garden gate blocks done!

i interrupt tales from the west for this loverly quilting post:

remember my post about cindy's  (her blog: hyacinth quilt design) pillow inspired block....? (here's the link to her tutorial)

well, i have all my blocks pieced. i will sash and border it with the same kona charcoal that is used in the blocks...

i'm still loving this quilt....now i have to brainstorm how i'm gonna quilt it....custom or E2E? whatcha think?

west trip #3: Truckee Meadows Quilter's Show in Reno

my posts are completely out of order, but it's all good!

dory, kristina, and i drove into reno on sunday to go to the Truckee Meadows Quilt Guild show. after the show we said our goodbyes to Kristina and she drove back across nevada to home....*wave*

the show forum was the car museum owned by harrah's casino....a neat and unusal place for a quilt show. i guess the quilt husbands had something to look at too...

this was a mini that had beading around all the circles...


notice the clothespin holding the entry number? that is where you were allowed to 'touch' the quilt and flip it over to look at the back....very smart!

the colors in this one caught my eye

davis likes wolves, so i snapped this on for him...

there were ALOT of loverly applique quilts that i drooled all over....


i took notes of the patern designers and will be tracking down patterns/books....

i like the piecing around the applique center

this is a favorite, designed by Ellen Heck. i love the little details hidden it.

*drool*

then i saw this one that i thought would be perfect for my current obsession- bashing the stash!


i bought lots of goodies from the vendors and all my goodies will have their own posts....

*grin* i found doodlebug fabric!

west trip #2: rech botanical gardens

after leaving dory and her yurt, my trip took me northwest to olympia WA where i met my friend linda. her husband dennis has quite the green thumb! look at all the beautiful flowers growing in their yard. i don't know the names of all them, but i did learn some...

i was lucky and got pictures before the deer came though and 'pruned' all the flowers....they ate them....stupid deer....




this is a moonflower.

lots of moonflowers

this was quite the treat. flowers don't last long here. it gets too hot and with the humidity, they 'cook.' to see so many flowers all in full bloom and in so many different colors- i was like a kid in a candy store.

this is foxglove....i love the spots

calafornia poppy

i have tons of reference pictures for flowers in my applique now!

i love the colors...don't you?

iris

look at the tinny orange center in all those tinny flowers...so cool!

day lily

i wasn't the only one in the garden enjoying the flowers!

petunia

there was a swallow nest on the front porch and these were in a pot on the steps of the porch...while i was taking this picture, i was being dive bombed by very territorial protective swallows...

i love the center of this one! remind me of those fiber optic trees...

pretty blue flowers with a great shape

my favorite flower- a morning glory. i'm use to blue and yellow glories, so the white ones were 'different'

i think these are english roses...

lime green!

don't these look like crepe paper flowers?

california poppies

a poppy that was ready for a close up

this flower was a deep dark crimson...

some flowers were not so friendly...

clematis

another of my favorite flowers- a thistle. i know that they are a nuisance weed (especially to farmers in hay fields) , but i like them. a beautiful flower comes out of such a harsh exterior....

the smell on my photo yard trip was amazing! glad you could come along.

West trip report #1: california/nevada....

hey y'all  i'm home!!! i will be posting numerous postings with all the fun stories and details...

my trip started in reno, where kristinia picked me up at the airport and we drove to Dory's house in northern Califonia....keep in mind- the three of us have talked on the phone almost daily, but never have laid eyes on each other....

okay- a really quick run down of the weather out there....it is hot, but no no NO humidity....and when you stand in the shade it is actually cooler....i got chilly alot! glad i packed a long sleeve tshirt! dory even supplied an extra quilt for my bed complete with a raised eyebrow....

the three of us doodled around in the yurt, and played on the LA. (photo from the winter borrowed from dory's blog...) i don't know why i didn't take a picture of it.....shame on me

i taught dory how to hand applique and kritstina wanted to play along so we started a small block applique (this is mine minus leaves) that we will trade through the three of us making it a tres round robin....dory ended up also getting an english paper piecing class which she took to much happily-er.



this is a block i designed for my birds of a feather quilt, but i substitued a butterfly instead of a bird cause dory lives on a road named 'butterfly valley'

i met the ponies:

bailey (i have admit that he was my favorite)

kate   (she has the bushy forlock)

emma  (the baby and most spoiled of the bunch)

and andy  (my second favorite)....













even though he.....

.....bit my thumb (my fault) i was feeding him clover and my thumb stuck out too far and he was in a hurry to eat it cause he had emma's competition...i muttered some explicits that would make a sailor blush....it hurt.... i have a nice dark spot that will slowly grow out and i'll have a constant reminder of my trip there...i wonder how long it'll last and i'm hoping to keep the nail

at the grocery store in town i spotted these....red sunflowers. i have never seen such a thing. so pretty...davis says i have an unnatural attraction to anything 'different'.....i tell him i'm attracted to anything like me :)

kristina painted my toe nails bright metallic lime green...i'm searching for the exact polish to keep them that way for a while.

i feel very girly

this is hank, one of dory's border collies....it was canny how much behavior he had in common with barney....i'm now convinced that barney is lab, german short hair, and border collie.....that's my story and we will stick to it!


stay tuned....i have lots more pictures and stories to share (i took 188 pictures)







WARNING: pictures of a snake..... for those that get quesy

i got to see a rattle snake....they really rattle which made me think: not to smart..."i'm posionious and i'm going to make a really loud noise so you can locate my exact spot and proceed to kill me"

how do some species survive natural selection??? :)




then i got to help make it dead.....i think it was about 3ft long and it had about 6-8 rows of rattles.

i wanted to keep the rattles, but after deep consideration thought that would be a tricky explanation to airport security.

don't worry- it was buried in two holes....one for the head and the other for the body.

i also got to see two yearling mule deer....there was some bear poo in front of the barn, but he never showed his bearable face.....dory said that friday after i left he came lumbering down the driveway...day late and a dollar short....