Busy weekend

We had looked forward to last weekend, because Brook and her brand new husband Sam were coming.  As usual, two days of cleaning the house beforehand, vacuuming up dog hair (how does it get IN the oven?) from everywhere, dusting all the places I never think of normally and scouring the bathroom.  We need to have company more often, we'd sure have a cleaner house.  Anyway, we were expecting them on Friday, and on Thursday my son Josh called, said he was in Wyoming on a business trip and had Nikki and kids.  They live in Colorado now, and Nikki really misses Casper so he brought them to see old friends.  He asked could they come and spend Friday night?  It was great having everyone here.  We really like Sam, its great to see Brook so happy.
In the shop we are getting ready for our Twelfth Annual Superbowl Sunday Sale.  Its always fun.  We have a catered goodie table, by Linda Fulton.   She used to work for me, but she has been a professional chef, and makes finger foods to die for.  We put everything in the store 20% off, and draw door prizes every half hour.  Lots of my friends bring handwork and sit in the classroom and eat and sew and gossip.   We are open from 12-4.  I'll get pictures this year and post them on the blog.  
This morning I went out to a farm that has a lot of donkeys, looking for a prospective wife for Jasper.  I'm no expert, and don't even know how to evaluate a donkey.  I just want a jenny of breeding age who is tame and reasonably pretty.  I'll find her - I just started looking.  Wouldn't it be cool to have a donkey baby?

Installed like plumbing

Last night at the Greybull Chamber of Commerce annual dinner, I was installed as the new president.  Installed, isn't that a funny word for recognizing a new president?  Like a toilet or a dishwasher.  Maybe it means they actually expect me to work!  It was a nice dinner, good speaker, good turnout, good fellowship.

I heard this morning that there is a rumor going around Wyoming that I have sold Big Horn Quilts.  Not only is it not true, but I haven't even had an offer.  I haven't posted it for sale anywhere.  I guess if someone with more money than sense were to come along and offer to buy me out, I'd sell, but that hasn't happened.  Dave and I have decided to weather this recession, and try to sell it in about 2012.  Thats when I hit 70, and at this point that looks like a good age to get out.  Of course, I may change my mind - a woman's prerogative, right?

Catching up

Saturday Sherry taught a class called Day And Night, based on an Eleanor Burns pattern/book.  It was actually a second class for the few people who missed it when she taught it last year.  I kind of sat in on it, since the classroom is also my office.  Its kind of a neat quilt, because there are pieces left over that you can make a whole second quilt out of. 

Our new dog, Andy, has more or less decided he is Dave's little lap dog.  Dave fell asleep watching TV, but Andy didn't. 

I've had a stupid cold or something for two weeks.  I go through a day of sneezing but not feeling too bad, then the next day I can hardly move.  Then it goes away for a few days and then comes back.  So I went to the doctor yesterday and got some stuff to squirt up my nose.  Today I feel human.  Which is a good thing, because tonite is a fancy Chamber of Commerce dinner where I am to be installed as president.  The entree is barbequed ribs, which is number one on the list of things Dave won't eat in public because of his beard. Our marriage has survived 34 years on the principal that we don't volunteer each other for things.  He doesn't make me go out to his sub-zero black powder shoots, and I don't make him eat ribs in public, so I'll be attending the dinner without him. 

The donkeys are doing well.  I've about decided that Jasper (the white one) gets a wife and Fuzz (the brown one) gets the knife.  He's just a little too much stud for me.  Sometimes he scares me.

He's actually got very nice markings, a good cross on his back.  They call that a Jerusalem donkey, and the lore is that the shadow of Jesus' cross fell on a faithful donkey and they have carried the cross on their back ever since.  It is a black stripe down his center back, and you can just barely see the cross piece in this picture in front of Jasper's face.

Crazy quilting fever

FRONT AND BACK OF A TOTE I MADE THE LAST TIME I GOT CRAZY

The last time I got into a crazy quilting mode, I made this tote and a doll quilt.  This time I am going to make a vest, maybe a Christmas stocking or two, and definitely some more doll blankets.  Its really fun, because I can play with lots of techniques and all the goofy fabrics that I have left over from making Barbie doll clothes and dance outfits for my daughters.  They are so pretty I just couldn't bring myself to throw away the scraps.  Velvets and satins and sparkly stuff.  This year for our shop 'Saturday club'  I decided to do crazy quilting, thanks to a suggestion by Betty Shem, a very creative friend who works for me.  Over the 12 years that Big Horn Quilts has been in business I've occasionally received satins and silks and velvets that didn't sell, but I stashed them in the back room.  So we chopped them all up and are sharing with the club.  And who doesn't have a stash of men's neckties?  A couple great garage sale purchases resulted in a tub full of odd lace.  So we're going to run with it.  The people who hate handwork are doing theirs by machine, but I decided to try to do mine the old way.  For the most part, the seams in old crazy quilts are not appliqued.  One patch is folded under and basted, then the 'fancywork'  is done on top, which holds the seam together.  Then the basting is removed.  I'm not pre-embroidering the patch motifs, I'm going to do that after I get the seams embellished, but I'll have flowers and birds and owls and spiders and all the usual stuff on this one.  As usual when I get excited about a project, I've got 2 or 3 going in my head. 

Ever since Sherry suggested putting a thin cotton batting behind embroidery on quilts, I can't stand to embroider any other way, so am putting one between my foundation and the patches.  It doesn't look like much so far.  And I'm not even sure what this is going to be - probably a doll quilt.

Plans for 2010

We are going to have two clubs in 2010 here in the shop.  They will meet on the Second Saturday of every month.  At 10 am we will have a Crazy Quilt Club, where we will do all kinds of crazy quilting.  At 11 the Christmas Club will meet, taught by Sherry, and will be a lot of projects from Nancy Halvorsen's books and other Christmas projects.    I love crazy quilting, and havent done much for a while, so I've got to get back in the groove and get something done this week to show on January 9th to the club, for a sample.  I've got samples I've made of a doll quilt and a purse/tote, but I'm going to do a lot more.

When I was making a deposit this morning, I found a check that was written out to the Guilt Shop.  Freudian slip?

This year flew by!

Wow, I can't believe this year is darn near over! I've been busy with the donkeys, the shop, and playing way too much World of Warcraft. I am just about finished with Sarah Palin's book Going Rogue, and I like her. I really like her - she's real.

Our second Saturday of the month club at Big Horn Quilts is going to be a two parter next year. I'm hosting 'Crazy Club' at 10am, and Sherry is hosting 'Christmas Club' at 11. Show and tell will be joint, at 10:30. Crazy club will be a lot of crazy quilted projects, and one crazy quilt if anyone wants to do a big one, and Christmas club will be the same - a lot of small projects and one bigger quilt. I'm still trying to use up my stash, but the darn thing is still breeding everytime I turn out the lights.

Our Christmas was really low key, we mostly just watched movies and played on the computer. We plan to do the same thing for New Years. Sometimes its good just to veg out.

We didn't get the big snow like the east coast, but we've had temperatures below zero a lot so far this winter. I got a solar water trough for the donkeys, and it really is slick. No more ice chopping - I just take a jug of hot water from the house, pour it in the trough and fill it up from the tap Dave installed last year.

We've had a busy month so far - went to Laramie to see Brook, our oldest granddaughter, get married. We're going to the Chase Hawks Rough Stock Rodeo this Saturday in Billings. And the weather has been hovering on both sides of zero for several weeks, meaning two trips a day out to our pastureland to break ice for Fuzz and Jasper. They've never been tamed except when they were babies, and they sometimes act like the jackasses they are, but that is going to change. Just as soon as the weather mellows out some. The white one, Jasper, actually is very friendly. Fuzz spooks really easily, so he's going to take some quieting down.

This is the newest member of our family, Andy. He is a rescue dog, half lab and half border collie, with one ear representing each breed. He's rambunctious and insecure, but he's getting calmer every day. He doesn't make us forget Maggie and Walter, but at least he fills a big dog-shaped hole in our lives. Dave found him on the internet, cruising the nearby animal shelters. The Roundup, MT shelter had him - his original name was Doobie. My daughters think that is more appropriate for him than Andy, but we're sticking with Andy.