator came to our Local Guild Meeting in September. This is the first chance we've had to play with the ruler since we got it. It will make a great "I Spy" quilt for one of my new grandbabies. We find out by the end of the month if Brant & Tina and Janessa & Jes get a "pink" or "blue" one.

Check out other Design Walls at Judy L's Blog.

Remembering Aunt Thelda

Here is a picture of me with my Aunt who just passed away this past week. Aunt Thelda and Uncle Leo's house was where I wanted to be every time my parents took us to Idaho to visit my Mother's family. Her children were close in age to me and I had so much fun with them growing up in the extended Waite family. I remember getting into the middle of the bed between Kaydean and Jeanine if we arrived after bedtime. I remember her apricot nectar and cinnamon rolls. Also of seeing a couple cans of Root Beer in the fridge and being told that those were for the 'grown-ups'. After they put us all to bed they would make root beer floats. My father used to work swing shift and after he got off at midnight would load us in the car and tell us to go to sleep and we would be in Nampa in time for breakfast. No wonder I like to sleep on the way to Idaho, that is how I was trained. Aunt Thelda cared for her sister, Vaunda and her mother in their final years. Her heart was as big as anybody I've ever known. My children have memories of going to Aunt Thelda's too. Sleeping in the basement and Aunt Thelda cooking for us, even though we had already stopped at KFC or McDonalds to feed the children. It is sad to know she won't be in Idaho any more as I drive past on our way to visit our Idaho children. But I know that there is a happy reunion going on this week as she joins all of her sisters and her dear Mother, my Grandma Mary Waite. The last time the four sisters were all together was just before my oldest son was born in 1977. There are only two uncles left of the 7 children of my Waite Grandparents. The family gathering is a time of remembering her well-lived life.

Christmas Block of the Month

I am doing a Christmas Block of the Month from Esther Alui. She is a quilt Designer from Australia. It only last 6 weeks and we are supposed to be on Step 3. I have Printed my papers to do Step 1 and cut out the "baubles" for Step 2, 3 & 4. I am almost done with all of the Paper-pieced Diamonds. Here is a picture of one of them. Paper Piecing and Log cabin, even if it is on the diagonal are not my favorite quilty things to do. There are 12 of them to make for this project. I think we will find out how they all fit together maybe in step 5 or 6... It's a Mystery too. A new part comes out each WEDNESDAY and the past clue is deleted. Sorry for those who missed the first clues. I'm liking the contrast and am so glad that the "Stash" Downtown has the Nancy Halvorsen fabrics on sale. And I have a $10 credit to use for them.

There are some very creative people out there making this Block of the Month. It's called "12 Days of Christmas". I want to do the Baubles by Hand, but fusible is so much faster...