Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 28 - Upside Down

If I was home this would have been so fun....but here's what I found in a hotel room:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 27 - Playing

Ready for playing and lessons ... I've seen them in the window all week but could not get there in time today to show them in action. Here's some instruments at rest:

Not too bad, considering it was taken with my cell phone.

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 26 - Quiet

Quiet time on the balcony of my hotel - open air napping spot:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 25 - On Your Bedside Table

Good thing I'm not at home - would have a mess to show!  Here's what's on the bedside table in my hotel room:

Here we see the basic necessities - clock, Diet Coke, Kleenex and lamp. 

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 24 - Cloud

I walked around the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden yesterday and enjoyed having my camera along.  Beautiful flowers, a wonderful butterfly conservatory, palm trees, and sculpture delighted my eyes.

Amazing and interesting cloud formations?  Not so much.  But it was the word of the day for yesterday, so here are a couple shots, followed by my favorite picture of the day:

 This is a closeup of a sculpture by Will Ryman.  I tried to continue the "hump" line of the lady bug body and head to the cloud outline.

This one is more subtle - I chose to have the clouds out of focus in the background to make the branches look like there was a little glow to them.  It worked for the branch through the middle of the picture.  Love these brushy flowers on the tree.

Not connected to a cloud, but this is my favorite picture of the day - a small butterfly getting nectar from a flower:

Sometimes patience pays off in photography!

Grandmother's Choice BOW - Ladies' Wreath

I am on business travel for the week, so I drew some options for this week's block.  The colors will obviously be different in my blocks.  I found a blue pen, black pen, mechanical pencil and orange highlighter to use in the drawings, so that's what you see here.

I think I'll use the middle one, though I may switch the lower right quadrant so the dark arrows point away from the center.

Or next Saturday I'll do something completely different!

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 23 - Word

Part of a sign on a building:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 22 - Makes You Smile

What makes me smile?  Standing on a rooftop deck taking pictures of a sunset wearing a sundress and flip flops when the weather at home is 32 degrees!

Bonus:  Picture of the moon rise from the same spot, but turned around 180 degrees:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 22 - Full

The airport was full and teeming

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 20

Where You Stood:

The elevator I just stepped out of in my condo building.

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 19

I am .... a lover of bright and cheery fabric!

Block of the Week - The Carrie Nation Quilt

In week 25 we learn about Carrie Nation and her temperance views on life.  A block was named after her in 1940 - her fame lived well beyond when she died in 1911.  Read about it on Barbara Brackman's blog:  25. The Carrie Nation Quilt

Here's my rendition of the block:

I was so concerned about make the block too small with all the seams that I was (too) careful to do scant 1/4" seams.  So now the block is too big!  Ah well, it would be easy enough to fix and I will probably do that at some point.

This brings us to just beyond the halfway point of this project.  I have decided on most of my setting fabrics.  I think.  Pretty positive.  I am going to frame each block in black w/small white polka dots (definitely) or orange on red polka dots (maybe, probably?).  Then I will use a blue/turquoise-y for the sashing (definitely).  I have not decided whether to do cornerstones - I'll put the frames on some of the blocks and decide that later.

Here's a picture of my setting fabrics with the blocks - messy because I just wanted to see what they looked like together.

Setting Fabrics: Black and blue are definite, not sure about the orange.

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 16-18

Day 18 - Something You Don't Like

This is a don't like, but like that I have them situation.  I don't like that I need hearing aids, but having them sure has given me back a social life.  I had not realized how much I had been avoiding going places where people did not know me because I couldn't hear well enough to carry on a conversation.

Day 17 - In Your Hand

A needle while binding a quilt.  It was pretty tricky to take the shot left-handed!

Day 16 - Perfect

Unimaginative, really, but the sentiment is there.  I spent Saturday at a quilt-in with my guild and it was the perfect way to spend the day.

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 15 - Inside Your Fridge

This one made me laugh because I cleaned out my fridge last weekend before yet another trip.  I have not gone grocery shopping because I leave for another trip next week.  So - here's a sampling of what's in my fridge:

Grape Jelly

All put on the top shelf which is clear, and the pictures snapped from looking up at them.

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 14 - Love

Love is like a flame....

~Nazareth

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 13 - Walking

Used this one:  

First post:  These boots are made for walking (showing my age!):

Block of the Week - True Blue: Too Smart

I'm late getting this posted.  Between business trips and  posting the photo of the day I am doing for February, it just escaped me.

This is our 24th week - almost halfway done!  This week we learned how women were not supposed to show their intelligence, and were often ridiculed when they did.  We've come a long way, but there are still times when I am told I should tone down the intellectual side of my personality.  WHAT?  I think not.  So perhaps some of us still have a little way to go, hmmm?

I chose to do a turquoise and white block this week to get close to the theme.  I'm not entirely pleased with the cutting of some of the pieces, they make the block look skewed.  But - it's done and not every block needs to scream "look at me".  I do like the "mod" look after last week's retro style.  I started thinking about doing "modern vintage".... I have not really kept that up.  I do like how it's coming together.

Now that we are halfway done, I am starting to think about the layout/sashing/borders.  I am thinking about black frames around the blocks and gray sashing.  It will have to be the perfect gray.  I may need to take a trip to WebFabrics to test some grays.  (Such a hardship, I know - ha ha ha)

Here's a group shot of my block so far:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 12 - Where You Ate Lunch

Scooted home for lunch and did some research:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 11 - Entrance

Entrance to a building in the Japanese Garden in Portland, OR.  Taken several years ago....did not have time to go get a shot today.

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 10 - 3 O'Clock

Headed home from running errands:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 9 Guilty Pleasure

Chili con queso - ate it allllll by myself!

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 8 Something Orange

Delicious Salmon with Broccoli on Sweet Potato Puree:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 7 Name

One of my nicknames is Dino; made from stuff in the hotel room and that I have with me:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 6 Soft

Still out on the road in a hotel with soft pillows:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 5 Something You Smelled

That moment you first start to peel an orange:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 4 Hope

Picture taken at Dulles International Airport on my cell phone of the Rhode Island State Flag.  The State Motto, "Hope", is in the blue area.  This flag hangs with all other state flags in this area of the airport.

Busy Quilting Weekend

I had loads of fun this weekend sewing various blocks for various projects.  As 2012 seemed to be the year of the mystery quilt, 2013 is shaping up to be the year of the block of the month (and week)!

I was out of town until Thursday night on business travel and went in on Friday to wrap some things up.  However, the computer systems were down, and it seems nothing can get done without them!  So, off I went to one of our local quilt shops (WebFabrics) which has a block of the month program.  Each month will have two or three blocks.  In January, I did two of the three blocks and needed more fabric for the third because I messed up on the first try, then changed out some of the fabric provided.  I got the two blocks for February and home I came. 

I made the February blocks on Friday afternoon:

There was enough of the background fabric (used in every block) from these two blocks, to finish the second block, which I completed Friday night:

On Saturday it was both the Barabara Brackman Grandmother's Choice block of the week and her Dixie Diary block of the month.

The block of the week this time is call Girl's Joy, and since I like bright colors so much I just had to make a bright, joyful block:

The Dixie Diary block this month was about how some families in the Civil War had members on both sides, and so we made the Checkered Allegiance block.  I continue to incorporate embroidery from my family members:

  

Finally, I was debating working on the Easy Street quilt, but did not want to get that involved as I will need to clear off my dining room table so that I can sew the larger pieces together there.  I remembered that Riley Blake had a Chevron block posted and I've been wanting to try one.  It is a block of the month and we'll see if I continue with it.  The chevron block was fun to make:

 

I did no sewing on Sunday as I am preparing to leave town once again.  I did research embroidery patterns to include on the WebFabrics block of the months. 

That concludes this lady's sewing weekend.

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 3 Something Beginning with "E"

I've just started (finally) reading "Alexander Hamilton" by Ron Chernow.  Look what's there on page 723:

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 2 Pattern

Part of a sofa arm cover crocheted by my mother in the 1950s.

Photo of the Day - Feb 2013 - Day 1 Fork

Day 1 - Fork

I was playing around with forks on the plate and noticed the ends looked like a churn dash block.  I found the block I made as part of the Grandmother's Choice Block of the Week and included it in the picture.  Not fine art, but it made me smile.