Where I live Part 1

I bought a new camera last night, and now I have zoom capabilities. :-) I have decided to post pictures of where I live. Today is Part 1, Sugar Island. Sugar Island facts are here: http://hunts-upguide.com/sault_ste__marie__michigan_sugar_island.html And here are pictures that I took about an hour or so ago.

Cool quilts at the Moose

Tuesday at the moose there were some nice quilts to google over:

and

And Shasta sorted her scraps. We throw all our scraps in her bins, and she turns them into really nice quilts.

I got a new digital camera last night, so this morning I am working at clearing out the old camera so I can pass it along.

Goals for this weekend

I find it best to set goals for the weekend. Otherwise I get lazy and get nothing done. So this weekend I have a few goals. Tonight I want to ply the last of my purple/green singles, so I can wash the yarn tomorrow morning and hang it out to dry. I want to finish my SIL's quilt top for this coming Christmas. I want to finish handsewing the binding on the quilt for our bed. And I want to help my husband put a flower bed in the front of our house, complete with a new mailbox. We'll see how well listing my goals on my blog helps motivate me! Not sure what the weather is supposed to do, so maybe Mother Nature will prevent us from putting in the flower bed. We'll see. :-)

Cynthia's Yarn Shop

We did make a stop on the way home Sunday, http://www.cynthiasyarn.citymax.com/page/page/4076765.htm. This is such a cute shop, and I got some nice yarn.

And of course, I took pictures of the shop. It's just too cute!

We did swing by the fort on the way out (http://www.mackinacparks.com/parks/colonial-michilimackinac_7/), and I noticed this sign for the first time.

Mackinaw City is a very pretty place. I really recommend visiting if you get the chance!

I cheated on the Moose

I admit it, I strayed this weekend. I went down to visit my mom and made a special visit to the Pig Patch. http://www.pigpatchfarm.com/. It was a nice shop, and the owner was charming. Of course I took pictures:

(This is just one of the rooms!)

I love this quilt, she had the kit but I restrained myself. I think it's called Seeing Stars, and it is more stunning in person. And of course, a nice spot outside for husbands to patiently wait:

I got quite a few patterns, she had quite a few different patterns that I had not seen before,

We had a nice visit with my mom. On Saturday afternoon we went to Waterfront Park and checked out the fishing derby action.

This cooler held 6 fish that weighed in at 96 pounds!
Saturday evening we went to watch the carferry go out. The Badger goes from Ludington, MI to Wisconsin.

It was very nice weather wise on Saturday, and it was a nice drive down to visit.

Thursday night and all is well

It's Thursday and all is well. Tomorrow is that magical day called Friday and then it's sleep in time and sausage breakfast burrito from McDonald's time. I love those on my days off, but I love going out for a big breakfast even better. I love a good breakfast on Sunday morning, followed by a nap.

I have my quilted jacket done, it came out a little larger than I wanted so I washed it in hot water and now it's in the dryer on high heat. Why is it when I want to shrink something I can't do it? I did re-wash the yarn I dyed a couple weeks ago, so now that is almost dry so I can do something with it. Once I get some more stuff taken care of around here!

Fire Camp at Lake Superior State University!

Jim organized a fire science camp for high school juniors and seniors. The camp ran from Thursday to Sunday and on Sunday they had a firefighter competition and invited the area fire departments to participate. And they sold t-shirts to make some money for scholarships for next year's camp, so more students can afford to come. The cost of the camp was kept low because Jim and the other staff volunteered their time. It was great. :-) The gear was lined up and ready to go,

The fire trucks all nice and neat in a line,

Jim and the teacher's assistants and the campers themselves,

And everyone joined in for a huge group shot. Pickford Fire Dept, Soo Township Fire Dept, Kinross Fire Dept, Bay Mills Fire Dept, Superior Township, Sault Ste Marie Fire Dept,

The games included a bucket brigade,

And they pulled a fire truck,

And in the end, everyone got wet, including Dr. Schaefer.

If anyone would like to buy a tshirt, they are red like the one Jim is wearing. Except yours will be unused, and definately not wet. There is a small emblem on the front that says LSSU Fire Competition 2008, the shirt is $10, I will pay for shipping, and all proceeds go to scholarships for next year's camp. Email me at jandj95@lighthouse.net (Donations for scholarships will also be gladly accepted, contact me for more info.)

Pictures from yesterday at the Quilted Moose

I have a few pictures to share with you from yesterday's finish up day at the Moose. First, Paige brought in her finished Magic Tiles quilt to show me. It is stunning. Chris did the quilting on it:

Paige also had her stack and whack, which had very nice cornerstones that she said she would never do again. :-)

Judy had a couple bags she was finishing up, one was classic Pooh. I love classic Pooh. It's for her new grandbaby when he/she gets here. (Estimated time of arrival was Thursday. Judy said her daughter is definately ready. :-)

Judy was showing Brenda how to do mitered corners, stunning! It looked very fussy but the results were well worth it.

A finish up day at the Moose

Yesterday was a finish up day at the Moose. I didn't finish anything really, but I am getting close. I did take pics but time is short this morning, I will have to post them later. But before I forget, there were two women who stopped in yesterday and we were discussing setting blocks on point and the math involved in figuring out what size to cut your setting triangles. I told them of a website and said I would post the link here. Here you go!
http://quiltville.com/onpointmath.shtml
I am currently working on my SIL's Christmas quilt, and I had to change the pattern a bit. And it involved setting the blocks on point. It is coming out very nicely. Next I have to find out what kind of quilt to make for the next SIL!

Crazy busy!

Work is keeping me crazy busy and Jim is busier than ever also! He is having his summer camp this week, a fire science summer camp for juniors and seniors in high school. I just saw the itinerary, and he's going to sleep well on Sunday when this is all over.
My brother has some roomates, he sent pics:

They are living on top of his air conditioner.
I went to the quilt shop for a bit yesterday evening, and I spied one of Judy's quilts on the frame.

Very nice!!! I didn't stay long because I had to get home and decorate my luminary bags for Relay for Life, one for Jim's Uncle Tom,

One for Jim's grandma, Mimi,

And one for my father.

A Dye Day!!!

Today was THE day. One of my Christmas gifts last year was a set of dyes from knitpicks.com. Today I finally used them. I was shooting for a faded, dusty purple. I missed the mark on that one. And then I just decided to dye more yarn and ended up with some blue. It was fun, I love to dye yarn and I will do more of it. I was shooting for the nearly solid look today. There are still tons of techniques to explore, including hand painting!

This pot belonged to Jim's grandmother, and it is getting put to good use. :-)

This yarn is actually a baby yarn (wool) that was on clearance at the yarn shop. It came in balls, so I wound it into hanks to dye it. There are blue dots in it, but you can't see them now! Here is the purple I ended up with, after using just 1/2 the dye the directions said to. This is potent stuff.

I love the blue, it didn't dye as solid as the purple did, and I think it will look nice knit up into a short sleeve sweater for me. I still get too warm to wear long sleeves here, so both of these yarns will be short sleeved cardigans, and both of the yarns are fingering weight.