Graphic Florals - Completed Front

I promised more pictures of my current project that uses a lot of colors that are bright enough to see from space.  (As if I can do any other kind of quilt.)  I'm posting those pictures which also includes lots of cameos from the cat army.  

Working on the layout with Angry Bob.  

Layout complete, cats in motion.

Labeled and ready to go. 

Scout on inspection of the final project. 

Completely pieced front.

Sadly, no cats appeared for this photo.

I'm off to work on the back of this and I'm thinking of using some of the dark blue that was left over from the Spinster Quilt. I really should be outside playing on this beautiful day, but I'm staying close to home to keep an eye on Scout, AKA Little Girl Cat, AKA Scooter, AKA Scooter McGooder.   As you can see above, she is doing great.  Why am I worried?  Well, she had surgery on Friday to remove a tumor and an abscessed tooth.  The tumor was on her lip and is in the process of being sent to the lab for testing.  We are assuming that the tumor is benign until we hear differently and will not be worrying about it until then.  Friday was exciting in that I got her home from the vet and she was still loopy from the anesthesia and stumbling around like an adorable little furry drunken sailor.  She also managed to fall down the stairs twice, which is why I'm staying close to home today.  Meanwhile don't worry about Scooter McFurryPants.  She is getting lots of scritches today and free access to whatever sewing project she chooses to sit on.  She will be fine.  Me, on the other hand........

Emerald Ridge

Two posts in one day!  This is amazing.  We should all buy lottery tickets, because magic is happening.

These pictures are from last weekend's backpacking trip with AH.  We did two days and one night on the mountain to Emerald Ridge and parts of the Wonderland trail.  It was amazing.  The trail we took to connect us to the Wonderland trail was not maintained.  This is a bit of an understatement.  There had been a landslide and about 50 feet of the trail was washed out.  The choices were to go through the very fast and cold river or bushwhack through the landslide.  We bushwhacked and it was hard.  There were times we had to take off our packs and push them ahead of us because we were ducking under trees and tree roots.  It was also very, very steep and it was very important to not slide down into the river. Half an hour later we were back on the trail.  This was the "easy" part.  We were hooking up to the Wonderland trail where we had 2.8 miles and 3000 feet of elevation gain to challenge us.  It was a challenge, but we made it to the top and the simply amazing views of the mountain and the glaciers.

Night was spent at the South Puyallup River campsite near the Puyallup River.  It was beautiful and I wish I had gotten out of the tent to look at the stars, but sometimes you are tired and in a sleeping bag and there you will remain.

Many more pictures are here.  

Rhubarb!

Yummy pieces of deliciousness.

Do you know that I love rhubarb?  If you don't, its like you don't know me at all.  Rhubarb is the old lady of fruits and veggies.  She is showy, she is tart, and she is incredibly delicious.  I can't grow rhubarb here in the jungle, but I have friends you do and they are awesome.

A friend of mine gave me three large (and I do mean large) pieces of rhubarb.  So, I turned around and made these yummy rhubarb oatmeal bars.  Is there a recipe?  Oh yes, there is.   The recipe comes from cooks.com and is way too easy.  It calls for "nuts" so, apparently, there is some flexibility here.  I used walnuts because they were on sale.  Sometimes I can be thrifty.  I mixed the crust ingredients in the food processor until they started coming together and the cooking time took some extra time. It called for 20 minutes, but it took me 40.  That could be my oven, but I've never heard of these type of crumb bars getting brown in 20 minutes.  (As if that is all I ever think of.)

This reminds me that I have some of these in the freezer. I should probably look into that.  

Eagle Peak

This is a teaser post of sorts.  I have a ton of photos from my current quilting project, some fabric that I won in an on-line giveaway to share, and lots of pictures from my backpacking trip on Mt. Rainier.  But, first, I have to show you a hike I did with CF in early July.  The snow was still on the ground, but the day was beautiful. I've done Eagle Peak before.  It is 3.5 miles fairly straight up and then a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier and if you are lucky, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Adams.  On the day we went, we saw them all.

It was a good leg stretcher and a good preparatory hike for the backpacking trip I did with AH last weekend.  More on that soon.

My triumphant return from the midwest

Chicago!

Bob Newhart

Madison's capitol building

New Glarus

Rural Wisconsin

Some fine Wisconsin beers

i wasn't quilting last week, I was drinking beer and enjoying some fine sunsets in the midwest.  I took AH home to meet the family and everyone loved everyone involved.  It was a lovely visit and it made me realize how hard it is to live away from family but also to know that no matter how far away I live they will always be there to tease, support, and share in adventures.

Vacation started in Chicago where we had some amazing dinners with friends and saw my very first Cubs game.  That was incredible - old school baseball at an old school park.  I would definitely go there again (even though I should be a Brewers fan and not inclined to entering enemy territory like that).  Then to Wisconsin to visit my parents and look for wild turkeys (success on both fronts).  We also went to the University of Wisconsin, my alma mater, and enjoyed some beer on the terrace while students entertained on open mic night and the crew team practiced on the lake in the background.  Very warm, very peaceful, very perfect.

More visits with the family and more drinks and rich food, then back to Chicago before the flight home.   I kept my eye open for fabric stores in Chicago, but it was half-hearted.  Instead, I enjoyed walking around a new place with sore feet and the satisfaction of ordering gin drinks in prohibition-era bars.  I also so very enjoyed my traveling companion and can't wait for our next adventure.