Happy Halloween !!

Today is just a beautiful fall day !!! Sunny and warm...... Jeff cut the grass - one more time- He said that 3 cuttings ago...LOL
My neighbor and I cleaned off the garden...picked the rest of the beets, onions and carrots... I have potatoes from the garden cooking on the stove. I think we did pretty good with our garden considering neither of us had done any gardening for a few years. We will be planning our plot for next year !
I had a very nice trip to Seattle....... I will put some pics on here soon from that.
Oh how I wish we could have this weather for another couple months ! The temp says 45....but it feels warmer than that.....I have the window open.
Not expecting many kids coming around tonight.....they never come here......so I am just hoping they don't come tonight...... I ate all the candy!

Finishing up the Iowa Trip

Our lovely hotel room in Des Moines......all the comforts of home. Looking out our window in downtown Des Moines.

The food court at the show .......and they had good food !

Ahhhhhh the gateway to the quilt show ~~~ !!!........

I would have loved to share pictures of the quilts and booths......but you are not allowed to take any pictures anymore. Back in the old days........you could take pictures to remember your visit...but now with all the thievery and copyright laws.....so it goes.

This was a wonderful show !!...........really enjoyed ourselves and fill up the van with our shopping !!!..... I would love to go back next year !

More quilt shops...............Oct 5th..

The Cottage Rose quilt shop in Marion, Iowa.......

Connie's Quilt Shop was a great little house just FILLED with fabric.....we helped them out and took some of off their hands.

After visiting in Anamosa......we had to go find some of the wonderful wine we had at Sandy's house..... so off to the Amana Colonies we went !!!...... It was just down the road a piece.

Good thing I had a van.......next time I think we need an RV !

Our last quilt shop stop before we headed for Des Moines.......and it was closed... they ALL went to the quilt show in Des Moines......but the trip was not lost.....we found a BASS shoe outlet.

Still at Country Threads........

Oh - almost forgot to show you the quilt shop.

They have 2 buildings filled with fabric, patterns, wool, punch needle, civil way fabrics, gift items and LOTS of other great things. And cats...................

And goats..................

And gardens.............full of flowers.

I woke her up when I was looking at punch needle kits.........

I am already planning on going back to visit in the spring.................

Next day of the trip.........

Next stop was Country Threads in Garner, Iowa.......Country Threads is the quilt shop in a chicken coop !!... It is my all time favorite quilt shop. Not only because of the great quilting things......but the farm..... I just love the farm. This is one of the beautiful cats who live there......and yes, they go in and out of the quilt shop - just as cats should.

This beauty followed us through the shop and talked to us the whole time....we had a very nice conversation.

This is Janie...hope I spelled her name right.... She is the sweetest little dog... and she was a rescue dog.

This is a new addition to Country Threads.........this is a playhouse !!! ......oh it is cute !!! They are busy decorating it for the seasons. Wonder if Jeff will build me a playhouse ???

And the chickens.........LOVE the chickens... !!!

Tuesday, October 19

Going back to our trip......Oct 4 is day 2 of the "Girls on the loose".......
We spent the first night in Forest City, IA It is located in north central Iowa.....it is a great little town. And they have a lovely quilt shop.
The gals there were so nice and helpful !! My girlfriend bought these 4 season panels...(this is just one) and the gals at the shop cut these kits for her and found the pattern for her...because the free pattern had disapeared from the web site.

I got some fabric and charm squares for a "Scnibbles" quilt that I got the pattern for at Gruber's..

The Quilted Forest had great displays in their windows.....sorry my pics have some glare.

Another great day at a great quilt shop !!!

Monday afternoon we headed over to Anamosa, IA to visit friends......and don't you suppose I forgot my camera in the hotel room.....

Guess I will just have to go back !

And next time I want to spend a couple days in Anamosa.....that is where I went to massage school.... It is such a pretty little town.

Going back to October 3rd

We are going back to October 3rd........off on our quilt show trip.
Travelers are Claudia and Alice.
We left Harwood on Sunday morning (Oct 3rd) and our first stop was at Gruber's Quilt Shop in Waite Park, MN (St. Cloud) They opened at noon and we were not far behind.
Gruber's is just " a little shop"..NOT.....they have about 10,000 bolts of fabric and books and patterns and yarn and gifts........it is a great shop !!! And Jinny Beyer (I hope I spelled her name right) was there giving a class. Right away I found one of the fabrics I was shopping for.
Believe it or not I did have a shopping list on this trip !!


This is one of our snack suitcases.....the plan was to eat our stuff we had brought along so we would have room to pack our purchases..... well.... we ate, but good thing the stores had bags for us too.....note to self - next time cut down on the take along food.

Guess there was a red section for the cars in the lot.

After a couple hours of shopping we headed south...... Beautiful weather that day !!!......Just perfect for traveling.........and we are off to the next stop.

Another fire last night

Sorry that I have not been keeping up with my blog while I was gone on my trip....... I was taking pictures as I went........and I will share them with you and tell you about my trip........but I have many things going on at once and I am just not very fast. I had planned on blogging as I went......BUT I was not paying for Internet in the hotel we stayed at.... in this day and age I can't believe they are still trying to charge you for Internet when you can go to McDonald's and get free Internet.....silly people.
Went back to work on Monday....and I work Wednesday and Friday too. .....now I know many of you work many more hours than that a week......but I just don't move as fast as I used to....ha ha ha.....
Last night I was watching the local news and there was breaking news of a large apartment building in south Fargo on fire...... My girlfriend and I were going out for coffee and we drove near the area.........NOT driving to get right next to the fire like too many people were doing.... we were sitting at a Dairy Queen about 5 or 6 blocks away watching and worrying about those who lived there. Talking to my daughter later she told me a good friend of hers and her 3 year old daughter lived there.....they were on the 3rd floor, which is where the fire was the worst...it got in the attic area of the building and spread very fast. This girl and her daughter escaped with only what they were wearing and her purse.....they lost everything. I am going to work on making a little quilt and a pillowcase for this little girl. She loves "Princesses" and I found some princess fabric so need to get busy on that.
They are asking for help for these 150 people who are now without a place to live and they are saying the response is wonderful from the area and Red Cross and other organizations are helping with many things. This was also a "pet friendly" building and the Humane Society is helping them house their pets that were rescued till they find a place to live.

Then I will get back to my pictures and blogging about my trip........so just wanted to let you know that my girlfriend and I had a great vacation.........visited lots of quilt shops and did a little shopping...(LOL) along the way, at the show, and on the way home.