What a beautiful day it was in the Blue Ridge!
I had been hankering for days to get a leg stretch out at Grayson Highlands State Park with Zoey in tow.
It doesn’t usually happen on a week day early enough to catch the cool of the morning now that we are nearing August – There is usually a plethora of weekday workday things that need to be done by the time the local USPS closes at 11:30am – and by then it’s really going to be too hot to hike where there isn’t tree cover for shade.
But yesterday – PERFECTION!
Heading toward the Rhododendron trail -
To see what we can see -
(Or smell what we can smell, in the case of Zoey’s nose!)
Summer lichen on a trail side tree.
The weeds are so tall – ponies are half hidden!
Standing aside to social distance from random hikers -
Evidently the ponies don’t know or care about social distancing. They will walk right along side you as if you aren’t there!
I didn’t know this couple, but got their number so I could text them the photo!
Cluster of 3
Zoey – looking both ways!
That’s as close as we are going to go -
And stay away from hind legs – they can KICK on a whim!
Must be baby’s lunch time!
This mama looks ready to burst any day.
It was a beautiful day on the trail – we were done by about noon, and it was a good thing – because those clouds that you see gathered. And not long after we made it back to the QPO it started to sprinkle. And then the sky opened up with a deluge of rain – we could have been caught on the trail and soaked to the skin with really no shelter to protect us.
I spent the afternoon sewing behind the scenes – you all know what that means.
And I have a very bad example of a block that is going into the reject pile (or perhaps sewn into the back.)
Can you say NOT ENOUGH CONTRAST?!
That baby blue for the tulip is just too pale and blends too much in to the background. The background would have worked fine if I had chosen a darker tulip fabric.
But I had a scrap I wanted to be gone – I thought igt would work – until I put it on the design wall and walked 6 feet away – in which case you really couldn’t see the tulip at all.
I should have known better! But no worries – there is more fabric where that came from. I’m just sharing it here so you can see that we ALL sometimes don’t make the most brilliant of fabric choices!
Today I’m thinking of making good use of the cooler morning temperatures and doing a hike up Roundhouse Road to see how things have changed during the past few weeks – it’s been a while since I’ve hiked up there.
And then – if the weather permits and it’s not too hot – I think some porch treadling may be in order.
It just feels like a porch treadling day!
We had 4720 entries! WOW!
Nancy Noble!
These new bottles are so awesome!
Debbie Arrington!
Ladies, I’ve sent you each an email to the address you provided with your entries. Please reply back to me with your preferred mailing address and we’ll get your goodie prizes right off to you!
And just so you know – you can order the IronEZ and bottles and save 15% by using coupon code BH15off.
I love mine! I am so happy that my spray bottle does not go crashing to the floor as I work at the ironing board.
As we move further into Sunday – these are some things that I am thinking of:
Quiltville Quote of the Day -
For many of us - we are learning to appreciate the little pleasures much more.
Priorities are shifting to what's really important.
Time is a GIFT I didn't know I'd be receiving. I am so grateful for it
I am typing this while rocking on my front porch wearing the Tokyo Olympics 2020 shirt I bought in Japan last year.
Little could we guess when I bought this shirt that 2020 had a different plan!
Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!
18 comments:
Walked in our Riverfront Park in Little Rock yesterday with my family. My grandson has taken up photography and was doing his first photo shoot of his cousin in her Non Prom dress. The breeze off the Arkansas River was lovely and there was plenty of shade. A play are for the 6 year old grandson to enjoy and wonderful family time. Today is graduation and then I can get back to doing my sewing. Life is blessed.
Happy Sunday indeed! I’m chilling on cottage deck with a fresh coffee, dogs asleep & a beautiful breeze. Haven’t cracked open my sewing machine since I got here - much too hot! Maybe tomorrow. 😎
Sounds like a wonderful day. You are such a good mommy for Zoey.
I think we have all made blocks without enough contrast and then regretted it. At least having the judgment to reject them is a good thing. Here in Midwest fly-over country, it is hot, hot, hot! Time to hunker down inside and get productive. The quilt tops are stacking up around here. I will pick one or two of the smaller ones to baste today.
What if you used crayons to color the blue to make it a bit darker? Earlier this year I worked on some embroidery for a quilt for Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. When I finished the embroidery, there was poor contrast between it and the background. The embroidery took too long to redo, so Crayons were suggested. I took the risk. The crayons made the background darker and make the bright embroidery pop more.
If you are interested, you can get a glimpse of the 2020 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (Reimagined for 2020) here SOQS.org. Click on the orange Enter the Show button in the upper right corner. The quilt I worked on is in the Storytellers section. The embroidery I referenced above is the quilt with all the mini quilts.
Congratulations to the winners!! pam
I truly love reading your posts each day! The horses and Zoey in full curiosity mode were wonderful pictures. Looking at the comments from or-ar quilter re: the Sisters Quilt Show brought back memories of SO many quilt shows I attended in the past while living in Oregon (and before). Until all this settles down (which I don't expect till at least Sept 2021), I continue to work around here (the jobs never end) and the occasional free time I can carve out to quilt. I have faith we'll get through everything and in the meantime, I'm keeping BUSY. To all that read this, wear your mask, social distance, and PLEASE remember that all you do in that line not only protects YOU, but your loved ones, and so many others you will never know....
Congratulations to the winners great prize.
Looks like you really had the best of the weather for your hike, the ponies are so beautiful.
Thank you for sharing and such a sweet gesture to forward the picture to the couple.
Stay safe
Love and quilty hugs
Anne xxx
Ms Bonnie, I really, really appreciate how REAl you are. You share not only the quilty stuff, but who you are. When someone limits to only their craft, they ultimately deny their craft. Our craft, our art is WHO and WHAT we are. It is not the ONLY part of our lives, it is the RESULT of our lives. When you blog, you show the where and how of your art. My aret is a result of MY experiences, but.... influenced by teachers and other artists. I have looked at other teachers/designers and I am not satisfied with the feeling I get from their writing. They may make wonderful quilts, and some do... but... you bring out colors and set them against backgrounds to which I can relate. I LOVE your use of colors, I may not always create my quilts in your colorways, but I get the same feeling from mine that I get from yours and that is joy. I think that is one reason I follow you, and ONLY you. I am very prejudiced/bigoted about writing. I read copiously. I am very picky about who I give my eyes to, for reading. I love certain authors because not only do they write good stories, their writing rhythm feels good. YOUR writing rhythm feels good when I am reading. People don't always understand there is a feel, a sound to the written word. Some of your fellow designer/teachers are great, BUT their written words feel off. When I read your words there is a rhythm to them that, even when you are sad, or mad, or angry, or gloomy, and not just happy, that feels right to me. I look forward to reading what you write. I feel your emotions in your choice of words, and I so love your stories about your fur friends. My fur friend is so important to my life, we have lost two fur friends in our family, my sister lost her small mixed breed breed of 17 years a couple of months ago, and my mom lost her bull mastiff mix last weekend. he was 12 rs old, diagnosed with cancer 10 days before he passed. zmy mom and sister live together with my sister's 15 yr old daughter.Basically I wanted to let you know how much your blogs mean to me. Even if I don't always agree with your writing, I STILL enjoy reading it. I adore you thoughts for the day, and share them always. You feel like someone I would hang out with, and enjoy chatting with, Thank you for taking so much of your day to share with us. Just so you know, there are those of us who truly appreciate it. Have a great Sunday, hope you have some good down time, and you and family relax, and furry friends are family.
I would think about taking a fabric marker and marking a cross-hatch (or circles or something) on the too-light blue, even if it still ends up on the back. It can't make it less likely to make the cut, right?
I hope that pregnant horse has an easy birthing! I don't think I've ever seen a pregnant horse before, even in a picture; isn't that funny?
Rochelle, thank you so much for your kind words! I so appreciate the time you took to write this and post it to me. I'd love hanging out with you, too!
A bad block happens to us all. I'm working on a wall hanging for our guild challenge--I got it almost done, then sent a pic to my sister for an objective opinion. Contrast and fabric choices which looked fine to me struck her as problematic, and now that she's mentioned it, I see the need for change. For as much as I hate to rip and replace sections, I would like my little entry to put its' best face forward. It's gonna be hard enough to display our work with social distancing and possibly not having our Christmas luncheon in person, I want my wall hanging to represent my best work. The theme is "Night Visitors" and I am using a Big Foot looking shape to represent "The Stash Monster--I haunt a quilter's dreams."
A beautiful hike, love the pictures. Good quote for our times.
I love the quilt behind your quote (which I try to live by). There is so much in that quilt; I like the two strips of planned block and the rows above I guess is what she had. She was keeping her family warm with love and randomness!
As much as I enjoy your quilting posts, I really enjoy seeing the photos from your hikes. The tree photo is especially beautiful. On the quilting front I have a pesky low contrast block right now too only in my case it's all too dark.
You can salvage that pale blue tulip block by taking a Blue sharpie and drawing a line around the edges of the blue section. then it will stand out against the background. don't be afraid to add ink to fabric.
Hi Bonnie, What do you think about taking to your baby blue tulip with some crayons or coloured pens to give it a bit of contrast? A purple or deep pink shadow around the outline. Or use it as the label maybe?? Thank you for sharing.
Hi Bonnie, Love our blog. Please don't discard the tulip block. Make a scrap quilt 60X70 and donate it to "Quilts Beyond Borders". These quilts go or orphanages around the world and are so needed. Look up a local drop off place in your area. No block is too bad that it cannot be used and the children that receive them, love them. Keep us the good work. God bless you.
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