What I've Been Up To

The past week or so I have been working on some paper piecing blocks for my "Block Party 2009" class. (Mormon Handicraft at Orem's Deseret Book) This month the technique we learned was paper piecing. My first paper piecing flower took me a week to finish because I only picked it up and worked on it when I felt like it. I really did not enjoy making it, and when it was finally finished, I made the comment "paper piecing is not my thing". I wasn't too excited to start the next one, but it is my goal to finish all 4 blocks every month (2 required, 2 extra's) to keep from falling behind.

Last week I spent a large chunk of two days paper piecing, and I finished two more blocks. I decided not to use the first flower I finished, because it had too many raw edges hanging out - something that I figured how to avoid on the 2nd & 3rd blocks I made. After finishing the 2nd flower, I decided that I do like paper piecing, even though it is pretty labor intensive.

What is paper piecing you may ask? Here are some photo's I took of the progress:

First you cut out little templates (cardstock in this case) and cut a piece of fabric that is 1/4 inch larger than the template. Then you hand baste the fabric to the template.


After you have all the pieces basted, it is just a matter of whip-stitching the little pieces together.



When everything is sewn together, you pull out the basting stitches, take out the templates and press well.


Press well, and applique (hand stitch) to block. Here is the finished block!


Here's the finished block in the other fabric line:


Next project? I saw a tutorial on a blog last week for this cool paper pieced block that I just had to make. I used left over scraps of fabric from my stash to make this block. (4 smaller blocks sewn together to make one large block)

I LOVE paper piecing. It is mind challenging. You sew on the backside, following the lines on the pattern. This results are exact. Sharp points & very straight lines. Here is the back of a finished block before trimming off the excess:


The front of the block before trimming off the excess:


Block after the excess fabric has been trimmed:


Now, complete four of these sections, sew them together, and this is what you get:


Kimball asked me several months ago if I would make a quilt for him. After thinking, he said he wanted the colors to be green & black. After making this pinwheel block, I decided on this pattern for his quilt.

Last week the Cotton Shop had a Moonlight Madness sale. Anisha, Emilie and I went down to it. I grabbed every fat quarter & green bolt of fabric that I could find that matched the green I wanted.

The triangles will be green, the background will be black for this quilt. I think the end result will be striking!

Lastly, Saturday morning I went out and picked these:

I have been juicing out back on the camp chef all day. So far I have nine 1/2 gallon jars of white grape juice.
Tonite I hope to spend time with the green/black pinwheel blocks. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Giveaway!!!

A couple weeks ago I requested tickets to the Freedoms Foundation Concert being held at the Tabernacle at Temple Square on September 18th.


Right after requesting the tickets, I realized that on September 18th, I will be at the Tuacahn in St. George watching a performance of Annie.

Sooooo... I have 4 tickets to the Freedom Foundation Concert up for grabs. Any one out there interested in them? Let me know. If there are a lot of people interested, perhaps I will have a drawing with one lucky winner. Or, I can always be bribed with chocolate.

Swine Flu & Other Ailments

When we entered the airport in Athens last June, they handed each one of us a pamphlet that looked like this:


I figured it was something to do with the Swine Flu, because we also had to fill out some sort of form regarding our health. I made some wise-crack comment about not being able to read the pamphlet. The lady motioned to some pamphlets sitting on a table behind her and told me I could pick up one printed in English:


Thankfully the Swine Flu has escaped us. Unfortunately, there is another ailment that has hit my home.


My DD finished up with her summer term at BYU this week. She is now enjoying 2 weeks of vacation before fall semester starts. The quilt pox has hit hard at her house also. I've been pretty impressed with what she has accomplished. Maybe she will share some pictures over on her blog. About all I have accomplished recently are the blocks for my 2 separate 'quilt block of the month' clubs. Between the two of them, it's been 8 blocks a month. But I am keeping up! Four of the blocks are finished. I am starting on the other four. They will take some time, because the technique we are learning is English paper piecing.

New Menu Items?

Last Wednesday, Terrell, Kimball and I left for Long Beach, California. The purpose of the trip was to attend a trade show held at the Long Beach Convention Center. Friday night we went to In-N-Out for a burger.

This guy was sitting at the table across from us. Look closely, and see if you think there is something wrong with the following pictures:




Why would anyone choose to eat noodles & chicken when you can have a double, double animal style?

Day 10 - Return to Athens & Kimball's 18th Birthday!

We said our goodbye's to the M/v Cristal thing this morning and were taken by bus to our last hotel in Athens, the Hotel Austria. It's location was a short walking distance from the Acropolis & Agora.


Our room had a fantastic view of the Acropolis from its balcony.

After we got settled in, Iris took us on a walking tour down by the Acropolis (10 minute walk) to an area where there were lots of outdoor cafe's & coffee shops. Next, we walked over to the Plaka where she turned us loose for the next couple of hours to eat & shop.

The Plaka is the oldest section of Athens. Most of the streets have been closed to traffic, and it is now an area of restaurants, jewelry stores tourist shops, and cafes. Debbie, Rebecca, Kimball and I all decided to go to the same little outdoor cafe to get some lunch.

My lunch was very yummy, I had a sampler plate of sorts. It came on an oblong plate and was full of greek salad, potato salad, cheese pie, stuffed grape leaves, and came with a basket sliced French bread. I also ordered lemon sorbet and it came in a huge tall glass. It was tart & refreshing. The others had to help me eat it, because I was so full.


Kimball, Debbie & Rebecca - waiting for lunch in Athens.

After lunch we wandered up & down some of the streets with shops. Rebecca & Kimball found some of the others in our group & left with them. Debbie was tired & walking, and I was tired of shopping so we went back to the central area where we were to meet up with the rest of the group. On the way we passed a gelato shop. Debbie wanted to get some. I was still full from lunch, but had some euro's that needed to be spent, so I decided to get a cone also. I am SO glad I did. It was amazing! I picked the black forest flavor.



I'd never seen gelato displayed like this before. It was so beautifully decorated.
They would scoop the gelato from the back of the mound, so as to not ruin it's artistic beauty.

This guy was playing some sort of instrument. I put some coins in his hat as I walked by and snapped a photo of him.



At 3:30 we re-grouped and walked over to the Agora, ancient Athens' political, economic and commercial center. This is also where the remains of the Temple of Hephaistos (greek god of metalworking) is located.


Kimball at the Agora, with the Temple of Hephaistos in the back ground.


Looking up at the Temple of Hephaistos. The best preserved ancient Greek temple. It is the only Greek temple that still has the roof on it.


The 'Utah' students. Front (L-R): Valerie & Marlyse. Back (L-R): Rebecca, Cameron, Marin, Thomas, Kimball, Megan & Jonathan.

Iris gave us all a bus ticket, so we didn't have to walk back to the hotel. We walked up a hill to the bus stop. Across the street, was the Parliament building where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located. Iris asked if we wanted to go across and watch the changing of the guard since it was nearing the top of the hour.


That night at the motel, we were served a simple meal of chicken, cole slaw , rice & corn, rolls & orange slices. After the meal, Jonathan Crampton stood and made an announcement that it was Kimball's birthday. We all sang to him and presented him with a gift (journal w/evil eye on front & an evil eye key chain) that we had all chipped in to buy for him.


After dinner we went out on a roof top terrace and enjoyed the view of Athens. At 8:45 p.m. a group of us walked back down by the Acropolis where all the cafe's are located to see the Acropolis lit up at night. We had 45 minutes to walk around. Some of the group went to get ice cream, but since there were some that didn't have any money left, we just found a place to sit & watched the locals as they wandered around. The place was a-buzz with all the thousands of conversations going on. It was a fun end to a great trip.

Day 9 - Crete & Santorini

Before I start with Crete & Santorini, I need to back up to last night's dinner. One of the selections for dessert was Baked Alaska. I ordered it, remembering that the last time I had Baked Alaska was on our criuse to..... ALASKA! Anyway, when it was time for dessert to be served, the song "Hot, Hot, Hot" started playing, and I noticed people at other tables starting to wave their napkins in the air.


The lights then dimmed and all the waiters paraded through the dining room with flaming Baked Alaska on trays. It was really festive with the music, and everyone waving napkins.



Thursday:
We arrived at Agios Nicolaos (Crete) at 6:45 a.m. Because of the strike, our tour excursion to the Palace of Knossos was cancelled. After breakfast, we met our tour guide Iris, just off the boat. She talked to us about Agios Nicolaos and Agios Nicolaos Lake. Then she walked us over to the lake and turned us loose for next couple hours while we just walked around the town.


According to mythology, Athena and Armetis once bathed in the water of this magnificent lake. The deep dark water of the lake is mesmerizing, and food joints and shops surround the lake itself, colorful boats are moored along it, adding to its beauty.



The beach.


SANTORINI!
They told us to be out on deck to enjoy the magnificent view as we approached Santorini, which is considered to be one of the greatest phenomena of Greece. Iris told us that as Santorini comes into view, it looks like the island is frosted with icing, or capped with snow. She was right! It was an awesome view!


The formation of the island is the result of many volcanic eruptions in prehistoric times. In approx. 1628 B.C., a massive volcanic eruption occured causing half of the island to sink below sea level. The geographical phenomenon, which formed a bay that our ship entered, is called a 'Caldera' and is where the center of the island was located before it sank.

By the way: the volcano is still active, and the last eruption was in 1950, causing an earthquake that destroyed many villages on the island. The island's official name is Thira and its main town, Fira, is also the capital of the Cyclades islands.

As we entered the lagoon, we were met by tender boats that ferried us up to the island. There are three way you can get to the top of the island.
1. Take the cable car up the mountain (4 euro each way)
2. Take a donkey (5 euro each way)
3. Walk (almost 900 steps each way)

Here's the mode of transportation most of us picked to get up:



It was a riot riding the donkeys! I was laughing the entire time, and probably took about 50 pictures - lots of them are just a blur. Donkeys don't hold very still. I learned that there are about 300 donkeys that haul people up & down the road.

When we arrived at the top, we were in Fira. It was fun to just walk around and see the shops & little eateries. Kimball and I walked around together and explored the town in the short amount of time that we were able to spend there. We tried some gelato from a eatery that we saw, I would rate it just 'ok'. (comparing it to the gelato we had the next day back in Athens)
Here are some pictures we took as we explored Fira:





Because there isn't much of a port, the ships had to keep sailing in a circle while we were on the island.







Kimball and I walked down the road (steps) to get back to the tender boats which took us back to the ship. It was getting to be the end of the day, and they were herding the donkeys to the top to take them home for the night.

It was pretty interesting at first, trying to steer ourselves thru the donkey masses. There was also this that we had to watch for and avoid:

It took us about 20 minutes to walk down. My legs felt like jello by the time I got to the bottom. I was glad to have Kimball with me, so I could hold onto him. It really was a workout for the muscles in my thighs. I could hardly walk up & down stairs for the next few days.