Back to Progress Reports Thru 8/1

Now that I'm done with vacation I guess I'd better get back to work.
We got home on Tuesday and got stuff unloaded and sort of put away.

Wednesday we had to go pick up my Ranchero. We had left it to have Les Schwab check out the leak on the master cylinder. We also had to go and pick up the Honda Shadow we left to get some work done on it. Then I went by my friends house to drop off the goodies I had gotten for her on our trip. She was leaving the next morning for a little visit to her son in Denver. In the evening we went to a cruise-in by our house to meet with another friend (took the Ranchero) and look at all the neat cars.

Thursday my BQB (best quilting buddy) (also met up at the cruise-in), came over and we did our usual Thursday thing. Working on UFO's. I had a project from our quilting group (Paws to Sew) from 2010. It was our Christmas challenge (we swap blocks every year) that was a signature block. I got it all put together, made the binding and the backing.

Friday I loaded the UFO from yesterday on the longarm and got it quilted, attached the binding to the front. I also loaded a quilt top (small) that I will be taking to my Dr's office, and got it quilted. I also had to piece the backing on that before I loaded it. I attached the binding to the top of the quilt. I may wait a few days until it cools down to sit under them to sew the binding down.

Saturday I pieced together a backing for the "Many Trips" top and loaded it on the machine and started quilting it. I also topstitched around the tea  bag holders for inventory and started assembling the scrap catchers. I also started stitching down the binding on the UFO I quilted yesterday.


That's it for this week.
Til later,
Hugs & Stitches,
Mary

August Goals

I think I may start listing at the beginning of each month, my goals for the month.
Here they are for August.

1. Finish embroidering one block of Vintage Tin.

2. Quilt "Scrappy Trips" flimsy.

3. Quilt Guadalupe flimsy.

4. UFO-Cancer quilt

5. Finish assembling the 40+ scrap catchers for inventory.

6. Finish assembling the 40+ tea bag holders for inventory.

I think that should do me for this month. I will be working on other inventory for a quilt show that I will be vending at in October, along with catching up on client quilts waiting for me to start on.

Hope you have a wonderful productive August.

Til later,
Hugs & Stitches,
Mary                                                          

Vacation is Over

I've been gone the last 2 weeks on vacation. I had fun while it lasted, but it's good to be home.

We left on a Tuesday headed down to Arizona to visit with my brothers. Of course we had to stay a night at Sam's Town in Las Vegas.

Then it was on to Cottonwood, AZ. to visit. While I was there I talked to my brothers about our parents ashes that I had. I thought it would be a good idea to spread them where we had some good memories of childhood. We all agreed and took them up to Oak Creek. This is where they are.

I had a good visit with my brothers and really hated to leave. I think I will not wait so long next time to visit. It had been too long.

From there we went through New Mexico, Colorado, S. Dakota, Wyoming, Montana. Idaho and back home.

We stopped at Mt. Rushmore.

I must say, I never thought I would see this in person. It was truly awe inspiring to see this. Something I will always remember.

From there we went to Devil's Tower. I think my favorite part on this was seeing the prairie dogs. I don't know if you can see them in the pic.

From there it was on to Yellowstone Park. We were lucky enough to get a room in the park for one night. This whole trip did not have a set itinerary. We just sort of flew by the seat of our pants for reservations on rooms. Yellowstone was a treat, but you could still see the devastation of the fires from a few years ago. On the way into the park I got a pic of a momma moose with her baby.

In the park we were stopped by a herd of buffalo that was on each side of the road. People had stopped on the side of the road and in the middle of the road. While we waited to start moving again a buffalo crossed the road in front of the car in front of us. On the other side of the road a biker had stopped to get pics. The buffalo got really, really close to his bike, and the biker was making his way behind the car in front of us :-). I was just waiting for the buffalo to decide to knock the bike over, but he just moved on.

Of course we had to wait around for Old Faithful to make a showing.

From there we really wanted to hit Glacier Park but that was not to be as the fires had everything closed down. Next trip maybe.

I must admit that I did get to hit 22 Quilt Shops on this trip. I had A LOT marked down that were participating in the Row by Row. Got a lot of nice rows (and a bit of fabric :-) ). A lot of new patterns and gifties for the girls in my sewing group.

I even got to visit with my friend that lives in Soap Lake and help her get a new vintage machine (Singer 404).

Life is good.

That's it for now.
Til later,
Hugs & Stitches,
Mary

P.S. I have to post this pic. When I caught my first glimpse I thought it looked like The Burrow in Harry Potter.