Home From the Mountains

Just returned from Colorado! DH and I try to make it to the mountains once a year and they never disappoint! I have had a fascination with the Rockies since my teen-aged days. I think it is because they are so permanent, so spiritual, so so gorgeous! I was able to hit several quilt shops too--always a soul-lifting experience!! I have to admit I did purchase a "few" pieces of fabric, couple of patterns, and some miscellaneous items. These are my "souvenirs" in place of cedar boxes and t-shirts!!! The second photo is a fabric I found in a shop in Colorado Springs. It had been made up into a bag. So darn cute! The shop was out of the black background print of it and the pattern and the kits. :( However, the clerk thought I might be able to find the pattern on their website, which I will try to do. It has funny quilters with funny sayings! I wish I had bought more! Off to catch up on laundry, finish unpacking, and --of course--pet two very love-starved cats!

Libertyville Comes Home

Libertyville was a BOM in the Kansas City Star last year. It was designed by Terry Thompson. It is a mix of pieced and applique blocks. It was so-o-o much fun to work on and I was antsy each month waiting for the new installment to come! I love Terry's designs. They always have an authenticity about them. She and Barbara Brackman are from the Midwest and have contributed a great deal to my knowledge about antique and historical quilts. I finished the top several months ago and sent it to the longarmer in February. Due to her illness and hospitalization, I just got it back today. I had forgotten some of the details about it. I know that I made the binding at the same time I finished the top, but darned if I can find it!!! Oh well, I won't get it bound till we get back from Colorado next week anyway! I DO know where the label is! Rocky approves; Natasha (on the hearth) is still considering... I am trying to upload closeups of the corner blocks but Blogger is playing hard to get. Well, I'll try again later...

Popping In

Blogger is NOT playing nice this morning!!! I don't have a quilty pic to upload but was going to put up a couple of Adorable Kitty pictures. But no, Blogger says "Done" when it really means "Not Going to Happen." So I will try again at a later time. Meanwhile, I am broken out in red splotchy/hivey type things. I have an appointment with an allergist Monday morning at 8:45. I am really hoping for some resolution to this problem!!! Hopefully he can at least help me temporarily as we leave Tuesday at the crack of 6 AM for Colorado!!! Then when I return, I am sure we will start the dreaded testing. However, I am actually looking forward to that---really want to get to the bottom of this ongoing problem.

Enough whining (well, for now anyway LOL). My quilting activities the last couple of days have been limited to ordering from Connecting Threads (a package of those Karen Kay Buckley circle/washer-looking things for applique, and a stencil burner pen for cutting out machine embroidered designs for applique), and printing off quilt patterns from the internet. Not comfortable enough in my own skin (pardon the bad pun) to focus on quilting. Till later.

It's Official.....

...I'm not as young as I used to be! I had such a fantastic time with family yesterday, but boy, did it wear me out!! The cleaning, the cooking, the yardwork..but it was so-o-o worth it. We had the traditional, all-American menu: BBQ beef and BBQ chicken, potato salad, baked beans, etc. etc. etc. Desserts o'plenty. After we gorged ourselves to an embarrassing state, we watched neighborhood fireworks till almost 11 PM--way past my bedtime, LOL! But I do so love family gatherings. The postcards pictured are from an online swap. The beach scene is one I sent to a quilter in North Carolina. The yummy strawberry basket one came to me from Nebraska. Such fun! We'll do another one in July.
These three stitchery photos are from my current "Go To" project (one I keep ready to grab and go) called Journey Of the Ark. It is from a kit I mentioned a few posts back. I saw the finished quilt in a local quilt shop and really liked it. There will be nine blocks in all, stitched in olive DMC 934 floss. Then each block is trimmed and framed in a light olive print. The sashing and borders are in a delightful Whimsicals dark olive and barn red floral with small barn red Ohio star cornerstones. I love mindless work like this embroidery. Once I had the patterns all transferred to the background, it was just sit and stitch!! My only problem is... saving it for car time or dentist office time or mini-group time!!! I just want to stitch on it all the time! I think I will need to re-visit the quilt shop where I bought the kit and take a look at how it was quilted. Hope everyone had a little time to enjoy and appreciate their families over the Fourth. Now it's back to the ole' grindstone!

Whirlwind Friday

Yesterday was quite a whirlwind day. Drove to Omaha (3 hour drive up, 4 hour drive back--will explain shortly!!) to celebrate Son #1's birthday and spend a few hours with him. Pleasant visit, even though hurried. The reason the drive back to KC took a little longer? Yep, two quilt shop stops. DH is an angel about that--especially if the shops have "husband benches". I had just purchased a few days back the 2006-2008 Quilters Travel Companion. I love having this book in the car on trips. Without it, I would never have known about the delightful shops in Plattsmouth and Syracuse, Nebraska! I tried to behave (especially now that I am "officially" a Stash Quilter!!!) But I do love to see what is new in the quilting world. I did "need" this little array of tealies! And I found a couple of wonderful Judie Rothermel repros to add to a color grouping I have in my stash. I also got a bit of stitching done in the car on my current "Go To" project. It is a quilt with stitchery blocks (redwork style, but olive DMC 934 floss) done on a wonderful parchment tone background (Michael Miller Fabrics, "Krystal"). I don't usually buy kits but this particular quilt was a shop model in a local quilt shop and I could not resist it. It is called Journey of the Ark and has 9 blocks with light green and olive prints for sashings and little Sawtooth Stars in a barn red for cornerstones. Each block contains two pairs of animals in a very primitive style. I am using 3 strands of floss to give it an even more folk-arty look. I love to have an embroidery project for wait times and TV times, etc. Well, darn it, Blogger is not letting me post that photo but will do so in the future. Very pretty--but hot--day in KC today. I need to do some backyard tidying in prep for Fourth of July company. Stay cool, y'all.