Sea, Sand, Sun (Newport, OR)

We had a great first couple of days back in Newport.  The sun has been out with just a light breeze.  The best part - it wasn't too chilly for a walk on the beach.  

Ona Beach State Park 

We walked almost five miles yesterday and I am certainly feeling it today, but it was so nice to be outside with the sun warming our faces.  I hope we have blue skies for the next couple of days.

It is certainly nice to be on the move again even if it is back to a place we have been to several times before.  I'm looking forward to our travels to South Dakota.  It has been quite awhile since our last visit....five years to be exact.  Amazing how time flies.  In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this gorgeous weather.

On The Cutting Board

We have full power....yipee!.... so I have been working my iron extra hard.  Lots of fabric to get ready for my new projects.  So far, I have cut out about 10 new Happy Camper mug rugss.  I'm transferring patterns for embroidery now.

I finished embroidering the last block for the All Creatures Great and Small quilt.  I started cutting the fat quarters and I am finding that quite a few of my fat quarters are so crooked that I am having a problem getting the exact amount of required pieces.  According to the instructions, each quarter would have given me 8 large pieces with 12 smaller ones with very little left over.  I will need to add a ninth fat quarter to make up for the lost pieces.

Well, I need to go hunt through my stash or maybe go shop for some matching fabric.....
Happy Quilting!

Progress - Slow (Newport, OR)

Travel day tomorrow.  We are heading south to Florence, OR.  Which will probably be our last stop along the coast before moving inland to Sutherlin for the winter.

 In the meantime, we have been enjoying a few walks on the beach with a little sunshine and very little wind.  Rather a nice change of pace from all the rain we were having for most of September.

All of these photos are from Ona Beach State Park.  A great place to walk during low tide and for watching the waves crash on the rocks.  Below:  Just on the other side of the cliff is the Seal Rock State Recreation Beach area where all the sea lions and seals hang out.  It is also a great birding site.

I found my first sea glass on this beach.  I was hoping to find more, but no such luck.  I did find some interesting cone shaped shells that reminded me of little dancers' skirts.  I collected some driftwood as well.  I think I will use them for my wall hangings.

On The Cutting Board
I have to confess that I am a little disappointed in my progress.  It has been slow going on the Witch wall hanging.  Between sinus headaches from hay fever and taking Claritin which causes me to feel lethargic.....and our busy schedule of walking, taking care of cats, and traveling, the witch's progress has slowed way down.  When I have free time, I don't feel like sewing ...just goofing off on the computer.  Hopefully, I will get back on track within a couple of days.

Okay, enough whining.  Here's what I have done so far.  I added black glass beads as buttons for her shoes.  I also added beads on purple thread to give her broom a little pizzazz.

I know spiders have eight legs, but this little guy just looks better with six legs.  I'm almost done with the quilting.  I might quilt in some bats or a cat as fillers.  I have the binding all ready to sew on.  So, that just leaves making a hanger and a couple of loops.

So, with some luck I hope to have this one done by next Wednesday.  Getting it photographed and listed in time for Halloween on Etsy is another question.  I would really like to have this done and listed in time for someone to order it for Halloween, but I'm not holding my breath.
Happy Quilting!

The Order of the Day - Beach Walks (Newport, OR)

Travel day!  We are heading north up the Oregon Coast to Pacific City.  Would you believe it is warmer there?  Not by much, but I'll take a few degrees of warmth.  We spent a lot of time on the beaches here.  Walking from Ona Beach State Park to the backside of Seal Rock State Park.  I prefer the fog to the windy days.  

Seal Rocks

It really changes the way the beach looks.  I like playing Loreena McKennitt's smooth Irish music while I am walking in the fog.  It seemed to fit the mood of the beach.

We try to get to the beach while the tide is out.  The rocks are filled with all sorts of sea life.  Lots of star fishs, shell fish, and birds.  This seagull has a regular smorgasbord every day.

hmmm...where to start..

I'm slowly getting our photos uploaded to our Flickr albums.  Just click on Flickr to see our photos.

On The Cutting Board

I'm mailing out my first custom made mug rugs and starting on a new one.  I'm still learning the process of doing Custom Orders.

I have all the smaller projects open for custom orders.  Quilts will not be included in this offer.

So, I'm starting my next custom order and I'm very excited to do this one.  This is Harvey J.  Isn't he a cutie?  I can't wait to see what he will look like as a mug rug.

 My sister mentioned her love of Black Bears and would I be interested in making some Black Bear mug rugs.  I have been looking at my clipart and have a few ideas.  The problem is the bear being all black.  I'm not sure how he is going to look if I use a cream color to outline his face, tail, and paws.  I plan to give it a try just to see.

Of course, I can always do silhouettes with a tan muzzle, but I would like to add some character to the mug rugs.

Well, I need to get going.  It is a short travel day, but I have lots to do....I'm so excited, I don't know where to start!

Happy Trails!

A Walk in the Park (Florence, OR)

I'm still not done with Newport.  Before we left, we planned to walk Beaver Creek State Natural Area.  I was hoping to see a Green Heron or two, but I guess I'll have to wait for another day to see one.  This is a good birding area, but the wetland trail is seasonal and now was not a good time.  The trail was muddy and flooded.  I did manage to see a couple of birds during the short time we were there.

I saw one Cedar Waxwing sitting at the top of a pine tree.

This little guy started following me down the trail.  I must have been close to a nest, but he wasn't making a lot of noise about it just keeping his eye on me.

 At one point, he came down to eye level and just across the trail from where I was standing.  He seemed very curious...

A little disappointed that we could not walk the trail, we stopped by Ona Beach State Park and walked along the river.  There were quite a few Chickadees hopping around in the pine trees.   

Of course, trying to get a good photo of them was quite a challenge.

We spent one day driving east of Newport on Hwy 20 then southwest on Alsea Hwy 34.  We were looking for more covered bridges.  We found two: Chitwood Bridge and Harris Bridge.  We made several stops along the way to see the river and parks.

By the way, the bushes in front of the above bridge are very ripe blackberries.  We picked a lot of them.  They were so ripe that the ones in the bottom of the little baggie we put them in had turned to mush by the time we got home.  So sweet and delicious!  My fingers were dyed purple from picking them!

I'm slowly getting caught up with all my online items.  I still have a lot of emails to answer and blogs to visit, but I'm getting there.

On The Cutting Board

In between our road trips and moving, I have finished appliquéing the petals onto the lotus quilt and all the quilting has been done.  Now, I'm ready to start the binding.  The more I work on it the more I like it.  The colors are bright yet soothing.

 Well, I better get started on the binding...
Happy Quilting!