Utah's National Parks and English Paper Piecing

I've just returned from a two week trip to see some National Parks in Utah and Arizona.

There were long car rides, so I took along my EPP stars.

I started with this star in Seattle.

We flew to Las Vegas and rented a car. 

We also went to the Neon Museum, a fun place to visit in LV.

The first park we visited was Zion National Park in Utah.  

Wow!  A very beautiful place.  

After that, we went to Bryce Canyon.

Another natural wonder!

Next stop was Moab, Utah, which is close to many of the parks 

AND they have great a quilt shop!

From there, we hiked Arches National Park.

Incredible! 

Then we headed to Navajo Nation.  

On our way, we stopped at "Newspaper Rock"

and saw these petroglyphs, all made before 1300, A.D.

In Monument Valley I spotted these Navajo rugs.

Then we saw ancient ruins of the Anasazi at Canyon De Shelly.

The finale of the trip was the Grand Canyon.

Amazing!

  

Here's the chunk of nine stars I'd made before, (on the left,)

along with the 18 stars I finished on the trip.

Now they'll be packed up and ready for the next travels.

Besides having a great time, I developed a true appreciation for our National Parks, 

the Navajo Nation

AND for English paper piecing!

Exciting and not-so exciting news.

Wow!
There are two beautiful articles about my quilts in Les Nouvelles,
Patchwork et Creation Textile, the magazine of France Patchwork.  

My dear friend, Katell Renon, writes for the magazine.  

Even though I can't read French, I know she's written lovely articles, 

as she always does!

You can see more of her interesting and insightful articles about quilting here:

https://quilteuseforever.wordpress.com

It's a gorgeous publication, mostly produced by and for the members of

France Patchwork.  

I'm honored and thrilled!

For not-so exciting news, here's my design wall today.  

I've been making these blocks from shirts that belong to my husband and me.  

No rulers, no measuring. The blocks fall into their own rows as they fit.

I've also started a new hand-quilting project.  

I'm experimenting with perle 12 thread, hoping it will be easier on my hands.

This photo shows both perle 8 and 12.  

It's hard to tell the difference in the look.  The 12 is definitely easier to pull through.

I've also dusted off my travel project for a trip to the national parks in Utah.  

We'll see how much I get done while gawking at the natural wonders there. 

Happy Spring!