Lancaster, PA...Day 1

I took a little business trip last week, to Lancaster, PA. When quilting is your business, where else would you go? I headed out bright and early Wednesday morning...all by myself! That's right, no kids, no pets, no husband...just me! It was the first time I'd ever gone away by myself and let me tell you...if you haven't tried it, you should. I think this may become an annual event!

My first stop was in downtown Lancaster, at the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum. On display was a breathtaking collection of Amish quilts. The quilting on them was incredible, right down to the teeny, tiny little stitches.

The museum is housed in an old bank building, so it was a beautiful place to display the quilts...

A few of my favorites...(and yes I did realize that my reflection is in most of the pictures. A photographer I am not!)

After spending some time in the museum, I drove to the Rockvale outlets. After coming out of them empty handed, I found a Starbucks so I could refuel, then headed to Intercourse and my hotel room above Village Quilts at Kitchen Kettle Village. This is a relatively new place...the room I stayed in has only been used for about a year. If you ever come to the Lancaster area, I'd highly recommend staying in one of the Kitchen Kettle Villages Lodgings. They are comfortable, beautifully appointed and reasonable. They also give you metal travel mugs, free breakfast at the Kling House restaurant, which was delicious, a little basket of crackers, jams and chocolate, coffee, tea...everything you need to enjoy your stay.

There are handmade quilts on every bed...

And on the walls too! In that armoire is a television on which I watched The Phillies win the NLCS!!! Go Phils!
And of course, beautiful scenery everywhere you look...
Did I mention how relaxing this trip was? More tomorrow...

Back to Providence...

My youngest and I were off on the road to Rhode Island early Saturday morning, for a whirlwind visit with Ellen. It was a beautiful weekend, bright blue skies, temperatures in the low 70s and most importantly, the traffic wasn't too heavy! It took us about five and a half hours to get to Providence and it was worth every minute. We spent Saturday walking around the city and spent some time at the Art Museum at RISD, looking at the Chihuly glass exhibit. It was amazing. The pyres you see in this photo are for WaterFire, which is a unique event in Providence. These pyres are up and down the canal and are lit at night, while music is playing. I've never seen anything quite like it! It draws huge crowds and since Saturday night was the last WaterFire of the season and was a breast cancer fundraiser, they expected about 100,000 people to attend. It was beautiful.One of the highlights of the trip was meeting Ellen's boyfriend. He's a great guy and I really enjoyed spending time with him. He was game for anything...wandering around the art museum, walking miles through the city, keeping me company while Ellen and Grace ran to Old Navy for a sweatshirt. It was a pleasure to meet him.

On Sunday morning, Ellen met us at the hotel and we wandered down to The Cheesecake Factory for breakfast. It was another gorgeous day and we sat outside and enjoyed the weather and the company for a long time. But then it was time to head back to Jersey, so we dropped Ellen at her dorm and stopped long enough for one last picture...

It was a great weekend!

Instant Gratification

First of all, thank you for all of your comments and emails about Sam...knowing that there were so many of you who care really helped me get through a difficult time. I appreciate it more than words can say.

I felt the need for a quick project that would be mindless, yet would keep me busy. I dug around in my treasure boxes and found a packet of squares from the Quiltmaker's Gift line of fabric. I decided to make a simple lattice quilt with them and just put a plain border on it. That worked really well until I realized I didn't have enough of anything in my stash for a border. So I've gotten this far with it.... and I'll be making a piano key border from my scraps. I'll probably piece a back for it as well and it will become a donation quilt for my Caps and Laps group at church.

I've also been doing some knitting...this is the Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf made from a beautiful alpaca worsted from Frog Tree. It's been in my yarn stash since last fall and I had every intention of having a lovely scarf for the boss last winter. Yeah, instead I had a lovely scarf and he still had 4 skeins of yarn at the end of winter.

This winter he'll be as warm as an alpaca.

Samuel Adams

Back in August of 2005 we adopted a very sweet, adult cocker spaniel from a shelter. We were told he was between 5 and 7, but we're pretty sure he was much older. His name was Sam and he was Grace's dog. She decided he should be called Samuel Adams (it was canoe carnival time and that involves a lot of Sam Adams...and Coors Light...and Corona...and...) and that's what he became. Sam was a pain in the neck most of the time...he had to relearn a lot of things that he had forgotten with his previous owners. Important things like how to go to the bathroom outside and how not to steal food. He did pretty well with the first, but not so great with the second. But, we loved him anyway and he became a part of the family.

Over the past few days, we'd seen a serious decline in his health. He had developed tremors, which were getting worse. He had a cancerous tumor on his face, which had broken through the skin and was getting larger. He developed a horrible cough and couldn't keep food down. So, once again the decision had to be made. He was in pain and suffering, so I took him this morning to be put to sleep.

Sam, thanks for being part of our lives for the past three years...we're going to miss you.

Australia...

Well that narrows it down a bit! I received some goodies from my Stitchers' Angel in today's mail and they are beautiful! My angel made the Blue Wren's Nest tote from Cinderberry Stitches for me and did a fabulous job on it. It will be perfect for my little applique blocks to live in and is adorable. Inside the tote was an Australian fat quarter with kangaroos on it...too cute!
Thanks to my angel...I love it!

It's good to see that someone is stitching because I've done virtually nothing for the past two days. Have felt out of sorts and unproductive. I did load a quilt onto my machine, but haven't started the quilting. I have been knitting while sitting, so at least something has come of my laziness. Tomorrow will be a long day...I'm working at a Weight Watchers center an hour from here in the morning, then we're starting two new meetings in our state capital, one of which already has 57 members. From there I'll pick up my daughter for a doctor's appointment, then afterwards will be my guitar lesson. Maybe I needed to relax and rest up for tomorrow! :o)

I've also got two trips scheduled, both of which I'm very excited about. In a few weeks my youngest and I will be heading to Providence, RI to visit my older daughter at school. We'll leave on Saturday morning and come home on Sunday night. Then later that week I'll be running away from home. I've booked a room in Lancaster, PA for 2 nights and I'm going...all by myself! I've never been away alone before, I'm not sure I'll know how to behave!

Gone...

I don't know where the week went, but it was gone fast! I got a lot done this week. I did some customer quilting...this is the back (click to embiggen!), the front is gorgeous. And I did some more quilting for customers....
And a little more customer quilting....
I took a some time to watch the birds...
And I did a little stitching...totally screwing up the part where I was supposed to stitch panels for BOTH ends of the caddy. I hope my partner likes it anyway! :o) Today I stepped away from the quilting machine and was off from my job with Weight Watchers, so I did some cleaning and decorated for Halloween. I hate Halloween and would much rather decorate for fall, but....I don't have any fall decorations! I inherited my mother-in-law's Halloween decorations when she moved to Arizona, so that's what I put out. Pictures over the weekend of those.

I also straightened up the attic today while the temps were cool. I found 4 tubs that I hadn't looked at in several years. Two are crystal and glass and two are a treasure trove of old linens from my grandmother and great grandmother. I never could decide how to properly display them...there are a lot of cutwork napkins...so I packed them away. I'll share some pictures of those as well, once I've laundered and pressed them. If anyone has any suggestions on what to do with them, I'd appreciate it!

I'm off to a party tonight to remember a friend's father...today was his birthday. In his dad's honor, Van is having a screening of Darius Goes West. I'm bringing my little pretzel things...there will be kids there and I'm sure they'll like them!

New Life...

has been breathed into an old cabinet. Back when my mother was in nursing school, about 50 years ago, my grandfather made her this sewing cabinet. When she decided she no longer wanted it, I scooped it up and moved it to NY with me. It was covered with a wood veneer, which was peeling off, so I stripped it down, painted it white and for some reason, sponge painted it with a colonial blue paint. I guess because it went so well with the blue and mauve wallpaper in my sewing room? A very 90's thing to do...

Inside the cabinet my grandfather built all sorts of cool spaces for sewing supplies..thread holders, little curved drawers that swing out to hold buttons and what not, pegs to hold scissors and even little racks to hold patterns, which he carved out in the shape of scissors!

I decided it was time for an update. I'm going to be painting my laundry room cabinets black and decided to do a trial run on the sewing cabinet. Eventually it will have a little quilt on top of it along with a few odds and ends, but I have to make one first.

I even found great little knobs to complement the black...

And...yesterday was my father's birthday, so happy birthday dad! :o)

Strangely Quiet...

It's suddenly very quiet in my house. The boss just left with our daughter to head to college. He's going to be up in New England next week on business and timed his trip to be able to take Ellen up to Johnson & Wales in Providence, RI. They had planned to leave tomorrow morning, stop at the Mystic Aquarium on their way up and then get into Providence at dinner time. Tropical Storm Hanna changed their plans, so they're heading to Mystic tonight to avoid the drive in the rain and wind tomorrow. After visiting the aquarium, they'll continue on to Providence when the weather lets up some tomorrow. I'll miss her, but I'm willing to bet I hear from her just about every day. And if I don't, I'll be calling her!

Grace will spend the weekend recovering from her first three days of high school (which she loves!) and watching horror movies. I'll be quilting and cleaning. Do I know how to have fun?

My week...

started last Sunday with a belated birthday cake for Grace. (I'm a bad mom, her cake was only 20 days late!) Aside from work, laundry, cleaning and all the usual stuff, it included practicing the guitar (a lot!), some applique, a new phone and a little light reading. (The book is total fluff...definitely a beach read!)
This week will be interesting...we'll be packing Ellen and sending her off to college, Grace will be starting high school and I'll be starting a few new projects around the house once it's quiet again. As much as I love summer, it's good to be getting back to the regular routine this week. If it can ever be regular again with two away at college!

New Friends...

I wish I'd taken pictures of Suzy's Quilting Room last night...I've never seen such an immaculate, perfectly organized quilting room! As a matter of fact, the whole house was that way and I hear that it's not just clean because it's on the market, but it's that way all the time. When I grow up I want to be just like Sue... We had a wonderful time getting to know each other while we sat and stitched. It turned out that I knew several of the women there from guild and I had even quilted for one a few years ago. I stopped going to guild because I couldn't get there when my children were younger, but I've been invited back and will be going in September...I'm looking forward to it!

No strip poker was played because only 3 of us showed up with the strips we needed, so we chatted and stitched and ate...lots of delicious food was there! I was the first to show up and the last to leave because I was treated to a private quilt show...Sue does beautiful machine applique and piecing and has a number of finished quilts, as well as some quilt tops waiting to be finished. We asked her husband to take our picture before I headed home...

Thanks for a wonderful time and I'm looking forward to getting together again!

Fun Friday...

I have a new applique project prepped and some strips cut...

I have snacks made, even though blogger keeps putting the picture in sideways...

And I have my camera ready to go for tonight when I head to Suzy's Quilting Room! I've never met a real, live, quilting blogger before and it turns out we live about 20 minutes from each other. Suzy has invited me to her quilting group tonight for some strip poker. I've always wanted a quilting group...I'm looking forward to meeting everyone!

Getting all domestic...

Yesterday was a long day. I worked a lunchtime Weight Watchers meeting, drove about 45 minutes to a doctor's appointment, stopped for a salad at Applebee's and then worked another Weight Watchers meeting (where one of my coworkers was a quilter!) and then ran home to meet the boss...which turned into going to the local pub to have a beer (or two) on their patio.

Today, I got to stay home all day, which had me feeling all domestic. That rarely happens. I don't do domestic. My house is comfortable, but nowhere near a designer showcase. Sometimes it's even clean, but usually it has a much more "lived in" feel. Since it was clean enough today, my domesticality (yeah, I made that up!) headed to the kitchen. Where I made these chocolate chip muffins from King Arthur's website. I used half chocolate chips and half cinnamon chips and oh my God, they are amazing!

Then I decided I needed some sourdough bread for dinner, so I made a loaf of whole wheat sourdough from which I will make paninis with rosemary chicken, roasted peppers, fresh mozzarella, and fresh tomatoes from the garden.
My family is going to love me tonight!

Did I ever leave the house?

I really don't think I did leave the house over the weekend, except to pick up dinner on Saturday night! I spent most of it quilting. I finished the top of this quilt and prepared the backing on Friday night...

I loaded it on the machine and quilted half on Saturday...

And finished the quilting, then sat up until almost midnight to finish the binding on Sunday night. Today it was washed, folded and beribboned and is now on its way to my son's girlfriend who is moving into her new house near the Drexel campus this afternoon. I hope she likes it! The colors are the most true in this picture, they were very hard to photograph because of the low contrast.

I just heard that she loves it and now plans to decorate her room in these colors...and that just made my day!

Now to figure out what to make next....

Friday Finish...

I've been very busy with customer quilts this summer, to the point I was even running behind on finishing. It felt good to finish a quilt today! I don't normally share customer quilts on the blog, but this one was too pretty not to share.

The fabrics were gorgeous and the quilt seemed to tell me how it wanted to be quilted, I love how it turned out.



A close up of the quilting....


And sometimes the back are just as pretty as the front!

Sunshine and Pink Flamingoes...

arrived in my mailbox today...and certainly brightened up this dreary Monday! Cheryl was my swap partner and she sent this adorable summer quilt, complete with embroidered flamingoes and a palm tree on a hand dyed background...it's beautiful, thanks Cheryl!







Last week I received this package in the mail from Little Quilts. After admiring the Jo Morton Little Women quilts on so many blogs, I decided to join myself. I'm looking forward to making these...

I did get to participate in Judy's Quiltathon this weekend and sewed up blocks for half of a quilt. The other half is in pieces on my sewing table. It's coming together nicely, but the colors just don't photograph well! This is for my son's girlfriend.

I'd hoped to have the whole thing finished last night, but storms rolled through and we lost power at 8pm. We spent a few hours sitting around the fireplace, talking, but eventually we went to bed. When the power came back on at 12:40am, it scared the daylights out of us...the lights came on, the TV was blaring...and we had been sound asleep. Talk about a rude awakening!

I did discover something last night...it's really hard to knit by candlelight!

Canoe Carnival 2008

Canoe Carnival is now a great memory and we had a wonderful time. We had amazing shirts this year....

An incredible background...


A great crew of people who worked on the float...(and their families during our annual pre-launch champagne toast!)


Some fabulous music...We had "Tommy can you hear me" by the Who redubbed as "Horton can you hear me"...wish I knew how to get music onto the blog!

And a fun float...from what we've been told it was a crowd favorite. I've had people stop me on the street to tell me how much they loved it!


The judges didn't like it quite as much though...we came in second in our division (sounds better than it is...there were only 3 in our division and one got Grand Prize, so that left 2!) But...it was probably the MOST fun we've had at Canoe Carnival ever!

Now it's time to get back to real life....I haven't picked up my guitar or done much of anything but build the float for the last 2 weeks!