Quilt Motivated

 We were up early.  Hitting yard sales takes fortitude and a sense of adventure.  We headed out to wander far and wide since the GPS was feeling a little ill.  First stop ... fabric.  Cindy found MORE than enough to make two quilts, plus a FREE box of small square of all colors.  She also picked up a cute little metal box of fabric for $5.00.  Later, we found the exact same box at the quilt show for $49.98. SCORE!!!

The second stop didn't reap any rewards, so off we went to the quilt show in Yuma.  So many beautiful quilts!!  The amount of work that went into this one is totally beyond me.

 This 3D one may not be beyond my capabilities, but I don't have the patience.  It was very interesting ... and the amount of quilting even more tedious, requiring many hours.

You know I was drawn to this one.  Love the horses, and it's a relatively easy one to make.

This one ... though it looks really complicated, is a sleight of hand.  It's the quilting that makes it look pieced together, when really it's just border prints quilted to LOOK like it is pieced.

On the other hand, these pieces are very complicated.

Grand prize winner ... Valentines Day.  

The quilting on this one is amazing.  I might try to do a small one, but this takes many days to stitch together, let alone quilt.

THIS one motivates me to embroider and sew again.  I may just have to find this pattern.

There were cute wall hangings everywhere, too many to photograph.

I think this was my favorite.  A very complicated one, but a beauty for sure!  Just to give you an idea, nowadays the fabric to make this quilt would run close to $350 if not on sale.  

There was lots of walking around, but no material purchases.  Surprised?  Me too!!

Back home I walked the dog ... not the YoYo version, but the real thing.  It's not quite a full moon yet, but it's on its way.  

It was yet another quilt motivated great day.  I'm loaded up with patterns and fabric, ready to hit the road.  But I just had to show you the outside lights on Ray and Cindy's house.  They move like flames and the solar batteries last all night.  Best looking house in the park.

We ended the night, as we have several times, with ICE CREAM!!  I think this is my second favorite hobby.  And chocolate mint is becoming my favorite ice cream!!

And so I must say goodbye as I head out once again to Quartzsite.  The big tent is up and calling my name.

There are a couple more "finds", but I'll post about them tomorrow.  Here's hoping the winds calm down and the desert heats up!!

BROKE ... I'M BROKE

The calm before the storm!!  I was contemplating which patterns to take to the Arizona Marketplace for material.  Bonnie's will eventually close their doors this year.  If you are in Yuma and need material, the big discounts will come at the end of January.  With that said, everything I purchased was 50% off what  I normally pay for fabric, and much of it as low as $3.00 a yard.  Let's face it, I'm a fabric addict.

I think we were there for over two hours.  We bought so much that they gave us their big Radio Flyer wagon to haul it out to the car.   I'm pretty sure we each got three huge bags full!

 

Yup I'm now broke.  Okay, not completely, but let's just say I made Bonnie happy!!  As soon as I got home, I panicked about where in the heck I was going to PUT the stuff.  I had the intention of getting maybe ONE bag.  I had to completely reorganize the upper cabinet in order to find room for the FIRST bag.

Here's the deal, if you buy the entire bolt (or whatever is left on the bolt) you get an additional 50 cent a yard discount.  Here's the second bag of Christmas-quilt bound material, stashed in the same cabinet.  I admit, many of these are 4-7 yard pieces.  Anything extra will be used in the two scrap-quilt patterns Cindy gave me.

On the sale side, these end of bolt white on whites were $3-5.00 a yard, normally $14.00 where I come from.  No need to buy any more, this will probably last me the rest of my life.

These two pieces were leftover and had no place to live, so they went in Cooper's collapsible dog kennel.  But WAIT ..... there's one more bag!!!

This is part of the fabric for the quilt below.  For those in the know, this one has Y seams.  Please send tranquilizers when I start screaming.

There's a few more small pieces, but this is the majority of it.  Somewhere around 80-90 yards I think.  No worries, it takes approximately 9-12 yards per quilt, so I'll use it up.  Had I purchased this fabric where I buy, it would have been DOUBLE in price.  Not bad for a day's shopping.  

But WAIT ... there's a FABRIC YARD SALE first thing this morning, followed by a QUILT SHOW!  

No, we are NOT taking the Red Flyer Wagon!!!  I am marked SAFE from buying any more fabric.  

Maybe .....

World Record Saves Yuma

Now THAT was a crazy day of wind and sand!  Gusts up to 35 mph rocked my rig a bit, but wasn't too bad until we decided to go exploring.  The amount of dust and sand in the air made it feel like we were in a movie.  No problem though, we persevered!

Sometimes crazy ideas actually work .... and here's one of them.  Bill Richards posted on this a couple years ago, and I've always wanted to check it out.  Today was the day!!  This is the Yuma City Hall. 

Walk inside and you are met with this grim face.  A BUICK!  Here's the story.  After World War II, the military base in Yuma was going to close and it would become a ghost town.  Members of the Yuma Chamber of Commerce came up with the idea of gathering favor to keep the base open, by flying a plane longer than anyone ever had before.

To do that, they needed a plane, and a car that would fly across the ground underneath it while they passed off fuel and food.  

This Buick got the job.

In 1949, two men piloted this plane for 47 days without landing.  

While in flight, they changed the oil every couple of days and swapped canister after canister of fuel and food.  They say the car made 1500 trips down the runway in order to win the favor of the military to keep a base open here.

Here she is, planted in City Hall for posterity.  The military base was kept in Yuma and the little town survived.

And then it happened.  We got lost once again.  We were trying to get downstairs to the next attraction when we ended up in a stairwell.  Cindy SWEARS she knew the way, but I wasn't so sure.

Downstairs, we found this beauty.  Any idea what it is?

Pretty simple ... 3 pedals and a brake!

This is a giveaway ... says to TURN BOTTOM UP.

Love the chain drive ... and I bet it was a rough ride.

Very red and VERY patriotic .....

TA-DA!!!  A 1916 Model T fire truck.  That makes you feel safe, yes?  Oh to be the driver of this baby!!

There was one more stop at a Craft Fair at one of the local RV parks.  I'm actually pretty happy my excuse of "I have no room" is working well.  On the other hand, I DID have room for a couple of small things.  I'll post those tomorrow.  One VERY interesting item I can't wait to try.

TODAY however is the ..... wait for it ...... FABRIC SHOP!!!!  WOOHOO!!!

Lost In Algodones

I bet you can guess where we are headed, but not until we froze half to death getting in the car.  Oooowee it was cold in Yuma today.   We donned our coats and headed out bright and early.  I think we were walking across the border at 7:30 in the morning.  

Oh but there was this slight problem.  The new entrance takes you the wrong direction and drops you off at the far end of town.  Nothing looked familiar.  

Thinking we usually go straight, we got to the end of the beautiful border fence (I was afraid to take pictures), where we made a left turn.  Down the block and another left had us completely lost.  My really good sense of direction does not work one tiny bit when in Mexico.  I've no idea why, but I can get lost there faster than a squirrel chasing his tail.

One more long block and we recognized the name of our pharmacy ... except it was the wrong one.  They directed us further down the street until AHA ... we made it.  At least by then I knew ABOUT where we were because of this picture ... the police station, or so they tell me.  Literally ten minutes later we were out the door with our meds.  Now to find the pottery barn.

I always try to keep an eye on the Purple Pharmacy, because I know somewhere around there is the OUT gate.  

We turned right above, went one block and turned right again.  Yup ... this is the place.  They have the biggest and best selection of pottery.  Ask for Janet.  Janet Jackson she says, but I'm not sure I believe her.

While Cindy pondered the pottery, I checked out the inside of the building.  Yes, there is NO roof.  Weird.  What she DID find however, was a concrete bench like hers at home, on which she could glue beautiful Mexican tiles.  Okay, not SHE, but HE could do the gluing.  

The tiles were piled high in boxes along the wall, topped with even more pottery.  All that had to be removed in order to access the boxes, and in several cases four or five boxes had to be removed also.  They were SO accommodating, and dropped the price from $7.00 each to $4.00 each.  Bartering is the name of the game.

With our prizes in hand, we headed for the border.  No longer can you return to the U.S. near the Purple Pharmacy.  You now have to talk clear around the next block to get in.  I breezed right on through, although I was asked WHY oh WHY I did not sign my passport.  I didn't know I had to.  He took my picture once again, reprimanded me for not signing and let me go.  WHOA ... FREE AT LAST!!!

So happy to be back on OUR soil, we headed straight to the Green Store?  It's a discount place, completely packed full of people at 9:00 in the morning.  What can I say ... they had ice cream, none of which had expired yet, for $1.50 I think it was.  I picked up crackers, a BIG bag of Lays potato chips, scalloped potatoes, another carton of ice cream and a couple miscellaneous things, all for $11.00.  That's cheap eats!!

I think we were home by 10:00.  I messed with my TV for while before Ray knocked on the door.  Let's go get shrimp tacos!!  HECK YEAH!!  You know the place, way up near Fortuna Blvd, Tacos El Cositas.  They never fail to satisfy.  

Just for kicks on the way back, we drove through the park to see what was for sale.  It's a 55+ gated community with lots of amenities.  Beautiful little places like this run between $365-$452,000.  A little pricey considering the HOA fees, which they say is low at $360/mo because "it costs MUCH more in California".  It's beautiful here, and I would love to stay, but the 118 degrees in summer is a little too much.

Later in the evening, Ray came over to help me hook up to his internet.  I watched one movie, and although I think I have unlimited data, my device says 5 GB.  It used up 3.5 GB watching just ONE movie.  We got it working and I am now able to watch shows on the internet.  Thank you Ray!!!

It's pretty crazy this morning, with a 65% chance of rain and wind gusts up to 40 mph.  You never know exactly WHAT it's going to do, so we scheduled a lazy day of rest.  Tomorrow the fabric store opens with a nice sale.  Time to see just how much space I can make available in this rig!!!

YUMA!!! Land of the Sun

 It was a welcome sight on this morning as the sun came up over the sand.  Mr. Cooper and I were out early to give him plenty of time to smell the smells and water every tree and plant on the south side.  He did his part well.

This is a 55 and older RV park, with most properties being owned by RV'ers.  It does seem however, that more and more folks are moving in here as permanent residents.  I'm not sure I could survive that 118 degree summer heat, but they do have a large pool for your cooling off pleasure.  This is Cooper's special little park.

Here I am, hanging out in the extra long driveway of Cindy and Ray.  They have a beautiful house with plenty of room for sewing machines and fabric.

This is the neighbor's house.  Just look at those flowers.  This we saw on the way to Chair Yoga.  No, I've never heard of it before either, but Cindy said it was stretching exercises and felt good.  

So here we are ... chair on a yoga mat so it doesn't slip.  From there we sat down and did all kinds of stretching for an hour.  I started off okay, but soon my back protested, so I just sat back for awhile.  

There's lots going on, so you wouldn't be alone here.  Shuffleboard, pickleball, ice cream socials and parades keep everyone pretty busy.

Back home, Cindy set these quilt squares out on her table to figure out a pattern for the same reindeer squares that I made (with her pattern by the way).  I can't wait to see this one finished.

That's when I was accosted by their Roomba vacuum.  I complained about how my Eufy didn't do a good job and was always yelling at me to come extract it from something it took too big a bite out of.  Cindy immediately went outside and came in with THIS one.  It's another Roomba they had previously, and wanted to divest themselves of.  I raised my hand.  HERE!!  I'll take it.  And so it's stashed in the front floorboard.  But look ... there's still room for fabric!!!

I took a quick break to watch some Amazon Prime News, but alas, they have only ABC, CBS and CNN.  I refuse to watch anything that has a C in it.  In bigger news, I see Mr. Trudeau is going to resign.  Cheers to Canadians everywhere.  I hope you get a better deal than you have previously seen.  I hope WE do too.

Then, just for good measure, I watched RED ONE on TV.  I don't think I'll be doing that much, since it used up over half of my data in one night.  Of course the data is unlimited, but you know that is NEVER true.  I'll be lucky if I make it to the end of the week.  

It's going to be a crazy day, as we are off to Algodones, after which we will throw in some fish tacos and grocery shopping.  No worries, we will make the quilt store, but not until the sale is in full force.  By the way, Bonnies, the best fabric shop EVER at the Arizona Marketplace, is closing down permanently.  Maybe I can strap some fabric to the roof of the van.  

In other FABULOUS news, I finally was able to contact a Winegard traveler dealer in Quartzsite who will install my system in eight days for $900 less than the price I got in Tucson.  Such a helpful guy ... I can't wait to meet them and get set up.  They have all the equipment there, and after setup costs, it will only be $7.00 a month to add a receiver to my existing plan.  Possibly $10 a month.  We shall see.  Nancy is a happy camper today!!!!

Buenos Dias ... nos vemos en Mexico!