Boy's Tractor Quilt ~~ a finish!

 As you know, I haul my Bernina on vacation. Since we travel in a small camper with only Cotton, our Maltese, and the two of us, it's safe enough, and it gives me a diversion when Richard gets cranky on the road or there's a little downtime. 

Anyhoo, I participated in AmandaJean Nyberg's QAL last month and loved it. While I was cutting out fabric, I decided to cut out enough of the blue scraps to make a kit for another quilt to take on the road. Of course, having followed the pattern with the first one, I needed to "make it my own" for the second one. 

In a nutshell I cut some of the red fabric into rectangles the same size of the finished blue blocks. Sewing was simply alternating blocks with a total of five rows.

Simple and quick and almost finished by the time we got to my sister's house. Jeanne and Alan have a pretty place in the middle of nowhere. Uh, actually in the middle of a neighbor's fields. We met these fun neighbors when Alan barbequed the best ribs ever. What a great night!

Oops, so anyway, before we left, I finished the little top and took it out for a photo session in Jeanne's yard/Rod's field. Isn't this piece of old equipment and the wheat a perfect setting? I've never seen so many acres of field in one viewing. It's just lovely and lonesome and beautiful. 

Before closing, I'll leave you with some of my favorite photos from our very short stay in Minot, North Dakota.

Richard acting like he owns "this big boy."

Long horns--the menfolk talked about these a lot!
You'd think they had driven them rawhide from Texas on horseback.

Canola--as in canola oil in a month or so

Flax--as in linen fabric and flax seed oil (it's being harvested
 in Idaho now so perhaps in ND soon)

Hay fields

Epic discussion no doubt--Richard on left, Alan on right 

Both common sights in Louisiana, but I saw the hay stacks and grain bins very differently in North Dakota. Knowing how much they are needed in the winter and feeling the power of that big open space where there are so few people to help, I appreciated the work of storing up for the winter ever so much more. And I thanked God that there are still people who are willing to work hard and risk everything to feed the rest of us. 

Marcottes go west (pt 2) wild flowers

Perhaps I should mention that I've decided to suspend regularly scheduled programming until we return to the land of normal internet. Unfortunately that's including email and comments. I could easily take care of those, but it's frustrating to write a note only to lose it a minute later because the connection is interrupted.
So for now thanks, love and gratitude; I'll write back soon. :)

In the meantime I will try to post some of the pictures and stories of our vacation. We are now visiting my youngest sister in North Dakota. Jeanne and Al have two children who are fun and seem to enjoy sarcasm, giving as much as they get. They get lots, by the way.

Funny girl kid holding a blunderbuss at the Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan replica.

Funny boy kid rowing a half canoe after refusing to put on the uniform pants to have a complete picture. Why? That's what he asked.

On to the wild flowers. They are much more cooperative. And don't talk back.

Here's an example of the sarcasm I have to deal with: every time I ask the name of a wild flower, the return answer is "weeds."
Is it supposed to be funny every time?

Linking up with:
AmandaJean at crazy mom quilts 
Go see her latest batch of cute pincushions!

Marcottes go west (pt 1)

This post will probably be heavy on the pictures and light on everything else. For some reason we can't seem to grasp the concept of having all the time in the world. We just keep pushing ourselves to see and do more every day. It's the old idea that the fun will end soon and life will go back to normal. 


So here are some of the highlights of the last few days. At least we've been enjoying ourselves.

This guy has an entire prairie and chooses to visit us. 
The look on Richard's face as he watched the bull bison amble 
within arm's reach shows how honored we were. 

Just as wild, just as close...not as scary!

And speaking of prairie...

When you leave the prairie behind, you may find yourself in a place called the Badlands. Heavens, this place is terrifying. I cannot describe the heights and depths of these hills of rock. 

I was standing right in the little dip in the bottom of the picture.
Later I had a panic attack: we drove too close to the edge.

Have to get somewhere quick?
You have to wait your turn for the one-lane tunnel.

I took the tunnel picture through the windshield. Richard does not stop every time I ask. And when he does, he may pass up the view before getting the truck off the road and stopped. I just start clicking when I see something. (And I wonder why my pictures look "so real.")

No matter all that, I'm happy that we're not living
in this little prairie sod house with dirt walls and floor.
Although I admit, I loved every minute of exploring it.

More to come how soon depends on the wifi / phone connection that's available.