Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig

We have returned home after a fast and furious trip... 1200 miles from Trinidad, Colorado to Algonquin, Illinois.  Two days of driving there, two days there and another 1,200 miles in the two days back.  If you're wondering... that about 18 hours of drive time one-way.

Totally worth it to have all 8 of the Nolan siblings together to celebrate 50 years of marriage with the first-born of the family and her husband. It has been 15 years since that last happened.

In birth order, right to left...
Linda, Mike, Marcie, Sharon, Dave, Pat, Chris, Amy

If you missed seeing the Golden Anniversary quilt that was given as a gift, go HERE.  The fact that there was an intersection with their last names meant that we HAD to drive the 20 minutes from the hotel to get photos... Totally worth it.  Go check it out ;)

I passed the time on the road with some hand sewing and we listened to a few audio books.  One we enjoyed... the author was Tracie Peterson; the story was Under the Stary Skies.  We tired a few other books, but either the narrator was not appealing to us, or the storyline was lame.  Maybe we are too picky.  Either way... they were all free to listen to through the Libby App.  (The app worked really well as long as we had cell service.  But when you are traveling on the remote eastern plains of Colorado it gets a little hit and miss.)  

I had prepared several EPP blocks that will be included in our Camping Journal Quilt.  These included a couple campfire blocks, a modified Mesa Verde block, a portion of a petroglyph block, and a block to represent the fabulous sunrise we saw while camping near the Organ Mountains.  I still have a few more to make to complete the "journal" of our spring trip to Arizona and New Mexico.

I had been feeling a little bored with this ongoing project... I started it in 2018 and I have been missing our quick get aways but this was a good time to somewhat caught up and renew some energy and interest in the project.  I have blocks selected for the remaining trips/nights that we have had this year.  Now, all I need to do is pull fabric and prep my "kits".

While on the road, Dave and I talked about our fall trip.  We will be returning to Illinois in October for a wedding.  We have a tentative plan the direct route (I-80) there with stops planned for Ogallala and Fremont, Nebraska, one night in Iowa and then the Paul Wolff Forest Preserve near Elgin, IL.

Our return trip will find us gettin' our kicks along Route 66.

I finished a few quilted hearts and sprinkled them around as well. 

I like to have a variety of projects to work on when I travel so that if I get bored with one, I can pull out something different.

One project that will be included in my travel sewing bag next time will be some embroidery.  I found these peel and stitch transfer sheets in one of the "deal of the day" emails about a week before we left.  I was excited for them to arrive since I have a few jeans that I wear when camping that have some minor repairs to them and I have wanted to add some embroidery to them to help disguise the repairs and "dress them up a little."

While I was excited for them to arrive the day before we left, I quickly realized that they are blank sheets to be printed on.  I thought they came with a few designs already printed on them... but they are blank.  No big deal... I just decided to leave them for another trip.

I know that there are lots and lots of free embroidery patterns out there.  I'll have to look back at what the Texas Quilt Gal linked to a few weeks ago when she joined my Sew & Tell Party. 

Speaking of my Sew & Tell Party... It is still open.  Feel free to drop by.

Do you travel with projects?

What sort of projects do you like to work on?

What supplies do you need to take with you?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!

Keep Piecing,

Melva

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