Ryder's Quilt

Ta da!  She did a beautiful job on her quilt top. Not bad for a first timer. I'll put a back on for her and send it out to Cali as we just ran out of time to finish.

Off we went to Portland for the night, stopping at Mexicali Blues, of course, and Goodwill, where we did our part to shore up the economy. We stayed at the Wyndham in Portland which is right by the airport and perfectly adequate. Ryder was kind enough to leave the maid $5. As you can see, it was money well-deserved. Hello? No way I was this bad when I was 12, right? Right?

Anyhoo, we watched some godawful movie about prom that made me want to stick needles in my eyes and then had an early night to bed. 

Got up at the crack of dawn, literally, drove to the airport and she jetted off into the sunrise. It was a short visit, but oh so sweet. Love that little girl! (But hated that movie!)

Wanted to give a shout out to my beloved nephew Aaron and his fabulous wife, Carla. Today is their baby shower and I wish I could be there. It is at Elsa's house in NJ so would have been kind of a haul.
I had so much fun sewing for them. I made a bunch of burp cloths (an awful name, if you ask me, couldn't it be like emission cloth or something?) Anyhoo, I found this adorable flannel bunny fabric and experimented with blanket binding to make a little blankie. Not so much fun and won't try that again but it came out ok. I also made this cute diaper bag. Has side pockets for bottles, and stroller straps, and elastics inside to hold sippys. And, thank you Sarah, for your suggestions for the perfect bag.
Can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl and to be a Zia for the 7th time!

I picked up my niece, Ryder, at Little Wohelo outside of Portland, yesterday morning. She has been at camp all summer. She has grown about a foot and her feet are bigger than mine! Obviously, we had to stop for sustenance (in the form of a drink of a color not seen in nature) before beginning the trek home.

We spent a happy afternoon sewing and here is Ryder hard at work. Have to say, she is a natural.

Of course, a trip to the market was in order because OMG, a 13-year-old loves her groceries. Yikes!

And then we spent the evening eating popcorn and watching a totally innocuous movie.

How cute is she??

I had the sweetest surprise when I checked my mail a few days ago. My niece Brynne made me this beautiful scarf. The end is beaded. I just love it.

So, yesterday I took a trip up to Lincolnville Beach to visit my BFF. She has the cutest house and here she is in her yard with her collection of birdhouses. How cute is that?

After coffee, off we went to Belfast for the day. She took me on a detour through Bayside, a lovely little Maine summer village. I found this picture of Park Row on the net. Bayside started out in the 1800's as a church camp - most of the original 300 cottages are still there - and boasts 6 generations of families

So, we made a stop at Reny's (had to stock up on my Annie Chun's miso soup) and then of course GW, where I found these shoes (llbean dontcha know) $15. Sweet! Sophie provided background for my pic last night.

Here is my BFF posing, cute as a button. Love these homemade birch trellises. So easy, right? Tied with twine. Might have to try that.

And here is Belfast's waterfront. So beautiful and nice to see a working waterfront, which are becoming a rarity in Maine anymore.

After some shopping and lunch, we headed back south. What a lovely day.

Well, I got a wild hair and took off for Auburn on Thursday, about and hour-and-a-half away, to look at RVs. Guess I was feeling a little nostalgic and kind of missing the lifestyle. Anyhoo, I liked these two a lot and got to test drive both of them. (And, don't worry Mom. I'm not actually buying one - I know I can't afford it.)

But one can dream, can't one . . . ?
And also, just want to say that 2 years ago, I would never have dreamed of trying to drive one of these babies. Not to toot my own horn or anything but yay for me! (Can't believe I said toot my own horn.)

So, Anna and I had a fun and sewing packed few days and watched NCIS at night. Pretty much my idea of heaven: hanging out with Anna, sewing and watching NCIS Los Angeles! Here is her first project, started as soon as we got home from the show. A little fruity bag. Cute, right?   (oh, that sounded funny . . . )

Well, a visit with Auntie L. would not be complete without a trip to Alewives, so off we went the next day. Yeah, Alewives! Represent!! We found Rhea and Ruben hard at work and here they are in their little Utopia. Always happy to see their smiling faces.

Here is my niecie hard at work cutting out a cell phone pocket, and working on her book bag for school this year, an annual tradition with us.

She did a fabulous job! Trust me, this photo does not do it justice. It is a canvas bag that she lined with some gorgeous navy batik, with turquoise green pockets.

And one last pic: Here are Anna and Sophie chillin' in the evening. The time went so fast, just flew by, and the house felt a little empty after she left.

Saturday saw me in my president's hat as I held our annual neighborhood association meeting at my cottage. It is always fun to catch up with each other, then let the conversation dissolve into complaints about taxes and the prices the locals charge, before I call the meeting to order. I have one more term as prez.
Yesterday was filled with goodness! I met my sister and bro-in-law in Augusta where they handed off my dearest darling Anna! And if that wasn't enough, the two of us spent the afternoon at the 34th Annual Maine Quilts show. Not the most cutting edge or slickest show I've been to but very, well, ernest. And, there were a lot of really great quilts. The theme this year was something about bears, not quite sure what that was about but there were a lot of them. Check it out:

 Here is my beautiful niece and an old molting stuffed bear, poor thing (the bear, not Anna.)

 Cute quilt - there's another bear up in the foliage.

I want to show you my absolute fave of the show. I wish I knew this person. The story of it is printed on fabric and part of the quilt and I hope you can read it. It is awesome.

This next one was the winner and well-deserved really.

Here is the Augusta Civic Center's claim to fame. Yeah baby, the King was here!

After a quick ice cream stop at the Scoop, we were home and in the studio, inspired to sew. I'll show you Anna's creation when she finishes it today. Now, here are a few more of the quilts if you're interested.

 This quilt was a tribute to Roy Rogers. I like it because it reminds me of Lu. She always says "Happy Trails."