HOW THANKFUL ARE WE!!

Last Sunday I woke to the most beautiful scene in my yard. I love the snow. Granted I came home from SLC earlier than planned to beat this storm. I am definitely not a big fan of driving in the snow! But to wake up in your own bed, the world white with snow, with not major drive ahead of you is so wonderful!


This cabin is in my backyard and is one of my favorite things! We moved this cabin from Huntington, by taking it apart and numbering the logs, then reconstructing it here.



I think it is time to put my bike away. My sister Jodi is awesome in restoring bikes and fixed up my C J Higgins and I love it. I love to ride the old style bikes. There is something about riding them that grounds you and brings you back home again.

This was the year all of our children went to other family for Thanksgiving. Leon and I could have gone to SLC, to have dinner with my mom, or his sister, but we have not been able to stay home for a number of years. We were still debating what to do when Mack ask if we were going to be around for Thanksgiving and if we would like to help with the dinner at the Senior Citizen's center. Last year we had gone up to SLC and helped a friend who does dinner for the homeless under the viaduct. That was such a great experience that we wanted to continue doing something like that. This was just the ticket.

Leon woke up early and put the turkeys on(I got to sleep in). I got up and went in my sewing room and was met by this wonderful surprise. Ice had made lacey patterns on the windows. Later we heard it was 29 below in Panguitch. No wonder I had this wonderful ice display on my window.




We went down to the Senior Center at 10:00 and got busy setting up the place for dinner. Leon loves to cook and he set off making stuffing and gravy. We had cooked 2 turkeys that morning and others had cooked 5 more. I love the smell of Thanksgiving. It just warms you all the way through. Pat and Mack had it so organized that we had everything done and ready for dinner by 1:05. It was so nice to see those who came and shared Thanksgiving with us. Wonderful food, visiting with friends old and new, great music by Brad and his family, what more could we want. We shared dinner with about 80 folks and many dinners went out to those who couldn't come in. Truly the spirit of Thanksgiving was evident here. Leon and I were so glad to be a small part of it.



Pat checking Leon's progress on the stuffing.



This was the only bump in the road the whole day and I didn't even think it was a bump. This is the way I love my marshmallows any time. So I sacrificed and spooned all the burnt marshmallows off into a bowl and ate them(can't waste anything). The only thing missing was chocolate and graham crackers! Loved it!



Leon is giving Shawn a hard time about making the potatoes(which turned out awesome by the way!)



A big thank you for all the hard work that Mack and Pat do to make this a great event. We felt very blessed to be part of this fun day.

I do have to say though I went home got into the tub, promptly fell asleep, woke when the water was cold and got into bed at 7:30. 7:40 I was sound to sleep! Woke up at 6:00 got up and got ready for work. Amazing what a little sleep can do for you!

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and travel safe where ever you must go. I will leave you with this quote I love from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"The only gift is a portion of thyself."

May we give thanks every day for the blessings we have and remember those in need of a friend, food, a hug, a moment of time, a kind word, a smile and a listening ear.

Claudia

MY! HOW TIME FLIES!!

Has it been a week since I had time to sit down and write a note? Lots of things going on this time of year to fill up the night. I have really good intentions and by 10:00 I am saying "Tommorrow's another day." I have been really busy and gone alot, but now I'm home and can get caught up.

Panguitch has a big craft fair each November and today was the day. I don't make candy, or cookies or fun things like that to help support the Sub for Santa drive, so I made a Christmas throw to donate for a raffle. I have had the kit for probably four years and finally got around to making it. It turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. I think they are having the drawing for it on the 17th of Dec.


I finished my turkey wallhangings. I had three to do and got them finished and given away. Love these cute turkeys. They just make you smile. They were done except for the buttonhole stitching, quilting and binding. Check that off the list of things to finish.!



Quilt Walk 2011 News flash!! I will be showing various classes that will be on the Quilt Walk schedule for the next few months. I want to entice you into planning on come to Panguitch and bringing your friends to have a wonderful time with us. So follow this blog to get a sneak peak!

One of my best friends is having a new granddaughter at the end of the month. I wanted to do something special to give her to commemorate this wonderful event. Then I remembered that Holly is teaching this wonderful class at the Quilt Walk this June and wanted to try it out on us to see what we thought. So I got her lined up to teach a few of us and I must say I have not had that much fun in a long time. I am not a scrapbook person, never have done it, have no clue how to get started and am frankly out of my element doing it! But guess what! I had never been taught by the likes of Holly before! Amazing! She is so awesome and patient and encouraging that I really didn't feel any pain at all! Check out the fun book I MADE!!!

We made all the pages put them together in book form, and decorated the pages. Too much fun!





The pages have cornerstones and slots for putting pictures in and the pages themselves have slots in the top and note cards for you to write down those special memories. Cool right??



Don't you think this will be a fun gift for a new grandma to fill with all sorts of pictures and memories??

I stopped by H & R to get some embroidery kits for my sister and JeriLu showed me this new line of fabric she just got in. Now I am not a flowery person, but I fell in love with this wonderful floral by Henry Glass. It's called "Fresh Palette" by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's quilt Company.


So I bought some of all that JeriLu had and added a couple more pieces out of my stash and came up with enough to do this wonderful block that I found on Wendy's blog.


Love this block and love Wendy's website! So here's my sample block and I love it so much I am going to get busy and make 15 more (they're 14") and sash them to make a queensize quilt. Best of all... It's just for me!!!

So guess what I'm doing the rest of the weekend?? I am just going to take time for me! Hope you all do that too!

Claudia

My Favorite Quilt

Many thanks to Amy for the wonderful Bloggers Quilt Festival. It is so fun to see all the quilts and read about them.

I have made this quilt a zillion times in my mind the last 13 years. I based it on the story of the pioneer Quilt Walkers who walked on quilts over the mountains from Panguitch to Parowan to get food for the starving settlers of Panguitch. I drew it and drew it and each year I thought would make it. This last spring I finally got around to starting it. I wanted it finished before the Panguitch Quilt Walk Festival in June and before we dedicated our statue and park to the Quilt Walkers.

This festival is such a part of my life that I knew I had to do a quilt to represent how I felt about it. We now have a wonderful park to commemorate this incredible journey and the 7 men who made it. And I have a quilt that when I look at it gives me chills to think of the struggles these men had walking 40 miles each way in deep snow to bring supplies to their families. I am very blessed to live in such a wonderful town and have them many quilting friends who fill my life!




Thanks for stopping by.

Claudia