Even More (Can You Tell I'm Really Angry About This?)

How dare they want Americans to "buy a stitch"...I think everyone should get their money back!

https://raiseourflag.teamusa.org/Content/index.aspx#!buy-stitch

More on the Stupidity in the Previous Post

This apology by the U.S. Olympic Committee is pathetic --

http://www.teamusa.org/News/2012/June/21/statement-from-usoc-spokesperson-patrick-sandusky.aspx

Stitchers of the World, Unite!

I can't remain silent on this topic...all stitchers should be up in arms about this! Frankly, all Americans should be up in arms about this...

http://gawker.com/5920036/us-olympics-committee-is-mad-at-knitting-olympics-for-denigrating-real-athletes

I lost interest in the Olympics quite a long time ago when it became clear that it's all about the $$$$ and not about sports.

Thank Goodness for Color Catchers

Some of you may remember this quilt -- it is the one I made for my son as a high-school-graduation/going-off-to-college quilt almost two years ago. When I was making it, I blogged about having to wash the red backing fabric five times in order to get the excess red dye out (you can read about that process here). The Color Catchers I used worked great -- all of the white fabrics on the front stayed bright white.

This quilt has been washed several times in the last two years; the last time was just last week. It was washed with a Color Catcher again and this is how it looked when the wash was done...

I wonder if the red will ever stop bleeding....but thankfully, the whites are still nice and white.

Next Stop -- Zion National Park

More photos from my recent trip. Again, nothing quilting-related.

(click on photos to enlarge)

On the way to Springdale, Utah, right outside of the park...

Part of the town....

Our hotel was a short 5-minute drive from the park. A free shuttle goes through town and then there's another free shuttle in the park itself. Most of the park is closed to automobiles.

View from our balcony...

The lodge in evening light....

One Happy Family

All three of my batik-strip projects are now being used in one room. You can read my blog posts about them here (the quilt), here (the pillow), and here (the tablerunner). I still need to make two or three more pillows -- there's still plenty of fabric left!

Next Stop -- Death Valley, California

 Warning -- another very full photo post...nothing quilting-related. Just more about my family's recent trip...

(click on photos to enlarge)

There are a couple of places in the park to stay (there's even a golf course for those who are so inclined). This is where we were for two nights...

The pool was spring-fed and a constant 82 degrees. Our biggest complaint about the accommodations was that it was nearly impossible to get cold (or even cool) water out of the tap! Not a big deal, but a topic of conversation.

From the top of Dante's View....

 We went out early in the morning for a hike in Mosaic Canyon. Even at 9AM, we were sweating buckets just by standing still, so we took advantage of all the shade we could find. 

In the evening, we took a drive to the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere...

If you click on the photo below, you should be able to see a small white sign in the center about two-thirds up the mountain. That's the "sea level" sign.

Check out the car thermometer....At least we can say we experienced Death Valley the way it should be experienced.

  

While we were at Furnace Creek Ranch, the participants of the Gumball 3000 stopped by on their way to Los Angeles. Here's a shot of what some of them looked like...I guess if you can afford the 25,000 pounds (about $40,000) to enter the race, you are allowed to dress any way you like....

The local wildlife wasn't so wild...

If you ever make a trip to Las Vegas, I highly recommend taking the 120-mile drive to Death Valley. It's more than just a big flat desert.