HOURGLASS TOP FINISHED

It's done.  I finally finished the Improv Hourglass top.  

It's about 51" by 72".

There's lots of scraps, I think I'll sew them together and incorporate them into the backing.

LAST MEAL FROM SHANGHAI GARDEN

 Our favorite restaurant is closing at the end of the month.  So, we got our last takeout for dinner tonight.  

We will miss this.

REPLACED THAT BLOCK

 I spent the morning making a bunch of smaller wonky improv Hourglass blocks to replace that dark brown block that was bothering me.

I got it all sewed together, too.

Here's how it looked at the end of today.

Now, I think that left side looks a little bland, so I changed the bottom right corner.  

I think it's looking better now.

PIECING THEM TOGETHER

 I've been sewing more and more of these Hourglass blocks together.  

Here's how it looked at the end of today.

I'm thinking about replacing that large chunk of dark brown with something else.  

MORE HOURGLASS BLOCKS

 The Hourglass quilt is getting closer to the size I want as I add more blocks and move some around.  And sewing a few of them together.

WALK IN MT RAINIER PARK

 We left early and headed south to Mount Rainier National Park for my birthday trip today.  It's about a two hour drive. 

We first drove up to the Longmire Visitors Center to get a stamp in the passport.  Then we headed back to the Kautz Creek Trail where we went for a short walk. 

When we reached this foot bridge we turned around and headed back.  This was the one mile mark.

There was lots of interesting mosses and lichens.  This is 'Toy Soldiers' lichen.

After, we headed out of the park to this nice little restaurant/inn, Copper Creek Restaurant and Inn for breakfast.  They had homemade blackberry jam!  So good, nice breakfast scramble, too.

A really nice mural in the dining area.

WORKING ON HOURGLASS

 I've  been making Hourglass blocks in various sizes since the workshop with Sherri Lynn Wood.

Here where I am at the moment.

I added some more and took this photo in mono to see how the values are working.

GHOST IS QUILTED AND DONE

 Erik and I finished quilting a pantograph onto the Ghost and Cat quilt.

I got the bias binding made and put on, so it is done!

THE GHOST IS READY

 I've been working on the applique and embroidery on this old quilt top and it's finally ready to be quilted.

The top, made of small Log Cabin type blocks, was pieced sometime in the 1990's.  It was a pattern by Terri Nussbaum.  It's languished ever since.  I put it on my UFO Challenge list this year.  It's number was drawn by Quilting Mayhem this month.  Which means I need to finish it before the end of May.

POND CLEANING

 I hired a guy to come out and clean our pond.  It was a mess.

Before