Mt. Ranier

We took a little photography trip to Mt. Ranier recently, and although we were worried the weather was going to be foggy and cloudy, it turned out to be perfect!  Many of the wild flowers were in bloom, so I was able to get some inspiration pictures to use in future projects, as well as some classic pictures of the mountain.  This was the best place to take pictures of the mountain:

Because we arrived before the visitor center opened on the second day, I was able to get a clear picture of the words of John Muir, that have been carved into the steps at the Paradise visitor center.

Although you can find these all over, there are lots of these tiny, wild lilies in the shade near the lake.

The lupines are almost everywhere, and they are at their peak at this time of year!

It amazes me that we work so hard to get some flowers to grow in our gardens, while others will grow wild in the most inhospitable spaces!

If you pay attention, you can find flowers everywhere, even along the road.  This one is very tiny, but I love it with all it's details!

We were able to find this beautiful field of flowers on our second day and wished we had found it the first day so we would have been able to spend more time there.  Well, that's a reason to make another trip...

Firefly Sewing Envelope is Finished!

My Firefly Sewing Envelope was begun in Sue Spargo's class during Quilter's Affair in Sisters, OR this past July.  It is the first time I've been able to get into one of her classes, and I had a wonderful time!  There are so many different textures to play with, and then you can take the embellishing as far as you want with embroidery, beads and ribbons.  It was one of those projects that was hard to pot down, although not possible for me to work on in the car.  I've been continuing to work on it, and have finally finished it!  She demonstrated many stitches and techniques in class and also taught us how to make the felted balls to decorate the zipper pulls, so I'm finally able to make whatever color I want, although it will be trial and error to make them in other sizes:-)

Anyway, this is my cover.  The bird off to the right is a covered button to keep it closed.

And here is the back:

It is a tri-fold design, so this is how the outside looks when laid flat.  The left section has pockets, upper ones have a flap to keep contents inside, while lower pocket is divided to hold tools / pencils, and the back cover is a large flat pocket that could hold a notepad, stencils or small cutting mat.

The inside of the sewing envelope has zipper pockets on each side which could be left as one large space, or divided.  I chose to divide each of mine in half to hold medium sized tools, threads, or other things.  The center of the interior has a needle book and a flower applique with a pincushion center.

All that's left is to fill it with my tools, so I can begin using it!

(I wonder if I could use the tri-fold idea to design something to take my sketching / painting with me - of course I wouldn't embellish it nearly so much.)

Summer Travel

Oh, the places I've been!  As I look back on the last couple of months, I think I've been busier than ever.  There's been two large trips and then lots of weekend trips, with a few days to try to regroup and then off again.  

My husband and I took a road trip to Eastern Washington, and a little of Western Idaho, then South and around to get home again.  We found lots of wheat fields and some beautiful old barns.  While the weather wasn't at it's best (and even when it was nice) we were able to take some pictures from the side of the road, by pulling the car over and rolling down the windows.  

When the weather was nice and we could stand outside, more pictures were taken and I was able to do some sketching.

July took me to Sisters Oregon, meeting up with friends for a week of Quilter's Affair classes and the Sisters Quilt Show in Sisters, OR, where I was also invited to do a book signing at the Stitchin' Post for two afternoons after class!

A Quilt for Cathy

Sorry my blog's been neglected for a while.  Two large trips, more trips and trying to find time to work on projects in between.  This one couldn't be blogged until it was gifted, so I had to keep my lips zipped.

Earlier this year, my dear friend Cathy lost her dad.  They were very close, and I wanted to make a quilt for her - I think of it as "Cathy's Quilt".  As soon as I heard the news, I started looking for a quick quilt, maybe using a jelly roll and found this free design.  It's called Bali Song, and can be found here at Hoffman Fabrics.

I finished the quilt top during a retreat several months ago, but quilted and bound it during the first week in July (sometimes deadlines make finished projects), so that I could take it with me and give it to her when we met up in Sisters, OR.  She loves it, and my only regret is not having a picture of the finished quilt (that's what happens when I hurry), but at least I have a picture of the top!

Rotating Organizer

We all have little things we use all the time, but don't want them spread all over our desks or other work areas.  My local Ben Franklin had kits for the structure, as well as a sample, so you could see how it could look, depending on your color and paper choices, and since it was marked down, I decided it might be just what I needed.  After deciding what papers I would be using, I purchased coordinating paint, since it's easier to find paint than try to find scrapbook papers.  

The instructions are divided in half, with assembly on the left, and general project instructions on the right.  After reading both, I decided to assemble, then paint, and then paper (even though the instructions on the right side implied that you would paint and paper the project before assembly).  It was a bit more fiddly, because I had to paint and paper interior corners, and measure more carefully, but I love the way it came out, and am now thinking I could use another, because I've already filled it with my paper arts supplies and could use another for the sewing supplies I use all the time.  

Crochet Cowl - Finished!

This cowl has been in progress since this spring, but is finally finished with only a few inches to spare!  It was a free pattern with purchase of the yarn from a local yarn shop, Serial Knitters.  Since I haven't done crochet for a while (other than a single row to finish a knit project), I had to start over after the first few rows, because my tension was way too loose.  The second time around started out tighter, but loosened up as I worked.  Not perfect, but I really like the way it looks and am looking forward to wearing it in the fall.  A couple changes from the pattern:  last row was left out, because I was running out of yarn (good thing I made that decision), and  I added another repeat in the bobbles (that made them stand out better).

Making Mozzarella

We like to make home made pizza, so why not make our own cheese?   To learn how, I signed up for the cheese making class on Craftsy, purchased some local and not so local supplies and books.  The class teaches how to make Chevre, mozzarella and cheddar, but goat milk is more difficult to find than cow's milk, so I decided to begin with mozzarella.

First you start with fresh, whole, pasteurized, but not homogenized milk (not ultra-pasteurized, they say it won't form curds).  After adding acid, rennet, and a little heat, it will look like a new container of yogurt (sorry I didn't have a chance to take a picture of that step), and then you can cut it into curds.

You really have to watch the temperature, and even using a water bath, more than once it got warmer than it should have, and my gloves hadn't arrived yet, so I tried kneading it in the bowl using thin ones, with some stretching.  I'm surprised I was able to stretch it at all, since it was a bit firmer than it should have been, because of the higher temperature.  Due to distractions, it spent a little longer in the finishing brine than it should have, so it was a bit salty on the outside, but edible, and not bad for my first try!