Four Borders Done, Yellow against Blue, Packing for Road Trip.

Stacks of my four patch blocks, pressed.

Arranging four patch blocks into 4 borders.

Fall colors, yellow against blue.

Four Patch borders, sewn together and pressed.

Four Patch borders for my On-Point Sampler blocks.

Hello, from Renton, Washington.

Where we have rain and clouds today.

This will be my last post from Washington as we are headed south tomorrow for a road trip to Rancho Palos Verdes, California. We'll be staying there a while and it's a beautiful time of the year to visit.

We'll be traveling through Oregon to Northern California, where we'll go west and travel south along the coast to Rancho Palos Verdes. It's a great drive and if the weather holds I'll get some photos to share of the scenery and stops into local quilt shops.

This week I did get my four patch blocks sewn together and pressed. Then I arranged them into four borders and sewed and pressed the borders. They'll go around my 'On Point Traditional Sampler Quilt.' That will wait until I get settled in Rancho Palos Verdes. Something to look forward to.

That's the news from the shire, where we're packing up camp. Soon we'll be living in the 'rancho.'

Remembering to be thankful.

I'll be by to visit.

On Point Sampler Blocks, Fall is Here!, Hand Quilting and Four Patch Border

My traditional sampler blocks, on point, 1st border.

Trees in the neighborhood starting to turn fall colors.

Fall color mix.

Vine Maple in the backyard going red and orange.

Hand quilting progress on 'City Sidewalks'.

I'm piecing Four Patch squares for next border on my traditional sampler.

Fall is officially here!

Happy Monday from the Pacific NW, where the deciduous trees are beginning to turn their fall colors. The small maples seem to turn first, their bright red and orange leaves really standout. 

This week I sewed the first border onto my traditional sampler quilt. I roughly followed Piecing the Past Quilts' pattern, 'Times of Refreshing.' I used Kona cotton solid, chartreuse. The next border will be a round of four patch blocks. I haven't decided for sure what the 3rd border will be, triangles or stars, stay tuned.

And I'm making progress with hand quilting my 'City Sidewalks' log cabin blocks quilt. I roughly followed Tonye Belinda Phillips' pattern, 'Welsh Folded Log Cabins.' I chose to quilt it in a grid, I'm using light grey, size 12 DMC pearl cotton.

That's the news from the shire.

Plans are still being made for the upcoming road trip to California. Fall is a good time to travel.

Have a good week and I'll be by to visit.

Pink Poodles in a Barn Raising Quilt, Wild Cyclamen, a Walk in the Park.

Pink poodles HSTs in 'Barn Raising' formation.

First border added in Kona cotton solid pink punch.

Family birthday.

Wild cyclamen at Lake Wilderness Park, Maple Valley, WA.

View of Lake Wilderness.

We went walking on the trails around Lake Wilderness today.

Hello from the Pacific NW!

We have clear skies today and cool temperatures. Perfect for hiking which is what we did this afternoon. We hiked around Lake Wilderness on trails, enjoying the sun and breathing in the fresh air. 

Invigorating!

This weekend was busy with a family happening, like a birthday, always a good excuse to eat chocolate cake and ice cream.

I made progress on my Pink Poodles in a Barn Raising. And I had time to sew on the borders, in Kona cotton solid Pink Punch. More borders to be added. This quilt will be done when it looks done.

That's my favorite way to put quilts together, ad hoc.

It looks as though we'll be doing a road trip to California soon. I'll post photos and include news of  local quilt shops of course.

So stay tuned for more update on the coming adventure.

And I'm remembering to pray for my blog friends, Pamela and Queenie. They both live in Japan and as you may know Japan has had a lot of earthquakes lately and a big storm. I'm sure it's not easy to hear of the difficulties people around them have been going through. I hope they continue to be safe.

That's the news from the shire, where adventure is in the air.

Remembering to be thankful.

I'll be by to visit.

Walking on the Traditional Quilt Side, Piecing, Borders and Berries and Cauliflower

Pieced strips for a border.

First border sewn on in Kona cotton solid ice peach.

Another border sewn on in Kona cotton solid snow.

More piecing HSTs together.

On my walk, blackberries after a rain.

Oregon Grape leaves, gorgeous red and green.

Happy Tuesday!

from the Pacific NW where we're having thundershowers and rain off and on today.

It's blackberry season and the local farmer markets are loaded with produce.

I brought home a huge head of cauliflower and that lasted us several days. I lightly steam the cauliflower and then we dip it in blue cheese dressing or babaganoush.

This week I've been sewing on borders and piecing HSTs. I'm in the mood to get some quilt tops done. Slow but sure progress.

Stop in and visit Barbara Brackman's Material Culture blog. I enjoy the quilt history and stories she 

researches and writes about and the photos.  I think the traditional side of quilting is culturally fascinating.

And that's the news from the shire where it's rainy and misty and progress is being made.

Have a great week and remember to celebrate and visit local farmer markets.

I'll be by to visit.

Quilt Adventures, Hand Quilting, Shopping Undercover Quilt Shop in Seattle, Market Fun

Undercover Quilt Shop's street sign, down the hill is Pike Place Farmer's Market.

Window displays, Undercover Quilt Shop, Seattle Washington.

Talk about a fun design!

Mt. Rainier quilt and pattern inside shop.

Beautiful sample quilts, fabric and patterns.

Street performers in Pike Place Market, folk music, they were good.

We ate at 'Honest Biscuits', in Pike Place Market.

I ordered biscuits with their specialty cheese mixed in and sausage gravy over the top.

Piecing HSTs, I can see one row needs to be rearranged, oh well.

Back view of hand quilting on my 'City Sidewalks' with log cabin blocks quilt.

Happy September!

From the Renton highlands where we are having temperatures in the 70's and sunny days.

Last week we (husband and I) made a trip into Seattle for an adventure into the Pike Place Farmer's Market. There's always flowers, food and everything from souvenirs to clothes. 

This time we stopped into the Undercover Quilts, a block up hill from the Farmer's Market.

I talked with the friendly owner, she said they'd had their shop in the area for 23 yr.s. They carry a great selection of batiks, fabric and patterns. I do enjoy visiting quilt shops, the business aspect of it is  fascinating to me and the fabric and pattern selection is also a draw. I did bring home some Robert Kaufman hand dyed batik.

I'm piecing HSTs and getting the right order is a little fiddly.

Even having a photo of the arrangement I want on my camera I still managed to get it goofed up. But that's okay I know how to fix it. I'm getting really good at taking out seams.

And the hand quilting on my 'City Sidewalks' log cabin block quilt is progressing!

I got some hand quilting done at the 'sew in' last Saturday held at Maker's Mercantile, Kent Washington, hosted by Seattle Modern Quilt Guild.

As I said before I'm quilting it in a grid. I think that fits for city sidewalks and city blocks.

That's the news from the shire where we're enjoying the weather, going on adventures and finding time to work on projects.

Have a great day!

I'll be by to visit.