Civil War Love Letters

Civil War Love Letters quilts had caught my eye a couple of years ago.  I bought the book but was discouraged when I saw the blocks and some of their complexity.  I decided that the only way I would get a quilt like this done was to take a class that would motivate me to start it and keep going.  So that is what I am doing.  We meet on the first Tuesday of every month.  One month we do five blocks;  the next month we do six blocks.  The 121 blocks should be done in approximately twenty-two months.  Seems like a long time.  But each block is time consuming.  Each block is paper-pieced.  Some are quite quick and easy.  Some take me time than you realize.  Others you just know they will take quite a bit of time.  But it is fun all the same.  I have most of the first row done.  Here are pics of the blocks I have finished.  The last one is getting there.

I think this is my favorite color comb so far.

Wow!  Did this one drive me nuts! 

I decided that the pattern in the blue MUST be perfect.

What was I thinking!

This one I also liked the color comb in.

I have to finish this one up yet.  Plus three more to be where I need to be by Tuesday.  Wish me luck.

Classes I have taken

This week I took a couple of classes from Pieceful Gathering in Fox River Grove.  The first class was for tumblers.  It is quite easy and easy directions.  Here is a picture I found on internet to show the tumbler pattern.  I bought a template which will make cutting go fast.

I will post pics as soon as I get some together.

I also took a T-shirt quilt class.  I learned the basics and can use the T-shirts I have been saving from my kids.  It will not be done for quite sometime.  My kids are little and I don't have that many yet.

Teaching others to sew

I had the opportunity to teach kids sewing classes again this summer.  It is the four summer I have done this for a local quilt shop.  It is fun and quite exciting to see the expressions of these kids when they have accomplished something.


We sewed tablerunners again.  I designed a simple pattern using blocks and strips.  My daughter chose colors that contrasted very nicely.  Stitch in the ditch was used to finish the tablerunner.

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We finished up the summer with a quilt class where the students made a disappearing nine patch quilt.  My daughter started hers last summer and continued working on it in this class.  She used a six-inch block to construct her blocks.  The students in this summer's class used nine-inch blocks.  This made a bigger quilt for them. 

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This is a very easy quilt to make.  She is making this for her twin bed.  She will add a couple borders to enhance the colors within her quilt.

This is also a disappearing nine patch, done by my son.  The colors are quite bright and contrast beautifully against the other colors.  Of course, pictures rarely do the real thing any justice. 

This quilt was stippled in a varigated color thread and has binding.

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Pictures of students' quilts.  Partial pictures of quilts to protect my students.

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Now it is back to school. 

Summer 2009 vacation happenings

The summer has flown by.  Every summer seems to go by faster than the previous summer.  This summer the kids and I decided to go on vacation even though my husband could not get the time off.  As a kid my family would go on a month long vacation always out west somewhere.  The starting and ending place was always Estes Park, Colorado, area.  We visited several places before we ever got there. 

Mitchell, South Dakota, was our first tourist stop.  I remember this as a small child.  Every summer a different set of pictures are displayed using corn, thus calling this the Corn Palace.  If you have never seen it before and are traveling through South Dakota, it is well worth the stop.

This view is only one of many on the building.  We watched a man creating the pictures.  Fasinating.

I am very much into genealogy.  I have been researching my family, both sides, and my husband's family, both sides, for about twelve years now.  My parents and one of my sisters also enjoys this.  She and I are trying to connect the Wadsworth family with the Longfellow family.  So far we have nothing, just hunches.  Then there is my other sister who has different interests.  That is okay.  That leaves more for me to find.  :-)  My paternal grandfather was brought to the South Dakota territory to be raised by his grandparents when he was a small boy along with his siblings.  So we visited an old cemetery where his grandparents are buried.  A moving experience for me.  Not so much for my children as you can see.

Off towards Rapid City

Okay, the only way to describe the Badlands is that it is so ugly it is beautiful.  The sun setting on the Badlands casts beautiful shadows and brings out the striped colors in the formations.  I could go again and again. 

Awesome.

I tried to pack as much into the week and a half that I could.  I think my kids heads' were swimming.  While in Rapid City area, we went up to Devil's Tower in northeast Wyoming.  It is not that far and was well worth the trip.

    

Wow.  They say that as you are traveling to see Devil's Tower and go around a bend - all of a sudden there it is, rising above all else around it.  It have to say that it was cool.  It far exceeded my expectations.  The pictures I had seen of it were not that thrilling.  Pictures do it no justice.  The day we visited there were six groups of people climbing Devil's Tower.  Yikes!  What were they thinking!  It is straight up.  But there are those people that like that sort of thing.  That is fine.  It gives the rest of us something to talk and write about.  The picture above is of one couple we watched.  I think one was a woman.  Go, girl!

Okay, for the next attraction

 

We visited the Dinosaur Park in Rapid City.  The last time I was here I has one and a half.  I remember going there.  But it looks different now. 

Mt. Rushmore

Words cannot describe this monument.  Visit.  Take the hike around it.  I do have to tell you that the trail gets your heart pumping.  But it is well worth it.  We did not have a chance to go back at night.  It is lit up and said to be breathtaking.

Custer State Park is near by.  It is known for its wildlife such as buffalo, three-pronged antelope, deer, and burros.  I think we got more kick out of the burros.  They almost "attack" you as you get out of your vehicle.  They are so used to being fed that you are just one more place to get food. 

Most people were feeding the burros carrots, although I saw some feeding them corn curls.

This one is learning early.

Wyoming:  Guernsey, Wyoming.  A little known community.  There one can see Register Cliffs, Oregon Trail Ruts, and much history.  Just east of Guernsey is Fort Laramie.  Wow.  Makes one appreciate how we live today.

Here we come, Colorado!

For me it was like going home.  Many summers our family had spent here.  Hiking, breathing the fresh air and pine, watching the hummingbirds, sitting by the campfire, and trying to stay warm at night.  I was thrilled to introduce the mountains, Estes Park mountain range, to my kids.  When the word "WOW" came out of their mouths, I knew it was a hit. 

We rented a cottage with the most gorgeous view.  The cottage was not on the top of my list.  The stove did not work, and neither did the hot plate.  That made life interesting for four days.  Anyway, we had a very relaxing and fun time around the area.

This view from our cottage was worth the stove not working.

When you visit Estes Park, there are a few places you must take in.  One is Trail Ridge Road.  It is the highest paved road in the United States.  The views are outstanding.  Take a sweater, sweatshirt, or jacket with you.  The weather is unpredictable.  I have been up there when the wind almost knocked you over.  This time it was just cold.  The Continental Divide is just around the corner at this point. 

You must also visit Bear Lake.  If you can, plan to take a hike around Bear Lake.  When I was a kid, Bear Lake was just a beginning mark for us.  We would hike on up to the other lakes in this area.  The highest we got was the top of Flattop Mountain.  Awesome.

Did I mention why we decided to go on vacation when we did?  Well, it is because three of my siblings had decided to climb Longs Peak.  It is a mountain in the Estes Park area.  It ended up being my two brothers, one of my sisters, and three of her kids.  They started up the mountain about 2:15 a.m.  One made it to the top;  the rest almost made it.  The winds were so strong that the five remaining decided not to chance it.  There is always next year.  Who knows?  Maybe I will lose some pounds and try it too.  ? 

My other sister was not able to join us.

My son decided that he was to be the photographer when we were in Colorado.  He is learning.  But he captured the best picture.

I forgot one last place to visit:

My daughter finally got my son good.  What do they say - Payback!

It was sad leaving this area.  But we still needed to see Colorado Springs:  Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, and the Air Force Academy.

Great place to stop at.  The Chapel is very impressive.  The campus is huge.

We took the cog train up Pikes Peak.  A must.  You can drive up, but consider the wear and tear on your vehicle.

On a clear day you can see Kansas, Utah, and other surrounding states.  Words cannot describe the view.

I think the only picture we have that the three of us are in is at the "Welcome to Wyoming" sign.

Garden of the Gods:  Weird stuff.  See it.  We came here when I was quite young.  I remember Balanced Rock (which we called Shipwreck).

Then there is Kissing Camels.  Both still there.  Both still cool.

By this time the kids, being gone for eleven days, are homesick and tired of being gone.  So we headed for home.

If you ever get a chance to stop at the visitor center on I-80 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, do so.  It was very impressive.  It has quite a display of the history of traveling west and prairie life.  It was also a good place to stop and rest.

Whew!  There is twelve days out of my fast summer.

Okay - Here we go again

I believe it has been about a year since I did anything on my blog. Shame on me. Work tends to take over and the blog had been tossed aside.

This summer I taught kids' sewing classes once again. It is great to see the eyes on the girls when they have accomplished something and ask for more. Good for me and good for them. Win, win.

I will be posting some pics of some of the projects done within the last year very shortly. Please check back for those. I have a blog for my classroom for my students and will be keeping up on both of them this year.

July 15, 2008

As I sit here at my computer, I am taken back to the morning conversation I had with one of my sisters through IMing. She lives in southwest Kansas and do not get to see each other very often, usually when one of us five gets married. Don't think that will be happening for awhile. But at least we can "talk" as much as we want on our computers. This morning we talked about tablerunners. Some are more like a center piece mat for a kitchen table or end table because they are so short or small. She remarked how she would like to make one for every season or certain times of the year. There are so many different patterns and styles you can choose from. But they can be sewn quickly and add so much to that table, dress up an area or room.

I teach kid sewing classes throughout the summer. Our project this week is this simple tablerunner. Simple strips are sewn together. They will learn such skills as top stitching, hand stitching, and Stitch in the Ditch. It is exciting and they are so proud of themselves when it is finished. There, again, my pics don't do the real thing any justice.

I sewed a few other tablerunners this summer. I still have to finish them up. (common story at my place) They are the same pattern. Amazing how changing one block from dark to light can change the whole look of something.

My other sister just left this morning for a three-week chaperoning trip with high schoolers to Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and London through a nationwide organization. May good thoughts and prayers help them have a good journey and bring them home safe.

All for now.

July 13, 2008

I finally had a chance to take a pic of the quilt top I had finished last week. The kit I bought from a vendor at the International Quilt Show in Chicago was called Ocean Waves. But I retitled it "Rocky Mountain Ocean Waves" because it is made from the Rocky Mountain collection. As you can see this pic does the quilt no justice. The border will be a dark brown print that is from that fabric collection.







This week end I started on quilt top or wallhanging, depends on how much I want to keep sewing on it. Here are only nine blocks of it. They went together quite well. My husband says it is too busy looking. I will have to have a talk with him.










Renovations are going slow. We painted some more this weekend. But we still have a bit more to do. My husband finished up the foyer floor this weekend. It has porcelain tile with wood inlay. Nice. Once the haze is gone I will post a pic of it.

All for today.