Christmas in Dixie

Hey everyone, I had a lot of fun doing this Nativity set. I saw one at a freinds house last year and bought the patterns. I ended up making 6 complete sets and a Mary and baby, Joseph and donkey. As an after thought I decided that I needed some trees. Being that I have been living in St. George for 3 months getting the store up and running, I have had a lot of life size models to look at. I made the pattern up one Sat. and have had fun putting them together. I always save my patterns, so I can do them for those of you who want to add them to your set.

This picture only shows 3 trees, but I actually did 5. I finished the other 2 at work today. One is 2 inches taller than the tallest in the picture. The new one is 23 inches tall. The other is a mini tree just 12 inches tall. (The tall wise guy is 16 inches tall.)

Someone asked if I was taking orders for next year. Not as yet, but we did figure cost and time. They would have to go for at least $350, so most likely not.

Here are some pictures of Hersh when he was a little guy. He wanted a picture of his left ear before they did surgery on it and pinned it back a bit. We miss these cute ears but he wanted it done at the time. I sort of think that he missed them a little.

Red & Black Quilt

I made this quilt for Jess and Rhett last fall.
I sent it to them for Christmas. I did an earlier version for Heather. Each square had 6 strips and I quilted every line. It was during this quilting that I thought of doing this version with solid squares and quilting in each square.
Way less quilting and I like the more simple look. I have done 3 since. I gave Nett's to her for Christmas, but haven't quilted it yet. Hers is in shades of brown and gold with black.

Star Quilts

Here are a couple of quilts I did
recently. Last year when I went to see Jessica in Mo, we went to Amish town and had a look in the quilt shop. I loved a star placemat they had, so decided to make a quilt.
The first one I did was for me and was a king. Then I did the red for Jess and the blue for Heather.
I quilted them on my sewing machine.
Each time I do one, I change the design a little. I think I am done with the star in star now.

To quilt on a machine, I start with the large center star panel, add the batting and back, pin together every 6" and use the darning foot. You have to remember to drop the feed dogs. Then just go slowly and smoothly to avoid larger running stitches.

I stop about 2-3" from the edge so that when I add the next section I can quilt over the seam.

Center star panel, top row, second row, bottom row (small squares), side panel, side panel, bottom panel(with corners)

I finish with self bias cut 2 1/2" wide and sew it in a 5/8" seam to the back. Then miter the corners and top stitch on the front.

Grandsons

Here I am with my 3 grandsons. Katie was grouchy and wouldn't be in the picture so that I could have all 4 kidlettes. They sure are a lot of fun to have around. Dace is the oldest on the left, then his little brother Kael who is 3 months and then RJ who is 5 months. Dace just got a mohawk hair cut like James and Herschel used to get in the summers. Kael is "the cricket" and RJ is "the little bulldog" or "the Delta Rabbit."

Summertime

We have had a busy summer. Kael was born the first part of June, Herschel had the National Goalball Tournament in June, Nett got married in July, Rhett's dad had bi-pass surgery in August and we have been building a new store in St. George.

Herschel went off to college, Nett and Drew went on tour for 4 months, Rhett and Jess came home for the next couple of years while they finish Med. school, Heather and Dallan are adjusting to having 3 kidos around, James started a new band in addition to a job promotion, I have been trying to finish a quilt that I promised Heather last year and Scott has been stressed about the new store and all of those details.

In addition to this, we had been doing a lot of canning. I had to buy 4 more cases of jars and haven't even done the grape juice yet.

Scott had a reunion of kids from Lakewood, Co that all grew up together. It was great to see them all and unique to see how much they all still have so much fun together.

Baby Boys

Here are my to newest grandsons. R.J. on the left is 4 months old. Scott calls him "The bulldog." Kael on the right is 2 1/2 months old. Scott calls him "The cricket."

They almost don't look like cousins. R.J. looks a lot like Kael's big brother Dace. They are a lot of fun to have around. It is interesting to see the body traits each has from their dads.

R.J. is definately a Crapo and
Kael is surely a Bangerter.

Love this picture of Nett. She has great eyes.

We'll sure miss her after they leave. Lucky for us Rhett and Jess have come to stay for awhile. They also brought the baby. Jess thinks he is the reason we're happy to have them here. She's right, but he isn't the only reason.

Good luck to the new Mr. & Mrs. Barlow!

Wedding

Nett is getting married July 26! She and Drew love this picture. Scott said, "Graffiti on the walls, trash in the street, under the Brooklin Bridge. It's perfect. It's you."

They will be going on tour Aug.- Nov. Drew signed with a record lable, so this is the new CD tour. Hope it goes well.

They will be in Utah for 3-4 days in Sept. James band (Michael Gross and the Statuettes) will be opening for him. Can Rhett get in the act too? He's a pretty awesome drummer. Maybe he can put his band back together. (Stitch Riley) We can keep it all in the family. Herschel is hoping to improve his bass skills enough to play as one of the statuettes.

I just rectently finished reading The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. I had forgotten how really good it is. It is one I should read every year to remind me of the good I can do and the impact we can have.

Herschel was assigned this for an English class so I decided to read it again. I have been really loving to read again lately. I found a great web site. betterworld.com I get hardback books for around $4. There is no shipping in the US and $3 anywhere in the world. I have had a lot of fun getting some old favorites.

Utah Explosion

Quinn, Lewis, Herschel, Chris, Marty and Nick

The team got the silver medal at the tournament in American Fork. They lost in the gold medal game 7-4 to Florida. All 3 of Florida's team will be on the paralympic team going to BeiJing this August. Go USA!

US Nationals

This week Utah hosted the 2008 National Goalball Championships. The Utah Explosion went undefeated until the Gold Medal Match. They earned silver after losing to Florida 7-5. They really wanted to earn the gold in "their house." Maybe next year.

It was a great experience for Herschel. He scored 4 goals for the team on Friday to help get to the gold medal round. The play won't be nearly as intense in Oct. for the Junior Nationals. He will continue to improve as he will be getting alot of practice time at USU starting this fall.

Goalball is a club sport there and the rest of his team all attend as well as other blind or impaired students. They have about 12 men who come to play.

The team is great at encouraging him. They are impressed with his enthusiasm and hard work. They also think it's great that he continues to play even when he gets his nose broken. (3 times this year) The picture is of Chris and Marty. I love the shot. Great teamwork stopping a 45 mph throw. Thanks to all of the family who supported him by coming to the games!

Testing

Herschel has just finished 3 days of testing to see if the Rehabilitaion for the Blind will be willing to help pay for some of his college. The first day of testing was all done blind folded to see if he would be adaptable if he does go totally blind. He did great. He was faster and scored higher than most of the blind people, so that is good news. They also said that for him to do so well his vision is a lot worse that he lets on. He actually "feels" like a blind person, not just impaired. Most partial vision people don't do very well on this test, so he was pretty excited.
They also found him to be smarter than they expected. His grades were not that great, but considering that he did the first 3 years of H.S. without accommodations, what can you expect?
They were a little surprised at how heightened his other senses are. They weren't expecting that with partial vision. We think that because he has multiple vision in addition to limited, this has caused the senses to compensate. They say that he would have no problems getting a doctorate if he would like to. Yippee! You can see his jersy for the team photo.

Quilt

June 19-21 is the National Goal Ball Tournament.

I wanted to do something to help. I am so greatfull for all of the help Herschel has been given. They have really opened the world to him and changed his life.

I asked them if I could do a couple of quilts to help earn money. It isn't much. I feel like I should do so much more. This is the first one that I did.

They are having a silent auction for this hoping that they can raise alot of money. Don't know how it will do.

They were getting stuff for raffles. I thought this would go there, but they decided on the auction. I think that they think it can bring more money that way.

I did another quilt that was all batiks. I love it. I did one for me as well. The 3rd one is a texture quilt. Blind people see with there hands, so I tried to do alot of texture fabrics as well as embelishments. There is embroidery, ribbon, buttons, tufting, ruffling etc. I hope it is okay as I haven't really done textures for blind people.

I am planning to continue these tactile quilts as there is a real need to help children learn and stimulate their tactile senses. I am hoping to donate the remaining ones. Hopefully through UFB I will be able to find those who most need them.

Blind School

Hershcel recently went to LA for the Jr. Blind Olympics. He was great with all of the kids, so some of the councelors offered him a job at the UWIN center. It is a place for blind and visually impared people to go live to get training for independent living. They also have classes in the summer for elemetary and Jr. High students to learn skills.

Hersh will start part-time there working with the little kids as he is very mobile. He will also receive some of the training for independent living to get ready for college. Mostly cleaning skills, money management etc. He does well at cooking, shopping etc. When he finishes the program, he will be hired full-time and then he can work there in the summers untill he gets his degree.

He is planning to be an IEP teacher and also get certified as an O&M instructor. (Orientation & Mobility) He wants to work with the blind and visually impaired. He does a great job now. I always thought that he would be an excellent teacher.

Pergola

A couple of years ago I found that the power company was planning on replacing some of the power poles on my road. When they started their work, I went and talked with the foreman and asked about what they do with the old poles.

He told me that they cut them up into 4' lengths and then chunk them smaller and they end up in the dump. I asked him if he would like to save some time and just bring them to me whole. He said, "You can't burn these lady."

"They're too valuable to burn," I said. So he brought me poles and I let him have produce from my garden. I think I got the better end of the deal. I went to work and Scott and the neighbors all thought I was crazy. 17- 30 foot poles and 17 trees later, I finished it. Scott loves it and so do we all. In this picture, it is not quite completed. There are benches and each pole has a viney plant growing on it.

The thing is that we will be moving to St. George soon and I have been dreading leaving my pergola. So over Memorial weekend, we went to St. George and they are replacing poles on Dixie Dr. We are on a side road just off Dixie Dr. and the vacant lot where they are putting all of the old poles is just past the turn to our road.

I couldn't resist and Scott was again willing to let me go with my hair brained scheme. So I should be getting more poles soon. I will save them for when I can start a new pergola down there. I have the spot all picked out and am started the plans in my head. Very exciting. Splitting the poles is the hardest part but very satisfying!

Herschel is my last child at home. He has been leally blind for several years and due to many unforseen ingorances has had no help untill September of 2007, his senior year. He finally got into the special education program in the school district and his life and world have blossomed.

In January, he started playing goalball (a sport for blind and visually impaired persons) and excelled at it. He went to tryouts for the state men's team, the Utah Explosion, and made it. The practices have been in SLC and Logan (hence the quilt). Goalball has given Hersh many opportunities unavailable to him before and more importantly, a chance to use his talents and enjoy life.

The team will be competing at the Western Regioals this month in Colorado Springs and at the Nationals in June in SLC. Go EXPLOSION!

This will be something Hersh can enjoy for the rest of his life. (He was clocked with throws of 39mph...his olympic teammate throws @45+mph)

Animal Quilt

I have always loved to quilt and recently have expanded my creativity with quilts for my grandchildren ( the kidlets) as well as quilts to help the blind and visually impaired in Utah.



This quilts inspiration came from two of my daughters. Jessica was planning to decorate her nursery with animals/safari theme. Heather who was shopping with me, saw this darling fabric and suggested I use it to make a quilt for Jess. I had recently finished a cute safari quilt I saw in a magazine, but what the heck? "You can never have too many quilts" a favorite saying of mine.

I decided that since Heather was having a boy too, I could make two at the same time. I had a lot of fun and it gave me some hand stitching to do while waiting at goalball practice (another story)


To get the enlarged animals to match the fabric, I enlarged each animal section to 200% on a copier, so that I had a pattern. The animal skin fabrics were remnants from the first quilt. The giraffe ended up being my favorite. I love how his ears are loose and flop around. I love how each animal seems to be peeking through a window. They all have 3-d feature. Mostly the ears.

I have told my girls that all of my quilts are for using and not to hang on a wall. That is what they are for. To use and be enjoyed. A quilt needs be used to be fully enjoyed and cherished. The raggedy quilts have so many stories they could tell. A perfect friend. Always warm available and never revealing your secrets.