Jordyn shows off some of her new moves...

Unfortunately it rained all day, so her garb and belt were damp...causing them to slide down often...but she was a trooper and boogied anyways :)

Recap of Crossroads and a lantern quilt

Well, Memorial Weekend was spent with SCA friends at Crossroads, an event held every year out in Byers, Colorado. We experienced more rain than we would have liked, but the evenings were dry and the company was definitely worth the soaking! We had friends travel from Utah and New Mexico to join us, and a great time was had by all. Im posting a few photos and links to videos, but if you would like to see more of my pics, then click here to check them out.
There were a lot of fun activities for the kids, but this was probably their favorite...wielding foam swords. The adults have fun with these too!

Justin had a chance to do some fencing on Saturday, something he hasnt done in quite a while, so he had a blast (though he was very sore the next day).

While on a kids hunt to find baby hawks (little stuffed baby birds), we found something even more exciting...this toad!

After she found this little guy, all else was forgotten...and she talked about this silly toad for days!
Heres a shot of Ali teaching Jordyn a few dance moves...she really loved twirling her dress and watching the tassels spin on her belt. (note to self: add more jingles to her next belt...she loved the jingles!) In fact, thats what she called one of our friends all weekend..."jingle bells".

Here we are all decked out for the big Hafla on Saturday night. We had quite a crowd, and wonderful music to dance to all night long! I hope to post my videos soon, but in the meantime, you can check out some of my friends videos here or here.

On the quilting front, i thought i would start something new (well, sort of new)...possibly for myself (imagine that )...of course, it could end up as a gift...you never know :)

These lanterns were collected thru a swap on about.com and it was the first swap i ever participated in. I love Asian prints, but its expensive to collect such a large assortment of prints...so this swap was great! I didnt have enough squares to make a decent sized quilt though, so i purchased this panel on clearance, and thought it might make a nice center piece to the lanterns. Works together pretty good, dont you think? Anyways, i need to add some black around the panel, but other than that, i think this should go together quite quickly (and nicely :) And the best part is...i have just enough squares do it and dont have to make any others! cheers~

Crossroads 2009

We had a fabulous weekend...wonderful music, beautiful company, delicious food, and lots of fun! Details coming soon!
P.S. Here is a link to more photos if you are interested....

More Black Bear Wildlife...

Its Finally Finished!

Well, here it is...Berdenas 90th birthday quilt, finally finished! (and shes only 91 1/2) :) She was pretty excited and surprised to see it today, and im soooo happy its done. I finished the binding very late last night, and justin was anxious to get it out of the house before one of us spilled something on it :)

As mentioned before, its a double sided quilt (per her request), she wishes to hang it on the wall and be able to turn it over now and again...so ive included a few photos to give you an idea of both sides.

I appreciate all of the suggestions for quilting it, but in the end, since i didnt have the right foot for my machine to do meandering(and didnt want to learn on this particular quilt), i decided to throw caution to the wind and strait stitch across the sashing. Its not quite as strait as i would like, and since it isnt square, there are a few wandering sections, but for the most part it worked out rather well. It was definitely worth it to see the look on her face, she was thrilled and immediately sat down to enjoy all the individual squares.

It was another beautiful day up here, so we decided to go for an adventure out on the island, and then jordyn went for a swim. She likes to parade around in her froggie towel, and wears it like a cape.

Also, on another good note, we were able to salvage a few poles and a side wall to make this much smaller shade awning from the original. So, after all...not a total loss, and we will have lots of uses for this one, as it is smaller and easier to move around.

Happy Weekend Everyone!~

Busy at the Black Bear...

Lots of fun going on up here lately! Today, we were visited by the deer...we have to keep a close watch on them...they like to eat my flowers. Last year i enjoyed my grape hyacinths for about 3 days before they gobbled em up, but this year they have been going strong...and i want to keep it that way. The best defense...send Jordyn outside, she spooks em in no time!

With the combination of rain and sunshine, our surroundings are finally turning green, so Jordyn helped Daddy mow the meadow. With the opening of the ditches comes even more fun (and laundry for me), as little miss will go thru about 3-4 wardrobe changes in a day...all soaking wet and muddy!

With all the time being spent outside, i stalled out on Berdenas Quilt. Its quilted together though and just needs binding, so its almost done. My goal was mothers day, but i played all weekend instead! Besides, i had to take some time out to make this addition to the swing set. It needed a little spicing up, so i dragged out some old wood, the saw, the drill, a little red paint...and presto...a climbing wall!

In other Black Bear news...remember our beehive we got last June? Well, sadly we lost the hive sometime in January...we think the queen died, but they did leave us one large jar of honey...yum! We have the beehive all cleaned out though, and are awaiting another colony. We hope to get our new bees earlier this time, as the flowers are starting to bloom, so they may have a better chance of establishing themselves! Wish us luck! :)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Here is a shot of my mother and i at my graduation from Metro State in 2003. Its an older photo...but a favorite of mine, so i thought i would post it in honor of her this Mother's Day! I had a photo book made for her with pictures of her daughters and grandkids in it...it was a big hit! It was ordered thru shutterfly.com...they make wonderful keepsakes if you are ever looking for something fun to give as a gift.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there...the toughest job you'll ever love :)

Wordless Wednesday

and the winner is....

Hurrah for Sheri over at Northern Quilter! I used random.org to help chose the winner, and her number was selected. Now all i need is your snail mail Sheri, and these goodies will be on their way to your home :) Thank you for all of the comments and congrats i received for my 200th post! Ive made many wonderful friends thru blogland, and i hope to meet many more in the future.

Quilt Progress...

This is what ive been working on for the last few days, which is why its been kind of quiet around here...

Jordyn's great grandma Berdena turned 90 in November 2007 (thats right...im a little behind), and these quilt squares were sent to her from family and friends. After her birthday, she held on to the blocks for about a year to show off to folks, but they were given to me last year in September. I was waiting for a few squares from folks, but alas, life got too hectic for them, so i finally made them instead. Anyways, i really want to finish this project, so i set a deadline for myself...Mother's Day. Ive really been cranking along, and now i have the quilt sandwiched and ready for quilting. Here is the tough part...how to quilt it! It has a front and back (per Berdena's request), and i lined them up as best as i could, but since none of the blocks are totally square, im sure they arent perfect...so stitch in the ditch would be tough. Also, one side of the quilt has photographs on it, so i cant really quilt inside those either. Suggestions are totally welcome...but remember, im machine quilting it(for time reasons), and i cant FMQ on my machine...so it has to be something simple. I think the sashing really pulls the squares together, and i used the easy the sashing method from this site. I ended up making 8 blocks for the quilt...some i posted earlier, but these three were the lastest ones...



So, thats about it over here! Oh, the drawing for my 200th post giveaway will be tomorrow...so stay tuned! :)
Happy Sunday!

New Doll for Jordyn

Since Grandpa has never had chicken pox, Grandma decided to come over to our house to play with Jordyn...and look what she brought with her...

She made this beautiful doll for Jordyn, and as you can see...she loves it! In fact, she had to go put on one of her play dresses so she could be matching!

She named her Sally, but then again, she calls all of her dolls Sally. Im not even sure where she picked that up...we dont know anyone named Sally. Perhaps she got it from "Nightmare Before Christmas"...im telling you...the kid is hooked! She was singing the songs from that movie yesterday when we were playing outside :)

Anyways, here's the best part...while Grandma and Jordyn played, i took the worlds longest, hottest, uninterrupted shower (i even had a chance to shave my legs...hurrah). Then i actually got to take a nice two mile walk...kid free! There was even time left over for quilting! (pictures soon)
It was a fabulous day for everyone. Thank you Grandma Pat...you made our day!