17 June 2013

Design Wall Monday, June 17, 2013


I took the suggestions of others and added a narrow (.5") stop border of green before adding the black outer border. By adding the two borders the size is now 59.5" x 79". It worked quite well. Thank you all! It is now folded and hung on a hanger with the other tops waiting to be quilted.


I made a fast trip to South Dakota last week to pick up this beauty. On the way home, I raced ahead of two rain storms as I did not want to get the tables to get wet in the back of the truck even though they were wrapped with the tarp. This baby, of course, rode inside the cab.

It was set up on Saturday and on Sunday I started playing with it. I began by doing the most basic things: winding bobbins and threading the machine. Then I intentionally messed up the tension so that I could learn to get good tension. As of this writing, I haven't achieved it yet, but I had to stop yesterday to do the housewifey things. *smile*

Along the way, I visited the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mt. Rushmore and then made a side trip to Devil's Tower, Wyoming.
Crazy Horse Memorial. The head that you see here is 87.5 feet high. The horse's head will be 219 feet high. This will be the world's largest mountain carving. The hole is the beginning of the negative space between his arm and the horse's neck.

Mt. Rushmore is, always, Mt. Rushmore. It was crowded with people from all over the world. Each face is 60 feet tall and each eye is 11 feet wide. There is a section of quartz under George Washington's left eye close to his nose that reminded me of a teardrop. Just my fanciful imagination.

The Devil's Tower was impressive. It rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River. It is a sacred site for many native peoples and I saw evidence of this by the many prayer bundles tied into the trees along the trails. I sat on the tailgate of the truck for several hours watching the three rock climbers: two descending and the third ascending. The third one made it to the top!


For other design walls, please visit Judy at Patchwork Times.


10 comments:

  1. We "did" Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Devil's Tower as part of an extended Memorial Day holiday back in 1995. At the time they'd only just poked into that space under his arm.

    I'm sure you're enjoying your new appliance!

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  2. Thanks for sharing the traveling along with the new baby. She will help you finish so many quilts! I take it she is a sit down machine rather than a frame style. Just remember practice is the key to great quilting. Or, in my case, decent quilting.

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  3. I have always wanted to visit South Dakota for just the reasons of seeing all the wonderful sites. Thank you for sharing your experience.
    Is your new machine a quilting machine?

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  4. wow, nice side trips. Mt rushmore is on my bucket list! I have the Avante 18 and love it. tension will be no problem. don't be afraid to really turn that dial to adjust it.

    I like the borders on this quilt too. you are very busy!

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  5. Welcome home to the new addition. You are gonna have a ton of fun!

    Love the sights along the way - as I have said before these are spots I MUST get to in my quest to visit all 50 states. Only seven left to go.

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  6. We did this same trip a few years ago. The detail was not on his face like here. In fact, they were blowing his nose at the time. It has been like, 7 years I have been telling people that, but last week I said it to someone and we both burst out laughing! LOL. I guess I never thought it was odd before...........!

    Devils Tower is where they filmed CLose Encounters.

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  7. I got the HQ sweet sixteen last month. There's so much to learn, but I love it. Also love your BQ quilt. Have made several BQ2s, but not a BQ. It is perfect for your fabric. Nice job.

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  8. We visited Mt. Rushmore in 1969: it hasn't changed. ;-) I would love to go back to see Crazy Horse and especially to see them working on it. What an accomplishment. Have fun with your Sweet 16. Sounds like she got special treatment on her way to her new home.

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  9. Saw Mt. Rushmore. I recall thinking that it looked strangely small. Guess I had great expectations, lol. I look forward to hearing all about your Sweet 16 experiences. I suspect you will do very well with this machine. Nice resolution to your quilt border issue. :-D

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  10. Your quilt is beautiful! I bet you're excited about your machine. Can't wait to see all of your beautiful quilting that will come from that. Mt. Rushmore and the others are on my bucket list. I will get there one of these days. Thanks for sharing.

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