Quilting Fail

 When it came to strife about my parent's possessions, oddly enough it was my mom's quilts that seemed to be the biggest sticking point. This is where the rumor began that the siblings were "dividing the assets" which couldn't have been further from the truth. Mom did quilt, yes. But she wasn't very careful or particular. Her quilts were fun but it's not like they are worth anything. Any serious quilter would give her creations a kind nod but never major money. 

Furthermore, the sibling that whined the most had previously made a big to do about how no one should get to inherit any of the collector cars if they didn't have detailed knowledge of them- how to change the oil, where the carburetor was located, etc. Well, it just so happens he's never made a quilt. He doesn't even own a sewing machine. I bet if you put a gun to his head, he couldn't name 3 quilt patterns to save his life. But here he was complaining that he wasn't getting his fair share of the quilts that he never showed any interest in up to this point.

Something about all this just broke my heart and my brain. Quilts I had loved and really wanted suddenly became worthless to me. I decided I didn't really want anything. If there was a quilt out there I would make it myself and it just so happens I came upon the one pictured above. Now Mom had made a denim and handkerchief quilt and that seems to be one of the biggest points of contention. Everyone wanted that quilt. It wasn't even that nice, it looked like this one below:

It also wasn't all that big. Mom would get impatient with her own projects and do what she called, "good enough for government work." I decided to take up my inspiration and make my own version, which would be similar to Mom's quilt but more my style. Not to mention it would stay in my very own family to pass down to one of my own daughters. My quilt would be a cathedral window but with raw edges. I wanted it to be an Americana quilt but in a subtle way- no huge flags or anything like that. Just red, whites and blues in the mix. I found most of the fabric in quilt stores in Iowa.

The denims were from JoAnns but they were LL.Bean denim. Not being a novice, I washed them in scalding hot water so the indigo dye wouldn't bleed. Then I got to work cutting out the circles. Because it was a circular and not a straight cut, I had to use scissors and my hands cramped from all the cutting. I used a pot lid for the circles and then a piece of cardboard measured to the square.

I haven't been excited about quilting for a while but I was really getting excited about this one. The fabrics were unique but they all went together. Almost half of them were white to really stand out against the dark denim.

Intentionally making a quilt look random is really hard for me. I spent hours arranging and re-arranging until I was happy with it. 

Now on to the fun part- putting it together. This is a "sew as you go" quilt and once a row is done, you can sew down 3 of the 4 sides to each square. Then you add another row and sew down the last side whilst also sewing down 3 of the 4 sides to the new row. My Singer sewing machine was perfect for this kind of quilt. It's an ugly, old workhorse. Even so, I went through more than one denim needle. 

I woke up early and quilted. My lunch breaks were all spent quilting. As soon as I was off work I was back at the sewing machine, quilting. I was so incredibly excited about this project and it was supposed to be so easy!

Even the back was looking pretty darn cool! Just as I had imagined it.

At long last it was done. Oh how I loved it! Sure it wasn't perfectly even but hey, it wasn't supposed to be, right? The bright white fabrics stood out against the dark denim and I just couldn't wait to wash it and see it all frayed. It was nice and heavy and sometimes when I looked at it I saw circles and sometimes I saw 4-leaf petals. The back looked fantastic with the awesome checked pattern. 

It even looked spectacular with our 4th of July decorations on the fireplace mantle.

Pulling this out of the washer, my heart just broke. Even though I had done a prewash of the denim, the white fabrics had soaked up the indigo dye. Even the blue and red fabrics had become dingy. I called my sister Katrina just beside myself. She told me not to panic and get some synthrapol which helps with this kind of bleeding. Just don't dry it! I kept the quilt semi-wet in my bathtub where a ring of blue slowly stained that too. I don't have a quilt store near me so I had to order the synthrapol from Amazon.  

The synthrapol didn't help. The quilt was ruined and I was inconsolable. It wasn't just a quilt. I feel so helpless about my parents and I hate that siblings are fighting over stupid stuff. This quilt was going to be my way of walking away from the hurt and pain, my way of rising above and coming out stronger. Instead, I had spent a ton of money on a quilt that looked just awful. Sydney timidly approached me and said she still wanted it and oh how I love her for that! Someday when my heart (and bank account) have healed a bit, I think I'll try this one again. This time I will buy the template you can find online. I'll take my time with it and maybe even put squares of backing in to make it puffier and softer. I think I'll hand stitch down the edges so they are uniform in shape and size. And my gosh I'm going to wash everything about 10 times before even attempting to cut it out!

Foster Beach

 With everyone scattered to the winds for summer, we really only had a couple of weekends with everyone home that we could hit up our favorite beaches. It's not really summer until we spend time at Foster Beach and that was highest on the priority list. I had a day off of work, the weather was beautiful, so we packed up the car and headed out.

There's something magical about the beach. It's hard to take a bad photo. 

The girls are happy hanging with each other or on their own. 

They don't need a lot- goggles and something to dig with will do. 

It's just so peaceful and happy at the beach.

I've noticed Liesel and Ireland getting more and more into the photos I take.

They'll take some risks if it means a great shot in the end.

Their blonde hair never looks blonder than in the summer sun.

Sydney always manages to become a mermaid.

And that suits her just fine.

By the middle of summer, Lake Michigan is still cool but not cold.

Ok I do hate dealing with the sand, but could be worse!

It's so peaceful and happy at the beach! I love this place and hope we have many more years of visiting.

Playing in the sun really gave made everyone ravenous and I wanted to try a place called Pasta Fasta. I parked the car while Liesel, Ireland and Brigitta took my credit card and made some decisions on what to order. Sydney worked on her flexibility while we waited.

Oh man, it was so good! It came in to go containers and was just perfect for the ride home.

Youth Conference

After Youth Conference, Ireland was asked to give a talk giving a recap so I'm going to intersperse her words with the fabulous photos Bishop snapped.

This year’s youth conference was short and sweet but still impactful on me. We spent two days at Trinity College taking classes, dancing, playing games, ang getting to know other youth. Youth Conference was actually a little shorter for me and Liesel because my mom got caught in a meeting at work so we arrived late. We wandered around campus for a bit trying to find the group. We turned a corner and there was Brother and Sister Pollack and we immediately knew everything would be ok. Brother Pollack took our luggage and Sister Pollack showed us where lunch was so we could jump in. Everyone had left but Sister Plott hung out with us. I’d like to take a moment to express gratitude for our ward family and our youth leaders. 

The rest of the day was filled with team building and classes conducted by Bishops. One of the team building activities involved a really long jump rope. From the outside it may seem simple to get about 20 people to jump over a giant jump rope at the same time, but believe me it requires alingning many hearts and minds into one. We actually didnt get it until several people had left the jump rope but we did get it. Like any good youth conference, day 1 ended with a dance. You should be very proud of your Crystal Lake Young Women and Young Men for knowing how to own a dance floor. I think everyone slept pretty well that night.

 

On the second day we had some more classes including my personal favorite, cooking. In my group, I learned how to make egg fried rice YUM and I got to crack the eggs. We also got to try the other stations foods. They were delicious. 

The team building that day was playing volleyball. I’d like to note our family is a dance family and not a sports family. Every January during the stake volleyball tournament, Liesel and I basically go to just cheer on Corinna and her friends who win us the tournament every year. This might explain the pictures Bishop caught of Liesel trying to cope with a volleyball flying at her face.

Our final classes focused more on the Strength of Youth Guidebook. There was a lot of great discussion about this inspired document. In one of the classes we talked about the Make Inspired Choices section and how Jesus can help us, but ultimately we are the ones to make decisions.

I think the testimony meeting is something that at the beginning of youth conference not many people are looking forward to but by the end of it, it only makes sense. A LOT of youth shared their testimonies. No awkward pauses waiting for someone to go next and they were great testimonies. It was a really great experience.

I know there is a lot that goes into planning and executing these youth conferences. I’m sure every person there had something else to do. Bishop probably had to put his family history work on hold but I’m so grateful for everyone who made the sacrifice to be there. It had a deep impact on my life and I’m really grateful for my experiences there. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Middle of the Northern Hemisphere

Somewhere in the depths of winter I came across a TikTok about how you can visit the center of the Northern Hemisphere in Wisconsin. We'd already driven across the 45th parallel when we went to Petoskey but this was even better- it was the center of the entire Northern Hemisphere! I saved the video and determined we would stop by when we picked up the girls from Spanish Camp. Was it out of our way? Yes. Was it an odd thing to stop for? Also yes. But when would we be closer? Let's have a little adventure!

There we were, halfway between the equator and north pole and a quarter of the way from Greenwich, England.

OK what you can't see so well is the path to get there was mired in mud and everyone's shoes are filthy. Still, there's something about being in that exact spot that feel unique and significant and yes, even powerful somehow.

I wanted to be in all 4 parts of the northern hemisphere at once. When else can you do that?

I wish I could figure out how to keep a video in slo-mo when uploading to YouTube. Gita looked pretty cool doing her cartwheel right along the 90th meridian!

Brent was game too.

We even made the trek to the La Quinta in Wausau to get the commemorative coin which it turns out is free. You do not need to dance around chanting, "La Quinta, La Quinta, La Quinta" in order to get it. I got a real funny look when I asked (that's what the TikTok video said!). It's a really nice La Quinta too. It looked brand new, the pool was really nice and everyone took the opportunity for a restroom break. I'm glad we took the time to see this- we really had fun!