Brrrrrr.........

I forgot to mention one of our traveling marvels.......it is COLD!!! In Santa Fe it got down in the 60's the first night we were there and the next day it didn't get above 80. We ate breakfast at a sidewalk cafe at about 10:30 am and it was really nice. When we went on our tram ride that part up in the north part of SF was almost uncomfortably cold. Then when we got to Flagstaff it was cold again. The car temperature when we left this morning at 9:30ish said 64 degrees. By the time we got to the Hoover Dam it was 106!!!! So we enjoyed the cool weather here late in the summer for a few days.

Now, our trip to Hoover Dam was a real treat for me and the boys. It was special to me because it took me 44 years to see it. It was special to them because they recently saw Transformers and the main villian in the movie, Megatron, was hidden under the dam! My youngest, Craig, had some really wild tales about where he could be now! We didn't get to stay long, it was very very crowded and it was too hot to enjoy anyway. Here are a few shots. I got the boys at the Dam on my video camera but these pictures were taken by Clayton and we forgot to include anybody in the family!

On The Road.......

Well we finally left on our family vacation this past Friday. DH worked so hard for a few days to be able to take a week off from his business and we hit the road as soon as we could.

Day 1 we left in the evening and drove through the night and made it to Wichita Falls. This is North Texas.

Day 2 we drove all the way to Santa Fe, NM. Not a bad drive and the views were spectacular. For some reason the boys are fascinated by the different shapes and sizes and kinds of water towers in each little town. Weird, I know but they are having fun pointing them out. We also LOVE seeing the trains racing along beside us. So many beautiful colors in the mountains and plateaus and plains.

Santa Fe was great! We stayed at the Eldorado Hotel which is right in the heart of the Plaza. We got lucky and were there on the weekend of Santa Fe Market where the area Indian Tribes and area artists bring thier wares down to sell. Tons of people! Lots of great food but not the kind of place the boys were looking for. DH and I had fun shopping. I got a beautiful silver and turquoise ring, necklace and earrings. The boys got cool necklaces and Clayton got a real Indian spear. We took a tram tour around the city and learned a lot about the history and culture. The oldest church in the US got our attention built in 1600's sometime. The trip down Canyon Road looking at all the beautiful artist's studios, sculptures and just stuff was fascinating. Our guide was great pointing out architecture and foliage and even Dandy Don Merridith's place!

We thought we were going to stay another day in Santa Fe but decided to hit the road that evening and we made it to Flagstaff about 10:30. Today we up, have had breakfast and are looking at a trip to Grand Canyon on the way to Las Vegas.

Ok, on the road again!!!!!

PS I didn't leave all my quilting behind.....I brought the yellow/blue jelly roll quilt and have half the binding done!!!!

I've Been Practicing.....in my favorite colors!!!

The sun came out in Texas for a while last week. Yes, I'm talking literately, which means I didn't get to quilt as much as I wanted because the boys and I were at the pool or having some other kind of summer fun. But I'm also talking figuratively, because I worked on two projects using Sunshine fabric in two of my favorite colors, yellow & blue.

I used these two projects to practice my machine quilting skills. I am using the dvds produced by Patsy Thompson for help and inspiration (there is a link for her website on the bottom of this page)and practicing some things I saw on Fons & Porter last Saturday. This blue and yellow table topper and table runner were made from leftovers from my Sunshine jelly roll quilt and the charm packs I had. I think I've used almost all this fabric now!

Here are some closeups. The Table topper has 49 5" squares in the center and I used each one to try each example on the quilting dvds. It is sort of a sampler and I can even use it later to refer to when I'm trying to decide on what to quilt on future projects. I'm not great at this new skill by any means, but I think I can quilt respectively enough to finish my own projects and complete small gifts. The variegated thread helps hide mistakes. I learned a lot about tension and the importance of a good needle. I learned to not be afraid to stop and evaluate where I've quilted and look ahead a little to where I want to quilt.

These were two small scale projects and this week I hope to complete a larger top. I think it is a twin size. I hope I can choose a motif that looks good on my Sunshine jelly roll quilt top. And I hope I can enlarge the scale of my designs to fit this larger canvas. I'll let you know how it goes!

Auntie's Garden is complete.....

There is a long story that goes with this quilt. I'll try to keep it as brief as possible, but with as much as we've been through, I owe it a full story.

First of all this quilt began as an exchange of applique blocks. There were 9 of us involved so we each used the Auntie's Garden pattern and selected 2 blocks each. We decided to do them in 30's reproduction patterns and a common white-on-white background fabric. Applique methods were only limited to no open edges. So some of these were hand appliqued, some machine, some a little of both (like mine).

I initiated the exchange and I think I was the most excited. There were lots of moans and groans. Applique is tedious and when you have to repeat the block 9 times.....whew!!! But we all completed our blocks on time and they turned out spectacular! This block is my bluebonnet block, and yes I hand appliqued all those tiny little circles on each block!!!!

Now after the exchange there was still the task of putting the blocks together and then appliqueing the trumpet flowers and vine and leaves around the border. Oh my goodness it took forever to get that vine to curve the way I wanted it to!!! And it still wasn't perfect, but good enough. Then I machine appliqued all the flowers in place. Next came the leaves...but at this point....I was sick of applique. That is when a great idea came to mind....I'll just have my quilter quilt in some leaves!!! Oh I am a genius!!! You know what they say about necessity!

Ok, it had been about two years since this quilt was started and I had almost finished machine appliqueing the vine and trumpet flowers on. We were scheduled for a Retreat and I had planned to finish the quilt and hand it over to my quilter. For some reason, I didn't get to make it to retreat so the quilt sat unfinished in a pizza box awaiting completion.

I completely forgot about my great love, this applique quilt, for quite a long time. In fact, when we started talking about the next retreat which was about 6 months since the last, I began looking for my quilt to finish. It was no where to be found!!!!! I turned my sewing room upside down, I ransacked my closet where I hide stash and quilting magazines. I opened every clear plastic container in my quilting closet looking for this project. I even accused my husband of throwing away the quilt by mistake not knowing what treasures that particular pizza box held.

Finally after months of searching I was resigned to the fact that this quilt was gone. It made me sick at my stomach each time I thought of the hard work the other 8 ladies had put into their blocks, and me too. How much I anguished over the border and and how I would never get to use my clever plan to get out of appliqueing leaves. It was so sad........

Then, one day early this summer, right after I got my new sewing machine I decided to completely redo my sewing room. I totally moved furniture and boxes and....wait....what is in this pizza box turned on its side hiding over here in the corner? Oh the jubilation my heart felt when I opened it and there was my beloved quilt!!! And just in time to take it to this year's retreat to complete and turn it over to my quilter.

I love the meandering stitch all over that allows these beautiful flowers to bloom. And look at my leaves and tendrils!!! Aren't they adorable and the perfect solution when I was not going to applique any more! Thanks to Judy Wilson, my quilter, for seeing my vision.

There are 8 more sets of blocks out there just waiting to bloom. I think I am the only one that completed the top so far and it has been at least 4 years since this began. I told you I was the most excited!!!!

Summer Half Gone.........

Well, officially about half of my summer vacation has passed me by. But boy have I gotten a lot done! Dh hasn't been able to break away from his business to take us on vacation yet and we had 45 days of rain on and off so I have had some quality quilting time. I love to wake up early in the moring and check my mail, have my coffee and then quilt.

So far this summer I have:

• Found a long, lost applique quilt and finished it, ready for the quilter
• Finished a Dick & Jane king size quilt top, that one goes to the quilter too
• Completed a UFO that I named Butterfly Quilt, it is huge, going to the quilter (thanks Peggy & Mary Beth)
• Finished a Christmas quilt top, I'll quilt this one (thanks Auntie)
• Finished my first jelly roll quilt top, I'll quilt this one too
• Finished a table topper using a new scallped border method, quilting it now myself (thanks Judy)
• Learned how to Free-Motion quilt with Patsy Thompson's dvd's (thanks Jaime)
• Learned how to make cord fabric bowls (thanks Sherry)
• Bought a new Brother sewing machine for quilting (thanks Cindy)
• Spent 2 glorious days at Quilt Retreat (thanks Red Barn Retreat & all the Scattered Piecers and friends)
• Watched 6 movies (thanks Netflix)
• Read 3 books
  

And all of that in between taking the boys to the pool, baseball, basketball, tennis camp and golfing. Whew......I've been pretty busy and life is good!!!!

Attached are pictures of some of my tops I completed. I'll show them again when they are quilted and have bindings.