HOUSE PROGRESS

No quilting going on here, unfortunately.  We have been working on the house daily.  The painting is finished and we are unpacking boxes, so everything is a mess.  As I unpack, when I'm not sure where I'm going to put things, I just put them on a shelf in a closet or cupboard for now.  There are 3 "linen" closets in the hallway and one of these will be devoted to sewing supplies.  Of the other two, one will be mostly linens (if not all of it) and the other one will be shelves possibly dedicated to large kitchen items that aren't used very often, mailing supplies for my Etsy business, games & puzzles, etc.

I found a dresser at a garage sale that I'm going to fix up as an ironing station in my sewing room.  It has 9 drawers.  I got some good ideas from a friend in Texas from her sewing room.  I would love a large armoire where I could display quilts, so I will keep my eye out for that.  I also might want to get a larger bookcase.

I like to take walks in the mornings and this is what I saw at one house.  McMinnville, OR is right in the middle of wine growing country, so there are vineyards all around the town, as well as wine tasting rooms.  We are not "into" the wine scene, so I don't really know anything about it.  But the vineyards are pretty.

Our next door neighbor has a grape vine with the cutest little green grapes and she said we could help ourselves to it.  The funny thing is, she moved here from Texas (not far from where we lived) about the same time we did!  I was talking to her on Saturday, and mentioned that I was a quilter.  Her eyes lit up and she said she has always wanted to learn to quilt!  So, once we get settled, we will see what we can do about that.

When we were eating lunch 2 small deer walked past our window!  Our neighbor said they like to eat her roses.

I'm hoping to start sleeping in our house soon, now that the paint is dry and our bed is set up.  I spread out a few quilts on the bed to try to get the fold lines out of them.  I will take a few pictures soon as we make progress.  Oh!  Both bathrooms are cleaned now and the shower in the master bath has been tested.  I love it!  It's way more roomy than the one at our old house.

Today the church where our GS plays the organ is having a going away party for him after the service. He leaves for college in Minnesota on Thursday!  :-(

FAMILY REUNION IN MINNESOTA

I'm not going to show you pictures of lots of relatives, but I did go to a family reunion of my mother's branch of the family.  It's the first time I have ever been to it and it celebrated the 150th anniversary of those ancestors arrival in the USA from Norway.  Naturally, they settled in Minnesota and I have very fond memories of our visits to the farms of my Mom's 12 aunts and uncles in and around the Albert Lea  and Emmons, MN area.

The reunion was held at "Farming of Yesteryear."  The church pictured below is the church where my Grandparents were married at on July 1, 1899.

A quilt barn at the park.

I had to add the water tower just because I like them.  :-)

A highlight of our weekend was visiting two of my Mom's cousins.  I had never met them before (that I know of), but my sister and cousin had.  We went to visit these 2 special ladies on Saturday at their respective homes.  Berdine is 95, lives alone in her house, and has 9 children, 25 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren.  Cora is also 95, lives alone in an efficiency apartment in a retirement/assisted living center, cooks her own meals, bakes cookies, continues to embroider (she can't stand to not be doing something) and has 9 children, over 30 grandchildren, over 30 great grandchildren (she lost count) and 8 great great grandchildren!  Cora had this darling quilt on her bed that one of her daughters made for her.  It is hand embroidered and machine quilted by her daughter.  I'm sorry the pictures are so poor, but I took the picture with my cell phone and it was kind of dim in the room.  I just loved this quilt!

It was a fun weekend spent with my sister, 2 cousins and the daughter of one cousin (plus the long suffering DH of one cousin).  It's good to be back home so we can continue moving in!

ANN HERMES' BOOK HAS ARRIVED!

I have been following Ann Hermes' blog ever since I started blogging on Allpeoplequilt.com in 2008 (or sometime around then).  She and a group of other bloggers are still blogging and reading each others blogs, so I feel like I know her, even though we have never met in person.

Her book, Pennsylvania Patchwork Pillowcases and Other Small Treasures, has just been published and I just received my copy!  I have barely cracked it open for a short peek and decided I had to blog about it.  I can't wait to read it all!  It's available from Ann or on Amazon.com.

Front cover

Back Cover

After just flipping through a few pages, I can tell it will be very interesting and informative.  I'm going on a trip to Minnesota for a family reunion and will take it to read on my flights!

Inside

If you visit Ann's blog, you will see the many quilts and vintage fabrics she has made and/or collected as well as other items she makes from the fabrics.  She is definitely a multitalented woman!

In between moving, etc. I managed to make 32 flying geese for this pattern by Crabapple Hill.  I think I worked on the embroidery panels for at least a couple years, so now, I would like to finish it before Thanksgiving, if possible.  I need 32 more flying geese for the border, then I just have to make the blocks in the middle sections!

Here are some of the flying geese that are completed.  I can remember the day when I just dreaded making FGs, but after many years, the task has gotten easier.  That's always nice.  I guess practice does make perfect - just as my old piano teacher used to say!

BTW, we have all our belongings are now in the house, but not in the actual rooms as we are keeping them clear for the carpet to be put down tomorrow.  Our furniture and boxes are in the garage, shed, bathroom and on closet shelves.  The kitchen is taking shape and most of the cabinets have been cleaned, so we are making progress.  The living room has been painted and really looks great!

Thanks for all your good wishes!

ON THE ROAD TO OREGON

Tuesday, we flew via Southwest Airlines from Portland, OR to Dallas, TX to load all our worldly goods onto a truck to transport to Oregon.  

Wednesday, I had a delightful breakfast with a dear friend, we picked up the truck, and got it loaded - it all fit!  Yea!!  

We had help with the loading.

After everything was on the truck, I made my way over to the local quilt shop in Cedar Hill, TX, Corner Square Quilts.  Some of the members of the guild I have belonged to for about 13 years came there to visit with me.  It was good to see them again after 2 months of being gone.  Be sure to visit this shop if you are ever near Cedar Hill, TX!

That evening another member of the guild invited DH and myself over for supper and we had a wonderful meal and visit with them.  I will sure miss my friends in Texas!

We have traveled about 1500+ miles since Thursday - 3 days - and tonight we're in Nevada.  We should arrive at our new home sometime Sunday or Monday.  The picture below is of a rest stop in Texas.

We're getting new carpet put down on Thursday, so we plan to unload the truck into the garage and I will work on the kitchen and DH will continue painting before Thursday.  Then we will be able to put down the carpet with no furniture in the house.   Things are going as planned!

Happy quilting!

NEWS AND MOVING UPDATE

I received some exciting news on August 1!  My civil war quilt has been accepted to hang in the special exhibit Texas Quilt Guilds Award-winning Traditional Quilts 2014 at the International Quilt Market and Festival in Houston, TX this coming November!

Here is my post about winning a 3rd place ribbon last March.  You can see a picture of the quilt there.

We got the keys to our new house and today DH will start painting while I go shopping for carpeting.  I won't be blogging for a while as now the major move-in work will be starting and it's going to be crazy!  I'll try to do a post here and there for those of you who might be interested.  Believe me, nothing quilty will be going on unfortunately.