Traveling tales

Today we drove from Yellowstone to Casper, Wyoming.  There is not much in between, and a four hour drive seemed like forever!  Especially because I was trying to use my phone to look up a hotel for the evening and I had no service for at least half of that time.  I was just bored and tired of sitting.  I really was a little embarrassed about how ticked I was I couldn't use my phone.

We actually saw a grizzly bear today .. As we were leaving the park the lake was on our right and a small meadow on the left ... There was a brown mound of something laying in the back of the meadow.  I saw a few people standing around and then saw a park ranger, I figured it probably was something more dangerous than a bison.

See that brown mound in the back?  I was hoping he would get up and move around ... But we only saw him stretch and roll over.  The ranger said he had swam across the lake, and been laying there for a couple hours.  He said there must be something there that he liked.  The lake is huge, I'm just figuring he was pooped!  Note to self:  if I ever am running from a bear, don't go into the water to escape ... He can probably swim faster than me!

There are bison everywhere in the park.  Yesterday a herd crossed in front of us ... They had come across the river and were crossing the main drag ... Really cool because there were tons of babies too. 

There are signs everywhere that tell you that wildlife is dangerous ... You should stay 25 feet back from bison

I think this is an older sign but you get the idea.  I cannot believe the amount of people that get out of their cars with their big huge cameras and get close to get that perfect shot.  It's bad enough when it's an adult, but can I tell you how many people I've seen doing it with a kid?  Ugh ... Makes me crazy .... I kind of wish I could see a bison charge someone and watch their camera go flying as they ran to get out of his way ... Seriously these animals weigh like 2,000 pounds and they are huge!  No thank you ... I'll keep my distance and stay in my car.

This was a fox we saw yesterday ... Can you believe how big he is?  Probably about 25 pounds ... The size of a medium dog.

This was a picture of a waterfall from Glacier Nat Park ... It just does not do it justice.

Home at last

Well I actually slept in my bed last night for the first time in two and a half weeks.  It felt great ... so great, that I didn't get up until 10:00 a.m.!  Wow ... yesterday we left St. George, Utah in the a.m.  Before we left I had to visit my friends at Let's Quilt ... it was fun to talk to Teryl and I bought a few bobbins, a bobbin case, some bobbin washers and a ruler so I can try more ruler work.  I love Teryl ... she is just the best!

Before I visited Teryl I found a new quilt store to me ... Clover Patch ... they boasted 4,000 bolts of fabric.  There was quite a lot ... the lady there was very nice, and I think about 1/2 the fabric was something I would be interested in looking at.  Everything was only $7.99 a yard.  Wow!  Here's what I came home with ...

I think that makes about 10 stores I hit across the country.  Boy have I had a great time.  It's a good thing I came home though because my pocket book couldn't take much more of it! 

Our last stop before home was to see our sweet daughter at college.  We had dinner with her and it was so nice to spend some time with our sweetie.  We went to one of our favorites ... P.F. Changs and just sat and chatted and loved on her ... she is doing so well and doesn't realize how much she has grown.  What an amazing daughter we have!  Then it was off to home.

Now I have a little secret to tell you that I've been holding for some time now ... I'm going to be a grandmother!  This news was not originally met with excitement ... if you recall my son just graduated from college, and no I never did mention him getting married.  He is in love and his intended and he had talked about getting married and having babies ... they are just doing it out of order.  It seems to be the way things are often these days, and while my husband and I wish they were doing it in order, we are happy that they love each other and intend to marry after the baby is born.  So ... the baby is due on our 25th wedding anniversary, February 20!  That makes her just about 6 months along.  Life has been complicated by the fact that she decided to remain in Michigan (instead of moving back here in July), because she has had morning sickness horribly bad.  Combine that with the fact that she has lupus, and she felt like she needed to be with her family so they could help take care of her.  I understand that.  So we are anxiously awaiting the birth of that baby in February and then baby and mom will move here and they will live in our granny flat next door.  I am excited!  A little scared for my son, but they will do fine, and we're going to have a little one to love.  Life is strange, isn't it.  No matter what, babies are a blessing, and God does not hand out more than you can handle.  It has taken me several months to get to that conclusion and to believe it ... I know it in my heart, but knowing something and living it, are two different things!

So when we went on this trip I had a mission for my fabric shopping ... to make a quilt for our grandbaby ... actually, granddaughter to be specific!  They're wanting the room to have a wall that is purple for the baby, so a purple quilt it is.  I knew the pattern I was going to make ... JoAnn Mullaly's Sophie's Quilt ...

Oh, the picture got blurry when I blew it up ... but you kind of get the idea.  So much cuter in person!  I'll have to take a picture of my pattern to show you.  So you can see that it is a super scrappy pattern.  Embroidery with lots of fabrics!

 

So with that in mind I started my shopping knowing I wanted purple ...

 So as I was searching I just started adding colors I thought would compliment the purple ... blue ...

And how about some lights ...

Yellows ...

 

 Oranges ...

 Greens ...

 A few multi that I thought would work in ...

And some pinks . ..

Okay, so I got a little carried away ... I had so much fun!!!  Some stores I only bought a couple of pieces.  But here's what it all comes out to ...

I think I pretty much have everything, don't you??  Ha, ha ... I can't tell you how much fun it was to shop with a project in mind.  Usually when I'm out in a fabric store it's just with the idea that I buy something I like and will use.  But when you actually have a project in mind, it was so much more fun.  I only bought a 1/4 yard of everything.  Some of them were fat quarters.  I know I have entirely too much fabric, but I'm going to have so much fun creating several quilts, and who knows what else out of all this fabric!

Heading home ... Idaho Falls to St. George

What a fantastic trip we have had! Really, we couldn't have asked for a better trip. The dogs were very agreeable, and never complained once about jumping in and out of the car at every stop. They were funny! They had this routine when we were done at the end of the day they tore around the hotel room like wild kids! The only time they could run free without a leash, and they did their best to wear themselves out.

I'm going to go backward in my journey and give you a glimpse into our travels. Today we started in Idaho Falls and our destination was St. George, Utah. I knew we were going to stop in Salt Lake City and hit a couple of quilt stores.

The quilt store I found in Idaho Falls had turned into a dance studio ... What a bummer! Oh well, onto Salt Lake.

The first stop was Piper Quilts. I had been to this store before and remembered it to be really cute. It's in a small house. It also has knitting supplies. The fabrics are really sweet, and I had a good time finding a few that needed to come home with me.

They had some beautiful quilts hanging on the walls and I asked if I could take a picture of the quilting on this particular quilt ... I thought it looked really neat, and hope to try and see if I can use these designs.

Next stop was Rubio's for lunch that was conveniently located next to a pet store. The dogs had been out of cookies for a couple of days and needed their fix. Rubio's is one of our favorite haunts in San Diego and we were delighted several years ago to find out they had them in Salt Lake. Just as yummy!

Last stop on the quilt tour for the day was Elaine's Quilt Block. Oh if I had more time in that store ... What fun! Super nice ladies ... They have everything ... Civil war fabric, in fact a whole roomful. Kaffe Fassett, fun, bright, whimsical, bold, batiks. Several Christmas lines and a load of Halloween fabric. Then there was an entire upstairs full of juvenile fabric ... What fun!! They are one of the only stores I have seen besides the Country Loft that had a ton of homespuns. What a treat! The nice ladies even let me charge my hubby's cell phone while I was shopping. Of course they knew the longer it charged, the more time I had to shop!

I know you are wondering about all these different colors I'm picking ... it's a secret and I'll let you in on it soon!

Tomorrow I'll visit Let's Quilt where I bought my Innova, and say hello to my wonderful dealer and buy a few things. Then I might be able to sneak in one more quilt store before we head home!

　
 

Up For Air

Whew, popping in as fast as I can to let you know I'm still here!  We've been traveling since a week and a half ago, Tuesday.  Headed for the east coast ... do you remember?  So far we've been through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, D.C., Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan ... I think I've gotten them all!  Whew!!  Currently we are in Detroit, Michigan ... we made a little sidestep up here to meet my son's girlfriend's family.  They live in a small town between Detroit and Flint.  It was very nice to see them and we had a good dinner.  His sweetie is living back here with her parents for a few months, and so it was nice to see her too.  She looked wonderful!

From Detroit we are headed for Chicago for a few days.  It will be nice to plant ourselves in one area for a couple of nights.  It was a tough day of driving yesterday ....up at 6, in the car at 8:30 and except for quick bathroom stops and to grab food, we drove straight through until 6:30 last night.  Every day has almost been an exact duplicate of that!  My brother and his family live outside of Chicago, so it will be nice to see them for a couple of days.

I have managed to hit three quilt stores in my travels.  Nothing exciting so I haven't spent too much money!  One of the stores is called G Street fabrics and I went to the one located in Alexandria (or maybe Arlington), Virginia.  I knew it wasn't a quilt store, but it had fabric, and it was close, so for me that was good enough!  It was quite surprising ... they sold Berninas upstairs and downstairs was full of fabric.  Like how fabric stores used to be ... decorator fabrics, home fabrics, huge bolts of suit material, polyesters, and there in a corner of the place, a section with nice quilting fabric.  I spied Moda and Robert Kaufman among  others.  I managed to to find about 6 fabrics that I bought for my current project.  More pictures later.  I'll try and pop in tonight with some pics!

This is what I've been seeing outside my window the last few days.  The colors are beautiful.  Not quite as orange as in this picture, I think the best colors will be next week.

Hi ... I'm here

Even though it's 12:30 a.m. and I've had a long day of traveling, I had to check in with you all and let you know I'm still here and have been thinking of you!  I've been so busy quilting my heart out and getting all my projects done for customers so I could go on our big vacation!  My husband and I haven't been on a vacation without kids in 22 years ... well we figured since dear son has graduated college, and sweet daughter is in college, we are pretty much free!  So hubby has a two week break that the school district takes in October, and with a couple of more days added onto it, we are driving from San Diego to northern Virginia.  Hubby has a group of friends that gets together every October and this is the first time he'll be able to see them all in years. 

We left yesterday at about 4 and had to drive to Deming, New Mexico ... we had made reservations, husband planning so each day there is about 10 hours of driving to get there ... we have to hurry and be there by Friday night, but on our way home we are taking lots of time and stopping and seeing family members as well as some other highlights that are a secret for now!  We had to drive through Tucson yesterday to see a very dear, old friend of my husband's mother.  She is such a sweet lady, and let us show up at her door at 10 p.m.  She tried to twist our arms several times to get us to stay with her, but sadly we knew we couldn't and had to stick to our plan.  She sent us on our way with snacks and drinks ... 96 years old and sharp as can be ... such a dear!

We forgot about the time change, so by the time we checked into our hotel and got into bed, it was 4 a.m.  Ugh!!  We brought our two dogs with us ... they love to travel and if you have pets that are like your children, you'll understand.  And if you don't, well you'll just think we're crazy!  Charlie heard voice this a.m. and so woke me up at 8 so I didn't get much sleep ... that's ok because I needed to get up so we could get going.  We stopped in Dallas tonight and just had a late dinner ... we are all pooped.  I'm going to get up at 6 a.m. so we can get out of here early tomorrow and not have to be driving so late at night.  I drive in the a.m. while hubby gets the rest of the sleep he missed, and he's a night owl, and loves to drive, so he'll drive the rest of the time.  Of course I brought some stitching to do and books to read ... as well as my Nook so we can do crosswords together ... me reading the clues, and him helping while he's driving.

I have lots of quilts to show you that I finished before I left, but I'll break them up so you're not overwhelmed ...

Another beauty by one of my sweetest customers ...she really likes this pantograph I have that has flowers and birds on it ... it is a Christmas present for her daughter-in-law to be (she hopes).

Glide thread, top and bobbin ... cream color

You can really see the design here

Of course it looks so much cuter in person and she absolutely loved the design.  What she doesn't realize is the design is just the icing ... her quilt just accepts the design and the beauty is in her quilting.

 

While we were out at dinner the other night I saw this cool wallpaper treatment ...

That's a close up ... I thought that this would be a really cool pattern for texture in a block or sashing.  I try to remember to look everywhere I go for ideas for quilting designs.

Wouldn't that look great in a sashing or a block that needed something?  Love it!  More tomrrow from the road!!

Grateful Memorial Day

I'm back ... well I was actually back last week, but have been playing catch up for a week!  We had a wonderful time at the graduation, and I have some terrific pics to share, but they're on our other computer, and I'm too tired to grab them right now.  So I'll share them tomorrow.  We got to spend a wonderful few days with our son, his girlfriend, and my brother and his family ... what better way to celebrate than a vacation in Hawaii!  We enjoyed some beautiful weather, yummy food, a few mai tais, a day of sailing, and everyone but me went parasailing!

Back to home ... I was scheduled for surgery to remove a basal cell on my face after we came back.  That was not very pleasant ... the worst part was the six shots he gave me before he stitched me up ... I'm sure that hurt less than having the stitches without the shots, but sheesh ... I kept saying "ouch, ouch ..."  Eight stitches later and a huge black eye ...

Isn't that awesome?  It's still red and bruised, but the bruises are turning more green!  I can see people look at me and wonder what's going on ... I do look like I got in a bar fight!

Before I left for Hawaii I got a quilt finished, but I knew I was having problems with my machine because the thread broke several times towards the bottom.  I was just trying to get it done and didn't want to worry about fixing it until after we came back.  Well I took the quilt off the frame, and there were a couple of spots in the back that needed to be fixed .... the thread just didn't look right.  So I tried readjusting the heighth of the needle bar, because I thought that's what the problem was ... I couldn't get it right.  I realized there was no way it was going to get done before I left ... I hate having problems with my machine ... it makes me sad!  I also have this thing in me that requires that I try to find and fix my own problems ... I knew I could call my dealer and he would walk me through the problem, but I really wanted to see if I could fix it myself.  Well after stepping away from the machine and then returning, it gave me a chance to clear my head and remember ... the last time I had issues and had to readjust the heighth of the needle bar, I had looked at a video ... but following the video still did not work.  When I called my dealer, he told me instead of being able to see half of the eye of the needle when it's at the lowest position, I should only just be able to see the hole ... I readjusted it and I'm back in business!!  I was so proud of myself for remembering this and being able to fix is myself!

I love the colors in this quilt ...

I just did a little loopy swirl ... I used Glide in the top and bobbin, and it was a perfect match ... think the color was light rust, or something like that.  I was a little nervous using a dark thread in a quilt with so many light areas, but it really gave the quilt so much character!

It's such a happy quilt ... beautiful!!

In conclusion I want to say that on this memorial day we should be thankful to all who have served and do serve our country, and for all those who have sacrificed their lives either in combat or not ... that we can live free ... I am thankful on this day ... but let's not only celebrate and be grateful on this day, but every day!

Computers -- acckkk!

Whew ... it is almost 11:30 p.m. and I have been trying for the last two days to get the McAfee Security to work on my computer -- it is a program that I downloaded through my internet provider.  It was working fine, and then in the last couple days I kept getting a blip on my screen every time I opened the computer that said "your computer is not protected."  Then I couldn't open the program ... after hours of troubleshooting, I finally decided to uninstall and reinstall the program.  Then I got a system error ... ugh!  Finally I got it to install and ran a scan, and now I feel okay to use the computer!  Sheesh ... I only like technology when it works.  I hate being a computer guru ... that, I am not!!

The last couple of days have been a blur ... we toured two colleges with our daughter on Wednesday, and then drove to Santa Barbara on Wednesday afternoon/evening.  To make a very long story short, we checked into a wonderful hotel on the beach in SB and toured the UC Santa Barbara campus on Thursday.  We drove around for about 2 1/2 hours Wed. night trying to find a hotel that accepted dogs ... I have a husband that likes to live on the edge, and we did not have reservations for Wed. night ... it is spring break, and so EVERYONE is traveling ... grrr ... I will not go there and bash my dear husband!  Ha, ha ... as things always do, it worked out ... somehow we arrived at the Fess Parker Doubletree Hotel ... a beautiful resort right across from the beach.  The room was amazing, and the price even more so!  I don't know how we got such a great rate, but I wish we could have stayed a couple of days.  We walked the dogs along the boardwalk Wednesday night after dinner, and I got up Thursday morning and took them for a long walk again ... lovely!  They had a ball!!

After our tour of UCSB, it was time for the fun to begin ... my favorite cousin (who is really more like my sister), lives in Santa Barbara ... when we get a chance to visit, it is like reliving all the years and great times we've spent together.  What a great visit we had!!  I got to meet her best friend that I've heard about for years, and it was just a beautiful day in Santa B.  I didn't want to leave!  We got home late last night, and I admit it was really nice to sleep in my own bed.

When you don't have a chance to get to your favorite candy store that the Easter Bunny shops at, you do the next best thing, and have it delivered (sometimes I can be so smart!) ... the See's candy came today ... I had to laugh because inside this big box was this ...

There was more packing than goodies ... really trying to restrain myself in the candy buying department this year -- I usually get way too carried away!

Ha, ha, ha!  I am so excited for Easter ... another one of my favorite times.  I love bunnies, and have always loved waking up on Easter morning and finding what the Easter bunny left!  Hidden eggs, Reese's peanut butter eggs, oh my!  So excited waiting for the Easter bunny to get here!

Okay tomorrow, we'll get back to quilting!  Oh how I've missed my quilting.

Traveling diaries

Good morning, well at least it's morning here!  We are in Irvine, CA which is only about 1 1/2 hours from San Diego looking at colleges with our sweet daughter.  We've already done this with her, but now that acceptances have started rolling in, it's time to narrow the choices.  We always travel with the two dogs, leaving a housesitter to tend to the cat and the home.  Charlie is usually sitting in the back of the car while I pack, just waiting ... he wants to be sure he's not left at home!  This time Sophie was in the back and was not letting anyone else in ... ha, ha!  The hotel we stayed at for the evening is in "Old Irvine" which looks like it consists of a block!  But part of the hotel building is in an old maybe train station, and that's the part we stayed in.  It is so cool ... the building is cement, and they left all the walls like that, so it has a great feel.  It's solid, so the only noise you can hear are the people trampling around upstairs.  The railroad tracks run right behind the building, so we've gotten to hear the trains all night ... I love it!  I'll post pictures later because I didn't take any last night ... we did a quick tour of the college campuses last evening after dinner, and at least we know where we're going this a.m.

A small problem I have sometimes ... I wake up in the wee hours of the morning and can't get back to sleep.  Usually when I'm at home, I get up, read for about 20 minutes, and then I'm tired enough to go back to sleep.  What do you do when you're in a small hotel room where the only door that closes also houses the toilet?  Well, you lay there and hope the time passes quickly!  I woke up at 5:00 a.m., the alarm was set for 7, and the dogs heard something at 6:45 so up and out we went.  That's okay by me ... I really love the early morning.  It's quiet and peaceful ... nice and cool out (yesterday inland San Diego where I live was 80!) ... that's the time that is usually all to me.  The dogs don't talk, so I love having them around, and no one is asking me questions, the phone isn't ringing, and I can just have some much needed quiet and rejuvenating time.

The dogs have been walked and fed ... they are so happy to be traveling they are a crack-up, just like kids!  They get to jump up on our beds and rest ... they think that's a huge treat!  I ran downstairs and got my coffee in a huge mug that I brought from home, and I grabbed a doughnut too (a real treat!).  Now I'll finish my little note to you all and be off to get ready for the rest of the day.  On the schedule is UC Irvine and Concordia University.  Then from there we leave for Santa Barbara where we'll stay overnight and then check out the UCSB campus tomorrow morning.  Have a great day friends!

P.S.  If you like chinese food and you haven't been to a PF Chang's lately, you need to go! We had dinner there last night; haven't eaten at one in a couple of years.  It was so delicious!