Still here.........

My life is a rollercoaster ride...Always has been and probably always will be. I accept that. Sometimes I feel like things are either so up or so down that I must be some kind of freak of nature. Is everyone's life like this or is it just me? Is it just the way I handle things? Am I doing something to bring all the ups and downs on? I dont know really. I just hang on and when it seems appropriate or not I scream and then I hang on some more and ride the ride. Honestly, I have been having a tough time lately. I think part of it is menopause is kicking some butt here. I think if I took hormones out of the equation I might be better at riding the scary rides.












I can still laugh, like at this picture, but the laughs are fewer. I am lonely for the kids and for the sound of family around me. At the same time, I am not up for a move back to Oregon or Washington. So I try to pull my big girl underpants up and trudge along rollercoaster or no. What I am trying to say is this is what I am going through and why it has been hard to blog.
I have been working a whole lot. I worked 9 days in a row so I could go on a five day camping trip. It was really fun although the heat made it pretty rough on me. Luckily I had an air conditioned rv to escape too...I went with a group of ten other people, one baby boy and numerous dogs. We went to a park called Sand Hollow by St George in Utah. The colors are amazing and I just got sucked into them. The sand is red, the rocks are red and then the lake is this amazing azure blue. I want to find fabrics those exact colors and use them to paint what I still see in my mind.











I did a lot of floating around surrounded by dogs...The water was just so wonderful and this picture doesnt even do it justice. I also climbed some big red rocks, rode the waverunner a lot and attempted to wakeboard. I got up twice meaning my butt left the water, but I couldnt stay up. I am going to get it next time for sure! I also took advantage of the perfect light and took the cutest baby photos of my friends little guy Ryder. I love to take "kid" pictures....














On the home front, very little progress in the unpacking. Things are still kinda chaotic. I putter and unpack half a box now and then and call it good. I did plant some flowers in pots for the back yard. I miss my garden, I miss my kids that garden with me.The flowers are pretty, but I didnt feel the joy that I usually do when my hands are in the dirt.

I went to the Capitol Theatre here in Salt Lake City and saw Les Miserables.








I had never seen it..I loved it. The music was incredible and made me cry more than once. Wicked is coming in August and I am so excited about it. I have wanted to see it for the longest time!

I also took a trip to the hospital in an ambulance from work after I collapsed with chest pain and anxiety. My anxiety really went up when the guy in the ambulance told me I was having a heart attack. Then they gave me some good drugs and I didnt care anymore. Is this why people like drugs? I almost think it was worth getting a break from my life...If only for a few days.


Creative wise? Very little...I have pulled out some rows of star blocks to start putting a quilt top together and then I laid it out and pondered over it....pondered some more and said to myself " oh, never mind" and put it back. I did make some fairy ornaments though....Because I had the Enchanted ornament swap and my partner is Sherry whom I love....













I also made some tags and cards....














My sister, Julie left with the kids to Oregon and has been gone two months....I am so anxious to see Jace and Baby Ava! The best news though? She brought Olivia back with her so I get to have her for the summer...I am really looking forward to it!!!

Sand and fun......

For the first time in a long time, I actually just said " forget about what I need to do" and I went and had fun instead. I got to go camping to a place in Utah that I had never been. (I actually have been only a couple of places here...) I went with a group of friends to a place called the Sand Dunes. It was so fun. We took a sand car (think 100 mile an hour go cart), a quad and a rhino...kind of a big quad car...At the dunes there is a huge mountain of sand...I mean huge. My favorite part was going up and down it in the sand car. I wasn't the driver, but the passenger. It was a huge thrill. I screamed my head off, about peed in my pants, and then yelled "lets do it again. Here is a picture of the mountain.























And here are a couple of pictures as we came to the bottom and whipped around to do it again. Windblown and exhilarated that is for sure! The thing moves so fast it is hard to get pictures!!!!








































The downside? I am still living out of boxes in the garage. Tonight when I got home, I forced myself to unpack a few things and I guess it isn't going to kill me to plug along at this slower than slow pace.

Last week I made a few things while I could still get at my sewing machine. It is blocked in with boxes again. I made some quilted postcards for a couple of trades. The first was on Fiber art traders and the theme was Tarot cards.





















The moon is my favorite....I just used a white on white fabric, drew a picture with a pencil right on it and then colored it in with a watercolor crayon. Then I spritzed it down with a spray bottle. The last step was to sew around all the outlines with black thread. I love to make fabric postcards. They are so fast, it is kinda instant gratification.


Also for Swapbot I made a couple of postcards for a trade. The theme was use a leftover quilt block...I used two crazy quilt squares and this is what I came up with.
















Then I made a swap package for Jill who is in the Enchanted for a Year ornament swap. This months theme was birds nests.















Here is my ornament for her......I decorated up a little nest and put eggs in it, then put it all on a painted clothespin so she could clip it on her tree.... I also made some tags and a necklace. It was a little challenging because I had to dig in the garage and try to use what I could get to! I still loved doing it....


















In return, Jill sent me some of the cutest nest things I have ever seen. An ornament made out of wire and beads that just WOWED' me, a little nest charm, some cards she made using a sketch she did and the cutest ever felted bird on a nest. He is so cute he is in my living room. He makes me smile everytime I look at him....I guess she is a her but she feels like a he to me...Not sure why?????



































We just havent had much of a Spring here at all....It is nice to have my little bird on his nest to remind me that Spring really happens!

Happy Mothers Day all!

Mother's Day is always bittersweet for me...Instead of thinking about my children and how they are going to celebrate me being their mom, I think all day about my own mom and how much I miss her....Especially this year, being so far away from everyone.

















Our last Mother's day we went to Home Depot and bought pink rose bushes. Until this move, I have moved the roses every place I have lived. So today, I went and bought a new one and I thought of her and all the things she did that made her uniquely her. The way she would snort when she laughed, her love of sappy movies and how she would call me at the end crying and mostly just how she loved me..... The best feeling in the world!













Ironically, yesterday in Salt Lake City they had the Susan B Kommen walk for the cure...I wish the cure would've come in time for my mom. 56 is way too young to lose a battle with breast cancer. I am grateful for the years that I had with her, but at times I also feel so ripped off to be fighting all my battles without my mom to console me and cheer me on. She was my biggest fan and my best friend. Life is lonlier without her. The world was a better place because of her....I love you mama, I think of you every day.....Mindy

I am moving, working and exhausted....

Once again, new place to live...I am now in South Jordan, South of Salt Lake City....I am liking it aside from the fact that I have a garage stacked to the ceiling with various household items. I am working a lot and havent had time to unpack or arrange things yet!












I have made a few things, but that has been an adventure in itself. Trying to figure out where things might be in the garage that is piled to the ceiling with assorted boxes and random furniture.

Be back to my regular blogging schedule soon.....Until then?












Night everyone!

A giveaway!

Look at these beautiful fabrics....I want them I tell you! Unfortunately for me, I have to share the link with you.....Go over and enter too but I am telling you beforehand, I know these lovelies are just made for me....I really do. Ok, I will let you go enter now guilt free.....(mine, mine, mine)

http://raggedystation.blogspot.com/2011/04/giveaway.html

what I have been doing in pictures...

Well, besides all the things like housework and day to day stuff anyway......









































An Easter table topper and appliqued dish towels. I had a lot of fun doing these!




































Easter cards for a SwapBot Easter card swap.....Usually cards arent my thing, but these were fun to do!
































And Hedgehog stuff for this months YOE swap...


















I also got this wonderful mini quilt from Cindie Waite in the mini quilt swap on swap bot....It matches my living room colors to perfection. I was so thrilled with it! Now I am going to get oustside and take a long walk. It is a beautiful Spring day here and I want to make the most of it!

If I was a quilt, What would I look like?

I am thinking something like this.


Oh? You need an explanation? I think the label says it all....
























You could throw in that I have a "colorful" personality and at times, mouth! I see things in black and white and my mind is always going, going , going....The beads represent people who are important to me...
I did this mini quilt for a Swapbot swap. My first one. It is for a woman who is an anthropologist who of course enjoys translating peoples art or quilts into her studies. I just kind of let my brain go (ok, quit snickering, it was easy) and thought of my strengths and flaws as I sewed. I hope she likes it...
I also made litte Ava B another girly outfit minus the skull and tutu..(scroll down and you will see what I am talking about.)





















Little shoes made of linen.












they were made to match a onsie dress and floppy eared hat.......

















Here she is, the little princess all decked out.....Julie and I had to laugh. She has grown so much in a week that this outfit is actually going for my nieces new baby girl due in April.....I am making doubles of everything...Baby girls rock...they really do!

Three dogs and Gnome Homes.

I finished Deb's quilted portrait of her three Jack Russel's...They are so cute and were fun to do. The hard part is always the time thing. When I am working time just inches by and then I get a day off and the clock goes triple time. I just hate that. So it is done and now I have to figure out how to mail it!








White animals are very hard....It is really hard to get any dimension, but I think I captured them....I think.



I also finished my Gnome home swap for Gin. This was the theme for our Year of Enchantment Swap this month.











A little house with a dangling gnome.











She loves hair things so I made her a fabric headband with a detachable bow out of reproduction fabric....I love this headband. I found the pattern in a Better Homes and Gardens quilting magazine. I also found some enchanted chocolate bugs and a little mushroom charm. Everyone can always use a little chocolate, right?













Just for fun, I made some altered home magnets too...houses? homes? you get the idea...They are kind of heavy for the magnets but I still like them.
So now I should do some laundry and clean my bunny cage but instead, I think I am going to go back to bed for a while before work....Have a great day!

Winner, Baby goth outfit and Maddie's quilt...

First of all the winner of the CSN gift Certificate is Jo from mypaperplayhouse.blogspot.com.
Send me your info Jo and I will email the certificate out to you and have fun picking out something!!!!
Having a new baby niece is so much fun. I made her a baby onesie, tutu and headband and it was so much fun!











I loved using the fuchsia and black combo and I even plan on getting some black and white striped knit fabric and making leggings. Haven't had much time so far though to go look. The best part though, is seeing my little Ava B in it....













Can you tell I am just in love with her?















Just think of all the cute things I can make for her...She is better than a Blythe doll!!!!















I actually plan maybe to make these and sell them....maybe.

I also finished Maddie's quilt.















Maddie is fourteen and has bone cancer....after one round of chemo she has lost 16 pounds and is down to 86lbs...she needs lots of prayers for her and her family...



















I don't know Maddie, but I work with her dad and I wanted to do something for her...Aren't quilts great? I am so lucky to be able to make her something....Thanks for your prayers everyone!