Now Announcing....

A Stitch A Day

Quilts by Jess

My quilting business is now open!  Come see what I've got.  

I also have my quilts in a store that is having their 'Grand Opening' next week. If you're out and about stop by and check it out.

Mutt n Jeff's Chotchkies 

Grand Opening

May 6th 7th & 8th

10 AM - 6 PM

Accessorize

~ You ~ Your Home ~ Your Family ~

113 W Main St

Rigby, Idaho

Our Trip and Other Stuff : )

We were able to take a trip for Doug's spring break for the first time! I wasn't in school so we were able to actually do something.  We planned a trip up to Washington to visit my brother and his wife, and Doug's brother and their little family.  It was so much fun, even if it was too short.

We went to Spokane first.  My wonderful brother cooked wonderful food for us.  Like he always does.  We got to go on a hike in the beautiful hills, even though it was still freezing : ).  

My brother took us to REI and we dreamed of everything we would love to have.  I swear my brother should get paid because he's the best sales associate they've ever had : ).  He almost convinced us to get some things.  We were sad not to have seen his wife too much because of her job, but loved every minute we got to spend with her.  And they were even brave enough to watch Burley for a few days as we made our way up to Seattle.  Thank You!  

*my camera is still dead so my brother has some pictures for us of us.  The pics I used are from his facebook, when he went on this hike with his wife. 

In Spokane Burley got to experience a few firsts.

- Being left outside alone!  Yay for him : )  We bought a stake with a lead on it so he could wander but not too far.

- Getting 'doggy-sat' for more than one day.  He needs to prepare for  our summer California trip.

- Seeing birds/ducks and actually noticing them.

- Chasing said ducks around the pond.  

- Jumping with no fear or reservations into that pond, realizing with horror that it was freezing and he had never been swimming before.  And of course he had to jump in twice : ).  It was rather hilarious.

So we made our way up to Seattle in the middle of the night, through a blizzard in Snoqualmie Pass, with washington drivers driving 20 miles an hour without snow even sticking, and me and Doug trading off every hour to catch some shut-eye.  It was quite the adventure.

They treated us so well and we really appreciated their hospitality.  We enjoyed spending time with our two little nieces, who by-the-way are completely adorable.
 

We experienced Pikes Market.

It was crowded but so much fun.  There was a very ummm entertaining(?) music duo we listened to as we devoured delicious doughnuts.  We walked along the beach, looked at the skyline, and enjoyed spending time together.

It was fun to relax and listen to conference.  We enjoyed easter eggs and baskets and the great company. 

We had a blast!

Now in other news.  I finished my Mothers quilt quite a while ago but I have been buzy working on other quilts : ).  So here are the pictures I have.

She still has to quilt it but it turned out beautifully.  In the first picture you can kind of see the wall that the gold colors were picked from.  I'll have to post another when it is all done and we can get a picture of the whole room to get the full effect.  

I'm finished with the crib set but will wait to post pictures when it gets washed and laid out.  (and when we fix our lack of camera problem).  

I am officially going to be selling quilts as soon as I get a few more made and a website set up.  If anyone is interested let me know.  I've been designing some I can't wait to make and I'm totally open to customizing!  I love it : ).

Busy, Busy, Busy....

I know I have been neglecting my blog lately!  Things have been extremely busy the past couple weeks.  What with Valentines Day and several quilt projects I find it easy to pass by the computer day after day.  But I will catch you up on what we have been up to.

Valentines Day was fun!  We have a tradition to go and stay in a little cabin up in Island Park.  It is a great way to break up the monotony of winter time.  Yes there is more snow up there but at least we are out of the house and adventuring!  My camera has died so I don't have pictures but the cabin was cozy and comfortable.  It even had a hot tub on the deck.  I've never been hot tubing in the winter so that was a first for me!

Burley got his first real hair cut.  I sat there and watched as all of his beautiful brown hair was shaved off.  I was very nervous to see what he would look like after and I hate to admit it, but I was scared he wouldn't be cute without his long locks.  However I was very pleased to see that he was still Burley and still extremely adorable. 

He did so well sitting there for about an hour and a half while he was groomed.  He had a lot of hair! 

My quilting projects have been coming right along!   I love working on them and probably spend time sewing just about everyday.  Here are some pictures.

The pictures don't do them justice!  The colors are way better in person.  But all I have is my cell phone camera, sorry.

These are all for the quilt I am making for my Mom.  The top two were just my favorite squares out of the 42 squares I made.  It is a Stack-n-Whack quilt so ever square turns out different.  The bottom picture is the sashing and corner squares.  The golden yellow color matches perfectly with the fancy wall my Sister and Dad painted.  I will have to get a picture of the room with the quilt and the wall when I'm finished.  I am starting to assemble the quilt top! Yay! so I will post some pictures when I get it going.

The crib set for Rachel:

This is the quilt top.

One of the bumpers in progress.

A close up on the bumper.

The cute little stars I had a blast making! : ) These go on the bumper and the duster.

Now that I have stuff actually put together I thought I could show this off.  When you have a stack of fabrics there isn't much to show : ).  I still have to finish the bumpers, quilt the quilt, and start the duster.  It is coming along nicely though!  When it is all done I will post a picture of it in the crib (which by the way is beautiful!).

I bought some Christmas fabric on sale to make a log cabin quilt! No I have not started it and I won't till I get these finished.  But I am super excited for it!

So as you can see this is what has been keeping me so very busy.  On top of this, I find time to teach piano, clean my house, and cook the food.  I guess I am not happy unless I'm busy, since I always seem to be busy.  At least I choose to be busy right?  

Jessica vs. Snow, Ice, and Car Doors

The battle took place last Saturday night, around 10:00 pm.  Jessica and Doug were spending the evening visiting with Doug's parents.  They enjoyed watching the movie 'UP' and snuggling in a blanket to get warm.  They had no idea of what would be coming.  As the night wore on they began to get tired and decided it was time to go home.  They gathered their belongings and, of course, Burley and headed out into the bitter cold.

They made it successfully to their car and down the street before Jessica realized she had forgotten her cell phone.  She reports, "I remember thinking, 'Well we could just get it tomorrow,' but we use my phone as our alarm clock.  And we couldn't miss church.  So I told Doug we would just have to go back and get it."  Which is exactly what they did.  They turned around, pulled into the driveway and Jessica ran into the house.

She recovered the cell phone quite easily.  After saying 'Goodnight' to Doug's parents once more, she headed back out into the night.  The battle began as she slid halfway down the driveway and had to steady herself on the car.  After opening the car door she thought she was home free!  Thats when things started happening too fast.  As she shifted her weight, she went down hard.  With no time to catch herself, she went straight for the edge of the car window.  She then whacked her eye on it, bounced off and slid the rest of the way down the driveway.

Needless to say, the battle was won and not by Jessica.  "It was those darn shoes!" says Jessica.  "If I had been wearing any other shoes I would have been fine.  But no I had to wear the easy slip ons with the smooth bottoms.  The tread on them is almost nonexistent."

The traitor shoes!  They helped the snow and ice drop Jessica in an instant.

So the conclusion that we have com to:  A rematch.  Next time the battle field must be evened out.  No more slick shoes.  For now Jessica is recovering from a pretty beautiful black eye.  It has turned some marvelous colors that we didn't know even existed.  Jessica is now able to laugh at herself, "I guess it is kind of a funny story.  And I will always remember my first black eye."  Stay tuned for reports on the next Battle:  Jessica vs. Snow and Ice.  Who knows she may come home with another black eye.....or worse.

The day after.  Some fairly pretty colors going on.  It was very swollen although its kind of hard to tell in the picture.

Nearly a week after.  The bruises are now fading to green and yellow.  Although it looks like the plum purple color is sticking around for another week.

Thinking of Those Who Have Passed.

Just in the last couple of days I have been told of several people who have passed on suddenly.  The circumstances of all of them have left families who love them and will miss them terribly.  It has hurt my heart to think of those families without their loved ones.  I have reminded myself often of the Plan of Salvation and Heavenly Father's constant involvement in our lives.  With this knowledge it seems a little easier to understand how such wonderful people can be taken from us.  Easier to understand yes, but it still is hard.

Our home teacher came by yesterday and shared the message with us.  It was 'Hold On a Little Longer'.  Just when it seems that things can't possibly get worse we have to remember to endure faithfully.  Hold on for just a little while longer and the trials will pass,  we will find the happiness we seek.  I couldn't help thinking of the Davis family all throughout his message.  I hope that they can hold on a little longer.  Our prayers are with them and all those who have lost their loved ones recently.  We hope they will find the love and peace that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have to offer. The gospel is such a blessing simply because of the knowledge it gives us.  We are truly grateful for it in our lives!

Quilting, a new love found in 2009

As many of you know I picked up piece quilting this past year.  It is something I absolutely LOVE!  I'm afraid it might be one of those things my husband is scared of now : ).  Quilting isn't necessarily the cheapest, fastest, or easiest hobby I could have picked up.  And I started young!  Who knew you didn't have to be old and a grandma before quilting was even thought of?!

  I often have to answer Doug's question, "Well, why don't you finish this one first?"  Yep.  I admit I get a little OCD, its from my mother.  Once I decide to do one for someone I have to start it, even if I'm already working on several other projects.  Needless to say I'm a little head-over-heels when it comes to spending hours with some fabric and my sewing machine.

So here are some pictures of quilts I made in 2009:

     

This one I made for my brother Bryce and his wife Sonya.  It was my wedding gift to them.  It was my first real piece quilt and turned out so great!

      

This was a quick rag quilt for a baby shower I went to.  So fun, cute, and super fast!

     

This was one for my sister-in-law Becca and her husband Craig.  It was also a wedding gift.  It made great memories that won't be forgotten by anyone in the Hansen family.  Everyone put a stitch in somewhere!

This one I made for my sister-in-law Leslie.  It was a Christmas gift which still needs to be quilted! (anytime Leslie, anytime!)

This one I made for my Mother-in-law Cheryl.  It was so beautiful when I saw it online as a quilt block pattern, I just couldn't pass.  It was a Christmas gift, which also needs to be quilted : )

I had so much fun last year that I started early this year.  I am making my mom a quilt for her new office/guest bedroom.  They painted and have all new decor so she needs something new that will match.  My camera died and so I don't have pictures of it. I will post when I get some.

I am also working on a crib set for my sister-in-law Rachel.  We are so excited for them and I'm absolutely loving making this!  I've decided not to post any pictures because I don't want to spoil it.  I will post them when the whole thing is finished!

New Year Resolutions? Anyone?

Oh it is sad when I look at the calendar and realize January is gone and I haven't even been able to follow up on my New Year Resolutions for a month.  Does this happen to anyone else or is it just me?  I have to believe that I'm not the only one who finds themselves in this predicament.

Well and I suppose I can't be extremely hard on myself.  It's just not that easy to exercise when there is snow piled on the ground.  I just wish I could go out for a run or a bike ride.  Or that we could jump in the car and go rock climbing somewhere.  I'm just not that good at doing an all inside exercise program, its not so fun.  So if anyone has any suggestions for how they deal with this problem in the winter, please please let me know.  Then maybe I will feel more accomplished when it comes to New Year Resolutions.