Irish Dance Dress Preview, Apples & a quilt

This post is a strange mix, I know, but when I took Dori's Sunflower quilt over to her, I asked her if I could get some pictures of the star quilt I quilted for her last week.

Here it is.

It really was fun!
I've been working on Hope's Irish Dance dress. It's still in pieces. I tested the fit on her on Sunday, & have a little more work to do before I can actually piece it together, but it's making progress.

Saturday when I came home from work there was a package at my back door from my dear sister Em. It was a box full of fresh apples from Michigan. McIntosh's (my absolute favorite) & Sweet Tangos, something she wanted us to try. Both taste WONDERFUL! I was so happy to get them. I ate one as soon as I opened the box, & have been eating them every day since.

I've worked 3 days this past week now. Getting back into the groove. Some of the computer work has changed & made patient care more difficult. I long for the pre-computer days of nursing, when I felt like I had time to really take care of my patients.

Tomorrow I'm staying home & making bread, the OLD FASHIONED WAY!

Dori's Sunflower Quilt

This is my latest customer's quilt. Dori had been upset when she finished the top, to see that the center bellyed out a little when she laid it out flat on the floor. She didn't want to take the borders off & start over, so I told her I thought I could solve the problem with Trapunto under the whole flower. It worked well. I layered Hobbs wool batting under it first & quilted it with wash-away thread (Signature, Vanish, I love it! it worked well on Lily). I then trimmed all of the background areas of batting away, leaving just the flower , stem & leaves with the wool. Next I put it back on Lily with the backing & regular Cotton batting, & did the all-over quilting.
For the borders I took a cue from the green & gold print on the right, & mimicked it's design all the way around.
I did circles in the flower centers, & the veins on the leaves, quilting through the double layers of batting.

I did swirly sunny designs for the background quilting. It was a fun quilt & I loved the colors. Now I'm off to deliver it.

Termination Dust

It's that time of year again. The snow is dusting the mountain tops behind our house. This was yesterday in the shot above. Below was today, & it's so white it blends with the sky.
I finished quilting Dori's quilt for her, & delivered it to her today, & picked up the next one to quilt for her. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the one I did. It was really nice. The largest quilt I've done on Lily so far. The next will be some traupunto.

My Dad called today. He has a free long distance plan now, so I told him he has to call me every week at least! It was good hearing from him.

Tomorrow I go back to work in the PACU. I'm looking forward to the paychecks again, but the pain in the knee (the old knee), I'm not looking forward to. Sigh... time or money, there never seems to be enough of either one. & if you have one you don't seem to have the other.

I liked this quote I found today:

Work like you don't need the money,

love like you've never been hurt,

dance like nobody's watching.

Michigan part 2

I have finally come up for air. This series of books had me held captive. I literally could not put them down. I started the 1st book in the airport in Grand Rapids, while waiting for my plane. I finished the 4th book this morning. The 1st book was only 498 pages. The next 563, then 629, & the last 754. They were a great read. Time to get back to the real world now.

This will be the last entry on my trip to Michigan. I realized I don't have photos of some of the people I wish I had. I saw so many old friends . I stayed with Kathy & John for part of my time, & had a blast dying wool in Kathy's new dye studio. Her pictures are posted on her blog.

The time at the campground with my family was blissful for me. My DBIL Al walked with me every day. The light house below was the walk we did on a cloudy rainy day.

Campfires every night were fun.
& the sunsets.
On Sunday I went back to Kathy & John's house.
Kathy & I took a walk on a trail near there place.

We nearly stepped on this poor little guy, he was in the middle of the path.

The next picture is my sister Vicki, & Al's entry way. I love the pine.

I got to help Al pick tomatoes in the garden.

They tasted soooo good to me.

This is the river running through their front yard.

That same day we went to my niece Loni's house for a family picnic. Her DH Don grilled elk & venison burgers. I don't usually eat red meat, but I had venison & it tasted good.

This is the Taylor's pond right in front of Loni & Don's house. His whole family own this land.

They're daughter Kayden with my brother Dave, hammin' it up for me.

This is Camryn, Kayden's little sister. She is the sweetest natured baby.

After the picnic, Dad took me to the old Mears cemetery where his parents are buried.

I found some "quilty" inspiration on some of the headstones there.

Sadly I found out that there is no headstone on my grandfather's grave. He died when my dad was just a boy.

On Monday morning I had Free-motion Machine Quilting class. My big sister Em actually took the class.

I loved her spider & web design. The dirty looking gloves are a pair of mine. They are Machingers. I love them. The finger tips are silicone coated. There is no Latex in them. They breathe nicer and grip better than any other glove out there. My classes usually clear out the stock in the shops when I teach because I make every body try them. The finger tips get dirty from the color from the fabrics. I throw them in the wash, but it never comes white again.

Monday evening was my trunk show/lecture. Kathy says it was the best she ever heard.

I had around 50 quilts, & talked for about an hour.

This was part of the show & Tell after my lecture. This gal was in my Friday class, Threadplay, & went home & completed this piece over the weekend.

The background block was from a Carol Doak paper piecing class she had taken, then she added the threadplay flower with the mirrored center from my class.

Tuesday we went to Grand Haven for the Lighthouse Guild & my Over The Top Embellishment.

We played with all sorts of stuff. Painted & printed then using some of the stuff created to embellish & make beads & Embossed, & stitched. They were a fun group, & I think we could've easily spent 2 more days on what we got started on.

I spent one night at my Dad's house, & snapped a couple of pictures before we left of my old house next door to his.

This is his house. I am amazed at how big the trees look to me now. I used to climb the one on the far right, now I'd need a ladder to reach the lowest branch.

Back at the campground. My last day there is was sunny & warm.

These stairs were good exercise for my new knee, (the old one still complained though).

Lake Michigan was cool, I didn't swim in it at all. (I swam in White Lake the first day I was at my brother's house though).

I will always love & miss the beautiful sands of the beaches of Lake Michigan. I am always drawn back to them each time I get home to visit. As much as I love Alaska, Michigan is where I was born & raised, it's still my 1st home. I miss you all so much already.

Part 1 - Michigan trip

I took 290 pictures while in Michigan. That should be good for at least a couple of posts, don't you think? This 1st picture was firewood that my brother-in-law, Al had at the campground where I stayed with my 2 sisters Vicki & Em, & our Dad.
Vic & Al had lots of fresh produce from their garden, which I happily consumed the whole time I was there.

We celebrated Dad's 88th birthday there, & we girls went together & gave him a new laptop computer for his birthday. Dad still worked full time, as assistant Director for Civil Defense in Muskegon County Michigan, & uses a computer at work all the time. He was tickled to get one for home too.

Em, Dad & Vic checking out the new Com.

We had visits from lots of nieces & nephews while at the campground. This is Kim, Vic & Al's daughter #3.

This is Nick, Landon,Kim, Bradon, (3 of Kim's 4 boys), & her hubby Larry.

Landon reminded me of my oldest Brandon.

Al & I took a good long walk along Lake Michigan, every day while I was at the camp ground.

Each night Al built a beautiful fire.

Sunsets on the big lake were always beautiful.

These are only a small sample of what I shot.

My first class on Friday was Threadplay. I've decided thanks to comments upon entering the class room from several of the students that I should rename it "Clueless Threadplay", because they were all saying they were clueless as to what they were going to be doing when they first got there.

It was fun seeing some of my old friends from PALS.

This one really surprised me when I realized why she seemed familiar. She didn't know me because not only has it been 28 years since we'd last seen each other, my last name has changed. Collen & I were in the same class in Nursing school together. What a nice surprise it was when I realized who she was.

This next picture I'm throwing in to show my DH. It is a car that the great-nephew Landon built with his Dad Larry.

I thought this picture of Lake Michigan, taken from the bluff above the beach was interesting, because of the star effect of the sun. I didn't use any filter, it just happened.

One evening there were so many boats out salmon fishing it looked like a small city floating on the water.

I had a great time visiting with family & friends. Classes were all full & fun. I ran from dawn to well after dusk every night. I ate well, I exercised & I have crashed & rested for my first 2 days at home. It was a grand time, & now I am engrossed in the Twilight series of books, which I started on my flight back to Alaska. My friend Kathy, who I stayed with during the classes told me her daughter got her started on them, & my DD mentioned how good they were, so now I am engrossed in the vampire & werewolf saga! Who would've thought!