Placemats

Last week I went on a quilting shop hop.  The first day we drove 381 miles visiting seven different shops in 11 hours.  It was a long day but we sure had fun seeing all the great things the quilt stores had for us to enjoy.  Two days later, we went to the last three.  Always lots of new things and of course, I found a couple of new projects.

One of them was a four in one placemat.  It is really pretty cool and very easy to make.  I bought some of that realistic vegetable/fruit fabric--peaches, cherries, peas and yellow squash.  My placemat is very colorful as you can see!  Of course, when unfolded you would only see one color at a time.  I like them because you can have a different look with a turn of your mat!

"Heirloom" Table Runner

Okay, this will probably NOT be an heirloom, as this was my first attempt, but it was fun.  I can already tell I need to press better and use a little more "Best Press".  (If you click on the photo, you can see stitching better.)

The center was a ladder stitch used with a wing needle.  The next was decorative stitches and finished with pin tucks.  I then machine embroidered the flowers at the ends.

I used black lingerie thread on the linen table runner.  This was done for the Bernina Club and a friend of mine used the black table runner also.  She chose to use some colored thread.  I'm anxious to see how different that looks and also her design!  I always learn from what other people have chosen to do.  I guess that's what classes are all about!

Pro Bono Quilts

My friend, Nita, and I got together last fall and made a couple of pro bono quilts each to use up some of our stashes.  We decided on the Take Five pattern which is quick and easy.  We went to one of our local quilt shops and used their AccuQuilt cutter.  That is one quick way to do some cutting for sure!!

Well, we got the tops done very quickly but stalled on the quilting.  But,  Nita got a new Tin Lizzie recently and we both took a lesson to learn how to use it.  I plan to go to the shop and rent their machine!  It is so much fun and so much easier than trying to quilt on a regular sewing machine.   But Nita invited me to quilt on her new "toy" and I loved it.

So, my two are done.  They aren't perfect--I definitely have lots of room to grow--but they will do.

Trip out West

Hubby and I just returned from a road trip to Colorado and Arizona!

Colorado is one of our favorite spots and we hadn't been there for several years.  We went to Manitou Springs and enjoyed Pikes Peak by way of the Cog railway,  Garden of the Gods, Seven Falls, and the magnificent cliff dwellings!

We then drove through Durango to Mesa Verde National Park and saw the even bigger cliff dwellings.  Wow, they were impressive.  Those people worked hard to live!  How lucky we are to live in this day and age.

Then we drove over to the Grand Canyon's North Rim.  Nineteen years ago we saw the South.  They are very different views.  We enjoyed both.  Incredible!   We were only there for a few hours and we didn't get to see the sunrise or sunset.  If we had to do it again, we would stay in one of those quaint little cabins and spend a day or two.
 
It was very hot and being in the sun was miserable.  Our daughter, Stacey, and son in law, Mike,  hiked down into the cabin a couple of years ago and loved the experience.  Not us, we are too old and out of shape for anything like that!  As we were driving out of the canyon area, the temperature was 110 degrees.  Thank God for air conditioning!

The most unusual and fun thing we did occurred at the Garden of the Gods:

 Yep, we rode "SEGWAYS"!

We always try doing different things on vacations. We've rode four wheelers in Hawaii and Alaska, ziplined in Alaska, and  hot air ballooned in Albuquerque. 

The segways were so much fun ONCE we learned how to use them.  It is definitely different and steering was the main thing I had trouble with.  While practicing, I got a little too close to a parked segway and turned improperly and down I went!  But it was the 5 second rule and I was up and good and ready to go on.  We headed out in the bicycle path on the road and rode for an hour around the park.  It was a little stressful at the beginning but we got the hang of it very quickly and had no problems whatsoever.  We didn't do these kind of things when we were younger and are trying to make up for it now! 

We also managed to find several geocaches along the way!  Always fun to do them!  Even found one without a GPS!  And that's another story for another day.