Judi

Rae Annie was Right Again!

2012-02-05T15:58:00.000-08:00

This is my friend Rae Ann on the right and she has been telling me for the longest time to make an apron out of a man's shirt from the Deseret Industries or Good Will...or even just to steal one of Mr. Live Well's. I FINALLY did it and it turned out super cute, if I do say so myself! Rae Ann will have a tutorial on her blog cutie pinwheel, so be sure and check it out!
I began with this orange and blue pinstripe and then cut it up and used the sleeves for ties and the pocket. I bought the cute orange trim to put on the edges and used some blue trim I already owned.
The large pocket is the cuff of one of the sleeves as you can tell.
The top pocket was left the same, except to glam it up some. This was a fun and easy project and you will literally start to sabotage your husband's favorite shirts so you can make them into an apron before he has a chance to miss them!

Norma Whaley and Joyce Weeks Quilt Show

2011-12-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

Norma Whaley and Joyce Weeks came to our Alpine Quillt group meeting in November and I had to share with you some of their quilts! They also work with Leslie Isom, but she was at one of her grandchildren's basketball games so was unable to attend. You can see more of their work and purchase patterns if you see something you love (and how could you not) at www.geoffsmompatterns.com I came away from quilt meeting wanting to make about 10 new quilts! I've always loved their work and their style. I wish I could put them in my pocket and take them shopping...their eyes and fabric taste at least. They are gifted women and super nice too boot! Btw, if you go to their website, you'll see a quilt called, "Survivor's" and it's the one currently on my design wall right now.

A close up of one of the blocks in the above quilt and then she used this block again on the quilt after that.

These next two quilts were flimsy's and are part of a seasonal set they are putting together. So cute that I had to share so you could drool along with me.

Sewing Room ReDo

2011-10-26T20:25:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to re-do my sewing room for years now. Part of the problem of my coveting a new look to my room, is I am friends with Nedra of Cactus Needle fame and Rae Ann of Cutie Pinwheel. Have you ever seen their sewing rooms?! Over the top, neat as a pin and I am living in a pig stye! How much of a pig stye I didn't fully understand until I started to clean out the dump I was in. These are a few 'before' photos. I had already started to clean the room out so I could strip the wallpaper before I remembered that I should take some photos. You can see that I have these beautiful shelves that are stuffed to the gills.

Below is the room redone! I love it so much. I've already begun to sew a couple of aprons for Gwen at Aprons for Alzheimer's. One of the things I discovered about myself in this cleansing process, is that I have about 15 started and unfinished projects! My Dog Kennel group calls them P-I-G-S, "projects in grocery sacks". I'd never heard of that before, but I have plenty and could probably win some sort of award if I began to work on those and finish something. I think it needs to be my 2012 goal!

The design wall has a yellow frame that the nice boys at Home Depot made for me. I just haven't got the right tools to hang it yet, but it will add to the cuteness.

The torquoise wall is super charming and cheerful when you walk in. Rae Ann and I have been on a few shopping sprees at antique stores and those items are on the small shelf. She'll be happy to discover there's more shopping to do because there are empty spaces on the shelf I hung above the window.

I found this little rocker at someone's home for $50 and then I covered it with a quilt and a pillow from Ikea. It's really comfy and fun to have a place to sit in here. I've never had that before. Also, bought the little dresser on the left the same height as the legs that were on the cutting table and I replaced the legs with the dresser to hold lots of those PIGS we discussed earlier.

This is the view from my sewing table. I can watch old English movies and have a basket full of backs for quilts and a mirror for when I sew clothing and need to do fittings.

This is the shelves all cleaned up and cute storage containers. I have three shelves of Civil War prints...must slow down on those! Those wire drawers on the left hold all the fat quarters and are a bit messy, but my philosophy was I just needed Nedra or Rae Ann to stop by and in about an hour they'd be cute and organized. My daughter said I had to put curtains over the front of them because she thought there was altogether too much shelf...so the bottom photo is the little curtains over that section. I'll see which way I like it best. Maybe I'd rather see the mess and get to the fabrics easier...we'll see. I love my cute sewing chair from JoAnn's on a half price sale. This room makes me smile from ear to ear!!

Dog Kennel Luncheon and Quilt Show

2011-09-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

Girls...I've joined the Dog Kennel Quilt Guild and they are super fun! This little gal on the right in the photo's name is Amanda and she and I have only been members of the group for 1 month...so technically, we are 'puppies' rather than dogs and we worked on the food committee together! We arrived at 7 a.m. on Friday to hang quilts and put up tables and get ready for all the people who come to enjoy lunch, watch a fun trunk show (I'll post that tomorrow...and I'll post Rae Ann's new quilt, but I'm waiting for her to post it first). I spent the entire day before making salads and desserts to bring to the luncheon as they were worried that they wouldn't have enough food.

We had some booths set up for people to sell their wares and we had all those canopies to set up early in the morning too.Rae Ann worked Lori Holt's booth all day because Lori had somewhere else important to be and Rae Ann volunteered to set up and man the booth all day for her. She made her super cute apron the night before and it has little dogs on it.This is the quilt that was the raffle quilt! Many of us made a couple of blocks for it. The photo doesn't do it justice. Cathy Udall brought a cute bed to display this cute quilt on and I made this Kaffe quilt and love it!

More cute quilts to show you. Mine is the circles in the middle.

Sprouted Banana Nut Bread

2011-09-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

If you want to make sprouted wheat flour, you first soak the wheat, sprout the wheat, dry the wheat, then grind the wheat into flour. (see photo above for the drying process) It sounds more time consuming than it is. It's actually very easy and quite simple. It just takes a little planning. The benefit of this is the same as eating the sprouts. When the wheat is sprouted, it pre-digests much of the gluten and people who have struggled with gluten allergies for years, can now eat wheat again! It's been wonderful for our family...no stomach aches. When I went thru menopause, I have had to watch every carbohydrate that went into my mouth, but since I started to do this, I can eat all I want and have even lost a couple of pounds. The sprout causes the wheat to be more of a protein than a carb. This is the best idea ever!! Remember that when you are starting to think the above stated process is too arduous...trust me...it's worth it!

This is the banana nut bread that I cut up and served to my quilt group earlier this week. So many loved it and asked for the recipe, so I'll post it below.

Grandpa loves graham crackers and he can eat a box in a sitting. I decided to try and make him a healthier choice in a graham cracker. These are really yummy and use no refined sugar and turned out super crispy. At first I thought they were too crispy, but I can't leave them alone, they are so good! Kind of makes you happy Fall is coming and you can sip a cup of tea and dip a cookie if you feel like a little treat.

Banana Bread or Muffins

2 c. mashed bananas (about 6 small bananas)

1/2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 c. butter or coconut oil, softened (I used half and half)

2 c. sprouted soft white wheat flour

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. sea salt

1/2 t. cinnamon (I used Pampered Chefs cinnamon blend)

1 c. dehydrated cane juice

1/2 c. slivered almonds

1/2 c. raisins

In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas and add remaining wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Pour dry ingredients into the banana mixture and blend. Then add the nuts and raisins. Pour into buttered muffin pans or 2 loaf pans and bake at 350. Muffins will take about 25 minutes and loaves will take 50 minutes.

Sprouted Pumpernickel Bread

2011-09-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been doing a lot of sprouting. I've made some of the best food I've ever put in my mouth from this cookbook. It's by Jillayne Clements and Michelle Stewart and I highly recommend getting it in your personal library. I had no idea these women were from Utah and so gifted and talented when I ordered the book online. But it has become my new favorite cookbook. I have never made any of the main dishes in the book as that isn't what I bought it for. But I have made the best flourless cinnamon rolls I've ever tasted, banana nut bread (recipe coming as I served it at my quilt groups trunk show on Tuesday), graham crackers, and now have made flourless pumpernickel bread and it is addicting. I love that everything is whole grain, no yeast, no refined sugars and good sources of fat. i.e. I use coconut oil in about everything that's called for any kind of fat.

This is sprouted rye. The photo below is sprouted spelt. What you need to know is you can sprout in about anything. The above sprouter was $2 at the DI. Everyone has a colandar and it's probably the easiest thing to sprout in and you can sprout in canning jars. Just use a piece of cheese cloth to cover the opening and drain the sprouts. Soak your sprouts overnight in clean water. Drain, put a reasonable amount into the container you're going to sprout in. Put in an area in your kitchen you won't forget to water and cover with a dish towel. Water before you go to bed that night and drain. In the morning, you should have a small white tail on the seed. You can see that in the photos here and below. What you may be wondering, is what are the benefits of sprouting the grain first. Well, first of all there are more nutrients...it's simply better for you. But for those of you who struggle with a sensitivity to gluten, many people find they can eat wheat again because much of the gluten is pre-digested in the sprouting process. May not work for everyone, but it sure has worked for our family.

After you grind up your sprouts in the food processor, you shape it into a loaf. Below I have formed two loaves because I did a double batch. I rose mine on a pizza stone because I wanted to cook the loaves right on it. Now I know what you're thinking...those look like cow patties Judi. Okay, so you're right...they do look like cow patties! But give me a chance before you judge them.

This bread is fabulous and a meal in itself!

The loaf right out of the oven with butter. YUMMY. The next morning I had it toasted with avocado, chopped onion and a slice of rice cheese. Beyond yummy! So filling it satisfied me until late afternoon. If you decide to try your hand at sprouted breads, please let me know...I'd love to hear your story!

Here's the recipe...

Pumpernickel Bread

3 c. fresh, sprouted rye

2 1/2 c. fresh sprouted spelt, kamut or wheat

1 egg

2 T. roasted carob powder

1 T. molasses

3 t. caraway seeds

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. sea salt

Grind spelt and rye sprouts in a food processor until they form a ball of dough. Add egg, carob, molasses, baking soda, sea salt, and 2 t. of the caraway seed. Blend well, then shape into a round loaf and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Sprinkle with remaining caraway seeds and let rise for about 20 minutes. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes.

Moving Day

2011-09-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

Our 'newborn' moved out last week. She's 18 and off on her own in college. She was convinced she needed EVERYTHING in her room. I was convinced she'd end up sending half of it home!

Did you ever read your children the book called, "The Mitten" by Jan Brett? If you haven't, put it on your immediate things to get list! We read it at least a 100 times as the children were growing up. You'll see how it applies to this moving experience when you read it!!

Mom...this is heavy. Don't stop me for pictures all day as this could get extremely annoying. Scroll down a couple of photos and you'll see what I mean.

"The Muscle". When the boys were growing up, I used to say to them when I needed something done that, "God gave me you boys for muscle and I expect you to use them". They are wonderful sons and are always good to show up when I ask. This one had an enormous leg and foot (couldn't even get a shoe on) from a river rafting wound and a subsequent staff infection and yet he still showed up to help. He did a lot of limping, but kept on working. Even wounded he can out work me.

Remember the irritated face I said was coming a couple of photos ago? This one says, "Mother, enough already. I have things to do and your interrupting and irritating taking these stupid photos." Believe it or not, she really did get all this stuff put away and found a place for it to fit. Her brother made her bed that high as you can see behind her. She is 5'10" and still has to high jump to get on her bed. I have to stand on an upside down trash can to get up there! But a bed that high, makes for great storage space.

This is the sad, sad room without her in it. I miss my baby.

Busy, Busy Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T19:19:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun this weekend! All the girls were able to come home for the weekend and we even got our grandbaby for Easter too. She woke Saturday morning to the Easter bunny bringing her a beautiful basket after she and Grandma searched the entire house looking to see if he'd left her something!

Then off we went to the local park to the community Easter Egg Hunt and it's unbelievable how long people work on putting these events together, because honestly it's over in about 5 minutes or less! The park was loaded with children divided up by age groups, but it's difficult for mothers who have more than one child and all different ages to divide the children up. So the children all get muddled together anyway and the older children can really scoop up the eggs quickly. Our own little chick gots lots of candy and even found an egg and was thrilled.

Greg, Jena and Maddox at the park following the big Hunt!

And they're off!!

Grandma, I simply do not have time to stop and get my picture taken when I'm hunting!

Following the Hunt, we went to the Open House of the fire station and they put on a wonderful event for the community. They parked two ladder trucks across the street and strung an American flag across the top and it was a beautiful site to walk under.

Caitlyn and I were kept busy following Maddox around and walking her dog Cash.

The fire station allowed the children to dress up in the fireman's boots and some of their clothes, etc. Jena and Madd had a blast hamming it up for the camera.

Maddox got to squirt the firehose, ride on the ladder truck and an abulance and even got a cookie. It was a fun day!

And finally, after an incredibly busy morning, Carissa got all dressed up and went to the Prom. I took her picture out by the cherry tree in bloom because her dress matched the blooms on the tree and she looked so beautiful. She had a wonderful time and went with a really fun group of other Seniors. Phew, I was glad to get some sleep on Saturday night!

Caitlyn's Senior Night Celebration

2011-04-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

Caitlyn has played basketball for 4 years for SUU in Southern Utah. She has had a fantastic career, scoring well over a 1,000 points in her career. She was celebrated at the final home game and the family came to join in the fun! Mr. Live Well and Carissa and I had flown in from New York early to get to the game on time. A fantastic article was written about her in South Dakota the following week. To read it go to: http:genzmania.blogspot.com/2011/03/southern-utahs-catelin-sears-defines.html

Jena was the fan of the game which thrilled her because for 4 years she's probably been the loudest fan of all...and never won before!! She wrote in the mirror #32 on her cheek to show support for her sister. The only trouble was because she wrote it in the mirror, it was backwards!

Cait's coach J.R. Payne is so wonderful to her and they have become good friends too. She is a remarkable woman who's been a good influence on our Caity.

Caitlyn's first coach at SUU was coach Hodson and she has stayed friends with his wife Sue following his passing away from Hodgkins disease after her first season. Sue is a beautiful woman and has hardly missed a home game in the 4 years Cait has played ball for SUU.

Alpine Quilt Retreat

2011-03-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Last night at our Alpine Meeting we had a little show of vintage aprons and there was one technique I just had to show you! This little beauty had rick rack on the edges that was done in the most darling way. I took a close up of the back so you can see that one edge of the rick rack is underneath and one is on top. Then the seamstress add little 'leaves' over the top of the point of the rick rack and made french knots between in the 'ditches'. In any case, this might be so cute on the edge of a quilt or to embellish children's clothing, etc. I simply had to share it with you.

This is a quilt of Nancy's and a real beauty. The handwork is over the top! And the one below is also beyond beautiful. ALL of that cute blue you see is not a printed fabric, but is all handwork!

This is another beauty. That's Nancy on the left. Very sweet woman!

I really liked the quilt above because it's simple and scrappy and fun the one below is amazing. It's called something about Civil War Love Letters and is so beautiful.

It's Your Birthday!!

2011-03-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much blogging lately, but am repenting so that our son in Boston can see some of the fun we had this weekend celebrating Jena's birthday. We took her downtown to do some shopping and we were lucky enough to have our granddaughter for the weekend. Maddox was trying on some of the glasses and hats in the shoe store while she was waiting for the boring adults to figure out what they were going to buy. She's the cutest ever! (I only admit a tiny bit of bias :)!!

We went out to dinner in the evening and had a wonderful time. Jena, Greg and Maddox enjoying their chips and salsa at the restaurant.

Jena's sisters posing for the camera. Later you'll see photos of what they're really like!!

Jared wanting in on the fun!!

The Birthday girl and her daddy.

Maddox watching the gift opening perched in the best place to see the action.

Now you see what the girls are really like!! They wrestle and play constantly and it's about impossible to get them to sit still long enough to get a good photo of them. I always thought when they were younger that they would out grow this playfulness, but it hasn't happened yet. Our children have always been more like puppies than like people!

Happy birthday honey. I hope you had a wonderful day and you have an even better year!! Love, momma

Children's Apron

2010-11-27T12:40:00.001-08:00

One of my best friends in all the world inherited recently from her mother two aprons that were made for her mother by her grandmother. That's 6 generations ago in case I've confused you!! In any case, she decided that she wanted to give them back to her mother for Christmas this year, so she had them displayed in the most beautiful shadow box. They were already wrapped and ready to give for Christmas and I begged her to unwrap it and allow me to photograph them for you. We just don't do work like this much anymore...especially for a child who may not appreciate or value the time and effort that goes into such beautiful handwork. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Boys Version of a Quilt Retreat!

2010-08-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

Every couple of years, Mr. Live Well and some of his brothers and nephews go on a 'boys trip'. They plan and pack and measure and weigh every single thing that is going in these packs for month after month! They read maps and talk and study and about drive the rest of us crazy with their 'anal-yzing'! (Just in case you don't believe me, I'll mention only one little tidbit...they saw their toothbrushes in half so they don't weigh as much!) This is the vehicle that held the precious packs.

Our oldest son adjusts his dads pack and gets the weight balanced. They spend oodles of money on packs, sleeping bags, boots, and freeze dried food.

This is the original crew and then they added the neighbors. Now that I think about it, it's not that different from a quilt retreat. Don't we spend all kinds of money on the perfect fabric, sewing machines, pack the car to the gills, gather as many friends as possible, etc. etc.? We just prefer to be a lot more comfortable!

Food From StarValley

2010-07-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

Everytime we go on a trip together, 'the girls', always ask me for recipes and I am sloowwww in getting them posted. Today I was told I was in BIG trouble if I didn't post the recipes tonight...so I am repenting! This seemed to be everybody's favorite salad. (I served 2 salads for lunch and a fresh limeade with a touch of mint)

Sesame and Cilantro Quinoa Pasta Salad (Gluten Free)

Ingredients:

Honey Soy Dressing

1/4 c. grapeseed oil

3 T. dark sesame oil

1/2 t. crushed dried red pepper

3 T. Agave

2 T. Soy Sauce (make sure it's gluten free)

Salad:

8 oz. Quinoa Pasta

1/2 c. coarsely chopped cilantro

1/4 c. chopped roasted peanuts

1/4 c. thinly sliced green onions

1/4 c. sliced and chopped red bell pepper

1 T. toasted sesame seeds

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan in salted boiling water, according to package directions. Drain, but do not rinse.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the dressing. Heat the grapeseed oil, sesame oil, and red pepper, in a small saucepan. Add the honey and soy sauce and mix well.

Combine the drained pasta with dressing in a large bowl until the pasta is well coated. Cover and chill for several hours.

When ready to serve, mix in the cilantro, peanuts, green onions and bell pepper. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

Serves 4

What I've Spent the Last 2 Months Doing

2010-06-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

Our oldest daughter Jena got married on Saturday the 5th and it was a beautiful ceremony, a perfect day in terms of weather and it was everything I had hoped for in the reception. They are such a darling couple and so happy to be together. I personally am exhausted. More tired than I can remember being in a very long time. I'm going straight to bed for the week! Then I hope to get back to quilting! Live Well, Judi

Raw Carrot Cake

2010-04-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

I have been taking a class on Emotional Freedom Therapy for the last few months on Saturday and we had a all day class this last week. This is the class of wonderful women I have come to respect and admire so much! It's always so wonderful getting to know people so intimately and they love you warts and all!

I wanted to take something the entire group would enjoy snacking on without having to worry about who was on a diet, who might be allergic to gluten, who didn't eat sugar, etc. etc. (Am I the only one who's noticed how difficult it's getting to bring a food item somewhere?) Anyway, the class started in an hour and I needed to be speedy about it...so here's what I did...

Raw Carrot Cake

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup soaked, chopped dry fruit (I used raisins, goji berries, & AJ sweetened cranberries)

1 cup chopped nuts (used pecans)

1/4 c. honey (I used a chokeberry honey I bought in Star Valley with RaeAnn)

1/4 c. agave

1 t. pampered chefs cinnamon blend

4 T. ground flax seeds (this would get adjusted to how much water was in your carrots)

Mix ingredients together, adding flax seeds if necessary so mixture is not too moist. Press into a rounded bowl or the shape of your choice (I made it look like a cake roll, long and skinny). Chill well to set shape (thru it in the freezer as it was an emergency!). I frosted it with plain greek yogurt and sprinkled with more chopped pecans. Live Well, Judi

It's RaeAnn's Fault!!

2010-04-02T16:43:00.001-07:00

For our little trip to Star Valley last month my friend RaeAnn from Cutie Pinwheel bought me the cutest little tea cup and saucer and confessed that she found it at Deseret Industries. So today I decided that I would stop by D.I. to get a couple of ties to let the kids try and dye eggs like Nedra did on her blog (Cactus-Needle). I'm wandering thru D.I. looking for ties and decide it would be fun to stop over at the pottery section and see if I could find a tea cup like RaeAnn did. And low and behold, I see the most beautiful set of dishes I've ever seen!! They jumped off the shelf and landed in my cart and insisted on going home with me! I have been looking for plates for the longest time thinking I wanted to replace my everyday dishes. I thought these would be it...then upon returning home I looked them up on the internet and found out they are from the 1940's and worth lots of money. So I won't be using them for everyday, but I'm definately serving Easter dinner on them. I got 13 dinner plates, 12 salad plates and 6 saucers...paying about $26 for the entire set!! One plate on the internet goes for $18 on Ebay, but the replacement value is $29 for a dinner plate. I forgot to say I also got a platter for $1.50 (retails for $70 on the internet) and a serving bowl. They are so me and Shabby Chic and I'm tickled pink!! Thanks RaeAnn for inspiring me!

A Couple of Recipes from our Quilt Retreat

2010-03-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

I recently returned from a quilt retreat with RaeAnn from Cutie Pinwheel and Nedra from Cactus-Needle and they have asked me to put a couple of my recipes on my blog. I was the cook a couple of days and really enjoyed myself. It was fun to open a refrigerator and figure out what could be made out of what was in there. Sometimes when I quilt all day, cooking is a great way to relax and stretch my back anyway.

I was in charge of all the food on Monday and made a bunch of gluten free recipes because RaeAnn is allergic to gluten. We had a couple of great salads for lunch and I'll put those recipes on later. For dinner, we had marinated Maui Maui, brown rice, salad, steamed broccoli, roasted tomato salad and a fabulous chocolate pudding made without dairy for dessert.

This salad recipe comes from the Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics cookbook. I've made it again and again and it's what RaeAnn has asked for instead of birthday cake!!

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad

12 plum tomatoes, halved
1/4 c olive oil
1 1/2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 t. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
16 oz. fresh mozzarella
12 large fresh basil leaves, julienned
Preheat oven to 275 (I'm always running behind, so I turn the oven to 300 and cook for a shorter period of time.)
Arrange tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut sides up, in a single layer. Drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with the garlic, sugar, 1 1/2 t. salt, and 1/2 t. pepper. Roast for 2 hours until the tomatoes are concentrated and begin to caramelize. Cut the mozzarella in 1/2" slices and put between layers of tomatoes on a platter. Scatter the basil on top, drizzle with olive oil. If you put the cheese and tomatoes together right away, the cheese melts slightly and it is delicious!!

Tofu Chocolate Mousse

This recipe comes from a great new cookbook I've been enjoying lately called, The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook. Everything in there is perfect!
3/4 c. dark chocolate, broken into pieces (I used a great candy bar from the health food store that is made with rice milk and NO gluten.)
12 oz. silken tofu at room temperature, drained
1/2 c. warm almond milk
1 t. vanilla
Melt chocolate in microwave. Make sure to let the chocolate melt slowly, stir until chocolate is smooth.
In food processor, combine tofu, melted chocolate, warmed milk and vanilla. Process until smooth. Place tofu mixture into small serving bowls. Chill and Serve. I topped mine with chocolate dipped strawberries.

Ruby's Inn Part 2

2010-03-04T20:34:00.001-08:00

Part of one of our meetings is sharing what we started last year at Ruby's. I've included many of the show and tell quilts for this post. I really like how the above quilt is put together. It's often difficult to get random blocks to fit and make it actually look cohesive. I think Krisanne did a really good job of it!

Since many of us are trying to use up scraps this year, I thought the above was a good use of going thru all kinds of scraps.

These landscape quilts are always so beautiful. I've never done one, but I think this gal did a great job.

Paula taught this Book of Mormon quilt last year. I want to make one!
If you've got a scouter, the next 2 quilts are for you. I really like this idea, but I haven't saved all my sons or husbands badges...so I guess this one is out.

This quilt is a treasure made for Bonnie Miles. For many years Bonnie has taken women on quilt retreats and on trips to museums, quilt stores, quilt shows, important quilts in history, etc. A of participant on one of these trips made this quilt as a gift of thanks. It's a memory quilt and is signed by all the attendees. Further, the outside edges are lined with the places they ate, the sites of interest, the waiter that served their food, etc. It was a lovely tribute.

Ruby's Inn Quilt Retreat..Part One

2010-03-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

I was privileged this year to attend Bonnie Miles quilt retreat at Ruby's Inn in Bryce Canyon, Utah this year. Bonnie has been putting this event on for years and it is a race to get in. She really knows how to put together a wonderful retreat! We started out our first get together with a little apron show and tell. You'll see some of the fun examples below...

This apron has a big pocket that buttons up and when you unbutton it, you have the full length apron.

This apron was modeled by one of Bonnie's granddaughters and its so cute on her. You can see that the front is the backside of a pair of jeans.

The next part of our meeting was taught by Flora our fearless leader at Girl Gang and she had some of her friends participate in a panel to teach us to give up our paranoia's about quilting and all our guilty complexes, etc.! It was delightful. Anything Flora does is lots of fun and she had us laughing and smiling about our silly little quilting phobias. Three members of the panel shared one of their favorite quilts with us. Super Duper talented women!

This is Paula's quilt from the panel. I started one of these about 12 years ago and it's still in a million pieces somewhere in my house!

Janice showed her Girl Gang quilt called My Favorite Things and each block represents an important story in her life. Janice is one of my quilting hereos. I want to grow up and be just like her!

This is Norma's quilt and it's a new pattern coming out. It's definately on my 'to do' list. Her color choices always inspire me.

Finally at 2:00 we separated for classes and I took a class taught by Sheri. Sheri is a wonderful appliquier and she taught us a class called Halloween 1902. It's a lovely quilt and was lots of fun to start on.

This is Paula's version of Halloween 1902. Just a little bit different colorway. Paula is also amazing with hand applique, but she decided to applique this one by machine. That gave me permission to do it too.

Sheri showed us a large flimsy of her basket quilt. I can't remember what she said about how many baskets there are in this one, but I'm pretty sure it was in the 200's! It's amazing. I sat next to her last year when she was just beginning this quilt.

Another one of Sheri's beauties.

Paula is teaching a class on this quilt tomorrow. I don't happen to be enrolled in it, but wanted to show you how cute these houses are. When her children get married, she makes one of these for their new home.

Valentine's Day/Weekend Celebration

2010-02-16T19:59:00.000-08:00

Mr. "Live Well" surprised me and took me away on a wonderful trip for Valentine's Day. When I walked into the hotel room, I found rose petals scattered on the floor!

Rose petals on the bed and dark European chocolate scattered on there as well...does it get better than that?!

Oh, yes it does when you also have a box of Rocky Mountain Chocolates...loaded with ALL of my favorites...dark chocolate toffee, peanut butter cups, and cream filled. YUMM-O

The most stunning bouquet of flowers from Bloomers. I think that sweet husband of mine thought of everything!

Besides all that love, Nedra from Cactus Needle hosted a beautiful Valentine dinner for us on Sunday. We had a wonderful dinner with family and friends!

While we were on our trip we had the opportunity to watch our daughter play basketball a couple of times. When we drove up to the gym, the first thing we saw was a large pole out front that has her photo wrapped around it. How fun!

After every game she has to have her ankles wrapped in ice from her injury I showed you back in November. She walks around with ice bags on her feet, freezing to death and dripping every where she goes. It's uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing as water runs down in a stream from her seat.

When the players leave the locker rooms and come out onto the floor to play there is a tunnel that they run thru...the tunnel is wallpapered with this enormous photo of her dribbling.

During the game when a time out is called or there's a media break, they have fans come out onto the floor and perform funny tricks. People toss frisbee's, try to shoot the ball with a bungie cord keeping them teathered to someone else and hula hooping. Our oldest daughter tried her hand or should I say hips at the hula hoop. She won an hour massage for beating the clock and her embarrassment! Needless to say we had a wonderful Valentine's weekend and enjoyed every minute of it! Live Well

2nd Installment of February's Girl Gang

2010-02-11T18:17:00.000-08:00

Gail Berry is a member of our Girl Gang and she brings the most stunning antique quilts for us to enjoy. This one just may be my favorite. You'll see a close up below of the little flower print that the quilter used as her background and it is such a charming piece. Also, if you look in the bottom right hand corner of the photo, the quilter used different blues in the corner blocks as she must have run out of the original blue. Maybe she felt like we do sometimes that her quilt wasn't perfect and might not be fit to show and now all these years later, we LOVE it and admire her work and want to duplicate it! One thing I learn from seeing these beauties, is there isn't a 'wrong' way to do it, so I need to be kinder to myself.

This photo doesn't show the true color of this quilt. It is the exact color of cheddar cheese and gorgeous!

A couple of years ago our local quilt group copied this antique quilt and traded the cross blocks with each other for more variety.

Lori showed this darling bird quilt and it's high on my list of the next little beauty I want to make. I took 3 pictures of it! I wanted you to see the designer herself. She is super creative and I love everything she shows!

Lori's daughter got married last year and she designed this quilt for the new couple. It's an heirloom. Am I the only one who remembers being lucky to get a tied flannel quilt for their wedding?!

This is Lori's current Girl Gang flimsy. She used a newspaper print fabric behind her trees. And changed her bee skips to more of a hive. She's made the most charming quilt. I need to sit by her and maybe have some of that creativeness rub off on me!

Janice is one of our leaders at Girl Gang and she made this Valentine quilt a couple of years ago. She used about every red in her sewing room and I've been wanting to make it ever since. I've decided that I am going to make it even if it's not ready until next Valentine's Day.

First Installment of February's Girl Gang

2010-02-07T15:36:00.001-08:00

I took so many photos the other day at our quilt meeting, that I'm going to show you part of it today and part of it next time. I have been trying to download these since Tuesday and for some reason the photos would not upload into blogger. I decided the best thing to do would be to start over on an entire new blog post, so I tried that today and it worked! The quilts below are by Wendy Nabhan. She's a new attender to our meeting and we found out rapidly how talented she is...and prolific! She has mastered the art of making quick quilts and has lots of ideas on how to speed up a project. She is a machine quilter who gets your quilt completed and back to you in one week! I've decided the woman doesn't sleep. The quilt below is a quilt for her family room and the back of it is a smooth minky. I haven't seen that before, but it is lovely and so warm and cozy.

This is a quilt I want to make for sure! I love how she put those picots on the edges and it goes perfect with the zig zag pattern of the quilt. I am crazy about the fabrics she used too.

A great use of layer cakes and you can see that picot edge again.

This quilt is a quicky. Wendy's family are BYU fans, so she made a football field quilt to cuddle under while watching the games on tv.

A whole cloth quilt made with wonderful fabrics and made even more special with a scalloped border.

A red and white beauty with large ric rack on the edges.

This is another layer cake. She cut the squares on a diagnal and then sewed the red strips inbetween. There's a close up below to explain more. She made the entire quilt in 5 hours!

Our fearless leader Flora showed some of her beauties. This is a darling Valentine quilt made simple with a panel printed with the wreaths and letters.

This is another one I'd like to make. I'm confident that my friends RaeAnn from Cutie Pinwheel and Nanette from Freda's Hive will be drooling over this one. They LOVE these grandma prints! She's teaching this class at Ruby's Inn this month girls!

This one would be a good one to use up bunches of scraps on! Or that fat quarter pack you don't have a plan for.

Flora's also teaching medallion quilts at Ruby's. This one is stunning!!

Gail is a member of our Girl Gang group and she is doing this quilt out of wool. Flora has been working on it in fabric. It's beautiful Flora!! I love your fabric choices.

African Peanut Stew

2010-02-01T18:57:00.000-08:00

When I was on my trip last week with my new girlfriends, I did some of the cooking. They all had recipe requests and asked if I would post more recipes on my blog and maybe a little less quilting. So, here is the soup that I served our first night together. I forgot the recipe, so I adlibbed, but it seemed to work out fine anyway. I made this soup and a salad and some yummy chocolate gluten free cupcakes. My friend RaeAnn struggles with some gluten sensitivity, so I tried to make food that she could enjoy with the rest of us. Tomorrow I am going to my Girl Gang meeting and I'll take a big pot of this soup for them to taste test too.

This photo shows most of the ingredients. It's a very easy recipe and takes only about 10 minutes prep time and 20 minutes to cook. I got this recipe from a friend, who got it from "The Biggest Loser's Plan to Win" by Cheryl Forberg.

African Peanut Stew
* 1 T. olive oil
* 1 medium red onion, chopped
* 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
* 1/2 c. chopped carrot (I use about 1 cup)
* 1/2 c. chopped celery (I use about 3/4 c.)
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 t. minced, peeled fresh ginger
* 1 T. curry powder (I use a heaping T. of yellow curry paste instead)
* 1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
* 1 bay leaf
* 4 cups vegetable broth (I use double the broth)
* 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut in 1/2" pieces
* 1 1/2 c. shelled edamame
* 1/4 c. creamy or crunchy natural peanut butter or almond butter (I only use almond butter)
* 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
* 1 (5 oz.) bag baby spinach leaves, torn into bite size pieces
* 1/2 t. salt
* coarsely ground black pepper

Method: Heat olive oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, carrot and celery; saute until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and curry and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute; do not brown garlic. Add tomatoes and bay leaf; cook, uncovered, until tomatoes are slightly reduced about 3 minutes. Add broth and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 8 minutes. Stir in edamame and almond butter until combined. Cook until thoroughly heated, about 2 minutes. Stir in cilantro and spinach until it wilts. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 8 (I cook the soup until it gets thick and creamy like a stew. Takes slightly longer than the recipe.)

Superior Threads

2010-01-27T15:17:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a trip to St. George with some new friends and we had the BEST time. RaeAnn from Cutie Pinwheel, Susanne and Jackie all invited me on this wonderful trip with them. I felt sooo lucky! Nedra from Cactus Needle fame took us on a tour of Superior Threads. I have been there before because I went thru the school of Threadology, but my friends had never been there and Bob and Heather, the owners have built on an entire other wing that I hadn't seen before. It was so fun to see the school and to learn about all the advances that they are making.
This is a Kimono you see in the entry way and is what inspired Heather in the first place to begin to create thread that didn't break for American quilters.
This is a sewing room where you can learn all the techniques, play with all the threads and you don't even have to haul your own sewing machine! How awesome is that?! Brand new Berninas just waiting for you to play on!!

This is an upper room where there are long arm machines to learn all the machine quilting techniques and try the threads on a variety of long arms. If you already have a machine you can practice on the kind you own, or you can try out all kinds and see which one you'd like to purchase. They got in two more machines that were in boxes the day we got there.

There was a big pile of quilts that are the 'show and tells' that Heather uses when she teaches different techniques and different threads. I just had to take photos of some of them to show you!

A close up of the above quilt.

The 3 D parts of this quilt are done with thread! Her hair is different threads and is so beautiful. I should have rotated it for you before I posted it, but you get the idea. The fabric choices are also perfect for the texture of this quilt.

A close up of the above quilt.

A close up of the hair that I was telling you about. And those lines you see around the figure are all quilting lines.

This is neon bright varigated quilting thread and I think it makes the entire quilt. Heather is amazingly creative and then hires the most talented quilters to put it all together. So Beautiful!

A close up of the above quilt. I can't believe how talented some people are.

Still Feeling Tired from the Holidays?

2010-01-13T19:47:00.000-08:00

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't talk to someone somewhere about their adrenal glands. It seems that as we live in such a high stress, go, go, go society, even the young are struggling with adrenal exhaustion.

The adrenals are small glands that sit on top of the kidneys in your back. Everyone knows the adrenaline rush you get from riding a roller coaster or finding the perfect piece of fabric :) or that achy feeling you get from the flu when you can't make enough cortisol. When you need to have a quick boost of energy, the adrenal gland releases adrenaline to increase blood flow and pressure as well as heart rate and the amount of light the eyes let into the brain! The cortisol smooths out the rough edges of this response and limits the pain and inflammation that come with excited biology. When the adrenal gland is rested and restored, sleep comes more easily, waking in the morning refreshed is a normal expectation and mood swings become much less of a problem. If you're concerned about an energy crisis, take a good look at your adrenal glands.

Though food is always the best source of vitamins and minerals, supplements are almost always required to reach optimal function. Adrenal support starts with good antioxidants and omega 3 fats as a foundation, but specific herbs and key vitamins and minerals have a more direct effect on function.

* Adrenal Support

* Pantothenic Acid (B5 about 100 mg. a day)

* Vitamin C (500-1000 mg. a day)

* Magnesium Complex

* Ginseng (I personally LOVE Suma as it is an adaptogenic herb...meaning it knows how to adapt to what each body needs)

As always, you are welcome to contact me and use my name or account number to receive 35% off all of your herbs. Live Well, Judi

I needed it, I had to have it, I couldn't sleep without it!

2010-01-12T10:20:00.000-08:00

The only thing I asked for Christmas from my children and parents was a gift certificate to Broadbent's, our local quilt store. I set out the other day to begin a new quilt for my bed as the one on there is threadbare. But while shopping for that fabric (I'll show you that on another post), I passed this fabric by Phillip Jacobs called Delphinium and my heart began to beat wildly in my chest! Oh, fellow addicted to fabric friends, tell me you know exactly what I'm swooning about! I saw this on the shelf and dreamed about it for 3 days in a row. I HAD to have a quilt made out of it. No it wasn't a WANT...it was a NEED. The best news of all was that I had plenty of money on my gift certificates to make two quilts.

This lovely pile will grow up to be "Pastel Italian Tiles" by Kaffe in his new book, "Quilt Romance". Who needs sleep when all this fun is waiting for them?

Here's what is done so far. It's still dark this morning to be taking this picture, so it doesn't look as beautiful as it does in 'real life', but you get the idea. I have fussy cut the centers and the quilt just pops right off the display wall.

Girl Gang Progress

2010-01-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

I've finally gotten back in my sewing room from all the Christmas chaos! I have been putting together my Jan Patek, "Sunny Days" center of the quilt together. It's been a lot of fun and I am pleased with myself because these are not the colors I'm comfortable with and I didn't do a darn thing last year on my Girl Gang quilt. I have been doing my applique by machine and it's much more effective for me.

These are the bee skeeps. I think they look charming on that floral background.

A close up of the house and trees in the yard. I picked my dog off as he was pathetic and will have to be added later when I decide what to do to fix him.

A close up as one of the birds.

A close up of the chicken. I did the chicken twice as I saw this fabric later and liked it more.

Girl Gang Meeting for January...food and quilts!

2010-01-07T20:22:00.000-08:00

Pardon the blurry photo, but I was in a hurry to get this photo for you. Gail brought the most beautiful antique quilt to share with us and I really want to reproduce it someday. It is so beautiful. The woman who made it did a perfect job. All the seams are so tiny and perfectly straight.

This is a close up of one of the blocks. You may not be able to tell by this photo but each block has a stripe in it which adds so much texture and interest.

The border is lots of strips and sets off the center in a charming way. I love this quilt!

I made 3 kinds of muffins for the group to try. We experimented with three different levels of healthy food...#1 a Banana Muffin that used applesauce to replace some of the fat and organic sucanat for the sugar. #2 an Oat Bran Muffin that used olive oil, egg whites and all whole grains, and #3 an Orange Cranberry Muffin that was decadent with white flour, butter and whole eggs from my friend Cindy. (These were my husbands favorites.) You can get that recipe on her blog www.cgharris.blogspot.com

Here's the recipes for the other muffins...

Banana Muffins (out of the 20 or so women who taste tested the muffins, these were the overall favorite and they were the healthiest! Maybe we're all just tired of too many sweets from the holidays??!)

1 egg

1 1/3 c. mashed bananas

3/4 c. organic sucanat

1/3 c. applesauce

1 t. vanilla

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

1 t. sea salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 c. regular oats (I use thick cut oats, sometimes called Scotch or Irish oatmeal)

1/2 c. chocolate chips (use carob or something without a lot of sugar like a dark chocolate)

3/4 c. walnuts, chopped

Mix all ingredients and then pour into greased muffin cups or use paper liners. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15-18 minutes. (Muffins that are made without the added fat of butter or oil don't rise as much as standard muffins. Be aware that they will only come to about the top of the pan.)

Oat Bran Muffins (these were my sons favorites)

2 cups pineapple or apple juice

3/4 c. organic sucanat

1/2 c. olive oil

1/2 c. honey

5 eggs (use 3 whites and 2 whole eggs)

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. sea salt

4 c. Oat Bran Cereal

(1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries added right before baking)

Mix all ingredients in bowl and cover in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. I left mine in overnight so that the flakes would absorb all the liquid. Bake in greased muffin tins at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. For testing purposes I used Kashi's Heart to Heart Oat Flakes and Wild Blueberry Clusters. Right before baking I added fresh blueberries.

Live Well...Judi

Christmas Eve

2009-12-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday season. It's been forever since I've posted and I thought I'd catch you up just a bit with what I've been doing with all this 'family time'. On Christmas Eve we had a big 'Thanksgiving' dinner because no one could come home for Thanksgiving and then we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake and saw the lights. It was an extremely cold night...probably only 5-7 degrees! We walked all around the Square and saw the beautiful lights and the nativity scene. It wasn't as crowded as I thought it might be and was a wonderful way to remember our Savior and feel the Christmas spirit. The above photo is all of us in one place...it's been quite a while since I got to enjoy this scene.
Salt Lake Latter Day Saint Temple

Jena and her boyfriend Greg.

Statue of Joseph Smith on the Square. If you ever get to Utah...you must take the time to walk around Temple Square as it's one of the most lovely places to visit.

Christmas Quilts Hangin' Around My House

2009-12-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share with you my Christmas Quilts I hang up at this time of year. This one was one I did years ago in a couple of days. It is meant to be used to sleep under the Christmas tree. The large pocket in the right hand corner is where a child would leave their list for Santa and an elf will come and get the list at night when they're asleep.

This one is another quickie that works well with a print you don't want to cut up into very small pieces. There's a close up photo below.

I've used this one to cover a small bench by the bay window because it's not a quilt I like very much. It was a ton of work without the rewards. I would never make this pattern again. Don't we all have quilt patterns we'd say that about?!

This is a small wall hanging that I did years ago with my quilting buddies and I hadn't ever done applique before. Of course, the applique is by machine and a buttonhole stitch. It was the first time I learned to put fabrics together and make up something without a lot of coaching. I'm sure Nedra coached me some, but I was rather proud of myself.

I bid on this quilt at the Provo Quilt Guild meeting and was the highest bidder about five or six years ago. It was done by some really wonderful quilters with amazing applique skills. It's one of my favorites. Sometimes I don't take it down the entire year.

About 10 years ago we went on a trip back east and got to spend some time in Pennsylvania and I bought this quilt from some wonderful Amish quilters. It's also a prize. I wanted to buy something that I knew I'd never make myself. I don't enjoy hand work very much.

I actually made this quilt twice because after I completed it, the darling girl that was dating one of my sons (I nicknamed her "Miss Lolly"), wanted to make one for her mother. The only catch was, she didn't know how to quilt, so I coached her on some of it and made much of it myself. I know her mother loved it.

I was in the process of hanging this quilt the other day and my 17 year old said, "Mom, this is the ugliest quilt you ever made". Sad! What I didn't tell her is that I loved this fabric and pattern so much that I became obsessed and made this quilt in a matter of a couple of days because I didn't even want to sleep. It's one of my favorites, but apparently that's only a matter of opinion. Live Well this Holiday Season!

Girl Gang

2009-12-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

Laurie is one of the talented women in our Girl Gang group. I love her work and her creativity. Can you tell that one of her backgrounds behind the trees is newspaper print fabric? So cute.

I LOVE the background for the chicken and flowers.

This is not the 'real' beehives in our quilt pattern, but she made up her own and it is so darling.

Here's a close up.

Judy D. makes the most beautiful quilts and this is a Christmas one she shared. The tree that Janice is pointing to is amazing.

Vicky C. told us the most darling story about this quilt she is working on for Christmas. She has a charming personality and told us how she is working on all the applique borders at the same time because she doesn't want the fabric that isn't being worked with to feel bad! She said, "You know how when you open a box of crayons you have to color with every single one of the crayons, otherwise the ones you don't use will feel bad? Well, it's like that with fabric." It was so cute! I'd never thought of that before.
She also told the funniest story about her daughter buying her a camera for her birthday and was bringing it over to the house for her, but Vicky wasn't home, so her daughter hid the camera in the barbque and forgot to tell her...so you guessed it...they heated the grill to make steaks for dinner the following night and the camera was cooked at 500 degrees and was a melted mess. Poor Vicky still doesn't have a camera. :( You must come to our quilt guild just to laugh!!

Bread Pudding

2009-12-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

So let's get honest...you don't serve bread pudding because it's beautiful...you serve it because it's so good it causes your eyes to roll to the back of your head and your tongue to do cart wheels in your mouth! Today was our quilt meeting at Broadbent's and Janice suggested I make something Christmasy. So I decided to make bread pudding. Yummo! The above photo is the pudding before it went in the oven and the next photo is what it looked like when it was served. The recipe will be below.

This is a silly little Christmas book that I just had to have from Broadbent's today. You've got to try and find it in your neck of the woods as it will tickle your funny bone. I also had fun picking out fabrics for the Girl Gang quilt I'm working on. I'll show those tomorrow, along with some photos of the quilts that others shared at the meeting.

Bread Pudding Judi Style

For Thanksgiving I only had 7 people eating over which left lots of dough from homemade rolls, so I made the remaining dough into cinnamon rolls and then froze them after they were cooked. I took them out of the freezer on Monday so they would taste like 'day old'. 'Older' bread works best for pudding because it soaks up the milk just right. :) (just trust an old cook will you?) Use store bought cinnamon rolls if you want, otherwise you can make your favorite and use those.

Cut up cinnamon rolls to equal 8 cups

6 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1 cup cream

1 1/2 cups half and half

3/4 cup sugar

1 T. vanilla

1 t. cinnamon (I use Pampered Chefs cinnamon blend. It's a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, orange peel, cloves, ginger)

(At this point you could add a cup of raisins and/or pecans)

Whip eggs, milk, etc. together and then pour over the chopped rolls and let soak for 15 minutes. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes in a 9 x 13 pan or custard cups in a water bath. Put the pan or the cups in a large baking dish and fill it with hot water until it is up the sides of the pan by about 2/3 of the way. Be careful taking it out of the oven as the water gets very hot. Serve with vanilla sauce

Vanilla Sauce

2 T. butter

3/4 c. sugar

1 T. corn starch or clear gel

1 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. cream

Stir over low heat until sugar melts and it thickens slightly

I topped mine with fresh raspberries when I went to serve it.

Christmas Decorating Has Begun

2009-11-29T19:20:00.000-08:00

I began on Friday to tear the house apart and started decorating for Christmas. Every year I say it's going to be simpler this year, and then I start and its so fun and everything looks so charming and delightful that I can't help myself and I just keep decorating. Sorry for the blurry photo above. I took it a couple of times and I couldn't get it any clearer. This is the cupboard I store my quilts in and on and the whole thing got cleaned off so I could hang the stockings from it.

My fireplace generally displays photos of ancestors and there is a painting that hangs above it. All that comes down to display a white village that I LOVE!

The dining room curtains come down and lighted garland and big striped candy styrofoam balls go up with some glass snowflakes.

They sell these big letters at a local discount store and you can paint them any color you want. Then I thumb tacked ribbon on the back to hang them up with.

I moved a piece of furniture in front of the bay window to watch the deer from, but it needed a few pillows on it. I made a simple pillow cover from an old tablecloth with holes in it. I cut the table cloth up and cut out tree shapes and stitched them on. It was a quick and easy project that I think turned out very well and didn't cost me a dime. I hope to make another one for the other side of the bench and put a few store bought Christmas pillows inbetween. I'm working on a few more things I hope to show next week. Live Well, Judi

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T20:12:00.000-08:00

Most of the children were gone this Thanksgiving and we missed them. It was mostly just us 'old folks' enjoying the holiday.

The traditional 20 lb. bird...even though there weren't enough people to make a dent in all that food.

I did make fewer pies and we still didn't make a dent in these either. I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. I am so grateful for this year to improve and progress and have learned so much from my relationships with so many of you. I have so enjoyed new friendships and your contribution to my life. Live Well...my friends!

Caution...Deer Crossing!

2009-11-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

You can't tell by these photos, but we live in the city! There is a Walmart just down the block from our house. We have a little cluster of trees that are behind the house and these deer have moved in...they have also had babies all summer long. We now have a total of 11 that eat our grass, flowers, trees, bushes and even apples if we have a box on the back porch. They're fun to look at, but they murder our garden and dig up the bulbs. Further, I can't come in or out of the driveway without having to wait for the deer crossing.

Does this cute little face look guilty to you or is it just me?!

Kiss your plants goodbye.

This one has nestled into the compost pile of grass clippings and looks so comfy. She didn't move all day even when I went outside. She owns the place in case you're wondering.

Can you see why I can't store the fruit or vegetables on the porch? She's only about 5' from our back door.

Can you charge a deer rent?

Lunch with Girlfriends

2009-11-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

I was invited to lunch with my friends Ruth and Susan. Ruth made everything for us and it was wonderful. This is the salad and it had a yummy new flavor in every bite. She said there wasn't a recipe, just put on everything that looked like Fall! It would be a great way to use that leftover turkey.

These rolls are sold at Sam's Club and come already in the pan and you just heat them up for about 5 minutes. They are as good as they look. Great idea for Thanksgiving prep...you'll look like you cooked all day...these taste homemade and are even made with whole grains.

The best dessert...a big chewy chocolate chip cookie. I'll put the recipe at the end of this entry. :)

Ruth is on the left and Susie on the right...They're busy making my lunch! I felt so loved.

Ruth's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. shortening

3/4 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. white sugar

Cream those ingredients together. ADD:

1 1/2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

ADD:

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. soda

1. salt

2 c. oats, use quick or regular

1 c. chocolate chips

1 c. coconut

Bake 350 10-12 minutes on greased cookie sheet. Ruth usually triples the above recipe and the dough stays well in the fridge for about a week and she just keeps making fresh cookies everyday. She makes them really big by using an ice cream scoop and only putting 6 cookies on each cookie sheet to bake.

Live Well,

New Findings on Depression

2009-11-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

On my list of favorite things to do has always been to study nutrition and the role it plays on keeping ourselves feeling our best. I found this article and thought since it's approaching that time of year when we eat more sugary foods, this might inspire us to be more careful. Live Well, Judi

Depressing Processed Foods

A diet heavy in processed and fatty foods increases the risk of depression, according to British research published. Researchers at University College London also found that a diet including plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit and fish could help prevent the onset of depression.

They compared participants -- all civil servants -- who ate a diet largely based on "whole" foods with a second group who mainly ate fried food , processed meat, high-fat dairy products and sweetened desserts.

Taking into account other indicators of a healthy lifestyle such as not smoking and taking physical exercise , those who ate the whole foods had a 26 percent lower risk of depression than those who ate mainly processed foods.

People with a diet heavy in processed food had a 58 percent higher risk of depression.

The researchers put forward several explanations for the findings, which are published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Firstly, the high level of antioxidants in fruits and vegetables could have a protective effect, as previous studies have shown higher antioxidant levels to be associated with a lower risk of depression.

Secondly, eating lots of fish may protect against depression because it contains high levels of the sort of polyunsaturated fatty acids which stimulate brain activity.

And they said it was possible that a "whole food" diet protects against depression because of the combined effect of consuming nutrients from lots of different types of food , rather than the effect of one single nutrient.

The researchers concluded: "Our research suggests that healthy eating policies will generate additional benefits to health and well-being, and that improving people's diet should be considered as a potential target for preventing depressive disorders ."

The study was carried out on 3,486 people with an average age of 55, who worked for the civil service in London.

Grandma Wanted to Meet the Horse

2009-11-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

Carissa has begged, plead, stood on her head, (hey that rhymed) etc. etc. for years for us to buy her a horse. She finally has one! (At least one we're making payments on!) His name is Honey, although he is registered and has some fancy French name as well...I just don't know what it is. His mother and father were apparently very important horses and so he will someday grow up to be famous himself. (Can you tell, I know absolutely nothing about horses!) Her riding instructor called and said this was the horse to invest in...so we're going entirely off of her advice. So far he just costs lots of money and eats bunches and bunches! Not that different from my children now that I think about it. :)

It's darling how he comes to her call and follows her everywhere.

Honey doesn't allow others to touch him much, but he sure loves Carissa and follows her command.

Mr. Live Well's mom's in town and she is staying with us indefinitely. She wanted to meet Honey before it got too cold for her to get out of the house and visit with him. She is 87 and about 89 lbs soaking wet, so we have to bundle her from head to toe to keep her even slightly comfortable.

One of the "Ladies" is having Twins

2009-11-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

Our little group was nicknamed "The Ladies" by one of the quilters daughters, Aleena. Aleena is just a few weeks away from having twins...a boy and a girl. So her momma and I got together and designed a quilt for each baby. We planned it together on a Sunday and then Ruth did the shopping and the drawing of the monkey face, etc. I got to help with some of the sewing on Ruth's day off Wednesday. I feel like I was a small part of keeping them warm and toasty. As you can tell, she will have 4 babies under four!! Doesn't it make you tired just thinking of it?

This is the boys quilt. Can you see his bow tie? How cute and then this will be bound in the brown dots when it gets quilted.

The girls quilt has a bow in the top of her head. Oh, so cute. It was a fun project and it's always fun to sew with your friends. What would we do without each other?

Ruth has a quilting machine and did the quilting herself. It is so darling. I am working for her in a couple of weeks so she can leave her business and take care of her new grandbabies when they get here.

Caitlyn's injury...Ouch!

2009-11-16T17:00:00.000-08:00

Caitlyn is #32 and plays basketball for Southern Utah University and came down on her ankle wrong at practice on Wednesday. She came home to her momma to get 'doctored' with oils and natural remedies to get the swelling out and some of the bruising and soreness. I think mostly she wanted hugs and love. We did get the swelling down by half just in one day. Hopefully, she can play on it in a week because she really wants to play against BYU!

Carissa's Birthday

2009-11-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

Our "newborn" turned 17 yesterday! Where or where does the time go?!

She had her friend Audrey over and she dressed up in the new clothes she got for her birthday.

Her sister Caitlyn came home for a quick visit from college to wish her sister happy birthday.

Carissa wanted banana cream pie with chocolate dipped strawberries instead of birthday cake. I've been making this from scratch since she was a baby.

She got lots of gifts and cards from her Aunts, Cousin in Arizona and Grandma's and Grandpa's.

Happy Birthday honey. We love you!!

A Great Study by Harvard...Eat Your Fruits & Vegetables!

2009-11-10T11:21:00.000-08:00

Fruits & Vegetables"Eat your fruits and vegetables" is one of the tried and true
recommendations for a healthy diet - and for good reason. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can help you ward off heart disease and stroke, control blood pressure and cholesterol, prevent some types of cancer, avoid a painful intestinal ailment called diverticulitis, and guard against cataract and macular degeneration, two common causes of vision loss.What does "plenty" mean?

More than most Americans consume. The latest dietary guidelines call for five to thirteen servings of fruits and vegetables a day.The largest and longest study to date, done as part of the Harvard-based Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, included almost 110,000 men and women whose health and dietary habits were followed for 14 years. The higher the average daily intake of fruits and vegetables, the lower the chances of developing cardiovascular disease.Increasing fruit and vegetable intake by as little as one serving per day can have a real impact on heart disease risk.

According to these two Harvard studies, for every extra serving of fruits and vegetables that participants added to their diets per day, their risk of heart disease dropped by 4 percent.Fruits and vegetables are clearly an important part of a good diet. Almost everyone can benefit from eating more of them, but variety is as important as quantity. No single fruit or vegetable provides all of the nutrients you need to be healthy. The key lies in the variety of different fruits and vegetables that you eat.
Live Well, Judi

Food for Girl Gang

2009-11-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

We had our first Tuesday of the month meeting at Broadbent's for Girl Gang and I brought food again. The only trouble is, I can't show you a picture because every single spec was devoured! I guess that's a good sign. I talked to them about eating more hot salad's in the winter because they were easier to digest and kept you from getting sick during the colder months. Also, about how to modify the recipe if you ate more meat or to make it just like it was if you were happy without meat. So here's the recipe...
I layed down a bed of chopped raw spinach and red swiss chard. Put on top of that brown rice steamed and hot as it will help wilt the spinach. On top of that you put a combination of 1 can white beans drained, and roasted vegetables. If you want, you can even add sprouted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top.

Here's the recipe for roasted vegetables...(this recipe works for most any kind of vegetable, but especially good with root vegetables.)
Butternut squash cut up into chunks (about 3 cups)
1 large sweet onion chopped in large pieces
A few beets peeled and cut into chunks

Put these in a large bowl and pour 1/3 c. organic olive oil and stir. Make your own 'onion seasoning' by using 4 T. beef boullion powder(I use Shirley J's brand because there aren't any chemicals in it), 8 t. dried onion, 1 t. onion powder. Stir together and use half this mixture poured over the vegetables above. Store the other 1/2 for the next time. Bake your vegetables in a 9 x 13 pan at 425 for 30 minutes. Pour over the rice and greens and stir in the drained white beans, sprinkle with nuts if desired and enjoy. If you have a husband that needs a little meat to be satisfied, just roast a couple of chicken breasts at the same time the vegetables are cooking and slice thin for the top of your salad. Live Well, Judi

I WON!!

2009-11-02T08:32:00.000-08:00

Remember a few weeks ago I told you about Cutie Pinwheel having a giveaway on her blog?!...well I won!! I was as shocked as RaeAnn was. I feel so lucky! Here are the goods...and I had to hurry and photograph them for you because some of them are going to be used immediately and one of them eaten...so it won't be here anymore to show you :)!! I got a pattern and some beautiful fabrics to start my Hawaiian quilt.

A darling coin purse and tape measure and the cutest thimble stuffed with fabric samples that is a lapel pin. Oh, so cute!! The coin purse is going immediately into my purse with my DoTerra oils in it so I don't have them floating around my purse where I can never find them!

There's a bookmark and a darling pin cushion and a yummy treat that isn't long for this world!

A darling doll for holding needles. I always lose my needles in a pin cushion and I'm excited to put her to good use. RaeAnn wrote me a fun note on this postcard and I thought it was so beautiful. When I was a girl, I was raised on Guam and used to visit Hawaii often and this post card brings back lots of sweet memories.

All was put in this darling basket which will be used often as it has a net that covers the contents and protect them from the flies or bugs in the air. How cute it that?!! I feel so lucky and was excited to show you all my goods. Thanks again RaeAnn!!

Sewing & Quilt Expo, Kansas City, MO

2009-10-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

Jena and I went to Kansas City to do some genealogy and while we were waiting for our plane home, we ran over to the sewing & quilt expo. It was so fun. There was lots of fabric from Vogue and France and wonderful clothing and textiles I wasn't allowed to take photos of. But I did get a few with permission of some wonderful venders. This little jacket and the quilt below were at a darling booth full of glorious fabrics from Material Mart. Their website is www.materialmart.com and they are in Midland, MI if you're in that neck of the woods.

Many of my girlfriends are becoming grandma's again and I thought this quilt was a darling idea. You can get the pattern at Material Mart and I think it's the cutest idea! And could be adapted for a girl or a boy very easily.

I don't know a dang thing about wool, but have always wanted to do something with it. Nedra has been doing beautiful things with wool for years and my new friend Gale also does the most beautiful things. I loved this booth! I bought a kit from Trish Harriman that makes her own patterns and there wasn't a thing there I didn't want. I bought a darling little kit to do something for Christmas and she hasn't even made the pattern yet. She was incredibly generous to let me photograph her booth. The website is www.attic-heirlooms.com and all the patterns are original to Trish Harriman. She is in Portland, ME and is super talented.

I don't recall what booth I saw this quilt in, but I thought it was so charming and could use up a lot of scraps. I'm so amazed at how many talented people there are in the world.

The booth that made me absolutely crazy was at Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods. You have no idea how wonderful their displays were. They only allowed me one photograph and asked me to specifically tell you not to move it or blow it up, etc. She has to be protective of her products, but she has the best displays I've ever seen. All the trims, buttons, laces, etc. are all color coded and it is straight up eye candy. It's owned by a Susan Gower's and you can find them at www.NiftyThrifyDryGoods.com and her trims are something to salivate over. Further, she has the most stunning jewelry made from scraps of old victorian velvet quilts with bits of crazy quilting on them. I wanted about 100 things there. I did get a red and pink trim that I plan to use on a Valentine quilt that I've been wanting to make the last couple of years. Now I think I'll be inspired to get started!

Just as we were ready to leave the Expo and head for the airport we came across these wonderful quilting strangers who began to talk to us about the bras that they purchase from Susan Crampton. Now I don't know about you, but I've never launched into a testimony with a stranger about my bra before, so I was interested in what these women had to say! They went on and on about these bras and how we had to try them on and how different we would look. You probably can't tell from my photo, but trust me, you would not need to use the word "support" when describing my bra needs! Susan Crampton walks right over and begins to talk to me about how it looks like the "life was sucked right out of me"!! Oh, it was hysterical! The funniest part was describing one of my daughters who is more endowed than the average and explaining how she plays college basketball and would love a bra that could 'hold things together' better. Susan begins to strap this sports bra on the outside of her clothing and is Very well endowed! This bra has about 17 hook and eyes and she straps it on and begins to jump up and down. This thing is like a bullet proof vest!! I couldn't believe it...all was steady and staying in its proper place. (You should have seen the man who had to run the booth across from us watching this entire event occur !)

Susan calls herself a "Bra Paramedic"...saying she 'rescues breasts from sagginess'. Then Jena and I walked around with stickers on our shirts that said, "I took the Perk & Lift Challenge". Oh, it was so funny. In all seriousness though, if you ever need a bra or need more support, Susan is a true professional. She took awesome care of us and her bras are everything those strangers cracked them up to be. Visit her at www.susanthebralady.com (Susan is on the right in the photo below.)

A Give Away!!

2009-10-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

My new blogging buddy RaeAnn is having her first give away. She's off on a trip somewhere and we get to guess where! I don't know what the prize is, but I know RaeAnn and it's going to be a good one. She's gifted and talented and has great taste in fabric. I met her by accident in the parking lot of a quilt store once when I noticed she was wrestling with a couple of quilts and trying to get her car door shut and carry everything inside...so I offered to help. And we became instant friends. Go visit her blog and make a comment on where you think she is and you'll be entered in the drawing. http://cutiepinwheel.blogspot.com/

On another note entirely...I had a Nanette experience with my computer! It is 100% blown up. I have been on hold for hours and hours with Dell and am so unhappy with the entire process. I have a warranty and will still have to pay someone else to try and get into the hard drive and save my stuff before the entire thing has to be cleaned off. Anyway, I'm very grumpy about not having a computer and I have no idea how long it will take. I have a trip to take next week and can't believe I'm computerless! I am going to visit an Aunt who is 98 years old and hoped to get lots of genealogy put on my computer. Did I mention that I am very grumpy about this!!

2009-10-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when I told you about the Boomerang? It's a brand new air filter that filters out viruses, flus, colds, etc. Not only in the air, but on surfaces. It's very exciting technology and is patent pending. I'm so excited to have mine. I wanted to provide this video link so you could see more about what I'm talking about.

I've spent the last 4 days re-certifying as a Holistic Health Coach and loved it. I have had a passion for nutrition my entire life and love to learn more.

Live Well...Judi

Carissa Finished Her First Quilt!

2009-10-07T15:45:00.000-07:00

Carissa is 16 and started this quilt a couple of years ago and then NEVER touched it again. I would prod and encourage and etc. and there was no interest. Then one day about 6 months ago she suddenly expressed interest again and has sporatically worked on it again. And it's finally completed. She's quite proud of herself. I don't know when we'll start another one, but it's good to have one under her belt.

Curried Lentil Soup with Spinach

2009-10-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

For quilt guild today I made a curried lentil soup I've made many times for my family. It seems when you are cooking for other people, things never taste as good as they do when you're just playing in your kitchen or cooking for your family. Anyway, here's what to do...

Gather ingredients...chop everything up.

Don't throw away the end of the celery. It's the healthiest part...it's been closest to the soil. Wash it up well and cut off the 'dirty' part at the bottom, but keep it connected. Throw that in the soup for flavor and then throw away before you serve the soup.

This is a photo of the kind of curry I use. I get this and the coconut milk at the oriental food store. The flavors are intense and work better than curry powder although you can substitute that if that's all you have.

Use a good quality coconut milk. The kind sold in the grocery stores are often watered down. This is the brand I use for homemade coconut ice cream too! YUM

Here's the soup. A family favorite.

Curried Lentil Soup with Spinach (Serves 8 - 10)

2 T. Olive Oil

2 c. Onion, chopped

1 c. Celery, chopped

1 c. Carrots, chopped

1 c. green or red pepper, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, minced

2 T. curry powder (I use Mae Ploy Paste)

1 t. ground cumin

1/4 t. cayenne, optional

1 T. fresh minced ginger

1 lb. lentils (about 2 1/2 c. cleaned and picked over)

8 c. water, chicken stock or vegetable stock

1 can 15 oz. coconut milk, shake well (use Mae Ploy)

1 t. salt, optional (I don't use it)

1 bunch Spinach, chopped

1/2 c. chopped cilantro

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, red pepper, garlic, ginger and the spices and saute until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add the water or stock along with the salt, lentils and coconut milk, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are cooked through about 10 minutes. (I threw the entire thing in a crock pot and came back a few hours later and finished it.) While the soup is simmering, wash and prep the spinach and chop the cilantro. After the lentils have finished cooking, stir the spinach and cilantro into the soup--it will look like a lot of spinach--don't worry it will wilt and cook down. Taste and adjust any seasoning and serve. Can sprinkle with cheese and a lime wedge. Also, to create a complete protein, I serve it with a little brown rice on the bottom of the bowl.

Fall Leaves up American Fork Canyon

2009-10-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

We live about 2 minutes from the mouth of American Fork Canyon and it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. We are so blessed to live where we can enjoy such beauty. The above photo is Tibble Fork at daybreak. The other photos are of the drive up the canyon. My neighbor Chris took these photos for all to enjoy! Live Well, Judi

What's for Breakfast

2009-10-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

When the children get up on Saturday morning, it's been a tradition for them to feel like they will get a 'special' breakfast...something I don't make on a regular basis. However, because I have raised them to eat healthy, it's always been a stretch for me to feed them something that doesn't meet my traditional standards. This recipe makes us all happy!! It comes from a bed and breakfast in Manti, Utah and is a fabulous recipe for light and airy waffles full of flavor from whole grains. And they are easy!!

Manti House Inn Waffles

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 T. butter, melted

1/4 t. salt

1 t. baking powder

1 cup whole wheat flour (I mix grains...rice, amaranth, quinoa, wheat, rye, etc.)

Stir together and cook on hot waffle iron. Serve with pure maple syrup or fresh fruit.

Live Well, Judi

Crisscross Quilt

2009-10-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

This quilt is called "Crisscross" by American Jane Patterns, Sandy Klop, that I saw a couple of years ago in St. George at Lazy Daisy Cottage and LOVED it! I started putting it on a design wall and it seemed to take forever. Now that it's done, I have to say it was worth all the effort. This is a quilt that you cannot make without a design wall, because the block is not the center square that you think it is, but is half of 4 blocks. There's a close up below. When I talked to the girl that was waiting on me at Lazy Daisy, she said that she had made several mistakes on her blocks because she didn't use a design wall. I am happy to say that I was able to learn from her and didn't have to do the hours of picking out that she did.

This is the defined block. It's 1/2 of all 4 blocks and must match up with it's neighbor, so you have to be paying attention when you're making it.

I thought the border was really fun too. I used lots of 30's reproductions that I had from other quilts and it was a fun way to use up some of the stacks of fabric I have around here!

Girl Gang...Sunny Days

2009-10-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

We are starting our new Girl Gang meeting for the year at Broadbent's and Janice has hung her first few blocks from the ceiling over the cutting table. The quilt is called "Sunny Days" and in typical Janice style it is wonderful! Janice has more talent in her pinky than I have in my entire body. She has an amazing gift for putting colors, patterns, textures, and visual interest together. You can't tell in the photo, but even the dog is a texture fabric, so you can pet him! I personally just stand next to her and hope something jumps off of her and lands on me!

Can you see how she fussy cuts the center of the flowers and adds even more interest?!! And check the bird out with the fussy cut wing.

I'm hoping to start on mine this week. It's the most tempting quilt I've seen in a long time. I'm lousy at applique, but am inspired by Janice and want to make this one for sure!

2009-09-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

We live not too far from Mt. Timpanogos and Mr. Live Well and our youngest decided to go with a group that were hiking the 19 miles round trip to get to the top. They left at 4:30 a.m. with lots of enthusiasm! However, they were so tired when they got home they could hardly wiggle. Our daughter has said she'll never do it again. But I'll wait a week to ask her after she's recovered.

It's so beautiful in the early morning and all the leaves are changing for the Fall. It's a stunning view. Maybe if I keep doing yoga and walking, I'll get strong enough to do it someday.

They were all smiles at the top!

I Have Some "Ta Da's"!!

2009-09-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

In our group of friends that go away and quilt together, (nicknamed, "the ladies" by Ruth's daughter Aleena), whenever one of us finishes a project, we yell out that we have a 'Ta Da' and we all stop what we're doing and admire the others work. These are the Ta Da's that I did while I was gone this week on my trip. This apron was made from a pattern called the 'Lilly Apron' by Busy Bee Quilt Designs. I made it for a young girl in our church who had a wedding shower while I've been gone on my trip and I'll take it to her when I get home.

I made this little bag called 'Mimi's Bag' by Sorbe Girls Designs for a Christmas gift for a friend. It was pretty quick and easy and turned out a perfect size for carrying things back and forth to church or to use as a smaller diaper bag. There's a pocket inside for your cell phone and keys.

This is a very small, 17", table topper for my mom for her birthday. Shhh! I got the kit from Connecting Threads. It's great colors for her house and would look cute on a coffee table or under her dining room table as a centerpiece. I thought I'd make it again with other novelty fabrics, i.e. put a pumpkin in the center square for Fall and an ornament or something for Christmas. It was quick and easy and looks like I spent more time than I did. Great gift idea.

This quilt has been in the works for years. It's called Everyday Dishes and I have been stuck on it for quite some time. I decided after looking at it again (it's been in a bag on the shelf and hasn't been touched or seen), that I really don't like all the borders. So I'm going to change them before I begin to applique the flowers around the outside. I spent two entire days making circles and leaves for the border and haven't even made a dent in how many I need! This is going to require a couple of long winter days with a stack of good movies to finish!

Here's my pathetic little stack of two days effort!

This is Beth showing her Ta Da of Everyday Dishes. She got all the center of it put together. It's so beautiful. Of course, Nedra finished her's years ago. You'll have to ask her to show it to you on her blog because it is lovely and inspiring!

I've Finally Finished One!

2009-09-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

I've been gone with my girlfriends all week quilting and I finally have one completed! I showed it to you on the design wall last week. This is a close up of one of the blocks.

This is a close up of the border. It's a little blurry, but it's better than the one I used the flash on. This is the fabric that started the whole quilt. I love it!!

It's stretched across the hotel bed and I love it! I even got the back sewn and ready for the quilter. There's nothing like the feeling of a completed project.

2009-09-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

Nedra and Ruth did a little photo shoot with me on our trip and it was so fun. If you're even the tiniest bit like me, you can't stand to have your picture taken! However, they both tag teamed me and started taking pictures so fast I couldn't get all weird about it. Anyway, I added the one Nedra took as my new photo on my blog and then here's one that Ruth took. It's so hard to get a photo that you actually approve of that it feels exciting to have two!!

Nedra has been doing 'blog' training with me and I hope to do better in the future.

2009-09-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

I am off on a trip with Nedra and our other quilting friends!! I wanted you to know about the weekly specials at Nature's Sunshine though while I'm gone. ALL of the products I've been telling you about are on sale this week! That means the Weight Loss, the Children's Vitamin line, the ionic minerals and more are all on sale. Go to www.naturessunshine.com and click on products, then at the drop down box, click on 'weekly specials' and you'll see all that is on sale. If you have questions about yourself and whether or not something will work for you, just e-mail me and I'll help you figure things out. You'll need my number as your sponsor to help you get the discounts at NS...it's #933807-9.

I am going to show you later today some of the fun projects I've been working on while on my trip.

Live well, Judi

Even more girl gang

2009-09-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show you a couple of things I've been working on. This is a quilt that I started exactly 1 year ago and finally completed this week. It began at a Quilt Retreat up at Daniel's Summit and was a 'mystery' quilt, so I didn't know what it was going to grow up and be. (For the record, it was way too much work for what it grew up to be!) In any case, it's done except for the label.

This is what's on the design wall. Also, begun a long time ago. It's from a book called, "Dealer's Choice" and the pattern is "Texas Hold 'Em" and I think it's turning out pretty well. Our youngest Carissa, has a room done in pink and brown and this will look great at the foot of her bed. I bought all the fabric at a darling quilt store in Boulder, Nevada called, "Fiddlesticks".

Our daughter Caitlyn has a best friend, Lindsey who is having a baby boy later this Fall and this is the quilt that she wanted to make her. That's code for, "Mom will you make my friend a baby quilt?"

It's off to the quilter to be quilted and then I'll bind it next week when I get it back. Caitlyn's friend is like one of the family, so I don't mind at all making her a quilt. We're all excited to meet this little guy. The fabric is, "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon" and is cuter in 'real life' than in this photo.

What's for Dinner??

2009-09-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

Almost everyday of my entire life, I get a phone call from a neighbor, friend, client, etc. asking me, "What's for Dinner"? People are always struggling with how to eat well and to feel good and not have to 'think' about it all the time. I personally have changed my diet and repented of all the bread and treats I was eating in the summer and have lost 9 lbs the last 3 weeks! I just might not have to change all the clothes in my closet to a bigger size. (currently, there are about 15 pairs of pants in there that don't fit!!) In any case, this is what we had for dinner last night and I eat something more or less similar every night...but would like to do a little more coaching in how to eat healthy as part of my blog. Also, I have been having great success with Nature's Sunshine weight loss program...you can use the entire kit or just buy the parts you like or need. I think it mostly depends on your ability to discipline yourself...you may need a lot of help or only enough to get you motivated. I can help you with that, if there are questions. This is a favorite salad and super easy. Almost everyday because the tomatoes and cucumbers are in abundance, I dice them and then add fresh basil out of the garden and a little olive oil or Italian dressing if you like. This time, I stuffed it in an avocado half and added a spout mix that is a favorite. I grow a mix called "pro vita mix" sprouts, you can buy them at Whole Foods or in bulk out of Hyrum, Utah and they are organic and super easy to grow and they taste awesome. They add lots of protein to a salad and are delightful.

Then we had fresh squash and beets for dinner, but I couldn't get the dumb photo to work, so couldn't show you. Also, somehow published a post without pushing the button earlier. Arghhh! Maybe I can't wait a week and a half to talk to Nedra! I make too many mistakes at this business of blogging!!

Fresh peaches were for dessert. Jared likes his with Agave (a natural sweetener from cactus plants) and whipping cream. I eat mine straight. Jared and his girlfriend, Kim went fishing Saturday night and caught lots of fresh trout, so we had that on the barbque and it was delicious. I'm not much of a meat eater, but he caught it for me, so I ate it and accepted the 'love' he was delivering! Enjoy and Live Well!

More Girl Gang

2009-09-07T11:59:00.001-07:00

There's some serious training I need to get to figure out how to get these photos on my blog and then to type about each one. I seem to be having some serious setbacks in my learning curve! After much effort, I have finally added these three photos! Seriously, don't panic as I'm going on a trip with Nedra in a week and a half and she'll be able to sit with me and coach me on what I'm doing wrong that I can't get these photos on here like I should the first time. Anyway, this beauty is Flora's quilt (one of our fearless leaders) and it is so wonderful. I'm inspired by it!

Janice is our other fearless leader at Girl Gang and she has such an amazing gift for color. I love it when she's working and can coach me. I frankly do everything Janice tells me to! This is her "Favorite Things" quilt from our class this year. It's another beauty!

This is a quilt by Sandy in our group and she does the most lovely things. She quilts for Buggy Barn and makes up some of her own designs and always has great stuff to share. I can't believe I'm so privileged that they let me in. As I stated before, I'm a complete 'wanna be'. I figured if I hang out with talented women it will rub off!

Girl Gang for September

2009-09-07T11:45:00.001-07:00

Tuesday was our Girl Gang meeting at Broadbents and we have new fun members this year to begin to quilt with. (They are not beginning quilters by any means, just new to our group.) Anyway, here are some of the fun quilts I took photos of at Show and Tell.

I think this quilt was done by Dianna in our group and she was taking a Block of the Month class at American Quilting in Orem. It's not quilted yet, but fantastic. I love the colors and her border fabric.

The applique quilt is called "Beginning Baltimore" and also by Dianna.

2009-09-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

So many have asked me to help their children/themselves with ADD or ADHD and their struggles with their children. I was privileged to listen to Dr. Mark Hyman on the brain at my Convention last week. Please go to www.ultramind.com/webinars and you can listen for FREE to his 6 webinars on the brain. They are amazing and he has done some wonderful things with functional medicine. The new children's line of vitamins from Nature's Sunshine have added so many things to help these growing brains. I am using the new ionic minerals with acai with the vitamins on my clients along with additional omega 3 fats. (these brains need a lot more minerals and fat than the 'average' brain). I'm already getting such a good response from parents on how well it's working. Dr. Hyman will give you ideas on diet changes for your children/yourself if you want to begin the process. I love Dr. Hyman's comment that there is no such thing as a "Ritalin" deficiency and we need to feed the brain what it needs. Please contact me and leave your e-mail address if you'd like help with yourself or your children. I can now schedule an appt. over the phone/computer/in person if you live nearby (whichever works for you). I can send you a couple of tests you can take before your appt. and it's a very effective way of getting to the root of the problem. I look forward to helping many more! Live Well!

Boomerang

2009-09-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

As you know, I attended the Nature's Sunshine Convention in Las Vegas. I hardly know where to begin to tell you all the wonderful things I learned. I spent 5 days studying children's health issues, the starving brain, diabetes issues, pregnancy issues, weight loss issues, endocrine system (hormone) issues and immune system issues. It was a complete blast. It's always fun to 'hang' with like minded people and to learn about how much science has advanced to help us be successful in maintaining great health no matter our age. Knowing that I could only tell you one thing a day, I decided (based on the news I listened to today about the increase of H1N1 and all of the ramifications to our health), I decided that I would share with you the "Boomerang". It is awesome. There is no other technology like it on the market. I wish I'd had it when my children were small and breathing the off gasing from the carpets and getting sick from going to nursery, etc. Now, I'll buy it to keep them healthy in college. Think of it...something that sanitizes the air and the surfaces! Unheard of. No more swine flu, MRSA, staph, mold, etc. etc. You can even watch it work as Nature's Sunshine has petri dishes that you can put in your house and 'catch' your germs before the Boomerang and then do it again after running the machine for a couple of days. You can see it at www.naturessunshine.com and if you want to know how to get it at cost, let me know and I'll help. I'm so excited for mine to arrive I can hardly sleep! Live Well!!

2009-08-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Two of my all time favorite products are on sale! (I bought these for my 3 children who just went back to college. I make sure they’re healthy and it’s easy for them to succeed because everything they need is in a grab & go pack.) Go to www.naturessunshine.com and you'll need a sponsor. Use my name...Judith Sears or my number 933807-9 and they will give you my discount. Don't spend a mint at the health food store.
SUPER TRIO---
Super Nutrition, Super Easy Good health comes through nutrition; it’s what you put in your body that counts. With Super Trio, you can take good nutrition with you—in your purse, in your pocket, in the palm of your hand—wherever you go. Offering the basic nutrients your body needs for optimal function, Super Trio comes in 60 easy-to-carry cello-packs. Taken twice a day, it provides a full month’s supply of portable, powerful nutrition. Each pack contains one capsule each of Super Supplemental to support your daily vitamin and mineral needs, Super Omega-3 to satisfy your body’s vital need for essential fatty acids, and Super ORAC , an exclusive formulation found only in Super Trio that is packed with potent free radical quenching antioxidants.

I can’t say enough about the benefits of taking Joint Support. (I'm 50 and my joints in my thumbs hurt when I rotary cut or hand sew, unless I take joint support.) Because of our modern diet, we all have acidic blood…if you have acid in your joints, we call it arthritis, if you have it in your muscles, we call it fibromyalgia. Take care of that acid with daily Joint Support.

Benefits:• Provides nutrition to the joints and bones. Joint Support [Structural, Nervous] provides a host of nutrients beneficial to the structural system. Individual ingredients in this formula are traditionally used for the following: maintaining joint tissues, supporting the body during physical stress to joints, helping the body clear uric acid, promoting normal muscle health, supporting a balanced nervous system, promoting protein digestion, nourishing the nervous system and more.

I can't wait to share what I learn at my conference with you. Thanks again for all your kind comments. Live Well, Judi

2009-08-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be out of town all next week at a Nature's Sunshine Conference, so may not post every day. This particular conference is centered around children's health. I am excited to learn all about the new products that are available for ADD, etc. as I have a husband and 5 children who need it all! I also hope to visit a couple of quilt stores while there...I'll take pictures. Thanks for all of your kind comments. It's fun to have so many new friends. Live Well, Judi

August Girl Gang Meeting

2009-08-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

We had our Girl Gang meeting the first part of August and I have been wanting to post some of my pictures, but hadn't figured out how to put a photo on my new blog! The learning curve is keeping me 'stumped' on many things I am trying to do on here. Between Nedra, Kim and many of you offering helpful hints, I may get this figured out yet.
We have a wonderful Girl Gang group that meets monthly. I am a 'wanna be' in the sense that I just watch and stare and drool over all the beautiful show and tells and all the applique that people bring as they complete their projects. Me...I just have good intentions paving the way to you know where...certainly not to my sewing room to accomplish something! Anyway, we have a wonderful friend who was asked to come and show us some of her applique. Her name is Paula M. and she is always willing to share, teach, coach, and babysit anyone who wants to learn to applique. (she's already baby sat me once and I need a refresher course!)
Here are a few of the photos of her work...

This is a start of a quilt that Paula is 'journaling' about her life. It shows where here church was and school, etc. from her childhood. It is currently a 'flimsy' as it's in the works, but the photo doesn't do it justice.

I wanted you to see the border on this one. Paula is gifted with color and fabric choices and I love everything she does.

Another flimsy, but so darling!

When I grow up, I want to do scallops!

I wanted to show you the border on this one too.

I'll try and do a better job with photos in the future. I can see where I would have taken different shots if I knew I would be a future blogger. I also realize I need to lower the pixel count on my camera as this took forever to load tonight. But I hope you get the idea of what fun quilters we have at our meetings. Live Well. Judi

Adrenal Fatique

2009-08-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

I get asked almost daily about adrenal exhaustion. (An easy way to tell if your adrenals are struggling, may be that you have developed a 'tire' around the middle. Another common symptom is waking up about 3 a.m. every day and not being able to fall back to sleep. Often, you feel more tired when you wake up, then when you went to bed! If this sounds like you, try changing your diet.) I became an expert when at 49 I was tired all the time and was developing quite a bit of belly fat. At 50, I am recovering and doing wonderfully. I'll talk about some supplements to add to your diet on another blog. There are some great books out there to teach you how to recover. But if you need some suggestions on how to eat to recover...these ideas come from Dr. James Wilson.

Your food intake will help you recover from adrenal fatigue. You will do best combining fat, protein and starchy carbohydrates (such as whole grains) at every meal and at every snack.

● Eat a wide variety of whole, natural foods
● Combine a fat, protein and carbohydrate source with every meal
● Eat lots of vegetables, especially the brightly colored ones
● Salt your food to a pleasant taste
● Eat mainly whole grains as starchy carbohydrate sources
● Combine grains with beans, seeds or nuts to form a complete protein
● Avoid fruit in the morning
● Cook with butter, palm oil, coconut butter, peanut oil, sesame oil or olive oil
● Mix 1-2 tablespoons of essential oils into grains, vegetables and meats daily
● Eat high quality food; it becomes you
● Chew every bit at least 30 times

Live Well...Judi

Stress Buster for the Spine

2009-08-14T16:57:00.001-07:00

I tried to post a little earlier, but found that I don't know how to add a picture from a file on my desktop. I need someone to explain it to me.

However, I did want you to share with you an idea I learned the other day about how to release the tension from sewing all day or sitting in the same position. Sometimes I'm so stiff after sewing or rotary cutting, I can hardly move. This works! (all products are available from Nature's Sunshine...you have my discount shown in yesterday's blog.)

STRESS BUSTER FOR THE SPINE.
Layer on back:
1 layer of capsicum extract
1 layer of tei fu
1 layer of lobelia
Put a hot wet towel over the top for 15-30 minutes. You may find your back is completely aligned when you’re through!

Exposure to X-Ray/Radiation

2009-08-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

I have a good friend who spent time in the hospital recently for pneumonia and had a series of x-rays. She has been working on her immune system ever since. I thought I'd share with you a great recipe to release x-ray exposure from the body. Buy kelp in bulk at a good health food store and dump 1 cup of it into a hot bath. Soak for 18 minutes once a week for a month. So whether you've had a mammogram, CAT scan, dental x-rays, traveled this summer and gone thru the airport or anything else...have a good soak and pull it out of your system. Be sure and sink down in the tub enough to cover your thyroid and include the back of your head if you've had dental x-rays. I also recommend some vitamin E with selenium. Here are some reported benefits...(one not listed is that it can help detoxify the body of x-ray exposure)

•Protects against free radicals.•Supports the circulatory and reproductive systems, as well as the liver.•Maintains normal-range blood viscosity.•Supports glandular health.•Promotes healthy-looking skin.•Helps maintain cholesterol levels that are already within the normal range. Vitamin E Complete with Selenium [Vital Nutrition, Circulatory] offers the cardio-protective and antioxidant benefits of vitamin E and the glandular and cellular benefits of the trace mineral selenium in a complete vitamin E formulation. This antioxidant formula may destroy free radicals before they can damage cells. Tocopherols and tocotrienols are two families of active compounds that we know as vitamin E. Many vitamin E products on the market contain only one or two of these compounds. This product contains all eight! The delta tocotrienol has been the subject of much research for maintaining cholesterol levels within the normal range and for supporting arterial health. Tocotrienols have also been studied for their support of the immune system. Each softgel provides 400 IU natural vitamin E (from soy), including 30 mg tocopherols (alpha, beta, delta and gamma) plus 5 mg mixed tocotrienols (alpha, beta, delta and gamma), and 25 mcg selenium in a base of annato/soybean oil.Adults: Take 1 softgel daily with a meal.

The above statement comes from Nature's Sunshine...my favorite herbal company. I am not interested in running a retail store front, therefore, I am offering you my discount and account number to get all of your products for the same 35% I get my products at. Just go to www.naturessunshine.com and when it asks for a sponsor name (you must have one), just put in my name Judith Sears or use my number #933807-9. If you order $40 on your first order, you do not have to pay anything to sign up. It's a great blessing in my life and I hope to make it a blessing in yours as well.

I hope to share lots of fun things with you on how to Live Well. Whether it's thru yoga, quilting, laughing with your family, health and diet. Look forward to great recipes as I love to cook nutritious food and share it with others.