Last October, my husband and I traveled to New Mexico to see the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque and to do some hiking at various national and local parks. I did manage to squeeze in visits to a couple of local quilt stores and purchased a couple of fun patterns.

I hoped to see a roadrunner during our visit, but, sadly, didn’t see one. I’ve only seen a roadrunner once in person on a visit to Cathedral Gorge State Park in Nevada several years ago. I decided to buy a little roadrunner quilt block called Marigold from Stitchology, a cute modern quilt shop in Albuquerque.

This block is 12″ and is a combination of traditional piecing and applique.

Here’s a close-up look at the applique feathers on the bird’s head:

I decided to finish this quilt block as a mini quilt to commemorate my visit to New Mexico. It’s quite a different bird than what we have here in the PNW!

I added a turquoise inner border with some decorative stitches. For the outer border, I used this fun roadrunner print designed by a textile artist in ABQ. She has a store front in old town called Desert Bird Mercantile where you can purchase her prints as fat quarters or by the yard.

The next day, we took the tram up to Sandia Peak for some hiking. We did about 8 miles along various trails. It was a gorgeous day and the aspens were in their fall glory!

Here’s a stunning viewpoint from the top overlooking Albuquerque below. We had a little picnic lunch here while admiring the views.

I’ll post some pictures of our hiking adventures from the trip in future posts. I love checking out hikes whenever we travel!

Happy quilting,

Jen