House Saga...

So, I don't remember if I mentioned this the other day or not, but...last week I was locked out of the house for four days! Well, I should say that I locked myself out for four days!
So, what happened is I rented this car to drive to Indiana and when I returned it the house key was on the car key chain. Unfortunately, the unnamed car rental agency messed up big time and kept telling me they'd get the key in a few days and naturally now a week later they can't find it. Groan!
I had to have my sister who was on vacation fed ex her key to me. I stayed with my grandparents during the whole time. I'm so grateful to them for letting me stay with them, but of course that is awkward too in a tiny apartment with no vehicle or anything to get out and about with. So it was an interesting week.
Now that I'm back in my sister's house I've been working like crazy on the quilt. Hopefully I will get it done this week! Panic! but beyond that it is nice to have my sis back and it was lovely to get some extra time with my grandparents.

More Quilting Pics

So this is one of my quilt squares for this retarded :) (since it is inanimate I can call it whatever names I so choose, so there :-P ) quilt that I am working on. I have to make approximately 36 of these, plus six half squares. I've actually already made the squares, but I still have to sew some of the colored pieces in and then sew the squares together etc. You can see a little more advanced version in this pic:

This is about half of the quilt right here:
As you can see, some of it is blocked by the couch, but you get the idea. Unfortunately, the part that is blocked by the couch is one of the red sections.
Other than the general difficulty in putting this quilt together and the patience required, my main problem with this quilt is that I find it too busy. From a distance (like in the picture) it looks okay, but in person it is a little overwhelming and I tend to see the individual colors more than the whole picture. I think my idea was good in choosing the charcoal rather than black or white for the background, but I should have kept the "stained glass" colors to a smaller range. Like blues and greens with the occasional yellow, or reds and yellows with the occasional white. As it is I have all six of those in there and it is just a little much. I think I actually have too many pieces right now so I am trying to focus on the blues and greens more than the reds, but I don't know how well it will really work.

Cathedral Windows?

So, after being locked out of the house for four days (I lead an exciting life :|; and, yes, I will tell you that story another day), I am back in and frantically working on that ill-fated quilt. Here are some pics of what I have so far. I'll try to take some close-ups today as well and then maybe another to show you how far I have gotten by the end of the day. My sister and brother-in-law have decided to come back two days early and between that and the whole locked out of the house for four days business I'm a little worried about getting it done in time!

You can see the size of it in comparison to my brother and my niece there. I'm actually concerned that it will be a little too busy when I am done, but we'll give it a shot and if they hate it I'll make them a different one. :D This one should be a queen sized bedspread or so. It's heavy as the lead casings that real Cathedral Windows had!

Coming in for landing...

So after a two week hiatus I'm BAAAAAAAACKKKK!
Please do not run from the room in terror.

It's been a fun two weeks. Most of the time I was in Oregon at my brother's place. I actually got to hang out with both of my brothers, my sister-in-law and my niece!
So this is me and Matt on the Oregon coast, and yes, that is the Pacific Ocean. And of course the second pic is Sam and Melissa and Vienna at the same spot. It was a nice relaxing time, but I got to see a variety of different places from one of the outlet malls to the coast to Mount Hood (although only in the distance) and the Rose Gardens in Portland.

Beyond that I spent a lot of time with Melissa and the baby while the boys worked. Vienna now has had the wonderful experience of hanging out with Auntie Es. >:) I have to admit that I am a proud Auntie. It was a blast to be able to hang out with the boys for a few days. It was sure hard to leave though. :(
Love you guys!

Home sweet home! Well, more or less. I made it to Sam and Melissa's today. Finally! It's wonderful to be here. Odd, I'm such a home body and yet when I am on the road I enjoy that too. I guess, I get worn out from traveling and eventually need some time alone, but I do love spending time with people!
I've met old friends and new ones. I just want to say, "Thank you!" to everyone who put me up on this trip. I had such limited time, I would have loved to stay in BC and Calgary much longer. Perhaps next time...
I'm going to download some pictures from my camera later and I'll try to post them a bit later. Or now:

This one is from the prairies, has the moon in it, but you can hardly see it. It is just above the trees.








And this one is from the mountains (in case you couldn't figure that out :D ). Alberta side, not BC, that's the next one.








I wish I had more and better pictures, but these are what I have for the moment. It was incredibly beautiful!!!
Can't wait to see the coast.

So far, so good...

Well, I've made it to Medicine Hat, AB.
Okay, I'm back. You probably didn't sense that gap, but right now I am trying to dry my hair, cut my nails, do my email, get mapquest directions, work and blog at the same time. :D Oh and drink my tea, speaking of which, I should really run upstairs and start another batch brewing, but that will have to wait until I am done with you!
I've been on the road for nearly a week now! It hardly feels that way, but then I'm wondering if that is because my brain is still trying to catch up to my body.
It was stressful the last few days that I was packing up, you know trying to clean and figure out how on earth youare going to fit this all in your car, let alone two suitcases at the end of the summer! :P But it did all come together and I eventually got off on the road.
I've spoken in a couple of different churches and with different individuals and things have gone well so far. I still get nervous every time I have to speak, but I guess that is par for the course.
So far the little car is holding up. I've actually even had someone interested in buying her, but unfortunately that was in Saskatchewan and I need my little car to get me all the way to Oregon.
I can't believe that I'll be there in a couple of days! I've been planning this trip for two months and now it is here and it is all a little much to grasp. I can hardly wait to drive over the mountains and then down through Washington and Oregon. I just wish the road was a little closer to the coast, that would be amazing!
Well, I'm off to get some work done on my course, catch you all later!