Back To The Oregon Coast (Florence, OR)

First I want to thank all our Veterans today and to my husband who served in the USAF.

We left Sutherlin to go to Eugene for some repairs on the bedroom's slideout.  The air bladder that seals the slideout has been leaking air for the last two months.  Dan had slowed down the air loss, but it was time to get it replaced before winter set in.

The cats were not happy campers when we spent the night in a motel.  Because it was a last minute reservation, we ended up in a room at the end of the building with the staircase along our headboard's wall.  Every time someone went up or down the stairs the whole wall shook.  Dusty growled several times until he finally gave up and sat as far away from the wall as possible.  Hitch and Dusty slowly adjusted to their new surroundings while Max found a way to hide inside the bed.  He finally came out late that night to nuzzle me several times for reassurance then to eat and use the litter box.  Come morning, he was once again inside the bed.  We had fun lifting the bed to get him out when we were ready for checkout.

Don't tell the cats:  this coming Sunday night, we are going back to the same motel for another four nights while we get solar panels installed.  We have asked for a room away from the stairs.  I doubt that will make a difference for Max.  It will be a very long week for everyone.

Dusty and Hitch claiming their spots

Our two weeks in Florence has been nice if a little foggy and wet.  The best part about the weather has been the red mushrooms popping up.  We are not seeing as many of the red mushrooms as we have in the past.  This is the best grouping Dan spotted while on one of our walks.  

 We visited the South Jetty (South Beach) park to check out the beach that we could barely see and the dunes which were buzzing with lots of activity.  We found the fog had added drama to the sand dunes and to....

the beach.

We drove up Hwy. 101 and stopped at the overlook to view the Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

I never tire of seeing Oregon's rugged coast.  It's amazing what a little fog can do to change the atmosphere of a welcoming lighthouse to spooky feeling. 😊 I took this one a couple of days before Halloween. 

I noticed about four of these statues around Florence.  I took photos of the two sea lions in the downtown area.

Dancing with Sea Lions artwork

I found this article about 20 "Dancing with Sea Lion" statues that are scattered from Florence to Newport. I will be keeping an eye out for more when we come back to the coast.

On The Cutting Board

I have closed my Etsy shop for the next week while we wait on our motorhome.  I will have quite a few new items to list when I open back up on November 20.

I finished my True Lover's Knot.  All hand done with scissors, pencils, and needles.  No machine was used until I sewed on the binder.

It did take a couple of years from cutting out templates to quilting the layers, but I feel it is one of my best quilts.

I finished the binding on the other two and they too will be ready to be listed.  I was worried about binding the rounded corners.  I was very surprised by how easy it was and the corners are not curling from being too tight.

I love the way my playful cat quilt came out.  I tempted to keep it for myself!

I have also finished up quite a few new Happy Campers to be listed soon.  I just need to spend some time taking photos for the listings.

I have more mug rugs waiting to be embroidered so I will have something to do while sitting in the motel room when I'm not soothing nervous cats.

Happy Quilting!

4Squares and 365Project (Spokane, WA)

Okay, I sewed the blocks together.  Then, I did a quick hunt through my stash and found some tiny hearts on white background that I feel will match well enough.  I added the hearts w/white background border to the blocks first.  Just to break it up a little..

I decided to try something different for a border.  I sewed a 1.5 inch strip to the extra squares and alternated the squares.

Pieced them together and Ta Da!  I'm so surprised at how well this came out considering a week ago I had not known these 4 inch squares were still traveling around with me.

I still have a few squares left so I'm going to add some appliqué hearts.  

Yep, I just can't leave a quilt without some kind of appliqué work on it.

Project 365 ~ 1 Year!

Yesterday was my last day for 365Project.  It is a relief.  I no longer have to scramble for a photo each day, but I have to admit that I have learned a lot in one year of daily photos.  

Dusty the great hunter

The first being - never leave home without the camera.  Even when I just plan on a short trip to the grocery store, the camera was with me.  I became more aware of my surroundings especially behind me.

Tiny wildflowers

I learned a lot about my camera and what it is capable of doing.........oh, so that's what that button is for!

Hitch surveying his new found kingdom

Since I carry a large DSLR camera, I would feel very self-conscience about taking photos in unusual areas.  I learned to ignore the strange looks while taking photos in Lowe's parking lot, kneeling in outdoor plaza areas, shopping in stores, or waiting in restaurants. 

Lemon Yellow Starburst

I also learned to response to people's comments.

  "Wow!  That's a big camera!"  ~Great upper body strength builder.

       "That camera looks expensive."  ~And it is worth every penny because I love the results this camera gives me. 

Parting shot #365  Hugs from Max!

I plan to continue with 365Project, but not right away.  I need a break plus we are heading into the Northern Cascades on Sunday and I probably will not have WiFi for almost a week.

Happy Trails!

The Peach Keeper and Shopping (Branson, MO)

I'm having a hard time getting back into my old quilting routine that I had going last winter.  Instead of quilting, I finished reading "The Peach Keeper" by Sarah Addison Allen.  I read another book by Sarah called "Garden Spells" with an apple tree that seemed to have a mind of its own and its owner Claire a talented cook with a flare for healing and comfort food.  People would claim her food had its own magic.  I think I gained 10 pounds just reading what Claire was making.  It sounded so yummy!  I find Sarah's books to be different from my usual readings.  I love the characters with their secrets and history of knowing each other with a hint of magic in the southern small town atmosphere.

"The Peach Keeper" is about four high school students meeting again as adults.  Their family's history of wealth, friendship, lost, and magic makes for a relaxing read.  I loved how Sarah included Claire from "Garden Spells" for a brief time.  I will be reading more of her books.

      

I had to visit Quilts and Quilts Country Store in Branson.  I have always loved the Ozark quilts.  The more traditional look of the simple country style reminds me more of my own childhood.  This quilt shop has been a family operated business since 1983.  Three generations have worked at the shop and now there is a fourth generation...well, she is only 17 months, but it is never too early to start her love affair with fabric, right?  The 7,000 sq. ft store has over 10,000 bolts of fabric, 1,000+ books, and 2,000+ patterns.  I could have spent hours in there!  Everyone was cheerful and helpful.  I had a great time quilt talking and browsing through the many aisles.

I need to use up a few yards of muslin and I thought the best way to use it would be in 1930s quilts or with some redwork.  I have been wanting to buy some redwork patterns, but I haven't seen anything that jumped out at me.  Well, I found what I was looking for at this quilt shop.  I have no idea how many redwork patterns they had on display.  I do know that I had a hard time picking out just one pack!  There were so many cute patterns!  

Now I don't know about you, but I always did the iron-on stamps for embroidery and redwork.  I knew that I could use my light box to transfer the pattern.  The question was "with what"?  Water soluble pen?  Yea, I can see that fading out before I'm done.  Permanent ink?  What if I goof?  Silly question!  I would slip up...it's a given, then I would have a permanent mistake.  I finally asked and two ladies behind the counter told me "I use a #5 pencil.  I have never used anything else.  It is the best way to transfer and it doesn't snag the material.  I just talked you out of a sale, didn't I?"  I loved their honesty and they are right.  A pencil would work and it washes out.  

That made me think of how I have let all the magazines and other quilters influence the way I have changed my quilting habits.  When I first started quilting, I made my own templates and I used a 1/4 inch wheel to make the seam allowance.  Later, I used store bought plastic templates.  All patterns were hand drawn on the material (not easy to do on dark fabrics) and cut out with scissors not with a rotary blade.  All the blocks were sewed by hand and then quilted in my small hoop.  I suddenly realized that I missed those quiet hours and I have let the business side take over.  Maybe it is time to get back to my roots and stop buying all the fancy tools. (Leaves more money for fabric)

This reminds me of a joke my husband told me many years ago about astronauts needing a pen that could write upside-down while in space.  Researchers spent thousands of dollars to make the perfect pen for the astronauts.  The astronauts rendezvous with the Russian Cosmonauts in space.  When it came time to write reports the astronauts showed off their expensive new pen. The Cosmonaut shrugged and pulled out his trusty low cost pencil.  Granted the government needs their reports done in ink, but I don't.  Lesson learned. :0)

Open For Business on Etsy.com

Day 1 of 365 days ~ Dusty

Many of my friends have suggested I should sell my quilts.  Well, I finally did it!  I have opened a quilt shop on Etsy.com.  Please take a moment to browse through my shop.  Link to QuiltinCats Quilt Shop on Etsy.com.  I know a lot of you think the prices are very low, but I would rather sell and share my quilts than let them collect dust waiting for someone to buy them.

I finished the two Baby's Choice quilts. Since I used fabric with teddy bears, I decided to appliqué
teddy bears hanging hearts and stars on the quilt.  I love this pattern!  It is amazing what a difference color placement can make on the same pattern. I might have to make another one since I thought of a third color variation while playing with my EQ6 program.


Pink Baby's Choice Crib Quilt



A better look at teddy



Blue and Lavender Baby's Choice



Teddy helping to hang the stars

We are making our way north along the East coast. We have made it as far as southern Georgia. It is soooo Hot and humid here that I can no longer sew outside. Even in the morning and in the shade! Whew! If I take one of the cats outside, they immediately look for shade and start panting. Since I cannot sit outside, Dan suggested I setup my folding table inside so I could keep quilting. There's just enough room to slide by if one of us needs to go outside. Now I can sit up front in the passenger seat and quilt until I drop! I have a great view out the front window and air conditioning!

Sizzling Hot! Day 2 of 365

I have also taken on the challenge to post one picture each day for 365 days on 365 Project website.  I think this will help me to improve my photo taking and to become a little more creative.  Okay, it is just another excuse to take more pictures!  LOL!

Busy as a Bee - Quilting



Great Blue Heron

I really let time get away from me!  We spent all of April at Patrick AFB near Melbourne, FL.  We had a wonderful view of the Banana River with many sightings of dolphins, ospreys, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and Great Blue Herons.  We did a lot of walking along the beach and I finished another quilt while sitting outdoors in the screen house.  Once that was finished, I had to give up sitting outdoors.  Either it was too windy or too hot.  Not to mention, very noisy.  We decided we could never spend a winter at Patrick’s FamCamp.  Our Key West relaxed attitude was becoming a little frazzled.  Noise from the base terminal, gun fire from the firing range, and low flying helicopters were just a few of the noises we heard though out the week.  It took the cats a few days to get use to it, but we have discovered that nothing will come between them and exploring the great outdoors.



So, I moved my sewing machine indoors and finished two more tops using a block suggested in Emilie Richards book “Sister’s Choice”.  The blocks name?  Sister’s Choice, of course.  One of the characters said the block made a great baby quilt.  I had to agree once I looked up the block.  Now that the tops are done, I’m trying to decide what to applique on each one.

Sister's Choice blocks

Below is the quilt I was working on at Patrick AFB.  I call this quilt Purple Lotus.  I went outside my comfort zone on this one.  I love bright colors, but I was a little unsure about the purple and lime green fabric.  I have had this material for a while and I found myself wondering “what were you thinking when you bought this?”  I have to admit I am quite pleased with the end result.  Oh!  And would you believe I found the perfect backing?  Purple with tiny specks of lime green! 

Purple Lotus

I found the material while visiting a wonderful and very friendly quilt shop called “The Quilt Place” in Rockledge, FL.    Their store ad boasted of having 8,000 sq. ft.  Oh it was!  It was 8,000 sq. ft. of quilters’ heaven.  It was jam packed full of bolts (10,000 or so), all the items a quilter needs or wants, a class room, and four long arms.  Sigh!  Dan had to run an errand and said he might be a while when he dropped me off.  “Take your time” was my answer!  After six plus months of no quilt shops, I needed a big quilt shop fix!  Oh yea!  I got it!

I was also a little sidetracked with my new camera.  I got a Nikon D7000. I wanted to spend time reading up on all the new functions it offered and taking photos before we spent a week at Disney World.



Magic Kingdom

 On 1 May, we moved to Disney World’s Fort Wilderness camp for a fun filled week at the theme parks. We would leave early, get back late, apologize to our accusing cats, and spend the rest of the evening recuperating. Ah, the colors, the imagination, and the energy had me thinking about new quilts to make. Very inspiring. We had a lot of fun, did miles of walking, ate lots of good food, and I took too many pictures.


Now I am trying to get caught up on e-mails, blogs, and photos while we spend a few weeks in Clermont, FL just west of Orlando. Winter season is over and the campground is very quiet. I am hoping to get some more quilting done as well.

Welcome Neighbor! Got any food?



STAR BABY Quilt

This winter weather has been perfect for me to get back into my quilting.  I have spent a lot of hours outdoors with kitties just quilting away the gorgeous days. The salty air, the vibrant colors, and the cry of Ospreys overhead.....Sigh! I am really going to miss Key West. I hope we can come back here someday.

I had started this top in September.  The top took only a couple of days to sew together.  I decided to appliqué 'BABY' and crooked stars to the top using freezer paper.  I did not leave the paper on since I ironed it to the right side of the fabric.  This time I marked the fabric with a water soluble pen, pulled off the paper, and used the turn-under as you sew method.  I used bright bold colors so a baby can see them.

The appliqué is done and the top is a wrinkled mess!  Time to iron!

All done.  I used the meandering quilting.  The binding is made from the same bold material I used for the stars and BABY.

I just had to show you the perfect t-shirt I found at the Navy Exchange.  I had just washed it so it is a little wet.

Oh, you can't see it?  Here's a close-up!

I have my sweatshirt saying "Life is Simple:  EAT, SLEEP, QUILT" for cold days and now - I have a t-shirt with a one white sock orange kitty saying "Life is Good".  Oh yea!  (break out into song) And these are a few of my favorite things!

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, Newport, OR

We are in Newport, OR at the Whalers Rest Campground. We are only a short walk through the woods and across Hwy. 101 to the beach. We are still getting a lot of rain, but every once in a while the clouds let the sun shine through for a couple of hours.

We have been visiting all the sights: Otter Crest Loop and Look-out Gift shop, both of the lighthouses, and the historic downtown areas. And yes, I did find the local quilt shop: Quilter’s Cove. This is the first quilt shop that I have visited with large floor to ceiling windows. It was so nice to browse the fabrics with natural daylight. It felt so warm and open – almost like home. I believe I met the owner. She is very nice and very helpful. She had a long-arm in the back corner. Customers can see the work she is doing at that time. I found it interesting to see the long-arm. I have never seen one before – well, except in magazines.

We toured the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and I took picture of the rooms. I have more in our Oregon album in Webshots. I found this quilt the most interesting and I wanted to share these quilt pictures with you. I looked up the history about the house’s living quarters and it sounds like the house was furnished with donations. The lighthouse was only commissioned to work for 3 years after the Yaquina Head Lighthouse was built. It was closed down for over 10 years before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guards started using the living quarters again. The local Historic Societies saved the lighthouse from being torn down and renovated the lighthouse. So, I don’t think this quilt was originally with the house.

Needlepoint covered foot peddles.

Here is the appliquéd folkart quilt.  I love hand-stitched appliqué! I wish I could have taken better pictures, but the room is roped off.  If you can blow up the picture, you will see ostriches, rooster, a seal or sea lion, a black red-winged bird, and much more.  Beautiful!