A Quilt for Khari!

The start of Khari's Quilt

A friend of my Dad's gave me the idea for a t-shirt quilt many years ago.  Lois mentioned a quilt that she was planning to make out of t-shirts from all the states she had visited.  Well...  I started pulling out ride shirts!  I'd just completed my first 1,000 miles in competition - most on Jas.  I needed a few more blocks, so printed up a couple of my favorite ride photos on t-shirts.  Lois cut them into squares, pieced them together with strips of a horse themed fabric, added batting, a back & had the edges quilted on a long-arm.  Later - I took it to another quilter & had each of the t-shirt blocks quilted down.  I learned a lot from this process - certainly what I wanted to do differently next time.
  
It had taken me ten-years to reach that first milestone, which seemed like forever at the time.  But, as friends said then;  the second 1,000 would go quicker & it has - in just five years with Khari.  I say;  just when some riders ride more in one year - than I do in five!   It's all about the ride though & I've enjoyed every one of mine!  I can't think of a better way to save the memories than to put them into a quilt! 

The photo above is my layout for this second quilt.  I still need to have a three more shirts made up.  I found the perfect fabric to use for the strips between the blocks at my cousin Jackie's shop;  The Quilter's Fix in Sheridan, WY.   It's a print that looks like tooled leather.  I'm thinking I might use flannel, or even polar fleece for the backing this time.  Now I have cutting, stitching & more layout to do before I turn it over to a "professional" quilter to do the piecing.   
Fun for a cold rainy day!
P.S. - Finished!

The View from Here~

Clear, gorgeous day~

I never tire of the views...  Decided to ride out from home today.  Didn't have the ambition to trailer out somewhere to ride by myself, so took the saved travel time & spent it in the saddle.  Khari wouldn't walk up the road past the sheep without stopping, trying to whirl & refuse.  How many times has she seen those sheep now???  Oh well, no rush - I waited her out, she finally bored herself & we went on.  Once up on top, we checked out the damage from the multiple storms this winter.  One trail closed by a downed tree, but the gate below was standing open & gave us access to the power lines was open.  Lots of water, water everywhere.

Gate to the power lines open~

ATV'ers have broken it open & are tearing through what's left of "my" trails - making a huge mess of everything.  What used to be small puddles are now huge mud holes.  I'm going to call the one landowner I know - who has given me permission to ride & let them know what's going on.  It was all supposed to be developed, but the downturn in the economy has "saved" the land for the time being.

Another "new" gate~

Originally we had miles & miles to ride, but over the years, a section at a time has been closed off.  It' a shame - since I'm the only one who is ever up there now.  On our way home we stopped to talk to our friends, hearing the story of how one of our neighbor's horses died of colic over the weekend.  Always so sad to hear of a colic death.  The mare's sire was my friend Pat's deceased stallion Rocky Ridge Ali.

New Views!

Looking east at the Cascades

Yesterday, I drove up to Charlotte's - Darlene & I had been invited up for a ride!  We'd heard Charlotte say more than once;  "I'm just riding out behind my house."  A few of us are lucky enough to have a few miles of riding close enough to home that we don't have to trailer - but - Charlotte has Way more than that!  

Victoria to the left, Charlotte's trails on the right~

Since these old logging roads are landlocked by various landowners, they're not available for access to anyone but people who live in the area.  It was so amazing to see "new" country & get a feel for the lay-of-the-land further north.  Charlotte is still exploring & doing some research to see who owns what;  but suffice to say that this could be an incredible recreation area sometime in the future - if the sprawl of development doesn't happen.  We rode out just over 7 miles, then returned the same way.  The wind was fierce & again this week, we had just returned to the trailers by the time the rains hit!  Great Ride!

Cat & Mouse~

Kathryn Taylor Fide

Slipping in rides between weather systems is getting to be something like a game of cat & mouse!   Five Saddle-Up members met at Kathryn Taylor Equestrian Park for what was to be a faster paced ride.   It looked like we might get wet when we left the trailer parking area, but as the morning turned to afternoon - we stayed dry.  There was quite a lot of wind damage to the tops of the trees, several had been cut to keep the trails clear.  For the amount of rain we've had - the trails were in amazingly good shape.

Riding along Novelty Hill Road

For being in such a heavily populated urban area, it's so great that there is a connected system of multipurpose trails, most through beautiful woods.  The crossing above is one of several that we took, with long lines-of-sight to the crossing - it wasn't bad.  It was Khari's first time down in this area; she took the barking dogs, bridges & weird objects really well.  No spooks, but she preferred to follow :-)  We covered just under 15-miles in 3 hours & 13 min.  a really good pace for a really nice day.

Blanchard Ride~

Khari, Connie Darlene, Sable, Cinnamon & Kathy

Friday, we were riding "rain or shine".  I met Charlotte at the exit off I-5 & followed her to the trail head where Darlene & Kathy were waiting.  We were saddled & on the trails by 11 a.m.  The wind was blowing, it was cold & looked like rain was on the way - so we brought our rain gear.  We decided on the British Army Trail. 
 

Aliento & Charlotte too!

It was as steep, somewhat slippery & as full of sharp turns, rocks, roots etc., as I remembered from my one ride here, a few years ago with Diane.

Looking Southwest~

We set a good pace & covered a lot of ground.  By the time we reached the edge of the lookout area the rain was moving in & wind picking up even more.  After a short break, we headed back the way we'd come.  I heard my name?  Looked ahead & around the corner to see Patty & Kendal!  It was a gaggle of endurance women :-)  Back at the trailers we loaded the horses & headed to a little tavern in Algers for some Great burgers & beer!   Really nice way to end a day's good ride!  The drive home was through heavy rain & lots of traffic, a 100 mile round-trip for me, but well worth it!