Icelandic Horses

Icelanders are very proud of their little horses and they are in pastures all along the highway and even on sweaters.  You could buy horse shoes in the grocery store! There were lots of places advertising trail rides.  That would have been a lot of fun but it was not  part of our tour and I haven't been on a horse for 20 some years. --Ann--

Iceland

 Iceland has lots and lots of waterfalls, I had never walked behind a waterfall before, its wet back there.

 Volcanic ash beach

 Boats in a harbor always look so cheerful to me with their bright colors.

 another waterfall and did you notice no guard rails along the path.  I wish we would have had a sunny day.  Lots of sunshine here on the prairie today and temps to be in the 90's again.  --Ann--

Off the needles but someone else's

Knitting is a cottage industry in Iceland.  There were sweaters everywhere, on the locals, on guys working in the streets, on guys on fishing boats, on ladies working in shops, and tourists.  We were with a tour group and someone said the hand knitters should get organized so they could sell their sweaters for a lower price.  I couldn't keep my mouth shut and said that I knit and it is typical to spend upwards of $80 for yarn for an adult sized sweater  if you don't buy good quality yarn it will look likes something the cat drug in after a short time  and then there are at least 60 hours of work in it.  Then the shop needs to mark it up to cover operating expenses.  They hadn't thought of it that way!  There were tourist shops all over and many of the small towns had a local hand made shop with all locally made items.  Some shops looked like church bazars and others were very artsy.  The hand knitters are organized and their sweaters have to meet certain standards.  The shops also sold felted items, buttons and such made from reindeer antlers, rams horns and cut lava stones, then there were leashes, keychains, bracelets and such made from horsetail hair,  wallets and pouches made from tanned fish skins, I should have taken more pictures, pottery, paintings and sketches and lots of artsy things.  I'll show you my sweater and purchases next week.  --Ann--
Linking to Judy's OTN

Natural Wonders in Iceland

I was sewing like a demon the end of June and early July then I paced my posts while we were on a trip.  Now I'm home again and trying to get back in the swing of things, except the swing of things means sorting and tossing then filling boxes because it's four and a half weeks until the moving truck comes.  I guess I'll linger over travel photos............

 Would I ever go anywhere where there weren't any wildflowers!?!

 Geysers

and there she blows

 Gullfoss waterfall

 is a two step waterfall I can only imagine how gorgeous it is on a sunny day with rainbow fragments in the spray.

What caught my eye looking the other direction? the blue on the hills! lupins!

Lupin seeds from Alaska were planted to stop erosion of the land and they liked it in Iceland and spread and spread and spread some more.

and believe it or not it was getting to be the end of the bloom season.

The lupins went on for miles and miles along the highway.  More tomorrow. --Ann--

Makes me think of wheat

What a difference natural light makes on this.  It had a yellow cast in the artificial light in my sewing room.  And the little bugs immediately found it when I laid it on the grass. The gold and taupe prints  add a lot of texture to the otherwise very dull neutral fabrics.  It makes me think of wheat fields not fields of corn and beans.  And now my pile of quilts is ta da done!  I have to start packing my sewing room and sorting and tossing.  I'd rather sew  --Ann--

Corn and Beans and Crop Circles

This quilt was pieced months ago, I stuck it on the design wall while I was machine quilting the red eye quilt  also months ago,  I wanted to quilt it different from the other quilts I have made with the corn and beans block aka north wind block.   I swung an arc from corner to corner of each of the triangles on the other quilts. click, click, click, I'm doing crop circles on this with the handi gadgets half circles.  As long as no one ever puts a dinner plate or any other circle shaped object on top of the circles it looks pretty good. --Ann--

Perfect Five Point Stars

When I can see the "art" in the everyday, that's when I know I'll be working and thinking at my fullest potential.  unknown author

Only God can make such a perfect, exquisite 5 point star.  Enjoying the everyday wonders around me.  --Ann--