A Little of This, A Little of That

Off we journey into the Rocky Mountains......our visit takes us to Keystone, Colorado, a perfect little hideaway. We are coming for the cool air, the freshness of the scenery and a chance to drink a little wine and listen to a little jazz--we are here primarily for the Wine and Jazz Festival.

This is the view from our fifth floor condo overlooking the plaza area where the weekend events will commence--all is quiet for the time being but soon the tents will be stocked with international wines and the  jazz music will be blaring throughout from two stages.  The condo is perfect!  A perch to enjoy the music without the crowds.  We participate in seminars--one in the AM and one in the PM.

The surrounding view is outstanding! Snow-capped mountains linger in the background while the swift moving waters of the Snake River meander to their final destination.

July has brought the monsoon rains to the mountains and light showers do their magic in the late afternoons and early evenings.  Better plan to have the rain gear handy.

And a little rain each day, along with snow melt, leads those swollen rivers to overflow their banks and tumble downhill.  Our time in the mountains must come to an end and  we travel back down into the valley of warmth.

Back in the basement studio, we do a little sewing--working on sundry projects a little at a time.  Sew a little, think a little, read a little...............got to move onto those lingering pile of little scraps and squares.

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We stumbled upon this happening at Facebook and have accepted the challenge--of course, you can do this a little at a time.  The commitment was one bowtie block a day but once many little 1.5" and 3.5" squares are cut, you will sew until all are 'eaten' up!   day, but once the little pieces are cut, you can sew and sew

We are also chipping away a little at a time on this mystery quilt from the web pages of Lyn Brown.

Step one: 48 four patches--done!  Next step available July 20th--gee, we are caught up on that one and now to move onto the next project while we wait.

This is "deconstructed" block of Sunbonnet Sam or Overall Andy (whichever name you prefer).  These die-cut blocks were purchased on our trip to Paducah, Kentucky several moons ago during Quilt festival.  They have sufficiently 'aged'.  So, work away--a little at a time.

Here he is ==constructed==a little handwork for sure!

The first thought--do those quickly!--which meant by machine.  But, since we are at the summer house, this machine doesn't have the nice buttonhole stitch, so zig-zag stitches was used.  You can see, that this fabric is flimsy and frays easier, so after a couple by zz, we decided that wasn't going to work--so head to the needle and thread.

And those times when we decide to sit a little, our hands and feet can be busy:  the green Falkland wool, so named 'Kermit' from Skyloom Weavers, has been spun and partly plied.  And now the Blue Faced wool (Scarab) fiber from Gale's Art is split and being spun--a little at a time.  We are biting off a little here and a little there to finish...........................