Still reading the 5th of Outlander...

Jamie just got bit by a poisonous snake while out hunting and only Roger nearby.... Claire is at home 10 miles away.  I gotta get back there - quickly.

So here's what I've been sewing - wonky stars for Alycia's QoV block along.  8 of them

some closeups... the blue one (between the red ones) is my first attempt ...I did figure it out later.

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And even though it has been moved 2 times in the past year (really not even a year) it still is having flowers. My croton...

 and at another angle....

And here are some of the newest and only Halloween plants I made up for this year.

Another batch

I made some sedum from a batch we bought from the local nursery. I only have about 36 plants for this year. I don't know how many trick or treaters we will have at our new house. I guess they'll be first come first served.

 

Happy Sewing (& reading),

 

 

Last weekend...

We went touring last weekend. We went to the Mall of America on Friday and tired ourselves out walking only part of it. Saturday we went to the Minnesota Renaissance Fair and walked and tired ourselves. Sunday we went to Costco... are you catching a theme here?

Here are some pictures from the Ren Fair.  Twenty some years ago we went to this Fair and it was in a wide open place, lots of tents and not much ambiance. Now it's wooded, lots of shady spots and sunshine (on that day) and the vendors and shows come with a building. Lots of ambiance.

 Here's the Hubby.

 It was supposed to be some kind of Octoberfest - beer flowing. I didn't see much evidence of that. I did see a bunch of visitors dressed in kilts and long dresses... not necessarily period clothing. (I did take a class in the history of fashion years ago. Your prom dress from 2009 does not qualify as period clothing for the Renaissance just because it is long.)

I'm reading the Outlander series, so the kilts caught my eye. Authentically, a kilt is worn without benefit of underclothes... hubba hubba. We saw a guy doing a handstand in a kiilt, but he was wearing britches..

 There were all kinds of buildings.

This is a picture of Puke and Snot - comedians (waaaaay up front of these people).. Their show is subtitled "40 Years in Tights". 20 years ago we saw them and it seemed they were lots more energetic. (Lots of the jokes were not period, and a good thing, too. The crowd wouldn't have understood  historical hysteria.)

There are elephant, camel and llama rides. There was a petting zoo and jousting, too, but I didn't get pictures. Gotta save some of that for next year.

 

So there you have it - a pass into the past. We did enjoy ourselves and do recommend it for next time you are in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis Minnesota late in August to early Oct. There are lots of these living history fairs around the country. We've been many times to the ones in California and there's one in Southern Wisconsin we like, as well.

 

Now back to making some wonky stars for QoV through Alycia Quilts. (My first one was so wonky I can't even show it to you. Gotta try again.) See the side panel for a link to her blog for more information.

 

Thanks for stopping in.

Hugs

 

 

Finally a finish

I've been reading the Outlander series (now on book 5) so I haven't been sewing much. It's really hard to put down.

 I did finish a quilt for my son-in-law and his new bride marrying very soon. Here are some of the pictures.

Colors were chosen by my Granddaughter....

The backing has birds and bees....

 

 

Now some close-ups to show the lovely quilting by Alycia of Alycia Quilts. Each band of navy blue has great feathers and each of the other color bands is a different design quilted in a different color. I'm really pleased with the designs she used.

 

Hearts on the heart fabric.

This orange is more of a red...

 So it is wrapped and sent earlier this week. They should be getting it tomorrow.

I also did a new binding on my grandson's baby quilt. I originally used satin binding, like my Grandma used on all her quilts, but it doesn't last long. This time I used the same navy blue as on his Dad's quilt seen above.

 This one was made for my daughter to have for her son born the day after Christmas 2001.

I had my hubby rewrite the label so maybe it'll last. I just love seeing her name here.

Another close-up.

 

And we had company from the UK this week!

 

 Allan & Stephan

 Bill's brother on the left and his partner in front of the bay in Superior Wisconsin. Thanks for coming to visit, guys. It's always great to see you two.

 

So I thought I'd sew today, but I got caught up on email and Facebook and wrote this after shopping, and reading a few hours. Now it's time to cook supper. Isn't it always the way? Tomorrow we are going for a few days to the Renaissance Fair in the Twin Cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis Minnesota) and some shopping at the Mall of America and Costco.  Things to do before winter hits. Some locales have had frost already!

 

So thanks for stopping by to see the old blog. I hope to be more faithful in the future.

 

Hugs,

 

 

Block Drive for QoV...

Check it out. Alycia at Alycia Quilts is having a Block Drive for QoV. It's a wonky star pattern that she wants. I love that pattern.  Click on her name here, or on the html address to see what it's all about.


http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2015/09/qov-2015-block-drive.html

There are prizes,  too, starting with a giveaway today... Don't delay.... check on it right away.

Hugs,

Orange is the color...

So I'm back!  I've missed you!

I did my Crayon thing...

 Same thing in a shadowed light

melon

Now I put scarlet to the side so you could see that is is nearly the same as some of the other redder oranges. It has an orange label... I always thought it a red. If it was fabric it'd be one that would be too red in the orange bin, and too orange in the red bin. Do you have pieces like that?

 

 

I've been working on the sewing room. Lots of boxes and heavy stuff. Made enough headway today that I might be able to sew tomorrow. I've a binding to put on a quilt for a wedding in October. I gave myself lots of time. After that a green and blue baby quilt for my first great grandson coming in January.

 

So enjoy your oranges this month. It's one of my favorite colors... red being the other one. Of course there are some greens and blues I like, and then the yellow and turquoise are specials, too... Well, I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

Thanks for stopping in.

I think we should have a new house giveaway real soon.

 

Hugs,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are here, but not quite all there....

So we got here and just before the moving van got to our house we found out that the owner would allow us to move our stuff into the house, but we couldn't live there even offering to pay rent! That was July 23 and we are still staying in a motel waiting for the U.S. Bank's underwriter to figure out that we are reliable people. You wouldn't believe the different things that woman is asking for... papers that were in the package of papers we gave the loan officer. I figure the only thing left to ask for is our underwear sizes. LOL

 So here are some pictures taken on our trip from Vancouver Washington (state) to Superior Wisconsin.

 Sunset across the Columbia River seen from the from the Oregon side... looking back at Washington.

It was great weather the whole way... the storms stayed off the road.

 Long vistas in Wyoming (another W state).

Carpet at one of the motels... I don't even remember which one.... Looked like a quilt to me.

Hubby's breakfast.... Pancake maker was nearly empty. LOL

Fab fabric I bought at the quilt store in Wyoming. The only fabric store I went to on our trip... Keama's Quilts in Green River, WY.

Here's some  more of the purchase... The rodeo rider is the image from the Wyoming State License Plate. The local high school printed the fabric especially for her store.

The ladies are very helpful and friendly and they do business online, too. Here is their web address.

www.keamasquilts.com

She has lots of fabric, books, notions, specialty rulers, etc. I got this book. Shopping was almost the best part of the trip.

I know what you're thinking. What could be better than fabric shopping?  How about being carded?  I got carded at Red Robin Restaurant in Utah.  Not once, but twice for one (1) margarita. Utah cards anyone who orders a drink, not once but twice. That was the best! I'd never been carded before, mostly cause I don't drink that much. I guess I proved that I was over 21. (I'm more than 3 times that.)

I guess getting here safely was the best thing - all my plants made it without incident. I'm glad that's over.
Looking forward to blogging and reading yours. I've been away too long.

Hugs,