I'm back after a much needed break from winter and our routines. Talk about a cabin fever reliever, it was wonderful.
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| Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, FL photo edited through Waterloque, a new app that treats your photos as if they are water colored. |
Where did I go you ask, DH and I went to the Sunshine state to visit Mom. The weather was perfect. 70 going towards 80 degree weather with sunshine. Oh you forgot what that looked like. We did too with all this polar vortex and really bitter cold temperatures it seems like the whole nation is experiencing this year. Besides reconnecting with Mom, we were laying in sunshine, swimming, shopping, sightseeing and did a whole lot of eating. All wonderful.
Each day Mom would use her bed as a design wall for a quilt she's been working on and I felt like I had my own personal viewing to a quilt show.
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| This quilt Mom made from her scrap bin and the photo treated also with Waterloque. This quilt is her normal decor there. She also made a ragged fringed pillow that sat on the chair to the right of her bed with yellow, blue and a few other scraps and it turned out cute ! I still have over 100 hundred photos of our trip, but need to find out how to export those onto my computer quicker than sending each one via email on the phone. Perhaps later this week I can make/find the time. |
We're back to our routine already transporting grandchildren to preschool and speech, and my days are already a blur.
As for my own projects, I did finish a book, When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde. What a nice story and without giving a spoiler, near the end I had tears steaming down my face. Of course it was at 11 pm in bed when I woke DH up with my sniffles. He couldn't believe I was crying while reading my kindle and seemed a tad exasperated as he rolled over. LOL, but I did get it done.
The other project I worked on was some embroidery. That Valentine Wool kit I made up near the 11th was worked on and I was able to get some of the stitching done but not all, perhaps this week I can finish the embroidery.
Mom and I had a day to spend by ourselves and went to a beautiful quilt shop in Temple Florida. The Suwannee Quilt shop was in a complex of other shops containing stained glass, cross stitch, antiques and a tea house all owned by the same woman. Can you cay incredible and how nice they all were. We both shopped but would you believe neither of us bought any fabric! That was a first, oh.... I take that back, Mom did buy 3 fat quarters for refrigerator magnets she's making but neither of us bought any yardage. If you know us you'd know how remarkable that statement really is. We both are trying to use what we have and have made a pact to chart our fabric stash, both with usage and with gains so I'll be joining Judy Laquidera with her stash reports for the remainder of the year. I fell in love with 2 different fabric lines while there and did actually photograph one of the selvage edges so I can acquire it later at some point if it's still haunting me and I'm thinking now that I should have bought it. It was "Rio" by Paintbrush Studio 120-685. What colors and how gorgeous.
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Looking at it still, I just might order it and have them ship it to me. Perhaps I could use it as an incentive to get 2 projects done then reward myself. Mom helped me out by saying if you buy it are you going to have to find a place to store it or are you going to use it? Hanging my head, I admitted I have several UFOs started that I want/NEED to finish first and won't allow myself anything until some of these are done. I'll wrestle with myself further with this and come up with something shortly.
While at The Villages we also enjoyed a quilt show in a neighboring town, a Vintage Car Rally at one of the Public Squares, the Harmonicats, another night at the Square for their 241 specials besides a trip to The World of Beers (DH became an honorary member), The Eisenhower Rec Center sharing many war memorials and service memorabilia, and a day trip to St.Augustine where we drank from Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth. The Trolley Tour that we enjoyed in other cities (Boston, Philadelphia, London, etc...) wasn't as good as we thought it would be. Seemed really touristy and had to circle the same blocks over and over again seeing the same sights to be pointed out but to a different building. All the points of interest were very close together and interesting but could have been shone better without all that repetition I think. It may have been a timing issue to spread at that many trolleys. We also enjoyed a great lunch at Columbia, a Cuban restaurant with that 1905 dressing, Yum!
It's nice to be home and back to routines but I surely could use some more of that 70 degree weather.
Jacque aka "Snoodles" at Lily pad quilting is hosting a sweet giveaway for a Winter time Cabin Fever reliever. Go check it out via this link and join in on the fun.
Will share more on another day, got to run.
Jane
