Dead Zone

If my writing seems lackluster today, it's because I'm sorely lacking in luster. My night of sleep ended sometime during the 3:00 hour. I'd go back to bed, but I have an appointment for a pedicure this morning, and so any napping will need to wait. Usually, I have no trouble sleeping, but occasionally, I wake up too early and can't turn off my mind from the coming day's activities. Oh well. Before I came upstairs to write this post, I tucked Sadie in like the little baby she is. She loves snuggling in this flannel quilt.

Smitty was waiting expectantly at the top of the stairs. He's waiting for the signal that it's time to go outside.

We had grocery shopping to do yesterday morning. When we got home, my first stop was to check on the sunflower in the garden. It was fully open, and looking like its namesake. It's about five inches across, so one of the smaller ones.

Beside it, the giant sunflower is getting larger. I can't wait for this one to open. The flower bud is about the size of my fist. When I walk into the garden, it is alive with the hum of bees.

The last row of blocks was waiting to be quilted, and so I got right to it. Honestly, I can't remember this quilt shop at all...or even ever being in Kalispell. So I'm looking now for the post I wrote about this...let's see... Oh yes. Now I remember. We'd been to Glacier National Park. This was back in 2012, which seems like a different lifetime at this point. I chose this print mainly because I liked it, but I figured at the time there must be buffalo somewhere close by. This was a big beautiful shop, and I found a lot here that I liked. You can find its web presence right here.

This next one was purchased closer to home. We were in Eugene, Oregon, about three hours south of us for a fundraising event for the Cascades Raptor Center nearby. It was Sadie's first RV trip. This was a cute little shop. You can read my blog post about it right here. I found quite a few things I liked here too. Surprisingly, they did not have any fabric for the University of Oregon (Boo! Hiss!...Oregon State!). If memory serves, I was told JoAnn was the place to go for U of O fabric. Whatever...these owls would work fine since they memorialized the reason for being in Eugene. Looks like they're still in business too. You can find their web presence right here.

Here's just one of the owls we saw at the raptor center:

We were just passing through Reno, Nevada, when we stopped at this next shop. It was a little difficult to find because it was located in one of those industrial parks. We drove around and around looking for the right building. It was a great shop, and this fabric was an easy choice. You can read my blog post about the quilt shop right here. Their web presence is right here.

This next fabric was purchased on our unplanned trip to Boise. We were visiting quilt shops while our truck was in for repairs. Boise is known as the "City of Trees," and so I chose this fabric. My blog post about Quilter's Edge is right here. This was another shop where the name on the receipt was different from the name of the shop, and so you'll see in the blog post that the shop was actually called, "Quilt Expressions." Their web presence is right here. It was another big, beautiful shop. We visited several quilt shops while the truck was being repaired. Sometimes the unplanned parts of our trips turn out to be okay.

This next fabric is from the one and only shop included in the quilt where I haven't actually visited. When I first got the idea to make this quilt, I had in mind to include a shop from all 50 states. Matthew had visited Alaska the previous year, and brought back a fabric bundle from this shop in Ketchikan, and so I included it. We're hoping to make a trip to Alaska next summer, virus permitting, and it will be our first visit to Alaska. In any case, that's where this fabric came from. The shop doesn't seem to have a web presence, and so I'm not sure if its still in business. Either way, I really liked this fabric.

This next fabric was one I purchased before I ever had the idea to make this quilt. Fortunately, it worked as a regional fabric since Bend is where most people will call home base while skiing on nearby Mt. Bachelor. We were there for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, and I stood in line for about an hour to purchase this fabric to be used in the Quilting Snowladies quilt.

You can find my blog post about our trip to the quilt show right here. We visited several quilt shops on that day, and it was great fun. You can find the web presence for this shop right here.

We were spending a couple of nights in Sun Valley, Idaho, on our way to someplace else, when I found this shop in Hailey, Idaho. And Sun Valley is another ski resort, so this fabric seemed like a good choice. The quilt shop was located inside of a mini mall, and it was very cute. You can read my blog post about it right here. You can find the web presence for the quilt shop right here.

The whole area was very enjoyable. We found Ernest Hemingway's grave there...kind of a random unplanned event:

And that brings me to the last block in the quilt. This was a shop I visited with my quilting friend, Marei. It was located inside a hardware store. Isn't "Beyond Bolts" a great name? Thayne, Wyoming, is right at the western foot of the Teton mountain range, and so there is a lot of wildlife in the area. I chose this fabric for the wildlife, but also just because I liked it. You can find my blog post about the shop right here. The web presence for the shop is right here.

So now, all that's left of the quilting is to quilt straight lines in the vertical sashings. If I can generate the energy for quilting today, I'll at least get started on it. As for yesterday's sewing, I went down to the basement sewing room and got started top stitching the Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs block. I was kind of tired of sewing by that time though, and so I didn't get very far before I quit for the day.

It was a hot day yesterday, but by evening, it had cooled off enough to eat outside. I tried a new recipe for this Tortellini Salad with Zucchini and Peas. This is a recipe from our Cooking Light Diet, and it was surprisingly delicious. The zucchini is cut into ribbons using a vegetable peeler. I've used a mandolin to cut zucchini into slices before, but they are soft, pliable, and thin when sliced with a vegetable peeler. It was a good way to eat it. These are some of the zucchini I harvested from our own garden, and so it was fun, delicious, and easy to put together.

Speaking of zucchini, I had in mind to make some zucchini relish today. That may get put off another day. I had almost forgotten about my pedicure appointment this morning, and so I don't know if I'll want to take the time after I get home. It can wait until tomorrow, if necessary. 

You guys are such a raucous crowd that after spending time with you while writing this blog post, I'm feeling much more awake. Another two cups of coffee haven't hurt either. There are quite a few things on my agenda for the day, sewing included, and so I'll just have to wait and see how long my energy holds out. This might be a good day to have leftovers for dinner.