Day 2

I was too tired to blog last night, didn't gain any time through the time zones, so we got here in HOT Amarillo, ate, swam, showered and went to bed. It is hotter than 40 hells here. Why anyone would want to live in north Texas is beyond me.

For some reason blogger won't let me upload pictures right now. Will show you later.

Off to Flagstaff today. Plan to stop at the painted desert on the way. Now it gets a lot more fun!!!

wilmaNC

Day 1 to California

A pretty uneventful day. Only rained once, really hard, for 10 minutes just west of Knoxville.

A pyramid just east of Memphis. I have no idea what it is for.

The bridge over the Mississippi into Arkansas.

The mighty Mississippi River.

We are now in Lonoke Arkansas, and it it hot!!!! 105 degrees.  Tomorrow we go to Amarillo Texas.
It's pretty boring countryside, but the drive has been pleasant.

Later,
WilmaNC

Summer Vacation, and a Patchability

We are planning a big trip this summer. In fact, we are leaving next Monday for 19, count 'em, 19 days!!! We're driving cross country to Riverside, California to visit our son, Jack, and to see all we can see while we are there. On the way out we are planning a 3 day stop in Flagstaff, AZ to see the Grand Canyon etc. While in California we are also going to go to Yosemite for a couple of days. I plan to blog every day about what we have done, so the family can keep up, but I don't expect all you hundreds and hundreds of folks who follow my blog to read it all, lol. I am excited!!!!

Went to walk up on the Parkway yesterday and stopped at a quilt shop in Burnsville, Needle Me This, on the way home. I saw this Patchability and just had to get it, and I finished it today. Instant gratification. And so cute.

I'll try to get in one more post before we leave. Did I tell you I'm so excited????

WilmaNC

Windows

I felt the need to get the complaining post down, lost a couple of followers over that one, lol.

Todays project is a window. I was looking on Craig's List one day and found old windows for $2.50. Of course I had to send Dave to get me a couple. One has panes and the other is full glass. So I took the one with panes, and found the most appropriate fabric I could find in my stash, used ModPodge, and voila. A cool window. I want to use the full pane to paint a large quilt square.

Before:

After:

Seed packets, lol.

Oh, I also finished 2 more kites for my great grandkids in Minnesota.

Their names are embroidered on the kites but you can't see it very clearly in the picture.

Now, I think I will finish piecing a quilt top I started a while back, and also catch up on my episodes of General Hospital.

Later,
WilmaNC

Blog Commercials

I'm becoming quite disappointed in many new blogs I visit, and some of the old ones. Seems they are all selling something, either for themselves, or for one of their "sponsors". Even the give-a-ways are a pain to do as you must first go here and like them then post on your  blog then go back there and say you posted on  your blog, then come here and tell me that you have liked them and have posted on your blog,....well, you get my drift. I am un-following all of the blogs who use those guidelines as it takes away from time I could spend reading the interesting blogs with tutorials and show and tell. If I want to shop, I will go directly to the online store I want, no commercials needed.

Just sayin....

wilmaNC

Pay it Forward?? And the Jelly Roll Race.

I signed up the other day for a Pay It Forward thingy with Benta at SlikStitches. I'm supposed to have 3 others sign up to do the same thing, but I find that many people don't want to obligate themselves to making gifts to send on at a later date. So, what I am going to do is to randomly pick 3 people who respond to this post and send them a little something. Now, what you, or they, do with the gift and if you/they decide to send a little something to 3 other people, that's your/their choice.  It's always nice to get an unexpected gifty in the mail, right?

I did the jelly roll race last week, it was so much fun. And you ended up with a cute quilt top in just a couple of hours.

I used a Christmas roll. Here are the directions I used from the Heirloom Creations Blog:

Warm Up Lap:
Sew all 2 1/2” strips on a diagonal into one long strip. (Like sewing binding together).

Before the Green Flag Drops…
DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP… From one end, cut off 18″ of the sewn together strip and throw it away. This will  randomize the location of the diagonal seams throughout the quilt.

Green Flag = GO!
Find the beginning and ending of the 1,600″ long strip. Placing each of the ends right sides together, start sewing. This will be the longest seam. When the end is reached, cut the jelly roll strip apart and finish the seam.

Pit Stop #1
The strip will now be 800” long. No need to press; it can be all be done at the end.

Lap #2
Locate the beginning and end of the 800” strip and start sewing them together. When the end is reached, cut the jelly roll strip apart and finish the seam.

Lap #3 – 5
Repeat the same process a total of five times! Each “lap” will take half the time to sew as the lap before!

Press all seams the same direction and trim sides even. Borders are totally optional. I personally like the size that this quilt finishes without adding anything extra. Just quilt and bind as desired.

Quick and easy.

Later,

WilmaNC

2 more for GAL

I finished up 2 more quilts to be donated to the Guardian ad Litem office in Asheville. Someone donated the tops to my sister, and I quilted and bound them. Oh, my sister gave me the backing and batting. Our afternoon walk will be done in Asheville, park on one side of town and walk to the other to deliver the quilts, then, of course, a nice lunch downtown. Plus we're meeting a friend we haven't seen in a while. Should be a nice day.

I have several things I want to make. One is a gift bag from a fat quarter as shown in this tutorial at Em Ay Kay EE. It's so cute, I just have to try one. Check it out, her site is really nice.

Later,
WilmaNC