Knitted scarves

I am knitting some items for our church bazaar in the fall. Hopefully I'll have a few things finished since I decided to do this a few months ahead of time.

While in Washington DC/Alexandria, VA, I made this green scarf. The yarn is Plymouth Yarn Encore Chunky, a 12 ply. The pattern is Spring Revive Scarf by Jill Bujold - a free pattern on revelry.com. It it a darker green tweed than it appears and is heavy and soft - perfect for out winters. 

close up of green scarf

green scarf

I began the blue scarf a while back and finished it when we returned from Washington DC. The color is darker like the second photo. Again, the yarn is Plymouth Yarn Encore Chunky, a 12 ply. The pattern is Seeded Reversible Cable Scarf by Teryn Pierce, also a free pattern on ravelry.com.

closeup of blue scarf

blue scarf

I haven't had time or taken the time to block either one yet. 

I was able to get matching yarn and will start hats soon. . . as soon as I finish my sweater!

2013 NewFO Challenge - May Update

How can it be the end of May already??? A lot of this month was spent on the road again but I did find some time to quilt. I'm following the NewFO Challenge where projects don't have to be finished ... just started each month! Visit Barbara over at Cat Patches and see what everyone else has started this month.

Ok, what did I do in the sewing room in May?

1. I started the month by making some little wallets. They are great for gift cards or scrip.

Four little wallets

2. Starry Night - Why start something small like a table runner when I can start a quilt? The pieces are cut and all of the blocks are made!

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There has been progress on other projects started this year because we arrived home on May 24 and I did not allow myself to begin anything else!

1. My Crazy Eights quilt is together, waiting to be sandwiched and quilted.

Crazy Eights ready to be sandwiched and quilted

2. I have the fifth block done for my BOM. I've started adding corner setting triangles to the blocks that I have finished. I have the sashing made and am in the process of making the corner stones.

block with setting triangles

block with sashing and corner stone

3. The entire interior of Spring Bouquet is quilted! The four borders are all quilted! The pieces needs to be put together with some finishing quilting. Then the binding.

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I have lots of new projects I want to begin... at least one or two coming in June! 

Home!

Home! We arrived late in the day on Thursday and have been busy:

• unpacking done ✔
• laundry done ✔
• mail has been sorted and read ✔
• bills paid ✔
• groceries bought ✔
• phone calls made ✔
• went out to eat and visited with Ray's brother ✔
• went to Firemen's Steak Fry ✔
• yard work done ✔

The chores are done! So this afternoon even though it is dreary and raining, it feels wonderful to be home - there is time to quilt and knit! Yay!

I love to travel and I always love to come home - that makes for many good days!

Dodging Storms

When you come to a fork in the road....Take it  

                                      ~Yogi Berra

We began the day in Barboursville, West Virginia. After checking the weather, we just wanted the fastest way to central Indiana. Typically we would head through Cincinnati and then on to Indianapolis. The weather reports looked like we were going to be in storms all day - at times heavy. The worst storms were predicted for all of Ohio and eastern Indiana. 

We put our faith in Maize, our GPS for the fastest route. Maize brought us across Kentucky through Louisville into Indiana. We hadn't followed that route for a few years. As we headed north on 65 in Indiana, the traffic was quite heavy so we eventually left the interstate behind and traveled a secondary road. 

The first rain we encountered was about 3:30 in the afternoon! It ended by the time we stopped in Crawfordsville, IN for the evening at 4:30! We never did get into the heavier rains!

This is our last night on the road - we should be home tomorrow afternoon. We have had a great trip. Now I am looking forward to being home and having some time to quilt!

A very nice weekend ... and more

We arrived in the Outer Banks of North Carolina late Thursday afternoon. Our son Brad and his family weren't able to join us until Friday morning so we went for a walk on the beach and just relaxed.

We all agreed to rent a house we found on vrbo.com. It was in Corolla and had 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms - big enough for all 9 of us. There was a living room type area on each of the three floors. In addition to the living room, the kitchen, dining room, and our room were on the top level. I think the kids loved going up and down the steps! At one point Ray was counting TVs but never finished! One great luxury was having two dishwashers!

Beach House in Corolla

We spent Friday afternoon at the beach enjoying the ocean and the beach. The kids were so tired by dinner - all were in bed and asleep early!

Saturday was rainy so we did lots of crafts - paper, glue, and scissors provide LOTS of entertainment! Then Grandpa and Daddy pulled out a Monopoly game. Grace played for the first time and won! Jackson was the banker and Colter spent some time playing around with Grandpa. Crosby and Ivy were both napping.

Monopoly

Sunday morning we were back at the beach. The water was cooler so we spent most of the time playing in the sand. The kids also experienced sand crabs for the first time.

Grace, Colter, Brad, Sheila, Ivy, Jackson, and Crosby at the beach

The house sure was quiet after they all left Sunday afternoon.

We packed up and left yesterday morning. Last evening we enjoyed dinner and a great visit with friends in Durham, NC. 

It was during dinner that we first heard about the tornado that hit Moore, OK. My heart breaks for all of the people in that area. 

Tonight we are in Barboursville, WV. We have storm warnings and are watching the weather. Not sure what tomorrow will bring so we are trying to figure out how to cross the weather pattern on our way home.

A Day of Travel

We travel not to escape life

but

for life not to escape us!

-anonymous

We left Ohio on Wednesday and traveled to Staunton, VA. Shortly after we began this long for us travel day, it began to rain. Eventually the sun came out and we had a beautiful, very warm day. There were a few strange things that kept the day interesting.

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We stopped for lunch right at noon. Since we knew we had at least 5 more hours of driving, we decided on fast food which is rare for us. We got off at an exit and went to McDonald's. Although a big sign said it was open, the drives were roped off and there were  workers all over working.  So we headed to a Diner but the parking lot was full. Next was Arby's. There was quite a line so we just waited. And while we waited, we listened.

• We are out of wheat buns, would you like ...
• We have no fried foods, would you like to replace the fries with a side salad, a pie, or a lava cake?
• We don't have any large cups, would you like 2 smalls for the price of a large?
• We don't have any wheat buns or Hawaiian buns, would you like ...
• We don't have any Pepsi ...

They were running out of food and supplies as we stood there! I asked if a truck was expected soon. The lady said she had called in a special order and the truck was expected between 6AM and 1PM. It was 12:30PM. The poor workers were having a tough time keeping up with what they did not have!

Oh, we did get a couple of sandwiches! but no fries and no Pepsi

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In West Virginia, we were traveling on a highway with very little traffic. About every two miles there was a sign that read "Road work next 2 miles." This went on for many miles but there wasn't any road work! Do you suppose people avoided the highway because of the road work that wasn't happening?

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Evidently some places have an easy way to catch their criminals. We saw signs with variations of the following message:

Drug Activity

Impaired Drivers

Call *777

Such a neat idea to have them call in themselves! We were impressed! lol

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It is always nice to have beautiful scenery and fun, interesting happenings on a travel day!

Dinner in Archbold

We really enjoyed our time in Archbold, Ohio. In addition to the Heritage Inn and Sauder Village, it is really a neat town. When we were there, we met a young couple from Florida. Archbold was their childhood home. They told us we needed to eat at Mom's Diner. A couple of others that we met also mentioned that we'd want to eat at Mom's. So we headed there for dinner Tuesday night. It was well worth the 1.5 mile drive!

It was a neat 50's diner with a jukebox. Of course I had to play a few songs. We even got to put a pin on the map - looks like we were the first people there from northwest Illinois! There were pins all over many states and from many countries.

This place was the real deal - I got the shake container with the rest of my shake! I ordered the Mom's Salad - I had to eat something healthy!

We still have one more place on our list of great places to eat in Archbold that we didn't get to try. It is always nice to have something to look forward to next time!

A Day at Sauder Village

We stayed at the Heritage Inn on the site of Sauder Village near Archbold, Ohio, so when we got up Tuesday morning, we just had a short walk to enter the Village... along with 1200 school children! It was a big crowd but extremely enjoyable. These people can handle a crowd!

The Sauder Village Mission:
As a destination of choice, Sauder Village offers guests experiences rich in history, hospitality, creativity, & fun.

They lived up to their mission statement!

What is Sauder Village?

In 1934, local farm boy Erie J. Sauder (1904-1997) with plenty of vision, determination and God-given mechanical ability, founded the Sauder Woodworking Company, today a world leader in ready-to-assemble furniture.

Although he was always a forward thinker, Erie was well aware that the past had paved the way. He was particularly partial to the stories of his ancestors who had been among those who settled NW Ohio's Great Black Swamp in the mid 1830s.

That's why, in the 1970s, he had dozens of structures, built by hand a century earlier, moved from locations throughout NW Ohio to create the Sauder Village.

The Village consists of the Historic Community and Craftsmen, the Natives and Newcomers, and the Pioneer Settlement. There is also a welcome center, a gift shop, a cafe, a museum, and a very nice QUILT SHOP! There were craftspeople working everywhere and every building/area had a guide to explain and answer questions.

We saw The Basket Shop, The Cabinet Shop, The Barber Shop, The Tinsmith's Shop, and The Cooperage. I especially enjoyed Anna's Spinning Shop where this volunteer was spinning wool from the sheep that were sheered four days earlier.

We visited the Herb Shop - what a wonderful aroma! Ray went back later for one last smell! We spent some relaxing time at St. Mark's Lutheran Church listening to this lady play a foot pump organ.

We visited the Elmira Depot. Any idea why this bench has armrests? Because the hobos used to come in for naps and the railroad personnel didn't want them there!

After the Doctor's Office, The Sweet Shoppe, The Printing Office, and The Glass Works, we went to the Broom Shop. It appears that making a broom is hard work!

We went on to the 1910 Homestead, The Pottery Shed, and bypassed The Ice Cream Parlor. We think all 1200 children were in that line at various times. At Barbara's Weaving Shop, this lady was weaving mug rugs. She answered my many questions about looms.

The man at The Grist Mill was grinding corn. We saw the mid-1800's Settlement, the Log Schoolhouse with the oil paper windows, and a home where the lady was cooking chicken with vegetables on the fire. I was getting hungry. We went on to a Cabin where the lady had just made an apple butter pie. Oh my! Then the Jail, the Farm, and the Holdeman Church where music wasn't allowed. 

We headed for the Cafe and had a nice lunch. All refreshed, we headed back to see the rest. Many of the children left between 1 and 2 PM so it was a little easier to see things and much quieter! 

We met these 4th graders at the Blacksmith Shop. They were enjoying giant jawbreakers on sticks and thought it was wonderful that I wanted their picture!

On to the Tiffin River Woodworks with its many wooden toys and the Cider Mill. Then we backtracked to the Village Trader and the General Store which we couldn't get close to earlier in the day. 

In the Museum I had a lesson on tatting! I've always wondered how and was surprised it is just making a lark's head knot! The volunteer was so kind and patiently explained the procedure.

The Quilt Shop with its many hanging quilts - all hand quilted - was our next stop.

A group of volunteers quilt the quilts on this frame in the back of the store. They were very friendly - when I went looking for Ray, he was back there visiting with them! They are periodically tested on there stitches. At least 9 stitches per inch with great consistency is required!

When I walked in the door, I fell in love with this bolt of fabric. Can you believe I didn't buy it?! I couldn't figure out what I wanted to make so I left it behind! Looking back, I KNOW I was tired!

This is a great shop which lots of fabric and inspiration. I'd love to come back!

I think the only thing we missed was riding the train. On the way out of the village we visited the Gift Shop and met some really nice people who were telling us what to get at the Bakery which was our next stop. Then on to the Sauder Store and Outlet. It was a short walk to the Inn and time to sit down!

Sauder Heritage Inn

We stopped in Archbold, Ohio so we could see the Sauder Historical Village. 

We stayed at the Sauder Heritage Inn which is on site. We got a great package deal including tickets to the village and a gift certificate to the restaurant. Sometimes, one gets really lucky. We went to eat at the Barn Restaurant and the $11.99 buffet had a special that night for seniors - only $6.99! We both ate too much and after using the gift certificate, we got cash back!

When we checked into the Inn, I met a couple of ladies that were part of a quilting retreat. They took me on a tour - 50 quilters were at the Inn for 4 days working on their UFOs. What fun they were having! 

We walked around the Inn - so spacious and pretty and LOTS of quilts. The Inn was build like a barn with the neat supports. The metal work, wood work and everything else was done here at the Village and the quilts are hand-quilted. Let me share some views of the inside.  

The entrance lobby

The entrance lobby

More of the entrance lobby

One side of entrance lobby fireplace

Closeup of above quilt

Close up of above quilt

A closeup of the quilting in the quilt shown above

An inside courtyard

Breakfast room. Pool is to the left.

Pool - photo taken from the second floor. Breakfast room with tree is on the left.

Quilting detail on quilt shown above

A sitting area on the second floor

Detail on quilt shown above

 My wonderful patient husband cannot stand crooked pictures!

Guess I didn't take any photos of our room. It looked just like the pictures on the website AND we had wonderful cookies waiting for us when we arrived in our room!