Home Again

We returned a few days ago from a very restfull 10 days! The weather was typical fall and we even had a wonderful thunder and lightening storm on the last day! Here is what I did accomplish while away. I so enjoyed this trip. Here is what we came home to!The double rainbow is on our property lines and so I couldn't for looking for the "pot of gold"! Dang! But look what else was waiting for us, actually it was waiting for DH. Our wood supply to be cut and split
(I can never get these photos in the right sequence even when I "tell" them where to stay!)

From "Fishland"

I am starting this post from "Fishland"! DH has been having reallllly good luck w/his attempts to lure those trout to his "little teeny flys". So, he is a happy man! He asked if I could find some fabrics to make a "fabric tube rod holder" to protect his $$$ rods in the PVC tubes he attaches to his pickup camper boat carrier. I of course said I was certain....(trying to keep a straight face).... the LFS would produce just the right choices!! ;))) Well, I have only been to the LFS twice already for the cosy baby flannels in the photo. We are in the heart of one of the best trout fishing and deer hunting areas in northern California and I tell you this little "burg" of a town has a "Ben Franklin Store" fabric department that keeps this in mind when they stock their fabrics! I was lucky enough to buy the last yard of the navy blue fabric on the bolt! The green rod fabric was a little more available. The gold/brown is for the actual rod pocket holder. DH loved my find and he has asked for a accessory cover for his fly tying box as well as a scrap bag. (That is a HSY.) Oddly enough the store carries some great quality fabrics as well as "craft" fabrics. Their prices are competitive also. So, I may make one more vist before we leave here! I developed a "muscle spasm" in my left "wing". So it is slowing me down. I brought my mini fan project and have done the fan's, the hard part is when I go to the next class to learn the rest!

Here are some of the "loot" I found!

Fishland!

Well we made it to the remote northern part of California.....I call it Fishland. DH's favorite places to "wet" his handtied flies! We are "holed"up in a cosy "cheap" motel. It is so nice and clean and has a small kitchen .....if a "person" wants to use it! I brought my "Featherweight" and UFO's! The kitchen table seats four and is just right for setting up my "stuff'! This is my private sewing retreat! Maids at my disposal! Eat in or out,my call! Did some sewing on a mini fan project I showed you sometime back. The fall colors are in their "elegant peak"up here. The temperature is in the freezing at night.....long undies is the dress code! I am anxious to get to the LFS,it is just about 3 blocks away! No photos yet. I just figured out how to work my laptop! Hope they do not cut off my wireless connection, I don't know where it is coming from! LOL!

Where Do the Years Go!

Here we are celebrating DH's 70th birthday and our 42 years of wedded bliss, with sons and mates! Now we are off to "fishland".

Catching Up!

I finally got back here! The last weeks have been full of preparing for our quilt guilds annual show! I "volunteered" to chair the judging committee. I have served as an assistant scribe so...that must have qualified me to a promotion!!! We had 143 quilts entered to be judged. The total entered to show was another 200!!! Wow, it was really spectacular! I was able to have some really great gal's to serve on the committee. Our guild hired two judges in order to speed up the judging process. The day was from 7 a.m. until about 4:30 p.m...of course the judging started at 10:00 a.m. sharp. We needed to get the tables setup before the judges arrived . The doors opened at 8:00 a.m. for quilt check in procedure and ended at 9:30 a.m.. there was a different committee for the check in process, thank goodness. That in itself is another giant job. I had worked on the judging "paper chain" for a couple weeks prior. Quilts were "pulled" at the last minute due to not being completed by the quilter....OR....added at the last minute. Only from the waiting list of course!!! Whew....it was down to the "wire" for that! I am so grateful for this new age record keeping on the computer!!!! Our judges came from out of the area. They both are highly qualified. (They both judge at the Pacific International Quilt Show, held in the San Mateo area south of San Francisco,Ca! Which is this weekend. I have never been able to attend that show. )Our show was a huge success. I am sure when the final tally is done , we will have paid the bills and made a profit!!!! I did enter a few quilts. Only one that won a blue ribbon was the quilt "Under The Rainbow", I had entered in the Labor Day weekend County Fair of which I have a post on that. Here it is again! Only with a 3rd Place Ribbon. Different Judges, different opinion!!!! ( I am considering putting it on eBay!) I had a offer from a local person already. I'll have to think on that!

Now, what I really want to share is the photos of the other quilts that I thought were among the spectacular! The deer one is all raw edge machine applique, it is wonderful and called "Prince of the Forest". Received a 3rd place award in its category. The other quilt is called, "Flight of Imagination"! Talk about illusion, this is it! Do you see the "stairs"? My friend Ann, made it and she deserved the 1st Place that she received for her entry. Let me know what you think!!!

Emily's Purse

Emily is our 14 years old beautiful grandaughter! She loves purses and western themed items. She is involved in 4-H Club horse activities. Soooo, I made her this purse. It is made from a old pair of Grandpa's jeans!!! The pocket was his "wallet" pocket!!! I put velcro to close it incase she puts her cell phone in it. She loves "blingy" and so that just made this all the more "glitzy"! The zipper is for "safekeeping" her stuff! That was a challenge in putting the zipper in! It is a oldy "invisible" one from my clothes making days. She fell during a volleyball game and landed on her wrist and has a "compressed fracture". Hope when she gets this in the mail it cheers her up!

Mini Fan

Here is my newest assignment from the mini paper peicing class I have attended for 3 years, that meets once a month, except for the summer! Our instructor says this year we are going to have more challenges!!! The fabrics that I chose reflect a victorian "attitude"in shades of burgundys & purples! The challenge is putting the bias cut "fan trim" on by "blind" hand stitching. It is 1/8" in diameter! The triangle piece on the bottom is also "blind" hand stitched!
Hopefully by the time I do all 18 of them I'll have one perfect!!!