Sunday, April 27, 2014

Guess What Day It Is!! (Spokane, WA)

Travel Day!  We have over 800 miles to cover in the next two days.  It is raining now and hopefully the wind will be either absent or on our backside.  Fingers are crossed for blue skies and smooth roads.
Hitch is acting like the Hump-day Camel (tv).  Guess what day it is!  Travel day.  He running....jumping up and down the hall.....meoooooow?.......prrrrrrrMEoooooow!
Come back Thursday.  I will post some sneak peak photos of Happy Campers in progress.
Happy Quilting!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Not So Wordless Wednesday (Spokane, WA)

Such dreary days make for a dramatic photo, don't you think?  High winds, rain, and hail has kept me indoors for most of the week so this is the only photo I have taken this week.  Lazy!  I know!  We did get the cats out a couple of times to keep them happy.  Most of the time, they refused to go out the door giving us that look - Are you crazy?!
We leave Spokane this Sunday.  According to the weather forecast, it looks like a good travel day for us.  Dan is talking about a long day of travel, so I might not have time to post since my next one is due on our travel day.  I'm so ready to go.  It has been a long time since our last visit to South Dakota.  
Have camera, will take photos!!!
On The Cutting Board
With bad weather comes good news:  I have had more time to work on my mug rugs and I have managed to finish six of them!  All the ones below are now listed in my Etsy shop for $12 + shipping.
Horse - 9 x 7
Pink Hearts - 9 x 7
Peach Cat - 8 x 6
Pink Cat - 8 x 6
Pink Polka Dots - 8 x 6
Pink Teal - 8 x 6
 My fingers are crossed that they will find a new home soon.....and back to sewing!
Happy Quilting!

Saturday, April 19, 2014

There's A New Iron In Town (Spokane, WA)

I got tired of my old iron leaking water and even worse, discoloring my projects.  
This mug rug is not a happy camper.  It is a mess.  The iron left dirty marks on the white top and the blue has a yellow tinge to it.
 I'll keep this blue mug rug for myself.  I have been wanting one to hang in our door's window and now I have one.
This problem with my iron only happens once in awhile because the other three mug rugs look great along with all the fabric I have been ironing.  Still.....I can't get the iron's plate clean no matter what product or home remedy I have tried on it.  I started using a piece of muslin hoping that would protect my projects.  It did.....sort of...okay, I'm fed up.  There's a good chance it will happen again.  It's time for a new iron!
Out with the old iron and in with a new Rowenta Focus Steam Iron.  I love the shape of the tip.  That will make it easier to iron small details without ironing the whole item.  Nothing like ironing one seam, but getting two and the second one is now going the wrong way.  You know what I mean?
I also like the 400 tiny holes in the plate instead of the 8 - 10 large holes.  When I am ironing fusible webbing, I'm suppose to hold the iron still for a few seconds, but I can't because the large holes pucker the fabric.  So, I have to lightly keep the iron moving while fusing the fabric.  Note:  Some of the new irons are offering up to 700 tiny holes.

I ironed a yard of prewashed fabric last night.  Not only did I not need to use a spray bottle to wet wrinkles, I was done in a record of time and my arm wasn't tired from pressing.  Yes!  I also did a quick test on a piece of very wrinkled muslin that my old iron could not get the wrinkle out.  The Focus had no problem getting the old wrinkles out.  Be Gone Wrinkles!  I have a new Iron!
Happy Quilting!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Shopping And Sewing (Spokane, WA)

We said good-bye to the Great Horned Owl and her babies in Plymouth.  She was out of the nest the day before we left.  I had to wonder if she was tired of the crowded nest and wiggling babies.
I got one photo of two babies...well, sort of....one is hiding behind the tree, but you can still see two heads.  The other one looks like he is winking at me.
While I was waiting for the three babies to pop up together, I entertained myself by following the Downy Woodpecker.  A very active bird...
 who is constantly moving...
 and hunting...
ha!!  Finally, a decent shot of the face!
Downy Woodpecker
Dusty certainly enjoyed the sunshine while we were in Plymouth.  He was not happy about moving again.  He certainly let us know halfway through our trip that he was ready to stop.  He seems happy with our new site here on Fairchild AFB.  He has plenty of grass to munch on.  We should have named him lawnmower instead of Dusty.
Did someone say bird?
We are going to stay in this area for the next two weeks while we visit with family.  We have a field behind us and we have a large side yard for the cats to wander around in....on leashes, of course.
On The Cutting Board
All right!  Three Happy Campers are done.  Now, I need to get them listed.  I REALLY need to spend one day just taking photos and listing my items.  Soon..real soon...
 In the meantime, I am finishing up another Happy Camper.  I used some different stitches for more texture in the garden.
I found the cat in a tattoo website.  The site offers royalty free tattoo designs.  Most are more complicated to use for sewing, but this cat design is elegant and perfect for an embroidery design.  He even has that regal cat look going.
 I haven't done a stitch all day.  We did a lot of shopping today.  I stopped by Joann Fabric and Craft Store to stocked up on supplies.  Why is it that I never have enough?  Maybe if I spent a little more time planning ahead on my projects, I would not have that problem...yea, that'll never happen.
Happy Quilting!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Our New Neighbors (Plymouth, WA)

Travel day - we are moving north to Spokane, WA.  Before we go, I wanted to share pictures of our neighbors during our stay in Plymouth on the Columbia River.  Actually, we shared the site with them. 
We did not know the site was occupied until another camper walked over and pointed the nest out.  He thought I should know since we were walking all four of our cats at the time.
Sure enough, there was a Great Horned Owl sitting in the nest taking quite an interest in our activities.  I'm so glad he pointed her out to us.  We decided to take only two cats out at a time and to stay near them while keeping an eye on the owl.  I did mention neighbors...plural....
Great Horned Owl is a Mama!  She has three little ones, but I only managed to get photos of one curious baby peeking out at us.  Isn't he a cutie?  I'm just going to refer to the baby as a male since we know the big one is a female.
 Dan mentioned he looked like a Muppet baby.
 Baby did look like he was trying to talk to us or look ferocious while bobbing his head at us.
The next photo is my favorite.  He looks so innocent and cute.  Not so innocent though...he was watching small birds in the next tree...probably wondering when he would be able to catch one for himself.
 Since he isn't ready to leave the nest, he decided to see what was in the nest.  No food...just a piece of wood.
Oh well...looks like he will have to wait for Mama to wake up and get him something to munch.  Doesn't he look bored at the moment?  He took a nap soon after this photo.  Baby is looking pretty big.  That nest must be getting a little crowded with three growing babies and Mama.
Mama never left the nest during the daytime.  Around dusk, she takes off to go hunting.  We were careful not to disturb the family too much during the day and we were extra careful while walking our cats.

Well, time for me to finish packing...hmm, and see what project I'm going to work on during our trip today.
Happy Quilting!

Monday, April 7, 2014

And Life Moves On (Seaside, OR)

Our son Shaun drove down from the Seattle area to spend the weekend with us.  We are not sure when we will be back this way, so I was extra happy that he managed to make it down here.  He just started a new job with an IT company and it sounds like he is staying very busy.
With all our travels when Shaun was young, he has never seen the Oregon coast.  As luck would have it...he still did not see much of this area thanks to bad weather all day Saturday.  He got to see a little bit of the Haystack in Cannon Beach, but after that visibility went down to 20 or less feet.  Since we were not having any luck showing him the coast, we took him to  Manzanita for a delicious lunch at Left Coast - a small Mexican restaurant serving huge delicious burritos and enchiladas.  

Then, we drove to Astoria to see some of the old homes in the area.  At least, Sunday turned into a half-way decent day for his drive home.
I have been in love with this Queen Anne house since I first saw it last year. 
  Captain Flavel built this place for his family in 1886.  He was a bar pilot and business man.  If you are interested in reading more about the history of this house I have added to link to the Flavel House.
 This house is featured in the movie "Goonies" as the backdrop for the history museum.  I don't remember seeing it in the movie so I guess I'll have to watch it a little closer the next time.
 I love the detail of the woodwork.  What I can't imagine is having to paint all the ornate woodwork.
 The grounds have been kept the way they were when Captain Flavel's family had lived here.  I tried to get a photo of a strange looking corkscrewed tree that looked like it was upside-down in the ground, but no luck.
 We made one more stop to the Astoria Column.  The Column was about the only thing we could see.  The wind was blowing harder so we did not climb the stairs to the top.
 One day we will make it back this way....in the summer time...and we will invite Shaun to come join us.

Well, it is time for me to get ready to go shopping and to start packing...and the cats are begging to go outside.  Oh look!  The sun is out.  I guess I better blow the dust off my sunglasses, eh?
Happy Quilting!

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Five Years On The Road (Seaside, OR)

Can you believe it?  We have been full-timing for 5 years!  Wow!  I tried to go through our photo archives.  Boy, do I take a lot of photos.  At least, I was smart enough to put them into an annual folder at the end of the year.  That reminds me...I still need to do that for 2013.
I spent most of this morning looking for photos to put into a couple of collages.  Lots of memories in those folders for five short years.  I finally decided to keep the collages simple and as diverse as possible.  I should do photo collages more often.  They are a lot of fun to make.

We have done so much.....and yet there is so much more to see and do.  
South Dakota, Texas, Arizona,
Montana, Florida
 There are many that I wouldn't mind seeing again too such as Glacier NP or Shenandoah NP or the Florida Keys.  A list of places I have not seen yet?  That can turn into a long list.  I better not start that one.
Oregon, Kentucky, Nevada, Florida, Utah, Montana
On The Cutting Board
I'm almost done with four of the Happy Campers.  I'm not quite sure why I'm using so much pink.  I need to go through my stash and see about coming up with some un-pink combos for the next couple of mug rugs.  Like I don't have a pile of them already...only 20+ campers ready for embroidering.  What can I say.......
 I decided to do another horse camper.  I love the way the mane and flowers came out this time.
Since we will be working a lot this year, I thought I would put together a few more projects for hand sewing for those days when I am too tired to bother with setup and breakdowns of my sewing space.  I'm transferring more of the snowman collectors for embroidering.  I also have some quilt blocks that I plan to sew by hand.  By the time I am done, I will have plenty of projects to pick from my No Brainer collection or "I'm too tired, but I want to do some kind of sewing" pile.  

I have been playing around with this design for a couple of months.  This is my 'Gardener's Welcome' wall hanging.  You'll notice my little gardener doesn't have feet.  Well, that is because I plan to cover the bottom with embroidered flowers.  I'm hoping that when I am finished, the Welcome will look like a big plant.  I'm still working on how I'll do that.
I'm making a second Gardener's Welcome wall hanging in a larger size.  I'm also making another 'The Witch Is In' wall hanging.  I'm hoping to get them ready for fusing later today.

Here's one more photo to remind me that spring is on its way.  Hard to tell today with all the cold wind and rain hitting the side of our motorhome.

Oh well, at least it gives me a good excuse to get back to my projects....
Happy Quilting!

Popular Posts