Showing posts with label Roadtrip to Wisconsin and back 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roadtrip to Wisconsin and back 2013. Show all posts

Friday, September 20, 2013

Long Overdue--Vacation Quilt Sightings!

 Alien Quilts in Roswell, New Mexico.
 They were in this shop which was the first quilt shop stop of the trip!
 At a gas station at the side of the road on the way to Wisconsin we found an Amish gentleman selling baskets, aprons and QUILTS!
 Way past closing time we found the coolest quilt shop (in a small town with the streets already rolled up) so I made them stop so I could get out and take pictures of all the quilt blocks.  I really wish it would have been open, but just seeing the shop made my day!
My Aunt Nancy, whom we stayed with in Wisconsin, had a cute log cabin quilt at her place.  Each block has a traditional red center and I liked how it looks like spools between blocks!

This picture I got off the internet after glimpsing it on a barn just off the highway in Story County, Iowa.  I was on the lookout for barns the entire time, but we only saw a few!
 This was the next quilt barn we spotted off the highway on the way to Wisconsin.  It is called the Brock Friendship Star and is near Swaledale, Iowa.  We actually got off the highway and drove a little bit to double back to it!
 We spotted this fun Log Cabin at Mill's End (outlet store) in Eau Claire.  I found all kinds of fabric to come home with me while I was there.
 We spent one night at my best friend Monica's house.  We got to sleep under Smith Mountain Morning that I gifted her!
 On the way home we stopped in South Dakota at the 1800's town and spotted some quilts too!




 On the way home we stopped at a random quilt shop and I bought the pattern above.  I thought it looked alot like a drunkard's path quilt and it was pretty!
 I read two quilt books cover to cover..this was one of them.
 We stopped at both these shops too.


Thursday, August 15, 2013

Vacation Highlights :)

 I am learning how to upload all my pictures off of my phone using dropbox and so that has delayed me getting all the pictures so I can remind myself what the heck all we did on vacation!  It was a whirlwind trip and it was exhausting!  We had a great time though.  My first quilt siting is above and was hanging in the Roswell UFO Museum.  Cute little alien below was there too.
 In Texas at a gas station we found a cute wall and mom had her picture taken.
 Then her sister Nancy had hers taken too.  They were super funny to travel with...lots of stopping to hit the bathroom, stretch and SHOP!  These girls spend 45 minutes in a Cracker Barrel (that we didn't eat in!).  They bought us all matching "road trip" glasses there too!
 Kathy did not want her picture taken with the prisoners, but I got her when I was taking a picture of the flag.
 Next stop was Oklahoma City to see the bombing memorial.  The chairs were so symbolic and really made you stop in your tracks and think.  I really wish there was no violence in the world.
 The morning after arriving in Wisconsin, I met the kids for breakfast and then we went to Irvine Park (Hannah and Mac here on the bear, that reminds me I have an older picture somewhere from the first year this bear was up that I need to find!) and Olson's for the best ice cream, before Hannah and her boyfriend Nathan had to head back to Milwaukee.  Hannah was starting her new job for a big accounting firm so the timing of my visit wasn't great for her, but I got to see her two days and treasured every minute!  Mac lives in town so I spent plenty of time with him.  Kathy and I took him grocery shopping, did his laundry with him twice and drove him back and forth to work.  Discovered his bike had fallen apart (he doesn't drive or have a car) and he was walking over and hour to work one way.  We bought him a bike--told him happy birthday early.  He was thrilled!  We did try to convince him to move to AZ with us (ongoing, lol) but he really wants to stay in Wisconsin.  Recently his girlfriend died in a car accident and he isn't in the best place because of that, but he has many friends who seem to really care about him there and he doesn't want to leave them.

 On to something sewing related--for my birthday this year this little baby just had to go home with me.  It was at a flea market in Hayward and it was only 35 dollars.  There is no foot pedal and the machine isn't pristine by any means, but the case was so beautiful and it reminded me of the one my grandmother had when I was a girl.  So happy birthday to me!
 My best friend from high school, Monica (who visited us here earlier this year) went shopping with us to Hayward, then a few days later took us to Alma to the Bluffs and to a vineyard where the three of us shared this bottle of wine (it was AWESOME) and she bought me another bottle to take home too!
 Here we are at the bluffs.  This little park was so beautiful!  We brought a picnic lunch and had the place almost to ourselves.  I can't believe I had never been there.  We also found a quilt shop on the way and stopped there too!
 Monica got this cool machine from a neighbor after she passed away.  The cabinet is SO beautiful.  I believe it is a treadle machine and all the original books and parts and such are in the drawers and cabinets.  Love it!
 I became a Godmother again at Koi's baptism.  Afterwards we had a party out at my aunt's house...Hannah was able to make it so I got more pictures with both kids.  They are so grown up now.

More later when I get more pictures loaded :)

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Cheating on the Red

Before I realized that Talkin' Turkey would make a great Rainbow BOM, I made the red block!  This worked out perfectly since we are on vacation still and have less sewing time this month.  So here again is my red block.
Now if you want to know what we have been up to (currently typing from Colorado) here are some pictures!
Mount Rushmore, SD

Chapel in the Hills in SD

Book I have been reading on the ride.

Chapel in the Hills Museum..another quilt siting! 

Welcome Center in Colorado

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Vacation--All I Ever Wanted....(singing)

Last Wednesday, Kathy, my mom (Toni) and I hit the road late into the evening and drove all night to Roswell, New Mexico (from Phoenix, AZ) and we found ourselves some aliens!  We went to the museum and the best thing there (as far as I was concerned) was a cool UFO spaceship quilt above the door when you come in.  Roswell had HORRIBLE phone service so I could never get it to upload so I don't have it to show you yet.  However, we did go into a quilt shop and found another alien quilt and pattern which I really loved too!

 We stopped in Texas and picked up my aunt Nancy and though we had no extra space inside or outside the truck we had alot of fun.  We stopped and made total fools of ourselves taking pictures right off the highway by this HUGE statue of a cowboy.  That was fun!
We stopped for a pottie break and bumped into Amish quilts and baskets at a roadside stand.  Mom and Nancy both bought baskets.  
We stopped in Oklahoma City to see the memorial there.  It was amazing.  These chairs represent each of the victims (small chairs represent the children) and they are arranged in rows to represent the floors of the building.  So sad.  
I was trying to spot Quilt Barns for days before catching a glimpse of this one off the highway.  It wasn't in a place we could turn around and photograph, so I borrowed this picture of the internet.  Pretty sure this is the one we saw.
 Then finally we saw one we could get to and so took a side jaunt over and got some pictures of it!  I was finally satisfied, but wanting more!
 Of course the next morning I met up with my kids in Wisconsin at the Big Steer--who is of course a cheesehead!

 We took the kids to Irvine Park and took lots of pictures.  Mac, Hannah and her boyfriend Nathan!  That is all for now!


In the dead of night we also found this COOL quilt store but it was closed.  Got some pictures though!

Summer Sewing!

I have not been sewing too much this summer.  Playing lots of games and reading lots of books instead.  Barb keeps on trying to get me in th...