A Great Weekend!

It was another beautiful weekend here in Cordova, Alaska!  The weather has been terrific the past two days!  What a wonderful way to begin spring break!

On Saturday, I celebrated Nat'l Quilting Day with a couple of QBees at our guild's monthly "Time to Sew" event.  I spent the entire day with the Accuquilter doing some serious stash busting.  You can see QBee Terry and Barb's projects on the guild blog here!  It is wonderful having such inspirational friends!  We also had lunch and went shopping ... what a wonderful way to spend the first day of spring break!

Today Mr. DD and I decided to take Kysa for a hike.  The trail is located about 18 miles out the road ... it was a beautiful drive.

The Forest Service has a cabin available at both ends of the trail.  I have many family ... and 12 years of girl scout memories of this trail and its cabins!  Wonderful times.

The trail was frozen and had a light dusting of snow.  Temperate rain forests are very dense so there is rarely heavy snowfall on this trail.

Kysa probably puts on five times the distance we do ... she runs back and forth the entire time!

Such a happy dog!  

Another great "pain free" hike!  The progress my knee is making feels wonderful ... I am grateful.

The weekend ended with a spectacular sunset!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!  

Do what you love.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally

Spring Break Begins!

Sunset - 7:30 pm - 3.15.13

What a beautiful way to begin spring break!  I'm looking forward to a week of dillydallying!  

Recharged!

It had been a long while ... this weekend was free from obligations ... I could dillydally on a whim ... all weekend!

Early Saturday morning, several squalls of weather passed through ... snow, sleet, hail and rain!  I assumed I would be dillydallying indoors!

Coastal living has taught me that the weather can change very quickly!  By 1:30 pm this was the view from our home.

Because beautiful days are few and far between ... when Mother Nature changes the weather in our favor ... we drop everything and go out to enjoy it!  Kysa was also excited!

We went "out the road" (about 16 miles) to the Sheridan River.  The glacier on the left in the photo is the Sheridan Glacier.

Even though it was cold, the fresh air and sun felt great!

Kysa has not begun shedding her heavy winter coat, but still enjoyed a back scratch in the snow!

Another beautiful and pain free walk.  Feels so good!

The sunset was gorgeous!  A friend and I attended a local community theater play in the evening!  What a wonderful dillydally Saturday!

Sunday we woke to falling snow ... and it didn't stopped!  A great day to dillydally in the sewing room.

I have been in the mood to make something for myself ... I picked up this pattern last summer ... time to give it a go!  I love all patterns from Atkinson Designs!  Not only are her designs amazing, but her instructions can be trusted!  Remember ... I am the President of the Terry Atkinson Fan Club, Alaska Chapter.  Self-appointed of course! ;-)

Living dangerously in the sewing room!  Hee-hee!

Sewing with vinyl is not one of my favorite things to do.  I recently purchased a foot especially designed for that purpose ... it worked well!  Of course the vinyl had to be on top for it to be effective, went back to using tissue paper when it was best to have the vinyl on the bottom.

Flicka had very little interest in what I was doing.  The little song birds have arrived ... she spent the entire day absorbed in what they were doing.

I enjoyed making all the different styles of pockets for this bag.  Enough variety to make it interesting ... and fun!

Oh how I love this floral print by Thimbleberries!  It makes my knees weak and my heart sing!  I want an entire bolt!

Finished!  It took most of the day ... I have plans for this bag ... stay tuned!

I am so pleased with this project!  What a wonderful and productive way to spend the day!  I really needed a weekend like this ... am feeling recharged and ready to face a busy week!  Happy Monday!

Do what you love.  Recharge.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally

To Build a Basket!

Building a basket is a journey.  Last summer ...

... the Metro QBees treated me to a wonderful dillydally day!  One shop they shared with me was Millie P's Quilt Shop in Anoka, Minnesota.

The shop is "off the charts" ... absolutely fabulous!

I love this idea ... what a great pressing surface!  Am filing away this idea for the dillydally studio of my dreams! ;-)

I purchased this pattern ( and the notions required) while there.  Am so disappointed that I neglected to take pictures of the samples in the shop ... they were adorable ... and obviously inspiring.  The pattern is called, Britta Hoopster Basket by Hemma Designs.  Recently, I decided to make one and chose to use a Bali Pop from my stash!

We had to begin by cutting down the size of the Bali Pop strips.  Yep, my Snoopervisor was on the job!

Yardage pieced ... now to quilt it!

Tissue paper and Flicka are a dangerous combination ... dangerous for the tissue pattern!  She is a professional when it comes to shredding it!  Here she is trying to remove the pattern from the quilted fabric.  Fortunately the pattern survived!

Pieces cut out ... time to begin putting this basket together.

This basket is shaped with darts and boning.  I was having trouble keeping the boning in place ... ugh ... stopped for a moment ... and realized that Flicka had been removing the pins!  What a sneak!  Then I got the camera ready ... it took several tries ... but I finally caught her in the act!  Some help!  Right?

Yep ... Flicka is a big help!  Honestly ... it is a wonder I get anything done ... but it is also true that she adds to the fun!

Together we read ... reread ... and read again the instructions for the handles.

Once we figured it out ... we both got busy.

While I began working on the handles ... Flicka decided to give the basket a test drive.

She can be quite the taskmaster ... and thought that my efforts at getting the handles on was taking far  too long ...

... finally she decided to take things into her own hands paws!

When her problem solving efforts didn't work out, she was frustrated ...

... cats know that the best way to approach a challenge is to take a nap!

Yep ... a good nap can solve most problems!  We should all nap more often!

On the job as my supervisor and cheerleader while I attach the handles!  What would I do without her?

We built a basket.  It is on display at the Cordova Quilters' Hideout ... Flicka fur and all!

Do what you love.  Take naps.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally