Today We are Celebrating!

Thirty-one years ago today...

... we were married! 

June 27, 1981

How are we celebrating?  "We're leaving...on a jet plane...don't know when we'll be back again..."  I've had that song in my head all day.  Actually ... I do know when we'll return ... in a week!

Shepherd of the Pines Lutheran Church - Alida, Minnesota

Where are we going?  Here are a few hints ...lets see if you can guess?  The sun shines there 300 + days of the year.  And they have only 12 inches of rainfall every year.  Yep ... completely opposite of our remote corner of the planet!

Our Wedding Invitation

 I won't be blogging while we're gone, but will have updates on the Mrs. DillyDally facebook page!  Just click on the blue button in the right hand column of this blog ... it is on the top! ;-)

 Have a wonderful dillydally week!

Do what you love.  Celebrate promises kept.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally

Lovin' Leftovers!

You might remember...

... it wasn't too long ago that I pieced this quilt ... using layer cakes of Vintage Modern.  Because I changed the border from a pieced one to a single fabric ... I had leftover 10 inch squares.  I love leftover fabrics! ;-)

Flicka and I got busy ... she is sew helpful! ;-)

I wonder if she realizes that eventually she will out grow this supervisory position.  When I am pressing and cutting ... this is her favorite place to perch!

Piecing blocks is exhausting!

This has become her favorite spot in the sewing room when she wants to do serious napping!  It is a Terry Atkinson Shaggy Chic Pillow that I made a few years ago.

It is located directly behind the chair I use while sewing.  She can nap and supervise at the same time!  Sew silly!

On Friday night we were doing the happy dance ... we had turned all of our leftovers into blocks!  Ya-Hoo!  On Saturday morning, when we tried to lay them out ... it was quickly obvious that we had pieced half of them backwards.  UGH!

After a lot of time with the seam ripper, we eventually re-pieced half of the blocks correctly!  The heavens opened on Sunday, yep ... buckets of liquid sunshine!  We got the top pieced.  Yesterday, the heavy rain continued and we added the applique'!

Today we hung it up at Cordova Quilters' Hideout!  The pattern is called "Pretty in Pink" and is in the same book by Heather Mulder Peterson titled Livin' Large.

Gosh ... two for one ... I love leftovers!

Do what you love.  Use your leftovers.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally

Our Man-Child

This is our son ... he used to grab my hand every time we crossed a street.

B-Day Party at the Cabin, age 8

He has always loved being out doors ... was and is most comfortable in the arms of Mother Nature.

B-day morning, age 8

Yep ... that ancient nordic blood runs through him ... he still seeks out adventure and challenge.

B-day, age 9

He has retained a strong imagination ... and looks at life through lenses that focus on possibilities and understanding the unknown.

B-day, age 24

Yesterday was his birthday.  He has grown strong in body and in character.  Some day ... in the future ... he will hold my hand again when we cross the street.

Do what you love.  Hold hands.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally

Stop Everything! The Sun is Shining!

Here in my remote corner of the planet...

Morning view from my front deck.

... if the sun is out, we stop everything and get outside to enjoy it!

 Everything has finally turned green.  Because of the severe winter, things have been about 3-4 weeks late.

As you can see ... remnants of winter still exist!  That snow is not far from the waters edge.  It just makes us appreciate the sun even more!  This pic was taken this week on June 18th.

The lupine are in full bloom.

The columbine have just begun to open ... the little yellow buttercups are everywhere!  ;-)

The water lilies are almost ready ... many buds are on the surface!

The gillnet salmon fishery began in May and the seine season is about to start!

We're loving these summer temperatures!

Even the flowers on my front deck have finally opened their smiley faces!

View from front deck.  9:00 pm yesterday!

Yep ... it feels like summer has finally arrived!

Do what you love.  Dillydally in the sun.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally

Flicka's Second Quilt!

Flicka and I have been busy ...

... in the sewing room.

Last week the fabric line "Vintage Modern" by Bonnie and Camille arrived at Cordova Quilters' Hideout!  I brought home yardage and two Layer Cakes.

I planned to make this quilt called "Square Dance" from Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka's Treasures. The pattern is in her book called Livin' Large.

We studied the directions ... very carefully! ;-)

Snoopervising the cutting process.  Yep ... livin' on the edge!

Who knew that a bit of tail action could increase accuracy when piecing?  ;-)

Eventually ... by Friday we had all 20 blocks pieced!

The layout was determined ... time to piece a top!

After the blocks were sewn together ... I began to rethink the borders.  I knew that I wanted to keep the first and smaller border red.  The pattern has you use the remaining 10 inch squares from the layer cake ... while looking through the remaining squares ... I decided it would look too busy.

Flicka agreed with my border choice ... yep, I caught her telling me so! ;-)  

And here is the completed top hanging for display purposes at the Hideout!  

Like all kittens, Flicka has no reservations about exploring everything!  She gets into all sorts of mischief ... and provides unending entertainment!  The sewing room serves as her personal Disneyland!  I am the staff that runs around behind her cleaning up.  I'm amazed we accomplish anything! ;-)

Do what you love.  Live like a kitten.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally

Flicka ... "She's talking about me again, isn't she?"  ;-)

Forgotten Treasure!

Where to begin?  Long time readers of this humble blog know that I took a mean-spirited fall last September and damaged my knee.  It resulted in 6 months of chronic pain ... very little dillydallying took place ... sewing was nearly impossible.  Since my surgery in March ... I have been on the mend!

 On Friday, Flicka and I had finished the blocks of a new quilt and were cutting out the first borders.  Yep ... she is taking her supervisory position very seriously!  It is a wonder that we make any progress! ;-)

My sewing room is very small ... I have no design wall.  The floor space in the dining/living area is what I use to lay out quilts.  I use a king size Warm and Natural batting to audition block lay out plans ... then cover the lay out with a flat sheet ... so that it can be folded and unfolded multiple times.

Imagine my surprise on Friday evening ... while unfolding it I found a quilt ... laid out!  Can you see the blocks under the sheet?

Peeling back the sheet revealed this!   I had completely forgotten about it!  It is the Schnibbles quilt I was making using Dilly Dally fabric!  You can read about it here.

I was so surprised and excited that I immediately started piecing it together.  No ... I didn't even fuss over the layout!  I decided to accept it as a gift and "git 'er done"!

Finding this treasure makes for one of those unexpected and magical dillydally moments!

Do what you love.  Seek treasure.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally

P.S.  I am crediting my loss of memory to the knee injury ... ;-) ... that had to be it! 

A Week in Review!

It has been a crazy, but fun week here in dillydallydom!  It was a week of very cool temperatures and lots of "liquid sunshine"!  When you live in a temperate rain forest, that is what we call rain!  Perfect dillydally weather.

Last Saturday, I gave a demonstration on how to make the "Cup Cozy" at the Cordova Quilter's Hideout!

They really are useful and a ton of fun.  I had been using this one for my knitting tools ... it is now empty as my supervisor likes to empty it! ;-)

We celebrated QBee Sam's birthday!

We had our June Thimbleberries Patchwork Party meeting!

I made peanut butter cookies on National Peanut Butter Cookie Day!  Yep, there is such a holiday, Betty Crocker shared the news with me. ;-)

Flicka and I started a new quilt.

She read the directions very carefully.

As a Supervisor in Training, Flicka is exploring all sorts of supervisory techniques!  I had a difficult time convincing her that resting on the fabric while piecing doesn't work out very well!

Neither does watching from the top of the machine!

Yep ... life in the sewing room is never boring!

We eventually finished all 20 blocks!

Yesterday the rain stopped ... out the road we went!

Kysa enjoyed the green just as much as we did!  Summer is finally here in our remote corner of the planet!  Yep, my fingers are crossed when I say that! ;-)

The week ended by gifting us with this beautiful sunset last night.

Do what you love.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally

Apparently, the dillydally lifestyle is exhausting!  Who knew?