Gee's Bend Quilt

Have you seen the quilts that the ladies of Gee's Bend, AL have been making? I love the simplicity and geometric designs. This pattern is called "Housetop Denim Quilt" and is all hand dyed fabric. It has been so relaxing to just sew straight seams with almost no matching. AND no points to line up. A quilt store in Kansas City had several of these quilts on display along with a few kits. I don't usually buy kits but this one wouldn't let me move on until I decided that it had to come home with me! Any ideas for quilting designs?

Perfect Rose

This morning was gorgeous! Warm and sunny with a mild breeze just doesn't get much better. This rose was kind of hidden on the side of the bush so I didn't see it right away, but had to grab the camera and share it with you.

Hope all the great Dad's out there had a great day!

Road Update

Yea!!!  We have a fire hydrant installed!  No recent disasters although the "water problem" area was dug up and filled in a couple of times since my last report.  It is finally beginning to look like a road and the retaining walls have gone up quite fast.  Big Blue is at the edge of our backyard putting the last bit of gravel between the wall and our yard.  Maybe there really is an end in sight!  Any bets on the finish date?

Cottage Stars

Finally! The top is finished! The photo shows about 3/4's of the top because it is quite large....85 1/4" x 102 1/4".....and not quite enough space to hang the whole thing. There are 50 star blocks plus 18 side units plus 4 corner units. Each star block has 20 pieces and each edge unit has 10 pieces......oh, plus the four corner units, but who's counting!? (1204 sound about right?) It's a good thing that Cathy is on my "A" list. Yes, there was a lot of cutting and lots of pinning (which I seldom do), but I think it turned out really nice. Can't wait to see it quilted!

This is another shop sample for Cathie Z of Thimbles and Threads in Draper, UT. She's busy getting her new shop ready for the annual Shop Hop which begins all too soon.

The close-up picture shows the stars much better. You will just have to ignore the wrinkles from being folded up. It really does lay nice and flat.

We're not in Kansas anymore,

Bubble Tea and BBQ Ribs!  M-m-m-m good stuff!  Our Son and Daughter-in-law love to try different cuisines (so do we) and restaurants, so it seems most of our travels include finding good food.  Sometimes I think we should have been food critics.....wouldn't that be interesting?  We tried Spanish Tapas, Mongolian BBQ, Italian Pizza, a great breakfast place, etc.  Sounds like we spent our week eating, but we did a lot of sightseeing as well.  The WWI Museum was awesome.  History books can tell you about things, but when you can actually  see the weapons and reconstructed living conditions it really brings things into perspective.  

 
We really enjoyed our trip to Kansas, but it's good to be home.  Why is traveling so tiring?  It's always fun to experience new things, but then you need a vacation to recover from your vacation!  

This is one of the hidden bunkers. 


































This is the WWI Monument and entrance to the museum.

This is another monument in Rosedale Park.