Not Just Quilt Talk (Nacogdoches, TX)

I have finished all of the appliqué blocks.  Here are close-ups of the ones I added to make twelve blocks.  I tried to keep them close to the Native Flair design.

Kokopeli

Roadrunner

Gecko

Hummingbird

I already showed you my Quail in this previous post, so here's the last one of an Eagle from Native Flair.

Below is the layout I came up with on EQ7.  The empty spaces will be filled with the appliqué blocks.  I also finished the darker alternate blocks with teal, but I still have six more of the lighter blocks with aqua to sew together.

Dark blocks in corners and center.  The rest are lighter.

Below is the layout of the appliqué.  I am anxious to see how this is going to look when the top is done.  It'll be at least three weeks before I start my first quilt-as-you-go since I want to finish the last of the pieced blocks.

There's another reason why I am delaying it for three weeks.  We moved out of our motorhome this morning for fiberglass and paint repairs.  Estimated time for moving back into our home:  3 weeks.  In the meantime, we were offered by the Xtreme Paint & Graphics to move into their efficiency apartment.  We started moving in last night and moved the cats into their temporary home this morning.

Would you like a tour?  Dusty is showing off the spacious kitchen with plenty of room for him to eat without someone stepping on his tail.

Dusty also wants to point out that the humans have their own eating area and can reach the fridge without getting up.

Hitch was happy to test out the bed after exploring the bathroom.

But, he would not leave the bed to show us the laundry/closet area.  According to him, he can see it quite well from where he is sitting.

And here's our living room...wait where's Max?  

Oh, there he is!  He says he is not coming out until we leave.  Hmmm, I hope he changes his mind because he is in for a long wait.

Yea, I'm missing our home too.  Hopefully, the work will not take as long as three weeks, but if it does, I have plenty of hand sewing to keep me entertained and cats to keep calm.

Happy Quilting!

Sitting On A Corner (Bridgeport, TX)

That song was stuck in my head all day after our visit to Winslow, AZ.  

I love the Eagles so, I had to listen to "Take It Easy" a couple of times after we got home on my iPod.

I tried to get a photo of the Rte. 66 symbol in the center of the crossroads, but I couldn't angle the lens to include the building and statues.  I should have brought my wide lens with me.  One of those moments of "should of, could of".

The corner was having a slow day. There were less than 20 visitors while we were taking photos. We enjoyed visiting the corner, doing a little shopping, and finding a nice place to eat.  We ate at the Sipp Shoppe across the street while watching people doing their version of standing on the corner.  Plenty of posing going on! 😄

We stayed a couple of nights in our favorite state park - Homolovi.  We spent the afternoon walking a few of the trails.

Kiva

It's hard to imagine from these ruins that there used to be a Pueblo built with more than 1,200 rooms.

Homolovi II Pueblo

Pottery sherds are everywhere.  People have gathered up loose pieces to set on rocks for others to view.  I did not pick up any but I did spend quite a bit of time looking at the ground near the trail trying to identify the small pieces of pottery from the rocks.

The Hopi ancestors certainly knew how to pick a home with a view. 

And this is why we enjoy staying here.  Quiet, beautiful and untouched by man as far as the eyes can see.  Okay, I can see the highway, but it is far enough away to mute the sounds.  At night, you can see the stars.  Usually, we get spectacular sunsets, but smoke from the wildfires was blocking out the sun.  But....I did not leave disappointed!

I woke up just after 4 am on our first morning in Homolovi.

Giving up on sleeping longer, I decided I might as well grab my camera and watch the sun come up.  Boy, was I ever surprised by this outstanding sunrise.  I was told this looks similar to the Arizona state flag.

Okay, a couple of pictures of the cats.  Dusty (grey) has never been a cuddler with us or with the other cats.  He'll let Max sleep with him for short periods of time before he moves away, but I think he has finally decided that he doesn't mind cuddling with Max.

Or maybe Max is just too stubborn to give up on Dusty.  He looks pretty determined, doesn't he?

By the way, we are in (Bridgeport, TX).  This is to let you know where we are at the moment.  Not where the photos were taken.

On The Cutting Board

I'm making some progress on my quilt.  The second block that I decided to add to the Native Flair quilt is Kokopeli.  It took a couple of different designs to make him a little wider in the middle in order to add embellishments from the Native Flair designs.

This looks like it will work without overwhelming Kokopeli.

I still have a long way to go.  Back to sewing!
Happy Quilting!

Still Grand (Bridgeport, TX)

One of the stops on our travels to Texas was to visit the Grand Canyon.  This is our third visit here and I still find the views very Grand.  

I took a lot of photos.  I wanted to give you the full effect so no collages this time.  The colors and textures are amazing.

We walked the South Rim from the Visitors Center to the Kolb Studio.  Along the trail, there were pennies and years set in the path telling visitors how many years they have walked between each one.

Also, along the path were samples of different rocks with nameplates for visitors to touch.

Across the canyon and to the left, you can see smoke rising from two wildfires.  I can't get over how far I can see.  So clear with such brilliant colors.  Mother Nature at her best.

Looking down... a long, long way down, I wanted to know just how deep is the canyon.  It is 1.154 miles or 1,857 meters deep just in case you wanted to know.😉

Periodically, we would get a peek of the Colorado River.

I found looking straight down with a railing had a slight dizzy effect.  The trail doesn't get close to the cliff if there are no railings. Which is good for someone like me that trips over her own feet.  

We were surprised to see so many people standing close to the edge of the cliffs.   They are more surefooted than I am. 

Not as close to the edge as some people

Below, one guy on the left (red) was waving his arms and jumping up & down. ME - 😨

We finally made it to the Village.  Stopping for lunch, I had a delicious veggie wrap with southwest flavor at the Harvey House Café inside the Bright Angel Lodge.  Decent prices with fast and friendly service.  

Below is the walking trail to the bottom.  It looks like an interesting walk, but I would prefer a ride in a helicopter to the bottom or even take a raft trip down the Colorado River than to hike up and down this trail.

This ground squirrel was happy to show me the proper way to take a dirt bath.  He certainly did not mind posing for my photos.  

Last photo of our 'Grand' tour!  We stopped in Valle on Hwy 64 to check out this Western scene at a gas station.

On The Cutting Board

I'm working on my next Native Flair block and I will have photos for the next post.  For now, I want to share some new fabric to celebrate Día de Muertos.  While in Albuquerque, my friend took me to a couple of quilt shops and she pointed out this Day of the Dead fabric with cats in it.  

Of course, I had to have at least a fat-quarter ...or two.  It was too cute to pass up!  Now, I have the perfect fabric for this festive pattern that I have been wanting to make into a quilt.

Happy Halloween!

Part Two of Las Vegas (Albuquerque, NM)

Below are photos from the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Park.  Since I have so many photos, I placed the best ones in collages.

It took a couple of hours to drive the loop with stops and short walks on trails.  The day was perfect with blue skies and mild temperatures.

Viewed some petroglyphs on one trail that was off the regular loop.  It took us a few minutes to find the trail, but it was worth the wandering around to see them.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this remembrance quilt in the Visitors Center.  

A lot of thought and work went into the quilt.  What a beautiful tribute to Goodsprings and a wonderful way to remember your neighbors and friends.

It looks like everyone signed their own block and a few added embroidered flowers to their block.

Even the unmarked graves were remembered in this quilt.

I believe I saw Hoover Dam once many years ago as we were passing by from the highway bridge, but I have never visited or walked across the dam.  The bridge has a pedestrian viewing area.  I enjoyed the view from the center of the bridge and shot some good photos of Hoover Dam.  The rail is so tall that I had to stand on tip-toes to get the shots.  I know...I'm short on both ends.

Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

Walking out onto the dam and looking down was amazing to think this was built in 1931.  Looking up to the bridge....odd, the bridge looks a lot higher from the Dam than it did when I was standing above. 

Hoover Dam definitely left me feeling awestruck.  

The art deco throughout the dam was grand, but my favorite was the "Winged Figures of the Republic".

One last photo from an overlook of Lake Mead before we left the area.  Beautiful!

Lake Mead

Hitch was very opinionated about our leaving the FamCamp in Nellis AFB.  He tried to get out as we were setting up to leave.  He cried for at least the first hour of travel before he finally wore himself out.

I think the cat that left these paw prints might have had something to do with Hitch's unusual behavior.

Hmmm, stray cat letting us know that this is his area across our car.

On The Cutting Board

Okay, here is my first attempt to make my own block (Quail).  I did not want to design them too close to the fetish designs of the 'Native Flair', but just similar enough to where they did not stick out.  

My first attempt

Making wide enough designs so I could add swirls, arrows, or circles turned out to be quite a challenge.  The Quail wasn't as hard since they tend to look quite plump, but I could not make the feet the same native-fetish design.  To me, the Quail just did not look right, so I left both feet in the design.

Native Flair design

Okay, one down and four more to go!

Happy Quilting!