Babies, Bears, And So Much More (Benson, AZ)

Travel Day!  We are on our way to the Phoenix/Mesa area.  It will be a new area for us to explore.  Maybe, I'll have some nice photos for my next post.  In the meantime, I posted some photos of my recent quilts.

On The Cutting Board

Cuddly Critters is done!  I'm so happy with the way this one came out.  Such a cute pattern.  I might have to make another one....someday.  This quilt is going to a very special friend.  She and I worked together for many years.  I miss our talks and how the two of us could brainstorm to get projects done.  She and her DH are expecting their first  baby.  I'm so excited for them and I wish them all the best!

Cuddly Critters

Kitty

Puppy

Raccoon

and Bear

I appliqued these Sunbonnet Babies a long time ago.  It is time to get this one done.  I don't know why I decided to do the blocks on-point since I'm not very good with this layout, so I kept putting them away.  On-point quilts have always been a challenge for me.  I don't know why, but the other day I suddenly decided that I could do this.  I pulled out a special ruler just for on-point blocks and read the instructions.  

 Surprised that it sounded easier than I had previously thought - I decided to give this ruler a try.  I'm happy with the results, but I need to dig through my stash to add a border.  The quilt is only 35 inches wide.  I like to make all my donated quilts at least 40 inches wide.  More to cuddle, right?

Happy Quilting!

Tuesday Treasury (Patagonia, AZ)

I decided to start posting my Etsy Treasuries again.  I enjoy window shopping online and I like sharing what I find especially in Etsy.

The birds are starting to return to the Preserve.  We are seeing more activity and the Birders are reporting more sightings.  

Says Phoebe

No more sightings of the lion, but he did leave a paw print a couple of nights ago.  He was just letting us know he is still around.  I'm not sure if the lion is a he or she.  I'm too lazy to type he or she each time.  Knowing my luck, the lion will turn out to be a female.

Rufous Crowned Sparrow?

I don't know my Sparrows, so I'll leave this to my birding friends.  So many of them tend to look alike...

Sparrow

This Canyon Towhee has been spending a lot of time under our motorhome.  He is a brave little guy.  He comes within a few feet of the cats.  He runs out when they are not looking to eat some of the seeds on our mat.

Canyon Towhee

He is not very quiet between his running and crunching seeds either.  As soon as one of the cats sees him, he runs back under the motorhome.  Sort of reminds me of the Road Runner and Wiley E. Coyote.  All he needs to do is exit with a Meep! Meep!

Tuesday Treasury
In honor of all the tea drinkers around the world including Arlene's quilting friends from Harriet Truman's Loose Threads Mysteries and me!  Time to steep a pot of tea, curl up in a favorite chair, and read a good cozy mystery...or quilt.  Hey, I'm not picky!   By the way, here's Arlene Sachitano's link to her blog.  Happy Tea...Happy Reading....Happy Quilting

Binding Quilt Stories (Las Vegas)

No Peeking!

Sonoma Rose by Jennifer Chiaverini

When I start reading one of Jennifer Chiaverini's books, I anticipate a story filled with quilters finding friendship through their love of quilting.  There are few books published by a writer that understands quilters and our love to quilt or to talk quilt.  

I can understand an author wanting to spread her wings and write about something new.  I just feel Sonoma Rose should have been marketed separate from the Elm Creek series.  The only connection to Elm Creek was a couple of flashbacks to Elizabeth from The Quilter's Homecoming.  Otherwise, this story was about Rosa's family and Lars.

As you can tell, I never tire of reading about the process of quilting - no matter what is being describe.  But, this story did not focus on the quilter's life or quilting.  Basically, the only quilt talk came from Rosa thinking about block patterns and colors for each of her children's quilts, her mother's two quilts barely get describe, and she cuddles under her own quilt.  Towards the end, Rosa started to teach a friend how to quilt, but that ended before they even got started. Great!

If you are interested in Prohibition and life on a vineyard then this book is for you.  I enjoyed Rosa's story and I learned a few things about the Prohibition era. I often read Jennifer's books more than once, but I doubt that I will read this one again anytime soon.  I'll have to run out of reading material first.

I won't give up on her though... Jennifer's next book The Giving Quilt will make up the difference since it is about the Elm Creek's Quiltsgiving Day.  Two of my favorite subjects: Quilts and Project Linus.  

But, I have to wait until the end of October...so in the meantime, I found a new author, Clare O'Donohue.  I started reading her first book The Lover's Knot: A Someday Quilts Mystery today.  Quilts! Mystery!  Now that's my kind of story!

 

 On the Cutting Board

Okay!  I got all the binding done yesterday.  Can you see that the red binding is a lot thinner than the other two?

I was a little short on red material so I made the red binding 2 inches instead of my usual 2.5 inches width.  I would rather be narrow than short on length.  I have used binding this narrow before, but it is not easy to wrap around the raw edges of the quilt.

Tuesday Treasury

Like a buffet, I pick out one or two items that strike my interest and move on to the next section.  The more eclectic - the better I like it!

Traveling Through Death Valley (Pahrump, NV)

Ashford Mill Ruins

We got a late start on our visit to Death Valley National Park.  We planned to visit Scotty's Castle and the northern end, but it wasn't going to happen.  Not today anyway.  A truck had jack-knifed across the two lane highway with no impact that we could see.  From the way people were just standing around and there were no emergency vehicles, I would say no one was hurt.  They were just waiting for the road to be cleared.

Change of plans...  We turned around and drove to the center east entrance to Death Valley.  The weather was almost perfect - cool and a little windy.

Ashford Mill Ruins

Only a golfer would come up with the name The Devil's Golf Course for this area.  I have no idea why anyone would think to golf here.

Devil's Golf Course

 We stopped to see the Natural Bridge.  This a view from the trail head.  I could not have asked for a more picture perfect day.

Here's Dan standing in front of the Bad Water area.  Cars on the main road look like ants.  That's how far away we are in this photo.  It is so amazing how far we can see.  It just goes on for miles and miles and miles.

 The walk was only a half mile.  Thank goodness, it wasn't miles because it was all uphill.  Yep, I was a little winded.  I need to start walking more.

Natural Bridge

 This is my favorite spot.  We are standing 282 feet below sea level.   Five miles of salt flats with crusty ridges going every which away.

Bad Water

Turns out it is not as dry as it looks.  Dan and I were kneeling to get better close-ups of the salt.  Both of us ended up with a wet knee.  When the spot dried, we had a salty crusted knees.

Side view of the ridges

Close-up of the dry salt

Small threads of salt 

The mountains surrounding the valley are so colorful..black, orange, red, yellow, pink, and green..yes green soil.

 

All righty then!  We are off to explore the northern end of Death Valley and Scotty's Castle.

Tuesday Treasury

This treasury is for all the hard working burros, donkeys, and mules.  The artists did wonderfully amazing work.

NO! The First Day of Spring? (Benson, AZ)

Happy Spring Equinox!

It's a good thing we did most of our touristy visits last week because a cold front hit the area on Saturday night.  Sunday, we had sporadic rain and high winds.  On Monday, we were watching snow flurries.  I wasn't so sure today was going to look like the first day of Spring, but it is suppose to sunny and in the upper 50s.

Hitch has the right idea?

Big flakes!

Instead of The Cutting Board today, here's a cute photo with a great message.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!


Bisbee, AZ

 

We spent another day visiting Bisbee, AZ.  Built on steep mountain sides, this small mining town has turned into an art community.  We found the historic area interesting, not to mention, some of the people.  I only took a few pictures this time.  I was more interested in doing some window shopping.  Yes, it has been a looong time since my last window shopping.

We stopped in one museum filled with donated items from Bisbee residents.  There seemed to be a little bit of everything from old photos to typewriters to hats to....well, you get the idea.  It was interesting to see so many items covering the last couple of centuries.

Bisbee found a way to celebrate physical fitness with saving their stairs by challenging paying participants to walk or run up 1000 steps.  Excellent way to get people aware of fitness and have fun!

This is our second visit to Bisbee.   I'm happy to say the town looks like it is doing all right.  Business looks like it is doing well.  I first wanted to come here after reading one of J.A. Jance's Sheriff Joanna Brady series.  The series is based in the County of Cochise and Bisbee was mentioned in the novels I read.

Sorry, no birds were sighted during our visit to Bisbee.  Next post will have some new nature photos.

Copper Queen Hotel's lobby

 

Tuesday Treasuries

In celebration of Spring, here are two new treasuries that I put together.  I do miss my garden.  Well, I miss the flowers and the birds......not the back-breaking work that went with it.  Anyway, cultivating this garden was a lot less work on the body, but still hard to put together because there are so many cool pieces of artwork to add to a garden.  Enjoy!

Featured Treasuries (Patagonia, AZ)

On the Cutting Board

We are down to our last week as volunteers for the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve.  We are training our replacements/friends/quilter this week.  Yep, more quilt talk!  WooHoo!

While waiting for our friends to arrive, I spent some time digging through my stash and found some great finds for my next mug rugs. Okay, so you are only seeing the backsides of the fabric.  Once they are cut out, I will post another picture.  I'm hoping to start sewing the other mug rugs together later this week.

More mug rugs

Nature Photos

I have learned one major characteristic about Javelinas.  When it comes to food, they have a very short-attention span....

Hey!  I smell Human.  Guys, you smell Human?

Sniff!  No Human.  Bad sniffer!

Food!  Nom nom nom!

Bewick's Wren

Say's Phoebe

Tuesday Treasuries

Great news! I am featured in two treasuries!  Thank you for featuring my quilts in your beautiful treasuries!  If you view, like, or share these treasuries, you will be thanking these two wonderful curators for adding my quilts.

~by PebbleCreekCandles

~by Bachigs

The End is Near (Patagonia, AZ)

It is the end of January...so soon?  If we were leaving on schedule, we would only have 2 weeks left on the Preserve.  Yep, we have been here 2 1/2 months, but we decided to spend one more month here (leaving 11 Mar).  I have to admit that I will be ready to move on.

Water Cress growing in the creek

With 6 more weeks, I should be able to get a lot more wildlife and nature photos.  I hope you are not getting tired of them.  The Preserve should be getting new feathered visitors as the weather warms up.  We are certainly seeing more Coatimundi and Javalina around the creek.

I feel like my photo taking has improved this winter since I was able to go out almost every day.  Of course, the wildlife subjects have been quite a challenge and I do believe I have learned a lot on how to be sneaky and sit still.  For the last couple of weeks, I have been taking photos in RAW format instead of JPEG.

My camera can take both formats at the same time.  Can you see a difference? Or is it just me?

JPEG

RAW

I finally got a photo of the Belted Kingfisher, but I am not happy with them.  I will keep chasing that bird up and down the creek until I am happy with my photo or I run out of time.  If you look closer at the top photo, you will see 2 fish in its bill.  Pretty good catch out of a shallow stream and on one swoop.

a 2 for 1 swoop

Videos by Dan

Dan has uploaded a few videos of the wildlife on the Preserve.  They are fun to watch!  If you would like to see them, click on the link above.

Tuesday Treasury

This treasury is dedicated to wolves.  I hope to see one in the wild someday.

Color My World with water colors!

Freebie Page
I added a new My Memories Scrapbook freebie and a tutorial for making your own Valentine's Day cards on the Freebie Page.

Shake Shake Shake

Shake Your Booty!
       A Coatimundi Moment

Oh, I hope she doesn't see me.  My fur's a mess with stickers.

Oh no, she does and she is taking pictures!  No! I look awful!

I'll just shake it off...a little harder

...get off! get Off! get OFF!

Ahhh, much better.  Okay, calm and collected..
I look good...now look at the camera.

Okay, I'm ready for my photo shoot.

Hey lady!  Where are you going?

Tuesday Treasuries