Our Great Escape, and yes, Something Quilt-related!

DH and I took a spur of the moment escape, and spent two nights in Oak Creek Canyon just north of Sedona, AZ. We had a great time checking out antique shops, a couple of quilt shops, and just spending some uninterrupted time together. The only place I actually purchased anything, was at the Goodwill Weigh and Pay in Flagstaff. It is a Goodwill outlet store, and you pay for things by the pound. I bought 22 pounds of things for $1.19 per pound. We got two sets of Italian cotton sheets that are in like new condition. I even got an extra pillowcase in the deal. I also bought men's shirts for quilting, I admit it.


Check out this old quilt I found in an antique store. I found a lot of quilts, and knew most of the pattern names, but this one intrigued me. When I first glanced at it, I thought it was a square in a square with alternating nine patches, then I realized the square in a square part was just four HST's. Then I realized they weren't nine patches, it's some funky sashing. The more I looked at it, the more intrigued I was. If you look closely (you can click on it to make it bigger) you can see several of the squares are pieced together, the maker must have been using tiny scraps. You can also see a mistake in one of the square in a squares. One HST is turned wrong. I had so much fun looking at it, DH took a picture for me.

Check out this old handcrank. It's sitting on a shelf outside in the yard of this antique store. If it had the bobbin case I would have bought it for the $35 they were asking. I wasn't sure I could get one, or that the machine would ever work again, but I was tempted anyway.

Sedona is such a beautiful place and no photos ever do it justice. This one was taken when it was overcast, so it really doesn't showcase the colors well, but you can see the strata in the rock.

The reds are a bit better in this picture, but not near as brilliant as in real life.

Green trees, red rocks, blue skies, I think I know what colors the bargello quilt I want to make will be in. I am thinking of adding some butter yellow for the lighter strata in the rocks. When I get a few projects finished, I'll have to look through my stash to see if I have anything that would do Sedona colors justice. I'm not sure that quilt won't have to wait a while, and I'm thinking batiks might be my best bet, but I don't have any. Ah, it's a WHIMM at any rate :-)

We stayed at an amazing hotel right next to Oak Creek. It was surrounded by big pines, and if we had been so inclined we could have fished in the creek. The man who works evenings even said he'd clean the fish for us, and they have several grills on the property. They have hammocks and chairs next to the creek, and it was just lovely. Our room was small, but it had a fireplace right at the foot of the bed, and a two person jacuzzi in the corner. It was a perfect spot for a romantic getaway!