Productivity!

I got more done today than I thought-I pieced the pink 'cut-up' bargello very quickly & at first I thought I might not even bother to border it-the size is OK, but on second thoughts, it looks a bit unfinished so I guess I'll border with the pink spotted fabric. I then moved on to sash some RW&B blocks donated by Loretta for another QOV -there were 9 of them so I fished around in the QOV box till I located another couple of donated blocks & resewed & resized them to give me 12 blocks, I'm sashing with a blue & will border with red & it will be a nice QOV. I will get a photo added tomorrow. I have one more block that will make a nice label with space for writing.
My red batiks came today, those people at thousandbolts.com are the best! I am soaking it now to remove excess dye & will dry & iron so I can make the piping tomorrow & get going on construction of Lucas' quilt.
The guys had a great time on the ATV's all the way over Engineer's pass, & they brought pizza for us when they came in tonight.They covered over 70 miles so they were all weary. Button & I only covered a couple of miles this evening on our walk! It is just beautiful with all the wildflowers , such a feast for the eyes. One of the other locals warned me this evening that a mountain lion & cub were seen on the road nearby where we walk- we have to be vigilant, we are after all living smack in the middle of these wild animals' territory. I will be even more cautious about keeping Button very close by, definitely no more skunk chasing for her!
I took a moment to pull out my patriotic fabrics to choose some for the new SB mystery beginning 4th.July-it's appropriate that it should be RW&B. I'm re-thinking using my antique treadle-I sort of gave up when I was unable to figure out the thread path & New Home wouldn't respond to my enquiries about a manual. I need to contact the company again. it's a lovely old machine & it has all sorts of original attachments such as a ruffler with instructions for it's use. The cabinet needs some touch up some TLC-it got very scarred in shipment but the machine itself is in good shape if only I could get it threaded correctly!

Sunset and sew on!

Pun intended, LOL.
This was sunset yesterday as I walked, around 7 p.m. I think, that's MST.
Today I had a couple of hours to
sew & finished the borders on the second OC, but every time I lay out a quilt-on the bed or the floor- Button feels that she must lay claim to it! One border may look as if it "waves" it really doesn't but every time I went to take a photo Button had walked across the quilt & in the end I just gave up! The second OC is a little different to the first. I set the blocks on the straight & made narrow stop borders from orange & blue [because I ran short of those fabrics] then I used the leftover blocks in the corners as well as the sides. I only have 4 of the little blocks left, woohoo!
Late afternoon I went into Montrose with DH- he had to pick up parts to repair one of the quads after Madeleine's accident last week- while there I ran into the Pfaff store & picked up a 5 groove pintuck foot-their last one- so I wouldn't have to struggle with the zipper foot to make the rest of the binding for Lucas' quilt. For the moment unfortunately I've "gone about as fur as I can go" [as they sing in "Oklahoma!"] with this memory quilt because I need red batik for piping & applique so had to order from thousandbolts & it won't be here until Monday at the very earliest, probably Tuesday. We are two hours & $35 plus in gas from the nearest quilt shop so ordering online is really the only cost effective alternative.
On the way down the mountain we encountered a doe with a very new fawn, really tiny. She was nursing, amazing, the very first time I have ever seen a fawn nursing from the doe. She was so tiny she could barely reach to nurse from momma doe who was standing. I wanted a photo but DH backed up too close & they spooked. I am hoping I will get another photo op. but the chances are very slim.
We ate at "Siam" in Ridgway on the way home, it's really lovely food & Fridays there is entertainment so we like to dine al fresco & enjoy the music.
This weekend is a "quilting retreat" with my Stashbusters group, so I plan to work on the baby quilt for one of our church families in Phx. who recently adopted a baby girl. I have two pieced strips left from the pink bargello which I plan to somehow work into a baby size quilt.

Summer in Alpine Climes

Our second round of guests departed this morning, youngest DS & his GF plus G'son #1, Daniel whose family acquired a new puppy since he got here so he just had to go back to 115 degree Phoenix see her!
Here are JW & Madeleine at sunset at 9,000ft, & a few photos of the beautiful lupins & other wildflowers now gracing the roadsides & meadows in our alpine development. No more beautiful though than these two young people! Amanda had asked me about the "Choke Cherries" I mentioned on a visit to her blog so here is a photo of them-those white clusters of flowers will be dark red berries that the bears love. They make good jam but the pits are too large to make it worth the effort. We had quite an eventful visit with the young folk especially when Madeleine took a spill from the quad necessitating an ER visit. Damage is minor compared to the disaster it could have been, mostly scratches, minor shoulder separation, soreness & a couple of stitches in her arm.
The same day our little Aussie Terrier was again attacked by the same dog up the road, so another vet. visit, more antibiotic & pain shots & meds. & we're fortunate she likes the peanut butter that disguises the pills. My previous vigilance is now hyper vigilance where our little dog is concerned, this simply cannot happen again. On Saturday we visited the Cottonwood Cellars Vineyard in Olathe for a wine tasting, here we are with a few of the barrels. That was fun & we came home with about a case of assorted wines.
I have all borders on the OC quilt set on point & all but two sides of the final border on the second top. That's a job for this week & then it's on to the memory quilt for Lucas & Matt's birthday July 11. I am currently preparing the photos for printing onto the fabric, that is the slowest part of memory quilt construction.I have decided that this printer we have in CO. is not sophisticated enough to produce decent pics. for a quilt so we're off to Montrose first thing in the morning to buy a new one.

OC Times Two!

Today I pieced my OC blocks into two tops. I had only intended to make one but discovered that if I laid one set out on point & another on the straight I could make two- with a little "finessing" that is! I took 6 of the side setting triangle blocks & sewed them together to make three more album blocks then only needed one more each of the spinning stars & album blocks. If you look closely at the top that is set on point you can spot the three triangle units I had to join. Looking at the pieced tops this evening I think I will make 2" orange & teal borders & a 3 1/2" red or blue border for each top. That will make them a nice size for QOV'S. I'll use the leftover 3 1/2" blocks to insert into the borders to add a little more interest. I had wondered how other quilters were coming up with "twofers" from these mystery quilts & now I see how! I am delighted with the OC results & I don't even notice the "weird & ugly" scraps, in fact I have to search for them, LOL. I doubt I'll get the borders done until next Wednesday at the guild sew-day as our youngest DS & GF arrive Saturday for a week long visit.
The lupins are blooming , everyday when we walk we see more blue blossoms so I must remember to take the camera & capture the sight before it passes for the season. The choke cherry trees too are in bloom & it looks as if we could have a bumper crop, won't the bears be pleased!

Twin's quilts

Our family company from Boston came in last Sunday & nephew & wife are out on the quads riding up to Yankee Boy while we entertain their twins! In fact Uncle Walter[really Great Uncle Walter!] just took them down for a nap & I snapped a couple of pics. of Emily & Daniel snoozing with the quilts I made before they were born. They brought them along all the way from Boston & it's lovely to see the quilts well used, after all isn't that why we give quilts to those we love? When they wake up I will show them how I grind the wheat to make bread-we're having white pizza tonight so I need [no pun intended] to make the crust for said pizza. Then they can watch to see how we make ice cream-home made ginger ice cream tonight over fresh pineapple & mango, yummo!
We actually got a little snow again earlier this week, not enough to stick around the house but definitely making a difference on the surrounding peaks. Ridgway lake has been drained VERY low, lower than I ever saw it because such a large volume of snow melt is expected after a record year for snow here. So much for global warming, it's been the coolest, snowiest spring we can remember!
After step 4 of the OC mystery Bonnie shared a cream cheese pecan pie recipe as reward & it looked & sounded delish so I made one this week & it was a hit! Tomorrow we plan to drive to Telluride & take the kids on the Gondola to the top of the mountain, they will enjoy that & we'll take Button too, Telluride is a very dog-friendly town. Button is doing well after being bitten by a very large bossy dog a week ago which necessitated a trip to the ER.vet. Button is barely 14 lbs & she was attacked from the rear so fortunately the injuries are on her behind! Antibiotics have kept infection at bay & the wounds are healing up nicely.
I haven't done any more to the OC mystery quilt since Wednesday at Guild sew-day when I made a little progress on step 5. I checked out the pics on quiltvillechat from the mystery quilters who have assembled their tops already & I prefer the straight lay out [I think Lurline showed it] because it looks more interesting to me & I like the idea of an orange zig-zag around the border. I will make a decision after I see my own blocks completed & laid out probably not before guild sew-day next Wednesday.