Bits and Pieces

Last month I complained about all the scraps generated by following Kaffe Fasset's directions for his Facet quilt. I also mentioned that I had a project that would use up most of those bits and pieces and here it is: another quilt top made of triangles. I cut the triangles with a die-cutting machine, so that part at least went very quickly.

I used scraps to make the multi-colored rows, offsetting the triangles to make the zig zag pattern.

I ran out of the solid blue I was using to separate the colored rows, and not wanting to venture out to buy more, improvised with other fabrics that I had on hand. 

That was probably a mistake. The blue is nice and crisp and I think the other colors muddy things up. I'm not going to undo it though since I expect it will look a little better once it is quilted and bound. And it will still keep whoever sleeps under it warm.

Hiking in the Hill Country: Grelle Recreation Area

After staying at home for many weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, we decided to explore a bit of the hill country and visited the Lower Colorado River Authority's Grelle Recreation Area. 

The park encompasses 276 acres on the south side of Lake Travis on the eastern end of Burnet County, a 45 minute drive from downtown Austin and a 20 minute drive from Marble Falls.

We arrived early on a Monday morning, used the honesty box for our entry credentials, and parked in a small but empty lot near the camping and picnic areas. With no one else around we didn't have to worry about social distancing.

At the trailhead we picked up a free map and off we went, winding through stands of ashe juniper,

live oaks and cedar elms.

The trails are well signed, though we chuckled about the possibly Freudian bit of confusion over the name of one of them. Is it "Bridal Pass?" 

or "Bridle Pass?" 

As you would expect, Overlook Trail offers fine panoramic views.

The open fields were lovely too, with lemon mint flowers standing out amid the green and gold grasses.

Grelle is also a nice spot for swimming, kayaking, and horseback riding. 

Now that it is full on summer here and temperatures reach the high nineties and 100s every afternoon, I would highly recommend a morning excursion.