What a Mess!

This series of photos is an attempt to make my designer friend feel very neat and organized...because she is!

Here's the view from my studio door...not a clear space in sight. 

My desk is totally covered with miscellaneous papers...mainly my ciphering for tile designs and orders. 

But dog walks are never missed.

Quilting Goes to the Side

I had a great time in Atlanta! Everyday was packed with so much...we worked and played very hard. We are building a home so my reason for traveling to Atlanta was to work with my great friend who is an interior designer. It is so great to work with someone who knows me and my husband so well. I now feel enthused about the new house...it had been a real struggle for me prior to the trip...I love my current home.

We are building a rustic style home. Cedar exterior. Wood floors of reclaimed wood on the main level and basement studio. Large river rock, double sided fireplace between the great room and dining room. Cedar lined vaulted ceilings. You get the picture...very Alaskan...a place my husband can hang dead animal heads. I do have a few walls reserved for quilts.

First we picked out the slate tile for the entry way and mud room along with the carpet that will be on the upstairs level with the bedrooms.

There is some fun glass tile thrown in this sample board that will appear in our powder room.

Then we picked tile for bathrooms.

The tile for the laundry room and bath that are next to the bedrooms with a piece of the carpet.

The master bath tile. The dark brown tile is from the store's floor but it sure looks great with our look. The center grey tile is granite and my friend placed it there to give me an idea of what to look for when I check out counter tops.

Then the most fun part...looking for furnishings. We  haven't bought new furniture in 20 years! I think I'm due.

A wool area rug for the great room with a charcoal leather sectional...maybe a blue ottoman or pillows like the top of the photo. In the left bottom half of the photo are fabric options  for dining room chairs. We are going with a rustic wood table with a trestle bottom. Maybe a bench on one side...it's a narrow space.

The tile and carpet prices jump on October 1st so I have to figure out my tile amounts now! Quilting will be on the back burner for awhile...but I am enjoying getting caught up on all the quilting blogs I regularly read...lots of great projects.

Design Wall Monday

I spent a little time on Sunday getting the final block for Henrietta Whiskers prepped. I still need to stitch around my wool appliques.

I'm pecking away on some binding.

Here's the pattern for the next gathering of my Breakfast Club group. That's coming up next week so I needed to figure out my fabrics. It's a strip quilt with three accent colors for the triangles.

I stayed in my comfort zone with earth colors. These two sets of Bali Pops that have been patiently waiting in the sewing studio.

But not much is going to get done on the sewing front for the next week because as we Alaskans like to say...I heading outside...to the lower 48...the contiguous states. I'm going to Atlanta for chick time. I have to wear dresses, high heels and pantyhose at least twice! Nice slacks, dressy tops...clothes I've owned for a couple of years but never worn! All the Bailey men will be keeping down the home front. Sure hope my sweet dog, Jenny, has a good time with them...she's going to miss me.

I will get some cross stitch done on the plane trips...my favorite activity for air travel.

Ever the optimist, I have two more cross stitch kits packed just in case I need them.

Into the Raging Water - Don't Miss That Pullout

Day 12 - Just Four Miles

This was the first morning everyone was up early and we were on the water by 9 a.m. I guess I wasn't the only one anxious to get off the river. We weren't supposed to show up at the pullout at Diamond Creek, until after 10 a.m. because commercial boats set up for day trips from that beach and there wouldn't be room for us. But the guide book said there was a beach to wait at just before the main departure beach. Unfortunately, the high water level had put that first beach under water so we had no choice but to crowd into the commercial boats.

Because there was so little beach area when we arrived, the Bailey raft was having a hard time staying out of the main current. All of the sudden the water was pulling us past the pullout. Help! Zman was rowing like crazy but we were still moving farther away from the beach. If we missed this pullout it meant a two day journey until the next pullout location. AK Santini  threw a rope to those on the shore and thankfully a lot of the men getting the commercial boats ready, came running and helped pull us back to the beach. That was so scary!

There was just one more raft from our party and we managed to get them tied up to trees above the commercial boats. No one was going to extend their trip for two days!

The commercial boats left and our outfitter showed up with a big truck to load everything into. Just like the beginning of the trip...we had to do all the loading and off loading ourselves. 

It was a little fun to jump on top of the rafts to flatten them out for loading into the truck. 

We had a bumpy 40 minute drive up a gravel road to the top of the canyon.

Back in civilization! We grabbed a quick lunch.

The Baileys had a plane to catch in Flagstaff and our driving time from Diamond Creek didn't leave much time for dallying. All our other expedition members were driving to their homes in California. Their cars had been re-positioned by our outfitter so once we got to the our lunch spot, they could be on their way home. 

Saying good bye is always the worst part of any trip with good friends. A last hug from my fellow teammates for camp chores, Ironman, Fearless Leader and Huck. 

AK Santini with his team - Brainiac, T.S. and Hiker Girl

Zman with Grizzly Mama and Survivor Man

And the fourth team - Lovey, Ballerina Girl, Peacekeeper and Seinfeld.

We sure hope we get to see them all soon. I think those Californians need to venture to Alaska!

We didn't have enough time to run to a hotel before hitting the airport, so the Baileys each took a turn bathing in a small sink at the outfitter's office. I bought a baseball cap to hide my hair. My hair was a little bit thicker by the end of the trip...guess I was taking some extra sand home with me.

Just in case you think I'm the only one with a tale to tell...check out this gal's Grand Canyon story. She was on a commercial trip...she doesn't know how good she had it!

To our Fearless Leader...I am glad I did it.  

Rafting the Grand Canyon July 2011 - The Adventure of a Lifetime. 

Into the Raging Water - Light at the End

Breakfast on the 11th morning. Zman and I enjoy the view. 

The best part of this trip was getting to spend so much time with my 17-year-old son. Since Zman is our second son, he was robbed of a lot of "firsts" that his older brother got to do in our family history but Zman definitely got the trip of a lifetime with us...and he even talks about doing it again. He has a great dad that not only lets him lead but encourages him. I don't think many teenagers get to raft level nine rapids with only eight days of rafting experience, while their dad videotapes them. But Zman was more than capable of handling the pressure. He loved it! It was so reassuring for me to see him in action. I now have even greater confidence in him as he begins his adulthood journey. 

Back to the Adventure: Our plan was to get an early start and an early finish. We wanted to get the best camp for our last night so our trip on the final morning would be easy. That meant we had to beat the other private rafting trip that had beat us every night to the primo camp. We had a secret weapon...

Survivor Man was going to kayak ahead and claim the camp for our team! Zman would row his raft with Lovey and Brainiac. It was just AK Santini and me in the Bailey raft...how romantic.  

That morning it was cloudy...and it pretty much stayed that way the whole day. We only had 10 miles to travel that day and they went incredibly fast.

We passed the other private rafting party that was just finishing a hike in a side canyon. They shouted to us, asking what camp we were heading for. There weren't too many camps left before reaching the final pullout so it was pretty important for them to figure out they needed to take a camp above the river from us. 

We came around a bend in the river and in the distance we could see a green kayak planted vertically on a hill of boulders with an American flag on top. It was a great vision!

The river guide book said the camp pullout was a little bit of work with eddy currents. These are currents at the bottom of rapids that pull you back up the river. They are very difficult to row through but I think we would have passed a lot of river stops without them. As usual, the guide book was spot on...the rafting captains had a lot of rowing to get to the camp pullout.

Camp at mile 222...four miles left to travel for the last day. Finally...party time.

We had a little champagne and "talked story."

We compared stripes...

and injuries. No need to share those photos. Thankfully, bruises and cuts were the worst of our injuries though we had the added assurance of traveling with a doctor...our Fearless Leader is a doctor...very good to have on a trip. But as Grizzly Mama had already pointed out on their honeymoon to a hotel guest that needed some medical attention, "He's only a dentist."  

And so the Bailey family got another line from the trip for "inside" family comments.

Sometimes a dentist is just what you need.

There was very little fresh food left at this point. Lovey made a Mexican enchilada casserole for our last meal. It cooked over coals in the dutch oven. 

Ballerina girl and I had to check it out too.

AK Santini showed Grizzly Mama how to operate the satellite phone. Her parents were very worried and greatly relieved to hear we were all okay. I guess they had a better idea than I did about what we could expect to encounter on this trip.

Grizzly Mama told them about the flipped raft...

but I think the flash flood story was saved for later. Satellite phone conversations can end rather abruptly so it was best not to try and cover every thing on the phone.

The kitchen had to be completely packed before we went to bed. Once again our goal was to beat the other private rafting group to the pullout location. This was the last night I would ever be on a planned camp out...I didn't sleep any better than the previous 10 nights.

Weekly Wrap Up

I was feeling like I hadn't gotten much accomplished this week in the studio when I realized I had neglected to share my version of Kim Brackett's "Snail Takes a Detour." 

It took me a couple of days to quilt this beauty.

I did some interlocking leaves for the inner borders with the teeth.

I did freehand "J" hooks...love the light areas.

The dark areas weren't as "neat" but they work. Hopefully I will get the binding on this weekend.

I also finished a block from a lingering BOM project. This is from a Moda U series. These patterns lack details for layout. The applique pieces are provided with a small drawing of the actual layout. I'm much too close to the seam allowances everywhere on this block. I will probably just sew an additional inch of the background fabric around all sides but if you have this in your stash of projects too...beware. Still, I have made progress.

Into the Raging Water - The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow

Day 10 started out like all mornings in the Grand Canyon. It was sunny. I had some of the best banana pecan pancakes ever, hustled up by supreme pancake maker - Survivor Man.

I think Survivor Man was in his element on this trip. He had such a cheerful camp shirt on for the 10th day. I recall he even did some singing that morning...lovely singing voice. "The sun'll come out tomorrow..."

Our gathering spot from the previous evening was taken over by ants so we squeezed  onto the path to the boats  for our dining room.

Here's Hiker Girl, Ballerina Girl, Seinfeld, Brainiac and Huck finishing up breakfast. AK Santini is down by the boats...see that terracotta water? It was a major pain to filter water with all that floating sediment material. 

Time for a bath in that lovely water...Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap. It gave Zman's scalp a lovely tingle. He had some river rash along his hairline from his hat band. Everyone else skipped the terracotta hair wash.

Huck, T.S. and Zman with canyon Mohawk hairdos. 

I had figured out the previous night that Tinactin spray worked great on my river rash on the back of my neck and shoulders. Just wanted to pass that on in case you need to remedy heat rash in a rush. All too soon the sun shirt and life vest were donned to cover up and encourage the rash again.

This was an easy day which as you can probably guess means it was one of my more favorite days. I was done working as an official cook on the trip! There were no rapids left comparatively speaking...just ripples. We were very fortunate to bump into a commercial group at a side canyon where we were planning to seek out pictographs. One of the commercial guides, Wiley, offered to hike with us up to the pictograph location because he said we would never find it on our own...he was right. 

Just above the heads of Huck and T.S. are some very faint pictographs. The dark smudges on the far left are also pictographs. Wiley was a wealth of information about the tribes that had inhabited this particular area. It is amazing how many tribes throughout the ages inhabited the Grand Canyon. Tribes fought. Some mysteriously died out. I really enjoyed getting information about something other than a rapid's rating and techniques for navigating the rapid. 

Lack of information about geology, vegetation, inhabitants, animals, etc., was a big downside. Our Fearless Leader had very thoughtfully provided various reference books to all of us but there just wasn't the time nor the energy to read and share. When we were on the river we could shout from boat to boat but until the last two days it was far too hectic to take in much of anything. If I could push the redo button I would definitely opt for the commercial trip versus the private...ideally with all my wonderful companions of this trip. I think there was some potential for fun in that scenario.

As the day went on the clouds moved in and we got into our usual trouble of finding a campsite in the threatening weather. Every time we hit a campsite it was full. AK Santini and Zman were pretty good at taking the lead and looking for campsites. We had traveled 27 miles that day to Fall Canyon. We made sure to place our tents far from any flash flood area. We did learn from our mistake. 

Not too much fresh food left with two nights remaining. Burritos for dinner. Hiker Girl whipped up a delicious Oreo cookie dessert. (If you have her over for a potluck make sure and tell her to bring a dessert. I figured that out by day 10.) We had a little lightening that night. Our satellite phone finally worked but we made Zman turn it off when the lightening started. We really didn't need to experience any other calamities like electrocution. And we didn't. It was a quiet night.