Magical Morning Moments

This morning I hoped to do a bit of gardening before the heat set in, so I took Emma out on a leash very early. Heaven forbid that she should see a squirrel and take off barking and waking up the entire neighborhood, hence, the leash :-)  I was about to bring her into the house when I glanced down and saw a beautiful monarch butterfly resting in the grass. After taking Emma inside, out I came with my camera. It was still cool, so the butterfly was content to stay still while I crawled around shooting it from every angle. (I just hoped my neighbors wouldn't look out their window and think "she's fallen and can't get up." Fortunately, in spite of my foot issue, I'm still pretty agile. :-)

 

The wings in this image are not as sharp as I would have like, but I was trying to get a face to face portrait. Please click on this or any other image for a larger view; you will be amazed at how large its eyes are.

 

 

On Tuesday, I went to lunch with friends and we discussed this app. Later, Kathy sent out this image.

 

 

Laurel sent this cartoon. Looks like a perfectly swell party to me!!!

Finally, here's a photo taken last week of the progress being made on construction of our new library.

I have done a bit of quilting this week, but I'll save that for my next post.

Having a Heat Wave

Over 150 million Americans are in the midst of an oppressive heat wave.  Except for church this morning and briefly taking Emma out periodically on a leash, I've stayed inside and managed to focus on some quilting. 

These photo were taken on Wednesday with my 90mm macro lens. There were no filters used; these misty images were purely the result of the humid, heavy air. I have taken photos like this at other times, but it always involved creating a foggy, diffused effect with filters or other manipulations. Not so with these as nature created the effect. 

If you click on any photo, you may view larger images.

I love how these images appear and may print a few to use on cards.

A gentle breeze came along, and I was then able to take the next two somewhat clearer images.

Before the getaway to the Vermont Quilt Show, I had ordered this table runner kit from Shabby Fabrics. Though I didn't have it finished for July 4th, I'll use it for the rest of this summer, and it will be all set for next year!

It was a "Quilt As You Go Venice Table Runner Stars and Stripes Kit." Clicking on the name of the table runner will take you to the info at Shabby Fabrics.  The runner measures 15x48; I'm just showing a small section of the runner. The kit comes with the backing fabric included, and it was easy and fun to do.

While working on the top, you are instructed not to use an iron. You may finger press the seams or do as I did. I carry a wallpaper seam roller in my bag for pressing seams, and it works great. The smaller wooden press is what I use when paper piecing. There wass no paper piecing involved in this project; I just included it as a size reference.

Tomorrow promises to bring some relief from the heat; until then keep cool and quilt on!!!

In My Garden This Week - 7/14/19

Those are not yellow reflections in the gazing globe; it is green with spots of blue and yellow.

The daylilies are blooming.

I have two quick tips to pass on to you; the first is garden related. Last week I read on another blog about a way to get your hands clean after gardening.  I always start off wearing gardening gloves, but before you know it, I have removed them to do something and my hands get pretty dirty. That's no longer a problem. Use a few drops of Dawn dishwashing detergent with water to clean your hands. It works like a charm!!!

Here's the second tip: use a staple remover to hold open sections of a split ring when you need to add a key or perhaps a new dog tag. Simply separate the rings with the staple remover, slide the key or tag onto the ring, and your fingernails will be spared.

That's it . . . short and sweet . . . stay cool and enjoy the week ahead.

The Prettiest Quilt Shop in Vermont

A final look at some scenes along the road in Stowe. . . [Note to self: When I buy a log cabin getaway in Vermont, be sure to get the moose stove from a previous post. Also, be sure it is near a field of beautiful horses. Oh, one more thing . . . be sure it has a balcony so I may drape quilts over it. :-)
Just keep repeating, "There is no place like Vermont . . . There is no place like Vermont . . . There is no place like Vermont."   :-)

On the way home, we stopped at Country Treasures in the historic town of Chester, Vermont. This quilt shop has room after room after room of fabric, patterns, books, and notions.

 That brings me to the last quilt shop stop on our getaway,  Waterwheel House Quilt Shop, in Londonderry, VT. To my mind, it is the prettiest quilt shop in Vermont. Lovely quilts are displayed on the porch giving a hint of the beautiful fabrics and quilts inside. Simply beautiful . . . bright happy colors .  . . a must stop for all quilters.

By the parking area there were wild lupine and Edith and Laurel indulged my love of lupines. I was thrilled to see so many still in bloom. 

I hope you have a colorful, happy weekend.

Vermont Quilt Festival Trip 2019 continued . . . Covered Bridges

My friends Edith, Laurel, and I had attended the VQF on Friday, June 28th, and we had planned to visit the Shelburne Museum on Saturday. The forecast was for hot, humid, possibly stormy weather, so we changed our plans and headed to a quilt shop, which is featuring a very cute "Row by Row Experience" kit and pattern, in Lyndonville . 

Just so you know, we visited in total, seven quilt shops in our travels over the course of our getaway. "Weren't there enough vendors at the quilt show?" non-quilters might ask. Yes, of course, there were many, many vendors. Non-quilters will wonder why we then visited so many shops; quilters will only smile.  Each shop is different, and we wouldn't want to miss anything. :-) (You should have seen Yankee Pride Quilts in Essex Junction after the show; it was mobbed.  :-)

Anyway, Lyndonville, VT, turned out to be quite a treat. The quilt shop, Sewin Love Fabric Shoppe, and its owner were lovely, and the lady at the information center in town told us that Lyndonville has five covered bridges and, of course, we had to check them out. (We only managed to visit four.)

The one at the top of this post is the Randall Bridge 1865. Off to the right, I was struck by this  

vista. . . . h'mmm . . . a possible quilted landscape subject???

The Sanborn Bridge, the second bridge we visited, is in need of restoration and not in use, but we met a couple who told us where to find the other bridges and the story about the next bridge we would visit. They even showed up at that bridge to see if we had found it. :-)

Here's the story. On May 16, 2019, a woman on her first day driving a delivery truck didn't see or ignored the height warning sign. She claimed she was just following her GPS. Instead of stopping immediately when she hit resistance, she kept on plowing through causing extensive structural damage to the Miller Run Bridge. The Bridge dating to 1878 had been restored in 1995. You may click here to watch surveillance footage of the accident. 

This was an active bridge and townspeople must now use an alternate route until the bridge is repaired.

The next Lyndonville bridge was the Chamberlyn Bridge quite a classic beauty.

On the way out of town, we stopped to photograph this incredible mural. In the second photo, you can see the painter's identification . . . ANTHILL 2018. Note how the wooden ladder became part of the mural. Fantastic!!!

Was that the end of our covered bridge adventure? Not quite . . . Laurel saw mention of a covered bridge that we could visit on our way back to Stowe.  We drove down a very long, hard packed dirt road which brought us to Greenbank's Hollow in Danville, VT.

This is not the original bridge; it burned down in December 1885. If you click on the above photo to see an enlarged version, you may read about the forgotten village that once thrived there. The folks of the Danville Vermont Historical Society have done an excellent job with signs and pamphlets which insure that the structural remains and the story of this village will be preserved. You may see a period photo of the woolen mill and read about Greenbank's Hollow here.

It was a long but wonderful day, and that about covers all of our covered bridge adventures. :-)

Vermont Quilt Festival 2019

 As promised, here are some of the quilts that caught my eye at the 2019 Vermont Quilt Festival. Not only was the front of this quilt truly impressive, but just take a look at the back. Wow! Now that is how to use up one's scraps!!!

Remember: you may click on any photo for a larger version, and you might definitely want to do that with this one.

There was a lovely display of antique quilts.

The colors of "Civil War Reflections" were unusual, but very striking.  The yo yo quilt made by the Green Mountain Quilters Guild was huge; this is just one small segment. On the card it said it would be divided into sections and made into comfort quilts.

I took more photos of quilts that inspired, delighted, or amused me, but I hesitate to post them since I did not photograph the identifying information for those quilts. 

I attended the Night Before the Fourth parade in Randolph with friends, and yes, even crime fighters Batman and Robin were not too busy in Gotham City to make an appearance.

Another Excellent Adventure - The Vermont Quilt Festival 2019

My friends Edith and Laurel and I headed to Vermont last Thursday morning.  Along the way we stopped at the Springfield, VT, rest area. We went out the back door to see the view and encountered what appeared to be a moth convention on the glass door and brick wall. The pink and yellow moth was small, but the guy on the right was a big fella! I wish I had taken a few more photos as there were moths of all shapes and sizes just hanging around in the warm sunshine.

I tried identifying these moths. The pink and yellow one is a Dryocampa rubicunda, rosy maple moth, but I'm not sure what the big guy is. You can see part of the door hinge which gives you an idea of his impressive size :-)

Take a look at this awesome moose stove that was in the Visitors Center. How cool, or in this case, hot is that!!!!!!! If I ever get a log cabin, I'm getting a stove like this!

Our next stop was for lunch in Quechee, and here we are . . . three gorgeous, gallivanting gals at the gorge. :-)

There is a trail which leads 165 feet to the bottom . . . perhaps another time. We had quilt shops to visit!

 

We stopped at Hen House Fabrics in White River Junction before heading on to Stowe, our home away from home for three nights.  

Tomorrow I'll show you some quilts that caught my eye at the show.