Hawaiian Dis 'n Dat

Last weekend I came across an old quilt top I hadn't finished made from vintage scraps a tutu or "grandmother" had pieced already in strips for me.  I finished it for the quilt show this weekend at the Church of the Pacific in Princeville.  Since all quilts good enough to hang in show must have a name, I had to come up with one. The tapa cloth reminded me of party platters and the fabric of bright pupus or appetizers at a luau. This cookbook had a special chapter called "Dis 'n Dat" with little bits of everything contained in its' pages.I should explain "dis 'n dat" is Hawaiian pidgin for "this and that".  This is a perfect name for a quilt with a little bit of everything in it including some poi colored fabric. The "Dis 'n Dat"  quilt will be on display at the quilt show this weekend come by for a closer look.  I'll even share some recipes from the Pupu Party Planner cookbook!

Historic Cottage & Mangoes

Back to work for at least 2 more weeks on the cottage and this is the result.  The inside still needs some professional help.  

Here's our historic plaque from the city of Cheney it is brass and very heavy so we still have to figure out what wall can hold it.Over the mountains back to Seattle.  It was a bright and sunny day.  Sorry for the buggy windshield it is summer after all. Back in Seattle we spent a day at Pike Place Market shopping. 

The quilt store Undercover Quilts is there. Even though it is small, the store has lots of variety and many finished quilts on display. 

Mary Downes' Bark Park quilt was displayed in the window.   This store is a must stop for me whenever I'm is Seattle.   

Flowers everywhere was the theme of the day at Pike Place Market.

After an activity filled vacation we are back on Kauai just in time for mango season.  The Kauai quilt show is next week I'm going to be demonstrating Hawaiian quilting there.  I looking forward to a busy, fun summer.

Break Day from Restoring Cottage

Today we took a break from painting and explored around the towns of Post Falls & Coeur d 'Alene. First stop was Caife Cistin.To enjoy some Chinese green tea and Mexican spice mocha while enjoying the trendy atmosphere of Post Falls.

This  small coffee shop in Post Falls even has dandelion jelly!  We also explored the local thrift shops in both towns. This was such a colorful mural I had to get a picture of it. I bought this German thimble at Wiggetts the antique mall in Coeur d 'Alene. I have found that good thimbles are cheaper at thrift stores and even antique malls than than at regular sewing shops. This antique thimble cost $8.00 and is sterling silver.  

The thimble is sitting on wallpaper from the Cheney cottage.

The paper was backed with muslin on the wall. I can't believe the wallpaper still is vibrant after all these years. 

  I arrived at Bear Paw Quilting before they opened to get a good parking space.  You can tell I'm still not use to the cold weather yet. I purchased this block of the month pattern for $2.00  (the umbrella material was included) and made this three dimensional pin wheel block. I mailed this quilt block back to the store to enter the drawing for pin wheel blocks other quilters have made. I  hope I win.  

Historic Cottage Before

We have arrived at Cheney to work on our "historic" house, the town voted to designate the house historic.  The house dates between 1880 and 1884.  One fun part of restoring a old house is the demo. It's fun pulling square nails out of old walls, and taking pictures of all the old layers of wall paper and flooring.  I am mostly the low end labor in the project, getting tools, keeping things organized and clean up work. We also had a great demo crew including my dad, my mom, daughter and her boyfriend.  Many hands make light work. The most interesting discovery was a 1881 Christian Journal my husband found in the attic.   This photo is a before picture of the concrete shower stall in the spacious bathroom. That's when we found a new discovery a rotting floor beam!  Thank goodness my husband has a fix for that.  After a long day working, we stopped at  Picabu Neighborhood Bistro in  Spokane for this great dinner of grilled chicken gyros and desert lime chicken.  In tomorrow's blog I'll share some more house photos and even something quilty.

Over the Pass & Putting on the Ritz

It is over the pass day for a five hour drive to Spokane.  The best part of the journey is a lunch stop at the Valley Cafe in Ellensberg.  With its 1930 original decor you want to hum "Putting on the Ritz" as you order your food. Chicken salad with crunchy nuts and fresh greens was just what we needed for a road trip lunch break.  The tea is even pretty as you can see.My husband had the roast beef sandwich with strawberry fan for flair.  You can sit at the counter or at this tableau by the window. Can I rave anymore about this restaurant?  We stopped on our way back to Seattle for lunch again.  The food was very good and served with loving care. We just loved it!

Snoqualmie Falls, Ikea & More

Up and out early on our trip today.  It's off to Snoqualmie Falls. Since Kauai is a virtual paradise full of waterfalls, it takes alot for me to be impressed by waterfalls.  But Snoqualmie Falls was simply majestic.  It was the first day of warm spring weather and everyone including a local motorcycle club came out to enjoy the falls.  My husband & I walked around the town of Issaquah.  He loved the look of this building it gives you a glimpse of Issaquah downtown.

 

I happened a upon a craft fair and bought pot holders and tea towels for Mother's day presents.

 She was a quilter and displayed watercolor quilts something I never had the patience to do.  Friends told us not to miss shopping at the Ikea store.  So we ventured into the land of European design.  I had no idea how large the store was.  It took us a good 5 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the entrance and we were not inside the building yet!  Inside we strolled for at least 3 hours before stopping for lunch at the store cafeteria.  

I had chicken salad and some great brambleberry juice.  I even found their fabric section.  It was self serve and yes, I was honest as to how many yards I cut and labeled.  Here's some of the fabric.  It will be great for household sewing and bags, I'm not sure I would use it for quilts.  But at $3.50 a yard I couldn't resist.   This is the last day in Seattle and we must head over the mountains in tomorrow's blog.  I'll miss shopping in Bellevue.

Seattle Fabric, Eating & Architecture

I've been typing my blog the old-fashioned way so that's why it has taken me so long to update my site.  This morning in April after I stopped by my favorite donut shop, just joking this is the breakfast we really had.  We went to the Food Service Conference and sampled many tasty treats.  A Japanese chef demonstrated slicing and dicing vegetables so they look like a landscape from Memoirs of a Geisha.  I just love the blue soba noodles for waterfall!  After long morning at the food show a quick trip to the local fabric store Stitches and I purchased more dotted basic fabric and a variety of zippers for making purses. Stitches is a cute little store that offers fabric and patterns for "the younger hip group of stitchers".   We finished off the day visiting the historic Stimson-Green house and a lecture on the architecture of Seattle at the University of Washington in preparation for restoring our Cheney historic cottage. Let's close the door for today and more on our Northwest trip tomorrow.