Winter Came In (Lawton, OK)

Like a Banshee!  Howling and screeching with heavy winds pounding the side of our motorhome for the first three days of our stay in Lawton.  Then, it calmed down for a couple of days, got its second wind and came back with a vengeance....

...this time bringing with it snow, sleet, and more heavy winds.  We woke up on our second to last day to our car and the motorhome covered with a sheet of ice on one side.  

The cats claimed they were brave enough for the weather.  Yep, they lasted less than a minute and I thought I was spoiled!

We were suppose to leave today (Monday), but decided to delay our travel south until tomorrow.  We will give the cold front another day to move out of the area and for the roads to dry.  The sun is out and it looks inviting except for the temperature....yea, I'm with the cats....I think I'll stay indoors.

come pet me

We spent this last week having a wonderful visit with our daughter and our two granddaughters along with their two cats.  I could only get a photo of Flower.  She loves attention until I pulled out the camera.  She must have said something to Indy because he did not come out of hiding until after I put up the camera.

what are you doing?

Now that's a family portrait!  Don't they look like they are a lot of fun?  You bet they are.  We had a great time catching up with all three of them.  We took Bry and Vi out shopping while their mom was at work.  We found out that Vi needs everything that catches her eye whether it is a bracelet, an adult size Mario themed PJ's or Chick-Fil-A nuggets.  

In the meantime, Bry proved to be quite a young lady and very grown up by making sure Vi focused on getting what she really needed - shoes while she shopped for jeans.

Bry is in high school and also attending Upward Bound at the university.  We are very impressed with how well adjusted and mature both our granddaughters have become in the last three years.

On The Cutting Board

Or maybe that should say On the Operation Table

This is Pirate Bunny (PB).  He has been Vi's constant companion to the doctors' office, clinics, and hospitals since she was diagnosed with Hashimoto.  He was looking a little frazzled from all the caring hugs he has given Vi over the years.

Vi decided it was time for PB to get some extra loving care.  When we arrived, PB had his own hospital bed with visitor's rules so he would get the ultimate rest.  Vi showed me all PB's wounds and I asked her if he was going to have surgery.  She nodded and said she hoped he would very soon.
I asked who was doing the surgery.  She looked right at me and said "I hope you will do it."

So, PB came home with us for the night and I'm happy to say the surgery was a success.  He was feeling so good that he even got a tattoo!

Pirate Bunny went home feeling stronger and energized for the next visit to the doctor's office with Vi.

I gave Vi her quilt this week.  As you can see, she is enjoying her new quilt.  I found out that purple and pink are her favorite colors.  Which is good since I started this quilt almost 4 years ago.  I'm happy to say that this quilt will probably look like Pirate Bunny someday.

It was hard to say good-bye this time.  I hope we will be able to see them again soon.  Tomorrow, we will be heading for Texas and hopefully for some warmer weather.
Happy Quilting!

Walking Through Zion (Zion National Park, UT)

Doesn't Dusty look peaceful?  He was until I took his photo, but it didn't take him long to get back to his cat nap.  As my Fabric Inspector, he deserves a break.  I haven't lifted a needle since we got here.

We have been hiking and visiting every day since my brother Jay arrived with his fiancé Beverly.  Lots of catching up to do with Jay and getting to know my new SIL-to-be!

Beverly, Jay, Dan

I'm getting ready for another hike for today so this will be short.  I am posting some photos from our first hike to the Lower, Middle, Upper Emerald Pools.  I was surprised that I wasn't more sore the next day.  What a shock it was to realize that I was more than ready for more hiking the next day and the day after and today.

Middle Emerald Pool falling into the Lower Emerald Pool

I do feel a little exhausted after our hikes, but in a good way.

Lower Emerald Pool

 Funny, I haven't felt a need to get more sleep.  If anything, I am sleeping less.

I guess between the views, the company, and all the fresh air, I am feeling extra spry.  Now, if I can just bottle up the extra energy for later...

Jay, Beverly, Dan, and Me

The squirrels are very aggressive in the more heavily visited areas by tourists.  At the Upper Emerald Pool, a couple of these little guys were looking for fallen crumbs, blatantly begging for food....

or stealing the food when people were not looking.  One squirrel sat between Jay and Beverly while they were having a snack.  One even poked at Beverly's back and managed to steal some of her trail mix!

We think the squirrel should be fined for stealing her food.  See, I even got a picture of him breaking into another person's bag.  Yep, caught red-pawed!
Happy Trails!

Welcome Cat, Sunset, and Murder? (La Conner, WA)

 A Drunkards Path: A Someday Quilts Mystery

Clare O’Donohue did an excellent job on this story!  I had a hard time putting it down.  Nell has a new romance in her life.  She has decided to go back to art school with lots of encouragement from her quilt circle.  Nell isn’t the only one with a love interest.  Her grandma, Eleanor has also found love with Nell’s art professor and renowned artist.

Not everything in the little town of Archer’s Rest is so idyllic.  Two young women are found dead along the river and one was in Eleanor’s backyard.  Is it the same killer?  One of the suspects is Eleanor’s new beau and Nell is worried about her grandma being the next victim.  This time the whole quilting circle wants to help Nell and gets involved in solving the mystery.

Clare gives excellent clues, but not enough to give away the identity of the killer.   I was very surprised when they finally solved the mystery.  The art class lessons alone were fun to read since I never took art classes ..well, not since high school.  I always wanted to take were courses from a collage.  There was plenty of quilt talk too.  The way Clare merged the artwork with quilt making was wonderful.  I actually got a little frustrated because my fingers would start itching to quilt, but I could not put the book down!  I wish I could get this on my iPod.  I would love listening to this story while I quilt away the hours.

Sunset over Lone Tree Beach

On The Cutting Board

After I finished putting the top together, I was a little worried that the fabric blended into each other.  Too much of the same tone does make it hard to see the Welcome or the cat.

But, once I started the buttonhole along the edges, I knew it would be okay.  I think that next time I will use some better contrasting colors so kitty and Welcome stand out more.  I'm going to make it a little bit bigger too.  This one is only 10x16.

Well, this one is ready to be layered and quilted.

Now, I have three wall hangings to quilt: Art Nouveau, Gift Shop, and this one!  I better get a moving!

Happy Quilting!

Welcome Cats, Quilts, and Museums (La Conner, WA)

I visited La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum yesterday.  The Tudor-style Victorian mansion was fabulous to see by itself, but the old quilts on display along with the Japanese quilt exhibit made the visit perfect!

This mansion was built in 1891 and was known as the Gaches Castle.

The mansion almost did not make it after being gutted and turned into apartments for 30 years.  One of the tenants caused a major fire that took out the roof and third floor.  

There was talk of tearing down the old place, but one man saw a historic site that needed to be saved and started a restoration group.

They did a wonderful job restoring this mansion.

I just love the colors in this quilt!

They even restored the old fireplaces with Italian tile just as Mrs. Gaches would have liked it.

There are two exhibits at the museum from Japan right now.  One is "Ainu Embroidery" and the other is "At Play - Asobi: Quilts from Japan".  The Ainu Embroidery also included reverse appliqué.  I spent a lot of time studying the artwork.  I think I'm going to give reverse appliqué a try sometime soon. The embroidery consisted of "Cord" stitching or what I call couching. The coat in the photo below is all reverse appliqué and cord embroidery.

The quilts were extraordinary and made from silk, loose woven cotton, and hemp.  One quilt had me and another woman with our noses only inches from its work.  The quilt was filled with small scenes of the old life in Japan.  Beautiful gardens, detailed robes, hair, and their faces were just amazing.  I could have spent more time looking and studying all the quilts, but the museum was very busy that day.

No photos allowed, so here's some samples from a post card.

Back to the real world again.....across the street from the museum was a small butterfly garden for the public.  A very serene spot to relax and smell the flowers.

On The Cutting Board
Remember the cat material I bought a while ago?  Well, I decided to make a Welcome wall-hanging.  I used an old photo of Dusty playing on the scratch post as my kitty model.

I want to use large letters so people can see them at a distance.  I'm still working on the size and style I want to use.

 In the meantime, I am making a border using a paper foundation since the border's pattern is very small and there are a lot of pieces.

Prrrrr!

Happy Quilting!