Saturday Drive

Tehachapi is at least an hour drive to the 'big cities'. Usually, I try to do as much out of town shopping as I can on the trip. And it is a gorgeous one either way....to the north is Bakersfield through the mountains, and to the SE is Lancaster / Palmdale through the desert.

All my life I heard that deserts symbolized the hard times of our lives and that the mountains were where our spirits soared on eagle's wings.

The Mojave Desert is gorgeous any time of year. Weather dumps both rain and snow in it from time to time. Flowers and trees bloom and the ground and plant material change colors with the seasons. There is always something to behold.

Today it was a drive through the desert to buy a new camera. Admittedly, it is my favorite way to drive.

Once home, it meant reading directions, installing the system, and seeing how it works. As a non-mechanical person, it took me longer than it has to and its functioning at just the minimum for now.

 My first pic is the next three quilts ready for basting during the next few weeks on Wednesdays. I need to re-arrange storage bins now to hold top-batting-back with binding in one area. The best thing to do for this plan, is to complete the quilting and add the binding for those times when I need hand work. Eventually the machine will go in for service, and usually that is a three-week wait.

This is another shot of Baylee's quilt with the blocks held by the hoop. In a night, I can get several of the small squares done with the heart shape. This ink pen does disappear completely in 24 hours. Hand quilting loops do not hold fabric as tightly as one does with embroidery.  I think there are 20 blocks of 4 squares each, and with luck, there will be enough time to hand quilt the two outer lavender borders in heart chains as well. This quilt will consume most of my time in the evenings so that it is finished before my trip back to MN / WI in mid-June.

It was a lovely drive through the desert today, and my bright shiney new red camera is a joy to hold.