Catcing Up

This has been a very busy month for me.  I will catch up by starting with today and work backwards.

Today I made four pillowcases for two of my grandkids and two of their friends.  My third grandchild is only 5 months old - she will get a pillowcase next year!

Saturday morning I walked the 5K "Stride for Breast Cancer" in Biloxi.  This picture was taken after the race, looking down from a parking garage.  This was only a very small number of hundreds of participants.  It was a beautiful sea of pink as we walked to support those with the disease and to honor those who fought a good fight, but did not conquer it.

Friday night I made the block, seen below, for the block swap for the upcoming Cobble Court Quilts Retreat II.  The retreat is scheduled for Oct 28 -30 in CT.  I will have lots of fun pictures to share with you after the retreat.  I am looking forward to seeing the friends that I made at last year's retreat and making new ones this year.



Last week I traveled to New York to spend a few days with my friend, April, who lives on Long Island.  We spent one day in New York City where we visited the Statue of Liberty and road the Staten Island Ferry.  The visit to the Statue of Liberty was fantastic.  This is a picture of the original torch.

We also visited the Vanderbilt's mansion, Eagle's Nest.

This was the view from the back of the mansion.

Interesting designs in rock leading to the mansion.

I have many more pictures of New York, but will not bore you with them at this time.

Thursday I travel to the retreat, so the rest of the week (at night) will be spent cutting out projects to work on, sewing on the blocks for the Black and Bright Swap, and packing for the trip.

Until later..............

Sandra

Seattle in Pictures.............

Even though it was a business trip, I found a few hours during the week to take in the sites of downtown Seattle.  I was able to visit the Space Needle and Pike's Market.  Below are a few pictures that I would like to share.

Space Needle - looking up

Puget Sound from top of the Needle

Great food.

 Bread Pudding - we were all surprised at how large it was - there was enough for several people.

Huckleberries were in season - I had the Huckleberry Sundae - Delicious!

 The lucky brass pig at the Market - Make a donation and rub its nose for good luck!

Apparently the Pig steps out sometimes, there were brass tracks to prove it!!

Master Calligrapher

at work.

Finally, more great food, pizza from scratch. 

I will be out of town for a few days, but when I get back I will be preparing to go to the 2nd Annual Cobble Court Quilters Retreat in CT.  I will also be completing  the Black and Brights Swap with the same group of friends.  I have much to do before October 28th.

Hugs...........

Sandra

2011 F-R-I-E-N-D-S Swap

Remember the F-R-I-E-N-D-S Swap sponsored by Khristina "Sew Prim Khris"of  Queensland.  Well the swap is over.  We all had so much fun.  My F-R-I-E-N-D-S Swap Partner was Anabella at Cosiendo y criando blog spot.  Anabella is quiet the crafts person.  She designs all types of items for the hair and many other things.  Anabella is from Málaga, Malaga, Spain.  She sent me the most beautiful set of goodies.  Words cannot do it justice, you have to look at the pictures to get a sense of what a wonderful package of items that I received.

The gifts were beautifully packaged; little verses spelled out the word FRIENDS.   She was so thoughtful -- she also included small gifts for each of my grandchildren.  Anabella also crafted my name, which I thought was really unique.  I loved everything that she sent and I hope to keep in touch with her from time to time.  From the pictures that she sent, she lives in a beautiful part of Spain.

I enjoyed this swap very much and hope to participate in the next one in 2012.

Enjoy.........

Sandra

Christmas Fabric Swap

CHRISTMAS FABRIC SWAP

A couple of months ago Paula of Paula's Crafty Botique matched up partners for a Christmas Fabric Swap.  My swap partner turned out to be Kerrie of In My Sewing Room.  Kerrie outdid herself with the package of fabrics that she sent to me.  There was over 15 fat quarters of Christmas fabric, three sets of yardage, and cute buttons.

Visit Kerrie's blog and check out what she is making in her sewing room.

Thank you so much Kerrie!!

Sandra

Found a Quilt Shop in Seattle!!

The pictures say it all......................

If you are in Seattle, this is a "must visit".

A few of the items in the store just jumped into my hands and left with me.  I think that they were looking for some sunshine in the sunny south!!

 Isn't this a fun fabric.

 Beautiful Batiks

 Challenging Patterns

 Pincushions, always fun to make and give away.

Yum, Yum



Seattle

Seattle is the site of this week's business trip.  The molluscan shellfish meeting takes up most of the day, but I was able to get a couple of hours free to see some of the sights near the hotel.  I walked down to the Seattle Fish Market or Fresh Market this afternoon.  Thought I would share some of the pictures of the sites with you.



Sign on building.



Entrance to Market.  Notice the flower growing above the entrance.



Fresh fish and other seafood.  Beautiful and so fresh.



Beautiful bouquets of flowers.  Most were $5 or $10.  If I lived here I would have fresh flowers in my home every week.



The floor was comprised of tiles that had names of various people that, I presume, had purchased the tiles.

.
Gorgeous peppers.

Beautiful fruits and vegetables.  Very reasonable prices.

View of Puget Sound from the west side of the market.

And, lastly, a hugh statue outside of the Sheraton Hotel.  Wow! is all I could say!!

I travel home on Saturday.  I have much to do in the way of sewing to get ready for a Quilt Retreat with my Cobble Court Quilters Group. 

Until next time...................

Sandra