Trip to the Cabin

 When times are hot, it's nice to go to Baring and enjoy the cooler weather and the Skykomish River. I really disliked living here 20 years ago, but I like to visit. Back in those days it was too cold and it was too remote. Dean has remodeled it quite a bit and it looks great.

It doesn't take much to keep these two entertained. Just a couple of good books and a great narrator.

 

Howard's College Graduation

 Hurray for Howard! He is graduating with his degree in accounting and we are very proud of him. The graduation ceremonies were well done and the campus was beautiful. Bonnie and Jim behaved very well on the bleachers, which is hard to do. We hope he can find a job near us!

Arco Incident

 These two pictures were taken just before a terrible incident in Arco, Idaho. We were bringing Marnie to Rexburg with us for Howard's graduation. We decided to go through Arco because it was the hometown of my friend Cathy. She has so many stories of growing up Catholic in an LDS community. We stopped at this intersection, saw the two cops on the other side of the street, then changed our mind about turning right. There was a gas/convenience store to the left, so we turned that way.

We parked at the gas station and started to get out to buy Gatorade. But a cop car whipped up behind us. The cop crept up cautiously and asked us what he thought we were doing. Paul was calm, but I was filming. It just felt weird. The cop said we turned out of the wrong lane. Being that there was no one around for miles, this struck me as strange. 

Finally, Paul asked if he was free to go. No, he was going to need license and registration and returned to his vehicle. I asked Paul if I could get out and get a Gatorade. I brought my purse with me.

I was standing at the refrigerated section when the cop burst in and told me to put my hands up. I dropped my purse and he grabbed my arms and cuffed me in the store.

He was yelling about me for alluding a police officer as he dragged me out of the store and up against his vehicle. He started yelling about my license. I remember yelling, "Honey!" for Paul. He collected my purse from the floor of the store and then rummaged through it on the front hood. Paul was smart and sat in the car without speaking. He held his finger to his lips to indicate I shouldn't say anything. 

For 20 minutes I was handcuffed while the cop talked to the other officer who had followed him. He did all the checks he could do and then gave me a talking to, saying I would need to return to Idaho for a trial, that I would be charged with alluding. Paul would be charged with reckless driving.  I just nodded and didn't say a word.

He uncuffed me and I returned to the car. I didn't stop shaking for a few hours. I didn't sleep that night. It wasn't until we returned to Camano Island that we requested the cop's body cam. I wrote a summary of my experience and sent it to the prosecutor. I have never been able to watch the video. The prosecutor watched it and then dropped all the charges and begged us not to sue. When we considered suing, it was too late. The open window of 180 days had lapsed. 

In any case, I understand more fully now that there are good cops and bad cops. And that if I hadn't been meek and mild, something even worse could have happened. Paul's advice is always to save your argument for the court room.

Bruce & Sally's Anniversary

 With Nana and Papa celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, we flew down to San Diego to have some fun. We enjoyed a cruise around the city, wandered around Seaport Village, and then went boogie boarding at Solana Beach. All my favorite spots! And with my favorite people.

Midnight Tulips

 After the Sisters show, we had Sarah Fielke come and teach us at Calico Creations in Mount Vernon. She had flown from Sidney to Sisters and then would fly out of Seattle. Sarah began Material Obsession with Kathy Doughty. Having taken classes from both, it is shocking how different they are.

Here she is using my blocks to show the unusually block layout. It employs the use of partial seams and little stair-step blocks. The individual tulips are difficult to make because they have a Y-seam construction.

But after you make 100 of them, you become accomplished at Y-seams.

The plastic templates were helpful in this pattern because the seam allowances have to be perfect.

Here it is finished in my sewing room.

I loved making this piece of art. I don't mind putting in the work if it turns out well. 

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2017

 This was my second trip to Sisters, but this time I brought Paul. We stayed in Redmond for the week while I took classes and then enjoyed the show on Saturday. Last year I didn't take enough pictures. I hope you enjoy these.

Hilde Morin's quilts are fascinating. She was teaching this week and I popped in to see her student's work. I don't know if I have enough geometry skill for this.

If I like a quilt, it's usually made by Freddy Moran.

Tula Pinks' Tula Nova was wowing the audience.

Sue Spargo's work was also on display. How I admire her handiwork. The attention to detail and mixing cotton and wool are impressive.

And the following 5 are mine. Two sold at the show and three later on.

I caught Sujata and Scott chatting in the teachers' booth. I also got to thank Tula Pink and Sarah Fielke for coming. I have a class with Sarah next week in Mt. Vernon. And when Sujata is in town, she joins our little quilt group to sit and stitch.

Maria Shell Class

 I had a great opportunity to take a class with Maria Shell at Sisters, Oregon. She is a great quilt artist from Anchorage. The class was based on making fabric designs from solid colors. 

She had quite a few examples of her work. It gave me so many ideas for future quilts. You know that feeling when your brain explodes? Maria is Nancy Crow trained so her design instincts are incredible. 

This collection below is my attempt at making fabric. I decided to use the blue block for a quilt. I used a triad color scheme, which is probably the most extreme, to make Metro Grid.

How I love secondary designs and this created quite a few. I also like the principle of small, medium, and large pieces. Black and white are the neutrals here. One of my favorite quilts.

 Do you see the secondary designs forming? The centers of the blocks almost look like sashing. I liked adding the little plus sign blocks on the inner border.

Octagon Shimmer

 I started Jennifer Sampou's Octagon Shimmer shortly after seeing it at Sisters last July. I have plenty of fabric, but it always helps to have our sewing group at Calico Creations, where an incredible supply of Kaffe is next door. Cinda also provides huge design walls for big quilt planning.

This is nothing like the cover quilt, but closer to my favorite colors. Here is the original from Sisters.

It doesn't even look like the same pattern, but I assure you it is.

The quilt is created with kite-shaped dark pieces with colored strips on either side to create isosceles right triangles.

A lot of planning is required since each side is a different color. I was disappointed that shipping caused creases in the quilt, but it didn't matter because it sold anyway.