Can This Be Fixed?

I just bought a brand new large cutting mat with my Joanne's 60% off coupon and was heartbroken to find that leaving it in a hot car totally warped it.  And now it's stuck in this shape.  Short of putting it back into a really hot car with heavy things sitting on top of it in the trunk, I'm not sure if this can be salvaged.  Has this happened to anybody else?  Any suggestions on what to do with it?

This was supposed to be the week we moved into our house, or at least started moving things in but there has been a delay due to so many of the subcontractors being overbooked and not coming when they said they would.   It has been 2 weeks since I've written a blog post and even more than that since I have sewed anything so I finally couldn't take it anymore. 

Cramped trailer or not, I started cutting and sewing up Kenzi's quilt.  It will be made up with nothing but 1", 2", and 3" finished strips.  Here is a sample picture of the design she wants.

And here are the strips from the fabrics she chose all cut up and ready to sew together to make longer strips.

Since the width of a bolt of fabric is only 40-something inches, I need to sew pairs of these together to make it the size I need.  We are going for a large lap size.  There will be plenty left over  after I trim down to size to make a matching pillow.  Here's my pile of chain sewed strips to make longer strips!

and then chain trimming the join seam . . . 

I'll just make up my own vocabulary as I go.  :)

  

And here are 3 inch strips (2 of each color) sewed into longer strips, seams pressed open and getting ready to tackle the 2-inch strips and 1-inch strips.  

I finished all of them last night.  Whew!

NOW . . . just to sew them all together!

And this is what happens when your kids find an unattended phone:

GOOFBALLS!!!  I love 'em to death.

OK, here's the house update.  Still lots of little details to be done.

 I think we will actually have room to have more than one person at a time in this kitchen, what do you think?  

 Here is a view of the kitchen island with granite and backsplash now installed.  Stove and microwave are still missing and they got the wrong color of faucet.  It's supposed to be burnished bronze to match the cabinet pulls.   We'll just switch it out.

There is plenty of room all around the island, but if we ever build this plan for someone else, we'll probably move the island 6 inches closer to the sink.  At least the fridge is in!

Here is the view from the living room, through the dining room, to the kitchen.  As you can see, there is a LOT of room in the dining area.  We are planning on putting  a long family dining table there.  Walton family style.  I was considering using benches but decided against it as it would be difficult for the older members of the family to navigate.  Loving that tigerwood!  It will get two more coats of sealer before we move in.  It's looking pretty dirty right now.

The door to the right is the pantry.  And here is an inside view of it.  Also dirty.

Here is a view still looking toward the kitchen but now further away so you can see the fireplace. The granite on the hearth is the same as in the kitchen.  The mantel will eventually get stained the same color as the kitchen cabinets or as close as we can get, anyway.  

Panoramic of fireplace, kitchen, and entry.  It kind of distorts the living room and makes it look squished but you can get the idea of how it looks.  The hallway to the right of the pantry leads to my quilt room, two other bedrooms and a bathroom.  The master bedroom is on the other end of the house just around to the right of the fridge, along with the laundry room and door to the garage.

Here's my quilt room with a rustic looking floor installed.  Also dirty and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Here is the entryway with the front door and tile floor installed.

And last but not least, the view from the front door this evening looking out at Lizard Butte.  Isn't that a gorgeous view?  No landscaping yet but the view is still wonderful.

Here's a closer view of Lizard Butte so you can see how it got its name.  Looks like a great big ol' lizard sunning himself.

You can barely see it in this picture but at the very tip of that rock is a white cross and every year at Easter they have a community sunrise service on the back side of that knoll.

I almost forgot to do the drawing for my blog anniversary giveaway!  There were 43 comments on that post so I asked my husband to name a number between 1 and 43 and he said 27.   Yes, Kate at Smiles From Kate, it is you!!!  I checked it twice and you were comment number 27!  Most of you know Kate is one of the first blogging friends I made when I started out so just in case you think this contest was rigged, my husband had no idea why I asked him to choose a number between 1 and 43.  It was meant to be!

Linking with:
Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Busy Hands Quilts
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Love Laugh Quilt
Cooking Up Quilts

May I Share My Photography With You?

I am afraid this week has seen no quilting or piecing of any kind.   It's been very hot and I have not been motivated to drag out all my stuff in our tiny little trailer to work on it, knowing I have to pack it all up again.  I know this is supposed to be a quilting blog and I promise I will be blogging about quilting again very soon!

Not long ago I shared a few pictures with a fellow quilt blogging friend that I have taken in an effort to create a nice collection of nature photos.  She suggested I do a blog post with them so I decided I would.  I'm still learning and there are so many things I don't know how to do yet but I do enjoy trying to take a good picture.  Most of these pictures were taken in the Owyhee Mountains of southern Idaho.

1.  Mr. Lizard sunning himself.  I love those blue scales on his back!

2.  Distant shot showing his good camouflage.  If you didn't know he was there and intentionally looking for him, you might walk right by him.

3.  Another great critter good at camouflage.  Can you see him?  The only reason I was able to get this picture was because I saw him running to hide and watched very carefully where he went.  I slowly got as close as I could and it took me quite a while to actually see him even though I knew he was there !   Isn't his coloring amazing?  Master of disguise!

4.  Here's a better picture to get an idea of what they really look like.  This is a different bunny but the same species.

5.  And another shot showing why they are called cottontails!  Hard to get a good clear shot when they are moving so fast!

6.  Enough of brown already!  I need some color now!    The red flowers are called Indian Paintbrush.

7.  Fuzzy catepillar

8. Ground Squirrel on the alert

9.  I put the horse in the picture to give an idea of the scale of these cliffs.

10.  This picture turned out a little fuzzy but I couldn't resist that beautiful morning light.

11.  Bull snake!

Don't worry, he's not poisonous.  (that's my father-in-law)

12. Baby horned owl found in the rafters of my father-in-laws shop.  He was keeping a close eye on me!  If you're able to zoom in at all, look at his tiny lower eyelash feathers.   Interesting!

13. My daughter holding a baby lizard.

The following was taken at the zoo yesterday.  There was this gorgeous blue butterfly that was extremely hard to get a picture of the blue part of his wings.  When he lands he looks like this and then rarely opens his wings.

Finally caught one that landed on my daughter-in-law's foot and caught a picture of it just as it was taking off.

So I hope to have more pictures to add to this album and will share them here now and then if that is ok?

Linking to:

Inspire me Monday

Blog Anniversary and $25 Gift Certificate Giveaway!

I missed my one year bloggiversary . . . by 3 1/2 months!  Where has the time gone?  I guess, as they say, time flies when you're having fun.  And I am!  My first post was on April 17, 2016.   At that time, I had just learned how to quilt using my Bernina from my BQF (Best Quilty Friend,) Robin and was so excited about it, I wanted to document my journey.   In the 15 months since then I've only finished one full size quilt and 7 other small projects and here is my favorite finish!  I love how it turned out but boy, taking on that large of a quilt when I was so new was biting off more than I could chew.  I'm going to stick with smaller projects for a while.

And here is the back using some yummy Kaffe Fasset.  I had just learned who he was and you can see I am a fan of his and also Amy Butler.  I made HST blocks using the leftover triangles created from cutting out the hearts for the front.

This is also the first quilt I attempted FMQ feathers.   They are somewhat wonky in places but for my first time, I'm ok with that.  :)  I made this quilt for a cousin's first grandbaby.   She wanted me to make it big enough that they could use it for a long time.  So it's probably a small twin size.  The mom liked it so much, she asked if she could keep it herself.  That made me very happy!

One of the other favorite things I have done is a mini QAL with my online bloggy friend, Jen Rosin of A Dream and a Stitch.  Actually we have done two!    The first QAL (Shadow Block Mini) was so much fun that we are going to make it an annual thing.   I laughed when I reread my post about all the goofs I made on that one.  Also that I had quilted it so densely it stood up all by itself.  (snicker).  This one is now hanging in my office at work.

 You can see the 2nd QAL here with the gallery of all the mini's posted here.  We had so much fun doing this and Jen designed the cutest original mini quilt for this called Quilter's Laundry Day.  This pattern can now be purchased for a very small amount at Craftsy.  She has the creative brains and I am the organizing one.  We make a good team!  The ladies who participated in this QAL are SO talented!  I was delighted at all the wonderful versions that were shared.  This really was a lot of fun and I hope you will participate with us on the next one!

Here are my day and night versions:

And last but not least, after my one year (PLUS) of blogging I have to say the most fun about doing this are the wonderful friends I have met.  Kate at Smiles From Kate, she's my BQFO (best quilty friend online), Jen from A Dream and a Stitch, Vicki at Vicki's Crafts and Quilting and Jen Strauser from Dizzy Quilter (by the way I have a quilt made by Vicki and quilted by Jen S. that I am dying to finish and show you!  All it needs is binding but it is packed away at the moment)  I only mentioned four of you, but there are many more! I am enjoying getting to know you all!

And last but not least, the house update.  For those of you who don't follow me, my husband, daughter and I have been living in a 5th wheel for a month now waiting for our house to be finished.   They sealed the Tigerwood floors last night and I just love them.  I have been told that they will darken over time.  Here is a view of the dining area and kitchen (open concept).  The cabinets should be going in very soon.

The floor in my quilting room has not yet been installed but here are the shelves now painted taupe. 

In celebration of my one year blogging anniversary, even though I am very late, I would like to have a giveaway!  Enter to win a $25 gift certificate from Craftsy by leaving a comment telling me either how you follow my blog or if you aren't yet a follower, tell me the best book you ever read.  I need some good recommendations!  This giveaway will close August 16 at 6 pm Mountain Time.  So glad you stopped by!

Linking to:

Cooking Up Quilts

Show and Tell Monday with Bambi

Free Motion by the River

Let's Bee Social
Midweek Makers
Needle & Thread Thursday
Finished or Not Friday