Beavers Bend State Park - Broken Bow Lake

We arrived in Hochatown, OK Thursday the 8th and departed on the 13th.  It was a nice long weekend snuggled between doctor appointments and included a bank holiday.  I love to stretch my vacation days by adding them to holidays.  I drove the camper/truck(rig) the whole way up and back.  Three hour round trip.  This trip was very easy for driving as I had plenty of practice in July.  I just needed to remember to swing wide on the turns.

Other than heating water on the stove all our cooking was done on a George Foreman grill outside.  We even made toast, sausage and eggs on it.  It was wonderful for cleanup.  Ray did all the cooking on it.  He and the sous-chefs that is.

We drove through the park sight seeing and gathering info on the park and town activities. A friend of mine let me know that Sasquatch had been seen in the area.  There were a few stores that had the name Swamp Booger in them which I assumed was the towns term of endearment for him.  Fall had definitely begun to arrive in the area.

This park is snuggled in the Ouachita National Forest.  Gorgeous!  I look forward to going back.  If you look at the third picture you will see people canoeing.  Just to the left of them, outside the frame, is where the landing is.  You rent the canoe there and they drive you to a drop sight in a short school bus.  They rent canoes, kayaks and paddle boats.  We saw all three.  

Sunday we arrived at the rental place at opening time.  There was quite a line but they handled everyone efficiently and we were in the water within about 45 minutes of our arrival.  It was to be the hottest day of our trip but there was a breeze and lots of shade.  Ray let them know he planned to fish so we would take longer than the average 2.5 hours.  We were only out there a little over 3 hours.  He had a few nibbles, lots of snags and show off fish jumping all around the boat.

I did not take my phone (camera) with me for fear of taking it swimming.  We rented a canoe and had no issues.  There was a small rapid at the beginning that caught me by surprise.  The rest of the river, Mountain Fork River, was smooth.  We paddled to the edges so he could fish in some of the deeper water. We saw turtles, fish and an egret.  There were some places where there was a sheer rock wall with trees growing out of it.  There was another spot that had a little cut in area that we explored.  The skies were beautiful and clear.  So peaceful.  The pictures are in my memory.

So what is a vacation for me without some excitement?  While we were canoeing we put the dogs in the camper.  We were away from camp for about 3:5 - 4 hours.  We went straight back to camp to let the dogs out.  We pulled into the drive at our site and I opened my door.  I felt something brush against the back of my legs.  I was startled and looked down to see my little dog Moose,Moo Moo, looking up at me.  Ray and I looked at each other confused as to how he got out of  a locked camper.  Ray went inside and found where he had managed to push the screen window to the side and jump over 5 feet to the ground!  I was so relieved that he was not taken, lost or injured.  Everyone reminded me he just wanted to be with me!  Crazy dog!

But wait, there’s more!  We went to bed Friday night.  We would sit outside and talk, look at the stars and enjoy the fresh air, peace and calm.  Overnight I heard a very loud pop.  I thought it was a gunshot.  Not too long after I heard voices shouting, someone banging on doors and the the word fire.  I tried to look out the window to see what was going on.  I could not see anything so stepped outside to see the camper directly across the drive on fire.  I woke Ray up and he leaned out to look, came back in and dressed quickly.  

While he was doing that I called 911.  They told me they already knew and FD was on the way.  I called the campground owner, no answer, then texted hi to let him know there was a fire.  Ray ran out and when he knew everyone was safely out of their camper moved the truck.  Our generator gas tanks were in the back and a bomb waiting to explode with the extreme heat.  911 called me back to see if EMS was needed.  We told them no.

The volunteer FD arrived first.  He started to spray the fire and perimeter and quickly ran out of water.  It seemed like an eternity for the regular FD to get there.  Once they arrived the fire was put out quickly.  We heard the tires on the camper exploding and I watched for projectiles shooting off but never saw any.  The camper on either side suffered damage from the heat.  Only one of them was occupied at the time.  The next day the rubble smoldered most of the day.  We went exploring to get away from the mess.  When we returned it had stopped smoking.

We do not know the cause of the fire.  The man staying there had gone away overnight.  Ray thinks t was the igniter that may have failed.  It took me over three hours to fall asleep!  Too much excitement for me!  At least I was not the source!

6 x 12

The title... 6x12 failed me.  Last week I was preparing to go out of town so I didn’t have time to work physically on my quilt.  I did work on it mentally.  I actually tried to find my sketch to see where I went wrong but when it wasn’t in an obvious place I just started a new sketch to determine the fix.  Luckily I developed a new plan quickly!

Of course once I figured it out I still really wanted to see my original plan to figure out where I went wrong.  I finished getting ready for my trip and resumed my search.  I found it!  It took less than a minute to see where I went wrong!  6 x 12 is NOT 60!  I think I made my usual mistake which is to think through things in my head with incorrect facts in my head.  I think I thought I had 5 12” stars when it was 6.

So easy fix right?  Rip off one star row which puts me at the 60” I originally worked with.  Of course knowing this now my redesign would have been different!  And I will end up with fodder for another quilt or two.  Ah well.  I’ll get back to it this weekend.

Let me tell you about my trip.  We went to Beavers Bend State Park in Oklahoma.  Weeks ago we started looking at the weather in combination with scheduled doctors appointments and a bank holiday.  Everything looked like it lined up well.  Maybe one rain day so we planned it!  We went from Thursday the 8th through Tuesday the 13th.

I had relaxing and being on my mind for this trip.  Ray had fishing on his mind.  We did both!  We spent a lot of time driving around town and through the park looking at the sites and planning activities for the weekend.  What better place to start than at the park information center?  We picked up a few maps and asked questions.  

While there I noticed a museum and decided to walk through.  It’s main focus was trees and their history.  There were dioramas behind glass with a recording talking about what was shown.  The main thing that I took away was that trees in the beginning formation of the world would grow and then fall over because there was not anything for the roots to anchor into.  This occurred repeatedly and is how dirt and the earths layers were formed.  Ferns were the only “trees” that survived the ice age.  Wow.  I love science!

There were photography exhibits, wood working, an old cabin, chainsaw exhibit, forest ranger statue and tower.  Some of the dioramas talked about the beginning of logging and the almost immediate recognition of the need for conservation.  The impact of people on the forest and nature on the people was portrayed throughout.  The number of products we use everyday that come from trees is many.  We would be hard pressed if we lost this resource.

I’ll leave you with some pictures and a promise to talk more about my trip in another post.

Have you managed any getaways this year?  It’s a little tricky but possible!

Swooze

October 2020 OMG

OMG...in the true sense of the word.  Not goal but what have I done?  Remember the 6 QOVs I’m  making for my cousins?  Well I had a fleeting thought “I should make ONE beginning to end to make sure I had everything right.  I redesigned the pattern with the goal of attaining a 60x80 Quilt.  EPICfail!

I sewed over 6 hours adding the extra length I thought I needed for the 5 I had not done that for. I pressed one of the tops really well so that I could accurately measure and calculate how many inner border strips I need so that I could get some cut for my next sewing session.

All 6 look like this.  All the same size.  48.5 x 82.5”.  Wait!!  WHAT?!?!?!!  I was shooting for 80 length.  What the heck did I do?  Back to the drawing board!  But I can’t  find the drawing board. With the great stash migration things are a tad buried.  It will reveal itself in good time.

My goal for this month is to get ONE top completely made to the end.  This will involve deconstructing and drawing and deciding.  I’ll get it!  Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts for OMG.

Are you playing?

The Great Stash Migration of 2020

When I was satisfied with the touch ups in my stash room I started moving in.  My fathers desk is in there and will eventually be my work surface for my GO cutter and stash management.  As of now I’m stacking my project boxes there as I encounter them.

Anyone that has organized knows that the mess seams much worse at first.  I’m in that place but working as quickly as possible so that improvement starts showing very soon!  I’m being flexible in my plan.  When I started my goal was to get rid of all the totes (blanket boxes) but I’m starting to think I might have to put “collections” in some of them if I run out of room on my racks.

What collections do you separate from your main stash?  I have plaids, Halloween, patriotic, batiks and civil war and 30s repro’s.  Within my regular stash I am separating out neutrals, backings and may separate non-white backgrounds.

I will have kits and precuts that I’ll have to store too.  I do have stash cabinets in my sewing room so once I unbox everything there’ll be a little shuffling.  I know there will be lots of things to store that I didn’t think about.

My goal is to get through all the totes with fabric (I’ve already found non fabric items in some) before I go out of town next week.  Yes a mini vacation.  Will be taking my boot to wear when I’m out on uneven ground.  Ray has plans to get me in a canoe 👀.  Will report back on how it goes...if it goes!

If you’re interested in coming over to help let me know!  What organization do you have going on?

September a OMG 2020 Complete

I got all 6 centers completed and then started on the borders.

I had a friend raise a concern that the “flag” did not begin and end with a red stripe.  I’m asking around but I don’t think I’ll worry about it since it’s not intended to be a recreation.  Would love to hear from any QOV experienced folks.

I’ve met my goal for Patty’s September OMG at Elm Street Quilts.

Freshening Up

As I said before my daughter moved out recently.  I plan to move my stash in there but first!  I had been thinking about hiring someone to come in and patch up some holes and gouges in my walls.  When she vacated the room I texted a friend and asked if he could do the job.  He responded “yes, and very well.”  

I wanted to make it worth the trip so I looked around and came up with a list for him.  I even added a thing or two to make his trip worth it.  I even invited him to stay over and eat my cooking!

He painted my hall bath.  I just wanted a change so tried for a grey with a blue cast to it.  In the photos it looks exactly like that but it’s actually a light blue.  I cannot choose paint to save my life.  This is my third big paint job fail.  Note to self, get a test pot!  It’s not that I dislike it it’s just not what I was going for.

Like a home improvement supplier once told me, it’s better than what was in there before!  Our friend did a few other repairs in the hall bath as well.

In my kids rooms he patched and touched up the paint.  My son had a hole in his ceiling from an installation gone wrong.  He did the same in my bedroom.  In my living room there were some cracks from our slab foundation shifting which he taped, repaired and painted.  Finally the foyer had a settling problem as well but here he had to add trim to cover the gap in the ceiling and wall join.

A definite improvement!

He and my boyfriend are working to install a light above the shower in the master bath now.  Another add on but an addition I would have like to have in the 30 some years since living in the house.

We will get everything put together over the next day or two.  Then the big stash migration will begin!

Do you have any home improvements you’d like to make?

Happy quilting!

Solving For X

I’m working on my OMG for September.  The pattern is Olde Glory by Donna Robertson from Fabric Cafe.  I bought a 3 yard quilt kit from her because I liked the pattern so much.  In addition I had been collecting red, white and blue fabrics for Quilts of Valor (QOV).  I don’t exactly recall how I came to the decision I did.  I am pretty prolific at making the quilt tops but not so much quilting and binding them also known as finishing them.  But I decided to make QOVs for people I know to help the finishing part.  I am starting with my cousins.  I posted a comment on FB and asked who of my cousins had served.  It was just a general question and I got the responses I needed.  There are six of them.

Armed with the above I took the pattern and started tweaking it to get to a 60x80 size.  I was fortunate in that increasing all the pattern pieces by 33% got me very close to where I needed to be.  I have to add 8” of something to the length.  My go to is checkerboards.  I knew I was going to have extra from my strip sets that would be cut off.  I thought I’d be able to get enough for the top and bottom that serendipitously was the right width to achieve my 8” goal.

Yesterday was another sew day at the church.  My goal was to 1) press all six strip sets 2) trim them to length 3) sew the star strip for the sides 4) pair the stars and stripe sets.  I have learned to start with one when there’s an assembly line.  This way you can work through any kinks in your plan.  I did.  My trimmings were not going to yield the additional 8” I needed.  I was able to get 7”.  To the drawing board we go!

I decided to use a coping strip of navy to round out the extra length.  In doing this I can break up the bottom white strip from the white border.  When I select borders I try NOT to put the same colors against each other thereby keeping a straight line visually.  If you look at the picture of the pattern they use a white border against the white piecing.  I guess it’s just one of my peccadillos.

My current plan is to add a blue border at the top and bottom, add the alternating squares of red and white then add a narrow white border and then a wide border of the navy to bring it up to size.  Let me know if you have other thoughts or ideas.  In the meantime I’ll be attaching the stars to the strip sets.  Note that this is not completely laid out like the pictures.  It was just to give me a visual to work with.

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Laboring on Labor Day

I managed to get all my strip sets done for my 6 Quilts. Have to press and trim to size next.

Now onto the stars!  

How did you spend your day?

September 2020 One Monthly Goal

I haven’t participated in OMG in a long time.  Thought I’d give it a go this month to try to get me back into the swing of sewing at home in addition to my outings with my friend.

I started making these stars back in June.  Yesterday I started the strata for the quilt these go into.  I’m making 6 of them for cousins that have served in the military.  A QOV.

My goal this month is to get the centers of all 6 quilts done.  This will not include the borders but if I do then bonus!  Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal.  Did you join in?

Stash Room

Over 3 years ago my daughter moved out into her own place.  I remember her asking me to sit down (so that she could break the news to me) and told me of her plans.  I think I might have asked if I could help her pack.  Not the response she expected!  I quickly moved in and her room became my stash repository.  It was never really organized but helped contain the mess behind closed doors in addition to allowing me more elbow room in my sewing room.

And is the case all good things must come to an end.  Some months later she was back and with almost no notice.  Let’s say that in her absence I may have grown into that room a little.  I was forced to empty that room on short notice.  It was not going to fit into my sewing room although some did go back in there.  The majority of it moved into my living room and has been strategically placed behind my recliners in totes.  Stacks and stacks.  It has been a big source of struggle and I’ve drawn plenty of criticism over the mess.  I happily pointed out to my grown children that they could move out at any time and I’d have plenty of space!  People quiet down when you challenge them.  All this to say that my daughter is moving out again.  I told her she can’t come back.  At least not on a whim.  She needs to really figure out how to launch and stay launched.  To grow up for real! 

So I’ll be reclaiming my stash room.  I’m trying to plan it better so that I don’t have a mess.  I’ve started sorting through some of my treasure to get ideas of how best to sort and store.  I do know I have to sew faster and buy little else!  I have things I’ve kitted up.  Those make sense to go to my sewing room.  I haven’t gotten much further than that.  I have a wire rack in the room already.  I bought three more, one of which will remain in my sewing room.  The other two will need to move to my stash room.  A friend moved last year.  She gave me several totes that are perfect to hold quilt tops and backings.  I’m thinking about doing just that and storing under my long arm.

What else?  Help me think through this please.  I’ll be trying to work through this all with a gimpy leg.   One help if you want!

Camper Quilting

Before I left for vacation I prepped some strip sets and fussy cut campers from a cute fabric I bought with the intent of making a camper quilt for our camper.  I packed one other small project that I needed to cut a lot of pieces for.  I even packed my featherweight and a small sewing kit.

We had such a steep learning curve on the camper and lots of visiting.  At the end of day I was ready for bed!  I have the setup but it just didn’t happen.

As you read previously I broke my ankle at the end of that vacation.  That was on July 20th.  I was at the doctor by the 22nd and in surgery the 24th.  Since then I’ve had two different casts and graduated to a walking boot this past Monday.  I am able to do limited walking in that boot and have a knee scooter for longer distances.  It’s been “interesting” to try to cook and do laundry and all the normal things.  These all have been assisted activities.  Mostly the lack of stamina for standing but I’m getting there.

Yesterday I managed to get out for six hours to sew with my friend.  She’s a nurse and knew I wasn’t feeling my best.  She suggested I take my pain pill even though I didn’t feel pain (neuropathy).  I picked up after that!  It’s funny what your body knows it needs.

I managed to sew several of my toes together.  This is the Warm Wishes pattern.  I like it!

Can you see all the cuteness?  Trees, shooting stars, campers, lanterns and pets to name a few items.  I hope to get the rest of the rows sewn at my next session.  This will get done quickly.

After this experience I am looking at hand piecing options.  There are stamps that you can ink onto the back of your fabrics and rotary cut.  The sewing line is marked too.  Right now I want to buy all the things when I should just get one, maybe two, to try.  Google By Kate.  I asked people on several of my Facebook groups and got mostly great reviews!  I’ll tell more if I decide to get them.

What are you working on?

Vacation

If you’ve been reading awhile you know that sometimes this can be eventful.  This was one of those years!

We went to Tennessee first.  I got to meet my boyfriends son and grandkids for the first time.  We got to celebrate a birthday and then the Fourth of July.  It was fun to get to know everyone and to see their traditions.  Sadly they had to put their horse down while we were there.  They knew the time was approaching but the excitement of the fireworks resulted in the horse being knocked down and unable to stand up.  It was a sad day.

We had our motorcycle with us.  We got out for a short ride.  What beautiful countryside.  I ended up hyperextending my knee.  I managed the pain with ibuprofen and ice.  I tried to walk down the steps of the camper like a regular staircase.  Bad choice.  My age is really showing!

From there we went to Michigan.  We camped in five different places.  Only one was a campground.  The rest were driveways of friends or family.  We enjoyed our visits and did encounter some rain.  Was nice to have the air get a scrubbing.  While in MI my allergies were so bad that I ended up very congested and dizzy.  

We were going to go on to WI and MN but decided to head home.  We are new to camping in his camper and trying to figure things out was overwhelming.  We left Sunday night and drove a few hours stopping still in MI.  We got up in the morning.  Still blah and dizzy.

Ray wanted me to start off driving which I was ok with.  I went to trade places with him and woke up on the ground.  Ray said he was able to catch me and ease me down.  I got my wits about me and drove.  

By the next day I knew something was wrong with my right ankle.  I have neuropathy and do not really feel anything.  We safely got home Tuesday and I called my foot doc.  Broken tibia and tibia.

I had surgery on Friday and now have a rod and screws.  I’ve already had one cast change and go back on the 17th.  Hopefully I’ll graduate to a boot and can put weight on it then.  Right now hopping on a walker is difficult.

Not much quilty going on other than planning at the moment.  This leads to trouble!

Cream and Sugar Block of the Month

So I did a thing.  Last year year a good friend of mine was arranging to teach a block of the month.  She got as far as choosing the pattern and the fabrics and then she accepted a job far, far away.  She knew I wanted to teach classes one day and asked if I wanted to take over.

The class was offered in two different color ways. One modern or brights and the other traditional or civil war.  I thought she had a tentative plan for which fabrics for which blocks thus creating an overall vision.  When I asked her for her plan she said I should create my own.

I had a sample of fabrics that had been chosen and took the pattern and copied the layout page.  I colored in various blocks with colors similar to the fabrics.  With my sketch in hand I made many trips to the quilt store and auditioned fabrics together and took pictures.  This was after using my samples at home to make basic decisions.

I had twenty in two separate classes.  At each meeting I taught different techniques to the class and showed my sample block.  I talked about construction tips and tricks.  People brought their completed blocks and were given the next months fabrics.  If they hadn’t completed their blocks they pay a small fee for the kit.

When the pandemic hit I helped the shop with curbside pickup of the blocks.  I think we skipped a month.  It was nice seeing everyone in their car for a private show and tell of their blocks and a quick exchange of tips.  I’ve lost three people due to either being discouraged at falling behind or becoming impatient with having to wait month after month.  Some others have fallen behind but are sticking with it.  I’m going to suggest a class to allow people to come and sew and catchup.

I have all the blocks made now.  I’ve started putting the top together and now have to wait for the rest of the blocks to be handed out to finish assembling it.

I’ve been updating my friend as I go.  I think she’s pleased with the direction I’ve taken.

Dutchman’s Puzzle Complete

The top is complete.  Was a design as you go process and was fun to work on.

This is a closeup of the border.  I used the bonus triangles from making the geese for the center.  It’s called migrating geese.  I didn’t make it the same way that pattern called for because I wanted to use up what I had.

Happy quilting!

Swooze

Dutchman’s Puzzle

This is from a swap I participated in ending last year.  We chose block patterns and provided fabric.  Some people chose up to a dozen patterns.  Each month you made 2 blocks using the patterns and fabrics provided and then passed the box.  We met for lunch with each person choosing a location in turn.  As you can see I chose a single pattern.  I had to make additional blocks and I did take a few apartbthat had pinwheel centers from the color placement.

I was handed back the box along with all the scraps.  There was a bag of off cut triangles from making the geese. For many years I had been wanting to make the migrating geese border.  I am just “winging”!the pattern and I think it’s turning out great!  Two sides will be red and two will be blue.  All the borders are mostly made.  I just need a place to lay it out and finish up.  I hope to post a completed top soon!

What are you working on?

Swooze