Wind turbines

Blogger and fiber artist Kit Lang recently posted this picture on her blog that she took on her commute to work, and asked readers to also post commute pictures.

I haven't commuted to a "regular" job for 5 years now, but do spend a great deal of time driving my kids around to school, appointments, activities and such.  I'm pretty private about my kids though, plus I'm always the driver, and can't take pictures, so I thought I'd post a picture that I recently took (while my husband was driving) of the wind turbines that have been multiplying like rabbits out here in Eastern Oregon.  It's not quite as cool as a piece of subway art, but I bet many city-folk don't see these very much. 

One thing I love about reading blogs is that I can get little glimpses of other people's lives that are so different than mine.  Something as ubiquitous to Kit Lang as a subway commute is quite exotic to me.  I've been in a subway only a few times in my life.  The experience was so mentally novel that it's imprinted on my brain.  I can still see the faces of the other commuters, and could probably recognize them in a crowd.  I can still see my kids' excited, astonished faces riding right next to me!

So I though I'd post this picture of what's becoming quite a common sight here along the Columbia River, where wind is plentiful.  Like many people here, I have very mixed feelings about these things sprouting up all over the place.  We have solar panels on our house, grow our own food, and even drive a hybrid car, but we also love the natural beauty that we find here in the more rural parts. 

So what about you?  What does your commute look like?  What do you see every day that others might not ever see?

MQX-West

Over the week-end, our family had the opportunity to travel to Portland, to see family, and do some sight-seeing.  We had a great time, and really didn't want to head back home.  I was lucky enough to also be able to spend a few hours at the MQX-West Quilt show!  I was delighted and amazed at the complexity and beauty of these quilts, that were literally from around the world.  I took a few pictures of my favorites.  Forgive the poor quality of some of them, and forgive the omission of artists and quilters.  The "WOW"-factor was just too high to not share a few of them!  Enjoy!

I did find a website about "The Quilt Show, by Laura Peterson", which was a special exhibit.  Click on the link, and it'll bring you to her website, which explains the wonderful story and process behind this quilt!

Finish Friday: Bliss Quilt

Amandajean of "Crazy Mom Quilts" is hosting a "Finish it Up Friday" link party starting today, and it's perfect timing to share my Bliss Quilt that I finished binding this week.  After the wash, you can hardly tell that it has 2 different styles of quilting in it.  Previously, I have not been a huge fan of the "crinkly quilt", but this quilt changed my mind LOL!

I started this a year ago in the "That Girl That Quilt-a-long" as a Christmas present for my (now) 4 year old niece.  I finished up a quilt for her sister from the same quilt a long, as well as 2 other (4 girls in the family!).  But as I've mentioned over the last year, this quilt has caused me much much frustration as I tried to quilt it.  Now, I fell like this quilt has so much "bad karma" that I don't want to give it to such a special person.  So for now I'll keep it.

What about you?  Do you feel the same about quilts?  That part of your energy goes into it?  Would you still give it to a friend or family member?  Or would you start from scratch and make a new one instead?

Regardless, I'm very glad that it's DONE.  It's really a very pretty quilt, just not my style at all, and in our testosterone-loaded household, it kind of sticks out, but I learned a great deal from it!

WIP Wed: Halloween Quilt

It's Wednesday, so I'm linking up with Lee, at Freshly Pieced WIP Wed link party!  Come join us!

As soon as school started this fall, my good friend Kathleen invited me to go to a fabric shop that she's wanted to take me to ever since I moved here, and met her.  It's The Sewing Basket, in Prosser, Wa.  I don't think I've ever seen so many bolts of fabric in such a small place!  It's overwhelming!  I concentrated on getting some boy fabric for quilts I'm hoping to make my sons for Christmas this year, but couldn't pass up this Halloween fabric that she had there.  If you want to shop there, she has an on-line shop that has very generous prices.  She has a huge selection!  I only bought a half yard of each, so it's just going to be a lap quilt, which is fine, because I'm not much of a home decor person, and have gotten rid of much holiday decor in our last 2 cross-country moves.  But one of the things I love the most about quilts is how little room they take up!!

I decided to strip piece this quilt.  I love this technique, as it makes a quilt come together fast!

There's a lot of fun Halloween fabric out there, but do you know what really "hooked" me about this fabric?  It GLOWS IN THE DARK!!!!  Is that cool or what?!?!  I think I'm more excited about it than my boys LOL!

I also finished up my 2nd Project Linus Quilt top.  I didn't originally intend it to be such a lovely fall quilt, but it is!  I used up blocks that I had from an old UFO/WIP.  I didn't have too many, so it's a smaller quilt, but will be perfect for Project Linus!  I hope to get it pinned and quilted soon! 

I also am in the middle of making the binding for my Bliss Quilt.  I hope to have it finished up soon as well!

By the way, both of these quilts were inspired from patterns in the book, Quilts From the Quiltmakers Gift.  Both the original children's book, and the "Quilts from" are WONDERFUL books!!!

Summer Sampler Series Quilt top DONE!

One good thing about having older kids, is that I can enlist them to help me take pictures :-).  I finished my Summer Sampler Series Quilt top today, and got my younger son to help me take a picture of it.  That's me (and our dog) behind the quilt!  It only seems fitting to be bringing this quilt to an end (or beginning?), as the weather turns crisp and the leaves start their beautiful demise.

Here's a picture he took of me (and the dog, again) as I headed inside!

WIP Wed: Another Project Linus Quilt, Summer Sampler and Art Project

It's Wednesday, so I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced WIP wed, and letting you know what I'm working on!

In the box with the striped squares that I used for my first Project Linus Quilt was a bunch of "puss in the corner" blocks that were made up.  I decided to pair them with another yard of fabric I had in my stash to make another Project Linus Quilt.  When I dropped the first one off yesterday, one of the coordinators was in the quilt shop, and it was fun talking with her about the project.  She told me that one of the agencies who gives away quilts also receives many nice stuffed animals to give away, and when the kids are given a choice between a toy and a quilt, they ALWAYS pick the quilt!  Is that neat, or what?  I had already started the quilt, and as I was sewing the rows together, it occurred me that the puss in the corner and striped blocks were originally meant to go together as one quilt... they were the same proportions, same box and all.  Oh well...  That's what happens when you have a WIP for 3-4 years shelved away in a closet.  I'm really happier with the 2 separate projects than the initial one.  So sometimes I guess all it takes to resurrect a WIP or UFO is to split it into a few different quilts...

I also decided to get out my Summer Sampler Series Quilt to finish, now that the weather has turned.  Originally I was planning to add additional blocks to make it bigger, but I found a cream fabric on clearance that was a good match, and now I'm going to make it bigger by giving it nice wide sashings and borders.

Finally, I'm taking part in a local art challenge that's perfect for me!  The challenge is to go to a community thrift store here in town (which raises money for local charities), spend no more than 5 dollars on items there, and create a piece of art to be displayed in their street window.  We can also use items from our own stash.  Here's what I bought yesterday, a $3 polyester/rayon women's suit, and an orphan flannel brown flat sheet for 25 cents.  As a bonus, I found a vintage sheet that was ripped that they gave me for free, and 3 men's silk shirts, all under $3 per shirt!  If my husband won't wear them, I may have to make a quilt from them!  Has anyone ever made a quilt with silk?  Any tips?  These shirts are so luxurious!!

We are finally getting our fall rains here, after many, many weeks without measurable rain, which is typical here.  It's so nice to see clouds and rain again!  Best of all, rain, clouds, and cold means perfect sewing weather!!

Harvested!

To me, this is as pretty as a quilt.  It certainly represents just as many hours or more than a typical quilt takes to make.  I have easily twice this much, as we have another freezer that's full, plus 2 batches that I canned in the pantry.  We had our first local freeze, which took me by surprise, as it wasn't predicted.  I'm learning (in this case, the hard way), that our garden can be as much as 10 degrees colder than the weather station's prediction.  Luckily, it wasn't a hard frost, and I was able to salvage everything except our basil.  The amount of fresh vegetables that we ate this Spring, Summer, and Fall saved us a tremendous amount of money too.  They were also as local as you could get, all organic, and so fresh that I'm going to have a really hard time buying produce again!  We planted a bunch of blueberries, raspberries, and a grape vine this Spring that we hope will produce next year.  Our 2 fruit trees didn't produce at all, and the local deer have discovered them, so we're going to have to figure out how to deal with that.  But with just about all of our last produce preserved or eaten, I hope to have a bit more "free time" on the way!