Not So Wordless Wednesday (Hot Springs, SD)

I'm so glad the 4th of July weekend is over.  It was a little crazy here.  The campground was full and the lake area was filled with people for four days.  On top of all that, the WiFi was so slow that nothing would load.  Oh no!....no internet!....withdrawals....

Everything is back to normal once again.  Dan and I decided it was time to go for a walk along the river walk in downtown Hot Springs.  I love the medieval designed buildings carved from sandstone.  There are several so I will start with The Evans - a hotel turned into a home for the elderly.

  

Isn't it magnificent?  It looks like a wonderful place to live.  

I wonder if it has a grand lobby with a huge chandelier?  

We have seen this one resident out walking her dog (small spot in grass) on the river walk two different times.  We stopped to say hello and to greet her cute companion.  She talked about living in The Evans and she is quite happy with her home in the old building.  It sounds like they keep the building up-to-date.

I'm not sure what this building is.  It looks like a castle on the hill from the main street.

I know these photos are not as exciting as the buffalo, but a person can only take so many pictures of the big beasts standing around while chewing on grass.  I'm sure I will take more photos of them before we leave here.

On The Cutting Board

I put my embroidered quilt "Sweet Dreams" on hold due to needing extra floor space to make a wider backing.  I could have bought the 108" wide fabric, but I could not find a single bolt of fabric that came close to matching the top.  And to tell you the truth, I really wanted to use the sage green polka dots for the backing.  When I was with Project Linus in Albuquerque, a friend told me about John Flynn's diagonally cutting 42" wide fabric to make the backing wider.  Because I don't have the space, I haven't done this technique in a long time.  I am happy to say John still has this technique online with a Diagonal Backing calculator.

diagonal cut done

If we were staying at an Escapee's RV park, it would not have been a problem.  They always have a nice community center with lots of open space, but it might be another year before we stay with them again.  I did not want to wait that long to finish this quilt, so I have been looking around as we traveled with no luck.  I finally gave up looking for a building with a large enough floor space for me to lay out my fabric.

time to make it wider by pulling one side down

So, on a less windy day, I pulled out our two outdoor carpets and laid them end-to-end.  Pinned them down and cleaned them.  I had plenty of room to lay out 3 yards of fabric, fold it diagonally, and cut it.  You will notice that I still had to use some odds and ends to pin down the fabric as I worked on the it.

Ta-da!  Sage green backing is now wide enough for my top

I did a quick pinning and took it inside before a gust blew all my work away.  Sewing the two pieces back together was no problem.  Ironing was interesting using a small table top ironing board.  Talk about doing some wrestling while trying not to wrinkle the ironed fabric.

Finally!  Layered and pinning - done!   Now, to find time to get out the sewing machine.  I still need to make the binding too.  I can tell you one thing....it'll be a looooong time before I do another quilt with a width that is larger than 40 inches!

Happy Quilting!

In Pecking Order (Patagonia, AZ)

The Ladder-backed Woodpecker keeps its distance from me most of the times.  At least far enough away that I cannot get a good photo of one.  I usually see or hear them in the higher branches.  Some have even dropped bark on my head...I think they laugh at me afterwards.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker - female

This female surprised me by landing in a branch hanging over the trail and a big plus - in the sun.  Yea!  I finally got a few good shots of her while she looked for food.

......and I stayed out of range of the flying bark too.

I like watching the different woodpeckers, but there are times when they can be very annoying especially the Gila Woodpecker.  Recently, I had to replace my hummingbird feeder because a Gila decided the plastic flowers were in his way, soooo he pecked them off which lead to drowning several honey bees as they climbed inside to get more sugar water.  I was an unhappy camper about the drown bees, so I found a metal feeder.  NOW, the Gila can peck all he wants!  That flower is not coming off.

same photo from last post - Gila Woodpecker

What got me started on the woodpeckers?  Well, yesterday our gate sensor that announces the arrival of visitors started going crazy.  ding-dong! ding-dong!  We looked out - no car...no person....hmmm......Dan walked out to the gate to see if there were birds or an animal hanging around the sensor.  Yep, you guessed it.  The Gila was pecking away at the lens of the sensor and poked a couple of holes into it!  Goodness, Mother Nature can be a challenge and entertaining at times!  LOL!

On The Cutting Board
When I'm not chasing woodpeckers through the woods, I am busy getting some needlework done on the Cuddly Critters quilt.

The paws and ears are ready to applique, but I need to applique the raccoon's mask and add three muzzles to faces before I add them to the quilt top.

Embroidering the eyes was quite a job!  I should have ignored the instructions and appliqued the eyes.  Oh well, they are all done now.

When I need a break from the applique, I have been getting quite a bit done on the embroidery squares.  The designs are very tiny.  If I decide to make another set, I am going to enlarge them!

I have eight blocks done....

....and...okay, I don't think I'll count the ones I have left to do.  There seems to be quite a few left, but I don't mind.  It is a nice change of pace to sit and embroider these cuties.

Happy Quilting!

Heatwave? but I See Snowmen everyWhere (Coarsegold, CA)

Western Scrub Jay - Hanging out near our site

We are near Coarsegold, CA staying in an Escapees SKP RV Park called Park Sierra.  We are about 25 miles south of Yosemite National Park's south gate.  The park's sites are tiered with mature trees and seem to give a little more privacy to each one, but we are close to a busy highway which is very noisy.  Not noisy enough to keep us awake at night just that the sound of cars is always present when we go outside.

Quite a difference between here and Oregon.  It is certainly a lot hotter.  I admit that I was looking forward to some warmer weather around 80 degrees, but here, it is so hot and dry that everything crunches.  Well, except for the cats...they just wilt when we take them outside.

A lot of quails

There are birds everywhere along with lots of squirrels and other little critters.  I hope to get a photo of an Acorn Woodpecker.  They are everywhere, but a little shy.

 

On The Cutting Board

Trying to think cool, I decided to work on my snowman collector's block.  I finished embroidering the second block.  Ha! I am seeing snowmen.  I haven't been working on this block much so I thought with 600 miles of road travel, it was a good time to pull this block out and get it done.

I gave the scarves a little more texture using the Portuguese Stem stitch.

So far, I have finished two blocks.  I think there is something like 25 blocks to do.  Maybe, I'll cut the amount in half and make a smaller quilt.  Yep, sounds like a plan.....

We are off to Yosemite Valley this morning.  I should get some great shots of El Capitan.  We plan on two to three visits.  This park is so big and the roads are so windy that it takes a long time to get anywhere.

Happy Quilting!

Off To Buggy Barn (Spokane, WA)

Okay, you caught me.  I played hooky last Tuesday.  No blog.  No message.  I hung out my sign "Gone Shopping" on the motorhome and I did not look back!  My sister-in-law Kristy invited her sister Sue and I to join her in a morning of fabric shopping out in the country.  It's a good thing she called me instead of asking in person.  I was doing a lot of jumping up and down and dancing....yea, it probably wasn't pretty.

So, we headed off to Reardan....down a country dirt road...through rolling wheat fields to a farm.  Farm?  That's what I said...farm.  Our destination - Buggy Barn!  

The quilt shop is actually in an old carriage house stuffed so full of fabrics, kits, books, and quilts that I got whiplash trying to look in all directions at once.  There were quilts on the walls, doors, and on the ceiling!  Even the bathroom walls were covered with enticing wall quilts.  Sigh!  It was heavenly! 

The Buggy Barn Quilt Shop

 

After buying a few choice items, I took some pictures of the farm.....

Quaint country drive to the house

 Buggy Barn also has an Annual Outdoor Quilt Show on August 25 & 26.  It looks like a lot of fun.

For being a small shop out in the country, they certainly were busy for a Tuesday morning.  A testimony to Buggy Barn's friendly and very helpful staff.  Not to mention, a shop packed full of so many delightful items.

New for The Cutting Board

One of the items I could not resist was a cute Bunny wall hanging called Bunny "Door" A Doodle by Leanne Anderson.  It was hanging in the bathroom.  What can I say...I had some extra time to inspect it and the more I looked at it the more I wanted to make it.  The kit came wrapped up in this little box.  What a great packaging idea.

Here's a photo of the wall hanging.  Isn't it cute?  A perfect Spring and Easter greeting for our door.

It was hard to believe that all the fabric fit inside this tiny little box with the pattern and instructions.  Of course, I still need to come up with backing, binding, and batting to finish it, but that will not be a problem.  I'm sure I have something stashed away that will work just fine. 

Check out all the cute designs in Leanne's website "The Whole Country Caboodle".

I could not resist this embroidery and quilt pattern by The Birdhouse Patchwork Designs.  Natalie Bird's designs are so adorable!

 There are sixteen embroidery designs and four quilt related patterns.

Hitch wanted to help, so I let him hold the book open.

I was able to fulfill my fabric mission too.  One item I know I did not have in my stash was enough yardage to match the Fancy Sue blocks.  The material in the blocks were donated to Project Linus and I did not have a single yard of matching fabric.  With some help from Kristy and one of the staff, I found a nice shade of rose floral fabric.  I think it will help set off the blocks rather well.

I put the blocks aside last winter.  I still need to finish a few more blocks.  Now that I have fabric for sashing, binding, and backing, there's no excuse not to finish this quilt.  Unless...I get distracted with embroidery or a bunny wall hanging or ......

Happy Quilting!

Wild West Burros and Gunfights Oh My! (Pahrump, NV)

Yesterday was a travel day for us.  No fooling...okay, I had to get that in there for April Fools day.  I have to wonder who the first prankster and fool was to make such an impression to cause us to acknowledge a Fool's day.  Yea, I know.  I can Google it.

Anyway, we moved from Needles, CA to Pahrump, NV.  Before we left Needles, we went to Oatman, AZ.  A former gold mining town with shops and a couple of restaurants on Route 66 in the Black Mountains of Arizona.  A fun way to spend a quiet afternoon....hmmm....semi-quiet...well, you'll see what I mean as you scroll down.

We had a nice afternoon walking up and down the streets while eating ice cream from the Oatman Hotel and I took a few pictures along the way.

Old tractor parked near the street

Lots of wagon wheels

I thought the best part was the wild burros roaming around town looking for handouts.  The shops sell burro feed for a dollar.  The burros are descendants of the miner's burros turned loose when the mines closed down.  They are relatively tame, but I'm sure there have been some incidents since signs are posted to be careful around the burros.

This IS my good side

This is a photo of Olive Oatman - the town's namesake.  Inside the Oatman Hotel there is a photo and Olive's story.  I found her story to be very interesting and came home to do a little more research.  As usual, the stories vary so here's my summary of what I read:

Photo of Olive Oatman

During an Indian attack on their lone covered wagon, a young Olive and her sister were taken captive.  All of the Oatman family were killed except for one brother who survived a clubbing to his head.  Olive and her sister were later sold and adopted by the Mojave Indians.  Her sister died during their captive years.

Olive was traded back to U.S. soldiers when it was brought to their attention there was a white girl among the Mojaves.  She lived with her brother for several years while touring the country talking about the book written on her captivity.  Later, she married and lived the rest of her life in Texas.  Olive became the first tattooed white woman in America.

To me, it sounds like the "White" society had no problem accepting Olive despite her years in captivity and facial tattoos.  It is nice to know that our ancestors were more understanding than what Hollywood would have us believe.

We also watched a street show of the ol' West.....This is when the afternoon got a little noisy.  Some people jumped at the gun fire...okay, I jumped.  What can I say??  Anywaaaaay....

Old West Shoot Out Show

I was kneeling on the street while taking photos of the show.  I felt someone get close to me, but I didn't look up to see what they were doing.  Dan quietly said that I had a visitor and when I looked up......I saw the cutest burro trying to sniff my camera!  He left when he realized I had nothing to give him.

Pssst! Yo, got any apples?  Carrots?

A bunch of burros showed up after the first gun shot.  The warning shot must be like a dinner bell to them.  They know there will be the largest gathering of humans and food for them during the gunfight.  Oh, and none of them so much as flinched when the shots were fired.  Nerves of steel, I tell ya.

If the gun doesn't convince them to give money,
I'll help by convincing them with a kick, okay?

I thought this was a great ending to the show with all the burros and a stage coach showing up.  The stage coach stopped right next to us.  The driver asked us if anyone was killed and Dan answered "only one!".   Yup, great day!

Stage coach has arrived

On the Cutting Board

I think starting this project over was the best thing for me.  The applique work on this one is going so much faster.  I decided to pencil in the positions for each piece.  I made sure the markings were at least 1/8 of an inch inside the actual piece so all the pencil markings will be covered.  Because I marked the background ahead of time, I have saved a couple steps with a light box and trying to pin the piece in its proper spot.  

To me, this has been a lot less stressful.  With the light box, something was always slipping out of place which had me  pinning, re-pinning, re-checking, and re-positioning.  So my couple of steps could add up to a good 15 minutes of pinning and positioning before I was satisfied.

 My Uncle Sams are coming along....

Well, we are off to explore Pahrump, NV.  Catch you later!

Happy Quilting!