Monday, November 8, 2010

Going Colonial (picture Heavy)

Hi to all my blog friends.  I'm embarrassed to write this post, as it's been FOREVERRRRR since I've blogged.  I'm sorry for the absence, life is somewhat overwhelming right now.  My in laws are moving to Arizona, we have had company for several days with friends moving to Virginia.  It's been crazy!  Hopefully my blog mojo will return really soon.  Also, I'm having lots of problems posting pictures now.  I hate the new blogger layout!  It's such a headache to get your pictures in the order you want them to be in! Sorry that these are all screwed up, but I'm so frustrated, that I'm going to post it anyway, without fixing them.  
First off, I'll share my WIP's, because of the problem I've mentioned above!
Andrea from Deep Fried Cupcake mentioned that she wanted to work on Farmers Wife, from Carriage House Samplings.  I've had this in my workbasket for a while, so we are doing a SAL, to help us get it done.  I'm stitching with 32 count Black Zweigart fabric, and DMC threads, my own conversion.  How is yours coming Andrea?
I have a finish! Be Ye Thankful by The Cricket Collection.  I started this at the Shepherds Bush retreat, and took it on vacation with me.  I finished everything, except the house.  I was really struggling with the colors.   The color that it called for was pink, and I just didn't like the way it looked, so after multiple froggings, this is what I came up with.  I used the colors it called for, but substituted "Mulberry" in place of "Old Brick".  I think the red is a little bright, but it looks good with my red walls.
This is the new stash I bought at the wonderful stitching store in Williamsburg VA, called Haus Tirol.  If you go to the area, you must visit this darling shop.  I bought a few pattern that I hadn't seen before, and the stitching case in the upper right hand corner is a shop exclusive kit designed for this wonderful shop for their 30th anniversary.  The kit did not include floss, but had the linen,wool, beads and everything else.  I think I will be changing the colors on my kit and making them a little more muted and dark.  I could not pass it up though, because I just love pineapples!
A few months ago, my BFF, Jolene, helped me rearrange the blocks on this table topper that I've had in my closet for 2 years.  This was a class I took from the wonderful Barb and Alma of Blackbird Designs.  I will share again when I get the quilting done.  Barb signed the upper right block.  Isn't that cool?
After our retreat in September, Deb, Cari and I decided to start a SAL together.  This is Angel's Song from Shepherd's Bush.  I am seriously slacking on this sampler!  I need to get on a regular posting schedule so I can stay on task with this.  Are you way ahead of me ladies?  Post your progress so you can kick me in gear!
We spent 2 days at the wonderful Busch Gardens Europe theme park.  What a fabulous park.  I loved it more than Disneyland!  This is the funniest photo.  Don't I wish I had one of these at home!  "The cost of an untidy chamber", and "For want for a quiet tongue".  LOL!
During October, Bush Gardens has a spooky theme, for all Halloween lovers like myself!  This park was decorated to the hilt, and at 6:00 PM, the "spookers" as my DD called them, would come out and scare the dickens out of you.  They would replace their mannequins with real people, and when you weren't expecting it, one would reach out for you.  We were scared multiple times from people in the bushes.  Every time, my DD would cry her eyes out.  She is a scardy cat, which is pure pleasure for a 13 year old big brother!  They had these fog machines that would mist up the park, and add to the ambiance.  I think we will go back sometime, as we all thought it was the best Halloween fun ever.  We didn't attend the spook alleys that they have for the teenagers, that's not really my thing.  I just like the eerie Fall feeling.  Does that make sense?
We have been vacationing in Williamsburg this month.  It was a lovely vacation!  A small sampling of photos:
A peaceful wagon ride in style!   Outside the Governors Palace.

This is the wig shoppe.  How I loved watching this woman make wigs, and share her talent.  Wigs go back to Roman times.  did you know that?
The Governor's Palace.  The centerpiece of Williamsburg.  As your might remember, I won a pattern from Melissa a few months back featuring this lovely mansion.  I was so excited to go home and look at it.  I know this is going to be stitched really soon!

This is the gardens outside the palace.  What a lovely place to sit and sew!

Next up, was the Folk Art Museum.  Many of the items were donated by Abby Rockefeller, as she loved Folk Art finds.  I could have spent an entire day here, but my DH had other things in mind.  Seriously, we never fight, but we did NOT agree about how much time to spend in the museum.  After a few days, I did get over my grudge towards him, and lingered a few hours in here, by myself, which was pure heaven!
They have an extensive gallery of early American portraits.  Many famous painting that I had seen in books were at this museum.

Oh the cuteness!  This is a memory pot.  The owner glued special things on it that she wanted to save and remember.
A fabulous child statue.  I would love to have her in my front room!
Furniture gallery!  Heaven!  No samplers were in this museum at the moment.  (bummer.)  They did have a small quilt display, which was quite good, but the glass over the displays really made for bad picture taking.   What a fun place to visit.  I was filled with such love for our Founding Fathers, and the early Americans that sacrificed so much for our freedoms.  I'm sorry I have to type my conclusion to this post here, but blogger won't seem to let me add a sentence after this picture!  (I swear it should not be this hard!)  Take care all my friends, until next time, Happy Sewing!

17 comments:

Catherine said...

Great stitches and stash!!

I love Williamsburg and the surrounding areas and try to go there once a year!

Katrina said...

What fun!!! Love your stitched pieces, congrats on the finish :-). Great stash too.

I do like how your table topper is arranged and what fun that it's signed.

Looks like a good trip to Williamsburg :-).

Cari said...

Wow...you have been a very busy gal Loraine....Don't worry about Angel Song...I've been stitching on Garden GLade and love every minute of it. I'll post my progress this week. Anywho....I love all your pics! What's with blogger and uploading pics? It used to be so easy and now I can't tell what I'm doing.. Whatevery.... Hugs and happy stitching !!!

valerie said...

Wonderful finishes! I love your Be Ye Thankful and the progress on your CHS. Wonderful colors!

Great stash too. And how cool that Barb signed a block on your tabletopper!

Looks like a wonderful trip to Williamsburg. I've always been curious about visiting.

Jan said...

Such a neat post, Lorraine!! I am so grateful that you had time to visit the folk art museum again, by yourself, so that we could all see the wonderful pictures!!

Lovely wip and I adore your Be Ye Thankful, I have had that kitted up for so long! Maybe one of these years...it is one of those pieces that are so timeless, don't you agree??

Psssttt...you certainly have been busy, but you need to check Tree of Life Samplings blog...you won one of my giveaways! :0)

Melissa said...

My goodness, who has time to blog when you're that busy!

Wonderful stitching, as usual! How nice to discover a new shop too! And the visit to Williamsburg looks like so much fun.

Mylene said...

So great to see a post from you Lorraine. Beautiful pictures and love your recent finish.

Jennifer said...

I'm hoping to head to that shop this weekend with my stitching buddies! Can you send me more info and a better picture of the shop exclusive?

Deb said...

Wow! What a great post. When I saw your title Going Colonial, I thought that it was better than Going Postal! LOL

Love your starts and your table topper. I always forget about that CHS piece. I love it especially on the black. And don't worry about Angel Song - I'm no further along than I was the last time. I'll catch up soon.

And I love Colonial Wmsburg. It looks like you had a really great time. I love it there, but my husband says that it's like Greenfield Village (that we have here in Dearborn) on steroids. Men, that can't appreciate the finer things in life.

Margaret said...

Wow wow wow! Love your finish, love your WIPs, love that BBD quilt (how cool that Barb signed a block!), love everything! My son loves Busch Gardens in Williamsburg -- he's been with his orchestra a few times. I love Williamsburg! lol! Great pics!

JOLENE said...

Wow, wow, wow girl!! What a fun post; Be Ye Thankful is perfect, seriously, I love the color of the bricks you so diligently placed and replaced to build the house. Oh, and Farmer's Wife is looking great, too.
Now for the Halloween show....I am so jealous, looks like a lot of fun for sure. The museum filled with all those delightful antiques is right up my alley. I would love to go to Williamsburg and visit it someday. I really need to get out more!
I can't wait to see your little BBD quilt all finished. It will look awesome....and it only took 2 years??? lol

Let's get together real soon for some stitch time. Have a lovely (yet snowy) day!!!
Smiles....

Ranae said...

What a fun post!
I thought I was the only one having problems with blogger, My pics and hyper links are screwy, oh well!
The Wips look great and the CC is fabulous.
The spooky theme looks fun
Take Care!!

woolwoman said...

Loraine - I share your pain with the stupid blogger photo issues - I get so exasperated - if you mess around you will lose the photos and the whole post - AACCKKK - Your vacation in W-burg were fabulous - how wonderful you were able to spend so much time there - I love that area and I've been to the stitching shop and dropped a big bundle there when I attended JCS Christmas in W-burg a number of years ago. Love all your projects - both started and finished - I have that SB Angel sampler somewhere - I should stitch it to go with my funky folky angel hooked rug. please do come and visit us in blogland more often - love hearing your news - Mel

Bertie said...

Love your WIP's and the BBD quilt is fabulous!! I love their fabrics, wished B&A would do classes in the UK:))
Your reportage on Williamsburg is absolutely breathtaking and it's on my list to go there one day.

Thanks so much for your wonderful pictures:))) The chest is so beautiful.

Jane said...

Nice to see you drop by blog land again, Loraine. I know how hard it is sometimes to do it. Be Ye Thankful looks terrific and love the choice of thread for the house. Enjoy stitching your current WIPs. You've got a job ahead of you with Angel Song. Sorry I didn't join you in the SAL but I knew I couldn't do it justice right now. Thanks for sharing all your other wonderful pictures. I hope things slow down for you a little to catch up on your needlework/sewing. Hugs~

Siobhán said...

Oh my gosh!! You went to the Folk Art museum! I'd love to go there sometime. Thanks for sharing the pics!

Your table topper is going to be awesome! I can't wait to see it finished.

Your stitched pieces are awesome! I can't wait to see more of the Farmer's Wife!

Andrea said...

Looking good! Not sure how or why I missed this post...things have been crazy around here I guess.
You're making good progress, I'm pretty far along on mine :)
Great pics from your trip and awesome stash enhancement!
Be Ye Thankful is so pretty, i've always loved that design! Your changes make it PERFECT!
Hugs!