Winter Stormy

 I'm remembering that some years no snow falls on our island. When the light hits it, the snow is beautiful, and hopefully disappears by the afternoon. However, these are three consecutive days. I'm ready to be free of it.

Kitsap Quilt Show

 With the Kitsap Quilt Show in Silverdale and an opportunity to see Jen Bay (and drop off quilts), we took the ferry to Kingston and drove south through Poulsbo to the Kitsap Fairgrounds. Marnie and I enjoyed the quilt show while Paul drove around. Then we met up with Jen, enjoyed some teriyaki and headed to the Naval Undersea Museum.

Trip to the Naval Undersea Museum

 On 6 March 2009, an era in Navy undersea operations ended when the Deep Submersible Rescue Vehicle Mystic (DSRV-1) was retired at San Diego. With that event, more than a half-century of U.S. Navy manned deep submersible operations was over.

The Navy's first manned vehicle was the bathyscaph Trieste. Built in 1953, it was purchased from Professor Auguste Piccard of Switzerland in early 1958. At the time it was one of only two deep submersibles in the world.

Completed in early 1964 at Mare Island in San Diego, Trieste II was placed on board USNS Francis X. McGraw (T-AK241) and shipped, via the Panama Canal, to Boston.

Commanded by Lt Comdr. John B. Mooney Jr., Trieste II conducted dives in the vicinity of the loss site of Thresher – operations commenced by the first Trieste the year before. She recovered bits of wreckage, positively fixing the remains as that of the lost Thresher, in September 1964.

Even though the Navy no longer operates manned submersibles, they continue to be used worldwide for support of oceanographic research. Gone but not forgotten, the Trieste and Trieste II are museum pieces in Washington, D.C., and Keyport, Washington. 

USS Sturgeon (SSN-637), was the lead ship of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines. She was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sturgeon.

What a great day! It's our 29th wedding anniversary and I get to look at submarines. I'm a Navy girl!

Philip Arrives

 Marnie and Paul and I arrived at the Edmonds hospital where Marnie and Jack were born to see the arrival of Philip. Pam was just about to deliver. At the last moment, Pam asked us to go get her mother who was staying at the apartment with a sleeping Bonnie. Pam's mother had come from Brazil to help her with this new baby.

Marnie was kind enough to stay at the apartment as we returned to the hospital. We waited another hour or so and Philip arrived!

This is the following day meeting his snuggly self.

He is a big boy!

On the Machine

 I have two quilts to show you that have recently been on the machine. My friend Jen Bay made this cute states quilt and I thought it would be fun to quilt the names of the states.

I don't have a better picture, but it's hanging up in her Arizona home, along with many of her cute creations.

She also asked me to quilt her Be Happy quilt which is a cheerful, bright, and fresh pattern.

Working with Silk

 I saw some beautiful silk at a shop in Bellevue and had to buy it. When sewing with silk, I use iron-on interfacing to stabilize it. Even dupioni silk can unravel like the dickens and make your life miserable. 

These triangles are made of half-square rectangles. Easy as pie. No special ruler required.

Bag Class

 Quilting Mayhem has been holding a class for this huge bag. I'm not experienced with the use of rivets and hardware, so this has been fun. Plus, it's in Snohomish, so I can swing by and see Katie. It has immense pockets and lots of stabilizers.