Arizona – Chopin – A Passionate Quilter From Texas

December 24, 2015January 5, 2016

On the Road Again – Going Home to Texas – Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. My Christmas wish for everyone is to be healthy, happy, and enjoy your family! Also pray for our Country as I believe 2016 will be a difficult year to get through.

After 3 months in the RV we have decided that 3 months is our limit. We have had a great time in Whetstone, Arizona at Tombstone Territories RV Park. We shopped a lot, visited Tombstone Arizona, and visited with our friends Doug and Jean. Young couple – 84 and 93.

In the past 15 years of going to Arizona for the winter months to escape the horrible Cedar allergies, I always have high hopes of working on numerous quilting projects. WHEN WILL I EVER LEARN THAT WON’T HAPPEN. Although I did load about 1/2 of what I usually do I did not accomplish a 10th of what I wanted to do. So I added to my stash – what else does a quilter do when on the road?

So now I have even more projects for 2016!

We were going to stay through the 26th of January BUT, it has been so very cold this year due to El Niño that we could not get out as much as we liked. Cabin fever can also be felt in a 36 foot RV!

When the weather started looking like it was going to stay cold we decided to come home. We were going to leave on the 28th BUT now the Arctic air is heading this way this week-end, so here we are close to our first nights stop in Las Cruces, New Mexico. We will stay at Hacienda RV Park and head for Fort Stockton, TEXAS Christmas morning. Driving through El Paso should be easy this year – most will be at home with family.

The cold weather will hit Las Cruces on Friday night, and Fort Stockton on Saturday night – when we will be at our home safe and sound!

I do have some pictures to show of my progress and my 2016 projects but that will have to wait until next week. I have missed my Studio so much this winter and very anxious to get back to my little quilting world. Clay is REALLY ready to be home – he did a lot of leather work on this trip, but is ready to get back to his projects and hobbies. We had one of the most enjoyable trips to Arizona than we have had in 3 or 4 years.

My goal for 2016 is to work on making Dear Jane, Civil War Bride(doing that with 3 other ladies and will keep all posted on our progress on my Blog – let me know if you would like to join us), Stonefield’s, Sweet Surrender, Sitar’s Flower Garden and Basket quilt from her book, Di Ford’s Mountmellik, AND maybe Farmer’s Wife. I am disappointed in the Farmer’s Wife 1930 book – a few too many errors for me to start that project – I will wait to get all the corrections to the book, then I may start it. I also have 5 quilts that need to be completed. And as Rosemary Youngs I have 5 king size quilts to bind!

I am not going to get involved with on-line BOMs this year. It seems to take up so much of my time when I could be more productive. So hopefully I will be blogging at least once a week on my progress.

Be safe, and thank you for taking the time to read/keep up with my Blog. I hope to make it exciting and have more quilting and less travel the next 6 months!

Nanette

November 22, 2015

I am Still Here – Brinton Hall and Stonefields

Greetings from Whetstone, Arizona, about 8 miles from Huachuca City, Arizona and 25 miles from Sierra Vista, Arizona. We are really enjoying the area. It is so nice to look out and see the mountains. There are mostly mesquite trees in this area, whereas in Sierra Vista the foliage is much different. There are trees that have the beautiful fall colors starting in October. Reminds me of Virginia when the leaves begin to turn. So pretty.

I do not know where the last month has gone. It seems like each time I plan to start the other 2 projects (1930’s Farmer’s Wife and Dear Jane) things happen. Last Sunday I was at a point to “get with it” and had just began to start when all of a sudden a “boom” noise coming from the RV. Well, it was the clamp on the hot water hose that gave way and hot water was rushing out from underneath the kitchen! NOT GOOD! This had happened when we first purchased this RV. Well, needless to say, it took me 2 trips to Sierra Vista to find the right clips that Clay need to repair the problem. So goodbye Sunday. Monday – well, weather always gets me and it did on that day. On Wednesday Clay reworked the hoses so I took advantage of that time and worked on my Stonefield Quilt blocks. I am now in the process of finishing the 2nd segment, of which, are appliqued blocks. I will post the 2nd segment as soon as I complete them. These are some of the fabrics I am using for Stonefields and my “limited” workspace.

Stonefields Fabric 2 — My Workspace – Clay made me the cutting table extension – He has me spoiled!

There are two quilting groups that I meet with while we are in Arizona. Tombstone Quilting Guild meets on the 3rd Monday of the month in Tombstone and then on the 4th Wednesday of the month they meet in Mescal, Arizona (about 30 miles from Whetstone). Due to weather and water issues I missed both times to quilt with the Ladies from Tombstone and Mescal (early due to Thanksgiving this week). I will visit with them in December. On Thursday I was able to go to the Sierra Vista Applique group that meets each Thursday at the Squirrels Nest quilt shop. I have been visiting with this group since 2008.

And of course each week I set a goal to “finish” a few things and get started on my 1930’s Farmer’s Wife and Dear Jane……MAYBE today I can start cutting out a few blocks from the Farmer’s Wife. I am hoping to do so. I have completed the Medallion of my Brinton Hall quilt. But I will have to wait until we return home to finish it. I need more room and a bigger design board to complete the medallion and the surrounding hexagons.

Brinton Hall Medallion

A week or so ago we made another trip to Tucson to Tandy’s for Clay’s projects. On the way home we stopped off in Sahurita, Arizona at the Quilters Desert Patch Quilt Store. There is such a great selection of fabrics. I purchased a few of the 1930’s fabrics, a Southwest panel, and Clay found some fabric he wants me to make a cover for his chair. He is Choctaw so he loves the Southwest fabrics.

Southwest Panel — I was drawn to the beautiful Turquoise and Browns.

Southwest Panel alternating fabrics — Panel and Coordinating Fabrics. Love the Arrow fabric – Over bought on this one.

Clay's Southwest Fabric — Clay’s Selection

I found a book on Panel Play but like a dummy, did not purchase it. I was lucky because I was able to find the Designer on-line and ordered the book. The Designer provides so may different and beautiful ways for settings for panels. I have only made one quilt using panels (2011) and it happened to be the fabric that she used on the cover of her book Panel Play Book by Barbara Becker. When I downloaded this picture, I could not believe it was in 2011 when I made that quilt! It was the year we “thought” we wanted to have 2 Shihtzu puppies. Been there done that and they lasted 18 days before they went back to the Breeder! That is a story in itself! Doesn’t take long to figure out you may as well adopt a baby and raise it instead!

Kohnie's Dog Quilt — My Doggie Panel Quilt – Same fabric as the book.

I must leave you with a short story about scissors and timbles! Wednesday I was able to work on my projects. Later that afternoon I cleaned up my work space and put things away. On Thursday when I arrived at my Applique group, I was shocked to see that I had forgotten the thread I needed for applique, and NO SCISSORS! What? Out to the quilt store area to purchase thread and cheap scissors. When I arrived home I almost panicked – my black Elan scissors were no where to be found. We went through everything including shaking the recliner, etc. I figured that they had fallen into the trash can by my chair, so we went dumpster diving…………..By then the trash was gone! So I did what most quilters would do – ordered another pair from Amazon! The Elan scissors are 4″ scissors with one blade serrated and they are wonderful when trimming the fabric around applique pieces. Elan Scissors I still had the feeling that the scissors were not in the trash, but I had absolutely no idea where they could have gone. Thank God they were not my very very expensive Italian Gingher scissors.

After the dumpster diving experience, we decided to go to Sierra Vista to eat and do some shopping in Sierra Vista. I still felt that the scissors were not in the trash! Later that evening, I went to the pantry to grab some chips. As I picked them up there were my scissors hooked to the magnet that is on the chip clip!!!!! I laughed and laughed and thought that I would be having a scissor sale soon. I had experienced a similar situation in August when I thought I had accidentally put my silver thimble from TJ Lane Thimbles in the trash! So I ordered another one after exhaustive searches for my thimble. On the same day I placed my order I turned the recliner in the Den upside down (for the 3rd time) and WOW there was my Thimble! Now I have 3 wonderful silver thimbles from TJ.

Have a great day and find some time for Quilting! (Of course life may get in the way!)

October 17, 2015

Blogging Vacation is Over – Time to Quilt and Enjoy Arizona

I really cannot believe that it was 2 September 2015 when I did my last Blog before beginning the packing and loading of the 5th Wheel for our annual trek to Arizona. Time has flown by. My hands are doing very well, guess the rest has helped – so glad I went to the Doctor before leaving! We left Texas on the 20th of September and here it is 15 October! We had a fairly uneventful trip (one exception – the trailer brakes developed a short in the wiring harness). Such fun going through El Paso, Texas in the rain and have that issue. Clay would flip the turn signal on or the hazard lights on and the brakes would go on….. We were very lucky as we pulled off IH10, we were within 1.7 miles of a Camper’s World. Clay did the trouble shooting and found it was the harness connection – only cost $80.00 and we were on our way to Las Cruces, New Mexico at Hacienda RV Park. We stayed for 3 nights to rest up and it was really worth it. Here are some pictures of where we stayed in Las Cruces.

LC Hacienda RV Park 2 — Hacienda RV Park, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Las Cruces NM 1 — View of the Organ Mountains from Hacienda RV Park

Here are pictures of our winter home taken upon arrival in Las Cruses.

Las Cruces NM 2 — The Winter Home on Wheels

Las Cruces NM 3 — Winter Home Away From Home

Clay and I were so exhausted from everything during the last year or so and the “getting ready to go” mostly from our decision to upgrade to the SWM Direct TV System and change to HD Televisions. That change over just about did us in. It is interesting that 2 years ago I wanted to do this but Direct TV kept telling us that we could not get the HD signal, etc, blah blah blah…. This year we bit the bullet and decided to just upgrade the TVs to HD and use the existing Dish! This was supposed to be an easy thing (LOL) it took about 6 days and right up to the last minute leave to learn more than we wanted to about the change over (especially the total cost)! We now have HD TV and Whole Home in our 5th Wheel – and it works great! BIG LEARNING CURVE ON THIS ONE! Upon our arrival in Las Cruces, we decided to stay 2 nights and rest up – then we decided to add one more night and found out that it would be free! Nice treat. Hacienda RV Park is an upscale park and easy in and out – we did not unhook the entire time!

We left on the morning of the 24th of September and arrived at Tombstone Territories RV Park on Hwy 82, by Whetstone, AZ early afternoon. Setting up took some time and it was horribly HOT HOT HOT that day. But we were thankful to have made the last leg of the trip (about 900 miles from home) without any more issues! This is the first time we have wintered at this RV Park and it is absolutely perfect. Since we live in the country, living in the middle of the Desert is really no different. The spaces are great – 40 feet x 80 feet – and we were placed in a great space. All of spaces are pull through – so much easier to drive in and out rather than having to maneuver into a tight space. This park is 150% improvement over the other RV Park we had stayed at since 2006. So all in all, this is one of the best winter trips we have had in a long time. No real problems, peace and quiet, and life is finally good again. Here is our “semi-permanent home” for the winter.

409 at TT 1 — Our Space at TT – Notice the Large White Poles – That is Clays Ham Radio Antenna. The other “flag” looking thing is a Yagi for Verizon Cell Tower for the Jet Pack Internet

409 at TT — Wide Open Spaces and the Dragoon Mountains in the background.

409 TT 1 — Cloudy Day in Arizona – This is called “downsizing” for the winter – a lot less to clean!

TT View 3 — The Dragoon Mountains (East of Tombstone Territories RV Park)

TT View 1 — View of the Whetstone Mountains and the Club House

TT View 2 — The Arizona Sky – Looking at the Dragoon Mountains

We stay on Texas time rather than changing back and forth. Arizona is the only state in the Union that does not honor Daylight Savings Time (of which I absolutely hate), so when we get up at our usual 6 AM, it is 4 AM here. We keep 2 different clocks to remind us as we walk out the door that we are 2 hours ahead (LOL). I can hardly wait for 1 November – as we will at least get one hour back! One of the most beautiful things about Arizona are the Sunrises and Sunsets. You can see for yourself!

Beautiful Sunrise — What a Sunrise on a Cloudy Morning

TT Sunrise — Sunrise at TT RV on a Morning Walk

Beautiful Sunrise 2 — Another Beautiful Sunrise during a morning walk.

TT Rainbow 3 — Beautiful Rainbow after a rain event. Notice the sun shining on the Dragoon Mountains.

Rainbow Oct 14 — The Blue Skies with the Beginning of the Rainbow

Tombstone Territories RV Park 3 — Beginning of the Moon Eclipse

This week we went shopping for a new computer chair for Clay (there is a Long LONG story about that shopping spree-but all ended great)! One of the great things about being married to an “Engineer” are the things that they can design, fix, and change original configurations in a RV. Clay installed fluorescent lighting in our 5th wheel when we purchased it in order that we had plenty of lighting. Most RV’s do not have that type of lighting and it is hard to quilt or read in the dim lighting. (He has totally redesigned the inside and outside of this 5th Wheel and customized it to meet our needs.) (I will save those pictures for another time) The downfall of the great lighting is that the light above me and next to me shines in the TV can interfere with our view of the TV. I purchased a neat lamp for $40.00 at Staples to accommodate my nighttime handwork. It is absolutely wonderful when I want to do hand work while watching TV. Another shopping spree yielded 2 new purses. I found 2 Dooney and Burke purses that I love. One is a smaller version of the larger one that I will use when I do local shopping. The larger one will hold things that I might need if I am going to Tucson or we are headed to Bisbee or Tombstone for the day.

New Lamp — Staples Lamp – Has a group of 4 LED lights and provides wonderful lighting!

I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and the happenings at the beginning of a Winter Vacation in Arizona. Next Blog will be on quilting. Have a great week-end. It rained all night and still cloudy, but a wonderful cool day!