Wyoming Breezes

Carpenter's Star 60 x 70 inches Quilt of Valor #185 June 2020 Carpenter's Star was made with backing scraps from other Quilts of Valor. 

COVID-19 mural June 2020 Two masked critters (prairie dogs) were added to the COVID-19 mural  recently.  Wyoming has seen a large increase of positive COVID-19 cases, so I wish more people would follow the example of the animals on this mural.  Governor Gordon urges Wyomingites to wear masks through the use of these two graphics:

sign on a Colorado golf course June 2020 I'm grateful my niece Brenda has a sharp eye and shares photos of the crazy things she spots.  I can't believe no one checks signs for errors before they are posted. 

placing HSTs in the correct position June 2020 Here's a sneak peek at my current sewing/quilting project. The dark fabric looks black in the photo, but it is actually dark navy. Both fabrics were used for backings for previous Quilts of Valor and are the same print, only different colors. At this point the pieces haven't been sewn together. This is the first Carpenter's Star quilt that I've made.  According to Wendy Russell at Patchwork Square , "The Carpenter's Wheel quilt block has been around for a long time and is also known by a few other names ... Star of Bethlehem and Carpenter's Star. Most of the time, this block is made using squares and diamonds, but I have chosen to make this pattern using half square triangle sets, rather than the diamonds, to bypass distortion of the bias edges from the frequent handling, and also this method avoids the dreaded set in seam. My view is why do it the hard way, when you can choose the easy way? Now the down side o...

close up of stitch pattern June 2020 Marilyn brought several balls of Sugar and Cream when she and my BIL stopped by a couple of weeks ago. She's been cleaning closets and storage spaces and found the yarn.  After knitting several pair of socks on size 2 needles, I needed to shake things up with larger needles for a bit.  A quick search in the pattern binders unearthed a favorite pattern with a nicely textured stitch pattern.  The project requires size 8 needles. I cast on 50 stitches and began knitting.  Here's the stitch pattern (it makes a nice towel, dishcloth, or even a blanket) if you want to make something with it:  Rows 1 and 2:   Knit  Rows 3 and 4:    Knit 2, *Knit 1, Purl 1* until the last two stitches - Knit the last two stitches Repeat these four rows until you reach the desired length.  Note: the edges do not curl or roll because of the knit edge stitches. 

Still Chatting 61 x 75 inches Quilt of Valor #184 June 2020 Still Chatting is a twin to FaceTime Chats  that was finished a couple of weeks ago from 2.5 inch scraps. Can you believe that I still have 5 sixteen-patch blocks remaining? They went into the orphan bin for a future project. Currently, I'm slightly ahead of my goal to make two QOV each month this year. This quilt and the American Symbols QOV have been sent to Idaho for quilting and for awarding. 

found on FaceBook

unloading storm debris at one of four sites in Laramie June 2020 Last week's storm dropped up to 8 inches of wet, heavy snow on Laramie. The trees were fully leafed out, and the weight of the snow broke branches and damaged trees throughout town. The city designated four areas for residents to drop off branches and green debris created by the storm.  Clean up started on Tuesday and continued through the week. Pickups and trailers loaded with branches made trip after trip to the drop-off sites.  storm debris mound at one of four locations Laramie, WY June 2020 The photo shows only a small portion of the mountain of branches at one of the drop-off areas. The debris pile was easily over 100 yards long and 30 yards wide. 

women's size 10 June 2020 Yarn : Trekking (XXL) color #160 I didn't try very hard to match the stripes because I ran into a knot mid-way through the cuff on the second sock and knew at that point that it would be futile to try, especially since I found another knot while knitting the foot of the second sock. I've never found knots in Trekking before, so I'm sure this skein was given to me by a yarn sales representative. The samples are often "seconds."

American Symbols - Red 57 x 72 inches Quilt of Valor #183 This is the fraternal twin of the "Blue" version that was posted last week . Pattern information is on that post.

backyard sign post Fort Collins, CO May 2020

American Symbols - Blue 57 x 72" Quilt of Valor #182 Pattern : American Dreams pattern by Beth Logan (Henry Glass & Co.) I added the wide blue borders to meet Quilt of Valor size requirements.

women's size 10 (June 2020) This pair will definitely add some spark to my sock drawer! Yarn : Crazy Zauberball (color #2095) Stitch count :  64 stitches - ribbed cuff                         60 stitches - foot Want to see what my world looks like this morning? June 9, 2020 Laramie, WY Snow began falling about 8 PM and continued through the night and temperatures plunged into the 20s. snow-covered trees began to snap Sometime in the night, the trees began to snap. This morning broken branches litter the ground and continue to fall. Tops have been broken out of many trees, and it's still snowing! Life is never boring in Wyoming

FaceTime Chats 61 x 75 inches Quilt of Valor #181 May 2020 FaceTime Chats came together during Sunday afternoon social distancing chats with my sister and niece over the last month. I used a Missouri Star Quilt Company video tutorial (Sunny Skies) for inspiration. Since I have an abundance of 16-patch blocks, I plan to make another quilt with this pattern,

near Humboldt, Minnesota approximately 2018 My brother-in-law knows that I like taking photos of unusual things, so he shared this photo, taken near Humboldt, MN. Since he didn't know the story behind the mailbox, I did an online search and discovered the following on a Geo-cache site: "One day we were driving by this little cemetery and I noticed something odd...a mail box? I called my Dad and asked him what that was all about, and he didn't know. He said to call my uncle who is on the township board. My uncle told me that a local couple placed the mailbox here and left a guest book inside for visitors to sign. They also placed the sign. We thought this would be a neat spot for a cache, and I was given permission to place one."   Purpleturtles3

stash enhancement May 2020 The last three months, I've noticed that a LOT of the socks in my sock drawer and a LOT of the sock yarn in my stash are boring and lifeless. The most common color or base color in both locations is blue. Obviously, I like blue, but staying at home to avoid COVID-19 has sparked cravings for color. I began knitting with any color (other than blue) in my stash, but my choices were extremely limited. Desparate, I searched online to find brighter colors at a reasonable price and found some great colors and yarns on Etsy. You'll notice that three of the skeins contain blue, yet it's not the dominant color. My needles currently contain three pair of socks, so I'm going to just admire these great colors for the time being. Just seeing them is helping to satisfy my craving for color. What cravings have you had while practicing social distancing?

Free Little Library E. Beaufort, Laramie, WY May 2020 Friday afternoon, I took a drive in search of three Free Little Libraries that have recently been registered online. Directions were sketchy on two of the locations, and one alluded me no matter how many times I drove by the address. It is impossible to see the Free Little Library on Beaufort when driving West because it is tucked back behind a fence. Once, I reversed direction and drove East, it was clearly visible. I love that the Beaufort library has a quilt block on its side. Free Little Library Little Moon Trail, Laramie, WY May 2020 Google Maps helped me locate the second library South of Walmart in a new subdivision. The library was packed with books and provided COVID-19 precautions for users. I liked the dual chimneys on this library. Since the public library has been closed since mid-March, I'm sure the little libraries have had a lot of visitors. I'll try to find the third Free Little Librar...

ninety-six HSTs and trimmings May 2020 Another Quilt of Valor is in the works: this one using the four-patches I posted last week. I'm using a pattern I saw on a Missouri Star Quilt Company video tutorial. The video directions did not use half-square triangles. The tutorial's method created a LOT of "waste" or "bonus" HSTs. I wanted to avoid creating even more scraps, so I decided to make the secondary block with HSTs, making eight at a time. Using this method easily created the necessary 96 HSTs for the quilt. The final step which I dread when making HSTs is trimming; however, I was happy that eight at a time method created only slivers of trimmings to make them square and accurate. sneak peek at two blocks for the new QOV