On Ringo Lake Finish

It is finished!

While I am really pleased with the outcome,

the process was not that enjoyable at times.

I'm really glad "On Ringo Lake" is checked off of my list

and will be gracing a bed sometime soon.

It's a rainy, dreary day here,

so indoor photos will have to do.

This color combination is beautiful,

especially since turquoise is one of my favorite colors.

 

I'm not sure where this one will end up,

but it will keep someone warm this winter.

 

On Ringo Lake

The Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt for 2017.

 

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

Almost Finished Mystery Quilt

There was a time earlier this year

when I thought this Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt

would never get finished.

I had made a mistake in measuring the borders

and had to rip both borders off,

find the error and fix it.

It took me months to get myself in the mood

to spend several hours with my seam ripper.

I ripped and ripped,

the borders were fixed

and I picked it up from my long arm quilter today.

Woohoo!!

I really like the colors in this quilt,

but the design was just too busy for me.

Those chevron blocks were not my favorite to make,

so I was determined to use them.

 

It's ready for binding and then can be checked off of my list.

 

It was quilted with a modern feather design and aqua thread.

 

The backing is one of my favorites...

Grunge spots!

The binding may not be done for a while,

but it will be here waiting for me.

Happy Quilting!

Being Awed By Beautiful Sights

For the last couple of weeks

my husband, Doodlebug, middle brother, his wife and I

took our mom on a trip to a part of the country none of us

had ever visited.

Seeing this part of the country had been on her bucket list

for years and she was thrilled to finally see it.

What a trip it was!

We started in Salt Lake City, Utah

and visited the Great Salt Lake.

It was somewhere my mom had wanted to see,

so we headed to Antelope Island State Park.

It did not disappoint!

The water level recedes in the summer months

and as the snow melts and rains fall,

it fills back up. You can see how much the lake has receded here.

 

The colors were so different from what we see on the East Coast.

So were the animals!

 

This antelope ran along side the car for a bit.

 

We saw a lot of bison on the island.

This was a large herd on the dry lake bed.

The next day we drove from Salt Lake City, UT

to Jackson, Wy.

We took a 13 hour tour of Yellowstone

and could not get over the beauty in this park.

 

 Mt. Moran in the Teton Mountains just after sunrise.

The reflections in the water were just gorgeous.

It's hazy from all of the wildfires in the north west,

but the colors were still beautiful.

 

This canyon is what gave Yellowstone it's name.

The fur trappers came up the canyon and saw the 

yellow stone. These waterfalls, the Lower Yellowstone Falls,

are the tallest in the park.

 

The number of different geothermal and hydrothermal events in the park

were fascinating.  Here is a large pot of boiling mud.

It gurgled and bubbled and popped and stunk!

 

This is Clepsydra Geyser.

There were several areas spouting and spewing water...

very, very hot water... like 170 degrees!

 

This geothermal event is called Grand Prismatic Spring.

The different colors are from the different bacteria living in the spring.

Again, the water is very hot.

We were able to see Old Faithful, 

but arrived just after it started spewing.

It was impressive none the less.

The one disappointment was we didn't' see a lot of wildlife. 

This elk did not like us stopping and taking his picture at all.

Back to the Teton Mountains.

Those are glaciers at the top.

 

We were at Jenny Lake at the base of the Tetons at sunset and

it was gorgeous.

So quiet and peaceful.

 One day in Jackson,

We took a gondola up to the top of one of the ski mountains.

We were 10,450 feet up the mountain.

The ski runs were unbelievable. 

I'm not a skier,

but why anyone would want to go down a mountain like that

on skis is beyond me.  :)

It was very hazy, but this is the Snake River valley.

 

The tallest peak is the Grand Teton Peak.

We moved on from Jackson and headed east in Wyoming.

The tour will continue later.

I was able to visit a cute little quilt shop in Salt Lake City

and brought a couple of little treasures home with me.

To be continued....

Happy Day!

Pilot Stocking Front Finish

My son in law is an Air Force Pilot.

When I saw this new stocking kit from

Merry Stockings

you know I had to buy it!

(No affiliation.)

 

When I ordered this kit, I thought it was a Bucilla kit,

which I have made a number of,

but it was a kit by Merry Stockings.

 

It was so easy to make from their kit!

The directions were clear and concise,

the felt was stamped clearly

and was nice felt.

 

I would definitely make another one of these kits.

 

There are a couple of things I do differently when making these stockings.

Instead of using the polyfil to stuff the various pieces,

I use batting scraps.

I, also, do not use the felt piece for the backing.

I will make a quilted stocking and will stitch this front to the stocking.

This way it is much sturdier and can actually be used as a stocking.

When I make the quilted stocking, I'll take photos to share.

I will see if I can find some cute pilot or plane fabric for the stocking

and get this one in the finish pile.

Happy Quilting!

Paper Pieced Star Finish

After having this star kit in my cabinet for at least 2 years,

it is finally made.

The kit called for the four stars to be placemats,

but 12" placemats are too small.

My original plan was to make the stars into a baby quilt,

but making four of these was more than enough!

It became a table runner.

This is a large table runner,

or could be a bed runner if one was so inclined.

It still amazes me how perfectly the border fabric goes with the stars.

I had to piece the backing and used the fat quarters

from the kit that were supposed to be the placemat backings.

For the binding, I used the extra fabric along the edge

and left the solids in place.

It adds a little pop of color along the edges.

This is ready to place on my table,

since my husband told me I can't give this one away.

:)

**Edit**
I'm linking to Design Wall Monday.

Happy Quilting!

Star Border Fabric Found

After I finished piecing the star blocks

and decided to make them into a table runner,

I knew it would be difficult to find a border fabric that would work.

Solids would be too drab,

stripes too geometric,

florals too much of a contrast, etc.

I wandered around the quilt shop,

holding the piece up in front of bolts of fabric

and moved from fabric to fabric.

Then, one of the wonderful employees came up to me

carrying this bolt of fabric.

I loved it!

It had all of the colors and then some.

It had some geometric designs to it,

but plenty of curves to soften the look.

It didn't overwhelm the stars,

but wasn't dominated by the stars, either.

And I loved the fabric in general.

SOLD!

This clam shell fabric is gorgeous.

 I might have to go back and buy more!

 (This photo is huge, but it really shows the fabric nicely.)

The borders are in place and the backing is made.

Now I need to decide on the quilting design.

 Any suggestions?

My husband came into my hidey hole

and said this one is staying here...
I'm not to give this one away.

He loves it,

which is high praise coming from him!

I have wanted to make a clam shell quilt for a long time.

This fabric is really inspiring me to do it sooner

rather than later.

I'm doing a late link to Design Wall Monday.

Happy Quilting!

Paper Piecing Part Finished

The other night,

while listening to a book on my iPad,

I removed the papers from the back of the

Paper pieced stars.

Three Hours.

That's how long it took.

And this is why I don't enjoy paper piecing.

I do have to say, though...

The stars are precise and look pretty cool.

It was worth the effort.

 I decided to make a runner with these stars,

so framed them in a navy blue solid

with fuchsia corner stones. 

I'm going to look for a fabric with most of the colors

for a wider border.

 

   

There is no way I would have been able to

sew those thin pieces of fabric so precisely

without paper piecing.

The frustration and irritation fades

as I look at the final product. 

:)

Another project out of my cabinet and almost finished.

Happy Quilting!

Paper Pieceing Progress

These last few days I've been plugging away

on my paper piecing project,

determined to finish it and not put it in a box.

One thing with paper piecing...

it's very easy to sew for 5 or 10 minutes and accomplish something.

The sections are all pieced and ready to sew into stars.

It's a very tedious process,

but does give such preciseness to the design.

 

I do really like the bright colors used in this kit.

These sections will be sewn together and then the 

dreaded part begins.

Tearing away the paper.

I think this is why I dislike paper piecing...

it's a mess taking off the paper.

 

I've gotten this far, though, so I will

keep plugging away on it.

Happy Quilting!

(Or tearing paper!)

Paper Piecing

Paper piecing is not something I am drawn to.

In fact, if I see that a pattern is paper pieced,

I stop looking at it.

For some reason, I ended up with this kit that is made of

paper pieced stars.

I know I got it on a big sale a long time ago

and maybe bought it for the fabric.

I don't remember.

Anyway, the other day I decided it was going to get made.

The patterns were copied

and the fabric was cut.

This is what the pattern looks like.

It will make four star placemats,

but I'm going to make something else.

Once the stars are finished, I'll decide if it's going to be

a wall hanging or a baby quilt.

The colors of the fabrics are bright and fun. 

One thing I don't like about paper piecing

is trying to get the fabric lined up to stitch the next piece in place.

Either I haven't left enough for the seam

or I have too much and the fabric won't cover the space.

Now I have this....

I found this light pad at a quilt show a while ago and

hadn't had a reason to use it yet.

It's very thin and lightweight, with LED lighting.

You can get a glass mat, a self-healing cutting mat and

a regular mat to go over the box, so you can work right on it.

This makes placing the next fabric piece so much easier!

(No affiliation at all.)

The sewing and trimming has begun.

It's a slow process,

but I'm listening to an audio book while I sew.

(I just started doing this about a month ago.

Why did it take me so long??!!)

 

This is what I've done so far.

I really like the precision of paper piecing,

but I don't like the messy look during the process.

It does make me slow down,

which isn't a bad thing.

Hopefully these stars will be done soon

and I will have decided what to make with them.

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!