Sewing with friends, and visitors

Memorial Day brought several people to our house, one planned, and two of them unexpected.  First, my friend Tanya arrived in the morning with her sewing machine, new Arrow portable sewing table, and several projects to play with.  She went home with a finished pillow cover, which we started last year:

Tanya and her husband have a travel trailer they take to the beach and this fun and bright 24" pillow will probably live in there. 

The light washed the color out, but this pink and brown flannel made up the majority of the backing, a simple overlapped slipcover.  I also showed her how to use the rotating cutting mat for squaring up blocks on another of her quilt projects and we worked on sashing and border ideas while she trimmed.  I love to sew with friends!  We had a great visit and I hope it is repeated soon.

My mom and dad just returned from a trip to Yellowstone Park with Cousin Florence (whom we stayed with in Cincinnati in April).  Mom came over bearing gifts and bringing their two new companions.

I helped Mom name the new companions.  Meet Jackson the Buffalo and Cody the Wolf.  Cousin Florence had generously ordered rooms at the Old Faithful Inn, with a fabulous view of the geyser from the rooms--the buffalo came from there. Their trip included a lot of dodging of weather due to plenty of storms, rain and snow showers.  They saw some amazing scenery and plenty of moose, buffalo, and elk.  In Cody, Wyoming, they went to a quilt shop that turns out to have been featured in the spring/summer 2011 Quilt Sampler magazine.  Called Friends and Co Quilt Shop, my dad picked up the issue and had the owner, Vicki Mollett, sign their page.  I loved the western style quilt she designed.   

Mom and Cousin Florence looked for fabric souvenirs. Cousin Florence remembered that I love Civil War prints and a jelly roll was the lovely result.  Barbara Brackman's blog, Civil War Quilts, has some fascinating history in addition to the wonderful blocks she is featuring and many in blogland are making.  We finished off Memorial Day with a barbecue with a different guest, son Nick's new girlfriend, Alison.  It was a lovely way to end the day.