Some more photos of our hike.  The fire area is devastating to see - though I know the forest will recover, the vastness of it is overwhelming.  It started close to Reno and burned through the park, just as a reference of the size of the fire.

 

Cindy M and I hiked (really, a walk - the only true "hiking" was the trail back up that runs along the creek) to Kings Creek Falls this weekend.  It was a beautiful day - temps were in the mid-60's with a light breeze.

 

Whew!  Baby quilts finished!  I added a colored border, quilted them with free-style meandering hearts, and they are done!  The next step would be to wash them, but.....my washing machine quit yesterday.  Not a good thing, but it did make it through all my weekly laundry, it just didn't wash the quilts.  Now I know what I'm doing on my lunch hour today.... 

Jeff's middle son and wife are expecting twin girls in November!  I checking with Kirby for how A. was going to be decorating, and she said they were going with neutral colors, so when I went to the quilt store for some backing fabric, I found this panel - too cute! 

Then, right after I got home, Kirby texted me that A. had changed her mind - she was going with pink and lavender, and butterflies.....  Oh well, she's getting bunnies, and I will add lavender and pink borders on for her.
 

One of my organizational choices a while back was getting bins to store my fabric in (all tucked away in my Callyx storage units from IKEA).  As I was perusing one of my quilting magazines, I came across an ad for cardboard placards to wrap fabric around - just the right size to fit in my bins.  I ordered a set of 100, and started wrapping fabric.  I went from a pile of fabric in each box 

 

 

To this - fabric I can see all at once! I went through my first 100 pretty quickly, and have another 100 coming today.....fingers crossed I don't have to order another 100 to finish!

 

 

Alex and I used my new birthday present yesterday - he got me (I mean us....) the pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aide mixer.  Pat had gifted me her manual pasta roller last year, and we had used it several times, but I am honestly not coordinated enough to used that one by myself - I need three hands!  I think I could manage to make past by by myself with the attachment, but it is more fun having help in the kitchen.  

 

I had a long phone call the other night, and kept my hands busy - a washcloth and a scrubby! I haven't crocheted or knitted in what feels like a long time, but I've been helping Cindy M learn to make  scrubbies, so had the supplies out.

 

The work continues on the Seasonal Sparkler quilt. Another block a month that I was behind on for several months. I had January and February done and that was it!  I got March through July done last week.  The block on the upper left is August's block, and it's a repeater block, I need twelve of them, and only have one done.  I got the pattern for September a few days ago, so I am, once again, behind. 

 

I posted my first blocks for my Aloha Mystery Quilt quilt on August 20th, and finished up the blocks on the weekend.  This Mystery Quilt is part of an ongoing project - a mystery quilt ever quarter.  Tthere are (at least) two ways to put the quilt together.  I've put my blocks into each (suggested) quilt, and now I can't decide which one I like best!  Any suggestions? I can also switch and make the yellow on the outside of the quilt - I'll try that next.

 

It's a dog's life at my place - they at least left me a walking path through the entry way (which is between my sewing machine and where I cut out my fabric.  Luna did NOT leave me a place to stand while cutting  though.  It okay - she gets a permanent pass for everything.  I just got the test results back on the mass that was removed from her anal gland, and it is an aggressive type of cancer.  She's going to be a very spoiled dog from here on. 

 

And the Dinner Plate quilt is done!  The quilting isn't perfect, but after quilting 30 center blocks, it was looking pretty good!  The first few, not so much.  I tried a few different techniques before I found one that I liked, and worked well, so it was a true learning experience.

 The last of the pictures from my Crescent City trip.

 

 

If I was better at making memes, this could be a good one - I caught a seagull with their mouth open and the next shot was a "did you just take that?" look. 

 

What happens when you go on vacation alone - you take lots and lots of pictures!  (Not that I don't take a lot anyway, but I seem to have taken more than my usual amount this trip.) 

 

Pictures from Crescent City - it was beautiful while I was there - 70 degrees with a light breeze and sunny.  Everyone was out at the beaches. I had to really look for a place without people for a "deserted beach" picture.

 

I stopped at the Prairie Creek Visitor Center on the way up and took a couple of trails in the area. 

These were the only elk I saw on the trip, and they were far, far away, lazing in the shade.

This was the beginning of the Zig Zag Trail - aptly named....

Here's where the switchbacks started, and the train started going up.I only hiked a half mile or so - the full trail was over 3 miles, and I wasn't feeling like that long a hike (I left my lunch and water in the car).