Share where you live... swingset

This small park isn't visited by many. At the end of a dead-end road, you can't see it easily, and the nearby school has been closed. So the neighbors know about it, and those in search of a geocache will eventually visit here.

The park is peaceful, full of mown green grass lawns, and has big islands of towering trees, perfect for kids to play in. Because of the staggered islands of trees, there's lots of privacy for those wanting to set up a picnic lunch, or a croquet set, or a badminton net. There is also a brand new playground, including this bright blue swing... the real topic of this post for Sarah's Share Where You Live photo scavenger hunt.



This is #14 on the @twistedroadstudio summer photography scavenger hunt

Cottage gardens...

We met friends in Fall City for breakfast this morning, then we walked the "Other Side of the Falls" trail to the end, and a couple of benches overlooking the Snoqualmie River. Once upon a time, there was a view of Snoqualmie Falls from here. Unfortunately, you can't even see the river anymore. Maybe in the dead of winter, when the leaves are off the trees. I might have to make the walk again and see.



When I got home, I talked cottage gardens with my niece, Jessica. She spent the winter growing plants from seed, then rented a sod cutter to clear out two huge borders for new flower gardens, and planted them in time for the plants to be in bloom in time for her wedding in July. She succeeded perfectly.

My own garden is coming along. I put in a completely new perennial garden last fall, and it's doing well. I plan to put in more perennials and some lavender sometime next month, to fill in the blank spaces, to let them grow strong roots over the winter. For now, it's beautiful.



I started out with a connection with my niece based on horses... I had horses, she was just learning. I went to her lessons, helped her parents find her the perfect first (and second) horse, even hauled her horses here and there for lessons and clinics. And I loved every minute of it. It's great that as she grows, our connection is growing stronger. Besides a love of horses, we now have cottage gardens in common.

Quilt show, day three

Last day of the show. I worked, but unofficially. Yesterday I worked the bazaar, and also walked through the quilt aisles as a hostess, answering questions and giving directions to visitors. Today it's less busy, and I had a chance to take photos of some of my favorite quilts. My guild has a lot of really talented quilters. See what you think... I'm sure you'll agree.

Our raffle quilt for 2020

My friend, Peggy, made both the paper-pieced elephant and the black, grey, blue sampler quilt

This gorgeous red scrap quilt got the Grand Champion ribbon

If I recall correctly, this quilt got the People's Choice ribbon for all three days

Just a few of the quilts entered in the Kaffe Fassett block exchange category

My friend, Kimberlee, designed and made this applique quilt.

Peggy made this cute kid's quilt, full of colorful bears

Quilt show, day one... an amazing day

I showed up early at the school again, eager to walk through the show now that ribbons have been hung. We had a record number of quilts entered this year, I think 169. When my friend, Tabatha arrived with her daughter, I excused myself to go walk through the quilts.

My closest quilt was right around the corner from the bazaar, so I dropped off my bag and grabbed my phone, and walked over to my closest quilt, Counting the Hours. And I stopped dead when I saw the blue first place ribbon hanging on it. I finished this quilt at a retreat last January, and a friend told me I had to put it in the show, that it was perfect for the guild challenge (for scrap-buster quilts). So I did (crossing my fingers). I thought the quilt turned out really well, but knew that Civil War fabrics aren't for everyone. I was hopeful, but I never expected to win. I was in tears.

I snapped a quick photo of the ribbon and quilt, and walked back to my friend with tears in my eyes. She took one look and asked what was wrong, and I showed her the photo. "I won a ribbon," I said. She gave me a big hug, and her daughter walked back with me to take a picture of me and the quilt.



As I headed for my second quilt, I ran into the show organizer. "Did you see it?" she asked, with a big smile on her face. (This quilt ended up in the wrong category, and she made sure it would be judged in the right category. So when it won the category, she was thrilled. She said she wanted to tell me in the worst way, and had to be satisfied with knowing that it all worked out.)

The next closest quilt was supposed to be in the miniature category, which has a 25 x 25-in. maximum size. It ended up a quarter inch too big. Bummer. So instead, I entered it into the challenge category, since it's another scrap-buster quilt. I named this one "Best Friends," because it's made with a classic pattern called the Friendship block. I love everything about this quilt, and I took the time to quilt it by hand (which I really enjoyed). When I walked around the partition, there was my quilt with two ribbons hanging from it:  Second place of the challenge quilts, and third place for hand quilting. By this point, I was getting seriously teary, and incredibly happy.

On to the second gym, and my last two quilts. Best Friends was in plain sight as I walked in, with a ribbon fluttering from it. Oh, my... third place in the small bed quilt category. Of all my quilts, this was the one I thought had a decent chance for a ribbon.

The last quilt is a game board quilt, which I call "Checkers, Anyone?" It was my only entry in the miniature category, and there it hung, with two ribbons. And finally, I burst into tears. This little quilt won third place in the miniature category (which doesn't mean a lot, since there were only three miniatures entered). But it also got first place for hand quilting, and that does mean a lot.

I just stood there with tears running down my face. I was stunned, and incredibly happy. It was an amazing, fantastic, wonderful feeling... and one of the best days, ever.
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Tomorow I'll post photos of some of my favorite quilts from the show.

Quilt show... set-up

Helping set up for my guild's quilt show is always a blast. Everyone is so excited, the atmosphere is almost electric. It doesn't matter that people worked hard yesterday to unload the storage unit and bring everything to the school, then worked all day. Today they came back for more.

Yesterday they set up the standards that the quilts would be hung from, set up tables for vendors and the bazaar and tea room, decorated the tea room tables, unloaded crates of bazaar items, hung signs in all the rooms, and set up for the volunteer/vendor lunch room. And all on a warm summer day

Today I got there at 8:00, ready to pitch in and work all day long. I'm just hoping it doesn't get hot today... the air conditioning won't really work until tomorrow. Today we finished setting up the huge bazaar area, helped the vendors get their booths set up, and hung the quilts. And that's what I was waiting for. This is my fourth quilt show with the guild, and the first time I've entered any of my quilts. I was so excited to see my own quilts hanging with everyone else's. As it turns out, I got to hang each of my quilts... cool!

This block pattern is called Grannie Squares, similar to the well-known crochet pattern translated into millions of afghan blankets in the 1970-80s. I always loved the pattern, and when I found the block pattern online, thought it was perfect for a bundle of strips that I bought years ago. The fabrics were designed by Joanna Figuora of Fig Tree Quilts, and I named my quilt "Field of Flowers."

Islands...

Islands are gradually becoming home for many of my extended family. One of my sisters has lived on an island in Puget Sound for more than 40 years, raising three kids who moved away, then gradually moved back to the island of their birth. With spouses and kids, that makes eight. On the other side of the world, my nephew moved to an island for work, and stayed to raise a family and put down roots. My sister (his mom) and husband bought land nearby, and plan to build a house there and put down roots of their own. That's seven out of twelve.

On DW's side of the family, Whidbey Island is becoming home to a growing number of family members. First our niece moved to the island for work, and married an islander. They just bought a house on acreage near the middle of the island, and have sunk even deeper roots. A year ago, her parents bought property on the north end of the island, and are building a house there. In a year, they will move, along with my mother-in-law. Another niece, who grew up on Whidbey, now lives at the south end of the island; her parents just bought a house between Freeland and Coupeville. That's eight of the fifteen of us, pulling up roots and planting them in new soil.

I could live on an island, I think... as long as I can drive off it and go for road trips. And as long as there are mountains within view. Kind of sounds like Washington, doesn't it?

Washington Park

We left a day early for a long weekend on Whidbey Island, for our niece's wedding. Time for exploring, and geocaching, and photography. Our favorite route to the Deception Pass bridge, the gateway to Whidbey, takes us across Fir Island in the middle of the Skagit Flats. with (usually) a detour to the small town of La Conner. I love this drive, past farms and farmhouses and barns, and in winter, thousands of snow geese and swans.



There's a back way out of La Conner that takes you over the natural waterway that separates Fidalgo from the mainland, then along Skagit Bay, the part of Puget Sound that runs east of Whidbey Island. There are beaches to walk, and beautiful views from this road.

Once on Fidalgo, you can explore Anacortes, or hop a ferry to the San Juan Islands, or take the 5-minute ferry crossing to Guemes Island (something we've never done, but plan to do this summer). Guemes is one of a handful of small islands just north of Whidbey Island; just east of but not part of the San Juans.

Or you can drive to the very western tip of Fidalgo, and go hiking in Washington Park. A lot of people choose to ignore the trails and walk on the narrow, windy road instead. Not a great idea, in my opinion. It is not fun to come around a steep, blind corner and encounter people and their dogs, spread out across the one-lane road. Just saying.

We were short on time today, so found parking above the nearly bare hillside on the south side of the park, overlooking Burrows Island (yep, more islands). We had several trails to choose from, and decided to take the shortest (and steepest) path. We made our way (carefully) down a rocky trail, following a woman who sat down right at the edge of the dropoff, and pulled out a sketch pad and watercolor paints. DW stopped for a photo, so I did the same. Look closely, and you'll see the faint rocky path that switchbacks down the hill. And in the distance, you can see Lopez Island, part of the San Juans.



It's a steep trail, a bit scary in places, but the reward was good: this beautiful rocky shoreline and crystal clear water to photograph. We were still about 30 feet above the actual rock shelf, but that was close enough for me.

Share where you live... adventure with a friend

In June we met Ranae and Lil in Tillamook for a spur-of-the-moment weekend at the beach. We explored, ate lots of crab and mussels and clams, had a great time introducing them to geocaching. One day we headed into the Coast range, climbing up and up until we reached the top of a razorback ridge, then drove down and back up the next ridge. It was a spectacular and wonderful way to spend the day.
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This is #13 on the @twistedroadstudio summer photography scavenger hunt

Share where you live... Barn

I love to drive the back roads in search of barns and farmhouses, two of my favorite structures. This isn't the kind of barn I ever want to find.

We took a closer look at this one when we stopped for a geocache in the fence nearby, and it looks like a main beam in the roof failed, and it brought most of the roof down with it. Unless it's replaced, the rest of the barn will follow.

Travel a country road, find a barn | #17

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This is #17 on the @twistedroadstudio summer photography scavenger hunt

In bloom...

For the past few days, a pair of Towhees have been dogging my steps as I work in the garden, getting more and more agitated the closer I get to the one corner that hasn't been weeded for a month. So wouldn't you know, that's where they decided to raise their babies!

So today I worked as close as I dared, then gave the parents a break and backed off. Hopefully, I'll see the babies take flight, so I can get my weeding finished.

But honestly, I was glad of the excuse to take a break, go downstairs to catch up on the laundry, clean up my sewing room, and think about the next quilt I want to make.

I opened a book...

"I opened a book and in I strode.

Now nobody can find me.

I've left my chair, my house, my road,

My town and my world behind me.

I'm wearing the cloak, I've slipped on the ring,

I've swallowed the magic potion.

I've fought with a dragon, dined with a king

And dived in a bottomless ocean.

I opened a book and made some friends.

I shared their tears and laughter

And followed their road with its bumps and bends

To the happily ever after.

I finished my book and out I came.

The cloak can no longer hide me.

My chair and my house are just the same,

But I have a book inside me."

 - Julia Donaldson

Bird soup...

Eighteen birds, one for each person participating in a block exchange this year. Right now, my bird blocks are more like bird soup... eighteen plump birds, eighteen wings and tails, eighteen branches, and about a hundred leaves in lots of colors and sizes.



It's my first block exchange, and it's been fun coming up with a design, then choosing fabrics and cutting out the pieces. (And it's a good way to use up a lot of scraps!) We're all using the same polka-dot background fabric, and although we could make all the blocks the same, I decided to make each of mine unique.

In October each of us will turn in our blocks, and will have no idea what sort of birds will come back to us in November. Song birds, owls, chickens, roosters... I'll just have to wait and see. Once the flock is in hand, I'll start figuring out how to merge them all into a single quilt.

Crazy...

OK...  so July is going to be a little crazy.

My garden is exploding with summer blooms... and weeds.


My little ex-horse farm, by the light of early evening

My niece is getting married, so we'll be on Whidbey Island for a long weekend.

DW's favorite uncle is visiting for ten days or so.

We're repairing and upgrading the support structure for our machine shed slash barn. (OK, he's doing the heavy lifting with a good friend, and my role is more on the lines of active observer and moral support giver... very important.)

And my guild's quilt show will consume me for four solid (and fun) days.

So forgive me if I hang onto my thoughts and memories until August, and catch up then.

Green patterns...

Any way you go, there's no short way to this remote stretch of the Green River. But the walk is worth it, when you see the geology that's here. The shortest trail is a steep drop to a rocky ledge, and once you scramble down to river level, you're standing on rock that's been scoured by glacier and river and rock for thousands of years.

 

Just to the right of my photo, the river makes a 90-degree bend, forming a deep pool perfect for swimming. And the rocky shelf would be perfect for sunbathing. The patterns here are amazing, and the wide pools would be a perfect place for cloud reflections.

Share where you live... reflections

At the marina in Port Townsend, in between rain showers, the reflections were amazing.



Around the point near Fort Worden, the rain turned a depression in a boulder into a reflecting pool. But it was more fun to photograph leaves in the water, than lay on my stomach on the wet sand and try to catch a reflection of sky and clouds.


Caption: Play in the rain... find some puddle reflections

This is #8 on the @twistedroadstudio summer photography scavenger hunt

Share where you live... bridge

On a logging road full of river crossings, this one caught my eye. I sat on the bridge and shot the stream. The light was dappled and beautiful, and I didn't want to leave.
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This is #9 on the @twistedroadstudio summer photography scavenger hunt

First show...

Last January, I decided that this was the year. The year to stop being a chicken, and finally enter a quilt in my guild's show in July. Getting ready was a lot more work than I bargained for, but I made the deadline, and entered four quilts. I haven't done anything in a long time that made me feel so satisfied.

I especially loved designing the labels. Each is made using a leftover quilt block from one of my projects, and is hand-lettered.

Checkers, Anyone? is a game board quilt, with buttons for markers. It's hand quilted, and I think this scrap quilt will become a favorite piece of decor for the Fourth of July.






Best Friends is made from friendship star blocks, is hand quilted, and has big-stitch quilting to highlight the border.







Counting the Hours is a lap quilt in my favorite Civil War fabric colors. It's completely made from scraps from my sewing room, and was machine quilted. Each year there's a guild challenge, and this year the goal was to make a quilt from fabric you already owned. I entered this quilt in the challenge category.







Field of Flowers is a small bed quilt, made from Grannie Squares blocks, using the first jelly roll I ever bought. It took me years to find the perfect pattern for this roll of strips, and I love how it turned out.

Cottage gardens...

Oysterville is a 30-minute drive north, almost to the end of the peninsula. The whole town has been on the Historic Register since 1976, and some of the homes in this historic community are still owned by descendants of the original families. Oysterville and the neighborhoods of old beach cabins and houses in Seaview are my favorite parts of the Long Beach peninsula.

We spent lunchtime on the deck of the oyster company, snacking on smoked oysters and a tasty Gerogetown brew, while enjoying the view over Willapa Bay.



On the way out of town, we stopped to admire some of the lush gardens that screen the houses from the street. It's just what I always envisioned for my own cottage, to surround it with wild and lush foliage and flowers, blooming from spring through fall.