A short trip, another finish and a little project

The last two weeks have been busy.  We celebrated DH and my birthdays with a little trip to Roswell, NM.  We were only gone two nights but it was a nice getaway.  We spent a day in Roswell and visited the UFO museum, a few gift shops and a quilt shop.  I was hoping to find some unique alien/UFO fabric at the quilt shop but I didn't find anything I couldn't pass up.  They had a couple UFO quilt patterns but not what I was looking for.  We did enjoy the International UFO museum, lots of pictures and info to look at.  I'm not a serious UFO buff but I do believe there is a chance we are not the only planet with life in the grand scheme of things.  Here are a few pictures of two of the exhibits:

Visitors ? ? ?

A close up!  About every 15 minutes or so this exhibit would come to life.  Sometimes with fog coming out of the spaceship and sometimes with the aliens turning their heads and breathing.  It was kinda cute/creepy.

Here I am at the alien autopsy display.  We did have fun even though it was hot in Roswell, 102 F was the high while we were in town.  When we got back to the car after viewing the museum, the thermometer inside the car read 108 F for a short time until the car cooled off a bit.  We found a great restaurant for lunch.  If you are ever in Roswell, check out Pepper's, it is near the Bank of America building downtown.  Good New Mexican (which is different than Mexican) food, a pretty restaurant and the price's were reasonable. 

Now, my quilt finish.  Here is the finished "Snowbound" from the Bunny Hill Designs free BOM for 2010. 

I finally got it quilted.  The Irish Chain blocks are machine quilted in the ditch.  For the snowmen I hand quilted right around each applique.  I still don't feel ready to try free motion quilting on a good quilt.  I think it turned out OK.  It will be fun to have it out for Christmas.  It is not traditional colors but I started with the blue background fabric and it just worked out adding the pinks.  Maybe when I get better with my free motion quilting I will go back and work on the borders with more quilting, or maybe not. 

I also just finished a small wall hanging for my Mom's birthday.

I just bought an Applique Pressing Sheet and this pattern came with it.  I used it to practice using the sheet to see how it worked.  It is great!  I can now put the applique pattern on the ironing board, lay the pressing sheet over it and put the fusible applique design together on it.  The pattern shows through the pressing sheet to make it easy to align everything.  When everything is in position, press it with the iron, let it cool completely and it peels off as one piece like a big sticker.  Then I just position it onto my fabric, press it into place, let it cool and it is ready to stitch around.   It's fun!  I will put it to use again soon on another quilt I have started that has lots of applique on it. 

My youngest daughter stopped by last weekend.  She and her boyfriend/fiance came through town on their way to Colorado, South Dakota,Wyoming and Montana for a vacation.  In a couple of weeks my DH's youngest daughter is staying with us for a few days, too.  We just got the carpets cleaned so I will have a little more light house cleaning to do before she arrives.  Right after she leaves, DH goes hunting for a few days.  I'm thinking of painting the family room while he is away, and sewing a lot, too.

That is about it, I do have a couple more pics of some of my flowers.  I'll leave you with those, happy quilting!

PS:  If you are interested in the Applique Pressing Sheet, I ordered mine from Kelly Mueller at The Wooden Bear .  It is listed under "Other Supplies" in the left hand column.  Also check out "Specials" on the left side.  For orders of $24 or more, she will send a free notepad and with the order of the pressing sheet, she will send a free patternlet.  I ordered the pressing sheet and one of her patternlets and got the free notepad and another patternlet.  Great deal!  Her shipping prices are very reasonable and she ships your items fast.  I ordered on a Saturday evening and had my order on Wednesday.  I love her designs, they are simple and very cute.  Hope that helps!