One to donate, one to sell

I finished a couple of quilts.  The first is a little doggie themed quilt with some orphan flying geese blocks.  Thanks to Pat, I had the perfect backing, a flannel with doggie prints.

The second quilt is one made from my stash of Route 66 fabrics.  This particular print features the "Bluebird Hotel" sign which bears a striking resemblance to the Blue Swallow Motel, which we used to own.  I'm sure it was a deliberate attempt at bypassing trademark issues, which at the time the fabric came out we would not have pursued.  It is a generous lap quilt, 64 X 79" and I'll be selling it. 

 I quilted it with the clouds and lightning bolts pantograph.  The backing is a solid, celery green color.  

Room done

Our addition is finished!  Well, at least the part we contracted to have built.  Now comes all the work Dale will be doing to wire it, and finish the interior.  I'm just the gopher and helper.  My favorite part is acquiring things for the new room!  Our new front door will be a dark turquoise color.   

We've been busy with a few other things, Thursday afternoon we had a really loud lightning strike which took out our power.  We thought the whole area was without power and so never called until four hours later.  They came out and restored power with 45 minutes.  Lesson learned, we'll call sooner next time.

When the power came back we learned we lost our DSL modem, flat screen TV, a satellilte tuner in my sewing room, and the electronics in our satellite dish.  The modem is replaced, satellite restored, and now we're just waiting on the flat screen.  

Lots of progress...

Our sun room is going up pretty quickly.  Dale and I will be doing the interior finishing, and of course Dale will do the electrical.  It will be our fall project.  We got a great deal on the fixed pane windows for the front from Restore in Albuquerque, the Habitat for Humanity store.  

Our new entry will face east.  I'm looking forward to having more room for indoor plants.  As fast as these guys are going, we may be waiting for the entry door which we had to order. 

 

Starting on the sun room...

The front of our house faces south, and we wanted to take advantage of all the potential for solar gain.  We are building a sun room addition to the front.  It should be a nice spot to spend sunny winter days.  We are usually blessed with abundant sunshine here.

We decided to go with a colored cement for the floor which we plan to seal with polyurethane.  Should be more durable than painting which is what we did with my sewing room part of the garage.  

I also finished quilting another donation quilt from Yetta. As always I'm so grateful to have friends that help with my chosen cause.  Of course getting little notes and pictures helps keep me motivated...

One more

I got one more quilt done before Monday's delivery to Dr. Kaufman.  This was Judy H.'s mystery quilt which she kindly gave to our cause.  I was able to take an even half dozen, and though there was a bit of a lull of newly diagnosed diabetic kids during the summer, Dr. K. was expecting it to pick up again.

I also made a couple of "taggies" for the boys.  I'd been saving clothing tags for some time, and I hope they'll enjoy the different textures and colors.  I backed them with flannel, and didn't use batting.
I'll be heading up to Colorado a week from Friday, and I can't wait to see what they're up to now.  I couldn't wait for my babies' milestones, but now I know how fleeting that time is, and I want to savor it with grandbabies. 

One for me

So, in between finishing a number of charity quilts, I managed to get one done for us.  After our last trip with the camper it became evident that the quilt that's been on the queen bed for a while, didn't really cover two people simultaneously. Most of the time it's not a problem because I'm frequently too warm for any covers--a definite shift from my youth.


While I was at BCI, I was able to get a new top done from a friend's borrowed BQ3 pattern.  It's a great pattern for prints that you don't want to cut up, and can showcase the fabric.  It's going to be an improvement, and the smaller quilt can be for the couch in the camper which opens up into a double bed.

The next quilt comes with a warning.  Stand back.  It's best viewed from a distance...do you have a horse you can gallop by as you look at it?  I used to be less afraid to do free motion (not a pantograph) quilting when I was newer at this.  Now I seem to prefer pantos all the time.  But I gave myself permission to just go for it on this little quilt, which I put together from orphan blocks from Chris' stash.  I suppose if I don't get more practice, I'm never going to feel confident in my ability to do anything except pantographs.  Just don't look too closely, I sure don't need to anyone to point out the imperfections...I bet I can find more than anyone else, but maybe it'll just cheer up a child's hospital stay...

Getting some quilts done

I was able to get three quilt tops done while at Bear Cabin.  I used orphan blocks from Linda H. to put together a "hockey" quilt.  Also had flannel with hockey motifs for the backing.  It's nice to be able to make some quilts that work for boys.  

I also put together a four patch with fabrics I got in February from Chris' stash.  Chris was a hostess at the AZ retreat I attend, and lost her battle with pancreatic cancer earlier this year.  It made a bright, cheery quilt.

 

I enlarged this liberated pieced center also from Chris' stash for another bright quilt.

  It's so much easier for me to get tops done when I have some orphans or pieces parts to work with.  I also bordered this panel of tropical birds for another quick quilt.

 

Quilt camp

I had a lot to do on my return home.  I had two big queen quilts to quilt for Pat.  I wanted to get them done so that I could take them with to a planned trip to Bear Cabin Inn where I was meeting up with friends from Phoenix.  

I did get them done, but not without a hiccup.  Measure twice, cut once is a lesson I keep having to learn.  I measured out lengths of backing--Pat had bought lots of homespun yardage to use for backing.  I sewed the lengths together, loaded them on the longarm frame...and I thought it looked a little short.  I place the quilt top on the backing, and it is--very short.  I had to take it off the frame and add pieces to each of three lengths.  Arrrggghh!  No pictures of the finished quilts.  I meant to do that at the retreat where we could have tall people hold up the quilts, but forgot.

Got back and quilted a top for Yetta, who had so kindly donated a number of tops for Dr. Kaufman, and also a finished quilt.  

Grandbabies!!

We finished off our vacation staying with the kids.  The boys have grown so much, and we were there to enjoy watching their first forays with solid food.

It was a wonderful visit.  We came home to clearer skies.   Fortunately, the fire near Los Alamos, was north of us and not a factor in our air quality.
 

Lava Hot Springs, ID

As far as our trip goes, we saved the best for last.  We discovered Lava Hot Springs, ID.  We camped in town at the KOA before discovering our favorite spot, Big Spring campground just north of the town of Lava Hot Springs.  It was everything we wanted...Cooler high country, early spring flowers, not too many people.

 


We spent our days just lazing around, and every evening we went to town to enjoy the huge pool and then finish off with a soak in the hotter pools.  The water was amazingly clear with no sulfur odor, and very hot.  It was one of the best hot springs we've ever been to. 

On our way to Colorado to finish our trip we went through Soda Springs, and caught their captive geyser. It was pretty spectacular.  

We also filled up a couple of bottles with their natural soda water from the spring.  Dale enjoyed it...I preferred my store bought bubbly water.  

Also happened to catch the slag pour at the Monsanto plant near there.  Probably the closest I'll get to what looks like an active volcano.  

The drive through Wyoming and Colorado was uneventful, though I have to grit my teeth and just get through Denver.  I don't enjoy going through traffic in a big rig.