Hiking in Moose Pass!

It stays light in Alaska quite late into the night! Not quite 24/7 anymore, but at 10pm at night it was still very light out! We pushed dinner a way back, to make good use of the daylight, and Nikki and her boys took us on a hike outside of Moose Pass.

The rain had stopped, it was cool, but we felt comfy in sweatshirts, jeans and running shoes.

The scenery was spectacular, and Nikki kept saying “I wish it was a better day for this, you can’t see through the clouds” or “We should have taken this OTHER trail, it’s much more scenic” and I was so blown away by what was in front of us I didn’t care!

This was the Alaska I wanted to see. The get off the highway, get away from civilization, blaze a trail kind of Alaska adventure.

I mentioned earlier about the color of the water….it’s a milky silver, due to the glacial silt. The water is almost the same color as the clouds! I’d love to see it on a sunny day, but we haven’t had any luck with the weather so far.

The wild flowers are EVERYWHERE! This is fireweed, and it grows plentiful and beautiful!

We were watching a float plane taxi and take off on top of the lake, and I had to take a picture of these lovely flowers….I just love the color!

This pretty purple flower is Monk’s Hood, and we were told that although it is pretty, it is extremely poisonous…good for pictures, not for picking!

Watermelon berries ARE edible! They don’t taste like watermelon, but they do hold a lot of water, so look for these if you are a survivalist ;c)

I’m trying to remember the exact ages of Nikki’s boys, but my closest guess is 9 & 11! And just as boys do, they took off way ahead of us, while us old folks lagged behind!

The trails were steep and muddy….we had to choose our footing carefully, and I still ended up sliding into a mud puddle. So much for clean running shoes! But I guess if you don’t get dirty, you aren’t really living it, right?

This sign cracked me up:

Glad to know that we wouldn’t be stepping into traps on our way up the trail! How far would YOU consider a "fair distance"?? I want them as far away from me as possible!

Boys will be boys and mud puddles still hold lots of interest for curious young minds!

Up and up and up we hiked! The trails were pretty steep in parts, but the pay off was worth it!

OH isn’t THIS attractive? hip bag under the hoodie, and hoodie pocket full of bags…we were looking for berries! We didn’t find any, the bushes were already picked over, but I’m still glad we went!

Back down to the bottom of the trail, this was the view of the lake!

And yes, we crossed the bridge! We had to to get to the trail head and back…and if there is a trail head across the bridge, and it is the only way to get TO the trail head, I guess the signs aren’t working…lol! I RAN across the bridge, I didn’t want to risk trains coming…but here is DH taking his own sweet time…

SPEECHLESS!!

We stopped here below the fish hatchery to see if we could see salmon in the water. And we did! We also watched these guys in the little inflatable boat fishing…..it was SO scenic and SO isolated out there!

After our hiking adventure, we all bundled off back to Nikki’s and she cooked us a terrific dinner of halibut that she had caught herself. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Alaska, Day 1!

We arrived in Alaska Sunday night around 11:30pm local time….which to our tired body clocks was 3:30am Monday morning! Luckily the hotel we were staying at had a 24/7 shuttle service, and didn’t even bat an eye at our 2 big duffels full of quilts, one small suitcase full of books, my suitcase, my laptop bag, and DH’s suitcase, and HIS laptop bag.

Tired doesn’t BEGIN to describe how we felt. It’s just not easy to get to Anchorage from Greensboro NC! Continental airlines took us from Greensboro to HOUSTON to Seattle to Anchorage. But we caught all connections, and had a fun time.

So what did we do in Anchorage? WE SLEPT! And we didn’t sleep too late, there were things to attend to! First off ---BREAKFAST. We were starving. And we had to pick up a rental car…so that came first.

Get the car, find the food! So far, so good!

If you ever make it to Anchorage, GO HERE! It was fabulous! Eggs, bacon, and sourdough pancakes gave us the energy to start the morning! And I was wondering just WHAT else they put in DH’s french toast because he said “Do you want to hit some quilt shops?!?”

I quickly said yes, and put a message out to facebook for recommendations on where to go. He cracked up over the fact that within 8 minutes, there were something like 30 responses..LOL! He just does NOT understand quilters!

We picked two shops…((I’m not pushing this gift horse farther than he is willing to go!)) and started off here:

I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for, but they had some really neat batiks with Alaskan motifs on it….and they found their way into my suitcase! I’m not sure what I’ll do with them yet, but I can’t come here and NOT get something commemorative! I also found some fun black on white prints for my “collection” ---

There was another shop we hit…oh, I’m drawing a blank! It was inside a shopping mall and was the local bernina dealership. Some fun fabrics were found there also…they had SCRAP BAGS! Why did I need scrap bags when I had so much at home? Well, I didn’t have THESE scrap bags. Easy answer, right?

From here we headed south toward Seward and Moose Pass! DH’s cousin NIkki and her family have been residents outside of Moose Pass for a long time, and we hadn’t seen them in over 25 years!

Along the way….we stopped at every turn out and scenic viewing place that we could find. The weather has not been very cooperative, but you know what? Even rainy raw weather presents such a beauty to the nature here, that I don’t mind!

We stopped here along the road at a view point….DH saw some “Other guys” with binoculars looking up the mountain side, and he wanted to see what that was all about so he got out his binoculars and we spotted goats wandering way up the side of this mountain! Further down the road, we did see a mama moose and her baby calf grazing in a marshy area, but we were driving too fast and there was no where to pull over and get pictures….

And the scenery continued!

This is the view from the car window on the way to Moose Pass!

I loved this sign! And we didn’t see any moose here, but it was a good place to stop for a break! We watched some float planes take off and land on the water..that was fun! And being the adventurous sort that I am, I had to give THIS a try:

I was wondering if it was Donner or Blitzen that I had on my bun, but it was VERY good! LOL!

I asked why the water is a funny milky silver color…and was told that it is from the glacier run off. It makes the reflections of the mountains in the water look so neat, because the water is opaque!

We wound our way back to where the turn off for NIkki & Curtis’s house is --- we had to wait until Nikki was off work to pop in on them, and the reunion was sweet! I can’t believe the view from their house! Can you imagine waking up to this out of your front door every morning?

This is the view from the side of the house across the front yard! GORGEOUS!!

And if that isn’t enough for you, this is the view of the FRONT of the house looking at the BACK YARD! WOW!!!

We really enjoyed our visit with Dave’s cousin and her family. Next post I’ll include more pictures of the hike we took--- where I’m staying now in Delta Junction doesn’t have the fastest internet and I don’t want to overload this post picture wise!

We are loving our Alaskan Adventure!

Looking for “Addicted to Scraps” Quilts!

Hey everyone!

I’ve got a huge opportunity for you!

If you’ve ever visited the offices of Quiltmaker Magazine and Quilters Newsletter Magazine in Golden, Colorado, you’ll know that they have a GREAT gallery display of quilts from various designers. It rotates and changes and there is always a beautiful quilt show going on in the offices. You can stop in and take a look!

Would you like to have YOUR QUILT on display at the Quiltmaker offices?

I got an email from my editors looking for quilts made with the patterns from my “Addicted to Scraps” column, and I KNOW there are some out there!

If you would like the opportunity to have your quilt on display, I am asking that you mail a picture of your quilt, and a description to Carolyn Beam so she can see how busy you’ve been! From there, they will choose which quilts best suit the space they have and choose the variety they need for a good display.

I’m also asking you to repost this post to your email lists and newsgroups and message boards, even your facebook pages so that we can get the word out to quilters wherever they may be.

I’m hoping we can fill the gallery section of the Quiltmaker office with your wonderful scrap quilts!

And just in time for this post --- There is a NEW block in the latest issue, called Antique tile!

You won’t want to miss this issue! There are lots of wonderful projects in here!

Quiltmaker has also provided an inspirational lay-out for my antique tile blocks…I just HAVE to make this myself!

Look at those lovely pale ohio star blocks with just a hint of yellow! Isn’t this a great lay-out? You can find the instructions for Antique Tile in the Sept/Oct issue, available on newstands this week!

Please send in your pictures to Carolyn! Let’s keep the scraps a rollin’!

Evening at Uncle Steve’s!

Uncle Steve is the 3rd child in a family of 4 kids. As the only boy in a family with 3 girls…he learned to be the TOUGH one! My mom is the eldest, then Auntie Gail, Then Uncle Steve, and then came Auntie Joy.

My earliest memories of Uncle Steve where of him pinning down my Auntie Joy and just pounding her. You know how big brothers can be? He would pin her down and terrorize her. Not hurt her really, but…big brothers can be SUCH a pain!

Well, he’s turned out to be quite the guy and he and his lovely wife Kathryn both work in the nursing field.

They have a lovely home, and just like my mom and Auntie Joy, have a yard and garden to die for!

We enjoyed a lovely dinner on the deck outdoors, and because Uncle Steve’s birthday is in August…he got a bit of a surprise when we all sang! It’s not until later in the month, but hey, we were all together so why not?

Of course there is lots of fencing to keep the wild rabbits and the deer out of the veggies! That night a lot of our dinner was garden raised! Tomatoes, cucumbers, a few different kinds of squash, beans, pea pods…YUMMY! There are also fruit trees that look like they are going to bear a good harvest this year. I t was a wonderful evening for wanding through the garden.

This is the view from farther away, up by the house.

Uncle Steve, Aunt Joy, and behind Joy is a friend named Mark. Uncle Steve loves showing everyone how things are coming along!

He also has a “new” hobby ---raising rabbits! This is a new addition from when I was there last year for Grandpa’s funeral. It was just in the talking stages then, but as of now…things are multiplying ---- just like…well….RABBITS!

There is a brand new litter of babies, only 2 weeks old. And we all wanted to see them of course..and Steve gives us a lecture on being quiet, not scaring the rabbits, we don’t want the mama to go berserk and kill her babies, as has happened in the past.

See that radio hanging from the ceiling a bit to the left of Steve’s head? It’s playing CLASSICAL! :cD It was very soothing in there.

The Mama Doe wasn’t quite sure what we were doing, but we talked in whispers and mostly listened to what Steve was telling us. After all, he is the expert, don’tcha know!

Little baby bunny nose! 2 weeks old! Just look at that cute pinkness! :cD

It’s little sibling had to peep on over to see what all the fuss was about, and who were these strangers occupying the space beyond the cage wall! Aren’t they cute?

Other colors around the yard: Aren’t these vibrant?! WOW…electric almost!

This bird bath by the front walk way was so pretty too…just look at those happy flowers!

The yard is one giant bouquet of color! Can you imagine these colors together in a quilt? I can!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Steve! Thanks so much for the warm welcome, the terrific hospitality, the yummy meal --- There is nothing more precious than family!

More from Auntie Irene!

There was MORE to be dug out of the boxes that were hiding under the bed in Auntie Joy’s guestroom!

Some of the items were simply tied flannel baby quilts that were not finished, a few bits and pieces of this and that. Mom took home one really fun dresden plate wall hanging piece, and Joy kept a couple of quilts that could be washed and washed until they didn’t smell anymore, and they were machine quilted so they cold be USED.

The baby quilts and other things that we just simply did not need will find their way to organizations who CAN put them to good use and finish and donate them. ((But off the top of my head I’m thinking of how much they need to be washed to get the smell out before they can be donated to anyone….give a smoky quilt to a baby? Uuhhhh…no.))

But THIS ONE…LOOK!

It’s a wooly dresden made out of old suits, skirts, pants and jackets! There is even some cordoroy in here, and something that feels like gabardine---but it could be wool gabardine at that, couldn't it?

This is one I’d love to finish and I love how folksy it looks! She used yarn to do the buttonhole stitch around all the seams.

I love how Auntie Irene’s mind worked! See that pin? the paper says ROW 3!! In Auntie Irene’s own handwriting. THIS is special to me!

I also love how she plopped the plates down on the background, but didn’t pay attention to how the center circle was tilted. TOO FUN!! Look at the pic of the full quilt above and you will see what I mean. Several of them are straight, and some, like this one..tilt with a mind all it’s own! Weeeeeeee! This one also has a piece pinned to it stating which row it is. There was some forethought that went into the placement of these blocks. :cD

So what am I thinking of for this one? Ummmm…big fans in big stitch quilting with black pearl cotton? What do you think? Wool batting?

For now, it will stay as is. It is also being aired out, and when I can’t smell it anymore, I’ll probably fold it and display it where I can enjoy its quirkiness every day!

I am also the lucky recipient of some of Auntie Irene’s crochet and embroidery. These pieces are fairly yellowed with age. Isn’t there a linen or vintage textile soak/cleaner that can help me with these? Something to soak them in? I’d sure like to know what it is and where I can get some, so leave a comment to let me know!

I’m just loving this woolie quilt top!! OH dear, do I feel a trip to the goodwill clearance center coming on, simply to find more sources of WOOL!? As if I don’t have enough cotton stash, now I have to add something else to my addiction hobby?! :cD