Friday, August 27, 2010

CAMPING IN PENNSYLVANIA

We are really enjoying our stay in Pennsylvania! The barns are real big here as you can see below.
This is our camp site. We unloaded the camper off of the truck because we are driving around a lot while we're here. The state forest/park is awesome! Last night the temperature was down to 48 degrees, but now in the afternoon it is warm. It is really nice to be out of the stifling heat!!
I stopped at the Our Gathering Place quilt shop in Montoursville PA and purchased a few pieces of fabric there. The airplane fabric might be for a shirt for Jonah. It is a really nice shop with lots of reproduction fabrics. However, since I spent most of my wad at Verna's, and have a lot of reproductions at home, I didn't buy much.
I finished the star applique for my flag quilt and am working on a few other hand embroidery projects.
Tomorrow is the big game for the US championship and the Texas team is in it! We will be going early so we can get a seat in the stadium. It should be an exciting game! Then, on Sunday, we'll be there for the world championship game. What fun!!

BTW, thanks to all who voted for my quilt in the Quilters Gallery embroidery contest! I'm sorry I haven't thanked you sooner...I kept forgetting.....

Sunday, August 22, 2010

LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES

We are at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA now. Actually, we are camping at a state park. Today is the third day and it rained all night. The main game we want to see today is at 8:00 PM.
This is the team we are pulling for. They are from Pearland, TX. They won their first game and they play again tonight, so we want to be sure to be there.
We are staying at Bald Eagle State park. Below is a picture of their office.
There are several Amish towns around here and I took a picture of this buggy we were driving behind. The scenery is beautiful and there are lots of farms.
Yesterday on our way to the games, we drove past a house that had a sign in front saying "Fresh doughnuts on Saturdays." So, since it was Saturday, we decided to stop. Some cute Amish boys peeked at us from the barn. The wife let us into the kitchen where she had about 10 or 12 varieties of doughnuts for sale - 50 cents each! We got two apiece and were very happy. Next Saturday we plan to stop there again.

A blogger gave me the names of some quilt shops in the area and I went to Verna's Fabrics in Mifflinburg, PA. It is an awesome shop with extremely good prices! I plan to visit that shop again. I want to visit a couple other shops also. It remains to be seen whether I will buy fabric at them or not.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

WILLIAMSBURG PART 2

We ended our visit to Williamsburg with the fife and drum march yesterday. That was probably the highlight of the visit! Too many other photographers were in the way to get a really good picture.
The tour of the governor's palace was wonderful! The tour guide was excellent.
We spent some time in the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg and enjoyed that very much! The air conditioning wasn't bad either!
There were three quilts by Virginia Alsop. The one above on the right was made around 1870-80. The baby quilt on the left was made in 1852 (when she was 15 years old, I believe).
The yellow on the left was also made by Virginia Alsop when she was 15. Not bad, eh?
This quilt was made by Ruth Bower Swinney Ogden in 1839-47. The doll below shows the quilted petticoats that women wore in those days.
We could have spent lots more time at Colonial Williamsburg, but would rather be there when it isn't hot. Spring or fall would probably be the best time to visit there.

I don't know if you can see the train in this picture. I took it from the doorway of our camper without zooming it in at all. We figure the tracks are about 30-50 feet away. Chugga Chugga!! Luckily, they don't blow their whistle!!
Monday night I spent some time sewing and got all the HST's (that I had made before our trip) put together for the baskets. This will be a wall hanging. You can see my tiny sewing area in the camper.
Today we travel to Pennsylvania for the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. DH has been wanting to go to this for years. I have already staked out some quilt shops in the area - Hee Hee! We'll be staying at a state park, so probably won't have regular internet access (unless we go to McDonald's).

Monday, August 16, 2010

COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG

Today we went to Colonial Williamsburg and had a wonderful time in the past! Below is the courthouse. Tomorrow, we plan to go to a "trial" there.
There are various artisans demonstrating their craft there. I didn't see any quilters, though!

This is a portrayal of Martha Washington receiving an award for her husband, George Washington.
And this is a portrayal of the Marquis de Lafayette announcing the winning of a battle. He was very good!
Tomorrow we will be going back to see the governor's palace and hopefully the fife and drum march!

We have had a few negatives on the trip so far and we had to spend the first night in a hotel because our electricity wasn't working. We discovered that it was just the plug, so it was easy to fix. The other negative is the train that zooms right past the campground several times during the night. DH said he didn't hear it!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Garden Party quilt on Quilting Gallery

I posted my Garden Party quilt on quilting gallery, so if you are so moved, please go and vote for me! Click here.

THANKS!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

BINDINGS FINISHED

On our weekend trip to take care of Jonah, I got the bindings hand sewn down on several items. This is my first Cheddar Cheese & Crackers doll quilt, which is a reproduction of an antique quilt. Lori, at Humble Quilts, had a quilt along for making this and I still have the second one to finish. I love this little quilt and will be keeping this one for myself. I don't know what I'll do with the second one yet. The colors on this picture didn't come out really well, especially the pinks on the lower part of the quilt.
This quilt was a BOM from the LQS. I did two versions of this one and gave the bright one to our GD for her birthday. I have plans for this one too.
I quilted it on my sewing machine.

You can't really see the quilting on the back of the quilt, but here it is.
This is another little doll quilt bound.
Two table runners bound. I did most of the hand sewing on the bindings during our drive to Arkansas and back.
Sept. 18 is DH's 50 year high school reunion and this is the outfit that I got to wear (I hope it qualifies as cocktail attire). The pants are very loose and the top is sparkly. You can't tell, but there is a lot of aqua in the top (around the edges and the sparkles). I needed a purse, so I made one out of some fabric I had on hand and put a sparkly thing on it. It's black and brown, but I think it will work. I didn't want to buy something for one night.
We're starting to pack the camper because we leave on Friday and will be gone 5 weeks. We'll post pictures during the trip if we can find wi-fi along the way. We can't wait to get farther north where it isn't 100 degrees - we've had 12 days in a row of over 100.

Monday, August 9, 2010

BABYSITTING FOR JONAH

This weekend we stayed with Jonah so DS#3/DIL could get away for a weekend. This will be their last getaway before the new baby comes.

Grandma & Grandpa (us) took Jonah for a trolley ride.
Jonah decided to rake leaves into the garage.
What a helper!
While Jonah naps, I have been working on my cheddar cheese & crackers quilt (the second one). My DIL got a sewing machine from a neighbor (either a gift or a really good deal) and I wanted to check it out. It sews great - no adjustments were necessary!
It came with a cabinet.
I spread out the pieces on the side, but it didn't all fit. However, I got about 1/3 sewn together. I don't know how much I'll get finished, but I'm sure not all of it. Tomorrow we go home to get ready for our next big trip - leaving on Friday. I plan to blog along the way and I have a list of possible quilt shop stops ready - just in case!!

Monday, August 2, 2010

BUSY QUILTING

Today I finished quilting the quilts that we basted two weeks ago. I am ready to sew the binding on 2 of them and will post pictures after that.

Here is my 13 star panel for the flag quilt that I am making. I fused the stars on and will use a blanket stitch to secure them.
Here is my binding stack. The little doll quit on top was made with little scraps - the squares are 1" finished and is made from reproduction scraps.
Hope you stay cool this week! It's supposed to get up to 107 degrees today - I did my outdoor chores & walked early this morning and I'll be staying in the rest of the day.