Monday, September 7, 2009

Wild Flowers from the Rocky Mountain Area

by Karen on September 7, 2009

in Quilting on the road

We drove across Colorado today and I took some photo’s along the way with the motorhome in motion.  I am amazed at how many turned out. I put the camera on the “action” mode and it worked and the pictures were not blurry – this is the little camera that I use not the big nice one that Mike has :)   I will need to get them uploaded and the computer is working slow tonight so it will wait and I will see if it will work better in the morning.  In the meantime I did upload some photos of wildflowers that Mike took while we were in the Estes Park area and will do a post this evening on that. (we do have wireless in this park near Ouray, Co. but it doesn’t appear to be very fast).

This time of the season is not the best time for wildflowers as some of them have already faded and died in September but we managed to see some.

these little flowers we thought were bluebells, but I am looking up in the wildflower book right now for the part of the country and it says they are "harebells"

these little flowers we thought were bluebells, but I am looking up in the wildflower book right now for the part of the country and it says they are "harebells"

I can't for the life of me think what this flower is called. We have them in Arkansas too and I have planted them. They are a type of daisy I think.

I can't for the life of me think what this flower is called. We have them in Arkansas too and I have planted them. They are a type of daisy I think and they start with the letter "G"?

this plant is called "fireweed"

this plant is called "fireweed"

I think this one is some kind of "wild aster" I have 3 different wildflower books that I am looking at and I can't for sure identify this one.

I think this one is some kind of "wild aster" I have 3 different wildflower books that I am looking at and I can't for sure identify this one.

This one is easy - "thistle" and it even has a bee in it!

This one is easy - "thistle" and it even has a bee in it!

there are so many white daisy's but I believe this one is the "oxeye daisy"

there are so many white daisy's but I believe this one is the "oxeye daisy"

I haven't a clue on this one but I thought it was pretty :) maybe a variety of "goldenrod"?

I haven't a clue on this one but I thought it was pretty :) maybe a variety of "goldenrod"?

I don't know what this one is either but it was pretty.

I don't know what this one is either but it was pretty. It is possible it is a tree that is not mature. I have found one picture that it resembles - the "Western Mountain-Ash" tree which grows in mountain canyons which is where we were.

If anyone knows the names of any of these plants and/or thinks I have one wrong let me know.  I would love to know for sure what they are!

As I told you all yesterday we were driving today to the western part of Colorado and we arrived at our campground near Ouray around 5 this afternoon.  We were told by the campground host that bear have been in our campground recently and to keep all food in the motorhome or vehicles and leave no food or garbage outside.  I would like to see one but from the safety of the camper!  We have already seen deer wandering through the campground this evening.  We will begin exploring the area (we have been here at least 2-3 times) tomorrow and I will blog as I can.  Normally we are slow in the morning checking mail and such and then out most of the day and then back in the evening.  We do not watch tv normally when traveling but spend time on the computers going though our photos and blogging! (reading and sewing as well)

I did get two more quilt blocks done this afternoon but then I dropped my pin cushion and it fell quite a distance and I couldn’t retrieve it (we keep our seat belts on all the time) by time we stopped and I retrieved it I had lost interest in sewing and had begun to take the photo’s of the scenery while Mike was driving.  I hope to have those up for you all tomorrow.

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A Hand Piecing Tutorial

by Karen on September 7, 2009

in Quilting on the road, quilts

We are moving across the state today and changed our plans a little bit skipping Glenwood Springs area and going straight to Ouray in the north part of the southwest in the mountains.  It says they have wireless – we will see how good it is – if I am not back on for days it means the connection was bad!  I will leave you with this hand piecing tutorial.

I have had several people ask me how do I hand piece in the motorhome, while we are settled at night and when the vehicle is in motion.  I put together a tutorial so you can see step by step how I do it – this is my method, others might do it differently but this works for me.  These photos are from when we are settled in a campground – when we are traveling my legs are my work table! :)   and I’m very careful with the scissors – use them quickly and then they go back in the cosmetic bag I use for the tools.

draw your seam line with pencil on the wrong side of the fabric

draw your seam line with pencil on the wrong side of the fabric

tools needed to do the job - square with the seam allowance marked, scissors, pin cushion with pins, a thimble if you want, thread and needle, sashing border fabric

tools needed to do the job - square with the seam allowance marked, scissors, pin cushion with pins, a thimble if you want, thread and needle, sashing border fabric

pin your first side to the border fabric, I have all fabric cut in advance at home before starting the trip. The borders are cut 1 1/2 inches and it is the width of the fabric.

pin your first side to the border fabric, I have all fabric cut in advance at home before starting the trip. The borders are cut 1 1/2 inches and it is the width of the fabric.

when you are done piecing the first border cut the border fabric square with the block

when you are done piecing the first border cut the border fabric square with the block

repeat what you did on the first border and sew the second border

repeat what you did on the first border and sew the second border

repeat with the 3rd border trimming the sashing off at the end of each border

repeat with the 3rd border trimming the sashing off at the end of each border

add the 4th border

add the 4th border

press the block and square up the corners

press the block and square up the corners

finished block - each block takes me about 20 minutes to hand piece no matter if we are driving or if we are parked at the campsite - only difference is that the pressing and trimming wait until we are at a campsite with electricity or if we have the generator running to charge up batteries.

finished block - each block takes me about 20 minutes to hand piece no matter if we are driving or if we are parked at the campsite - only difference is that the pressing and trimming wait until we are at a campsite with electricity or if we have the generator running to charge up batteries.

blocks finished plus the demo block gives me 16 blocks - I need 19 more.

blocks finished plus the demo block gives me 16 blocks - I need 19 more.

When I get all of the blocks done they will be joined with white strips and then a final black dotted border around that.  You can find the pattern at the Twiddle Tail Shop on line.  I ordered my black dotted fabric from there when I got the pattern.

when we were driving to the campground yesterday evening I saw that the quilt shop I was going to search for while here was just down the road from the campground - maybe only a mile away. First thing this morning while Mike was working on his photos I drove to the quilt shop to look around and found this pattern. Will be perfect for the motorhome - it is only 12 x 12 plus the size border you want to add. The shop is called "Mountain Lady"

when we were driving to the campground Friday afternoon I saw that the quilt shop I was going to search for while here was just down the road from the campground - maybe only a mile away. First thing this morning while Mike was working on his photos I drove to the quilt shop to look around and found this pattern. Will be perfect for the motorhome - it is only 12 x 12 plus the size border you want to add. The shop is called "Mountain Lady" she has a lot of outdoor/wildlife theme kits.

some of my photos are a little blurry and I didn’t want to go back and take new ones – sorry :)

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