Shirt Challenge

I almost forgot!  Last year I saw a challenge on Tracee’s blog for a shirt challenge.  The challenge was to make a quilt using only the fabric from 6 shirts and one additional fabric.  We could also use other fabric for the binding and backing.

I already had a stack of shirts that DH was getting rid of, so this was perfect for me.  Terry from Terry’s Treasures was also doing a SAL of Charming Stars, a free Moda pattern.  When I saw that my friend Sheila was going to combine the two projects, I blatantly copied her.  Thanks Sheila!

Sadly, my poor quilt is not yet quilted, but I’ll do my best to get it finished in November.  And would you believe I have enough fabric squares left over that I could make another entire quilt?  It’s amazing how much fabric can be salvaged from 6 shirts.

Hop on over to Tracee’s blog to see how creative all the other ladies were!

Keep on stitching……Sunny

buttons salvaged from 6 shirts

October OPAM

They say time goes much faster as you get older, so I must be getting really OLD!  Can you believe October is gone?  October is one of my two favorite months.  It’s such a pretty month.  DH was gone for nearly a week, but I wasn’t going to waste an October weekend, so I went hiking at a lake that I hadn’t been to in years. 

When I left home, I was wearing a hoodie and the sun was shining brightly.  By the time I reached my destination, I had driven through two rain showers, and a SLEET storm!  Sleet!!  I added another fleece jacket, a waterproof wind jacket, and gloves before setting out on my hike.  It was actually a gorgeous day, but quite cloudy so most of my pictures are too dark. 

The following weekend DH and I drove down to Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.  We usually avoid that in the fall as it is a very popular destination for leaf peepers and is quite crowded.  Going during the week was awesome!!  The colors were at their best.

We took two short hikes, and I started feeling sick during the first one.  After we had our picnic lunch I was feeling better so we tried a second hike.  Not a good idea.  I went to bed as soon as we got home, at around 8:00, and spent the next three days in bed.  Now DH has it. 

Following my recuperation, I spent much of my time cross stitching, and put the final stitch in Santa’s Village last night.  Once it is washed, ironed, and has the buttons attached, I will be proudly showing it to the world!!

My two finishes for the month include a wall hanging that used some brown scraps for RSC.  I have another  brown project started, but it is not going to be a quick finish.

I chose not to make a brown doll quilt, so used some scraps from another quilt that I recently made.

Unfortunately, the organization that I was making the doll quilts for no longer needs them, so I have a collection of 10 quilts if anyone knows of another organization that might be able to use them.  They’re all approximately 14x18”.

I also made two new name badges for two guilds, and my sewing machine has a name badge too.  At my last retreat, someone slapped a post-it with my name on the back of the machine, and my name was spelled wrong!  So now there’s a cute little tag with the correct spelling. 

Next weekend is Retreat again, so I’ve spent the last couple of days cutting, cutting, and cutting.  Two quilts are prepped and ready to go, and I hope to cut out another today.  I can’t wait!

Keep on stitching…….Sunny

 

FNSI, GG, and RSC

Tonight is FNSI, and DH is away, so I’ll be stitching like crazy.  I plan to work on my GG cross stitch project, in an attempt to get a month ahead.

I missed posting the September installment because I was on vacation, so here’s September and October.  I’m finishing one each month, but not necessarily in the order they were released.  My hope is to finish the final two by November 15th GG posting, so I can take the month of December off for Christmas projects.  GG is Gifted Gorgeousness, where we work on projects that were gifted to us.  This was my Christmas gift in 2012, for the 2013 BOM.  Jo has a linky each month, and I’m hoping she will continue this in 2016, because I’m thrilled to be getting this finished, and I have already chosen a project for next year. 

I got off to a slow start with my brown scraps for RSC, but here is my monthly Dresden Plate.

I’m working on cutting out two more small projects, so stay tuned.  I’m also starting to prep some projects for Retreat in a couple of weeks.  And I just found out that our LQS is having a sit-n-sew tomorrow night!  I might just have to check it out.

Keep on stitching……Sunny

A Beautiful Finish

I just love this little quilt!  This is Val Laird’s BOM for this year.   You can go to her blog and scroll down the the individual posts.

I had most of it assembled after the 8th block, and even had the binding waiting.  As soon as I returned from vacation, stitching the final block was my top priority.  On a few of the blocks, I appliqued one of the larger designs rather than embroidering it.  Can’t wait to get this one hung.

A couple of years ago, I was gifted an orphan block – a basket.  It got buried in some fabric, and I unearthed it in January when I was sorting my scraps.  It’s now a spring wall hanging. 

oops – I still need to give the bunny an eye!  I worked on this last week while sewing with a friend. 

Today was a beautiful day, so DH and I had a play date.  We went for a short hike on the Appalachian Trail.  That wasn’t our plan when we left the house so I didn’t have my hiking boots, and my feet paid the price.  It felt so good to be outdoors though!  I don’t like to hike when it’s hot out, so we’ll start doing more as it cools down.

Back to stitching now . . . . Sunny

Sept OPAM

Because of vacation, September was not a terribly productive month in the sewing room. Fiona Pfaff went to the spa while I was away, so she’s ready to do some serious sewing in October. 

  I’ve already shown the orange doll quilt for RSC.

I also finished Jenny’s Vintage Kitchen BOM.  I’m going to look for a long wooden spoon to use as a hanger!

This was a fun little project, and I’m really pleased with the result.

That’s about it for September.  But I do have a stack of basted quilts ready to be quilted.  There’s rain in the forecast for the next few days, so I’ll be spending my days in quilting mode.

Keep on stitching…Sunny

Sedona and the Main Event!

The following day found us in Sedona, AZ, by way of the scenic Oak Creek Canyon road.  It was a beautiful drive, but there weren’t many places to pull out for photos, so for the most part we just enjoyed the ride.

We were walking around across the road from this sign, and two gentlemen suggested that we go elsewhere, as they thought they had just heard a rattlesnake.  Okay, we’re outta here!!

It was a quick trip, because we had to get back to Vegas to return our rental car.  Our final destination was Salt Lake City, and the cost to drive there and turn in our car was outrageous!!  So we took the car back to Vegas and flew to SLC for a small fraction of the cost. 

Salt Lake City was the location of my nephew’s wedding, and our ultimate destination!  The wedding was on Saturday and we had Friday to do some more sightseeing.  Fall is coming to the mountains.  There was even a little snow on a few of the peaks.

This guy crossed the parking lot in front of us, and even stopped to pose.

Saturday morning came early, and we headed to the campground where the wedding was to be held in a meadow.  We helped decorate the shelter, set up chairs, haul beverages.  It was a lovely ceremony, and after a couple of cool days, it was sunny and beautiful.

The flower girl is the bride’s daughter, and a much loved addition to the family.  I think she may be getting a quilt for Christmas.  We had a chance to spend time with family and friends, with good food, chatting around late night fire pits, and even a hot tub.  I hope we can all get together again soon!

The final shot is my five little nephews, and they actually asked to have their picture taken together!!

The Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon

The Grand Canyon was our next destination, and one of the two main reasons for our trip.  I’ve been to 47 states, but I’ve never before seen the Grand Canyon.  It truly was grand!  We weren’t there at the right time of day to get sensational photos, but I’m pleased with what I got.

There were a LOT of people here, but it’s big enough for everyone to get a view or two.  We saw a herd of elk when we first drove into the park, and I couldn’t believe how many people were walking around trying to get close to them.  We also saw more elk as we were leaving the park on another route later.  And then there was this guy, who crossed right in front of our Tour bus!

Obviously not too worried about humans. 
We got to Desert View tower just in time for sunset.

There were a lot of people scurrying to the edge to get their last view before the day’s light was gone.
After leaving the park, we drove for nearly 3 hours on a very dark, very lonely road.  We had a little scare with our tire pressure, but it turned out to be just a bad sensor.  Driving across wide open terrain is awesome, because we could see so far, and watched storms in the distance.  We safely reached our destination and settled in for the night.
Our activity for the following day was to visit one of the Slot canyons near Page Arizona.  Our tour took us to the very beautiful Upper Antelope Canyon. 
While the section of Nevada that we saw was very brown, this part of Arizona is very red.  We had some time to kill before our tour, so we took a short drive over to Glen Canyon Dam. 

Then on to Antelope Canyon.  we hadn’t made reservations in advance, and were very fortunate to get our hands on tickets for the 12:30 tour!
Our guide was Kay, a member of the Navajo Nation, on whose land the canyon is located.  She was very helpful and knowledgeable, helping everyone get the right settings on their cameras, and pointing out good shots.  I also learned a little about Navajo customs from her.

My pictures do not begin to do justice to the beauty of this canyon, but here is a small sample of what I took.

What a fantastic experience.  This canyon was very easy to walk through, and although I’m claustrophobic, I was not uncomfortable at any time. 
I’ll stop here for today so that I don’t blow up anyone’s computer.  Hope you’re enjoying our tour of the southwest.

~~~ Sunny ~~~