Bellingham Washington Photo Essay

OK.  So these photos are from June of this year.  Things have been a bit of a flat out dead run around here.  I'm kinda starting to get a bit of a routine going, so I feel like I have a bit of time to share these long overdue photos with you.  Not that I'm caught up or anything, but . . .

I got to go to Bellingham, Washington this year to attend soapmaking classes (Soap Intensive Weekend) offered by Bramble Berry.  Before I went to class, I walked along the water.  I'm a desert kid, you know, so large bodies of water fascinate me. 

Here are a few of the photographs from that walk:

The Alaska ferry Columbia

The brick and mortar store related to Bramble Berry in downtown Bellingham

The soapy classes were great!  Bellingham is charming and very walkable (if you don't mind a bit of up and downhill). 

This town deserves more exploration . . .

Firecracker Quilt Being Quilted

I was getting my Firecracker quilt ready to quilt on my sewing machine.  This was before the arrival of the longarm quilting machine (more on that later!).  I used a version of Sharon Schamber's method of hand basting.  See her video here.  

Then I got busy quilting it on my sewing machine.  First, I studied the photo here on quilt designer Julie Herman's blog of the fabulous quilting done on the quilt by quilter Angela Walters.  I knew I couldn't do the amazingly beautiful job that Angela did on Julie's quilt, but it inspired me.  First, I outlined the triangle shapes of the pinwheels. 

Then I did swirls in the background spaces.

Here is my version of the quilt all done!!

It's now hanging in the local quilt shop, Hearts and Hands, where it's on the class schedule. 


What project have you finished lately?