BBQ and John's Little Quilts

News for the weekend - we are hosting a barbecue tomorrow. About 30 people last I heard and it is mostly potluck so that will be fun! I still have a couple of things to do and then just visit and eat.

We enjoyed our field trip to Cody, Wyoming and visit to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. I ran out of camera battery part of the way through the Plains Indian Museum but did get a few pictures. I had never seen or even heard of moose hair embroidery. It was just exquisite. We also saw a pair of moccasins that were completely beaded in a yellow and black harlequin pattern on the soles; obviously for wearing while riding, not walking.

The Chevy van held 8 quilters/knitters just fine and 8 quilters/knitters weigh less than 6 boxes of quilt frames and booth paraphernalia, so the van was happy.

"Heart of the Storm"

John finished his Alzheimer's Challenge quilt, "Heart of the Storm" and it is ready to ship.  This is his 2010 entry in to the "World Series" Challenge  - you can learn more at Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.    Last year the 4 quilts in the challenge raised $10,000 for Alzheimer's research.  This year there are two teams so we all hope the quilts net even more!   The little wallhanging is 16" by 16".

"Seedlings"

Another project is almost done; John's contribution to the 2010 IQA Miniature Auction at International Quilt Festival.  It is all pieced and ready to quilt.  This Pine Burr variation is 18" x 18" and is called "Seedlings".
No, it is not paper pieced.

Stay cool; I'm trying to do my outside work in the morning so I can be inside while it is the hottest, how about you?

Brooke

More Small Quilts

Each year, the International Quilt Association has a fundraising auction of miniature quilts. Since IQA is the group that puts on the Quilt Show at Houston, we love to help them by donating little quilts.  Here are pictures of John's work in progress.  The Pine Burr blocks finish to 6" and he is making 9 of them.

And then there is Kate's string pieced satin String Star which is going to finish to 12".  Wow, the colors of the satin just glow.

So I have started a little project using 4" Dresden Plate blocks but I'm feeling a little intimidated by these two and their skill.  They will be done and off to the next project before I have decided what I am going to do, I bet.

I am so excited; some of our quilt group are going to see "The Quilters" in Cody, Wyoming at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.  We are making a day of it, even lunch!  John and I saw the play maybe 30 years ago and enjoyed it.  It will be fun to see how much the presentation has changed over the years. 

Have a great weekend!

Brooke

Field Trips

No, not  to a quilt shoppe this time.  Saturday John and I went on a Geology and Ecology field trip up the Beartooth Highway.  I have looked forward to this trip for weeks and weeks. There were about 40 of us on the bus, and we learned a lot about the area we have been driving by in our cars for years.  My favorite was the little alpine tundra meadow, up at 10,000', with thousands of miniature flowers like forget-me-nots,  a type of red-violet clover and bright yellow geum.  We had a  beautiful day for the trip and here are some pictures

Beartooths

Then I went with some knitting friends to a yarn shoppe in Fishtail, Montana (really, that is the town's name!) called The Muddy Lamb.  It is a beautiful shoppe; we had a great time and left with many bags of yarn.

John is teaching in Knoxville right now - he doesn't need his jacket there!

Brooke

Paul the Octopus Picks...

Paul the Octopus has picked John's Alzheimer Art Quilt to win the World Series Challenge.  So there.

Let me remind you about the Mediterranean Empires Quilt Seminar at Sea next summer.  John will be teaching as well as Karen Combs, Christine Porter, Cindy Walter and Elly Sienkiewicz.  The cruise line is Holland America.  Here is the web address  Group Seminars at Sea  And here are some pictures!

John will be teaching a small, beautiful Mariner's Compass wall hanging and a hand quilted trapunto and stippling whole cloth project designed just for the cruise.  How peaceful it will be to sit and watch the sea go by and hand piece or hand quilt; better sign up!

We are packing the van right now so John can head for Knoxville on Sunday.  The AQS Show is next week and the kits for all the classes are very nice - if you are signed up, I think you are going to like them!

Stay cool and have a great weekend.

Brooke

What we did on the Fourth

Well, we ate on the Fourth of July.  Some of our menu was wholesome; a beautiful barbecued pork loin and lots of vegetables and fruit.  But we saved room for S'mores.  We ate some made with graham crackers and some made with chocolate chip cookies.  When I looked around, almost everyone had melted marshmallow on their face and John's sister had some in her hair.  We decided to try roasted Slim Jim sausages.  They were tasty;  a lot better roasted than right out of the package. 

John still has lots of construction materials left over from his bridge building days so our fire pit is made out of a wheel from a semi-truck and the marshmallow sticks are made out of snap ties.  Everything is very sturdy.

And, last of all, notice the red, white and blue vehicles in the background!  Well, almost red, white and blue.

This free picture slideshow made with Smilebox Update 7/30  I "found" this movie on my camera; I did not know it was there.  It made Kate, John and me laugh pretty hard...it isn't edited because I don't know how to do that either!

Hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July; we had cool weather in Red Lodge, not 90s or 100s like many parts of the U.S.  And there was fresh snow on the mountains this morning.

Today Kate and I are helping John pack before he drives to Knoxville to teach at the AQS Show.  If you haven't signed up for one of his classes, this is your chance!  http://www.aqsquilt.com/

Brooke

Spotlight on Brooke

Since I write the blog and, 99% of the time, operate the camera, most of our images are of John.  But my picture was in the local paper last week, along with friends from our knitting group.  We were asked to knit or crochet 12" squares in a color which represents one of the forms of cancer.  The squares then went to Decatur, Illinois where a local Relay for Life group hopes to make the world's longest knitted/crocheted ribbon to promote awareness of cancer.  The Carbon County Arts Guild lets us use a classroom in the gallery for our knitting group; look at the colorful paintings on display right now!  (I am on the very far right, with my gigantic shawl project) 

Then, I feel like I have conquered a small bit of technology.  We made two little videos describing how to address a couple of those frequently asked questions and I successfully got them on our website.  You can see them here; I know they aren't impressive but believe me, I felt pretty triumphant when they worked!  I am the demonstrator in the little videos and John is the photographer/narrator.
Bolt and Rod End  Black Plastic Sleeve  It took us all afternoon!

Have a wonderful, safe Fourth of July.  We will have a small barbecue and spend some peaceful time dog sitting.  I imagine John and Maggie the dog will wear each other out with the B A L L.

Brooke

All Flynn Quilts and Quilters are Fine

The nasty and atypical weather that hit Billings on Sunday missed our office by about 15 miles.  Kate and Kevin were also about 13 miles away and Brooke and John were in Red Lodge, in the sunshine!

As you can see, the county now needs a new multi-use center.  No one got hurt; the Metra was actually closed and the power was even temporarily turned off, for maintenance, I guess.

Video Footage from KTVQ News

Thanks for all the notes; we appreciate them and hope all quilters are safe from tornados this summer.

Brooke