Autumn is upon us

Isn't this lovely.  It is at Lake Easton, about 17 miles east of Snoqualmie Pass (Cascade Mtns., Washington state).  This was the (one) day we had lovely sunshine and a chance to wander a bit.










This morning is what a poet once called a "Misty, moisty morning" and look at Charlotte outside my dining room window,

Isn't this terrific?  Right after I took this photo she disappeared but I notice that she is back now.

The winter cyclamen are peeking out.  So cheering.


Just waiting for the service guy to show up to replace the battery in my car, which died over the week-end while we were away!   GRRRRRR.   Happy days to you all.

AAAHHHHHHH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New border added and it lays flat.  Hurrah!  As this is entirely from the stash I'm trying to find something for the next 6 inch border.  Not sure that either of these "cut it".  What do you think?

Off for one of the last camping trips of the year.  Sure hope the weatherman has it right.  While we don't get much snow, it gets a bit too chilly to be out. 

Oooopps

Oh I just hate it when I do this (which fortunately isn't too often).  I put the first border on the purple stars and apparently pulled somehow because the border was all wobbly.  I hung it up on my bifold doors (as I usually do) and it was not at all flat.  Alas!

So I have 3 of the 4 borders off and finishing up the last one.  Then to re-measure and start again.  Sigh.

One UFO on its way to completion

Hurrah - one more that can come OFF the list of things still undone.  I'm quite happy with this one. 

Sewing and a Sandy Adventure (photos)

Life is so interesting - I've been working on the stars made from the 'found' purple strips. I really like it,










My granddaughter made me a little wall hanging. (I'll back it and find a good spot to hang it)











Kes came to stay for a few days while her "mama" was out of town,

(She's almost 14 y.o. A charming ole girl.)







And today we went to the World Championship of Sand Sculpting - with 52 sculptures done by people representing 17 nations. It was truly amazing,
This is how it all begins:










And consider the fact that we had a really hard rain storm overnight and these were not covered. We did a lot of looking and just shaking our heads in astonishment.

What a fun day! More photos

Doin' the Puyallup (Fair)

(Photos)
It's that time of the year to wander south to the Western Washington Fair - always a fun adventure. The day always begins with a stop at the Scone booth. This was Senior Day - can you believe it, the lady asked me if I was really a senior? Did I have ID? Ha Ha! I loved that. Yes, I qualified and so that meant the coffee was free.

We spent quite a bit of time in the Showplex [at our house it is referred to as the "Slice and Dice Building"] where you see demonstrated all the various slice and dice contraptions. But the seniors got a number of freebies


As well as a coupon for a free "On Demand" movie. Not so bad.





Every year we manage to find one or two gadgets that we simply cannot live without. This year it was a hose nozzle, as well as some terrific pruners. [small commercial - these pruners are ratchet pruners made by Florian. We have another pair and they are fabulous!]









Of course the highlight of the Fair, for me, are the Quilts. Not in any particular order, here are some of my favorites,
This was silk and the image of the rose was entirely done with the quilting. Fabulous.



A prize winner.








This one won a sewing machine.




Simply exquisite machine quilting.






























I do notice a theme here - I really like colorful, traditional patterns. In fact, there were very few art quilts this year. The cycles that quilting goes through are interesting. Now it will be fascinating to see what we see at Houston. About a month and a half from now. Hmmmm.

Seeing purple

I have liked this pattern for a long time and the other day found a whole stack of purple strips. Mine were 3" but it was easy to cut them down to 2 1/2" (per the pattern) and I have quite a bit of a pale dimples fabric. So I've been busy yesterday and today with this:


A very easy pattern but I really like it when the stars work together.






We have had a houseguest for the past few days,


Our good friends are out of town until Sunday, so Miss Ariza has been hanging out with us. She is a wonderful guest and so easy to have. We do love dogs, but with all our traveling, it isn't a good plan for right now. One of these days.

You ask - I try to answer

Willemijn wanted to see the pajamas/sweats I made for my sweet GS. So here they are. Sleeves aren't hemmed yet - I don't know exactly how long to make them. Same with the elastic waist and leg hems, but. . . . . . . . . .



The fabric is semi-stretchy, very fuzzy on the inside and a cute print,










The fabric came with a fun applique - Most Valuable Bear!









And then Nana needed a label to mark which was the back,



There you have it.


Working on finishing up some UFO's. HURRAH!

Tuesday update

It is pleasant to be back into the routine of life as I knew it BTT (before the [big RV]trip). Jaunts to Costco, some grocery shopping, a little of this and a little of that.

Yesterday I just "messed" around in the sewing room. Made some sweats for GS - his favorite outfit, these days. Also played around with a purple version of half long cabin blocks. Not sure what they will lead to, but interesting.


This morning we tried the latest Artisan bread recipe. This one is called European Peasant Bread. The same basic recipe with the addition of 1/2 cup of rye flour and 1/2 cup of wheat flour. Those two really made the dough (literally) heavier, but it turned out very nicely. We even shared some with friend Ronda when she came over. YUM.









Bless her heart, she brought me a perfect belated birthday gift for my sewing/quilting room. She says that with an angel in there I may not swear. Oh dear! Now, because it is what I do, I have to think of a perfect name for her. Any suggestions? Also a very nice charm pack. Aren't I so lucky!

Time to get busy.

Just Playing

So yesterday afternoon I cut strips per Sharyn Craig's instructions in Half Log Cabin Quilts. And then at Stashbuster's (last night) got my little machine a hummin'. Voila,





These are quite easy to do and seem to work up pretty quickly. So now it's fun to 'play' with the next part,

Lots of choices about how to put these together. [Just don't ask me what I'm going to do with it. I have NO idea!] ;-) Ain't it fun?

Random photos

The big photo tour is still being arranged on the other computer, but here are a few random photos from my camera which might be interesting

Much of the western U.S. is covered with wheat - miles and miles of it. Kind of pretty.
























Arches National Park is a most fascinating place. These huge, red rock formations are hard to describe. If you look closely at the first photo in the far left opening, at the bottom, you can see some dots of color. Those are hikers (give you a sense of proportion)


This little fellow (or girl) found their way to my car mirror, in Moab, Utah. He/she stayed there for an entire day. I'm sure the metal was nice and warm although the food supply was sadly lacking, me thinks.





Storms move in quickly in the afternoon, in Colorado. In a matter of 10 minutes it started raining and the temperature dropped 20 degrees. Amazing. Then it stopped again in about half an hour.