It's a Quiet 4th!

Friend Martha came by yesterday - it was machine quilting day!

I hadn't ran the Intelliquilter system in something like 6 weeks or so - so there was once again, a bit of a learning curve when it came to advancing and getting the next patterns aligned and ready to go.

It is likely much more easy than I made it out to be for myself, but if you forget to click the right thing, it goes on to the next thing and I find myself backing out to go back at it again - talking myself through each step.

There is only one thing to do to remedy this situation -

Quilt More Quilts!

Isn't this a sweet thing?

Martha purchased the panel at Heavenly Stitches quilt shop on a trip through Tennessee.

It was cute "as is" but really took on a life of its own when she added the friendship stars, Ohio stars, and nine patches as a border.

We chose a simple repeating star design for the quilting, using a sand colored thread that blended in nicely and didn't shout out as "too light" against the red background in the center panel.

This quilted up so quickly that she was on her way home and ready to sit down to stitching the binding by 2pm!

Stitching binding on a patriotic quilt over 4th of July week just seems like the right thing to be doing, yes?

My best treasure from Egypt.

I'm so glad that you didn't find the Valley of the Kings post yesterday too boring or overwhelming - and happily there were no comments stating "I thought this was a quilting blog." 

For me, this is a LIFE blog, and I write about things that happen outside of quilting as well as with the quilting -

But in this case, it's a bit of both!

This is real mother of pearl inlay - and I chose it out of many boxes we saw in many market stalls in Cairo.

Here are some scenes from walking through the marketplace!

There are geometric patterns everywhere - a quiltmakers dream.

Spices, oils, teas & coffees.

A mix of people and purple blooming trees.

From our bus on an overpass above -

It gave a great glimpse to the inside of the market.

Trinkets and other items.

And a box fan that was a nice try, but didn't really help the heat.

These little vans!

They fit 6 people quite snuggly and were found everywhere.  I thought they were the cutest thing and wouldn't mind having one as they likely got great gas mileage.

Can I have a little red bus please?  PLEASE!?

Yes - the Marketplace.  Fascinating!

And fast paced.  And you better know now to negotiate because they expect a showdown when it comes to agreed-upon prices.

As for me - I'm not so good at bartering.  Just give me your best price and I'll pay it - but don't overcharge me or you'll have my wrath forever.  Make it fair.

We were told that if it is real mother of pearl that they will put a lighter up to it and it will not burn or melt.

This box passed the lighter test and I knew it had to come home and be mine.

Just look at all of the different geometric designs on it!

Lined in tan velvet.

I wanted something hand made - something I couldn't get anywhere else and this was it for me.

Of course there were other things - "T-shirts! 3 for $10.00!" said the sign - and yes, that is in American dollars and 3 t-shirts came home.  Of course they did.

I bought some fun bead bracelets and a couple of pashmina scarves as gifts.

And the resin little statues for my mantel? I knew they weren't alabaster, but I didn't really care.  3 for $10.00!

I bought them in Egypt - and that's want matters to me.

Wild Rhodies blooming for the 4th!

While the big rhodie at the front porch at the inn blooms around Mother's Day - the wild ones in the woods bloom at the end of June to 4th of July.

I took this photo from the back porch this morning.

They are very pale pink -

and starting to brown already thanks to the tons of rain we've had.

I'm just happy that through all of this travel over a month I didn't miss them completely.

And guess who is exploring outside a bit?

Lola!

Lola has "ALWAYS" been an inside kitty.  But this morning when I opened the screen door to the porch for my morning coffee, she scurried right on out with Zoey.

We are still dealing with the daily battle-to-the-death between Lola and Ivy (Ivy is living under the beds and only comes out when Lola is locked in the basement) so when Lola decided to wiggle through the rungs and go down the stairs into the yard I thought I'd just keep an eye on her and watch what happens.

There has been a lot of change in her life since we brought her back home to the cabin to live.

She gets more interaction - which is good.  She terrorizes Ivy which is bad.

But she was happy just to lay in the weedy grass on the hillside beneath the rhododendron and look at the world she has been kept away from for all of her 12 years.

After a while she came to the screen door and meowed to be let in. 

And maybe this Lola vs Ivy thing will right itself in time?

Today - there is a very small parade happening at 2pm.  We plan on being there to be part of our community and enjoy the day.

I may sew a bit.  I know I have some pressing to do.

I'm working on the sample for this year's Leader & Ender challenge with the hopes I can release it by Friday. That's the plan.  We'll see how it goes.

Do you have plans for today? How are you celebrating our Independence Day holiday, if you do?

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Happy birthday, USA!