Not Afraid of Color

One weekend afternoon we stopped house hunting (we found one later!) and visited the town of Golden CO. Enjoy these scenes from our visit.
Above was a wedding party taking their photos with a back drop of store fronts! Okay....
From the suspension bridge
 Many people were riding inner tubes along the river
There was a story of pioneer couple on the historical markers. The wife said she planned to make a little money selling extra vegetables. The husband laughed at her and said, sure you can keep what you make, having little belief she'd make anything. She turned it into a very profitable business, much to his shock!

Never underestimate a woman!

There was a quilt shop but the sign out front said many No this, No that, No the other allowed and it turned me off. No purchase there. I did look in, and the workers never welcomed me, but kept chatting to each other. No offense meant if you love this shop... but first impressions count.

Plenty of friendly businesses to visit so we moved on...

Lots of shops... some funny signs...


Tacky photo op
The smoke blew away for a little bit that day... it's been consistently hazy sometimes to the point of darkness and difficulty breathing for all of us.
We enjoyed our visit and plan to return when possible!

As you know, on any trip the most important item packed is your sewing project. This was one of three projects I took on my recent plane trip to Colorado. I didn't get as many done as I hoped and the basting is still in but you get the picture. They fit in a 3 inch square finished.
So cute!
We went to check out the area for a possible move. While there we hoped to meet people, see contra dances, go to quilt stores (maybe I wanted that one more than Mr Not Afraid of Color) and see mountains. 
I'll be doing several posts on the trip, of course, because I have so much to tell you!!!

Today let's focus on the important things.... FABRIC 
 while looking around Downtown Boulder, my friend Mary and I peeked into Fabricate. The store was about as large as my studio and had cute modern very expensive fabrics. Still I had to get some flamingos right? Right. And the daisy to go with because I want to do that pattern soon. 
Another lovely quilt shop, maybe my fave of this trip was the Presser Foot in Longmont, CO.
friendly ladies and great stuff! I showed GREAT restraint in only purchasing this
a pattern using panels almost gone! I got the last large one. Some fabrics to border my recent abstracts, script on cream, all in a red tote bag to reuse. Here's the pattern made up. So fun.
While on a house finding day I asked to stop at the Quilters Corner  in Erie CO
where I proceeded to show GREAT restraint because I wanted LOTS of fabrics and patterns
but left with this
wonderful script fabric and check out the dachshund pattern!!! Wearing glasses. Different sweaters.

and this black and white

 All wrapped like a party in a bag!

I was so pleased to meet Diann from Little Penguin quilts in person. Her husband Mike, my husband she and I got on so well. Isn't it fun to meet people in person? Of course she's ear-less now that I talked her EARS off! I staged this photo... I said grab a bolt for a pic! It tells a lot like a Rorschach test doesn't it? I grab pink and orange with lime, she grabs one that she'd use? Hmmmm guess I could be considered bold.... soft heart though! Diann made me this bag and mug rug....
On top are some metallic paper bunnies to play around with this spring
 I gave her a slice of pie pin cushion, with whipped cream on top!






 I showed GREAT restraint, with an eye to flying home these fabric purchases, and left with only these
So pretty! Two of which were on sale. The owner has two airedales so we talked dogs as well. There is a Poodle in that pink dog fabric! speaking of dogs... I got these three at Estes
at the Stitchin' Den.
They cater to knitters embroiderers and quilters in the picturesque mountain town.

The fabrics were expensive so I got these three fiat quarters but ain't they cute?
The top snow grades from light to dark.






That's it for my fabric purchases. We were too tired to go to a contra dance by the evenings (altitude) but there are lots of fun pictures and adventures to share this week. On Wed there will be a dog post, on Thurs likes there are several surprises. 
Went to CO wish you were here!  
linking to among others on my links page:
         mollisparkles Sundays                                        design wall mondays
oh Scrap Sundays 
 slow stitching Sundays 

Dancing foam. 
We escaped to the Beach for two days, hoping to reboot and find PEACE. 

Strong winds curtailed our plans to sit outside, me painting while Drew played the guitar. We got there Monday afternoon and it was still sunny, so we took a long walk along the shoreline and it was renewing to our spirits. I have more pictures and thoughts on that for future posts. 

I grew up in Florida walking on beaches, sitting and watching the waves roll in, hearing the swoosh of the water and cries of gulls. Smelling Coppertone lotion. Feeling sand sift through your fingertips. Breathing clean air. Seeing clouds change shape as the light changes thru the day. The soft tickle of sand eroding under your feet as the water comes and goes. 

Nothing stays the same really, and nothing changes.

We did not know the weather would take a decided change by the following morning.
The video (bottom of page) is of dancing foam at the shore line on Rehoboth Beach DE this week.
They were just cleaning up from a storm the weekend before and are facing landfall of Hurricane Mathew. Big tonka trucks were removing huge benches as we walked along the shoreline. Metal shutters were being lowered onto windows.


We managed to take several long walks around town, and on the boardwalk but it was tough. The wind whistled through our room when the door opened.


 These kites were tugging at their moorings... look closer... see the one near the bottom? Wonder why it caught my eye...



 We watched as the wind created something akin to tumbleweeds with sea foam too.


I tried to capture it in the following video. I don't know why it formatted into such a narrow frame, but try watching it from youtube ( LINK) where you can put it on full screen.

By the time I taped it, the foam was rolling along in slightly smaller units but about midway you can see them rolling along if you look closely.

It's oddly relaxing to watch the video and see the waves repeatedly building and crashing. I caught a brave gull trying to find a snack, and  toward the end, I pan full circle to give you a sense of place.

I hope you get a feel for that moment.

We visited the beach, Wish you were here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o109Y5Gg94I

linking among others to
wandering-camera-

On our way to Syracuse for the AQS quilt show, we stopped in Binghampton NY to stretch our legs.
This is a carousel house. A benefactor donated several carousels to the area with the request that they  remain free to ride.

Cole was very scared of the horse...
Cautiously he approached from behind, sniffing it's tail. Then, he looked around to see if anyone noticed his fear...




Cole:  "what the fizzle! That was the weirdest dang thing! All stiff, and floating in the air... no smell though. Humans and their stuff"

Cole and Drew escaped went out first, and I took this pic through the window, then noticed the sign above their heads.

So true... poodles are ever young, and have big ears. I'd sure hate to hear Cole using bad words.






Being young at heart although old of years, Drew had a birthday the following day. We went into Syracuse and walked around Armory Square and visited this guitar store named " Ish "



 Drew started learning to play guitar at Christmas, and he loves it. He practices each day. I had gotten him a stylish hat for his birthday, and asked if there might be something to interest him in this store.
See him through the glass, red shirt and new hat, talking music with the owner?? I love this picture.
Cole and I had stepped out, as Cole was waaaaaay too interested in the store for my comfort. I don't know if there were critters or bodies or what, but he wanted to inspect every nook and cranny.
Drew got a pick with the store name on it... Ish. More travel pictures to come...