Duck Creek stop an autumn paradise

The beginning of October we drove home from Arizona via a ride over the mountains and through Brian Head rather that taking the Highway 20 to connect up to the I 15.  It was a beautiful drive.

Nothing beats blue sky with clouds and autumn color.

It was lovely.  This drive also takes one past Cedar Breaks and to an altitude of over 11,000 feet.

I especially enjoy the aspen trees in the Fall with their glittery leaves dancing in the wind.

We stopped at Duck Creek.  Glen has found memories of stopping here with his sons some years ago as they drove to Utah for LDS Conference.

Duck Creek is a beautiful clear mountain stream.

The contrast between the evergreen pines and aspen was especially lovely.

Really, just lovely!

Duck Creek eventually flows into this small lake called Duck Lake.

And there were ducks!

Can you see them?

Autumn drives are the best!

Mt. Nebo Loop

I knew that I needed to get a Fall leaves drive in early as I would be spending the later part of September in Arizona.

It had been over 30 years since we had driven the Mt. Nebo Loop.  This drive begins on the east side of Payson and goes behind Mt. Nebo and eventually ends in Nephi.

We made a couple of side trips through campgrounds.  There were many cattle waiting for the round up before winter sets in.

We knew we would probably miss the aspens as they come later, but the hillsides lower down were beautiful

I always love a picture with a great fence.

As we got higher, the views were stunning.  I am looking east with Sanpete Valley in the background.

"I could see for miles and miles and miles."

This was a great shot of Utah Lake and home with Mt. Timpanogos in the background.

And finally we found some aspens with a bit of yellow.

Lovely, eh?

Backside of Mt. Nebo.

There was lots of mining back here in the early days.

Some orange red leaves.

This shot taken going back down.

As we took the switchbacks down, we were treated to a bit of red rock.  On the way back home on Interstate 15 we stopped at the Red Barn for ice cream.  A few weeks later I would enjoy another Fall
drive.  More about that later.

Sewing machine cover

Some months back I ran across a pattern for a very cute sewing machine cover.  I planned to make one for my sewing sister and one for myself.  My sister's birthday was before mine, so she received a cover which looks like a retro trailer.

Each side has a window.

With different curtains.  I loved the red door.

There is also a spare tire in back.

This was a total scrappy project.  I pulled the green fabric to match the fabulous green walls in her sewing room.

I also let the award winning Mighty Baker make her the birthday cake seen in the background.  It was delish!

This is the pattern I purchased.  It was a bit hard to follow the directions.  I chose to leave off the bunting.  Can't wait to make one for my Bernina.

BYU Football in the desert

The beginning of September found us in the hot deserts of Arizona to watch our hometown team.  The BYU football team was playing the University of Arizona in the NFL Stadium in Glendale, AZ.  Both teams had to travel some as BYU is in Provo, Utah and the UofA is in Tucson, Arizona.  This was my first time inside this immense football stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals and location of a couple of Super Bowls. Thankfully it was air conditioned.  The outside temperature was 106 degrees Fahrenheit.

We arrived early and it was fun to see the stadium fill up with fans wearing blue or red.  There was a bit of a contest to see which team would draw the most fans.  There was more blue!

This was the first "Cactus Kickoff" with more planned in the future.

As you can see, all those seats filled in.  This is our row of family as we invited all of our Arizona sons and their wives to join us.  Our sons are BYU alums as are my husband and I.  It was a nail biting game and BYU won with a field goal in the last six seconds.  The kicker was a true 18 year old freshman who had been a walk on.  Football doesn't get much more exciting than that!!!

My "Little House on the Prairie" girls

The three sweet girls in these pictures are sisters and all have their birthdays within two months of each other.  When the Little House on the Prairie line of fabric by Andover came out months ago, I knew that I wanted to sew with this fabric. I would make something for the girls.

It took a bit of time and some outfits were not finished by certain birthdays, but I am very happy with the finished project.  I also love that little brother photo bomber!

It was fun to decided which fabric to use for each girl.

Earlier this year I was sorting through my mom's sewing stash from inside a hassock of hers that had to be tossed as the metal on the bottom was eating into the carpet.  That hassock was easily over 60 years old.  Inside I found buttons which were just as old.  I decided to use those buttons for their dresses and aprons.

Some cards of buttons were marked 15 cents!

Their sunbonnets match their aprons and frame their cute faces.

I understand that this little one wears her new outfit the most.

They are my own Mary, Laura, and Carrie straight out of Little House.  There were also some books and DVDs of the series involved in this birthday gift.

Little brother perhaps needs his own pioneer outfit.

And a hunting rifle.

While shopping for the fabric I also found these cute cloth dolls.

They came with bonnets and pantaloons.

I thought cloth dolls were appropriate for the time we were honoring.

I also made a Little House on the Prairie outfit for their cousin and my grandchild from another son's family.

I made them dresses for their dolls from the leftover scraps from their dresses.  I love my "little house on the prairie" girls!

Snapshot Quilt finds a wall

I picked up my quilted "Snapshots Along" quilt from the machine quilter the end of June.  It only took another six weeks to convince my hubby to help me hang it on the wall.

I decided that the stairwell was the perfect place for this quilt.  I have had the wooden quilt hanger for 25 years.  It held a Broken Star quilt that my grandmother had pieced back in the 1930's.  I decided that this lovely historical quilt deserved a rest.  When I brought the quilt hanger to our Provo home but it was a bit too wide for the stairwell.  Finally I was able to convince the hubby to saw off one end and put it up on the wall.

Yep!  The perfect place for a narrow longish quilt.  This quilt makes me so happy!

The wooden hanger is two boards with a groove in the back one.  There are handmade wooden screws which fit in holes in the front and back boards.  These are then tightened to hold the quilt tight. The little grands love looking at it.