Planet Ruby Starrs

Trying out my recently dormant creative mojo... First time using an actual pattern for a quilt... and first time using structured pieces on sewing machine.   Probably the last time as well!!!   Its hard work to cut pieces precisely.. and to be honest its tedious doing repetitive shapes and after the first initial placing it lacks any surprises... I miss the spontaneous evolvement of my made up quilts.. its a bit boring knowing how it will look at the end. Having said that I'm liking it still... loving the colours inspired by the autumnal colours of the Acers.. and of course our pink and orange bedroom. Basic pattern and some fabrics are by Kaffe Fassett but I'm using my own colourway and scraps from my stash.  the pattern over estimates the amount of fabric needed so the back will be made up from strips of left overs.    And the finished article... I do like it - but if I were to do it again -unlikely - I would not have so much white in the overall pat...

More catch upposts from the last week - starting with..... this predates the eclipse posting... just setting the scene a little. We set up our eclipse camp. We are in a small town called Glenrock just east of Casper.  Its right in the middle of the track and has a lot of scope for wide open spaces with clear blue skies to observe the Eclipse on Monday morning.  The campsite is ok, its a slightly sorry affair really everything looks a bit 'overdue' and because we have been camping in state parks where everything is basic but tidy it looks a little shabby. But the owners / managers are extremely friendly and helpful though - which in my book goes a long way - there are no defined sites and no fire pits - a big disappointment, but they did rustle us up a picnic table and tomorrow they are serving biscuits and gravy for breakfast which is an American delicacy I have been wanting to try.   update it was ok but looked a bit grim and was rather stodgy there are deer roa...

The camping we found last night was really good, quiet, empty, surrounded by rocks, a nice walk around a meadow, owls and eagles calling overhead, bonus of a campfire, needed as we were high up although that also meant a chilly night in the tent.   This morning Dr Fred went and played on the rocks,  lovely granite tors perfect for breaking his slowly mending knee in.  I wandered around the meadow path drawing flowers and the landscape. For lunch we headed to Silver Star, liking the sound of the name but it was a fairly non existent place, we blinked and had passed through so we stopped at Twin Bridges instead, good call, fab all american diner where Dr Fred had the biggest cheese on toast ever and then we went for a wander around town.  August is a good month to be having a road trip around here.  We keep stumbling across local events happening, its a really different but pleasant take on small town american life. Todays find was the Madison County Country Fai...

An excellent action packed flying visit to Leeds, the grandchildren are lovely as always, the little one likes sitting in boxes and the elder was thrilled with the 'dress up shoes' I passed onto her - I'll never walk in heels again!! We saw lots of friends we hadn't seen for a while, great visit to the Yorkshire sculpture Park, an inspirational quilting experience, we helped my son move house - my house is watertight and looking grand, - all finished off with a fantastic party in the barn!! I had to give up precious time to go to Leeds - never a chore but always too busy for comfort -  to sort out some family and house issues  (to my relief the new windows went in well and look great), the family were all busy and seemingly well - and its always lovely to catch up with friends and we were able to sit in a garden most evenings which was a real treat!  We went to a fabulous party at a friends barn last and were royally entertained by Holy Moly and the Crackers - brillia...