AN ACCOMPLISHMENT AND AN ADVENTURE

A major accomplishment! I finished the top of a Christmas quilt I've been working on for what seems like years! Now to get it ready for quilting and binding.

Yesterday morning we left Dallas early to take a load of belongings to Galveston for Janelle. College starts on Monday morning and she was moving into her apartment for the year. Here are some highlights of the trip. The day was wonderful. We left about 6:30 a.m and returned this morning about 2:00 a.m. A long day... but an adventure.

Houston skyline:

The architecture along The Strand on Galveston Island is exquisite. Charming and quaint. Every year toward Christmas there is a Dickens festival on The Strand. I can picture the Dickensonian costumes to perfection in this setting.

This is an offshore drilling platform in dry dock... perhaps it is being repaired or dismantled.

Some of my favorite "people"... of the two-legged and four-legged variety!

The beach is a sight to behold. The deafening sound of the waves is calming despite the enormous power being generated as they crash upon the land. God does such good work!

We watched the huge freighters as they passed in the ship lane, headed up to Houston in the ship channel or out to sea.

A sampling of island wildlife. Fiddler crabs and hermit crabs are abundant in the tidal pools we investigated. It is difficult to photograph hermit crabs since they hide in shells. You never see the creature inhabiting the shell vacated by snails and the like. But you can be sure when you see a snail shell scurrying along at breakneck speed there is a hermit crab inside!

Barnacles are beautiful in my opinion.

I stood watching this crane as he "fished" for his evening meal.

Until the next adventure...

TIME TO SHARE

Whew!!! The days have gone quickly and I've not updated the blog in quite a few days. I've been busy; first with work, then with hobbies and chores. Time to share some pictures....

Here is the 3rd block for the Mystery BOM being done at Fat Quarter Shop. The collection of fabric is Peace on Earth by Moda. Very soft holiday hues.

Here is the progress on the other BOM I've been doing.... Dash of Christmas Spirit using Vintage Holiday fabrics by April Cornell. This is a king size bed quilt and, as you can see, takes up a great deal of space when spread on the floor for a photo!! It currently measures 96" square and I need to add some border prints to give it a more finished look. I have received the backing fabric I ordered, so will be ready to send this one to be quilted as soon as I can get the final details completed.

I am amazing myself! The picture below is yet another BOM I started years ago. I've been working on it lately and now lack the 16" borders on each edge. It also is king-sized, but this one will be machine quilted by me.

I don't have the money to send all of them to a professional quilter, so I only send the very special ones. The Christmas quilt is special, only because I always wanted to have Christmas quilts for the beds in the house so I can decorate the rooms during the holiday.

Back to the picture..... I really like the narrow red section. This was not called for in the original pattern, but I've decided I prefer this to the original. There is a distinct advantage to putting a project away and bringing it out for completion after an extended time. My perspective on the appearance is now changed and fresh ideas on how to finish the top are popping into my head. I will also be making pillow cases to match this one.

There was one other adventure which I can share. I had intended to share pictures of the event, but there are too many and most don't mean much except to those "who know". This is the final year the Dallas Cowboys football team will be using Texas Stadium for games. The new stadium is getting more and more stadium-like in appearance, as you can see in pictures I've shared in previous posts. As a special celebration of this final year, the franchise opened Texas Stadium last night to the public so we could watch the Cowboys practice. The special other had never been inside the stadium (and I hadn't been since 1974!), so we thought it would be fun to go take pictures before the stadium is demolished and "no more". We saw old former Cowboys... Tony Dorsett, Calvin Hill, Cliff Harris, Randy White, and many more I can't recall. We saw the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders perform a dance. (Harry liked this part the best, I think). It started pouring heavily midway through the activities, so we got to see torrential rain pour through the opening which gets the field soaked but keeps the stands dry.

Next week I'll have some fun pictures to share (I hope). I am going to the gulf coast this weekend as we deliver Janelle's belongings to her college campus. I hope to spend time on the beach and at the pier taking pictures. Unless the weather doesn't cooperate.

Until then.....

PROGRESS REPORT

I finally reached a stopping point and took a break long enough to share those photos I promised. The next installment of the Mystery BOM from Fat Quarter Shop was received and promptly completed. The "special other" doesn't like the colors. He claims they look too matronly and remind him of something his grandmother would have. ROFL .... to me that is a good thing. It means it conveys the notion of nostalgia.... the very thing that calms my being. He likes bright, vivid colors. And when it comes to Christmas colors only the brightest, truest hues will do in his mind! In this instance I disagree with him... unless we are talking lime green in lieu of pine green for the holidays! (I have a holiday tablerunner pattern and fabrics that are the brightest lime, turquoise, and cherry colors you ever saw!)

This is the latest progress on the king-size Christmas quilt that Cindy and I have each been doing. She is finished. I lack a narrow border and then the final, outer border. At the present the top is measuring 96" square. I will add borders to make the final dimensions 109" x 109". WOW!! It is huge. The main reason I am slowing in my progress now is because the top is so large, so bulky, and so HOT during these days of infernal heat. But I am plodding forward and hope to complete the borders in short order.

Of course we have been watching the Olympics. Since this is a household with a swimmer, we are glued to the TV screen whenever Michael Phelps is swimming. My son's best events include backstroke and butterfly so he is particularly enthralled when those are the heats being featured.

One final word..... Cindy, you and your family are in my prayers and thoughts. A big quilty hug to you.

Until I have something further to say.....

MORE LATER...

I've been busy. The plan at the moment is to stay on task and share some pictures soon.

Until then....

*SIGH* of Contentment

All is right with the world again. The special other is home safely and I have made a serious dent in the pile of blocks needed to complete the Christmas quilt. I only have 22 more blocks to go! Wow....I've assembled 60 blocks since the post last Monday decrying the need to make "only" 82 more.

I did some very uncharacteristic things this weekend. First, I went to a local quilt shop to see the sample blocks they had on display for the upcoming 1st Saturday Club. I thought about signing up until I saw the blocks. I was very disappointed. None of the colors were anything I'd consider remotely interesting. So I walked away from the store empty handed. Didn't hurt my feelings one bit. I tried to find something to buy, I really did.

Then I went on a quest for some Guava Jelly. I have a recipe that calls for a glaze which contains guava jelly. The nearby "regular" grocery store didn't carry any. Knowing that guava is native to Mexico and regions south, I tried the Mexican food aisle at the grocery. Still no luck. I decided to try the Azteca Meat Market down the street. Yes, they had it, but talk about being out of my element. There was not one sign in the store posted in English.

I entertained thoughts of going to Goodwill or Salvation Army stores to find a replacement blender. I have bad luck with blenders. I usually break the jar/canister portion. This time the motor burned out. Well actually, the gear that turns the blade in the bottom of the pitcher got stripped. My son has no idea who did it, but he was the last one to use the blender to make an ice cream milk shake. Must have been a blender gremlin.

Now I am tired. It's been an exhausting week and a tiresome weekend. Tiresome because of the ungodly temperatures. It was still 99 degrees at 10:15 this evening when the news was broadcasting. Tomorrow the local meteorologists promise temperatures in excess of 107. Oh goody!!! Can hardly wait.

Until another time....

T G I F ! ! !

Life has swirled around me as though I'm in a daze. First of all, the heat outside is oppressive!! Positively stifling. Even walking out the door in the morning to go to work feels like blasting your face in a furnace... or moist sauna depending on how high the humidity. Puts a person in a real funk.... and that is where I stay.

The "special other" is still out of town. Let's skip that topic altogether, thank you! Finally talked to him last night for about an hour so those doldrums subsided to a more tolerable level.

My seventeen year old is being squirrely, for lack of a better term. His age should tell you all you need to know about that one!

I want to sew and cook. The cycle perpetuates. Those are the activities to which I resort when I am feeling stressed. I am beginning to wonder if there is anything that will hasten the dissipation of these feelings.

Recent changes at my main place of employment have been welcomed as positive changes. That is at least one thing I am NOT stressed about.

Things are slowly coming around.... slowing looking brighter. We'll see.

Until I work this out.....