7/5/14

Happy Fifth!

Looking for the June NewFO Linky Party?

Don't you think we should celebrate the Fourth of July every day of the year? I suppose it could get confusing, but we'd get used to it after a while I think. 

We had such a lovely day yesterday. It was a little more muggy than we're used to in Portland, but it wasn't too hot. Here are a few reminders of the day.

Erik and Mae got there around 1:45 and established the "beach head". The pop-up awning is a life saver on these day-long excursions to the Willamette River. Mike and I arrived around 3:15. We took the camper this year, and we felt as if we were in the lap of luxury with our own private port-a-potty...not to mention a bed for napping, and ready access to any tools we forgot to bring along otherwise.


You can see that the Stanbro family was stressed out...yep. Hard to relax on these beautiful summer days.

After a while Mae and I took a little walk down the river to get a better look at the new streetcar/light rail/pedestrian bridge being constructed over the Willamette. Pretty snazzy, huh?


I'm going to estimate those suspension cables are about 10-12 inches in diameter.


When we got back, Erik and I took a walk in the other direction trying to find a brewery that could refill his beer growler. There were some two dozen breweries right in the local areas. Portland is pretty proud of its growing beer brewing industry.


Ultimately, we were unsuccessful in getting a refill, but it was a nice walk nonetheless. I got my exercise for the day, for sure.


When we got back, Erik went to work grilling the Korean-style ribs. Mae got them marinating four days previous, and they were so tender and flavorful. I'm going to venture a guess and say they might have been the best-tasting ribs I've ever eaten.


Yum.


Around dusk the barge arrived with its fireworks display all ready to go. All we needed was darkness.


Best seats in the house. We had our lounge chairs with us and so we all tipped back and waited for the show to begin.



I love watching the Portland skyline light up as darkness falls.


At around 10:00 p.m., it all started. Maybe you're tired of fireworks, but here's a little taste of our show. We all agreed it was the best fireworks display we've seen in about ten years of going to the river to watch.





As always, you handheld people will have to go to a regular computer to see it...or not...your choice. Not expecting to win any academy awards with this documentary, so no biggy.

Then this morning I finished hand-sewing the binding to my Blooming Sunflower. All done now. I'm probably going to add a label to this, however. I'm thinking I might like to enter this one in the Stitches in Bloom show next January and then the 2015 Oregon State Fair. It's too early to say, but I'm all about the quilt shows now...the little ones, at least.


This is the fabric I used for the binding. The metallic stripes give it a little bit of flash. Originally, I used this fabric for the jar lids on a bug jar quilt I made a long time ago. In fact, all of the fabrics in this quilt came from my stash.


Here's how it looks from the back.


I bumped up the contrast in the image below so that you could see the stitching a little better. Usually, the stitching doesn't show much on the back of my quilts, but this one looks pretty good.


Tomorrow I'll link up to:



So today Mike and I are going to run some errands. I want to pick up some boards so that I can sandwich "When Angels Walk" a la the Sharon Schamber method. It'll break my rule about how large a quilt I'm willing to sandwich and quilt myself, but I'm willing to give it a try. Her method will allow me to try the larger size. Since I'm only planning straight-line quilting, my sewing machine should handle the size just fine. Getting it sandwiched is the challenge this time around.

And that's about it from me. Carry on with your summer. How was your Fourth?

17 comments:

Tami C said...

Sure looks like you a great spot for the family to hang out!

WoolenSails said...

That's a nice way to set up for the fireworks. We had rain form the hurricane so most are doing them tonight. We have a lot of towns and beach areas that will be doing them, wish I had a boat to go out at night, that would be fun.

Debbie

Dasha said...

That is an interesting way of laying out the quilt to baste it, but it presupposes that a) you have pieces of wood which are long enough on which to wind the quilt, and b) a table area wide enough to support the width of the quilt. My tables are way too small.

Ray and Jeanne said...

Looks like a fun fourth! Good luck with the Sharon Schamber method. I've used it for years and love it. I have different length boards for different sized quilts - some 3', some 6' and some 9'. It is the only method I use. ~Jeanne

Diane Wild said...

What a nice way to gather for a picnic and the fireworks. I did the picnic on the 4th and the fireworks at the lake on the 5th. Your sunflower is wonderful. That has become my favorite flower.

Tanya Quilts in CO said...

Your sunflower is exquisite!

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

I enjoyed reading about your wonderful 4th of July and all of the photos. Lovely quilt! One of my sunflowers just opened a few days ago..big sunflower fan here so to see a finished quilt that is just as pretty as the real thing is a treat. Your stitching is gorgeous! :)

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

Just love that sunflower quilt! It looks cool there, hard to imagine since I live in the hot humid south. My daughter lives near Seattle and was so glad that they had an 87 degree day so she could go without a jacket. LOL Her husband just loves it since they used to live in Austin Tx.

liniecat said...

Hey you look to have had great fun! And whats that yellowish substance on your plate?
it looks like 'peas pudding' something made in Northumberland Uk from yellow split peas, cooked in a boiled ham joint?

Lisa J. said...

What a beautiful quilt made of little squares! I love the fabric in the binding as well

quiltzyx said...

I love always learning something new from you! I'd never heard of a growler before. I'll have to ask my friend Kim if she has one - she & her DH like to try different brew pubs & beers.
Nice setup for your fireworks viewing - and I do recognize that quilt that Mae was using!

Brown Family said...

It would be wonderful for the weather to be cool enough for jackets and blankest on eh 4th! It was still in the 90's when they started here!

CathieJ said...

The blooming sunflower is gorgeous. I love the binding fabric. It is always great to have something that matches in the stash. Looks like you had a great 4th. A whole lot of rain fell here.

Deb A said...

That is a beautiful quilt! That thumbnail of the binding looked like snakes to me - I almost didn't click but I was curious. Love your setup for fireworks and the food looks yummy.

Kate said...

Looks like you had a wonderfully relaxing 4th.

Congrats on the finish! It turned out beautifully!

Quilter Kathy said...

Congrats on an amazing finish! Love it!
Thanks for linking up!

KatieQ said...

All the comforts of home and fireworks too. It sounds like you had a perfect day.