My Morning Walk

This morning I took a little walk (I never left my own yard so it wasn't like REAL exercise).  Even though our little scrap of land in the city has what is called xeriscape (reduced need for water use AND low maintenance) it is still abundant in spring blooms.  It is NOT lush by any means but it still has it's own unique desert appeal.

This little plant, Mexican Primrose, lives under a tree an oak tree named Pokey.  All five of the trees that live in my yard have names (I figure they live so long they deserve a name!)  These pretty pink blossoms appear every spring and disappear as quickly as the temperatures rise.





This little beauty, Freesia, has lived with me for about 10 years now.  To my surprise it pops out of the ground with it's gorgeous orange and yellow blossoms every year.  This plant started as an ornamental plant purchased from a grocery store.  It was a AUTUMN gift to one of my daughters from a visiting boyfriend.  She does not have a green thumb and so asked me to take care of it for her.  I planted it in the ground thinking there was no way it would survive in the desert.  The boyfriend is long gone but the plant lives on!

BIG yellow blossoms like this are covering a new addition to my backyard.  We planted this tree just a few weeks ago and it immediately started producing these BIG yellow blossom clusters.  Sorry I don't recall the REAL name for this tree, we call it Lizzy.  Why?  There was a Lizard that lived in a small area beside our house.  My husband accidentally smashed the Lizard while moving some bricks.  Over the years he had become attached to the Lizard that always watched him work and so gave it a proper burial under the tree.



Here's another yellow bloomer.  This plant (and all of  it's offspring) has lived on the property longer than I have.  It is a Cassia.  It is a profuse spring bloomer that stays green all year long.  This one has already bloomed with most of the blooms having turned to seed (thus the many offspring!).  These bushes survive on rainfall alone.  And there ain't much of that here in the desert! 

Someone else was out taking a walk in my backyard today, a family of quail.  These birds have inhabited my neighborhood for several years. There are actually three of them (two males and a female).  We see them running around every spring and they always bring the babies out for strolls later in the season.  What a TREAT!

Spring Brings New Beginnings

According to the calendar SPRING has officially arrived and it appears very evident here in the valley of the sun.  We've just had a few last days of winter with cold temperatures (at least it was cold to us flat land wimps) accompanied by wind and rain.  But today all of that wintry stuff is gone and the fresh outside air is filled with the sweet aroma of orange (and grapefruit in my backyard) blossoms.  I love that sweet smell!

This SPRING has brought a few personal new beginnings to my family this year.

Last week my oldest daughter, Denise, got married.  She became a new bride at the Harley Davidson Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 14. 

Before Denise was home from the honeymoon her little sister, Priscilla, moved from the valley of the sun to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to begin her new life.  She has moved up there to help her long time boyfriend with his new business.  The reports I've received from her so far is, "It's F-------  cold!"

And so a new beginning is sprung upon me this SPRING as an empty nester (of sorts) again.  Denise has been married before and Priscilla moved out from under my roof a dozen or so years ago.  That's the first time I became an empty nester.  But when Denise got divorced and Priscilla's boyfriend moved out of state they both depended on us more.  Since I've had previous experience as an empty nester this time will be a breeze and I think I know what to do with myself.  QUILT!!!!

A Quilt Show Is Comin' To Town!

It's that time of year again when the Arzonia Quilters Guild puts on their annual quilt show.  As a volunteer I've had the opportunity this week to get up close with all 319 (I've touched EVERY single one!) quilts entered in this show.  The quilts are beautifully hung at the Mesa Convention Center this week (Tursday, Firday & Saturday).  AND they have 35 vendors for your shopping pleaseure.  For more information go to thier website at http://www.azquiltersguild.org/

I'll see ya at the show!

Quilted Symphony Moving Forward

So, back in January I shared a post "Have You Made A Quilted Symphony Yet?" about a project on my design wall.  I was moving along at a pace that I thought was pretty good UNTIL the piece was ready for me to give it some buildings.  The building process just wasn't happening for me.  It was a COLOR ISSUE.  Now, I can usually come up with colors that look pleasing to me but this time NOTHING looked right.

This week I spent the day with some quilty friends, all of which are also making a Quilted Symphony.  And I guess all that Quilted Symphony energy allowed my piece to start speaking to me again.  If you've had a chance to thumb through Gloria Loughmans quilted symphony book you may have noticed the four patterns in the back of the book and for sure you've noticed that eye catching cover quilt.  The other gals were working on the cover quilt pattern or the gorgeous leave pattern.  Since I seem to have developed a liking for house/building themed quilts I choose the pattern with building (with a few modification).  Anyway, my buildings started to appear from the fabric piles and scraps in the room that didn't belong to me.  Most of my building, and their windows, came from scraps picked up off the floor!  With just a little tiny bit of tweaking the buildings will be ready for thread work.  That process will be a whole different adventure that will probably require a visit to the thread department of a few quilt shops.  :o)

The Cactus Rose

http://www.quiltworx.com/

About once a month (if the universes align just right) I spend some time with a few quilty friends.  Yesterday our universes aligned!  The Cactus Rose has been my traveling project for at LEAST 4 years now.  Judy Niemeyer is an awesome designer and I appreciate the finished results of paper piecing. 

There is no doubt that The Cactus Rose is a very eye catching quilt but... I often deviate from the pattern and this project is no exception.  Now, I have seen this quilt (more often as just one block instead of four) and they have ALL been done with Judy's colors.  When I went fabric shopping (not a stash quilt this time) I decided to use a slightly different color scheme.  So, my background is done in navy blues. The flower plumes are done in colors complimentary to blue.

Currently on the design wall

After all these years (and I do hate to admit it has been four!) I have all the background piecing done and ONE plume.  The pattern has SIXTEEN plumes!  Each of those plumes has TWENTY pieces.  For sanities sake, this is one of those times when I'm sticking by my motto, "I don't do math!".

Valentine's Day



When you think of Valentine's Day, you think of hearts, romance, grand gestures, expressions of love and devotion.  Are ya just a little bit curious how those in LOVE show their intentions of love and devotion?  I did some digging around to see how it all plays out.  Here's what I found:

CARDS

~  144 million Valentine's Day card are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion, second to Christmas.

~  Over 50 percent of all Valentine's Day cards are purchased in the six days prior to the observance, making Valentine's Day a procrastinator's delight.

CANDY

~  Valentine's Day comes in fourth for highest candy sales after Halloween, Easter and Christmas.

~  More than 36 million heart-shaped coxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine's Day.

FLOWERS

~  Of fresh flower purchases only, Valentine's Day ranks No. 1, capturing 36 percent of holiday transactions and 40 percent of holiday dollar volume.

~  23 percent of adults purchased flowers or plants as gifts for Valentine's Day 2011; of those 61 percent were men and 39 percent were women.

JEWELRY

~  When it comes to jewelry sales, Valentine's Day comes in second, behind Christmas.

~  Rings and necklaces come in close 50/50 in popularity, for Valentine's Day gifts.

MARRIAGE

~  About 10 percent of all marriage proposals take place on Valentine's Day, the single most popular day for marriage proposals all year.

~  2.6 million marriages take place annually in the United States. 12,000 of those happen on Valentine's Day, making it the most popular date for marriages to take place.

Hope your Valentine's Day plays out GREAT!

Beading and STUFF!

Yesterday I had an educational experience with Arlene Walsh.  If you are not familiar with Arlene's work you've missed something.  Arlene is a resident of our fine state who offers quilters (and others interested in Southwest Art) eyecandy and projects.  She has a line of quilt and bead embroidery patterns for us crafty types and rustic jewelry and wall art for those that enjoy looking at it but not making it.  Arlene does not have a website however you can reach her at 928-472-7680 or awddesigns@yahoo.com.  Her patterns can be found at quilt shops throughout the state.

So, anyway... I spent the day with Arlene (and 3 other lovely ladies) watching (and imitating) how Arlene does her beadwork and other STUFF.  The picture above is what I accomplished with my day.  Under Arlene's watchful eye I covered a 3 inch square piece of Timtex Interfacing/Stabilizer with my background fabric.  Then sewed on a BIG bead and started added smaller beads.  As you can see in the picture I didn't get very far.  The really sad part of that statement is it means I still have a LONG ways to go before this little 3" square is finished!

I did come home with enough STUFF to finish my little square AND some other STUFF that I thought would be FUN to work with (or maybe just look at and fondly once in awhile).  What a day of inspiration and FUN!