7. 234

Seven hours and 234 miles.

Worth it when a favorite quilt store holds their annual ‘skinny bolt*’ sale.  Plus, this year they added their entire selection of batiks to the sale, making it absolutely irresistible.

These batiks are destined for this ⬇️ (not sure about the teal . . . may end up swapping that out, even tho I love it.) Dark brown is for the border, off-white is the background.

And these ⬇️ are destined for stash; the top two are for quilt backings - the blue is 3 yards at 108” wide and the flowered is 4 yards at 42” ($26 for 4 yards!!). 

Can’t wait to start cutting and sewing! 

 Auditioning fabrics in-store

* A “skinny bolt” = only a few yards left on the bolt = 35% off. All batiks were 35% off also. Sale fabrics, like the flowered cotton ⬆️, are 65% off. Whoo! One of my favorite sales of the year - you never know what you’re going to find!

 

So I can remember what I bought:

Blue 108, 3 yds (18.45). Dark brown batik, 2.33 yds (8.74/yd). Oyster batik, 3 yds (8.97). Black grunge, 1 yd (8.74). Batiks, .5 yd each (4.40). Blue dots, .75 yd (4.41). Dark blue sparkles, 1.75 yds (7.93).

Jumble

Jumble sounds better than ‘photo dump’ or ‘this and that’, right?

Jac is Queen of the new ride. 

She’s convinced Pop bought the convertible just for her.

Matt asked us to babysit tonight so he and Mary could enjoy an anniversary dinner. “Just be sure Donovan doesn’t fall asleep, so he’ll sleep tonight,” he says. A half hour later, I get ⬆️ pic. Daddy let them both fall asleep! 😂😂😂

 “I’m so peeing in your shoes when I get out of here.”

My poor Lily has been to the vet hospital twice since we got home from Hawaii. Once for an ultrasound, then for an endoscope exam. Blood work ruled out most major kitty diseases, so now we’re waiting on biopsy results. The hospital vet says she thinks, based on experience, that it’s the “c” word. Crossing my fingers and hoping like hell that she’s mistaken. 

Planning

My quilting mojo seems to be slip-sliding away.

Just needs sashing and borders 

I need to get going on some projects - Christmas and Halloween are coming soooon - 

 but the only things I’ve been interested in are Botanical Beauties (⬆️) and my flower garden (⬇️).

So - some things I want to make  . . . 

a Christmas Cactus wall hanging (paper-pieced) in fall colors;

a Thanksgiving tablerunner 

using this book I got last year;

a Halloween tablerunner;

a koi quilt

with this pattern;

maybe finish the snow globe quilt;

or start Dreamy Dan;

or join this quilt-along that starts Monday. . . love the design.

Just need to make a decision and start SOMETHING.

Card By Jac

Jac helped me tape up a box for my sister and decided we should also send her a card.

Jac: “what do you love about her?”

Me: ~names a couple of things~

Jac: “say something else, I can’t spell that”

Me: “l love that she is nice.”

Jac: “I can do that.”

Aloha

Aloha, Hawaii.

Thanks for the lovely rain on our last day.

Iolani Palace

I wasn’t sure the Iolani Palace tour would be worth 

the hour+ drive into Honolulu 

but it definitely was. 

 The last Queen of Hawaii

Most everything in the Hawaiian royal palace 

 Throne Room

was sold at auction when Queen Liliuokalani was overthrown around 1894.

 Queen’s bedroom and coronation gown

Friends Of Iolani Palace have managed to track down many of the items

 Music Room

(like the blue chairs in the Queen’s photo above) 

 Reproduction of the dress the Queen wore to meet Queen Victoria - peacock feathers!!

and purchased or obtained them on loan for display. 

 Necklace with miniatures of Royal Orders

They’ve also paid for the (beautiful!) restoration and upkeep of the building, 

which was used (and abused) as government offices until 1969. 

 Crazy quilt on display in palace



We’d intended to see more than just the palace 

I love these huge trees

while we were in deserted, 

almost traffic-free Honolulu - 

now we know to visit downtown on the weekend! - 

 King Kamehameha

but the heat was too much so we headed home, 

 Red dot by the palm tree is our balcony

to sink our toes - 

and knees - 

in the waves. 

View from the non-beach side of the condo.

Sunset from ocean-level. 

Aloha!

Sightseeing

We did a bit of sightseeing today, 

starting with the Waikiki Aquarium,

the second oldest aquarium in the US, 

 Baby Gary-baldies

established in 1904.

 Raccoon Butterflyfish, a first for me

It’s small - we were in and out in an hour -

 River Stingray
but well worth the $5 admission fee. 

 Ocean as backdrop

And they had my favorite weedy sea dragons, 

so I’m ready to visit again. 

Then an excellent lunch overlooking the ocean 

at the Barefoot Beach Cafe on Waikiki Beach,

before driving up to Diamondhead lookout

and the Punchbowl National Cemetery. 

Such a beautiful memorial.

We have reservations tomorrow to see the Iolani Palace

and maybe wander around other historical sites and some shops on Waikiki.

 Poor Giant Clam! 😂

Still haven’t put my toes in the ocean, 

so maybe we’ll do that tomorrow too.

Amazing how fast the days fly when we’re on vacation!