Last week, Russ and I spent a lovely week in Estes Park, Colorado to visit the Rocky Mountian National Park. This was my first trip to Colorado and it did not disappoint! 

The scenery was breathtaking! 

 We went on day hikes to Gem Lake, Emerald Lake and Ouzel Falls. We met such nice people! 

Ouzel Falls

We saw some very interesting plant life on our trip. I half expected to see a gnome near this mushroom!

Amanita Muscaria

As for wildlife, we saw a bear, many marmots, a snowshoe hare, bighorn sheep, mule deer and elk. Seeing wildlife is my favorite part! 

Alpine Visitors Center

We took a  drive up Trail Ridge Trail on one day. I do admit that I had a moment where I wasn't sure I could take the ride up the mountain. My fear of heights was getting the best of me and I was psyching myself out. The original plan was to go all the way up to the Alpine Visitors Center and then down the other side to Grand Lake, turn around and come back. I was afraid I would get to the other side of the mountain and be too afraid to come back home! We compromised by going up to the Alpine Visitors Center and then coming back down again. There was a section that was a bit scary, but overall it was easier than I expected. Since it went so well, on another day, we took a drive up the more rugged original road, the Old Fall River Road. That was a very beautiful drive!! 

Waterfalls everywhere! 

Snow, shorts, and sandals!! 

Enjoying the tundra!

My favorite hiking pal...

The rest of the time we relaxed and enjoyed the many shops in Estes Park. It's a beautiful town...

We are already planning our next summer vacation to Glacier Park!  

What National Parks have you visited? Do you have a favorite? 

On a sad note: While we were there, we were made aware of a missing hiker, Brian Perri. It appears his body was found earlier today. My prayers are with his family and friends...

Last week, Russ and I spent a lovely week in Estes Park, Colorado to visit the Rocky Mountian National Park. This was my first trip to Colorado and it did not disappoint! 

The scenery was breathtaking! 

 We went on day hikes to Gem Lake, Emerald Lake and Ouzel Falls. We met such nice people! 

Ouzel Falls

We saw some very interesting plant life on our trip. I half expected to see a gnome near this mushroom!

Amanita Muscaria

As for wildlife, we saw a bear, many marmots, a snowshoe hare, bighorn sheep, mule deer and elk. Seeing wildlife is my favorite part! 

Alpine Visitors Center

We took a  drive up Trail Ridge Trail on one day. I do admit that I had a moment where I wasn't sure I could take the ride up the mountain. My fear of heights was getting the best of me and I was psyching myself out. The original plan was to go all the way up to the Alpine Visitors Center and then down the other side to Grand Lake, turn around and come back. I was afraid I would get to the other side of the mountain and be too afraid to come back home! We compromised by going up to the Alpine Visitors Center and then coming back down again. There was a section that was a bit scary, but overall it was easier than I expected. Since it went so well, on another day, we took a drive up the more rugged original road, the Old Fall River Road. That was a very beautiful drive!! 

Waterfalls everywhere! 

Snow, shorts, and sandals!! 

Enjoying the tundra!

My favorite hiking pal...

The rest of the time we relaxed and enjoyed the many shops in Estes Park. It's a beautiful town...

We are already planning our next summer vacation to Glacier Park!  

What National Parks have you visited? Do you have a favorite? 

On a sad note: While we were there, we were made aware of a missing hiker, Brian Perri. It appears his body was found earlier today. My prayers are with his family and friends...

For the last few days, I have been hard at work getting my Ombre Gems quilt all quilted. Here you can see I am almost done. I loved the texture and how it was quilting! 

Here it is all quilted up. I was thrilled with it! Loved the texture, loved how it looks. It quilted up beautifully....Or did it? 

This morning, I tackled squaring it up...That's where I realized I had a problem...A big, BIG problem!

The more I quilted it on the diagonal, the more off square the quilt was being pulled. You can see just how significant it is in the following pictures. 

If I do force the corners to be square and meet, you can see the twist that the quilt is forced into. 

Instead of crying over something that can't be fixed...okay, I admit it, I cried

... and I really don't think it can be fixed short of removing most of the quilting, even then there is only a hope it will relax back into shape, I am choosing to use this as a learning opportunity and remember to not quilt only in one diagonal direction so densely again. 

I am pretty nervous about washing it and having it shrink even more off square! 

Has this ever happened to you? Were you able to fix it? Please share!

For the last few days, I have been hard at work getting my Ombre Gems quilt all quilted. Here you can see I am almost done. I loved the texture and how it was quilting! 

Here it is all quilted up. I was thrilled with it! Loved the texture, loved how it looks. It quilted up beautifully....Or did it? 

This morning, I tackled squaring it up...That's where I realized I had a problem...A big, BIG problem!

The more I quilted it on the diagonal, the more off square the quilt was being pulled. You can see just how significant it is in the following pictures. 

If I do force the corners to be square and meet, you can see the twist that the quilt is forced into. 

Instead of crying over something that can't be fixed...okay, I admit it, I cried

... and I really don't think it can be fixed short of removing most of the quilting, even then there is only a hope it will relax back into shape, I am choosing to use this as a learning opportunity and remember to not quilt only in one diagonal direction so densely again. 

I am pretty nervous about washing it and having it shrink even more off square! 

Has this ever happened to you? Were you able to fix it? Please share!