Up, Up and Away

Heading out the door for the airport on our way to Russia and Ukraine! Tell you all about it when we return the end of July, until then, happy sewing everyone!

New Book

Wish I could say I've been sewing but this is as close as I've got. This is the new book by the mother/daughter team of Pam and Nicky Lintott. Their first book was just great so I bought this one from Amazon sight unseen, so far I do not think it is going to disappoint.

This one from the book is called Damask Rose, so pretty and feminine. Just one jelly roll, four fat quarters and fabric for binding.

This is another winner, Hidden Stars. I made this one year using Christmas fabrics and a starry-beige for the stars. All in all, there are eighteen projects in the books using jelly rolls, layer cakes and/or charm squares.

This is what has been occupying my free time, getting ready for a vacation. I keep second guessing what to bring for weather so different from here (Florida). And to compound the problem, we are flying a local airline (once we get to where we are going) that puts strict weight restrictions on all luggage. Don't you just hate that when you get somewhere and you ended up leaving something out you should have brought?
Well, decisions must be made as we leave tomorrow. Be sure to come back the end of July as I plan on having a giveaway, maybe with something from our vacation to Russia.

July Fourth

Still no sewing going on here, plenty of running errands, shopping and general planning for another upcoming trip though. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe July 4th and hope to post again before I leave.

Just came across this nice essay in the LA Times that pretty much says it best,

"Each Fourth of July is celebrated in the time-honored way -- fireworks, parades, cookouts and, oh yes, recommitment to the fine principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence: those "self-evident" truths and "unalienable" rights.

It is curious, however, that so much of the inherited lore around the Fourth of July is based in misapprehension.

For starters, the day itself, July 4, isn't exactly America's Independence Day. John Adams believed that July 2 would become the significant day in the new republic's calendar of celebration. That's because it was on July 2, 1776, that delegates from the 13 Colonies at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in fact voted to proclaim independence from King George III and his ministers.

What happened two days later? A decision to make the July 2 decision public. The delegates gave the statement they'd agreed on to a printer, and the "broadsides" he published carried the July 4 date.

Not surprisingly perhaps, the physical document revered as the Declaration of Independence, a vellum scroll kept in the National Archives in Washington with 57 signatures proudly sitting at its foot, has no claim on being the unique founding document. It was hand-copied later. As to the signatures of those who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor, they were added later still -- some were inscribed by new congressional delegates, men who hadn't even been in the room on July 2.

Moreover, although generations of American schoolchildren have learned that the declaration's author was Thomas Jefferson, this is also a slightly inaccurate portrayal of the facts. Jefferson did indeed draft the text, but others in the Continental Congress had their own views about the best form of words to use. The last paragraph, for example, containing the words "that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free independent states," was in fact penned by another Virginian, Richard Henry Lee.

In 1776, there was no public proclamation, no formal "declaration" read to the Colonists on either July 2 or July 4. And the news that resolutions against the king had been adopted could of course only travel at the speed of the fastest horse and rider. Therefore, the celebration of any selected day as the birth of the nation could only ever be a convenient fiction.

Nevertheless, in 1777, the members of the Continental Congress did decide to note July 4 by not meeting. A small and very low-key celebration was mounted, and everyone went to church. There was some talk of muskets being fired, but gunpowder was in short supply as the Colonies were at war.

Each subsequent year, celebrations were held in towns and cities, and each began to develop traditions for observing the day. The text of the declaration was read aloud. Dinners were held, often in the open air, with elaborate toasts, commonly 13 in number representing the original Colonies. Fireworks were from early on a feature of the day. Parades of the local great and good took place in town squares. By the time of the 50th anniversary in 1826, the traditions of the public celebration were fully established.

Perhaps it is best to see the Fourth of July as a story that, although not strictly speaking true, nevertheless conveys a belief: that the nation came into being on a particular day in 1776, signed, sealed and delivered. And each and every Fourth of July, as if for the first time, the story is both celebrated and instantiated, "America" -- by simple force of a declaration -- is founded again.

Today most of you will take the day off, put some hot dogs on the grill and open a few cans of beer. Some, like the astronauts aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1992, will unfurl the Stars and Stripes and sing "Happy Birthday." But however one chooses to celebrate independence, may it also be remembered that the birthday of the nation, and the declaratory act that founded it, created and continues to create an architecture of belief. In 1776, it had the power to change the world. For good or ill, it still does." ~ Peter de Bolla

Chincoteague Island

Last stop before driving back to Richmond was Chincoteague Island. This area was made famous years ago by the children's book, Misty of Chincoteague and of course by the Chincoteague Pony Swim.

There's a statue of Misty in Chincoteague.

We stayed near the Bed and Breakfast where Margarite Henry wrote her novel.



The stores seem to have unusual hours!

The seashore was just beautiful. It has been left in its natural state and was very uncrowded.

Here's the Assateague Island Lighthouse. The mosquitoes were unbelievable even with insect repellent on.

There are herds of wild ponies living in the marshes surrounding the seashore. We stumbled upon this mare with her baby.

And more while at the marshes. We were hoping to see them on the beaches but no luck there.

This guy blocked the road for a while and someone was actually petting his head although you are admonished not to as they can bite and kick.

We were stopped for a while to allow these geese to cross. The large white one on the right stood in the middle of the road and honked for a good five minutes encouraging her babies refused to follow!

We saw a number of landscape painters.

Favorite daughter again!

I think the lighting was just right to catch this guy. Talk about blending in with your surroundings!

One last picture before we left.

Quilter's Block

My apologies for lack of posts, but I've been busy! And it hasn't been with quilting. My sewing room is beginning to gather dust. It has been weeks and weeks since I stepped foot in it. I have been busy catching up with laundry, gardening, doctor's appointments, eye exams, haircuts, etc.
We returned home last Sunday after a most enjoyable trip to Virginia. The weather was just lovely and a nice break from the intense humidity and heat here in Florida.

After visiting with a friend in Charlottesville, it was on to Monticello. I had been once before back in second grade. The grounds were beautiful, all abloom. The house was smaller than I remembered. No pictures were allowed inside the house.

Here's a picture of The Best Daughter in the World next to a life size statue of TJ!

Then it was onto James Madison's home, Montpelier. This was a big disappointment. They are in the midst of a decades long restoration and the house is unfurnished. We couldn't figure out why they didn't just furnish it with reproduction furniture. Apparently they are trying to track down the actual furniture and buy it back. It was neat though, walking the same floors that many of the Founding Fathers also walked on.

We visited Madison's grave though the cemetery was poorly maintained.

James Monroe's home was next. No interior pictures allowed here either. We saw the back door that Jefferson used and the bed Madison slept in when he visited. It was the smallest,and coziest, of the three homes we visited.




Then it was down to Colonial Williamsburg. I had never been but have wanted to go for years. What a disappointment! I had a problem with the stores interspersed among the historical buildings, just too darn many of them.

The craft demonstrations were nice. And my daughter got to fulfill a long desire and play an actual harpsichord in the cabinetmaker's shop one rainy afternoon.
Next post I'll finish up with our last stop and hopefully get back to quilting. I'll leave you with recent pictures of the Sandhill Crane chick.


Thanks for stopping by!

Quilt Free

I wanted to update the saga of the Sandhill Crane family. One chick disappeared the day before I left for St. Louis (May 3). No surprise that the more assertive one is the one who has survived. We saw the three of them this morning and she's getting big! I had to really hustle to get this picture before they moved further into the littoral zone.

Finally saw the Arch and have the concept of it firmly planted in my brain! I should explain: For many years I simply could not conceptualize this landmark no matter what. I imagined it sort of, small. And then I heard you could go in it!? Something I might add I did not do once I took a look at those "capsules" they use to transport you to the top in. Yikes! They looked like the old Sputnik satellites with the trip taking 4 minutes! With 4 strangers no less! If you have gone to the top, please share what I missed!

Moving along... this is Saint Louis taken in front of the St. Louis Art Museum.

And a Toucan in the bird house at the St. Louis Zoo.

They had three tiger cubs about three quarters grown that were so playful.

People managed to get this giraffe over by feeding it pulled weeds. They are my personal favorite.

The Art Museum was a real shock to me. I didn't expect to see Renoir, Van Gogh, Degas, and famous pieces I had only seen prior in art books. And admission was free!






Our last stop was the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

There is an archway that makes a tunnel to walk through and is stupendous!

The same tank can be viewed as a wall in another area. It was so relaxing to just sit and watch the variety of fish, sharks, whale sharks, and sea life go by. It is pricey to get in, but so worth it I thought. I hear the crowds can be bad, but we got there a little before 2:00 on a Monday afternoon and it was very uncrowded.
I have not been in my sewing room since mid-April! I have enjoyed hanging out with my daughter and getting caught up with my reading. Tomorrow we are off to Virginia to visit friends and sightsee.

Gee's Bend

The day after visiting the gardens the weather was dreadful; heavy rains and wind were forecasted. A trip to the Missouri History Museum seemed a good way to spend the day. And look what was there! Part of the Gee's Bend exhibit. The quilts were much more vibrant than I imagined, such warm and rich colors. I know some quilters are unimpressed with the quilts, not liking the hodgepodge piecing approach used, but I found them rather amazing. Do you?