A Little More BOAF...

The September and October Birds of a Feather blocks are now fused and ready to be machine blanketstitched. I placed the blocks so far on the design wall in the order they are put together in the book. I must say, I am loving this quilt more than ever!!! I have always been a sucker for red and green quilts. The photos in the Kansas City Star have never done this quilt justice. When I saw the first block stitched up in my LQS, I was so hooked. Hopefully, later this week I can post a photo of all my blocks--so far--in the layout from the book.
Here's hoping everyone has a Happy Halloween today. I always look so forward to the little trick-or-treaters coming to the door all dressed up! We tally each year how many we have and last year we had 150!!! My little subdivision doesn't even have half that many kids, but they are brought into the neighborhood by cars and vans and dropped off! I just hope the cold weather cooperates. I remember how much my two sons relished trick-or-treating---all those many years ago. May all your spooks be smiling one! 

When All Else Fails, Knit A Scarf

Spent a coupla days knitting a scarf to wear with denim jackets. Needed to fondle fiber but still couldn't get that groove going in the sewing room. I love to knit mindless things! Cast on 24 stitches onto size 11 needles, hold a strand of cotton yarn together with a strand of eyelash yarn and just knit, knit, knit!!! So soothing and relaxing! Yesterday, I am happy to report, I did finally get back to quilting! I put the binding on Lee's Surrender--it is DONE DONE! Yay!

Birds of a Feather

Lookee, lookee! The book is out! I went to my LQS this morning to pick up my fabric pack for Block10 and there on the counter sat this beauty! I like how it is set together and can't wait to get all my blocks done so I can arrange them on the wall. I am doing Barb's setting so it looks like more applique for the border is in my future. Unless, of course, I can think of a different-but-equally-clever way to do the border. There are lots of extra projects in this book that are adorable. Just need to get busy now...

Part Of a Meme

Since I have accomplished nothing in the sewing room lately and can't seem to get it in gear.....I decided to take part in the meme that is circulating around blogland lately. Since blogger clipped off the last part of this meme, I could only do part of it. Trust me, it is enough!!!
What I've done ...
I have ...
1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great%

See Previous Post

Here's the photo mentioned in the previous post of St. Peter's Basilica in The Vatican with me and my travelmates posed in front of it. We were not allowed to take photos of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, understandably, but it was breathtaking. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is next (on a rainy, dreary day) and just one of the beautiful Renaissance art pieces that we saw on a building there. I am still pinching myself to see if I really did see the works of Michaelangelo, Raphael, DaVinci, and the like.
 

A Few More From Italy

The structures in Italy are so amazing. Here are just a few: Giotto's Bell Tower in Florence, St. Peter's Basilica in The Vatican (with me and my travelmates), and the Colliseum in Rome. Also a photo of a gondola in Venice. I have so many more photos from Italy but I don't want to bore readers of this blog!!! It is, after all, a quilting blog. So maybe I will hold off a few days before showing more! One of the things that I became very fond of while in Italy was the fresh mozzarella and tomato sandwiches. Oh, my, how

tasty! So today I am experimenting. I have veggie soup leftover from yesterday that I will reheat for dinner. I will try to make the mozzarella and tomato sandwiches to go with it. I am going to brush a bit of the olive oil I brought back from Tuscany onto slices of Italian bread, sprinkle a bit of minced garlic on
them, then top with Roma tomato slices and sliced mozzarella from the deli. Then I will pop them under the broiler for just a few minutes--or seconds. Maybe grind a bit of fresh black pepper on top. Mmmmm....sure hope they turn out okay. If anyone has great directions for them, I'd love to hear them! This week I will do a hard target search in the KC area for fresh mozzarella (we do have some great Italian markets around), but in the meantime the deli cheese will have to do. Well, pooh. My picture of St. Peter's disappeared just now!!! Don't know what is up with Picasa. I'll try to load it again in a separate post. 

Isle of Capri

The beautiful isle of Capri! This gorgeous area was the ancient retreat for Roman
emperors. Today it is frequented by celebrities. The waters leading into the Blue Grotto are an amazing turquoise. We toured a lavish villa that once was a "getaway" for a paranoid Tiberius. Of course, my eyes went directly to the amazing mosaic tile floors which looked like quilt patterns! For some reason Picasa is only allowing 4 photos so I will try to post the floor photo on another day.
One of our favorite Italian treats was the gelato (ice cream) that you could find on every street in every part of Italy. The last photo shows how it is presented in the store cases--a work of art in itself! It was so tasty that we had a gelato break everyday!!! Add that to the amazing pasta dishes we had and--well, diet time is upon us!!!
Quilting has taken such a back seat! I am anxious to get up into my sewing room this weekend and take stock. I know I have the September Birds of a Feather block waiting for me and tomorrow's newspaper will hold the October block. I am now two months behind on my Jo Morton Scrappy Stars BOMs and the calendar quilt strips are very incomplete for September and October. Vacations can really set you back!!! It is so good to be back home. I will never take for granted again free public toilets, ice in drinks served at restaurants, or wide streets to drive on (for us judging-distance-impaired drivers)!!!! 

Buongiorno, Signores!

Back from Italy! This is my second time to try to post this morning. I had a lengthy entry that floated off into Cyberland when I tried to publish it so I'll try again. I have so many photos from the trip that I hardly knew where to start. I decided to just post a few each day of the different regions we visited. We went with a tour group so we were able to visit many areas and leave the details to someone else!!! The photos today are from Pompeii, the city that was destroyed and preserved by the volcano Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD . It was quite an advanced civilization. Pompeii was a place I had
heard about since early childhood and it was so amazing to see it. When I was about 7 years old, I received a ViewMaster (anyone remember those??) for Christmas. One of the disks you could view was of Pompeii and it made quite an impression on me. It is believed the city was founded around the 8th or 7th century BC. One of the things I found most fascinating was the body casts that were found during excavation--people who were unable to get out of town in time before the volcano erupted or slaves who were made to stay behind to look after things. The tour was a bit grueling as the streets are difficult to walk on--uneven cobble and lava stones with lots of uphill!!! It was a long tour led by a guide but so worth it! I have started going through blogs but
it will take me quite a while to get caught up! Y'all have been busy! I didn't run across any quilt shops in Italy and I didn't really expect to with our fast-paced tour schedule. I am still dealing with jetlag, laundry, unpacking, and foraging for food. Ciao!