Great day at Expo

Yesterday I spent the day at the Northwest Quilting Expo with my friends Becky, Cindy, Donna and Marilyn. Since it was my first time, I decided not to take a class. Good choice. This place was huge and had lots of vendors as well as quilts to see. This first picture was a miniature with each mini square cut from floral fabrics and three larger flower squares - all hand appliqued on to a white background. I can do that!!
This quilt shows a machine appliqued pictorial of men in battle in the Civil War era.

A miniature log cabin quilt done in the shape of a flag. You can see a part of it in the picture above.

The quilting on this one was done in between seams and made it look 3-D. A very stunning piece.

Lots of flying geese in this one. Love the layout look.

A nice quilt done in taupes, beiges and browns with hints of red, black and green. I love the different blocks of it - you could almost do small quilts from each block.

Here we are at the end of the show. Our heads are filled with inspiration of what projects we can begin. And, yes, we had some goodies in our bags and purses as well as web site information to visit to see us through until the next time ----- or maybe not. A fun day filled with great friends.

Race for the Cure - Portland, Oregon

Today was the Race for the Cure in downtown Portland. It is the third largest Koman Race for the Cure across the country. So, I have some pics to share with you.
We have our numbers and our shirts. Now to get downtown.

Here we are downtown waiting for the 5K walk to begin. As you can see, runners, who began at 7:30 am, are behind us already coming in to the finish line.

Just hanging out until it is our turn to start.

This is part of the Boeing team that Stacey organized. Others were wandering around but not in the pic.

Stacey Youngblood and me. Always a pleasure to be with her.

Even those darn cute little ones were happy to be with us. They were decked out in the Race for the Cure shirts and lots of pink: in their hair, on their wagon, etc.

This is the crowd waiting at the starting gate. Well, the gate is nearby anyway.

JT - a maintenance manger at Boeing - was dressed for the occasion.

We began our walk at Taylor Avenue and the other group just down the street. That is the other group near the back of the picture.

We had marching bands cheering us on with their music. Glad to have groups there.

This is the front of the line before we crossed over the bridge - the bridge being way up there.

This is the back of the line - or what you can see - who were behind us walking. I am sure my mom and my sister, Mary Ann, can remember these kinds of crowds when they did the 3-Day in MI.

Stacey coming through the finish line in the survivor's lane. Yeah, she did it.

We didn't know these gals but their get-up makes for a fun pic.

Kathie and Justin coming near the finish line. She didn't want her pic taken but we were too far away to hear what she was saying.

This is Stacey, her Mom and Dad, two daughters and Mother-in-Law. A great family to know. Glad to be a part of the Race for the Cure. Thanks to all who participated in prayer, monetarily and by walking. I know lots of women who appreciate your help.

9/11/09 - A Good Day

Today is a day to remember. A day to pray for those who lost their lives in the attack. A day to respect and pray for all the service men and women who are fighting for our freedom - both at home and abroad. A day to ask God to bless our families, guide us in His ways and keep us safe from harm.

But it is also a day to Live. A day to hug your family. A day to tell them you love them. A day to take time out with them to either share, pray or just smile at each other. A day to let go of your regrets and to move forward.

So, I am not sure how you spent your day but mine is good so far. Picture wise, it actually starts with yesterday. I picked up my entries that were in the Oregon State Fair a few weeks back. As you can see by this picture, I received a 1st Place blue ribbon for my hand appliqued, machine quilted wall hanging as well as a Special Award ribbon. But the surprise came today in the mail. The Special Award represents a Best of Show in that division and was awarded a $25 gift certificate to Gramma's Attic located in Dallas, OR. YEAH!!! A field trip with my hubby. Some of these flowers are done in material that I got from my Mom and was in dresses I wore when I was little. Won't date myself here but they are old.
This is a table runner that I did for my living room and received a 2nd place on it. It was my first quilt class here in Oregon and it is called "Pat's Favorite Table Runner". Thanks Pat for all your encouragement in helping me finish this.

Then today, I went blueberry picking again. I have a 21st EGA (Embroiders Guild of America) Birthday party to go to tomorrow and am planning on a fruit salad to take as my dish to pass. These will taste wonderful with watermelon and strawberries.

Yesterday at Q-FAC (Quilting and Fiber Arts Club) session, Anne Marie who works at the Museum where we meet, gave us as much sweet corn from her garden that we wanted. So, I asked for 2 dozen and she was happy to oblige. So, this morning I blanched them and cut it off the cob.

As you can see, by putting the corn in the freezer, I either have to stop getting things to put in, or get a bigger freezer. It will all taste good when I need it come winter.

Tonight I will have pulled bbq pork sandwiches, corn on the cob and a wonderful fruit salad with Phil. Yes, today is a good day even if it is a sad remembrance day. A day to live. Hope you had a good one as well.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Mark - my nephew who shares this day with many other birthday celebrants. Hope it was a good one for you.

"Sundance" is done

On my blog a couple of days ago, I told you about my friend Lori who was doing this fusible applique piece, hated it and was going to throw it away. I rescued "Sundance" and decided he needed to be finished. I didn't work on him on Friday at the Girls Night Out as it was too late by the time I finished my other projects for the Home of the Brave. So on Saturday, I sorted, ironed, traced, ironed again, etc., to make sure that I had all the pieces. Here is Sundance laying on the background - not ironed down yet as there are some pieces to be placed under him.
These are some of the pieces - little squiggly things, some larger squiggly things and some that were easier to work with. The pattern has a number of pages to it; placement of pieces on one page per fabric so you don't get mixed up on what piece gets fused to which fabric. Then there is a layout sheet that tells you where all the pieces are to be placed. Well, that layout sheet was not there so I had to look at the picture and put it where I thought it needed to be.

Ta da!!!!! He is done except for his nose needs another addition to it and the fabric wasn't there. Now you see all those squiggly placements in their home. Considering I didn't have the layout page, I think he looks pretty darn good. It took a while but I enjoyed putting this puzzle together for Lori. She will be so happy to have it done.

Down Under Progress

This weekend is a great one for Phil to work on the "down under" project. I had to stop in to see how he was doing and get pics for the update.
He shoveled out this corner so that he can put the other header on it.

He is trying to explain to me what he is doing. I totally understand.

Believe it or not, he is not taking off from a base in a baseball game. He is putting down a couple of cement blocks so that he doesn't have to dig out more and then pour cement. It turned out really level. More pics after Monday so you can keep up on his work.

Projects of the Day

When I come back from quilting on Wednesdays, I usually have things to put away. Some are done, some are to be finished and some are - ok, what do I do next. As you can see below, I have a few things to finish up on. I have joined a BFF (best fabric friends) Half Square Triangle Exchange so those are in the black/white/different fabrics pile. Then there is the baby quilt (for my niece) that I have to put the binding on and then fix a few errors from the long-arm machine. The green is for my border of the $5 quilt project I am working on. Then I have to find the red pearle cotton to finish the red leaf in the candle mat that is partly hidden. What fun I will have.
So this next picture is a story. (I have lots of them - just warning you!!) My friend Lori, quilts with me on Wednesdays. She and I have lots in common - love to see what is new at the store where we sew and then either break down and purchase or just drool over things. So this picture is a machine applique pattern (with a gazillion pieces) and fabric that she purchased, traced the pieces on to fusible stuff, ironed some on to the fabric and then started to put it on the background.

Well, it became overwhelming to her and she decided to throw it all away. I stopped her - she just couldn't throw away that fabric and pattern. Besides, I loved to work out puzzles and would put this together for her - then she can do the quilting on it.

So, Sundance and I have a date for tomorrow night's Girls Night Out at the Museum for our monthly night out. I will lay it down, figure out what she has already traced and marked and then begin to put it on an applique sheet (one that you can iron it onto and then lift off before doing the final ironing onto the fabric) and see how far I get. I will share pictures when it is done. He will be so cute when finished.

Phil Down Under

We have a huge crawl space under our house. It is about 700 square feet and is about to get a makeover. Most Oregonians don't use their garages because they use them for storage as there are very few basements - it is just too wet in the winter months. But we like to use our garage and want it clutter free - especially since we didn't have one for over 18 years. Thus the makeover of the crawl space.
So, this is the entry way to the "down under" area. Right now you have to use a step ladder to get in and out as it is a pretty big drop once you open the door.

Phil is working on putting headers around the cement part so that we can build a "deck" there to store our stuff.

He is trying to explain to me what is going on. As you can see, it is pretty deep, long and wide.

This is some of the boards that we recently got at an estate sale. They were selling things pretty cheap but we went during the half off sale and got it at a steal. Some nice long boards, 4x4's and lots of shelving..

There are about 16 - 8' x 16" x 3/4" boards that Phil has his stuff on top of, that we will use for flooring of the deck as well as shelves of what is left over. Will make a pretty nice size for all the stuff we don't use but once in a while. We now have my Escape in the garage and Phil's Honda stays outside, but maybe we can fit both in during the winter months. We will see once the storage gets built. Stay tuned for updates. BTW - yes, that is one of Phil's home brews (St. Kev #2) on the boards.