Trying New Things

For the first time we went to a Renaissance Festival. It was bigger than I expected, more shops than I expected, and I probably won't go again. Its not the era I belong in and apparently a lot of other people do. I was surprised at how many people came dressed in costume. The highlights for us were the animals. From the raptors to the elephants, my children can't get enough close-ups with creatures of every kind.

This really is the year I've become a quilter. After all these years, go figure. MyMike keeps saying, I thought you didn't like to sew. Well for the first forty-plus years of my life I didn't too much, but I find its like scrapbooking on steroids and I'm loving it. There is more fabric than colored paper and putting them together to create something useful makes me happy. I finished the second of five sampler table runners I'm making. I added a star binding to this one and liked that better than the original binding so I'll probably add it to all the rest. I still need to steam-iron it so it lays flat, then its all done. I really liked making the bear's paw pattern in the center. Curves are more challenging but I'm glad I learned how. I have three baby quilts I really want to make but I'm disciplining myself to finishing these first before I start on those. Most of these will go to my quilt guild's annual fund raiser in October. The baby quilts will go to my grandchildren . . . someday. As I started these blocks six years ago I thought I'd better get a start on things.