Homeward Bound!!

This is a quickie post.

Mostly because I am exhausted tired – and don’t have the energy to edit down all the class pictures from yesterday’s Scrappy Mountain Majesties workshop ((No, NO ONE made them in 3” size!!)) and I want to get my stuff packed, the car loaded, so I’m ready to hit the road home extra early. This is my route home..how far I get in one day depends on the weather and how I feel! AS I write this post, the rain is coming down pretty heavy –I’d like to get as far as I can, so I’m leaving as early as I can!

Yesterday ((Saturday)) was a whirlwind as it always is when you are doing double duty in a short time span, and there is someone who snuck out before I could even say goodbye!

City Quilter Grace came all the way down from Maine to take the Pineapple Blossom workshop, and to stay for my lecture today….the book table was mobbed after the lecture, and she snuck out for her long drive home while I was dealing with that, and getting set up for the half day class that followed!

Grace, if you read this….it was so wonderful to finally put a face and a voice to your name…we’ve emailed for years and years! And thank you for the delicious blueberry jam! YUMMY!

There were no further gifts of Millenium Y2K fabric…..but I was gifted a VERY COOL Thing for taking bobbins to class! I usually use that blue round thing that holds a lot of bobbins, but what to do if you are traveling, wanting to keep your supplies small??

Look at THIS! It’s a pedicure toe-separator ((I’m not sure what they call these..what is the proper name for this thing?!? it’s a …..THING, you know?!)) AND…it can hold 4 bobbins of thread TOGETHER!

I know about the little pony tail holder things…but those are small, and the bobbins still roll around in the bottom of my bag, and I lose the hair thingies…but THIS…this has GREAT potential! And the best thing is..they come in pairs! One for you, one for a friend….

And I also have been gifted “Heaven in a bag” ---

Have you seen these? They come from Costco. and OH…are they decadent! But don’t let the “natural source of antioxidants” make you think that you don’t have to be accountable for how many you consume! 1/4 cup has about 180 calories..which is about how many I left on the table top there. These things are SO good, that you have to measure out a serving, and LOCK THE BAG AWAY!

Mine will be riding in the “way back” with the quilt bags so I’m not tempted to down the whole package while driving back to NC!

I promise to get caught up on the class pics as soon as I get some free time to do so!

Over The Bridge To Kingston!!

Yesterday morning bright and early, I loaded up my car, and headed out in Poughkeepsie morning rush hour, Over the Mid-Hudson Bridge to meet with the Wiltwyck Quilters of Kingston, NY!

I love bridges. My fascination with them goes back to my childhood, living in the San Francisco Bay area from the time I was about 7 to 19---when I headed off to Idaho, not knowing how that one move would so change my life and set me on the course for where I am today.

If you could pinpoint ONE MOMENT that changed “everything” –That crossroads—where would it be?

That thought gets my mind wandering, but back to the bridges….I’ve been on some amazing ones in my life, but of course the Golden Gate holds my heart. And in its own way, though it is not near as big, the Mid-Hudson bay also strikes that thrill when I am passing through the girders and the arches and working my way through traffic to the other side.

We might not know why the CHICKEN crossed the road—but this Quilter NEEDED to cross the bridge to get to the other side!

But before I go any farther, I have to show you what I also ended up packing in my suitcase!

Hahahahahahahah!!!! It’s a piece of glittery Y2K Millenium fabric! Tied up with traffic signs as a thank you for driving all the way up to Poughkeepsie for a visit! And that’s not all! At the Nine-Patch-Split workshop, I was also gifted with THIS lovely that I had never seen before ((How is it they can make a Millenium fabric that I have never seen!?!?))

This one is really not so “Noxious” ---I think if IT is cut small, it will just look “blue”. Thanks for all the Y2K LOVE! I think I’m going to have to re-nomer what Y2K stands for….how bout--- YOU’RE 2 KIND!! ((Like, you really shouldn’t have…lol!))

We had a great Pineapple Blossom workshop, and I want you to click the slide show and pay VERY close attention to the SIZE of the blocks…there are some in there that may look like the others at first glace, but you have got to see the ones that FINISH at 3”!! Even I am not crazy enough to do them this small, but they are sure adorable!

		Pineapple Blossom Workshop, Kingston, NY 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I’m enjoying a quiet restful stay at Carol’s house—She has a lovely apartment built on to her house, think of the perfect mother-in-law’s getaway…it’s fully furnished and features quilts all over…I feel like a princess in my own palace!

And thanks to Carol’s washer and dryer, I’m a princess with clean clothes! I had absolutely nothing clean left, so this is a very good feeling!

This is the view from the back deck last evening as the sun was working its way down toward the mountains:

Do you see that little playhouse in the garden!? It’s adorable! And what a view…it was so lovely out I had to take a walk after bringing in my luggage!

Can you just smell how fresh the air is? Soon the woods will be leafing out, but for now I enjoyed being able to SEE through the trees…things look fairly flat in this picture, but let me assure you that it is ANYTHING BUT! It felt like it was uphill in both directions!

I walked past some forsythia celebrating spring with reckless abandon and I had to snap a picture…Ours at home in NC is all leafed out and we won’t see this brilliance again until NEXT year…so my being up north in New York has given me an extended spring –and I’m soaking it in!

This picture is where I stopped to huff and puff on my way back up the hillside! You can’t really tell how steep it is, I know, but believe me…I was panting! All this in an effort to burn off the Easter chocolate that somehow found it’s way into my fists--

And from my fists to my mouth while wandering the classroom

So what’s up for today? We’ve got a morning lecture/trunkshow and a half day Scrappy Mountain Majesties workshop for the Wiltwyck guild, and then Sunday I’ll start my long trek home!

Playing in Poughkeepsie!

I arrived in Poughkeepsie, NY Wednesday afternoon! It wasn’t that far of a drive from Trumbull, CT—and I enjoyed the scenery immensely! I did arrive to my hotel a bit too early for housekeeping to have my room ready, so a quick check on TomTom directed me to the nearest shopping mall. I figured I could get some lunch and walk the mall to stretch my legs.

In other words ----WELCOME to AMERICA---Where all malls are the same, with the same stores in nearly the same layout! However, since it was raining, it was the perfect place to be, and I walked for a bit over an hour…window shopping and listening to my ipod as I went!

At one end of the mall were these lovely kiddie carts:

It’s been a long time since my children were small enough to ride in such strollers----I don’t think I EVER paid money to rent a stroller, it was bring your own, or don’t go! As I walked past though, something caught my eye as funny:

Can you see what this says? “DO NOT PUT CHILD IN BAG?!?” Things that make you go HUH!!!!!!?????? First off….before there even WAS this warning on the stroller, there had to be some crazy mother somewhere who DID put her child in that bag, to even warrant such a warning! What kind of mothers ARE these!? I hope I never find out…but then on second thought, I can imagine a mother with a crying child who is throwing a baby breakdown from WANTING to ride in the bag! Isn’t that the way it goes? They always want what they can’t have.

Also through the mall hung signs that the strollers were not allowed on the escalators. I don’t even want to think of the incidents that made THOSE signs a necessity!

Today’s Nine Patch Split/Bricks in the Barnyard workshop went well! What a great group of ladies….they sewed and sewed and sewed some more. One of the students even went to WORK at 5am, so she could leave at 9am…and only have to consider it a “half-day” away from her job. We Quilters are a tough bunch, and we will do what we have to to make the best use of our “Mental Health” Days!

This class has two parts ---the blocks, which focus on the use of bricks, squares, and half square triangles using the easy angle ruler---and the braid border! The border can be built as leaders & enders while the blocks are in progress and it’s a double win!

These photos show a lot of progress in both areas!

		Nine Patch Split-- Poughkeepsie, NY 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The rain did decide to clear up, and the day dawned bright with sunshine—which left us a couple of hours between the workshop and dinner to go do some exploring!

Donna was my tour guide, and she drove me to the Walkway bridge that spans the Hudson river!

I love this description written by Ian Frazier:

February 28, 2011

Go to Poughkeepsie. By train is probably best. Get off at the station, look up. In one direction is the Mid-Hudson Bridge, a suspension bridge with cars and trucks on it. Not that bridge, the other bridge - look in the opposite direction, north, two hundred and twelve feet in the air. The other bridge is the former Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge, which was the longest cantilevered and truss-span bridge in the world when it was completed, in 1888. In its life, this bridge has been "the only" or "the most" in several categories. Right now, according to Walkway Over the Hudson, the nonprofit organization that recently restored it, it is the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world.

This was my first view of the bridge…..it pretty much looks like a sidewalk….with tall railings. Not scary to walk at all!

But the views are spectacular!

This is the view toward the south, the mid Hudson bridge….it was such a lovely afternoon!

My view of Poughkeepsie from the bridge, around the 1/2 way mark. You can’t see it in this picture, but we watched some sculling boats down below…..there were some on either side of the bridge in the water!

Our dinner also gave us a view of the mid Hudson bridge from the patio area—I really enjoyed the views!

This is the view southward from the restaurant patio……I can see why the mighty Hudson has played such an important part in history here!

I’m off to Kingston NY this morning. My time in NY is winding down, and I’ve really had a great time spending the days and evenings well in the care of friendly quilters!