Thursday, June 13, 2019

Destiny...

This isn't a very good picture of one of my favorite quilts.  It's really big.  I was fearful of sharing it as... well, I wouldn't want to infringe on any trademarks or that sort of thing.  I look at it as fan art and there's a whole lot of that out there.  Destiny is a video game that I got hooked on several years ago.  I'd get up early in the morning and watch about a half hour of my oldest son playing it before he went to work.  I'd pour myself a can of Diet Coke over ice and just watch- eyes watering because I hadn't figured out how to blink while watching, yet.  I've got that under control now.  It was just a lot of fun to watch.  Eventually, I started playing but I'm really bad at it.  It's more fun watching some one who knows what he's doing.  Unfortunately, the game is a point of contention between us now.  I still love it but my sons are mad at the makers- something about it being too expensive to play.  So I now have a memory quilt of the good old days. 

I'm not sure when it occurred to me to make a quilt inspired by Destiny.  The graphics in the game are really pretty.  Lots of colors and shapes.  I hope you can see that in the quilt.  I designed this myself- and I used only my hand dyed fabrics. I started with one block- the "ghost" block- it's the second one from the left on the top row.  I mostly just wanted to see if I could figure out how to make it.  The angles and placement of colors.  Then it just took on a life of it's own. The more I made, the more I'd think, "Now, I can't leave so and so out."  Of course, the guys would weigh in and insist on other blocks.  Wish you could see the quilting- it's different in every block and really adds to the character of the more solid colors. Actually, only the black and white are truly solid.  (There's a lot of movement in hand dyed fabrics- at least, there is in mine. I wad up the fabrics after soaking them in the dye and put them in plastic bags and heat them either in the microwave or the sun- depending on the weather.  Some fabrics, I sprinkle dye powder on -and those I just lay flat or hang to dry- that's what makes the streaks of color.)  

I'm not sure what I'll ever do with this quilt.  It was hanging on the wall in the living room for a long while- we have 14 foot ceilings in there.  But now, there's a wall mounted TV in it's place.  People would always comment on it even if they didn't know about the video game.  I remember how much fun I had making it.  It still makes me smile.  Silly, I know.

Monday, June 10, 2019

L-R Rebekah, Evabeth, Nines and William
That was a very good day...

So we've been to a family reunion.  There were about 45 people this year.  We stay a week at different parks. North Bend State Park  We rented all of the cabins in the park so we had the place to ourselves. Of course, as usual, we ate a lot of food. We make a potluck, pitch in, get together of each dinner. So much food.  There are a lot of good cooks in the family. After dinner each evening, we did some singing and had a devotional led by each of the men.  This year the topic was the different roles in the family. William gave an excellent talk on raising children- something he's had a lot of experience with and of which he has done a wonderful job. OK, I helped some.

Bill took the young folks on a tour of a haunted railroad tunnel (abandoned).  They had to be there at midnight if they wanted to catch a glimpse of the "woman in white." They weren't disappointed when she didn't make an appearance.  There were lots of laughs and when Bill "disappeared" while walking in front of them and reappeared behind them- well, lets just say my kids aren't going to be caught by any ax murderers.  They can really run!

Blennerhassett Island
We made a day trip to Blennerhassett Island on the Ohio River.  If you're a history-phile you'd really enjoy it.  It included a boat ride on a stern wheel boat, a tour of the house, and a wagon ride(my favorite.) I've included a link in case you'd want to the take a peak. 

We snuck away from the reunion and spent the afternoon with Alan and his sweet wife, Barbara. This picture was taken by our friend Alan.  He performed our wedding ceremony 32 years ago. It's funny how years and miles can separate you but love crosses all distances and barriers. My children hadn't met them, but they all fell in love and now there are a few more people in the circle.