Fish Research In NC

 Chris was lucky enough to be able to join our daughter and her assistant
 on a research trip to a local lake.

They were checking on the health and population of the fish in this lake. 
 They do electro-fishing (shock the water ), then 

take the fish from that to check their health, size, weight, what they are eating and numbers, etc.

This helps the biologists like our daughter, determine and help set the fishing limits in their regions.

It also allows them to learn how the fish and lake are doing.

  
He had a glorious day helping them with their research. 
 I think he is anxious to be able to go again while we are here.  

Here are a few photos to remember the day by.

This man was in his element!  

Thanks to our daughter for taking him out on a trip he will always remember, (Seth too)!

~XOP~

Nature in NC

Yesterday we were sitting in the camper when Chris shouted "Look in that tree!  There is an owl!!" 

 He ran to get my "good" camera.  

I then went outside armed with my camera. 

 As I got closer to him the owl flew across the road.  

He was pretty far up in the tree but I zoomed in as far as my camera would let me and 

managed to snap a few pretty good shots!  

 

I looked it up and there are 4 species of owl here in NC.

We have now seen 2 of the 4.  

First the two Great Horned Owls and now a Barred Owl.

I think it is called Barred because of the barring on the feathers.

You can see the barring if you click on this photo and make it larger.

I hope you are enjoying these photos.

I am so thrilled to be able to see owls in real life!

~XOP~

NC Fun Times

 We got to hang out with Avery and his folks.
  We had such a great time! 
 We are only able to see him on the weekends since his folks want to keep to his regular schedule during the week. 
 So we have been trying to find some things to keep us occupied.  
I have read 2 books already! 
 The other night we were out walking and saw 2 Great Horned Owls.  
I was not able to ID them until I looked up the call.  

We have been trying to relax. 

 If you know me this is not one of my strong areas, LOL.

I cut out the Nightingale quilt before I left home. 

 There is a quilt along and I am finally getting to participate in that. 

 I paired all my blocks. 

 I am going for a "at the lake" vibe for this quilt. 

 It is going to be a gift. 

 I started sewing the first block but got a little distracted.

The cats are enjoying their camper time. 

 Cole SCREAMS every morning demanding to go into his tent.

Then we laugh, because Finn wants outside but he doesn't like the tent.

 He wants to be in Chris's lap!

I promise to post some Avery photos but I am limited in what and how often I am allowed to post.

I have to respect his parent's wishes.  

I will post some, eventually.

~XOP~

Baby Makes and Travel

Before we left for NC I made some sheets for Avery out of knitted fabric.

My daughter requested some sheets out of knitted fabric.

I found a bunch of super cute prints.

Making crib sheets out of knit fabric is a little more difficult than using quilting cotton.

The width of quilting cotton is 42-44" when you leave the selveges on.  

Knit fabric is much wider 54-56", so you have to cut the width down.

I found a way to do this using my large cutting table, 

a ruler and a herra marker to mark the width to cut off.

I then used my scissors to cut the width off. 

 It was different for each fabric, so you have to decide how wide you want and measure each fabric. 

 I used 44" as my width. 

 I kept the fabric folded as it came off the bolt, used my long ruler to measure 22" from the fold. 

 I butted up another ruler to the end of the long ruler and used my herra marker to make a cutting line. 

 I also squared up one side then measured 68 inches down the length and cut the other side. 

 Once I got a system down for this the sheets were not much more difficult than using quilting cotton. 

 I have a tutorial on making sheets under my tutorial section.  

Hopefully this makes sense. 

 If you are interested in me making a tutorial, 

let me know and when I get home I can try to get one made.

I used the cut out corners to make some re-usable cloth wipes. 

 I also made smaller ones from the left over length strips I had. 

 I did not have enough time to get all the fabric made into cloths, but goals now.

We packed up our truck and headed down to NC to visit the kids and Avery. 

 The cats love to hang out with us in the truck. 

 Finn curls up on Chris and Cole likes to be on the console or on the floor at my feet.

Cole, at my feet.

More on our travels and visit to come.

~XOP~

 

Sewing Room Destash Continues

 I have a few more things to sell.  

My home is smoke free, cat friendly.  

Shipping is cheapest and paid by buyer. 

 Message me your paypal  and zipcode if interested.

Timeless Treasures Pirate fabric $12/yard  2 yards available

Timeless Treasures Pirate fabric $12/yard  2 yards available

Would make a great football field.  1 FQ $1.00

Halloween applique pattern.  $10  Front

Back of pattern

That's all for today.  Keep checking my ETSY for more too.  Sometimes I just list there.

~XOP~

Visiting a Friend

 Yesterday Chris and I drove to Valparaiso, Indiana 

to visit a couple we have been friends with for over 35 years.  

Our friend, Jim, has been diagnosed with brain cancer. 

 Even though he has done radiation and is doing chemo the tumor is not changing. 

 We decided we wanted to be able to visit before we could not communicate with him.  

It was SO good to see him and his wife yesterday! 

 He is still in there and even though he was not able to say much I could see his eyes light up when we spoke with him. 

 He could still say yes and give me the thumbs up!  

I am very thankful we made the 3 1/2 hour drive for the visit! 

 We gave him a brown scapular (Google it if you want more information). 

 He happily put it on and hopefully will continue to wear it.

My amazing husband took the back roads and planned 2 quilt shop stops on the way there.  

The first shop was called Robin's Nest.  

I struggled a little to find something to buy (surprising right?). 

 I always feel like I should buy something when I stop into a shop though.

I did find this adorable, vintage bunny fabric.  

I had picked some up from a "garage sale" a long time ago. 

 It is one of my favorite vintage fabrics so I was thrilled about that! 

 It's hard to tell but the background is a light blue.

We continued on and stopped at a shop in Chesterton, IN. 

 It was called Sweet Stitches Quilt Shop.  What a beautiful shop!  It was a joy to shop there!

This is some of the loot I bought there.  

I needed this pink for a border for my 52 weeks block of the week quilt.

I could not walk away from these patterns either. 

 I am itching to start that cat one, but it has to wait.

If the day was not eventful enough, my car rolled over the 100,000 mile mark!

We got home around 9 PM and we were both so happy we went.

Please pray for our friend and his wife.  They will need all the prayers they can get.

~XOP~

Shop Hop Loot

 I told you I would take photos of the fabrics I bought on my shopping trips with my SIL. 

 I finally got around to taking photos.  

Most of these are already heading for specific projects too. 

 That makes me very happy!

The fabrics in this first picture are not heading to any specific project. 

 I found the "Marie" cat fabric on sale and got another discount for finishing the bolt. 

 I had not bought any of the new Tula True Colors and they had a charm pack. 

 Same for Line Work, and thought the peacock fabric was pretty cool. 

 I am DYING over the new Mod Meow and have shown incredible restraint in not buying up vast quantities of this line...yet.  

This is a panel with my state on it. 

 I think I will make a pillow cover or 2 out of this using the fireflies for a border. 

 I 'm pretty sure the camper needs a few Michigan pillows.

I have been working on a block of the week but got a bit behind when we were away.  

My colors are pink and gold and I needed backgound to finish the top.  

The gold stars on the cream will be the background.  

The shiny pink is going to be background for another pattern testing quilt.

This fabric is the prettiest! 

 My picture does NOT do this line justice.  

The fabrics are all shimmery.

I am not sure how these will be used but I will figure it out.  

They are so pretty! 

 Maybe in the sparrows quilt?

I am collecting some fabrics to use in a Moda Bakeshop project.

I have not found them all but I will get there.

Such pretty colors!

Might look great with the ones above.

So there you have it. 

 I guess I don't have immediate plans for all of the fabrics. 

 Just some of them. 

 I need to sew faster! 

 Still working on destashing so I can change out my fabrics.

  I will stop the destash posts while we are in NC as I won't have fabric with me there.

Have a great day!

~XOP~

Quilts For Sale

I have decided that I need to sell some of my finished quilts.

I am accumulating too many and need to downsize.

They will all be listed in my ETSY shop.

Link is on my side bar to my ETSY shop.

This quilt is from a line called Opal Owl.

It is so cute! 

Here is the listing for this quilt

Opal Owl is such a cutie!  I think the little green version is my favorite.

I used the most gorgeous turquoise Minky for the back. 

 It is extremely soft. 

 You can see the adorable owl  (that looks like Opal herself) quilted into the quilt.

Next up is my Chubby Chicks quilt. 

 The chicks are raw edge appliqued.

The quilt has been custom quilted.

Here is the listing for the Chubby Chicks quilt.

You can see the custom quilting in the next few photos.

I used the prettiest vintage sheet for the back.  

It is very soft.

I made a pillow cover to go with the Chubby Chicks quilt.  

The chicks are framed in with rick rack.

The pillow cover is quilted too.

It will fit an 18" pillow form

Here is the listing for the pillow cover

I used the same vintage sheet for the back of the pillow cover.

 I would really love to see these go to new homes.  Feel free to share with your friends.

~XOP~