Quilt Delivered!

I am happy to say that another quilt has gone to its new home, Rob and Carina picked up their wedding gift today.

They were married in Belgium about 6 weeks ago, may they sleep safely under this quilt for many years.

Not Much To Show!

The label is made and attached and this quilt is ready to go off to England to a Mum about to birth a baby boy.

 The binding had been ready for sometime for the grey  modern quilt and this was a a good opportunity to get it bound, I could sit and sew and save my energy.

I really wanted to get a quilt on the longarm but this was a "down" week for me-caught a nasty virus from The Boy and wound up with asthmatic bronchitis that has sapped my energy. From Wednesday on I felt as if I could barely get out of my own way, but the antibiotics and steroids have kicked in and I made it to the gym today! Of course the symptoms remain long after Elvis has left the building, LOL but at least I am on the mend and hoping for more progress next week though we have The Boy and that limits my activities.

BOM Log Cabin Blocks

Last Saturday was pick up for the next month's fabric and assignment and today all sixteen blocks are finished and I can forget that for the next month! No two are meant to be exactly the same and no block should have the same bright color more than once, I think I did the job correctly, you can see where the LC blocks go in the picture below.

Just as a reminder, this is the finished BOM quilt, isn't it gorgeous? I got in some black battings, don't want to use white in case of "pokies".

But I have no idea how to quilt it!

Delectable Dogsled Table Runner

Would you believe that I have already made use of the pattern and some of the fabric from Alaska?

 Saturday I found some of the coordinates I will need for the quilt pattern, and yesterday sewed up this cute runner.

It went together very easily, so I know what to expect when I tackle the lap quilt.
When I was getting the coordinating batiks cut, I noticed a basket of kits and picked it up to look more closely- this one came home with me!

I think it's adorable! It's a panel that includes LED lights, is that cute? Last Christmas I saw some chatter on my internet quilting professionals group about a pieced quilt pattern for a Christmas tree with LED lights. I looked all over the internet for it and posted the query on my online group to no avail. This kit has a panel rather than a pieced tree but I didn't have to think too hard to buy it, I knew that it would probably not be there when I looked for it the next time. I think I might also put crystals on it, just for some extra sparkle!

Friday Finishes

Linking up with Friday Finishes

Catching up from our vacation, I think I am almost there! Last night I finished the 16 partial Log Cabin blocks for 35th. Ave BOM due tomorrow.

Then tackled the sashing and borders for last year's Craftsy BOM and just got it done this afternoon.

 I am quite happy with the finished top, but can't decide whether to custom quilt or not, what do you think? I am leaning towards custom.

Victoria BC

After leaving Ketchikan we were at sea for a day and a half. Not a lot to see, we were too far from land although we noticed quite a few whales breaching in the late afternoon.

 We watched ice carving by one of the chefs......

Hung out on the Lido deck

and spent time at "our" table playing Mexican train dominoes and cards.

Our final stop on the trip was Victoria BC.

Picture taken near the fabulous Empress Fairmont Hotel, built in 1908 .

This unique evergreen tree is called "Arbustus", I have never seen the like anywhere.

One of several shrub sculptures in this city.

A lively violinist dressed as Darth Vadar entertained the crowds,

And we found a store with some funky merchandise, shoes for your wine bottles.........

a cartoon golf cart.........

and unusual chess sets

 First stop on our  mini "pub crawl", nice people working, very helpful advice for our limited time in the area.

Then onto the "Canoe" micro brewery, friendly folk there too.

 

 And lots to interest us.

Finally we were drawn into the  Irish Pub.

 

 Featuring musical entertainment of the foot tapping Irish genre.

And excellent food including, Shepherd's Pie, Bangers and Mash, Irish Stew, Lamb burger, and even Oyster Poor Boys. The dessert you see me holding was shared among us, it was superb!

Fudgey brownie, Bailey's Ice Cream and whisky sauce yum, yum, yum, OMG!

A fitting end to a wonderful adventure which we plan to repeat in four years after JW finishes his residency.

Beginning The Cruise

One of many competitive Cribbage games!

After three days at sea we sailed up Tracy Arm on this trip rather than Glacier Bay-

The jewel colors of the water are amazing as are the icebergs, some so blue/turquoise and on a cloudy day the colors are even more dramatic.

That is a glacier in the distance between the last two mountains, we were told that the mountains around Tracy Arm rise to several thousand feet and the water a thousand feet deep and more.
 Tracy Arm is beautiful, but our ship was not able to get close to either the North or South Glacier so it was anti climactic compared to the drama of Glacier Bay where we cruised very close to the Glacier all day. Unless you are able to take a smaller tour deep into the Fiord I recommend Glacier Bay-most cruises do one or the other but not both.
On the fourth day we berthed at Juneau, the capital of AK. I visited the quilt shop in town called Changing Tides where I purchased another Lisa Moore pattern [to add to the one I bought last trip!]

I hope to actually use this one soon as I plan to make a table runner for a friend using a little of the fabric I found in Ketchikan.
It is possible to take a bus to the Mendenhall Glacier, and trek about, and there's a visitor center with local area information.

Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier is declining - some decline, some advance and others are fairly static. This one still looks very large just from the bit you can see.

The next port of call was Sitka, called Archangel under Russian rule [before "Seward's Folly", LOL].

It is on the west side of Baranof Island and the name Sitka derives from Sheet'ka the Tlinglit name for the people who lived there. Cruise ships must anchor there at a distance from the shore and passengers take a tender the few minutes to the dock.
Here DH and I visited the Raptor Center, a hospital and rehab center for raptors, mainly Bald Eagles. It isn't possible to do justice to this facility without lengthy explanations and pictures but you can get a lot from visiting their website. We hiked the two miles round trip rather than ride the bus, even though the weather was inclement. The rest of the family took a tour that visited several other sites including Fortress Of The Bear and the Totem National Park.

We ate lunch at The Pub, fish and chips, what else!

A few brews too of course............

I paid a visit to Abby's Reflection quilt shop where I purchased a nice set of FQ's that I can't show yet because they are a gift for a friend!

Next stop, Ketchikan, where we only had a few hours so we stayed around the dock area. Fortunately that is where most of the town seems to be located including the quilt shop!

The very helpful sales lady consented to a photo. 

 I remembered the shop well from the previous visit and since then it has expanded, about doubled in size, tourist trade must be very profitable!

These fabrics are for the "Delectable Dogsled" pattern, they join the fabrics below which I purchased on the previous Alaska trip.

 The first Lisa Moore pattern still unused.......

and the fabrics from the other visit, aging for 5 years or so! I really must make something with them, probably a couple of quilts including an "I Spy" to showcase the Alaskan features on each piece.