Travel Sewing

Hotel Sewing Again

 I did find a few minutes to do some hand sewing between work and site seeing.  I did the sewing mostly after work each night to unwind before going to sleep. This is what it looked like when I first set up.   




What I accomplished

And here is what I accomplished.  The Yo-Yo's are all tacked down and the centers are appliqued down and some of the small ones are also appliqued down.  



Yo-Yo total



Here are all the Yo-Yos I have finished (10) or almost finished (5) as of this morning, and (10) with just centers.  I spent time Saturday and last evening 

making more Yo-Yo's the supply sure seem to dwindle fast.

I Have Been Traveling

Yes it was travel for work time.  This time I was in Wheatland, Wyoming and this time I had company.  My Mr. B. went with me.  He had some vacation time to use up so he kept me company.  I was working 2 PM to 10:30 PM but he had a pleasant time off even if he did wish he had stayed home and worked on his Man Cave.  I enjoyed having his company.  He would have missed me if he didn't come.

Richard in a Wagon Wheel Rut


We did find time to see some of the local sites.  One morning we went over to Guernsey Wyoming to see the Oregon Trail Landmarks.  First we went to the Oregon Trail Ruts.
It is amazing to me that so many wheels driving over this sand stone could make such deep ruts.  One place we read they are as deep as five feet in some places.  Mr. B. did take his key out of his pocket and sure enough it took no energy at all to scape a line in the sand stone.  We did not crave our names into the stone. 


The Trail West


It was interesting to learn more about the pioneers and their trip West.  I am grateful they had the courage to do such a thing.  I am also grateful that when I moved West I had a nice air conditioned car to do it in.   



Register Cliff

 Our second stop on this morning was the Register Cliff.  Here many pioneers carved their names into the sand stone.  One industrious trader blasted a root cellar storage area into the mountain, see the hold in the wall behind the sign. 



Close up without fence





Close up with fence



There were a lot of names craved and the wall was protected by a fence to prevent modern day would be carvers.



Mr. & Mrs. B at Fort Laramie

 Our second day of site seeing took us to Fort Laramie.  This was very interesting and I would have liked to spend some more time there, but I had to be to work by 2 PM.  One of my co-workers went with us so here is a picture of both of us together.


Covered Wagon & Handcart



When the fort was in its heyday it had 187 buildings and a 1000 people living there.  Now there are 23 buildings in different stages of repair. 

We stopped so I could get out of the car and take a picture of this plaque.  Here I meet a Welshman who was following one of his ancestor's.  His ancestor had joined the Mormons and he was following the trail all the way from Omaha, Nebraska to Salt Lake City, Utah.  We were having a hard time getting the picture.  He ended up standing on the fence rail in front of the monument and he offered to take one for me.  I noticed his accent and asked where he was from, he said Wales.  I mentioned I have a second cousin in Wales but of course I don't know the area he where lives.  My other second cousin told me but I forgot.  This was all the conversation we had.  But the exchange left an impression on me.  I wished we had exchanged names or something.  I have thought of him often and wonder how his trip is going.  What did he hope to accomplish and  has he accomplished his goal?  I wish him well on his journey!

We had lovely weather while in Wyoming nice cool evenings and pleasant days.  We came home to 111 degrees and when you have been away and come back it sure hits you hard.

Traveling and Quilting Do Go Together

Last Sunday the 15th I left my home to go travel for a week to work at a go-live.  I was in a little town in Colorado. I was able to get a lot of hand sewing done.  Since I wasn't here for two weeks like I was two years I didn't borrow a sewing machine.  Here is what I did two years ago when I was in Colorado.

Ready to hand sew

That is my traveling Yo-Yo making kit.  And my cell phone to keep me up to date on email and Facebook.

What I finished in a week

I also worked on Dear Jane Blue Work.  Above are all the Yo-Yos I tacked on or appliqued on.  I made a lot of progress.  See what happens when I don't have a computer. 

In case you didn't notice I learned how to add one of my own pictures to my blogger background.  That is a picture of my Boo Swap Dear Jane.  I like showing off my work this way, and it will be different than any other blog. 

Happy Stitching!

Our Little Trip

Mr. B. and I took a little trip for our 19th wedding anniversary up to or really over to Safford, AZ.  We wanted to go to the new temple there that has been opened less than a year.   

I enjoy seeing the rock formations.  I miss the green of Florida but I do like the mountains and rock formations.  the more interesting they are the better I like them. 

The Gila Valley Temple at night.

During the day. 

On Friday afternoon we went to the Kartchner Caverns.  The caverns have only been open to the public for about 10 years.   We were able to see the Big Room, which will be close in about 10 days, when the bats return.  No pictures are allowed to be taken inside the caverns, so I purchased a few postcards.   It was a very interesting tour. 

Quilting Update and Travel

Blocks on July 17, 2010

I'm thinking there must be a way I can spice up these quilting updates. I'm not finding any original ideas running around in my head. Isn't it interesting how some days you feel so creative when writing and other days it's like the well is dry. So here are this week's and last week's blocks. These two blocks are the ones I finished on Saturday, July 17th. I wasn't able to post last Sunday because I was in Ogallala Nebraska for work. I also didn't do a lot of sewing. I'm just to interested in working on my Genealogy. Not that I'm getting very far but I'm sure enjoying looking for documents and connecting the dots. It is amazing how much time it takes.

I left for Nebraska on Sunday morning about 6:15 AM, arrived in Denver and then drove about four hours to Nebraska. I took breaks frequently. At each stop my husband had me text him with my location and the make, model and license plate # of the renal car I had. Isn't he a good guy, making sure I was safe.

While I was in Ogallala I did a couple of tourist type things.  I ate my first ever Rocky Mountain Oysters.  The were good, tasted to me like a mild liver, it took several pieces before I could decide what they tasted like.  They were breaded and fried, so that usually makes any thing taste good.  I do like liver so that wasn't an issue for. 

Crazy Quilt seen at The Mansion on the Hill

I took a tour of the Mansion on the Hill, which was the first home built in Ogallala.  The walls where made from brick and where 16 inches deep. All the wood for the house was imported because after all they are in the plains and there weren't any trees. That would be so strange for me, and I'm glad they now have trees. This picture is from the master bedroom and is of a crazy quilt. The docent wasn't real sure of when it was made and states it is in good condition for it's age, only a couple of worn spots.

I don't know if you can see the chair real well but it is had out of cattle horns.  You should be able to double click on the picture to see it larger.  I also went to Boot Hill Cemetery

Blocks from July 25, 2010

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Here are the blocks I made this weekend.  I made these on Saturday and Sunday, that makes a total of 61 blocks. 

I almost forgot I did one other fun thing, the day I drove back to Denver to fly home I had a little time, so I went to a quilt shop,  you can tell by the pictures the name of the shop.  For those of you who don't know this is Harriet Hargrave's shop.  I took a Machine Quilting class from her a few years ago when she came to the valley to teach.  It was an excellent class.  I enjoyed her shop and her staff were very pleasant. 

Picture I took of the shop front

Well have a good week and Happy Stitching!

Kierra's & Will's Wedding

We have arrived home safe & sound! The wedding has occurred, the happy couple are now married. I have posted pictures on my webshots album. I'll post some here tomorrow but this will do for tonight. Kierra's & Will's Wedding.

I'm going to try a slide show here. It works, but you can't see my comments or captions for the pictures. Oh Well, if you want to see the captions, use the link above.


Kierra’s Wedding

A Day Trip

I came home from work on Friday totally stressed. I suggested we take a day trip for a change of scenery to refresh me. So we got in the car and drove. We drove from Mesa over to Wickenburg on to Jerome a mining ghost town, which was packed. On to Pine, Payson and back into the Valley of the Sun.
I took pictures while we went about, some times Richard would even stop and let me out to take pictures, most where done from a speeding car. Of the 40 plus pictures I took here are my 11 favorites.
As we were going to past Lake Pleasant I said it looks dusty, my DH laughed his head off and said, "Of course it is dusty, we live in a desert". What I was trying to say is I missed the clean crisp colors of Florida the lush green and other colors. At least the sky was clear blue.
While he drove we listened to music and sang and talked, we told each other some more stories of our lives. We both live very much in the present so we don't really talk about our lives before we were a couple. I had lived a lot of life before I meet him when I was 43. I also knitted two baby hats on a circle loom for humanitarian services, I like to do that when we drive, I don't get so restless and I feel I have accomplished something.

Sunday Quilting Upate

Just for those who are curious if we were able to get all of our things into Jan's car, here is the proof in the picture. One car, two quilters and their stuff, room for nothing else, "priceless".

We had a great time! I didn't take many pictures and none of Jan or I. The few I did take didn't turn out well. We did lots of sewing, lots of eating and some talking. The four of us at our table were the quietest in the group. But when we did talk we had something good to share.
I was able to share some of my talents with others, that always feels good. I gave Linda a private mini lesson in EQ6 and had Ann, Sandi and Judy look on. It was fun to watch Linda's eyes light up as she saw the possibilities of the program.


Here is what I worked on while at camp. The black and gray is for Kierra's front room window. The red one is for her bathroom window, it needs a dark gray binding. Both are quilted in a crosshatch pattern. The Angel is my December mini quilt, the last one in a series of twelve. Needs the borders to be quilted and a binding. The horse is for Krystal as a Christmas gift (no fears the kids don't read my blog.), the 2 blocks under the horse are part of the borders. It needs a bunch more blocks for the borders. Some will be pieced and some will have applique and some will be plain. I remade one DJ blocks for my DJ Halloween swap, that's the slime green & purple blocks. Also I made a ton of half square triangles and made 12 pin wheels and 3 other blocks for the Washington Medallion Quilt. I got a lot done!! I'm happy!

I know you can't tell it but behind these quilts is a brand new design wall. My husband put some insulation on the wall I use all the time. I was tired of pushing pins into the wall, now I have nice easy insulation to stick those pins into. Tomorrow I'll cover it with flannel. He did a great job!! Thanks Honey!!!


Here is the last picture of my DJ Halloween Swap as of 9.9.09. I'm planing to do blue and orange half square blocks around the 4 blocks on the bottom left. I moved two blocks to the back, they just don't fit the colors I'm using. I'm happy with the bottom right corner, now just to cut and sew all the new parts. I'm seeing less white all the time.
Well the laundry is almost done, I need to finish unpacking my sewing stuff. So take care all!!
P.S. My little gift bag was liked by all, especially the lucky winner.

Sights from CO

This is the first time I have had to post some of the fun things I saw in CO. On Saturday I had a day off and I went to the Rocky Mountain National Park. I saw lots of beautiful things, only a few of them are here. It was free admission day, what an extra bonus that was. Yes even thought it is summer, there is still snow on the mountains. I understand that it is present all year long. But what would I know I live in AZ.


I learned how to take black & white pictures with my camera and I took a few just to try it. This is the same scene as the color one above.


I took a dirt road up to the top, it was the Old Falls River road. It was 9 miles long with lots of switch backs. Luckily it was one way only. There were lots of beautiful water falls, here is the biggest one I saw and I walked a ways down the path. My husband was very surprised I took the rental car on a dirt road. I look at it this way if I would do it with my car, I can do it with a rental car.


If you click on this picture you can enlarge the picture. You will notice as the rocks and snow meet, there is a start of a stream. There were lots of these streams that all merged into the big stream below, where I took pictures of the water falls. Since I never spent a lot of times in the mountains I found this very interesting.


Well I finally reached the top. I could have gone on a hike and go a little higher, but something told me I'm a lot higher than usual and I'm not as young as I used to be, so maybe you better not climb that hill. So I didn't. I think it was a good thing I listened to myself, because after I ate lunch I had a little issue with altitude sickness. I began to feel mildly nauseated and dizzy. So I drank more water, rested and looked out a window at the scenery for a while. And I moved to lower altitude, as the directions on the wall said to do. I can follow instructions. It was amazing at how deep the snow was in places. This store is above the tree line.


On my trip back to the bottom of the mountain I was scared. The road was narrow plus on the passenger side of the car, there was no guard rail and a very big drop off. I'm a girl, so I know my depth perception is a little off. Needless to say I hugged the double yellow line. I didn't want to be anywhere close to that edge. This was a magnificent elk I saw sitting in this field. He hardly moved, he was so statuesque. Lots of people had their tripods out and were taking pictures, it was almost like he was posing. I did finally see him move his head. So he was real. My next sight was a herd of elk. I would say there was about 50 of them. I took a picture but I didn't post it. I didn't want to bore you to tears.


The night before I left to come home I and two co-workers Lydia and Andrea went to Estes Park, we went to the Stanley Hotel and we were able to join a tour. Our tour guide was Patti and she was excellent. It was the last tour of the day, so she took her time, it was two hours long. She told us all the ghost stories. Steven King, the movie The Shinning and of course the Stanleys. Afterwards we had a great dinner at Twin Oaks. It was a good way to end the trip.

It was nice to see all this but it is nice to be home.

Trip to Page AZ

Actually I have been out of town for two weeks for work. The week of June 8th I was in CO. I didn't take any picture in CO. I did end up in Urgent Care with Pink Eye. That was fun, NOT. I was even sent to the hotel early on Wednesday since my eyes look miserable. I did go to my room and laid down for 2 hours and slept. I seldom sleep during the day. I must have needed it. I was home for a weekend and on Monday the 15th I and two other co-workers drove to Page AZ.


I did do some hiking and took some pictures of the high desert. This is Horseshoe Bend. I was leaning very close to the edge of the ridge I was on to get this picture. I was leaning against a large rock to steady myself. I did get dizzy after I took this picture, I'm not really crazy about heights that have no railing. That is the Colorado River down there, it's heading to the Grand Canyon.


Here is my picture at the end of the trail. I haven't done a lot of exercise since November because of Plantar Fasciitis, so I was glad to finish this 1.5 mile round trip hike, and did it in good time, 20 minutes back which was mostly up hill. I did take my time. It was a good feeling, so foot pain or not, I'm going back to the gym. My foot was no worst for the activity. Yes I did get rained on during my hike, but it wasn't a hard rain and it didn't slow me down any. Matter of fact it felt good.