I know it’s stash report Monday, but that will have to wait.  I’m off the State Fair in half an hour with Friends Margaret and Pam, and I wanted to give you a little sampling of the quilts I saw, so consider this post Motivation Monday!  Please forgive the glare and bad camera angles; that’s just the way it is.

I’ll just give the pictures with no commentary, except for this first one.  This is done by Mary of our Wednesday group.  She was the Dakota County champion quilt, and won the grand champion ribbon of all the county quilts.

A few quilts more tomorrow…

Sue

PS:  If you haven’t entered my Silly Contest, check it out here.

Stash Report:  Is it just me, or are these Sundays getting closer and closer together???  It’s been good for me to participate in Judy Laquidara’s stash reports on Sunday, even though I haven’t done as well as I would have liked.  It’s been an education for me to see what I actually use and buy, and (believe it or not) it does make me stop and think a little more before a purchase because I will have to account for it!

This week 1 yard is cut up for a small candle mat project to sew at a friend’s house on Friday.  3 yards are into six blocks for our guild’s BOM.  I have six blocks done, and I decided to finish up the remaining six this weekend and get it over with! 

At the Minnesota State Fair this week, there were two quilt shops with booths.  I couldn’t quite escape without any purchases.  At The Sampler, I bought a small jelly roll of just purples (1 yard).  At Rosebud’s Cottage, I bought two candle mat kits, which I’m not going to declare in this report because they are both gifts. 

Give-Away:  I’m in the middle of a give-away, which ends this Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. Minnesota time.  Click here for the silly details.

Sue

TIME’S UP — THE CONTEST IS OVER.

I was just thinking about all the yummy and/or weird food I saw at the Minnesota State Fair yesterday, and I thought of a way to have a give-away!!!  The only food-on-a-stick-sign photo that didn’t get included in the collage below is the Gator On A Stick, and I will tell you now that I did not eat ‘gator at the fair (or EVER, for that matter)!  However, I did eat two of the items shown in the photo collage below:

Yes, I did eat two of the items above (and ONLY two), and if you can tell me in a comment to this post which two foods on a stick I enjoyed yesterday, you will win a nice fabric surprise mailed to you!  In keeping with the food theme, it will be a jelly roll, layer cake, cinnamon bun, or turnover fabric collection.

Duplicates will be awarded if there is more than one winner.  Only one comment entry per person, please.  Contest will end Wednesday morning, September 2, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. Minnesota time.

Hmmmm, so what do you think I ate?

–Sue

NOTE1:  Be sure to leave your e-mail address in the space provided in the comment form so I can contact you if you’re a winner.  No one will see your e-mail address but me, and I will not share it or use it for anything but this contest.  Also, comments are moderated for first-time commentors.  If your comment doesn’t appear immediately, it will appear after I approve it during my next review of comments.  You don’t need to have a blog to play.

NOTE 2:  To answer Floribunda’s question, Hotdish On A Stick is tater tots alternated with meatballs, dipped in batter & fried (looks like a corn dog) with a cream of mushroom soup dipping sauce.

started today:  The Minnesota State Fair.  I decided to go on opening day today, along with just a few of my close, personal friends.

Actually, I chose to the fair alone.  I did this one other year, several years ago, and I really enjoyed it.  Monday I will go again, but with quilting friends, and it will be fun in a totally different way.

I spent a good part of the day in the Creative Activities Building admiring all the wonderful quilting, and of course I have a lot of photos to share, but they will have to wait until tomorrow ‘cuz I wanted to get right to the most important stuff today — the FOOD! 

There is a definite theme among fair food items.  If there’s any possible way to serve it on a stick, you will find it at the Fair.  Here are some signs I spotted during my hours of walking today, and I am sure there are many more that I missed:

And the most unusual item on a stick?  It would have to be Father Backer outside the Epiphany dining room (where I had lunch with a couple of friends who were also cruising around the fair).  Isn’t he a good sport?  You can tell he’s also been at work at the grill by examining his apron!

There were a few signs that caught my attention because either they sounded wonderful or totally weird.  You can be the judge as to what fits into which category:

I wandered on over to Heritage Square, and for the first time I met “in person” someone that I had previously only met in blogland.  I stopped in at Rosebud’s Cottage’s secondary quilt shop set up in Pioneer Village and met Roseann (on the right).  

It was just delightful to meet her, and of course I found a couple of things that I will have to account for on Sunday’s stash report!  When you visit the fair, make sure you stop in and say “hi”.  She is featuring some of our Minnesota designers in her State Fair shop, and some of the designers will be stopping by as well!  (Click here to check out Roseann’s blog.)

On a totally different note, one of my favorite places to stop at the fair (that isn’t quilting related) is the Miracle of Birth Center.  I suspect it’s really geared towards kids, but I love walking through and see what animals are waiting to give birth and which ones are brand-new mamas.  Here is a little newborn:

I got to pet him, and he’s just as soft as he looks.  They are born with their eyes open, but this little guy was taking a snooze.  There were other piglets being born, three lambs, a calf, plus chickens and ducklings (they have eggs incubating).

All in all, a great day at the fair!  (And I’m so proud of myself — I didn’t even whine about how much my feet hurt.  Oh, yeah, I was alone.)

–Sue

may have you stumped!  I ran across this picture when I was going through photos from our Seattle trip last summer.  DH Jim and Nephew Doug leave this morning for Seattle for Nephew Dan’s memorial service this weekend.  A very sad time, but one that caused me to reflect on happier times just last summer.

Niece Julie took this picture of Jim and me inside the stump end of a giant overturned tree on Mount Rainier.  I always liked this picture, and it brings back a lot of good memories.

I just remembered that I posted this picture last year, because I think I called it Dump Your Rump in a Stump, or something totally classy like that.  Anyway, it’s never been a puzzle before (although I’ve ALWAYS been a puzzle, plus if you look really closely, I’m also a little out of focus).  This picture should make a good puzzle — try to put me back together again!  I think that’s just what I need…

–Sue

This post will be almost all pictures, and only one non-hummingbird picture!  The hummers have been at our feeder all week long, just begging to have their pictures taken!  My one token non-hummer picture — a house finch.  I don’t often get to take their picture on a branch; they are always eating at the finch feeder!  Isn’t he cute?

We had regular visits from a female and a male hummingbird.  The female had clearly had enough of my focusing beam disrupting her meal, and was giving me “the look”.  I’ve raised three children — “the look” doesn’t bother me!  The male would sometimes sit in a branch overlooking the feeder.  And isn’t it interesting how bright red the throat is in the sun, and how dark it looks in the shade?

This is what I think is a juvenile hummer, but I could be wrong (shocking, I know).  This little guy liked to sit in the tree and rest.  What a smartie, relaxing and staying close to the food!  Must be a teenager.

I like to use my continuous shooting mode on my camera when taking pictures of birds, and especially when photographing hummers because they are so darned fast.  Sometimes I get surprises when I put the photos up on the computer.  Did you know hummingbirds blink???  Me neither.  They also relieve themselves, but I did know that — just never had photographic evidence of it before!  Maybe he just closes his eyes to concentrate on his bathroom duties?

And I am always surprised to get a hummingbird’s tongue in a picture, and I got two of them this week!  That must be really yummy, lip-smacking syrup I’m serving up.

Between the birds and getting DH set up to out to Seattle this week, sewing has really suffered.  Tomorrow I’ll get back at the quilting, providing the birds leave me alone!

–Sue

Thank you for your help in my video post yesterday!  I feel so almost hip, putting a video on YouTube and then getting it to work on my site!  It actually wasn’t hard, as it works the same way my Wednesday puzzles work.

I need help again.  A couple of days ago we saw what looks to be a large hawk flying back and forth over the pond, head directed down, hunting for something/someone!  But his head was so light.  We usually see red-tailed hawks here, but the light head on this guy has thrown us for a loop.  Mostly brown, lighter undersides.  Suggestions?  Maybe it’s a red-tailed hawk flying incognito wearing a toupee’?

Oh, and be forewarned:  I took a jillion hummingbird pictures this week.  I’m trying to narrow them down to a very few favorites.  They must be migrating south, as this is the most feeder activity we’ve had all summer.

–Sue

Yes, I’m experimenting on you!  I took a little (and I mean VERY little) video of a hummingbird being chased away by bees.  This is my first attempt to embed a video into my blog, so be patient with me if it doesn’t work!

The Hummer was able to come back and drink long and hard after the bees moved on.  No hummingbirds or bees were harmed in the making of this video.  Really.  Who’s going to mess with bees and who can catching a hummingbird?

And if you’re wondering about the actual size of this little guy (and really, they are about the size of your thumb), the red feeder is 7″ across at the base, including perches.  The base without the perches is about 5″.

–Sue

Nothing bought this week.  I guess that helps offset some of my “negative winnings” at Las Vegas!

Sashing strips/border/binding for my Scrappy 9-Patch,  3 yards used.

Isn’t it fun to finally receive a package you’ve been expecting?  It’s ten times more fun when you receive a package you WEREN’T expecting!

Lynda G. (a fabric winner in my 60,000th visit give-away) is from Maine, and she sent me a lovely gift assortment of Maine-related items!  What a fun surprise, Lynda, and I will think of you every time I use/see them (lobster fabric, a Maine pin, a Maine/moose tape measure, a Kennebunkport postcard, and a lovely note).  Thank you so much!!!  It was such a ray of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy couple of days. 

(Pictured above:  Niece Summer & her husband Adam in the stream, Kathy & Dan on the bench with their nephew Alex.)  Our Nephew Dan from Seattle passed away this week (age 48), losing his hard-fought battle with kidney cancer.  We stayed with Dan and Kathy for a few days during our Seattle trip last summer, where they are relaxing above by the stream in their backyard.  They were such a special couple, and it’s hard to believe he’s gone.  If you’re a spiritual person, please say a little prayer for Kathy, who has truly lost her soul mate.

Also this month, we’ve lost Cathy, a member of Prior Lake Quilters as well as our Wednesday group, DayStitchers.  She is pictured here showing the block she made for Arlis’ birdhouse quilt.  Cathy was such a friend to us all, and she always had a cheerful word and a sunny disposition — gone now due to breast cancer.  It’s hard to accept that she won’t be at our Wednesday get-togethers any more.

They are both gone too soon, but both Dan and Cathy will live on in the hearts of those who knew and loved them. 

–Sue

We are back from Vegas, safe and sound, and our flight was less than an hour late.  We had a bit of a bumpy ride getting into Minneapolis, and one of our group did mention the possibility of kissing the ground upon arrival.  Here is a view of Caesar’s Palace, which gets bigger and bigger every time we visit. 

These hotels/casinos are so humongous, it is hard to judge the distance.  You want to think twice before deciding to just “walk over there”…it could be a mile!  (Our highs were around 105 degrees, so you definitely don’t want to take any big hikes.)

Although Paris, France, is officially the City of Lights, I think Las Vegas must be a close second.  It is an interesting city in the daytime, but it is a dazzling display of excess at night.  Ruby asked if I would share how I take pictures at night.  Vegas at night is pretty easy because it is such a brightly lit scene.  When I snapped the first picture, though, the flash went off, and for a scenery picture, I knew that was the kiss of death.  I suppressed the flash and took a second picture — MUCH BETTER!  Here are my first and second pictures:

By the way, the “Eiffel Tower” is in front of the Paris Hotel & Casino, which is where we stayed.  Pat and I went down to get coffees (and an OJ for our non-coffee drinker) to a little French pastry shop.  Oh, my, how tempting their pastries were!  We were good, though, and just came back with the beverages.  (And look at those prices!!!  They are a little hard to read but $5+ per pastry.)

So my recommendations for pictures at night:  make sure you suppress the flash, unless you are taking a picture at night of something only a very few feet away that you want illuminated.  There was so much light in Vegas, the shutter speed was pretty fast.  For most night shots, though, you might need a tripod, or at the very least rest the camera on something solid.  The shutter will stay open longer when there’s less light, and you will need to keep the camera very steady.  If you take a picture and the lights look smeary, you know your camera wasn’t steady enough.  Even resting your elbows on a railing is a big help in the steadiness department.

AND — guess who was out my window this morning?  MR. HUMMER!!!  I’ve only had Ms. Hummer this summer, so that flash of red on his throat was quite a thrill. 

And Mr. Hummer was followed by a black-capped chickadee and a goldfinch.

–Sue