Quilting – Page 5 – TooBusyForWork

Death Valley catchup (plus Iowa things)

Warning – this has a lot of time and variety in it!

To catch up on Death Valley and surroundings, we stayed at Sunset until the morning of 20 February. Since the cellular data service ixps extremely limited there, we were pleased to make full use of the monthly WiFi pass at the resort. $60 gives you 30 days of high speed Internet on up to two devices! I tried to get some pictures from Kevin’s fancy camera of the Funeral Mountains to the east of us, but I wasn’t terribly successful. The mountains are made up of rocks so old and confused they are called “Funeral Chaos”. Twisted, faulted, squeezed, faulted again – they show amazing patterns. I just couldn’t get a good picture though, so I guess I will try again next time.

Searching for phone service and a place to hunker down to care for Lily, we ended up at the Needles KOA. We have stayed there a few times before. The sites are big enough, and there is a resident group of quail that I find adorable. I tried to get a picture of the 20 or so who ran across the road as we were checking in, but they were too fast for me. You can hear them clicking away in the mornings if no one has taken their dogs out yet.

As I said in the previous post, we headed back to Iowa as soon as we knew about Lily’s condition. We stayed at Lavaland RV Park in Grants, NM the first night after we left Needles KOA, Tuesday 23 February. They had a nice brewery that concentrated on porters and stouts, my favorites. Sadly their kitchen was closed, but we did order some pizza delivered to the brewery. Nice to eat pizza and beer inside an almost empty place. Our next stop was Big Texan RV Park in Amarillo. It is a mile or so away from the famously advertised restaurant, but it was an easy in and out spot. We made it to the Wellington KOA on Thursday, much nicer than the dreadful place we stayed heading to Arizona in December. We then headed to the Lakeside Casino RV Park in Osceola, IA for our last night. It isn’t very suitable for big rigs since the turns are tight and the sites pretty short, but we found a spot we could fit into. It wasn’t the one the check in folks had us in initially, but with only 5-6 other rigs we had our choice. It is close enough to home to make it a good spot to winterize the rig, and thanks what we did on Saturday morning before heading out. We are pretty good at it these days, and it too, less than an hour. The ice maker is always the hardest!

We had gotten COVID vaccination appointments on Sunday, 28 February, and we had our follow up vaccination yesterday (Pfizer). I am anxiously awaiting my 2 week time for feeling comfortable again! We are having two of the kids and their families over for Easter (another son heads to his cabin every Easter), and I am soooooo wanting to hug them all!

Kevin’s big job this time was installing new LiFePO4 batteries. He chose three 200 amp hour LifeBlue batteries with their integrated heater. Lithium’s don’t charge below 35 degrees or so, and we stay in those temps too often to not get the more expensive heater version. He needed a new solar controller, and luckily this one has Bluetooth so it is much easier to see what is happening. They see to work fine, and I am anxious to try them out on a real trip, not just sitting outside the storage unit. Our solar system will be able to punch more power into the batteries because it won’t be throttled by the lead acid charging curve.

We have been doing work on the house too. We bought a pergola to go on our very hot west side deck. It has a nice adjustable shade cover that will help with keeping the house cooler too. We even bought a propane fire pit to put under it!

i also finished the three quilt tops I sewed while we were out. I got them quilted pretty quickly, but I procrastinated on the binding because it is the task I like least. I got them into the wash yesterday though.

The first two were made from a layer cake I bought on sale. I love the water lilies and dragonfly theme.

Bound and backed with a green Grunge fabric

Bound and backed with a light turquoise fabric with yellow dots

This one was way outside my comfort zone! I just don’t “do” scrappy well. It will make a fun ”I Spy” quilt for some child though.

Enough for now. More going on at home, but I will leave that for later.

At KOFA for a bit longer

We spent yesterday afternoon probably like everyone else in the US – glued to the TV. I am still enraged at the domestic terrorists and their instigator, the man who is still the President of the United States. We had to turn on the generator for quite a while since we had the entertainment system on for so long. It is a real power hog, equivalent to the domestic refrigerator we have. Part of it is just the way Tiffin sets things up, and part is the way the satellite system keeps track of the satellites. The TV itself doesn’t use much power. By 4:30 we decided to go to Quartzsite again to pick up a switch for a 12v power distribution system Kevin is working on for the GPS and dash cam. Now we have cords running all over the place. Pictures will come when he gets it done. He’s been having fun with the 3D printer to make the packaging.

While we were in town, we picked up a pizza at Silly Al’s, a great pizza place in town. It is usually very, very busy so we called our order in. They have a great Philly Cheesesteak pizza, something I have never been able to get anywhere else. When I went inside to pick it up (masks required – nice!), we also got a growler of their Irish Red Ale.

Today I finished up a quilt top. It was so, so hard! Not for the design, but because it was a scrap quilt. I had to force myself to randomly pick a piece out of a box without making any selection except not to have the same fabric next to each other. I have decided I am not suited to scrap quilts! It drove me batty.

I used a 4” tumbler die with my Accuquilt to cut them. Sadly, I still have a 100 plus pieces! I am sure it will be loved by some child as a “I See” quilts since there are so many designs and colors in it. I also forced myself to sew the rows together randomly too, so you will note a few of the same fabrics in adjacent rows. Luckily the next two quilts I am working on are more more orderly and planned.

We did sit outside a bit today. While there were enough clouds to filter the sunlight, I still got one good picture of the hill behind us.

I am not sure how the data service will be in Quartzsite. Usually it is absolutely horrid because there are sooooo many people. However I had really good service there a few days ago so we will see. If I have good service I will try to post every 2-3 days. If not, it might be 5-7 days. We will see.

And we are settled!

For at least the next week at least. We are staying on BLM land just outside the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge on King Road. It is a gorgeous place with the mountains very close. Prettier than Quartzsite, and a lot fewer people too! It is free camping, but with a 14 day limit.

And how did we get here? Let’s start with Albuquerque. Nice enough place for an overnight, but it was certainly handy for shopping. Kevin got the water softener bought, initialized, and set up nicely. I found the fabric I needed at a great little shop, Ann Silva’s Bernina and Babylock store. Interestingly New Mexico takes their virus precautions very seriously. We saw masks on everyone, and stores had stringent capacity limits. We intended on going to Trader Joe’s, but the line to get in was 20-30 people. Nope on that one. Then we tried an Albertson’s. Nope there too, with just as long a line. Our only serious need was orange juice, so I just picked some up at the Love’s Truck Stop near the campground. We did take a short car trip on the east side of the mountain up to Madrid. Lovely with snow that started showing up about 7000’. I wish I had taken pictures!

We left Albuquerque early, headed to Willcox, AZ. We stayed at a KOA there that was much nicer than the one in Benson where we stayed last year. Knowing we were headed for dry camping, we did laundry and stocked up on groceries. The freezer is again was full, and the refrigerator was pretty full too. We want to minimize shipping trips due to the high virus infection numbers in California and Yuma county.

We again took off fairly early. The road through southern Arizona is lovely. Sadly I didn’t take any pictures of the higher desert, 4000-6000’. It is full of plant variety with saguaros, ocotillo, palo verde trees, and others. I did get some of the lower desert. The vegetation is less dense, and it doesn’t have the variety found in the higher elevations.

The view from the big windshield is one of the big pluses for a Class A.

Since it was a holiday weekend, we really didn’t see much traffic. The roads were pretty good, little construction, and we just cruised along.

We made it to KOFA about 3:00. Ahh! It was sunny and warm, and I sat outside just soaking up the heat. It cooled off quickly in the evening though so the heater gets a workout still.

We didn’t do much on Saturday evening, just relaxed. We have some acquaintances staying at the next site over, so we chatted with them a while. Today we woke up late (6:30 mountain time is late to me!) and generally goofed off quite a bit. Kevin made a needle holder to attach to my seeing machine, and he is at work on a 12v power supply to get rid of a bunch of cords and cables around the dash. I did quite a bit of sewing, and I pretty much have all the rows put together for a scrap quilt made of tumbler blocks.

Scrap quilts are very challenging to my OCD, but I promised myself I will get some of my multitude of scraps used up. This is a decent start – 12 rows of 15 blocks. I will press them later tonight, and tomorrow try seeing the blocks together. I am using the (new to me) 830 sitting outside. Pretty nice way to sew!

Looking back three months

Yup, it has been three months since I last posted. I am not really depressed, but it seems like the things I am doing just aren’t the things I normally write about. Today I looked back and realized that I probably should document some, so here is a very top level summary.

First is sewing. I have been doing more sewing than I have in the past. Of course I have been doing masks, probably another 150 since September. Most of them went to local schools. I have also semi-joined a local quilt guild that does a lot of donation quilting. I say “semi-joined” in that I went to one meeting, but I haven’t paid dues yet. They aren’t meeting right now, even virtually, so I will wait until they do to officially join. I have enjoyed quilting 6 quilts for them on my Sweet 16 though. It gives me a lot of practice, and it gets them done. Like most quilt groups, they have a lot more people who piece tops than those who quilt the completed quilts. The ones they gave to me, someone unknown to them, have mostly been among the ugliest quilts I have seen. Totally random patches of various sizes of old fabric, but they will keep someone nice and warm. These are twin bed sized quilts, and for 4 of them I just did a simple meander. One I practiced doing pebbles on, and another one got some ruler work. I didn’t take any pictures though.

I also did some non-quilting work too: three Hogwarts robes for some of the grandkids. I used a lovely poly/cotton gabardine, and they turned out wonderfully.

For quilting of my own, there have been a bunch of baby and children’s quilts. The first two were cut completely with my Accuquilt system. I got the alphabet dies for my birthday, and I think they do a great job on children’s quilts.

For a young girl getting a surprise cancer diagnosis

I made one for me – a Riley Blake National Parks panel with a wool batting. I will keep this in the motorhome.

Another for my daughter to give as a shower gift. I am quite proud of this one. All those triangles were cut with an Accuquilt 4 1/4” equilateral triangle die. I could not have done it without the die! Trying to keep the bias and non-bias edges straight would have been impossible, but the die cuts notches on the bias edges to use for matching to the next piece. Very nice!

“Fox and Friends” or, as I prefer it, “Foxy Friends”

Daughter and I like this one so much we bought the fabric to do another one in the spring.

Of course all sewists need to do something for Christmas presents, so I did microwave bowl cozies. I made a few, then decided a new cutting die would make it much easier. I ordered from Blue Wren, an Australian company who has dies that fit my Accuquilt. It took just over 3 weeks to get it from Australia, and I went to town. Thirty total cozies. This is most of them. A few had already been packed up.

And what else have I sewn? I actually did some machine embroidery too! Lake Volney is where one son has his cabin, so he wanted two beach towels with the name on them.

I also bought a new (old) sewing machine! I have been wanting a vintage Bernina for a long time. I could use it as my travel machine for the motorhome and as a backup for my beloved Bernina 440. I finally found this 830 Record, built in 1974, in great shape with loads of accessories. She is sooo pretty, though she smelled of cigarettes and mustiness. The repair guy who cleaned up her insides and get her oiled up got rid of the vast majority of smoke, and I figure I can eventually cure her of mustiness. I sold the Viking I had been using. I guess I am just a Bernina girl!

A classic mechanical Bernina. The knee lift goes in the bottom right but isn’t shown.

All the standard accessories plus lots of extra feet plus lots and lots of bobbins.

I am probably forgetting something, but this is long enough already. We are planning our trip to Arizona now; more one that later.

Slow going in the coronavirus era

I really haven’t felt like updating since we just haven’t been doing much. I wrote that, then I realized it was incorrect; we have been doing stuff, but the vast majority of it isn’t travel related, so I haven’t been posting. I was on the site of one of my favorite bloggers, and she said she was in the same funk. It isn’t really depression, just a bored funk. Hard to get motivated to write though.

We did take one trip on July to Alabama to get work done on the motorhome. The results are great!

Television lift and cabinet modifications to accommodate it.

Old TV removed and added shelves for a pantry.

The top pull is for the new prep surface.

Small cabinet to hold maps and atlases in the bottom with remote controls in the top. There is even a spot in the back to store our iPads.

New heather colored carpeting in LR and kitchen slides plus bedroom.

Oh, and we added a 12v and a USB port, but I didn’t get pictures. I am very very happy with the mods. It took a couple of weeks, but that is the way it goes. While we were waiting, we visited the Natchez Trace some, and we drove to the far eastern Alabama to see the very edge of the Appalachians. It was mainly just a way to kill time, but the country is pretty.

When we got back we just put the motorhome up, but that doesn’t mean Kevin hasn’t been playing with all kinds of things. He has now bought two separate 3D printers, one with one color only and one that can manage three colors. He is having a blast learning the software, a huge job actually. He has made a bunch of mask holders, the ones that elastic from masks slip,over to keep them from behind your ear. The school aged grandchildren all have multiple ones with their names on them. We bought a BlueFire data bus reader for the motorhome (fabulous BTW), and he not only made a custom dash board I canwatch while driving, but a custom holder for the iPad we use as a display head.

He also made all kinds of little custom holders for our cell phones, etc.

Holds phone, GPS, and TPMS on co-pilot’s side. Something similar on driver’s side.

While Kevin has bee printing, I have been sewing. I quilted 4 quilts for the local quilt guild. There are always lots of pieces, but not many quilters. I really don’t like the quilt tops, so I won’t show them! They are the worse type of scrap quilts, but I am sure the recipients will find them warm. I finished the Drunkard’s Path lap quilt for Kevin. The texture is luscious – wool batting and fairly loose quilting.

Kevin chose the layout. I call it “setting sun”.

All the corners match! I just did a gentle meander for the quilting and a decorative stitch for the binding.

I also did a small quilt using the design I am going to do for our bed at home – Jewel Box. I really like this one, and it will be a nice little baby quilt.

I am quite proud of the circles and scallop ruler work.

Also pretty proud of the straight ruler work!

I will be using most of the same quilting designs on the king sized quilt I am working on now. I have always had problems with getting my machine completely flat and level in its table. It was off just enough to make the rulers rock on the needle plate. I enlisted Kevin and his new printer, and he made custom pads to make it perfect! He used a micrometer to measure and then printed the right size of pad for each corner.

Oh, and like all the sewists in the world, I am still making masks. I wish I had kept track of how many, but it is between 350 and 400. Wow! Lots went to kids and grandkids since everyone really needs 7-10 to let them be replaced once or twice a day before washing. I ended up buying the mask die from Accuquilt in both the medium adult and the child sizes. They made the volume possible! I gave 60 to my grandchildren’s school and 45 to another public school.

Adult (red stars) and child size (snoopy and rainbows) for comparison

I have made dozens and dozens of masks with licensed University of Northern Iowa fabric. Those are so popular I bought an entire bolt. I figure masks will be needed until at least next summer, and I can use any left over for baby presents or home dec items. There is only one fabric store that has it (they did a special order from the supplier), and it was too far away to go often.

After writing this post, I figure I might just keep it up. We actually are doing things, even if I feel bleh.

Traveling again! Badlands National Park

I obviously am not terribly motivated to keep up the blog when we aren’t traveling, so it has (again) been weeks since I updated. I will try to catch up. Warning: there is a bunch!

I finally got caught up on my donation sewing, and I am taking a serious break. I made 20 isolation gowns of a horrid fabric that turns out to be designed for outdoor signs! It was a very heavy double knit fabric, and a bear to sew. Each gown took 2+ hours, so it was a considerable amount of work. I didn’t take any pictures because I don’t want any nightmares of them! I also finished a box of “Button Buddies” which are small absorbent pads to fit around a pediatric g-tube. Those were for The Preemie Project, and I completed 600 of them.

The top one is the sample. The rest I sewed.

I was also very lucky that my son in law dug out a garden for me, and a daughter in law helped me choose plants and planted most of them! It is a shady spot facing north, so shade lovers only. Obviously lots of different types of hostas, coral bells, azaleas, variegated redbud shrub, Sweet William, and some others I can’t remember.

Left an empty spot for some type of garden ornament

Still did some more piecing. I got a new die for my Accuquilt cutter, a 7” (finished) Drunkard’s Path. I ordered a fat quarter collection from Connecting Threads, and here is the first sample I made. I am thrilled! Everything went together perfectly. It certainly helps to have perfect cuts.

I started saying we were traveling, but gave no information. We took a trip to Badlands National Park for Kevin to take night sky photos of the Milky Way around a new moon. We left on a week ago on Wednesday morning, and spent the night in Fairmont, MN at the Flying Goose campground. Nice little place with lots of long term residents, but well kept and good sized sites. Thursday we stayed in Al’s Oasis campground in Chamberlain, SD. Not bad, but more open and close to the highway. We then made it to Badlands on Friday morning. The NPS concessionaire campground is Cedar Pass. It is a series of loops with bump outs along the road for sites; the vast majority would never have held a rig as big as ours. Site 76 fit us fine, though we had to wiggle around some to get in. It is an odd site where we had to drive to the site the wrong way down the road so the door didn’t open into the street. I liked the view from the campground.

We saw lots of wildlife, as expected. In addition to the ones pictured, we saw bats, an owl, and we heard coyotes. There was a large nursery herd of bison I didn’t get a good picture of. There were also a number of bachelors showing off. This guy was getting a belly scratch on a post.

We saw a surprising number of mountain sheep in at least two separate nursery herds and one herd of males.

This girl was grazing by the road. We passed by 5’ from her in the car without her acknowledging our existence.

As good a close up as my little camera can take

Kevin found the guys, and this is from his (much better) camera.

It rained much of the time we were there, so we had to time our sightseeing carefully. The pictures show at least some of the beauty.

The whole purpose of coming was to get some Milky Way pictures, and the rain and clouds were bad until the very last night. Kevin got some spectacular pictures, though they need some post processing to get their full glory (he shoots in RAW format). Here is a taste.

Galactic core with the landscape highlighted by a passing carlight

The Milky Way core can only be seen in its entire glory in the summer. Saturn is the bright spot center bottom.

Since we lucked out with the weather on Monday night, we left this morning happy. We are staying in the KOA in Sioux Falls, SD. Pretty place with lots of trees and a huge pull through. We paid with points because $66 was expensive! Full hook up, and we will prep the rig for its next trip to Alabama next month. Oh, and while we were gone, I cut 80 blocks of Drunkard’s Path for Kevin’s lap rug. Two thirds of them are sewn, and I am very happy with my progress. I probably could have finished them tonight, but I thought I would write instead. Taking the Accuquilt and some dies seems like a very reasonable thing on long trips.

Life is looking up

We are still semi-isolating, it it is a lot better than full isolation. The local medical facilities are managing well, and the local hot spot is a meat packing plant that we have no interaction with. We are going to the grocery store by ourselves now, and it is so wonderful to choose fresh produce! We have ordered more takeout too. We wear masks everywhere outside except in our own car, and I made some more masks of a fitted style since Kevin has issues with his glasses fogging up. I even bought a die from Accuquilt to speed up production. I keep refining my design. This is the most recent.

Accuquilt die cut, bound with 1 1/2” double fold binding.

To get an even better fit I am going to put a small dart on the side. It has a tendency to gap there.

I have also been cooking. We ordered an Air Fryer lid for our Instant Pot, and it finally got delivered after 6 weeks (Amazon u essential items). It certainly does make good crispy things like tater tots are brilliantly. I made onion rings from scratch that were pretty good too, but I overcooked my diced potatoes. Live and learn. Kevin has been sous vide cooking steaks and a pot roast. Love the steaks, but the pot roast was bland even though he seasoned it. I think I will go back to doing that on the stove or in the Instant Pot.

My Accuquilt adventures continue. I got a great deal on a 12” Qube that makes bigger blocks like I will be using on our bedroom quilt. I also ordered a Drunkard’s Path die and a 1 1/2” strip cutter. Those haven’t come in yet, so I am working on my piecing skills. I still have a ways to go. Here are some examples and comments. And yes, I am being hard on myself. I really want my piecing to move up a notch. I picked up the fabric at a local shop, and the blocks will eventually become a baby girl quilt.

Flying Birds block looks good, but the first one ended up too small. This is the first and second one showing the difference.

See the 1/8-3/16” size problem in the closeup?

This is a Flying X block. It came out the correct size too. What a bear to put together though. Won’t make more of this one!

Dutchman’s Puzzle looks better. Best flying geese I have ever done, but still needs some improvement.

I have also been sewing some isolation gowns, but my serger is having issues. I can’t seem to get any of the repair folks to call me back! Frustrating. Oh, and I made 7 masks for a local non-profit. I intended to make more, but they didn’t get my fabric pieces put together well. They were the Olson masks with a spot for a filter. Hard to sew!

We did break our isolation to spend Mother’s Day weekend at a local lake. The Friday before my daughter called to say a campsite was open and to ask if we wanted it. We instantly said yes and began getting ready. It was a lovely weekend, and it was so nice to see a different view outside. We are looking forward to a couple of trips this summer, so we got our yearly diesel maintenance done at a local Freightliner shop. We also had them install the Koni shocks we bought a few months ago. They make a huge difference! The coach seems a bit smoother, and it doesn’t wiggle when we hit rough roads and pot holes. Our next trip is to Badlands NP in mid-June, and we will drive I-90 which is very bumpy, so the shocks should help. Kevin got reservations at the NP campground during the week of the new moon. He is looking to get some astrophotographs of the Milky Way which is at its best this time of year.

Life in isolation (heavy on sewing)

We aren’t really in quarantine, but we are self-isolating pretty solidly. We have done curbside pickup for a number of items, and I did go to a small grocery store a few days ago. My oldest son has been dropping off groceries once a week, but we stay at least 6’ away. And I did visit my primary care provider for a very sore shoulder. They were very cautious with no waiting allowed except in your car. The poor PCP was in full face shield and mask which made it rather challenging to do some detailed examination. She was able to schedule me a referral to the orthopedist for next week. The specialists are just now opening up their practices again.

But on to happier things! I have been sewing up a storm. I made 70-80 masks for family, friends, and a nursing home. I made a scrub cap for my daughter, but the pattern needs some more tweaking before making more. I also got a number of quilts finished, all baby sized. I apologize for the wrinkled. These have all been curled up in a closet.

These two were completed while we were traveling. I was determined to use up a bunch of batik scraps I had.

Scraps from a bedroom quilt. I love the brown/teal fabric.

I also had a bunch of his pink print from my granddaughters quilt. I pulled the pink and white from scraps, and the white was just too bright once I got the top together. A woman at a lovely shop in Lake Havasu recommended using a cranberry thread to pull things together, and it was a good choice. This is the same pattern as one below based on a 6” square.

I had to order fabric for this one. Friends of my second son are ardent UNI fans, so I went with this theme for them. Normally I just do an all-over meander on baby quilts, but I did free-form curvy lines on this one.

For a University of Northern Iowa baby. Their colors are (surprisingly) purple and gold.

I did this quilt with my brand new Accuquilt Go! cutting machine. I am not a good rotary cutter, and I have been thinking about one of these for a while. A local quilt shop had a special going, so I did it! I got the basic cutter, a 2 1/2” strip cutter, and a set of cutters for miscellaneous shapes that finIsh at 2” and 4”. The miscellaneous set is called an 8” Qube, and it is lovely. I particularly like the animal focus fabric. This is the pattern of the girly quilt above, but based on a 4” square.

Just a quick Accuquilt sample. Cute animal fabric, isn’t it?

I have also been cooking. I finally got over my fear of crepes, and we have had them a couple of times filled with eggs, cheese, and bacon. The left overs were enjoyed with maple syrup the next day. Multiple batches of brownies made me decide I really needed to stop baking when there are only two of us! We have had sweet chili grilled shrimp, Dijon salmon, sous vide steaks, and lovely Iowa pork chops.

I told you this was a more positive post! I am getting ready to start making masks again with a local non-profit. I said I would commit 10 hours a week. They think I can do 30 in that time, but I think I can do a lot more. I was making masks at a rate of 4/hour when I had to cut my own fabric, and this group will be providing fabric and ties or elastic. I am pretty efficient at assembly line batch sewing.

Kevin and I have been getting out on our bikes over the last couple of weeks since it finally warmed up. That has helped my mental state quite a bit as has a number of bright sunny days. I just wish we could go camping …

Leaving Quartzsite tomorrow

We have been here for almost 3 weeks, and we are leaving tomorrow for a full-hookup resort-style snowbird park. It will be quite a change from the lovely quiet desert, but both types of places have their advantages and disadvantages. I am looking forward to doing my laundry in my own washer and dryer!

I ended up removing the stitches in my hand myself. However there is a tiny piece that didn’t come out! I am going to have to dig it out soon. It has impacted my ability to ride my bike, so today was the first time I really took it out. Kevin and I rode to Bad Boy’s restaurant in Quartzsite and had one of their nice breakfasts. The weather today was actually so warm I couldn’t sit comfortably outside in the direct sun (83 by one account). However the weather is changing. We have a strong wind, and a cold front is on the way. Tomorrow’s high is supposed to be 50, so quite a change.

The weather has been a challenge for Kevin to take some good night photos. We did get a few clear nights though.

Pretty impressive view of the Milky Way from just outside our motorhome. Note the aircraft lights that were captured.

Blow it up to see the mountains, moon, and Venus

I will also provide a bit of info about the rally. We had at least 35 people show up in over 20 rigs. Some were here for a few days, others for weeks. We are a loosely organized group. There was one 4 WD trip that we didn’t take, a daily 2 mile walk in the morning, and Happy Hour around the campfire each night of the Big Tent RV show. Smaller groups visited the favorite restaurants (Bad Boy’s for breakfast and Silly Al’s for pizza or lasagna), visited the show, drove to the wildlife refuge, or visited Castle Dome. I must admit the quiet this week, the week after the show, has been lovely!

Oh, and I almost completed a baby quilt out of scraps. I still have to apply the binding, but that is all thanks left. I will post it when it is all done.

To Yuma!

Christmas preparation and aftermath

The truffles were great, best I have made in a few years. The sugared pecans were a huge hit, and I have had to make two more batches. My oldest three grandchildren, 6 and 10, joined me for a cookie decorating extravaganza. I think I made too many cookies!

I made about 10 dozen cookies, way too many!

Notice the fully covered table and fully aproned cookie decorators

Our Christmas cantata at church was a roaring success. The choir sounded fantastic, and the instrumentalists (two violins, viola, cello, trumpet, flute, and a keyboardist filling in for an oboe) brought it to the next level. We might not do as challenging of music as the choir in Utah, but the sound was actually just as good. I guess it does help to be in a college town with a strong music program!

The two oldest girls also came over for a crafting afternoon before Christmas. We made Christmas ornaments with vinyl decorations, decorated multi-purpose boxes with vinyl, and used HTV vinyl applied to shirts they brought with them. We were busy for 4 1/2 hours, and I was exhausted! The girls really did have fun, and they were operating the vinyl cutter independently before we were done. Too bad I didn’t take pictures of the shirts or boxes. We even made a set for the younger brother who just wasn’t quite up to the afternoon.

Christmas was held at my oldest son’s house, and it was also a success. I had three of the four children there plus spouses and most of the grandchildren. Luckily my son has a big house, though we didn’t stay with them (we live only a few minutes away). My contribution to food was all the makings for a pot roast, made in the Instant Pot, plus carrots and red potatoes for roasting. It was delicious, as was the ham and sides made by my daughter in law on the previous day.

I also got some sewing done! The quilt I made for the motorhome shrunk more than I expected, and it was about an inch short on all sides, I added a new 4” border to make up for it. Of course I couldn’t find any fabric of the same design, but I found some that coordinates well enough. It was a real pain, but I have it done except for the binding. I always serge the edge of the my quilt before binding, so it is good for the bed now if I don’t get the binding finished. I plan on getting the binding cut and pieced tomorrow, but I may or may not do the top stitching before the trip. I’d rather spend the time cleaning up the house and getting the laundry all done.

The bad thing that happened was with Lily, our cat. We had planned a preventative ultrasound and a tooth cleaning, but the vet found a small mass with a sore on her leg while shaving it before an IV. The vet had removed a basal cell cancer from Lily’s neck earlier in the year, so she was concerned. They called me, and we agreed to excise the small mass while she was already under sedation. Luckily the mass was benign, but we had one very, very unhappy cat for the almost two weeks it took for her wound to heal.

She already looked like a bit of a bobble head doll because of the neck skin removed in her earlier surgery, but the cone rubbed off even more hair! She will fill it out in a few months though. She is somewhere between 11 and 14 years old, and she has started losing enough weight we have moved her off her diet food to a more traditional senior diet. She had gotten above 10 pounds a few years back, and she should be about 8 pounds. She finally made it to 8 pounds, 2 ounces so she can go back to regular food. She does like her food!

We are now packing up for the next trip. We leave Iowa on Wednesday, New Yearks Day, and pick up the motorhome west of Oklahoma City. We will stay there a few days visiting family and restocking the refrigerator. We have reservations at Big Bend National Park beginning 9 January so we have quite a bit of time to get there. When we were on our way to Iowa, i wasn’t sure I wanted another long trip, but I am definitely looking forward to traveling again.