To Market, to market to buy a fat...

I'm off to market tomorrow, but hopefully will be buying a fat quarter rather than a fat pig!  In fact, I hope to buy many, many fat quarters in addition to checking out the best and latest in the quilt world.  The International Quilt Market in Houston, I read today, is the largest in the world.  This will be my second trip to the market and if last year is any indication, it should be terrific.  Not only will I have the fun of the Market, but my sister-in-law Nancy will meet me in Houston and the two of us will spend the weekend with my cousin Rosemary and her husband Tom.  Family, fun, and quilts  - doesn't get much better than this!

Sights Around Georgetown on a Wednesday Morning

My first thought was this day is too beautiful for a Wednesday, then the words of one of my favorite hymns came to mind, "This is the day the Lord has made." So, I believe it is as beautiful as it is supposed to be.  Enjoy the walk, and why not do what the sign says and STOP by sometime!

 

Termination or Anticipation?

Termination Dust - Alaska

On my recent travels in Alaska, I learned a new term, "termination dust."  As we made our way on the Yukon and White Pass Rail Road to the Yukon Territory in Canada, our guide announced that termination dust had fallen over night, the first of the season.  The mountains were capped with a light dusting of snow signaling the end of the summer season and the coming "termination" of summer employment for many.

This morning as I turned the corner on to 7th St., I saw our own termination dust on one of the many mountains surrounding our valley.  But with 2.5 inches of snow yesterday at the Loveland Ski Area just 10 miles up the road whetting appetites for ski season, perhaps we should call it anticipation dust!

Anticipation Dust - look closely !

Wonderful Sites and Sights

Now that's a cabbage!  Cole Slaw for the population of Alaska!

My husband and I recently returned from an Alaskan trip that included a cruise of the Inside Passage and a trip to Denali, finally ending in Fairbanks.  Since it's said that a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let my camera do most of the talking.

Sunset at sea on the Inside Passage

At both the Saxman Native Village in Ketchikan and the Chena Native Village in Fairbanks, I was greatly impressed by the number of youth who were part of the tourist programs. These young people are in positions of trust and importance as they share their native cultures and languages with the folks who come to visit.  What an eye to the future the elders of these tribes have to entrust so much in their young people.

Saxman Native Village Dance 

Chena Village Athabascan Piecework!

In Ketchikan, we had fun watching the antics of young loggers at the Great Alaskan Lumberjacks show,

but not until I had stopped by the lovely Silver Thimble Quilt Shop just across the way to pick up a few batik fat quarters with an Alaskan theme.  If you're in town, I recommend all three stops!

Juneau was literally a washout as it poured all day and both our float plane trip over the glaciers and whale watch excursion were cancelled.  On to Skagway!

Along the White Horse and Yukon Route

From Skagway, we took a fantastic train ride on the White Pass and Yukon Route, seeing the 18 inch path that hopeful gold rushers took to find their fortune. This was followed by a stop at Liarsville, a camp set up by the journalists of the gold rush days where we enjoyed an outdoor salmon bake (best salmon I have ever had!), panning for gold, and a dramatic and humorous poetic recitation. My best find there was a rusted old Singer sewing machine in the combination laundry /fortune teller tent.  My fortunes connected with laundry are simply that it will all be dirty again in a couple of days!

Fortunes Told $1 - no mention of how much a quilt might cost!

At the Rushin' Tailor's quilt shop in Skagway, I found some brilliant material to go with a Matryoshka doll we picked up for our granddaughter's birthday.  Shhhhh!

Back on board, we prepared for our voyage through Glacier Bay where we were blessed with one of the clearest days ever seen, according to the National Park Rangers who came on board to help us appreciate what we were viewing ... but seeing a glacier calve speaks for itself!

Glacier Bay -  Margerie Glacier

We paid for that crystal clear day with cloudy days that followed obscuring our view of College Fjords and back on land, Denali.

According to our guide, Denali is in those clouds!

However, I did find a spot for some locally hand spun yarn by Subarctic Spinners,

and just across from our place at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, a fine shop called Northern Originals for gifts and fabric.  Be sure to stop by if you're in Denali!

Our Alaskan adventure ended with the best sight in all of Alaska - our younger son, Michael, who drove the seven hours from his cabin in Valdez to Fairbanks to join us for a day!

Even after such a wonderful trip, there still is truth in the words of Dorothy, 

"There is no place like home!"

On the Road with Dean and Betty

Betty and Dean Barton of Missouri

Towards the end of my morning walk, this lovely couple stopped to ask, as Betty put it, "a dumb question," not knowing that for a teacher, even a retired one, there are no such things as dumb questions.  It was simply where the nearest Wal-Mart might be found and that was easy to answer.  That out of the way, I had a chance to chat with Dean and Betty Barton of Missouri who made my day with their story and positive outlook on life.  Seems this couple, both of whom had lost spouses to cancer, have been married only 18 years after having met in a Wal-Mart.  This is their first motorcycle and they're on a road trip heading west and apparently having a super time.  They told me that after Dean's son suffered not one, but two strokes this past year and their daughter-in-law a heart attack, they realized that if there are things you want to do, get on it - life is short and at best, uncertain.  A few more minutes of chatting about real estate (lower in Missouri than Colorado) and quilting (Betty does her own long-arm quilting) and they were on their way to Wal-Mart. An anniversary, perhaps?  I don't know.  But I do know that my morning was brighter for having met the Bartons of Missouri.

Falling Into Autumn

Fabric: Moda's Autumn Breeze by Sentimental Studios
Leaves: A beautiful gift from God!

I take a walk most mornings and generally follow the same route, heading first up to Main Street, which in Georgetown is a dirt road in the shadow of Saxon Mountain.  The last few mornings have been cool, bordering on chilly, until I hit the sunshine on Rose Street.  Though it's still August, there's definitely the feeling of fall in the early morning air.  Just the other day I came upon these harbingers of autumn and since it's my favorite season, I was delighted.  Nothing like a crisp fall day to make a person want to knit or quilt.  Right now, I'm working on a scarf knitted with Mountain Colors Twizzle in Blooming Gale and have plans to start on a quilted throw using Moda's Collection for a Cause: Warmth, designed by Howard Marcus.  A percentage of the proceeds from quilt shops' purchase of the Collection for a Cause fabric goes to charity. The current "cause" is Habitat for Humanity - how appropriate for Warmth! What do you have in mind for the coming season?

Hats Off!

Hats off to The Quilted Purl customer Rene for creating this fine hat, her very first! Rene came to the shop a couple of weeks ago and expressed a desire to knit a hat and we discussed what was holding her back. A self-taught knitter, Rene is obviously talented.  We spent a short time going over some basics of hat knitting, which probably took more time than it should since Rene knits in the Continental style, while I knit in the English style.  She chose a beautiful Lonesome Stone Alpaca in the natural colors of two alpacas and here is the result.  Thanks for coming back for a little "Show and Tell," Rene.  I'm anxious to see what you knit next!