Merrittime Kaleidoscope

One of the quilts I completed this past summer is a red, cream, and blue kaleidoscope made of nautical themed fabrics. Most of them were purchased as fat quarters at a little shop in Tillamook, Oregon.

Tillamook is a hop, skip, and a jump from the Pacific coast, so the fabrics were appropo. I filled out the collection with more fat quarters and a background fabric from Glad's. They were perfect complements.

I was so happy when that Tillamook collection worked its way to the top of my "to do" list. I made all 144 blocks at my small quilt group's "Spring Fling" retreat in May. I thought I might have to be put into traction for the next week, but the kinks in my shoulders finally worked their way out. The finished quilt has a great secondary design that could almost make one seasick if one was so prone.

Early in August I brought the finished quilt to my brother and sister-in-law in Missoula, Montana. I think they really liked it. The label is an orphan block provided by one of my favorite Glad's customers. (Thanks, Phyllis!) Jeff and Cathy named the quilt after their boat, the Merrittime.

What is Merrittime, you ask? It's always 5:00 p.m., of course!

Car Appendix

Here's a picture of the car part that we lost from Nathan's car on our way to Montana last month. It belonged inside the wheel well above one of the tires. You can imagine what an awful sound it made as it dragged along the highway beneath us.

Nathan and I have been through worse disasters, so we stayed calm, pulled over and removed the offending car part. Not being litterbugs, we hauled it to the next rest stop and disposed of it in the garbage can. We weren't sure what purpose the lining of a wheel well serves and in the end decided that it is a lot like an appendix.

Appendixes (or is it appendices?) are nice, or at least interesting, to look at but are functionally useless. I know. I've seen my own appendix looking cute as it sat there doing nothing. (Ever had a colonoscopy?)

I'm Baaack!!

After a lengthy hiatus from blogging, my friends have convinced me (okay, they nagged me mercilessly) to take keyboard in hand and pick up where I left off . . . hand quilting Tria's quilt.

I finished the quilt in what must be record time - 22 days. Two days later her quilt was bound, labeled, and on its way to Vancouver, Washington, to be displayed with its companion quilts at the Clark County Quilter's annual show. I know Tria would have been very proud of her beautiful quilt as well as those of her dear friends in her small quilt group.

Much has happened since then. The Spring Fling quilt retreat in May. I've started doing volunteer work (more about that later). Cabin season has come and almost gone. The Minnesota Quilters show in Duluth. Moved Mom to senior housing. And after two years, Bosca is getting less neurotic. What a relief.

A highlight this summer was a trip to Montana with Nathan. We lost a car part on the way. But that didn't stop us from hitting 17 quilt shops and squeezing in lots of sailing. Plus we just happened to see Air Force One land in Belgrade, MT. Very exciting.

I've started several new quilts over the last few months. Some have even been completed. Wait til you see them!