One Year Later - Desert Southwest Trip, Tombstone

 Wow, has it really been a whole year already?  

All it means really, is that my life is hum-drum.

Nothing to look at here!  Please go home.

Okay, I do have something that I want to post, not only to share with anyone who might interested (anybody?), but also to record my memories (for myself) while they are still fresh in my mind.  We came home from our trip three weeks ago and already some things are getting fuzzy.

Every year up until now we always went to WI to visit my mom.  But since she passed away last October, we feel that we are free now to go anywhere we want.  There is still so much of the United States that we haven't seen yet!  So this year we decided to go to the "Desert Southwest"  (Arizona and New Mexico).  There are so many interesting sights to see there with stunning scenery that, in my opinion, even rivals Alaska scenery in some places.  But also, there are numerous historical places to visit too, which is what I am always interested in.

I was debating if I wanted to post the whole trip in one post, or divide it up.  If I condense it all into one post, a lot will be skipped, even though it would end up being very long, and chances are I will lose my one-body audience.  If I divide it up, like I did with our Hawaii trip, it is much more easier to manage, but I tend to get too chatty (and boring) and will still probably lose my one-body audience.  So I will just please myself I guess, and play it by ear, and if you get bored, no offense taken if you don't stick with me.

This is already getting too chatty, isn't it?

Here we go!

We decided to fly to Phoenix, make a big loop, and fly back out of Phoenix, which worked really well.  So we took the red-eye flight, got to Phoenix on Monday morning (Apr 22nd), and immediately drove south towards our first destination:  Tombstone.

We arrived there in the afternoon so we had plenty of time to walk around in the historic downtown.  You know what happened there!

This is the actual street where it all happened.  Ignore that banner.  It's just a reminder that they do a reenactment of the gunfight every day, which we missed cuz we got there too late.

They have this historical district closed off to traffic, but it is all open for pedestrians to walk around.  It was weird that hardly no one else was there, which was kinda nice (one of the advantages of going there early in the season). All of these old buildings are now tourist shops (of course!).  There was a fire after the famous gunfight, so these buildings are not the actual buildings when the gunfight took place; however they are still very old, built in the 1880's just a few years after the fight.  If I remember right, the fight took place in 1881, and the fire happened in 1882.  I could be wrong on that. The only original building that survived the fire was this theater/saloon.  So, chances are good that Wyatt Earp was in this very building.

On the inside, it's a museum now.    But if you look towards the top of the picture you can see the balcony where acts were performed (see the curtain on the side?)

Here is a skinny staircase that leads up to the balcony.

The lady that worked there told us that there were actually 16 gunfights that took place there, and this is a picture of the original bar.  She pointed out some bullet holes that are still in it.  Nowadays it serves as a checkout place for buying touristy souvenirs.

This original picture also has a bullet hole in it.

Anyhoo, it was really interesting to go in there.  I wasn't interested in the touristy stuff they were trying to sell; I was more trying to soak up the building itself, and imagining what it must've been like in there back in its heyday.

The whole street is lined with historical plaques that you can read that are very interesting.  I knew that the buildings, even though very old, came after the event of the famous gunfight, but it was still interesting to be walking around where it all happened, and just knowing that those famous people once walked that same street.

You get the idea.  You can spend a lot of time just reading all the plaques.

It was getting really hot out that day and we were getting thirsty and hungry so we found a place to buy a big salad and ate it in a small park.  Then we found an ice cream shop that had some non-dairy sherbert.  Then we went to our B&B.

It was just a little cabin that was next a trailer park.  It was pretty cozy and nice and clean inside.  When we first got there, I felt that Chuck parked too close to that tree for my comfort.  But that's because when  I first got there I was so paranoid of spiders.  I knew that we were in "spider country" (especially tarantulas), and I thought I would see one behind every corner.  I made Chuck enter everything first before me (especially bathrooms), so he could check for them.  It took me several days to relax, thanks to the fact that I never saw one, but my eyes were still always scanning for them.

After we got settled in our cabin, we went went for another walk in the area, this time in the neighborhood, and looked at some old houses that dated back to the original Tombstone days of the 1880's.  And we took the time to admire some big cactuses that grew everywhere and the flowers that grew on them.  The foliage landscape there sure is different than what I'm used to!

So that was our first day, and since it is so time consuming to get pictures loaded on here, I will stop here and continue next time with Day 2.

Okay, New Post!

 Here I am again!  So soon?..., you may be asking?  Well, I am really super busy this month, but I actually had some interesting things happen.

For the past several weeks there was a moose hanging around in our neighborhood, just making his rounds and munching on whatever he could find.  Well, a couple weeks ago, it was really nice out so I went outside to do some raking.  I went around to the back yard and found the rake, but as soon as I picked it up  I noticed that moose was in the edge of our yard munching on the trees.  He didn't seem to care that I was there, only about 15-20 feet away from him, but I got nervous and booked it back into the house, just cuz that's the sensible thing to do - you just never know what those things are gonna do.

Anyhoo, I kept watching him out the window and he eventually made his way toward my living room window where I was watching him from.

He wasn't full grown, and I noticed that he seemed to be moving really slow, and he seemed shaky and weak, like he had no energy.

Then he came right up to my window and peeked in!

Then he laid down and stayed for about 3 hours.

This was on Monday.

Then on Wednesday morning, I got up and looked out toward my neighbor's house, and this is what I saw.

At first I thought he was just taking a nap because from my distance, I couldn't get a good look at him.  But I kept watching out my window, waiting for him to get up.  Finally, I went out to the end of my driveway to take my garbage can out, and he still wasn't moving.  I was too scared to get too close to him, even though I concluded in my head that he was dead.  I called Wildlife Conservation to report it, and to see if they would come get it, but they said if a moose dies on someone's property it's their responsibility to take care of it. And he also told me that this time of year the moose have a hard time finding enough to eat so they get deficient in nutrition, and some of them just don't make it.  Poor thing. So that's probably why he looked so pathetic when he was at my house.

Another exciting thing I did last weekend was attend a Quilters' Retreat.  If you don't care about quilting, this won't excite you, but it was really fun for me.  I have never gone to one before, so it was something new for me.  It was held at Pioneer Ridge Lodge here in Wasilla, not far from our other house that we used to live in, so it felt kinda weird driving down that road again.  Anyway, it was a really nice place with a great view, kinda out in a country setting next to a farm.

This is the kitchen.   Everyone had to take a turn at cooking for everyone else. Me and my friend LeiLoni were in charge of breakfast.  So we made breakfast casseroles and also served fruit and other things on the side.  Everyone made really good meals there.

This is the bedroom that I slept in.  It was really cute.  They had stuffed huskies sitting on all the beds.  Every room had Alaska decor in it.

This curly staircase led up to a sunroom with a really nice view.  You don't want to be up there in the afternoon though.  So hot!  I went up there in the morning when the temperature was just right, and the view was fantastic!

This is the room that was set up for sewing.  On Thursday we had about a dozen ladies there, and a couple more showed up on Friday.

It was really fun to see all the projects that the other ladies were working on, and also I got to meet new people.  Everyone there was really nice.  See that bear skin on the left wall towards the back?  I was sewing right next to that bear's head.

I only worked on Justin's quilt there, just trying to get it all quilted.  I got most of it done there, but had to finish it up at home.  So here it is - all done!  I flipped over the corner so you can see the back, even though it might be hard to see.

The retreat was supposed to go from Thursday to Sunday but I only stayed one night because on Saturday we were taking our first 4-wheeler trip to Knik Glacier for this year.

Which leads me to the last part of this post:

It was windy and dusty, but the sun was out so that made it worth going.  It was just nice to get out and do something like that again.

The lake was still frozen and full of ice bergs, which was really pretty to look at,

but the wind was a lot colder here.  

So this weekend we are heading to Fairbanks to visit Stephanie, which means I have many things to do before we go.  After we get home, I need to harden off my plants so I can get them planted outside in the garden beds.  We have company coming on June 4 so that is another week of adventure.  So the next 2 or 3 weeks are busy, busy, busy.  If anything exciting happens, you can read all about it here.

Right here.

On this blog.

See ya next time!

Spring!

 Hi all!

Happy Spring!

I hope your blessings bring a spring in your step!

Did that sound corny?  I don't wanna be corny...

I know it's been awhile since I've posted.  I just don't ever have anything exciting to write about.  So, as usual, I am just checking in again to update you on more boredom.  I will not be offended if you totally skip me.  Believe me, I understand - you have WAY better things to do.

Anyhoo, my last post was about my quilting WIPs.  I got my Halloween crow quilt top all done, but I don't have it sandwiched yet because I didn't order enough fabric for the back.  I ordered 3  yards, but need 4, so when I tried to order more (from Missouri Star Quilt Co), they were all out.  Go figure.  I contacted them and they said they won't get more of that particular fabric until mid-July.  Since I already got 3 yards, I don't want to order 4 more of a different one, so I told them to let me know when they get it in.  So that one is put on the back burner for now.

My hexie flower quilt.  All done, except I need to finish hand sewing the binding.  However, there was much "weeping and gnashing of teeth" trying to get that one quilted.  I wanted to use rulers to help me keep my lines straight, so I bought a ruler foot for my Kenmore machine and gave it a go.  My Kenmore is a low-shank machine, so I ordered a low-shank ruler foot.  But the ruler foot sat too low on my fabric - too tight for me to move my fabric around - well, that's not gonna work!  The only way I could sort of make it work was to keep my presser foot in the raised position, and then adjust the ruler foot to the right height.  But sewing with the presser foot raised is not normal, and I kept getting skipped stitches.

I was getting mad because I was ruining my quilt with these horrible stitches.

And it didn't help either that Weeners was sitting on it, hindering my free motion movements.

She is the reason why I now keep a roll of tape in my quilting room (to unfuzz my fabric).

So, as you can sorta see, my plan was to use rulers and outline my flowers, but I couldn't keep my lines straight for several reasons.  1) I am new at ruler quilting and need more practice; 2) Weeners was sitting on my quilt; 3) the ruler foot kept getting caught on my basting stitches (I learned a lesson with that one!; 4) my machine simply did not like the ruler foot and wouldn't cooperate; 5) my Kenmore does not have the "needle down" feature, which causes a lot of mayhem in free motion quilting.

So guess what??!?  I ordered myself a brand new machine!  I did a lot of research and settled on a Brother PQ 1500SL.

Sounds fancy, doesn't it?

I ordered it from Amazon and only had to pay $10 in shipping, and to my surprise it came a whole week earlier than they said it would.  So I was pretty excited to get this box!

It was a bit pricey, but it's really not that fancy, especially compared to the ones most of the YouTubers use.  Most of the quilting videos I watch have those very expensive computerized ones.  And I have to admit, it would be tempting to buy one of those if you can afford it, but even though this one is kinda pricey, I deliberately chose not to go with a computerized machine for several reasons.  The main reason is because you can't service them yourself, and when you take it in to get it serviced, it can take weeks to get  your machine back, and it's expensive to get them serviced.  And if anything goes wrong with the computer, same thing- very expensive to fix and you have to give up your machine until they fix it.  So I purposely chose a mechanical machine, just like my Kenmore.  I can oil it myself, and there's no computer parts to go haywire except for the "needle down" feature - that is the only part that's not mechanical.  I can live with that because having the "needle down" feature is SO worth it!  Not having it is one thing I always hated about my Kenmore.

It also has other features to it that my Kenmore doesn't have, like it will cut your thread for you, which can come in handy I suppose, but I generally don't use that because it cuts the threads too short.  Also, it has a needle threader.  It took me a few tries to figure out how it works, but that is another feature that I'm not really using very often because it's shredding my thread, but I suppose if I used a different sized needle, maybe it won't do that.  I will just have to experiment with it, but it is handy at times.

So, for the first week or two, I had to get used to it.  Through trial and error, I learned what it likes and doesn't like, and so far I am very very very happy with it!  I almost feel bad for my Kenmore cuz that one has been my work horse for almost 35 years, but I will still keep it around because my Brother only does straight stitches (that's what makes it better for quilting).  So if I ever need a zig-zag stitch or any other kind of stitching, I will use my Kenmore.

So, now the question is:  will it do ruler quilting?  After all, that is what I really want to do, and that is what compelled me to even consider buying a new machine.  This machine does free motion quilting really well!  But, just like the Kenmore, as soon as I put the ruler foot on, it's unhappy and skips stitches.  So more "weeping and gnashing of teeth", but I'm hoping that I will figure it out after I get myself more familiarized with this machine.  Even if I can't do ruler work with it, it will at least do really well with free motion.

On another note, Spring is here and it finally feels like it!  Our temps are regularly staying in the high 40s now, and when the sun is out, it feels so nice to be outside!  Even Peeka started her hunting season and made her first kill.

I just don't know why she insists on bringing it to our door.

Anyhoo, I wanted to end this post with something else that has been on my mind.  As you know, I'm going through the New Testament in the Greek, which forces me to really examine what I'm reading.  Right now I'm in Mark 10, and I was studying about the Rich Young Ruler.  I've heard this story many times, and usually when I hear this story, we just sorta feel sad for the guy because he seems to make the wrong choice (although the Bible never really tells us if he changed his mind later).  Anyway, I was looking at this, and what really struck me about it is that the rich young ruler was actually pretty brave.  Maybe "brave" isn't really the right word I'm looking for, but here was a guy who was virtuous, followed all the commandments - he was a good guy!  Yet, he still asks Jesus, "what do I lack"?  I thought about myself in his situation.  I try to be a good person, I love God and try to obey His Word, I consider myself a good person, just like this guy.  But I would almost hesitate to go up to Jesus and ask Him what I lack.  What if I don't like his answer, just like this rich ruler?  What would he tell me to give up?    Or maybe He would tell me what I'm doing or not doing? I think I'm good in God's eyes and salvation is sure, so should I even ask this question?  What would Jesus say to me?  Do I have anything in my possession that I would have a hard time letting go of? If I ask the question, would I not like His answer?????  In every confrontation with someone, Jesus always told people what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. Even though this guy didn't like Jesus' answer, he still deserves a lot of credit for even asking the question.  I admire him for that, and I think maybe it would be a good idea to ask ourselves the same question, especially if we think we're okay in God's eyes.  What do I need to hear from Jesus? Just like in some of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, they were told what they were good at, BUT......!  We may not be as okay as we think we are.  It's very humbling if you think about it long enough.

Next time I post, I hope I will be telling you that I'm ruler quilting!!

Happy New Year!

 Happy 2023!  I know it's already the 14th, but the year is still new.  I hope this year brings good things to all of you.

What are your goals for this year?  I don't make resolutions, but I sorta kinda made some goals for this year.  

Specifically, I would like to reduce my pile of WIPs.  In the quilting world, that means Work In Progress.  When I started my quilting adventure, my rule to myself was to not let myself grow a pile of UFOs (UnFinished Objects), like most quilters do.  My rule was that I could NOT start another project until the last one was quilted and binded and ready to give away.  Only ONE quilt at a time!!!!

Alas, woe is me!  It's too hard to resist starting new ones before the last one is done.  I have several WIPs going on right now, but to be fair to myself, two of them are actually on-the-side projects that I do just here and there.  Here now I will attempt to show you what I am working on.

In my last post, I mentioned that we had a house guest for 3 weeks sleeping in my sewing room, so I had to stash my unfinished Halloween quilt in the closet.  After she left, I really didn't get in the mood to pull it back out until recently because I knew that I was in the "tying" stage and it's a big king size quilt, so I kept procrastinating on it (and starting new projects).  Well, once I did pull it out and start tying it, it was "fun" and I got on a roll, and the best part was that I could do it while watching TV, which helps.  It took awhile, but I finally got it all tied, and now I just need to finish the binding.  So I keep it on my couch to remind me to work on it.  Unfortunately, my cats think I put it there to serve as their new sleeping pad and I can always find a cat curled up on it.  So before it gets full of cat hair, I need to get it done.

Another quilt that I'm working on is an experiment that I made up as I went.  I discovered EPP (English Paper Piecing) and "fell in love" with it, so I bought a pack of coordinating fat quarters and made a variety of flowers using EPP shapes, and then turned them into quilt blocks.

(sorry, I didn't know the picture would turn out blurry)  Anyway, each flower was stitched onto a blue background square using embroidery thread.  I chose to use 8" blocks because that seemed the appropriate size for the flowers.  Also, I should mention that this is a QAYG quilt (Quilt As You Go), so  the batting is already attached.  Here I am stitching together the last row of batting on the back.

It's exciting to finally have the last row attached.  I have an 8x8 array (64 squares), so 8 rows of 8 blocks.  I decided to put sashing between them to separate them, but as you can see, my sashing lines don't always match up.  That is my pet peeve about sashing - I can never never never never get it to line up perfectly, no matter how carefully I measure and try to line it up.  

So, to help hide those wonky corners, I'm thinking I might cover them up with a hexie or maybe I will make some mini EPP flowers.  I'm not sure yet, but if I do that, I need to do it before I add the back panel cuz I don't want my ugly stitching to show up on the back.  Unless, I applique them on.

Hmmmmm...........I will have to think about this.  As I said, this quilt I was making up as I go.  No pattern here to follow.

Other projects are just small ones.  I used to buy those Block of the Month kits from JoAnn's whenever they were on sale.  But instead of making the quilt I would just use them to make placemats.  This is the one that was in the kit.

And then I always like to pull some of my scraps out and make another one using the same pattern.

Since Valentine's Day is the next holiday coming up, I pulled out some Valentine's Day fabrics that I had stashed.  So both of these are just waiting for me to quilt and bind.  I am still trying to decide how I want to quilt them.

Apparently JoAnn's doesn't sell those kits anymore cuz I can never find them now.  But I saved all the patterns that I did get, in case I want to use any of them again.  I think I have two more kits left that I haven't put together yet.

Here is another WIP.

I found these Mario Bros. fat quarters at WalMart and immediately thought of Justin because he always liked Mario Bros.  So I decided to make him something with it.  I chose to use this "Dream Weaver" pattern from Missouri Star Quilt Company.  This pattern is showing all scrappy colors, so you can't pick up on the weaving pattern very quickly, but I am going to use only four colors (red, orange, green, and blue) so it will look more like a weaving pattern.  Anyway, I am putting this one together by hand, so it will take awhile to get it done.  I got all my pieces cut out - I just have to watch enough TV to get them all sewn together.  It really does help a lot that Chuck usually goes to bed early!

Now for my side projects.  I found this book:

And it's got 50 block patterns in it.  You can choose which ones you want to make and how many, and then the book has instructions that teach you three different methods of QAYG.  So, right now I am just making the blocks one by one, as I have time, and using scraps out of my stash.  I'm not in any hurry to get it done.  When I have enough blocks made I will make a quilt out of them.  I have 11 blocks made so far.  I just make a block here and there whenever I feel like sewing something small and quick.  I think my favorite part is going through my stash and choosing colors.

My other side project is EPP.  Now that is something that is just an on-going never-ending project that I like to do when I'm doing nothing, and it's portable so I take it with me when I travel - not that I travel much, but it's also a backup project to work on while watching TV if I'm not working on anything else.  I am using all hexies, and I am using all scraps for this.  I will not buy any extra fabric for this project.  However, I MIGHT need to buy some for the background color cuz I will need a lot of the same color.  But for now I am just making the parts that make up the design.

I found this EPP hexie quilt on Pinterest that I am aiming for.  Here is a link if you want to see it (hopefully it will work for you).

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/84/e4/a3/84e4a3a4c56ef0233c601b0962a71f3e.jpg

So I will have to make 28 large diamonds, 16 large flowers, 55 small flowers, 4 small diamonds, 4 brackets, 8 small triangles, plus extras; this is going to take awhile.  But it's fun and relaxing, and I am excited to see it progress as I go.  One nice thing about hexie quilts is that if you see a pattern you like, you can easily copy it without needing a pattern or instructions.

After I get at least these first two WIPs done, this is my next project I want to start:

Stephanie gave me this for my birthday LAST year, so I think it's about time I started working on it.  I will set a goal to have it completely done by Halloween.

So now you know what I'm up to.  

Oh, and I also started gardening!

I don't know if you can see it or not, but my onions are starting to sprout.

So exciting!

I can't start any other seeds until March, but onions need to be started early early early.

At least we are gaining more daylight every day now.

Also exciting!