Back in Beautiful North Carolina!

The day began in Beckley Virginia - this motel did not have scones for breakfast. {sad} We survived and when we checked out they had cookies! No place has cookies in the morning but this Country Inn and Suites did! And not just any cookies, they had chocolate chip and Ray's favorite macadamia nut. I didn't indulge but Ray soon forgot all about scones!

The day went well with a stop in Wytheville, VA at Sew What Fabrics & Batiks Etcetera. The people there are so nice and I just happened to find fabric that I wanted needed!

This is such a pretty place!

We headed on to Mount Airy, NC. That is the place on which Andy Griffith based Mayberry. 

It is a cool place and they have one store where we both love to shop. After a little shopping and a nice walk on the main street of the historical area, we had lunch at Barney's Cafe. 

We left Beckley about 9:20 this morning for a less than 4 hour trip. After 5 hours, we were about halfway! The last part of the trip was all in very heavy traffic - there sure are a lot of people that live around here and many of them think they are race car drivers! Anyway, we made it fine.

With our room, we have free breakfasts in the restaurant and free appetizers in the bar.  We went downstairs to check on the appetizers and both ended up with Carolina BBQ sliders with slaw. Although we didn't intend to eat dinner here, it became dinner! Really good!

OK, time to relax and welcome 2014! Happy New Year!

And another journey is underway...

We travel to enjoy the journey as well as the destination.

We are on our way to North Carolina to see some friends and our son and his family. Yesterday we were in freezing rain most of the day. What a mess! On a typical travel day, we usually spend 6 hours or less in the car and we make a few stops. Yesterday we didn't do much except travel due to the miserable weather - I did get some knitting done. At lunch, I almost fell on the ice when I stepped out of the car. Whoosh! Last night we were at a Hampton Inn where we've stayed before. This morning we found that their normal breakfast fare now includes mini scones! For breakfast, I had oatmeal with sliced almonds and a mini scone 1/4 to 1/3 the size of a regular scone. Good!

Today we have been in mostly cloudy weather with some snow showers. We stopped at a quilt shop in Indiana - a disappointment with unfriendly clerks and not much fabric. The sporting goods store next door was much better and Ray even found something he needed!

Tonight we are in Beckley, West Virginia. When we checked in, we were offered a suite at no additional charge - nice! And  there were warm cookies at the desk. Usually they have chocolate chip but tonight there were chocolate chip and oatmeal with cranberry. Ray had the former and I had the later. Very good! There are at least 2 bus loads of kids here, probably ski trips. Glad we beat them to the cookies!


Updated 12/31/13: At least 6 buses were here - maybe more!

2013 NewFO Challenge - December Update

The NewFO Challenge with Barbara over at Cat Patches is easy to do (I think!) - just start a new project each month! You should stop over and see what everyone else has started this month. 

As for me, well I made a couple of pillowcases and a duffle bag but … I forgot to take pictures!!! And now they are gone…

I began a baby boy quilt. The background is more tan than yellow. I really shouldn't take pictures at night OR I should ask the photographer in the family… The background is done. The blue which doesn't look the right color either is one of the borders and the binding.

I did finish a baby girl quilt.

I wasn't very productive this month. Although I did quilt the fabric for the duffle bag.

Guess I was busy with other things. Life is getting back to normal. For us, that often means traveling. In fact, we are on our way to North Carolina where we'll see our oldest son and his family and we'll visit some friends. When we get back home, I plan to blog a little more and quilt a lot more!

Recap of 2013:

Quilts finished in 2013 - 27 quilting projects finished!

Quilts started in 2013 that need to be finished:

• BOM from Lucky 2B quilting (all blocks are finished)
• QOV - February
• String triangles with white - July
• 3-D table runner - August
• sort of secret project - October
• baby pinwheel quilt - October
• baby boy quilt - December (above)

Quilts started before 2013 that need to be finished:

• I decided to not even look!

My goal is to finish everything I began in 2013 before the end of 2014. Of course, there will be more new quilts too!

Happy New Year! 

One last finish for 2013!

It's been busy around here. Add to that an ice storm then a snow storm. The storms may have helped since I was prepared and lots of baking happened while we were 'house bound'. 

I have finished one quilt - our great nephew and his wife are expecting a baby girl in February.

This quilt was a kit I bought in Shipshewana last May. At the time, I didn't know about this baby. The pattern was horrible. A friend of mine recently made the same quilt from a different pattern and that would have made a big difference! Also, the amount of  fabric didn't match up with the pattern. So I just worked it out!

I am definitely NOT the photographer in the family. I never seem to have my quilts smoothed out and my lighting isn't good. Oh well … I'm the quilter!

The back of the quilt is Cuddle Cloth - it's like Minkee. There is no batting in this quilt although I did add a plain piece of Kona white in place of the batting. This one's headed to Florida.

I did a lot of work on this quilt while we were in Colorado this fall. Because I was so frustrated with the instructions, I decided to pack up my sewing machine and fabric and finish it when we got home. A few hours later we evacuated the area - due to the floods - with less than an hour's notice. I am so glad that I had the chance to pack up my supplies before that frantic push to "get out". Isn't it amazing how things just work out?

A knitted vest

I finished this vest  last month. It is now blocked and I wore it today. Yes, it fits! And I love it.

This is made from 100% alpaca yarn that I bought at the Alpaca Market in Estes Park, Colorado last September. The owner of the alpacas, called this Tweed. It is two natural colors of fiber together - no dyes.

It was fun to knit and is super soft! I was told that I needed to do more than just a stockinette stitch with alpaca - it has a tendency to stretch. 

I don't think you can see the detail very well - sorry about that. The top is a double seed stitch then a cable band and the bottom is a sideways stockinette stitch.

The pattern is My Antonia Vest by Rosemary Drysdale. I saw the vest made up in Estes Park at The Stitchin' Den and loved the pattern.

2013 New FO Challenge - November Update

The NewFO Challenge with Barbara over at Cat Patches is easy to do - just start a new project each month! You should stop over and see what everyone else has started this month. 

As you may know, it's been a sad month here and I haven't done much sewing. I did manage to begin one project. This wall hanging was made from a panel and now hangs in our side porch/entry way. The quilting is straight horizontal lines with free motion feathers around the leaves.

I  have couple of other finishes - I just had to finish the bindings on each.

A baby boy donation quilt started in September.

A baby girl quilt, baby bricks, started in August.

I also finished a couple of Santa aprons:

I have a few unfinished projects from this year that might(?) get addressed in December.

• QOV from February.
• July triangle quilt
• August 3-D Mini Table Runner
• September baby girl quilt log cabin stripes
• October baby quilt
• October secret project

Goodbye again...

It's been a sad November. It started with the funeral of my aunt. Then I watched my mom's life end. And now I am saying goodbye to a friend.

Karen was the first friend I had in this town. We moved here and Karen came to greet me. Ray was the guidance counselor and Karen's husband was a science teacher. Karen helped me figure out my surroundings - where to buy groceries, where to shop for diapers, where to find a doctor,… all of the things a young mom needs to know. 

Karen kept my son when I had a miscarriage a couple of months after we moved here. Not knowing I was pregnant, I went to the doctor and ended up in the hospital. Karen was supposed to watch Brad for a couple of hours. Ray called to tell her what was happening and she never missed a beat. She had clothes, diapers, food - she was also a young mom - and she kept Brad. She was that kind of friend.

A number of years ago, Karen and her family moved to a neighboring town. We didn't seen each other much because of busy lives but Karen was one of those friends that once we were together, it was as if we'd never been apart.

Today is Karen's funeral. Today I'll say goodbye again.