Trip to Washington

We drove up to Washington in May, to see our son, his wife and our new grandson.

We went via a different route up this time, so it would not seem totally like 'Groundhog Day'.

One of the side trips we went on was to Lassen Volcanic Park. It was too early for the park to be open since there was still a large amount of snow. But we got to see the first lake. 

It was pretty cold and rainy! We decided we really needed to get new windshield wipers, so we stopped at the nearest WalMart. And were we ever glad we did - most of the next couple of days it was either raining or spitting. We drove under a rainbow!

We saw lots of cool scenery.

and we finally got to meet the little man!

Son and his family live in a house with this view out their front window:

Isn't that the most gorgeous view? I adore the lilac bush...and the color combination is so pleasant.

Heading back home we saw some more interesting scenery - the apple trees and pear trees were in bloom

Did not find what kind of trees these were but loved the stand:

There were vineyards

and mountains

When the kids were little we went on a trip up to Washington and one of the amazing sights we saw were these colorful trucks by the side of the road. I always wanted to get a picture of that sight, but when we came back from that trip, it was dark out. I kind of remembered where it was - Black Butte, but wasn't really sure. When we saw the sign for Black Butte I got my camera ready and lo and behold...there they were! This was my chance to get my shot, and I think it turned out great!

From the internet, these are water tanker trucks for fire fighting that go all over the West. The guy delights in painting each new truck a different color.

Winding Ways Blocks

One of the things I picked up at Retreat was a project bag with several hand pieced winding ways blocks, already cut out pieces for several more blocks and the templates. I am having a blast sewing them up.

I made up kits of enough pieces to make a block. They are in my Go bag.

I had to cut a few more fabrics to make full block sets. Had a few left over. They were sitting on my ironing table. So I played with them. And sewed them up into this:

What is it, you say? I don't know! It could be on the label when I am done,

Bloomin' Bowl

Bloomin' Bowl

The working title of the bowl of fruit and flowers... not sure if that is it's final name, but I like this one better than the others.

The applique is done. I have some embroidery to do and some more accents with Inktense pencils.

Then I have to think about how to quilt it. Its not a huge wall hanging, so it likely will be done by hand.

This is been a long project!

20th Anniversary, Valley of the Sun Retreat

This was the 20th anniversary of the Arizona Valley of the Sun Retreat!

G drove me to Arizona so I could take Mama's Bernina - a 930 Record. I learned how to change the bobbin, how to thread the machine and sewed a lot. By time the Retreat ended, I was good friends with Nina.

It was held in a different hotel this year - last year was also not in the normal quilting retreat location. The old retreat location has been closed and even Google Maps does not indicate there is even a hotel at its old address. No one can tell us if its being renovated or if its going to be torn down. It was a perfect spot for us though!!

This hotel, the retreat room is much smaller. So we had two rooms, one for the sewing machines and one for the cutting mats and ironing boards.

Back to Blogging

Its been a long time since I posted anything. 

It was a long, painful slog thru Mama and Daddy's estate but its mostly finished now.

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I just had one of those 'when you are looking for something else and find something that you knew you had and have been looking for for a lonnnngggg time' events just a few minutes ago...

I was looking for a gift box for a present. Did not find the right size box. But I did find my collection of Invisfil bobbins and threads that I have been looking for for over a year! One of my sewing buddies and I bought two each of the 6 spool collections (they were pretty pricey even when we bought them a number of years ago.) Two boxes are pastels, two boxes are jewel tones. She took all of them and ran bobbins off each one...so each of us have half a spool of the ones we bought and a bobbin of the ones we didn't. Cannot believe where they were...how does that happen?!! Had my Sewline glue pen and my Bohin fabric pencils in there too. I must have been doing some applique project and put all the tools in the bag, then stuffed the bag in my gift bag storage. What possessed me to put it there, we will never know.

Cannot tell you how many times I went thru all my project bags and all the nooks and crannies in my sewing room, looking for them.