Slow Stitching My Day Away

For those that have inquired, we are doing just fine here in Pateros. We have had level 1 evacuation (lowest level) warnings in place for over a week, but so far, the nearest fires seem to be moving away from us.

Keeping it simple...

As far as quilting goes, all I seem to be interested in is hand quilting. It feels very calming to me and doesn't require much in the way of brain power. I did try stitching something a little more complicated on the border of my string quilt, but after seeing part of one border done, I ripped it out and went simple. The quilt thanks me. It doesn't want anything complicated I guess.

Hand quilting done on this one!

I have had various things I consider important to me packed up and ready to go at a moments notice just in case. These are the totes with unfinished quilt tops, basic sewing supplies and quilt projects that are 'in process' but not nearly at the quilt top stage. I also have the quilts that are in the hoop (or fresh out) and of course my sewing machine. Closer to the front door (downstairs) I have things like photo albums, papers, baby books etc. and of course we all have a bag of clothes packed. Scattered throughout the house are also TJMAXX/IKEA bags with about three quilts each in them--only my very favorites and of course the one from my Grandma. We figure we could easily have all of these items out of the house in under 10 minutes if we had to. No sense in putting them in the car unless or until we have a more serious evacuation warning.

Trying to be ready.....

News stories can be very misleading so we have been trying to get our information from more official channels. There is a lot of panic in our valley because of last year of course, but also because of how quickly the fires have grown and changed. So far we have had a small area of relative peace here in Pateros, with evacuees coming toward us rather than us having to flee. 

Here is an interesting YouTube video that shows a Fly Through map of the Chelan and Okanogan Complex fires. At 1:06 you can see exactly where our town is in relation to the fires. Pateros is up on the left corner, under the grid. At 4:52 you can see a broader view of where we are in relation to the fires in our county {we are the green arrow directly below where it says 'Brewster' in the bottom middle of the screen.} And then at 5:12 you can start watching the animated playback of how the fires have progressed and grown from where they were at on August 16. Obviously, the closest {to us} fires combined around that date, maybe just before, and then they have steadily blown past us except in the farthest areas of the county. That's where they still remain largely uncontained. Look for a town called Carlton. That's where the fire started last year that did so much damage to our little town and of course the surrounding areas. Now you know why we are still on level one evacuation notice. Even though the fires are primarily burning away from us, there is still some activity on every side--having the fire be 6-8 miles away from us with a river in between? Not feeling so safe until it's all put out.....

Time to link up to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching. I don't know about you, but it sure helps this mama stay a little more sane....