Quilting Exchange

At the local quilt shop I got these "cinnamon sticks" which are two pieces of fabric (one dark and one light batik in this case) with half-square triangle paper. You sew and cut a set (makes 28 2" squares) and take them back to the store. Then you get back the same number you turned in, but you get a mix of fabrics sewn by other people. Otherwise you'd have 28 of the exact same one.







Oops, I forgot to take a picture of what the squares look like.

It was fun not to have to do so much careful cutting and measuring. I'm not too confident about my pinning skills, but otherwise it seemed pretty easy. These squares will come out way better than if I had made them the old fashioned way, I hope!

Let's see... what can I make with 84 little squares (I took 3 sticks) ...

6 Feet of New Snow!

See what I mean? Royal Gorge got 6 feet of new snow this week.

Royal Gorge

Of course that means down here by the bay our back deck has turned into a lake and our ceiling is dripping.

Why Skiing in California is Great

Yesterday we went to Royal Gorge and skied for 4 hours. They had 200km groomed and the snow was great and the sky was blue. I LOVE XC SKIING IN THE SIERRA NEVADA! It's so beautiful and quiet. I hung in there even though this was the first ski of the year and I'm not very fit right now. Skating uphill at 6700' is not for wimps (we live at sea level). There are a couple of good pictures from Royal Gorge in an earlier 2008 post. Here's a picture from 2007 (a less sunny day):

Why skiing in CA is great:
* The weather is fantastic: sunny and not too cold. All you need is a warm shirt, tights, and sunglasses!

* The scenery is stunning: mountains, redwoods, rushing rivers, mountain weasels...

* Tons of snow: they get several feet at a time regularly. Once when I was in Tahoe, they were filling up a long line of dump trucks with gigantic snowblowers. The streets downtown were like canyons with 20-foot high vertical walls of snow on either side. [The only downside is the Sierra Nevada love affair with tire chains. Going over Donner Pass on I-80 is a true test of the structural integrity of your car because the road is so chewed up from semi-trucks using chains. Chaining up is a real pain in the ass but we're getting our routine down now.]

* Solitude: Californians never venture more than a mile or two from any parking lot if exercise is involved. When you get out there you have nature to yourself!

* Redrum is on the way home: Got to stop in Davis for the best burgers and shakes ever!

Halfway Done!

I have 10 of these done now, but here are 9 (easier to arrange). I am planning to do 20, or more if I am still in the mood after 20. I started making the background squares bigger after a few to account for the unraveling of the edges while I do the applique. Should I pink them? I have a lot to learn about quilting.

Christmas Pictures

Here's us in Virginia! One at home and one at Great Falls on the Potomac. The river was running very high (and muddy) because of the 2 feet of snow that had just melted overnight. It was a cool park. I'm still deciding about this haircut, hmmm..

QUAKES!

I don't know if anyone even reads this blog any more since the canoe is done but...

I'm skipping writing a Christmas post because we didn't bring a camera with us to Virginia. Maybe if my parents send some I'll go back and do it. We had fun with the Fritzes and Sixes, saw a lot of parks and museums. It was cold. :)

In the meantime, there was a 4.1 earthquake on Thursday and aftershocks afterwards that both Scott and I felt at work.

details from the USGS

Luckily I didn't have students in my classroom for either of the two bigger ones. I think this is pretty exciting since I didn't grow up out here. These ones were nothing though compared to the one we had in October two years ago, which was also apparently pretty minor - but I'm convinced I really would NOT want to experience a big earthquake. The little ones are scary and strange enough!