FPP Pearl Harbor

There are just no words for Pearl Harbor.  We visited in June 2015 and were lucky enough to get to go onsite, after a boat collision had damaged the ramp over the Arizona.  The entire complex is worth a day's visit. 

FPP NPS Sign

True iconic Americana are the NPS signs.  I stitched mine in NPS brown and green, and tried mimicking the stone anchors.  I will embroider National Park Service, and this block will be the center of the quilt.

Bargello Needlepoint

I absolutely love to stitch Bargello needlepoint, but I will say, those patterns grounded in some kind of history really attract my attention.

Building a good needlepoint library with easy to decipher pattern instructions enables stitchers an ability to create beautiful canvases.  Color schemes are not paramount in these books, because a stitcher can adapt their preferred color palette.  One of my favorite books contains some rather garish 1970s color schemes, but the patterns, all based on international, historical artifacts, maintain their relevancy in spite of the published stitch palette. 

A mid-1990s Joyce Petschek design

A Nikki Scheuer pattern adapted from a 19th century Siberian embroidered bridal coat finished Fall '20 

FPP Big Bend NP

I love Big Bend NP.  I first visited Big Bend in March 2008, and the hikes were amazing.  Sitting in the historic hot springs while dangling my hand in the Rio Grande was surreal.  I tried to go canoeing on the Rio Grande in the park during the late 1980s, but river runners were being shot from the Mexican side, so I delayed my trip.  Though I tried to get out there sooner, I didn't make it to the area any sooner.  I hope to taking a rafting trip through the Santa Elena Canyon soon.

FPP Eagle

Bald Eagles are quite majestic birds, but they do create a difficult situation for ranchers, as a Bald Eagle can carry a calf, deer, lamb off to their nest and whose end is rather violent.  Still, they are majestic and watching them "fish" is amazing.  I saw my first Bald Eagles in 2003 in Alaska while riding the train from Anchorage to Seward.

FPP Glacier NP

On my driving trip to Alaska, Glacier National Park was my first stop of the trip.  I enjoyed the Going to the Sun Road, the buses, hiking, and dining at the park lodge.  It and Banff are gorgeous places.

My first Fiona Sandwich pattern

               

NPS Quilt Begins

Coming home from a summer 2008 trip to the Florida Keys, we stopped at Big Cypress for the day.  Those Cypress trees are very reminiscent of those on Caddo Lake in Louisiana and Texas, and the ecosystem in which they live is phenomenal.  This was my first NPS Fiona Sandwich block.

Foundation Paper Piecing Quilting

 I signed up for Fiona Sandwich National Park Service block subscriptions in May 2020.  I watched videos and just could not figure it out.  Two months later, I broke my arm, so I really wasn't up to learning new things.  Today, I took a lesson on FPP at my local quilt shop, Urban Spools, and now, I know how to create quilt blocks FPP style!

My first FPP block--Crater of the Diamonds State Park