Elm Street Quilts August Finish: Binding Made and More

Binding done for August's Elm Street Quilts OMG

With some determination and a cancellation, more was accomplished this month than I had hoped.  When our niece's maid of honor decided to stay with a friend, I didn't have to focus on cleaning and meals for a house guest.  The quilt binding was made on schedule and then attached and hand stitch down while DH attended his 50th high school reunion and I sat at home indulging in audio books and movies.

We also squeezed in the trip to Silverton, OR.  The focal point of the outing was the Oregon Garden.  After a dry hot summer, the garden is still beautiful but not as lush and green as they would be in May or early June.  The free tram tour is well worth the time with bit of humor added to the informative overview of the park.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures in the gardens, only on the entry to the park. The only Frank Lloyd Wright structure in Oregon was moved and reconstructed near the garden gate.  We didn't pay for a tour as there are several videos on YouTube that show off his interior design that includes an extensive use of built-in storage to avoid the clutter of furnishings.

The exterior of the Gordon house may appear simple but the striking features are the unique use of natural light and the way the architect brings the surrounding landscape into the interior of the home with floor to ceiling windows on the ground floor and the light filtering, wood trimmed upper windows.  Also, the use of wood on the exterior of the house makes the cement block home appear more luxurious.   

Just above the Frank Lloyd Wright Gordon house, is an Angel of Hope Garden.  This is one of many angels scattered around the world dedicated to parents who have lost a child.  The first angel was commissioned at the request of the author, Richard Paul Evans, in a response to readers of The Christmas Box.  The Silverton Angel is one of two in the state of Oregon.  The other is in a cemetery in Portland.

Other Angel Locations:
http://www.richardpaulevans.com/angel-locations/

I am not ready for Fall.  Temperatures have dropped significantly and rain has signaled the change of seasons.  The immediate and important benefits are clean air and forest fire control.  If it weren't for consequences of tinder dry land, Summer could last another month or so.  

August Elm Street Quilts OMG: One Step Forward

It seems like the piles on my cutting table are multiplying.  I should be making progress on cleaning it off so I can use it for cutting instead of sorting fabrics for quilts and other projects but I keep getting distracted and instead of organizing, I sew or quilt instead and pull more fabrics out of boxes, adding to the disarray.  Of course, buying more fabric doesn't help either. 

Two small projects for the month would subtract from some of the mess on the cutting table.  If I make binding for the quilt I just took off the quilting machine and the pillowcase that goes with the quilt I made my newest grandson, I can put some extra fabric away.

There is a diagonal print stripe that will make great binding for the Yellow Brick Road below.

Elm Street Quilts August OMG:  Make Binding

And there is surplus of the scattered bunny fabric in the last border of this quilt for the pillowcase.  I promised a pillowcase would appear sometime in the future.

I hope to accomplish more but my sister has doctor appointments, our niece's maid of honor is staying with us the week of the wedding, we have missionary friends dropping by the same weekend, and at the end of the month, it would be nice to take a day trip down to Silverton and Mt. Angel to see the sights.