Sewing in my lap

Before I left I on vacation I sewed up the background for my civil war block.

Then as I was traveling through - oh which state was that?  Nevada?  Arizona? Utah?  No Utah is just too pretty to sew through.  It was Wyoming. Which is pretty but I still sewed.  

I enjoyed finishing this one up.

And here's Mister Penguin before the trip.

I cut his head off.  Rather satisfying I must admit.

And Mister Penguin after I restitched it on.  (and with a beak)

I'm a happier with his new look.  Now for some eyes, feet, wings etc.

Okay so I didn't do much sewing on vacation - but really - I can't sew on a motorcycle!  I'm not that talented!!  Hahaha!

Happy August Stitching.

Linda

Good Morning! Back From South Datoka

Okay, I have to tell you we took off last week and took a nine day trip to Sturgis, South Dakota.

 

Hubby snapping a picture of Mt Rushmore.

I like the way I got him in his Sturgis shirt, with the bike and Mt Rushmore.



Just in case you don't know,  Sturgis holds a huge (the biggest?) motorcycle rally each year.  Over 450,000 bike show up.  It really is the coolest thing to be among that many bikes.  The streets of Sturgis are packed with bikes and vendors (719 vendors this year).

Even me, who's used to motorcycle rallies, was totally shocked seeing the volume of motorcycles in down town Sturgis.  They were everywhere!!

We had a WONDERFUL time in South Dakota, and Wyoming!  For people who do not live near these states, these are the nicest people!  Not only are the people nice, but the area is BEAUTIFUL!

I wish I had visited these states earlier in life and I would have moved there and raised my kids. I'm seriously thinking of moving - however, it would be hard to get the whole clan to move - and I rather attached to my children and grandchildren. 

At any rate, we stayed a place called Suzie's Campground, two miles from Sturgis. 

I like the way many of the signs are made from metal in Wyoming and South Dakota.

Here's a picture of our rig parked at Suzie's. There motto is "Come as Strangers, Leave as Friends".  So true!  This was a great place to stay.



Our Rig. - See the ramp for the motorcycle to be loaded?



And this was our view from our trailer

The picture (camera phone) really doesn't do this place justice. 

Oh,  just in case you were wondering, the bike made it there just fine.  We had the best time ever riding!  We didn't feel crowded as we rode because there are plenty of surrounding areas and cities to ride in.  We visited Rapid City - where I found a cool quilt shop.  Funny how I could see that Quilt Shop a mile away!! 

Thimble Cottage

This is home to Pearl Louise.  She designs quilt patterns (real cute ones) and fabric too.  I course I bought some fabric.  I'll show you that in a different post.

We visited Deadwood, where Wild Bill Hickok was killed.  Supposedly he was holding the "Dead Man's Hand" while playing poker when he was shot. 

And we visited Lead located in the winding roads of the Black Hills.  It's a real fun historical town.  Calamity Jane lived there.

Black Hills is known for it's beautiful gold jewelry.  We took a tour of the factory to see how they make the jewelry.  It was very interesting. They add copper and zinc to get the gold in shades of pink and gold.

A ring we saw - but didn't buy.

I had no intention of buying anything, but then I found this watch - and at a super good price so I just couldn't resist. I had to take this baby home with me.

We had a great time.  I'm not sure which I like most, riding in the Black Hills and hiking to the different waterfalls or just spending nine whole days with my husband.  

Well, that's probably enough for today.  I'll show you the little bit of sewing I did while riding in the truck tomorrow. 

Happy August Sewing,

Linda

What I've been doing...

I haven't been sewing that much this week.  Instead, I've been doing some relaxing and also some planning on my quilts.

I've been looking through my older magazines. 

and I found this idea for a setting for Angela's quilt.  (I still haven't worked on the Feathered Star - but I will!!)  I could put that feathered star in the middle and the other stars around.  Yes, this could work.

and while I'm just showing pictures, I'll show you this apron I made for my daughter for her birthday. 

I loved the fabric with the oranges!  And since is was for my "artist" I got to go a little wild with the black and white squares, polk-a-dots and rick-rack. 

And while we are on the subject of rick-rack, I have to tell you a little funny.  The first time I said "rick-rack"  my 15 year old, laughed and ran to the computer and looked the word up.  She thought for sure I had just made the word up!!!   

Happy August Sewing,

Linda

The things you learn in BlogLand

One of the things people like about blogging is making new friends. I make a new friend when I started commenting on Sunny's Blog.   Or maybe it was because she was commenting on mine? At any rate, guess who found me on Sunny's blog?

Another Linda. Well, that in it's self is not that profound, after all, look how many Linda's are out there.

But come to find out she's also from my hometown. How cool is that??

And she also attends the same guild I do!!! Now that's really cool.

And our guild has two meeting: morning and night. Yep, you guessed it, we both attend the night meeting. Yet I don't believe we have met.  Maybe we have, I'll let you know when I see her. 

Well, that just too cool.

Okay - here's the best part. She has the coolest blog.

Go check her out.  

straystitches

Believe me, it's really worth your time

Linda

Block Lotto

Did you know that I play Block Lotto? Last month's block looked like this. I donated mine. Although it was fun to make.  I didn't really want a whole quilt from one.  This just isn't really me.

But would you believe: 

       They had a total of 238 sets (that's 476 blocks!) And ten winners. That's about 48 blocks per winner.  Pretty Cool!

Just thought you might be interested.

I was thinking of not playing for August, figuring I would be too busy. But here's the block and oh boy!  I like it.

Now I'm thinking I need to play again.  The block looks simple and fun.  This really is me. 

Do you see how I get myself overwhelmed?  And loving every minute of it!  LOL!!!

Happy August Stitching to you!!

Linda

What's red and weighs 800 lbs!?

Yesterday we decided to load our motorcycle in the trailer (toy hauler) for the very first time!!

Hubby walked over with the measuring tape. Shook his head, the motorcycle is 5 inches too long!!!

YIKES!!!!

When we bought the trailer we had a different motorcycle.  Wahh!!  I never even thought to meausure the new one before we bought it.  Well, aren't all motorcycles the same lenght?  Oh dear.

I ask, "What about having the front wheel turned at an angle?" 

       Hubby replied, "That is with the front wheel at an angle!"

DOUBLE YIKES!!

Right away the idea comes to us - load it at a bit of an angle.  Oh yes!  That sounds good - try doing it!

After many attempts, much manuevering and a couple buckets of sweat, (why do I live the desert?) the bike was in where we could close the door!  I really don't know how much that thing weighs - too much!! My brother-in-law came over and helped us tie it down.  He's one of those guys that knows everything.  In this case it was a good thing.

One more step towards getting us on the road. 

Linda

Setting August Goals

What?? Where did July go to?? Oh my!  It's time to set some August Goals.

July was great all that swimming in the pool.  I don't even care if I met my goals or not.  I had fun sewing on the things I did and spending time with family.

For August my number one goal is to go camping!

And my second one is to sew up that Feathered Star.  It's all cut out and I'm anxious to ride that pony home.  (This is part of Judy's UFO Challenge.  And we are not going to mention that the challenge is suppose to be one UFO per month -and I'm doing one UFO per several months - no let's not bring that up!)

My third goal is finishing up 5 of these little stuffed animals. They are so much fun.  I just love them.



I'm working on this one.  Wait until you see it!!



Okay so that's it.  You know, set your goals low that you can reach them. Hahaha!! That's my motto for August.

Oh - and I almost forgot - I have three Civil War blocks already cut.  I'll see what I can do about getting those sewn up too.

Now I'm going to close this post about August Goals before I add more to the list!!

Happy August Sewing!

Linda