Family time...

A break in the weather. My sister, niece, and great nieces in town. We met for lunch at the Issaquah Brewhouse (where I had perhaps the world's best grilled cheese sandwich), then we headed for Snoqualmie Falls to check out the lower falls park.



We always go to the upper falls viewpoint, but this time we decided to check out the lower viewpoint. We got a bird's-eye view of the power station, the roaring Snoqualmie River, and the new boardwalks.



The girls and Dave solved a geocache together.



The star of the show was the stupendous flow of water over the falls. From the lower viewpoint you don't get to see the whole waterfall, but it was still an amazing sight.



A section of the original water pipe was cut into rings, to walk through.



A brilliant yellow shrub was in full bloom, covered in water droplets that sparkled in the sun.



There's nothing like getting outside and exploring with family.

First...

Spotting the first trillium of the spring is always a thrill. Even on a cold, wet, windy day when even a down coat under a rain jacket couldn't keep me warm.

In a small neighborhood park, we found six huge trillium plants gathered together under a maple tree, which looks to be just days from leafing out into brilliant green.

Barn quilt...

In Washington, they aren't very common outside of Ellensburg, but occasionally I stumble across a barn quilt. This old farm is protected from the west winds by one of the "humps" of the Enumclaw plateau, a remnant of a long-ago lahar flow from nearby Mount Rainier.



The quilt block is a Friendship Star variation.

Herons...

We braved the wind and the rain and went for a walk in Marymoor Park today. The dog park was full of dogs (and owners paying more attention to their smart phones than their dogs). We met a lot of them (the dogs, that is) and had fun sharing the trail.

Between the dog park and the Sammamish River is a grove of cottonwood trees and a few dozen Great Blue Heron nests. My neck got stiff from looking straight up for a better view, but this time of day, the birds were mainly silhouettes against the grey sky.

The dogs for the most part ignored the birds, and the birds did likewise, continually coming and going in search of food for their young. The fledglings will stick around the nests until late July, and then they'll fly off to begin their own adventure.

Quilting cat...

She's resisted the whole lap cat thing so far, but is completely happy to run down the stairs ahead of me, curl up on her chair, and snooze while I sew.

She isn't very good about sitting still while the camera works; instead, her head flits from side to side in search of something (anything) interesting. 

Which means that most of my photos of my cat are slightly blurry. 

A bug in Diagon Alley...

Sometimes you just can't resist. I'd just noticed the hand-painted sign at the entrance to this alley in Puyallup, then glanced down the alley to see an old VW bug, centered perfectly at the other end.

Balanced...

I still remember the day I bought the fabrics for this quilt. DW was on a business trip, and I was in the mood to take a drive, so I headed south toward Mt. Rainier. My route took me through a little town that had a quilt store, and of course I had to stop. 

Browsing through a quilt store never gets old, and that day I bought two bundles of fabrics designed by 3 Sisters, in green, blue, light blue, rose, red, yellow, coral, and brown. They are very fresh and country and fun, and they made me smile. They still do. 

I like to put the blocks up on the design wall in a random order, then take a digital picture. Unlike my own eyes, the camera has no preconceptions about color or value, just shows things as they are. This trick helps me come up with a more balanced layout. 

Quilts from scraps...

March was the month for quilt shows. My little group of quilting friends, Material Girls, had a lot of fun traveling around and getting inspiration from the beautiful work of other quilters.

It made me think that maybe I could enter a quilt or two in my guild show this summer. I've been going through my completed tops, picking a few to hand quilt, and maybe I will be brave and enter one in the show.

Not this one... I love the pattern and the colors, and the tiny blocks, and that the whole quilt is about 24-in. square. But there are a small few seams that don't match up, and it's not perfect enough.

But I have others, including these two. They're made from the same pattern, a Friendship Star. The first is one of about a dozen small quilts made from reproduction Civil War fabrics, or the fabric colors from that era. I love the muted red, gold, green, rust, and brown colors. This little quilt is about 20 x 26 in. and has two borders, a narrow gold and a dark brown.

When I cut the fabrics for the Civil War version, I also cut one from 1930s reproduction fabrics. But once the blocks were done, I decided to change the layout. I added 1-in. sashing strips and cornerstones, a 3/4-in pink border, and finished it with a 2.25-in. blue border. I just finished this quilt today, and I love how it turned out.

These little quilts are some I made over the past couple of years, when I decided it was time to make something from all the scraps I've accumulated. I had such fun choosing patterns, and putting together quilt kits using scraps. They are all either Civil War fabrics or 1930's reproductions, and all the blocks are classic patterns from the late 1800's. When I'm finished, there will be about 30 different quilts.

Centennial barn...

A week ago, we spent a few days in one of our favorite places: the Walla Walla valley. Home to wheat fields, wineries, and a beautiful old downtown, we love it there. On one of our morning drives, we came up over a ridge of hills to find this stunning red barn surrounded by the bright green of new wheat.





Some research found that this farm is one of Washington's Centennial farms (and one of many in Walla Walla County). A centennial farm is one that is still in the same family that first homesteaded the land.



Linking up today with Tom's Barn Collective.

With family...

Easter has become a day to gather with DW's family, to catch up with our busy lives, and share the blessing of food on the table. The nieces are beginning to move away, so the family is growing smaller. But most of us still live near enough to get together, and I'm grateful for that.

There was plenty of food to share (there always is in a family with a lot of avid cooks). Ham, scalloped potatoes, garlicky green beans, rolls, and yams. But these chicks made from deviled eggs stole the show. With carrot noses, caper eyes, and decorated with dill weed, they were completely cute.