To Arizona and Back

We arrived home to the Salt Lake Valley last Sunday, after a 9-day vacation in Tubac, AZ. Tubac is located verrrrry south in Arizona, about a 20 minute drive north of the Mexico border. All of Bruce’s three remaining siblings live there, and we hadn’t visited since just before the COVID pandemic in 2020. 

Overall it was a nice trip, but from now on we’ll fly from Salt Lake to Tucson, then rent a car for the remaining 1-hour drive. Driving two days each way in the car is too long for these old bones!! But we did take a new route and saw some new scenery and towns and cities, so that was interesting. I’ll spare you all the scenery pictures except this one, taken near Kanab, Utah.

All the rest of my scenery photos had bad reflections on them. And half the time I was driving, so couldn’t take pictures. Cousin Kim drove the other half of the time as she came with us and Bruce no longer drives. I should clarify that Cousin Kim isn’t really our cousin; she’s our niece and is my age. Her mom was Faye, Bruce’s oldest sister who passed in 2005. We stayed with Bruce’s other sister Annette, who is 2 years older than Bruce. Annette’s husband Glenn died just after Christmas, a month after my brother Steve passed. So we were all glad to see one another. At our ages (seventies, and Annette is 80), visiting opportunities are winding down. 

The above photo is Annette and Glenn’s house. They moved here, downsizing from a 5-acre property in another area of town. This home looks little, but it’s about 1800 sq ft. The lot, however, is small and backs up to the golf course. 

In the mornings, we’d sit out in the backyard pictured below, drink our coffee, talk, take in the view and check out their flowering cacti. It was pleasantly warm, with each day getting up into the mid-80’sF (25-26C). 

This cactus opened one evening and bloomed until the following evening. One day! So beautiful, but sad to me in a sort of Brigadoon way.

This is Annette’s front screen door. The colored wavy lines between the iron bars are just screen mesh refracting the light.

And here is Annette. She doesn’t like her picture being taken, so we had to be sneaky with our candids.

 We were supposed to meet Bruce’s brothers for lunch, but they got their days mixed up and were no-shows. We had seen them briefly earlier in the week. Here’s the 4 of us at the restaurant without them.

L-R: Bruce, Cathy, Annette, Kim

On to quilting……

When I got home from AZ, Ruby (who had been coming in daily to feed Alfie and Darla) had dropped off the other 3 little quilts she’d quilted for me. Actually for Quilts for Kids. So I got all three bound and labeled.

Isn’t the quilting just perfect with the backing?!? 

Ruby quilted the next one with daisies. The quilt itself is rather blah from a distance.

But up close it’s a cute print and very vibrant and colorful. 

The last quilt is this little yellow and orange number. She quilted it with these rather odd swirls that she wanted to try. Yes, we routinely experiment with quilt patterns and colors on QFK donation quilts!

The little quilt pinned below is now a webbed top. I’ll hunt up or piece a backing for it and it will become the first of the next batch of kid quilts I’ve got in the works. The focal fabric of little bonnet girls is a scrap I saw in Ruby’s stash  - a literal hoard of dozens of plastic tote bins she’d bought at a quilter’s estate sale.  Then Cousin Kim had the same fabric in a chunk piece she was going to get rid of. Between the two chunks, I had enough to cut out the 31 squares at 6.5”. 

I tried out several pinks, orangey-apricots, soft greens and neutrals for the two other alternating colors. The pink isn’t as dark as it looks in the picture. I’ll try to get a more accurate color depiction when the quilt reaches the finish line.

This week also featured dentist appointments, a mammogram, and a visit from the plumber (Cousin Kim’s son Nick, actually) to fix the toilets - not used while we were gone, and the old parts in the tanks failed. They all have new “guts” now. That’s the extent of my plumbing knowledge!

By Friday afternoon, I managed to find time to piece the first of two pink Rolling Stone blocks. There is one more to make next week, along with strings blocks and crumb blocks. I’m linking up to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Rolling Stone

Speaking of strings, my friend Judy of the Busy Hands are Happy Hands blog sent me 12 crumb blocks for Quilts for Kids. I added three of my crumb blocks and Voila! The set of 15 crumb blocks are all packed up for my QFK workshop this morning. Sorry I didn’t get a picture, but thanks so very much, Judy! 

Next week is crazy: Monday is the HOA board meeting. I attend only the 1-hour general session to get news for the HOA newsletter I write. Tuesday is Weight Watchers and shopping for a new sport coat for Bruce, Wednesday is the probate hearing for my brother’s estate, on Thursday my daughter Megan flies in from Seattle and stays over, and Saturday is Grandson Easton’s wedding. 

And I forgot to mention that I’ll be having my second knee surgery (left knee total replacement) on Monday, May 18. I need want to get my flower garden in before that, but there are VA visits for Bruce, pre-op visits for me, Bruce’s birthday, the HOA Cinco de Mayo celebration, the closing of the sale of my brother’s house, and on and on. I think maybe being laid up for at least 2 weeks after the surgery may be a welcome respite! But don’t quote me on that!

So Much to Share

It was another busy week, especially in the sewing room. Besides sewing, we’ve been preparing to go on vacation to Arizona for the first time since just before COVID. And I had a lot of “budget and bills” work to do before we left, both on our stuff and my late brother’s. It will be nice when the sale of his house closes at the beginning of May. Supporting two households is getting old. And expensive!

This week I worked on my two Gameboard blocks (I really love these!) for Pink April in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I’ll be linking up to Scrappy Saturday, hopefully sometime Saturday morning (if I can sneak a minute before we hit the road to Arizona). 

Here are all the blocks for this year so far:

I’m the monthly newsletter editor for our homeowners association, and I have started the practice of providing it in color (instead of just black and white) and adding a photo. So a couple times during the week, in between the much-needed and much-enjoyed spring rain showers, I walked around our 72-unit complex snapping pictures of anything in bloom. That was enjoyable! But for this blog post, I’m just showing three things I photographed in our little courtyard. 

Lamium groundcover 

Brunnera

Tulips

I can’t wait to get out in the garden and get things planted! But I will wait until at least the second week of May, which is what everyone recommends for our locale and planting zone. I just don’t trust Mother Nature not to surprise us with a spring freeze!

My friend Ruby, who owns a longarm quilting machine, was able to quilt two (of 5) of my little kid quilts this week. And I, in turn, was able to trim, bind and label them. These are the first two finishes for April. 

Purple Elephant Strippie (above and below). Finished size 37.5 x 44.5”. I used a smallish width-of-fabric piece for the front, and two small fabric chunks and a little strip set for the backing. I love using up these smaller pieces of yardage. 

The second finish was this cute fox and squirrel print (3 fat quarters) that I matched up with some solid chunks for this classic little Quilts for Kids pattern. 

Ruby quilted it with swirls, which is the same pattern we used on the wedding quilt for my grandson Easton. I have the binding made for the wedding quilt, but won’t finish that up until we get back from vacation. I’m hoping that Ruby, who is tall, can be my quilt holder for its final photos. But I digress. 

The backing for this little quilt is some aqua acanthus leaves, a patterned fabric I’ve owned and used in at least three color ways now. Foxes and Owls finished at 39x45”.

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I got my act together enough to finally share my progress on the Block of the Month (BOM) class I am taking (after much coercion from Ruby). There are several of our friends and family taking the class, so it’s rather fun. But don’t tell Ruby I said that!

I’m pretty happy with all my blocks, except for one. I hated the block and had no intention of buying the requisite ruler for it, knowing I would never again voluntarily make the block. But let’s start at the beginning.

The BOM started in September and will run through August. You pay $5.00 when you start the class and provide your own background fabric (fabric A). The store provides cuts of Fabric B and Fabric C. If you finish your block and bring it to the next month’s class, you don’t have to pay for the next month’s B and C fabrics. If you don’t finish the block or attend class, you pay another $5.00 for the next block. I’ve finished every one so far.

September block

October block

November block

This next one, the December Block, is absolutely hideous. I hate the pattern and the colors they gave us (after that block, I have been changing out some of the batiks to keep them brighter). But in the interest of transparency, I’m showing the block. I know I’m merely an average quilter, and I’m just fine with that. But this block is cringe-worthy even for a beginner. (SO why, I wonder, would the instructor put this as block #4 in a “beginner” class?)  I did not have the right ruler or the inclination to make a real effort on this block, and it shows. Please don’t judge! It will definitely be replaced with prettier colors and a pattern I like better. And can sew better, LOL!!

December block

January Block

 February Block

March Block

Here are all the blocks so far. 

First Seven Blocks

I will not be posting next week due to our trip, but will be back in 2 weeks with lots of pink blocks (Rolling Stone, strings) and more little quilt finishes. And hopefully lots of sunshiney pictures of fun times! While we’re gone, Ruby will be over daily to feed the cats and talk to them. Alfie loves it when “Aunt Ruby” feeds him his Greenies treats.

Have a wonderful Easter, friends. Life is good!