Trip Wrap-Up and She Caving Again

After being in the Midwest for nearly two weeks, I was reminded what I miss about living there. Fall colors. Though the trees weren't yet at their peak, a few were showing off and beautifully contrasted against the blue-blue sky. 

Though we arrived in Kansas City with temperatures in the 60s, the days thereafter reached the low 80s. I'm glad because all three visits with my dad were outdoors.

For each visit, we had to check in at the front desk: answer numerous questions, have our temps taken, sign a form, and wear a stick-on "approved" label. Then we'd go outdoors, choose a shady spot, set up bag chair(s), and chat from a six-foot distance. We managed to converse over the traffic noise of nearby Interstate 35. It was so good to see him!

We made a one-day trip to West Des Moines to take care of some personal business, and I got to visit my long-time friend, Kim. She invited me for lunch where we had a lovely time chatting. Kim is the friend who mailed Iowa tomatoes to me a couple months ago, and I made and sent her a Sew Together bag. She sent me back to Kansas City with more tomatoes and two quarts of canned tomatoes. Thank you, Kim!

I sure wish I could have stayed in the area longer to catch up with other friends. However, we needed to move on and went to my brother's under-construction home in Prole, got a tour of the house, left quilts with them, and received 10 pounds of popcorn, before heading back to Kansas City.

Happily, I've already received a couple of pictures of the Village quilt with its new owner. This is my great-niece Maddy who helped her mommy choose the "house" quilt from the pictures I posted to Dropbox.

Here's Maddy using the quilt. The quilt on the sofa back is another I made - Love Links, made for Evan and Chelsea's wedding. 

Knowing that Paintbrush Studio Fabrics is headquartered in Kansas City (there's no PBStudios retail store), I was hoping to find a quilt shop stocking Painter's Palette solids, and did! Quilter's HQ is only a few miles from our daughter's home, so it was easy to visit and see what the shop had to offer. Though not all the Painter's Palette colors were in stock, enough were to give me a broader range of colors to add to stash. 

These 22 pieces came home with me. I didn't want to mess around with small quantities, so every piece is a two or three-yard cut... for a total of 44¾. The odd quantity is because I bought the last amount of three bolts.

Quilting HQ also stocks all colors of 50-weight Aurifil thread, so I restocked two of my used-up spools. 

Quilting HQ has a $4.99 flat-rat shipping fee, and even though the shop's Painter's Palette is $7.25 a yard  - slightly higher than online stores - the low shipping rate probably makes the higher price a wash. In any case, it's nice to know where I can one-stop shop for two of my favorite products. 

While in Kansas City, Curated Quilts arrived at their house. Granddaughter Celina received a copy because this is the "Youth" issue where our jointly-made quilt features in the mini challenge category. Our The Road Between Us quilt is on page 61.

"Celina and her Nana chose the prompt 'distance' because they're 1,200 miles apart. While on FaceTime, with Nana's guidance, Celina improv-cut and pieced the top. When Nana received it, she added hand appliqué, big stitch quilting, and faced binding. The quilt represents rivers, roads, and roundabouts between them." 

10" X 10" The Road Between Us

Car time, and quiet afternoons while the boys were in school, meant handwork time for me. I made several more EPP blocks for my Prudence Quilt, and embroidered this sampler-type design on linen. It will become another flex case.

The embroidery designs I've been stitching are from the ebook Stitch and Sew by Aneela Hoey. I've learned that the best way to turn an embroidery into a pretty pouch or case is to choose the exterior (back) fabric first, and then coordinate embroidery and pearl cotton thread colors with the fabric. 

I was anxious to get to my sewing machine when we got home, so I dug into scrap bins. Mess-making business, but it satisfied an immediate need to sew. 

Three-quarter log cabin blocks are the result. I wanted to make some since seeing Alex's post about her recent finish. Her scrappy blocks are very pretty on a linen background. I also found a tutorial here from the Emerald Coast MQG, that's somewhat different from how I'm doing it. But of course, any method works. My blocks are 9½" X 12½". I'll play around with the arrangement and possible background fabric options when I've made more blocks. 

Grandson Aesa encouraged me to try a plumcot when we stayed with them. Have you heard of them? A cross between a plum and an apricot. I hadn't but tried one and found it delicious! Sweet and juicy. I ate several while there, and brought one home with me. Our local grocery store produce fellow said they're out of season here, but I'll be watching for them. 

No book recommendation today, but I'm finishing a good one while starting my next Maria Shell style improv quilt. Here's to having fun in the she-cave! Linda