Walking Among the Tall Pines (La Pine State Park, OR)

We only had a 3-night stay in the La Pine State Park.  We wish we had booked it for a couple of more days.  We had a very nice time there.  We stayed busy walking the scenic trails among tall Ponderosa Pines along two rivers:  the Deschutes and the Fall River.  The campground is filled with little critters running every where.  The cats preferred to be outdoors stalking the ground squirrels and chipmunks, but we never let them get too close.  Quite often they just had to settle for watching the little guys from the windows.  At least, they stayed entertained while we were out for our walks. 

On the Deschutes River trail, we walked through an area of a recovering burn area.  Even the burned Ponderosa gave a feeling of being grand.

Below are some photos of the Deschutes River.  The trail is a loop that circles three campgrounds and follows the river.  An easy 3 mile walk with hints of rain and earthy-aromas along the way.

This is my favorite view of the Deschutes with the mountain in the background.  This viewpoint is actually on the McGregor Trail at the viewpoint...and what a view!

That is one hairpin turn!  I used my wide-eye lens.  I kept the lens level with the horizon to keep out the distortion, but some of the closer trees are distorted.  It is the only way to get all of the river into one shot without using panorama settings.  Which would mean trying to paste the photos together.

Lots of different wild flowers blooming among the pine trees.

The next day, we walked to the Fall River.  This walk included parts of the Deschutes trail and the McGregor trail which connected to the Fall River trail.  Close to 9 miles of walking and it was worth the walk.  There were very few people on the trails.  So nice not to have loud people shouting to each other or playing music while we are trying to enjoy the silence of the woodland.  So peaceful.

Below is a photo of the Fall River's fall that is only about 10 feet tall, but has a good roar going.  

I can't get over how crystal clear the rivers are here and so blue!  Gorgeous!  I read somewhere that this river is a favorite among the fly fishermen.  I was hoping to see a few of them casting their lines...oh well, maybe another time.

One last photo of lupines growing near the river.

Red, White, and Blue Treasury
With the 4th of July coming up soon, I decided to put together a Treasury with one of my wall hangings.  I still have three left and a few Uncle Sam mug rugs as well.  I can easily make a few more treasury collections.  So many delightful ways to celebrate the 4th of July through Etsy!

Happy Trails!

Getting Ready For July (Cove Palisades SP, OR)

We are staying in Cove Palisades State Park near Madras, OR.  An interesting campground in a canyon on a peninsula surrounded by two rivers: the Deschutes River and the Crooked River.  

river splits

The road leading into this area is very narrow with loose gravel on steep slopes on both sides.  Did I mention the logging trucks?  Yea, they were sharing the narrow road along with other boaters and RVs.  Did I also mention it was a little scary at times?  Then, there's the narrow bridge...Dan had to drive down the middle of it.  There was no way we could cross with oncoming traffic.  Lucky for us, the driver across the river saw us and waited while we crossed the bridge.  She was a sweetie to wait!

Narrow bridge and road

Once we were settled, we were quite happy with our new home.  This is a popular summer weekend get-away for the locals.  The campground went from a ghost town to party central on Friday.  It was rather entertaining to watch people quickly setting up their areas.  Talk about rushing to relax!

 We hiked up the side of the canyon yesterday.  One mile and 600 feet elevation later...this was our views of snow capped mountains in the distance and of both rivers (above photos).

 We have only been in this area once before for one night and it was a long time ago.  So, we plan to do some exploring of eastern Oregon for the next month.

Monday, we will move to LaPine, OR just south of Bend.

Hitch wore himself out running from tree to tree and chasing very brave lizards.  He wore me out trying to keep up with him.  I'm a little worried that he is re-energizing for his next outdoor visit....I should rename him - Solar Kat.

Sunshine on my belly.

On The Cutting Board

I finished four 4th of July wall hangings designed by Nancy Halvorsen for my Etsy shop.  This is the first time I have set a goal for myself.  Not only did I meet my goal, I finished and listed two days ahead of my due date!  I'm going to give that goal setting a try again for my next set of Etsy projects.

SOLD!

"Land That I Love"  sold the next day!  Thank you!  I hope to sell the other three before July.

9x9 Let Freedom Ring

I'm making some smaller wall hangings as well.  They were a lot of fun to make, so I might try making some mini wall hangings soon.

9.5x7.5

I did a little tea-dye staining on the backgrounds of the two small wall hangings.  I thought making the primitives look a little aged would add a little more character to them.

9.5x7.5

Happy Quilting!

Behind But Not Forgotten (Crescent Bar, WA)

I'm a day behind on posting.  The last two days have been a bear of a day with not much time to sit and think about what I was going to post.  We traveled on Friday.  A short, but very windy trip that left us tired when we arrived in Crescent Bar, WA.  We both went to bed early last night.

Before we left Spokane, we spent one day sitting in a waiting room while our motorhome had some work done on it.  And I mean 'one' full work day from 7 a.m. to after 4 p.m..  My behind can tell you all about the sitting. I did not bring my computer to work on my pending blog post.  Yet, the day was not wasted....I finished the embroidery on this project.  It took 5 hours to complete.  

Except for short walking breaks and lunch, I kept at this just to see how much time it would take to finish.  I actually thought the motorhome would be done long before the embroidery.  Boy, was I wrong!  It is rather nice to know how long it takes me to do this part.  Of course, I still have no idea how long it takes me to collect the fabric, cut and fuse pieces, or to finish it with quilting.  I'm sure it takes me several work days.  But since I enjoy making and don't consider them work, I have no plans to finish timing myself.

Walk This Way

Here's where Dan and I have been spending a lot of our time for the last few weeks.  Fairchild A.F.B. has a very nice running/walking track near their fitness center.  Don't let the photos of empty tracks fool you.  That place is busy no matter what the weather or time of day.

The track has a soft rubber surface that makes it very easy to walk more miles without feeling the mileage.  All the green grass with the hill in the middle is visually appealing and has my mind just a-wandering while we walk.

I like the postpile rocks at the top of the hill.  It has the mysterious European look to it.

The walk up the hill gave us a lovely view of the field and the surrounding area.

According to FitBit, the walk up the hill completes two flights of stairs.  We go up and down...up and down...
Well, that's it for today.  I need to get to work on my last project so I can get it listed real soon.

Happy Trails!

Cats and Fabrics, Who Can Ask For More? (Spokane, WA)

It has been a slow week for outings and photos.  I did get one good one of Max and Dusty.  Max loves to cuddle with anyone that sits still long enough for him to sneak up on them.  Apparently, he wasn't very sneaky.  Dusty woke up and decided to give Max a bath.  

Max and Dusty

That's when I showed up with the camera...of course, he stopped bathing Max and actually posed for me.  That doesn't happen very often for me.  They usually scatter as soon as they see me with the camera.  Uh oh!  She's got the camera...Run!!

On The Cutting Board

Spokane's weather:  cold winds, overcast, and a little bit of rain.  

My weather:  90 percent chance of heat from the iron with many hours of digging for that one piece of fabric, extreme project planning that will keep me going all day long.   WARNING!  Do not expect to see the fabric piles to fade away by evening.

2 snowmen and a Welcome Cat

I can see on the horizon many projects ready for embroidery and embellishments...

I love Laurel Burch's material

Snow day!

Tomorrow's forecast:  extreme chance of great satisfaction of getting many wall hangings ready for sewing.

Made in U.S.A. Minis

sigh!......Happy Quilting!

Recycling Feathered Friends (Spokane, WA)

There is a tall tree right outside our motorhome's door with a nest that looks like it is made of fuzzy feathers.  For the past week, the Western Kingbird couple has been building the nest.  They have been quite entertaining while I am sitting outside with the cats.  

Western Kingbird

 Squirrels find out the hard way that the birds do not want any visitors in their tree.  I have seen them chase two squirrels away and I'm pretty sure there are no eggs yet since they are still working on perfecting their little nest.

Oh, and speaking of the nest...it is made of lint from the dryer's vent!  I found a piece of lint on the ground under the nest and thought...maybe I should get a closer look at that nest.  Sure enough!  It is lint.  This baby bird is going to have one safe and cozy nest to grow up in.

I read this quote online a while back.  I liked what she said and decided to keep it.  I just found it again in my documents.  I tried the link and it is no longer available so I will just share what I saved that day.

Birds are important because they keep systems in balance: they pollinate plants, disperse seeds, scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back into the earth. But they also feed our spirits, marking for us the passage of the seasons, moving us to create art and poetry, inspiring us to flight and reminding us that we are not only on, but of, this earth. ~ Melanie Driscoll, Director of bird conservation for the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Flyway

On The Cutting Board
Whoo Hoo! The "Let Freedom Ring" wall hanging sold within 24 hours!  Thank you!!!

So, I decided I wasn't quite done putting together the quilt kits.  I dragged out all my material and put together a bunch of wall hangings. I have four 4th of the July wall hangings by Nancy Halvorsen and one tea party theme by Urban Threads. Urban Threads has unique designs in machine and hand embroidery patterns. I have ordered a few and have way too many favorites!

I slipped in the snowball/penguin quilt too.  I just love the penguin material!

There is still time to vote at the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I want to thank my friends and family for voting for me.  Much appreciated! 

Okay, back to the piles of fabrics and making more wall hangings.....or mug rugs....oh, and I have to cut some more fabric from my scrap bags......

Happy Quilting!

RED Cars, WHITE Clouds, & BLUE Sky (Blaine, WA)

How was everyone's 4th of July celebration?  Lots of eating, visiting, and viewing fireworks?

Not a rain cloud in the sky!

Us?  Well, the rain stopped and the sun came out!  Talk about good timing!  We went to Blaine to see the street festival and the classic car show.  We were not expecting it to be so busy!  Wow, where did all of the people come from?   The classic car show was spread out over quite a few blocks so it was easy to view most of the cars.

Classic Car Show

It wasn't so easy to view the vendors.  The area was so packed with people that we gave up on seeing what was good to eat or for sale.

I managed to get a couple of candid shots of people enjoying their day...

Cute!  Eagle kissing? the young lady...

A young patriot

Even the dogs were looking patriotic!

We were too tired to go watch fireworks and I really regret not going down to the bay.  Between the commercial fireworks and home-bought fireworks, it sounded like quite a joyful celebration...that went on until after midnight.  I finally fell asleep around 1 pm surrounded by two scared cats.  Poor guys did not know what to think of all that booming.  Not to worry - they are back to their old selves - begging to go outside, getting into things, and the list goes on....

Me?  I plan to go to bed early again tonight.   yawn!

On the Cutting Board

I finished the last of the sashing on Vi's quilt.  Oh, I can hear your thoughts...what?  She's still working on that quilt?  Yep, shameful.  I know!  I don't know why I am having such a hard time finishing this quilt.  Maybe, part of the reason is the large areas of sashing and borders.  Or maybe, it is all the other distractions that I keep creating for myself.  Oh well, there's no one reason, but I do plan to keep working on the quilt until it is done.

Now, I'm faced with how to mark the floral border.  I have always struggled with this part of quilting - how to transfer a pattern to a top for quilting.  Since I am quilting by hand in a hoop, I cannot use chalk.  I usually use fabric marking pens, but I need to mark as I quilt so there is no marking ahead of time.

I decided to use a simple design for the floral border since it is already very busy and my poor eyes will get quite a workout.  An easy basket weave came to mind and I drew it out on paper.  I thought of using painter's blue tape, but that means constantly measuring and re-adjusting the tape.  I saw this Mesh Transfer sheet by Clover and decided to give it a try.

To transfer the pattern from paper to the mesh sheet, I used a permanent marker.  I was hoping to use an easy-eraser marker, but the marks were smearing when I tried to mark the quilt.

I only marked a small area of this mesh with hopes of using it again for a different quilt.  Although, I might stick to simple designs and stitching in the ditch with echoing as a filler from now on!

Anyway, I positioned the mesh onto the border without removing the quilt from my hoop.  I was a little worried about the ink making it through the tiny mesh to the fabric and being able to see the markings as well.

After several tries with different fabric markers, I found this blue one worked the best because of its softer tip.  Since the markings are a little messy, I have been going over them again using just a ruler and the pen.  It is double the work, but at least I don't have to measure each time I need to mark a new section.

Anyone have any suggestions?  I would love to hear them because this has always been a dilemma for me!

Happy Quilting!

King's 11/22/63

It's been awhile since I read one of Stephen King's books.    Maybe I should have started with another one of his books.  This one sounded more interesting and different with the idea of a Time Traveler going back to save JFK.  There is the question of the "butterfly effect" with such a major change to the past - what would it do to the future?  I was very curious to see how Stephen King would resolve this question.

I forgot how much King is into detail.  He did an amazing amount of detail into Lee Harvey Oswald's domestic life.  There were times I wasn't sure I would finish listening to this book which is 30+ hours long.  I was very young at the time Oswald shot JFK.  I have never had much interest in Oswald, but I have to admit this story did make me a little curious about Oswald's wife and kids after his death.  I found myself doing some quick research online just to satisfy my curiosity.

Back to the story.....Jake is introduced to a "hole" in time that takes him back every time to 1958.   Changes and the butterfly effect are noticeable when he returns to his time in the future.  Each time he walks through the "hole" to 1958, it resets history back to it original setting.  Everything he changed on his last trip is erased....or is it?  There are hints along the way that all is not back to normal.

It turns out the story is not about saving JFK.  It is the reason for traveling back through time and to live in the past for the next five years.  I thought the best part was Jake's visit to Derry, Maine.  If you are a King fan, you know Derry, Maine.  A place I would never want to live, but love to read about.  Some old characters also show up and I found myself thinking that I remember them!  It was like old creepy home week.

Along the way, Jake  finds he likes living in the past and he falls in love.  Instead of one filled with horror or supernatural qualities, this one is a science-fiction romance.

On The Cutting Board

I did a little cutting last night.  I cut out 1 1/2 Uncle Sams and 2 more Rabbits.  I am not sure I like all my fabric choices so I might change some of the smaller pieces out before I iron them together.  I thought I would make Uncle Sam's hat rim a dark gold so it would stand out from the background.  Do you think that looks strange?  Any suggestions for a different color?

We turned our office keys over to the new volunteers yesterday.  I have my fingers crossed for free time to get some tops quilted and more mug rugs done!

Spring Has Sprung!

Mexican Poppies