Tidewater Quilt Show

The Tidewater Quilters Guild had a really good show last weekend in Chesapeake, Virginia. I had an enjoyable few hours looking at all of the quilts and vendors booths. So good a time that I didn't take as many pictures as usual and missed taking pictures that I wanted to get.

I thought I had a photo that captured the entire quilt. I was wrong, but if you missed the quilting detail, check it out below.

This is a gorgeously detailed applique quilt with closely packed quilting. Wow!

I wish I had done a better job with pictures. The people captured my attention. I really enjoyed talking with so many friends and others I hadn't met before.

Thank you ladies. It was a really good show. Well balanced and well presented.

Eating and Talking over the Worlds Cup

I enjoyed a very pleasant dinner Monday night with my friend Cathy, and her friend Lisa at an incredibly NOISY Mexican restaurant. We could hear the instructor talking and see the students working at their easels for a painting class going on in the adjoining large room. The big screen TV showed the US win over Ghana in the World Cup, followed by a baseball game. The US debuted in the World Cup and won their very first game! The frequent cheers had us repeating what we said so we could be heard.

Lisa designs quilts, takes commissions for quilts, gives talks, and judges quilts. You can see her designs and other things that occupy her time on her blog and her website. She is in Hampton Roads to judge the Tidewater Quilters Guild show coming up this weekend, Friday through Sunday, June 20th through 22nd.

She showed us her designs for the Row by Row Experience, a unique shop hop going on in several states.

I showed her the applique mermaid block I completed recently. Here's the picture again, in case you missed the post on it.

We talked about Lisa's dog Shelby, her experience with facebook's restructure of how people see, and now don't see, the small business pages they are interested in, print shops and anything else that popped into our heads. I really enjoyed meeting Lisa. The three of us had a good time.

Mermaids

I spent about forty hours from concept through execution of this 9" x 36" mermaid applique block ~ designing, choosing fabric, converting the design into individual pieces for applique, cutting out fabrics, arranging bits, tweaking, pressing and sewing.

I then decided that machine embroidery on the face didn't give the right look. So I took out the stitches and used fine tip markers. The fabric for the face on the right was slightly roughed up when I took out the stitches, so it did not turn out well. It has been pointed out to me that her face looks masculine.

I had fun selecting the fabrics and choosing which parts of the underwater scene to cut from the fabrics I used for the critters and plants.

Colonial Williamsburg

I am waaaaaay late posting this.

Pictures from a fun day at Colonial Williamsburg with my friend Laurie.

When we lived in land locked Kansas, SAIL magazine featured an article on celebrating Christmas in various ports of call. The only location I remember was Colonial Williamsburg. I really wanted to see it during the holiday, but Christmas is wrapped up with my family. No way did I want to venture away from home for my favorite holiday.

However now that we are living on the Virginia coast, it is a perfect time to visit.

Click each picture for a larger image

Horse drawn carriage tours of the colonial section of Williamsburg, which covers several blocks

A cobbler at his trade

Cobbler's shop

Boots and shoes for sale with shoe forms in a rack on the wall

The tradesman preparing to leave after work

Colonial Williamsburg Courthouse

The clerk's office at the courthouse

Another view of the office

Stepped vegetable garden down an incline behind a house

Vegetables, yes this is late December

Garden paths. I was rather fascinated with the gardens in Colonial Williamsburg

Weather protection for plants

Small stables bedroom with a cozy fire place and canopy for the narrow bed

Second stables bedroom. I don't recall this one having a fireplace  

Small house with a proportionally large fireplace

Embroidered bed cover

Two Colonial Williamsburg kitchens from which they serve scrumptious dinners.

The next four photos are of the Randolph House.

A silversmith filing a spoon

Spinning

Spinning on a great wheel

Weaving on a floor loom

Williamsburg was the seat of government for Virginia during colonial days. This is the magazine where firearms and ammunition were stored 

Pikes and walls and walls of muskets

We went on a Friday shortly before Christmas. Colonial Williamsburg was decorated for the holidays

Wren Hall, is named for the famous English architect Christopher Wren, who is credited with the modeling the design. It stands at the entrance of the College of William and Mary.

The other time I had been to Williamsburg, another good friend and I searched the Wren Hall trying to locate the chapel to no avail. This time, I opened one of the few doors we hadn't looked through and there it was!

The organ pipes and a magnificent lion

Yours truly in the chapel in Wren Hall. It is the oldest building in continuous academic use in the country.

I was disappointed to learn that the display of lights only happens on Saturdays. However we stayed for the fife and drum corps marching down the main street and that was special.