Neutral Colored Scrap Quilt

Finished piecing - it is a twin size. Too wild to sleep under? 

Mixed Media Daily Postcards October 1 - 4

Another Scrap Quilt

I am still working on using up scraps.  I am down to the neutral colored pile and here is what I have so far.

North Picket Pin Lake

 There are two small lakes just off the Picket Pin Road.  North Picket Pin and South Picket Pin.  Both are stocked with Yellowstone Cutthroat trout.  Both are very small and shallow, but contain a good population of tiny native shrimp, so the trout grow very fast.  We went to North Picket Pin Lake and I caught this nice Cut, which we took home for Joe's dinner.  In years of severe winter weather, the fish often die off - the shallow lake freezes solid and sometimes they don't survive (the lake is only 20 feet deep).

 

I enjoyed watching these clouds form over the lake while I fished.

Iron Mountain, 10088 ft elevation

 We drove our faithful 10 year old Honda Pilot to the top of Iron Mountain via Picket Pin Road.  We could see the Crazy Mountains far in the distance.

 Panoramic views in all directions.

The wind was blowing fiercely and it was very cold, but we spend time walking around on the top of this 10088 foot mountain.

Picket Pin Summit

 From the summit of Picket Pin Road we could see far in the distance to the Pryor Mountains, had a good overlook into the Beartooths and could see the Crazys off to the west.

Picket Pin Road in the Beartooth Mountains

 The weather is still mild enough for getting outdoors, so we took the Honda Pilot and headed for this backcountry road called Picket Pin.  It is up the Stillwater drainage.  At Nye, turn toward the Buffalo Jump and follow the dirt road back through a ranch before climbing up into the mountains.  The road is in pretty good shape (compared to some we have driven in the Beartooths).

After School Boating

 

Last week we had grandson Airus with us while his mom spent the week in Portland in a class.

The weather was super warm (86 on this day), so we headed for Cooney Reservoir after picking him up from school.  We enjoyed a few hours on the water before heading back home.

The view from the boat ramp.

Quilting Arts Surprise

The October / November 2014 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine arrived and in it - page 44 - my quilt
"Cottonwood Reflection"!

Red Randomly Pieced Scrap Quilt

It measures 53 x 90".  I think it will make a great adult sized nap quilt for someone tall.  I am not doing any quilting yet.  I still have more scraps to clear out.  On to the next color group!

Red Scraps Come Together

 By now, I have several very large sections that I am hoping I can fit together into one larger sized quilt.  Not sure how big this one will be, but maybe I can make it a twin or adult nap size quilt.

At this point, I have three large sections, and I still have some scraps.  I wonder if I can just add more to the two side panels and then sew the three together.

Big Blocks of Warm Colored Scraps

 Here are a couple of large blocks of scraps.  Once I get to this point, I start putting them up on the design wall so I can more easily see when I have pairs that fit together and can judge what shapes I need to make to fill in.....

Sewing Scraps Together

 My process with random scraps is to just begin sewing pieces together.  When one piece runs out, I just put another one on and in this way, will end up with a lot of different fabric pairs in a wide range of sizes.   I iron these strip sets open and then proceed to sew pairs together, often turning to sew a strip set across the end or another, but I change it up as often as possible so I end up with a lot of different configurations.  Below - I have a lot of  rectangular shaped parts spread out on the ironing table.  These, will now be matched up for size and when I find two that fit together somehow, I will stitch again.

The best thing about this process - why I like working this way is I never know what I will end up with - the element of surprise is very motivating!

Scraps of Red

Weather is starting to cool off quite a bit and we are home more.  This is the time of year that I find difficult - shifting from outdoor play to indoor studio time.  I am finding this time with scraps is productive and inspiring.  I sorted out all the warm colored fabric scraps and will see what happens with them.....

Gnophaela Vermiculata on Timberline Lake Trail

I had difficulty identifying this butterfly we have seen often in the Beartooth Mountains, so I submitted my picture for professional evaluation to www.butterfliesandmoths.org.  I received an answer that this is, in fact, a moth.  Here is the info below:

http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Gnophaela-vermiculata

Down to the Timberline Trailhead.

 We paused for a quick photo, then on down the trail we went.

 Nobody got wet during any of the crossings.

Rainy Departure from Timberline Lake

 There was a little break in the drizzle and so we broke camp and packed up.  The clouds were hanging over Silver Run Peak as we crossed out of the Timberline Lake basin.

Morning at Timberline Lake

 We had some light rain (and voracious mosquitoes) that forced us to make an early night of it.  It was still showering in the morning (and the bugs were still out in force) when we got up.  Nevertheless, we tried a bit of pre-breakfast fishing (no success).

 Breakfast at camp.

Fishing at Timberline

 Fishing at Timberline was outstanding!  We caught a lot of nice sized fish right away.   This lake contains a self sustaining population of Brook trout (not a native species).  They were especially colorful because they were spawning.

Timberline Lake Backpacking

 We took our 8 year old grandson on his first backpacking trip this summer.  We went to Timberline Lake because the weather there was expected to be milder than some of our other options.  Above is a picture of Timberline Lake as we arrived.  We had sunshine all the way up the trail (hot), but the clouds had arrived at the same time we reached the lake, so it began to feel a bit cooler (almost too cool, really).  The first order of business was to find our campsite, but the second was to filter water.  The two pictures below show Airus and Joe filtering ice cold water from the lake.