seventeen terrific years . . .

Yesterday Todd and I celebrated our seventeenth anniversary . . . 

It really has  been a great seventeen years and I'm so grateful for my husband -- he's the most godly, loving man a wife could hope to have!  

We've got a huge week (starting today) ahead, so we decided to set our anniversary day aside, turn off our phones, and hang out together.  You know a couple is good together when they enjoy long road trips with each other!  We headed out to Tim's Ford (Tennessee) and had lunch at a fun little place on the water . . .

The Blue Gill Grill.  The food is good, but what I especially like is the built-in dining companions:

How fun is that??!!  We sat on the outside corner of the dock and I had as much fun feeding the turtles, ducks, geese, and fish as I did eating!!

Isn't that a LOT of carp?  And they're HUGE!!  It was funny ... the fish obviously couldn't see to anticipate where food was going to come from, but the geese/ducks could.  So whenever the geese started to move in on someone who was tossing food over the side, the fish would swarm underneath them, hoping to grab a bite.  It made for some very *splashy* activity!

We tooled around the State Park and checked out different camping spots and RV setups (being a fulltime RVer, I'm always intrigued by what other seasoned RVers do) and then headed up to Tullahoma.  My trusty "Quilt Shops" app noted a quilt shop there I'd never been to, and since we were so close anyway . . .

Quilting Dreams! Yay! It was a cute shop with some fun projects on the walls . . .

I was tickled to find out they're going to be one of the vendors at our guild's quilt show in October!  And I was particularly taken by this piece (gee, I wonder why, Sarah?!?):

The ideas just started rolling through my head.  Guess what will be appearing on my blog for the next HeLP???!  Needless to say, my purchases included the paper templates for this project, as well as some other assorted goods and sundries!

The quilting templates are for My Orange Crush blocks.  And most of the fabric is flannel -- I really like backing my table toppers with flannel.  The shop had a GREAT selection of flannels, too!  They also had some of the new fall fabrics on display, like the Posh Pumpkins by Sandy Gervais.  I *love* this line!

Aren't they fun?  I would like to get a bigger charm pack of this to play with!  And let me just say -- a man who has no problem sitting in a quilt shop, on his anniversary, and foots the bill?  That man is a KEEPER!  (He was a keeper anyway, but gosh, what an indulgent, patient, generous hubby!!)

From the quilt shop, we headed west to Shelbyville.  We got there just in time to have an afternoon cup of coffee:

The Coffee Break is a relatively new shop, owned by two pastors.  One of the pastors did all the baking, and I have to say, his creations looked AMAZING! Todd got a strong Americano coffee and I got Nutella Latte (a mix of chocolate and hazelnut).  LOL!  :)

From there, we took the scenic route home, traveling back south through some of the most beautiful farm country set in lush, green rolling hills.  Very idyllic! When we got back into Alabama we headed to our favorite Chinese carry-out, ordered dinner, and brought it home for a picnic-on-the-mattress and a movie.

On a throw that is now officially our "picnic" blanket (thank you, Jocey!) because it's all green and flowery.  All-in-all, it was a fabulous day, a sweet way to mark seventeen years with my best friend and love.

Today, Lord help me, I'm headed to Point Mallard (a water park) with our youth group!  Yikes!  No telling what kind of stories I'll have to tell next time around!! (Talk about a splashy event, right?!) Wheeeee!  Should be a fun day!

:)

under glass . . .

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure/privilege of heading to Huntsville's Museum of Art to participate in our guild's "quilting demo day" in collaboration with a special exhibit the museum has in its gallery, as well as an exhibit of locally made quilts of our guild members.  It was quite fun.  Four of us brought some handwork and whiled the afternoon away stitching and chatting and answering questions about our respective pieces and quilting and the guild in general.  I had a productive afternoon.  I finished up quilting on one of the blocks from My Orange Crush . . . 

Marked and readied another of the blocks for hand-quilting . . .

And made great progress on basting the pieces for my Starburst block!

Enough so that I came home and finished it before bedtime.  Hurrah!  Next will be to whip the pieces together (they're currently taped to my mat) and then I'll machine stitch on the purple sashing, setting the block on point.  I'm very pleased with how it's turning out.

So, stitching-wise, it was a fabulous afternoon!  But the best benefit of demo-ing was the opportunity we had to get into the museum for free and check out the exhibits ... most particularly "Crazy Quilt" 1887 by Susan Keziah Hobbs Fennell Henderson (whew, imagine having to sign that!) . . . 

Isn't it absolutely gorgeous?  I hated that there was glass between the quilt and I because I *so* longed to touch and pet it!

A closeup of the borders here . . .

Oh my gosh, I could have spent hours looking at this quilt -- it must have taken her *years* to finish this!  There were tons of questions I'd have loved to have asked the quilter. I was blown away by the level of detail in each different block. Her seam treatments were just gorgeous.  Here are some closeups for you to drool over (good thing it *was* under glass):

Sweet little basket of embroidered flowers!

Required spider and spiderweb!  She used metallic silver thread for the web.
This is 1887!

There were LOTS of initials, including this "R" surrounded by sweet daisies!

I counted a total of four different fans stitched into the quilt.

There were also a number of different butterflies, but this was my favorite!

This embroidered spray of flowers was simply GORGEOUS!
Her ribbon work was exquisite.

The rooster, center, sits next to characters that look oriental.

Or perhaps hieroglyphics?  Or some secret code??!!!
The year, 1887, is embroidered in that same patch.

I really hope I have an opportunity to go back and look at this piece of art again. Every time I looked at it, something new caught my eye!  It was like the "I Spy" of crazy quilts!  Each of us who participated this afternoon received a lovely card, featuring the quilt.  I'll share a photo of the card, only because it's a great bird's eye view of the entire quilt center:

Yup, a good day.  Even if my favorite part of it remains under glass!

:)

quilting in greece . . .

Yup ... I can now say I've quilted amongst the architecture of Athens, Greece.

Or at least I can say I've quilted amongst the VBS setup of Athens, Greece! Semantics, right? Our Stitchers group got together at our usual meeting place (Epworth UMC) and found ourselves immediately transported to another time, another place!  It was kind of fun to be stitching (or snipping, as the case may have been) around the columns and tents and drapes!

I had a *finish* to show off, too . . . 

YAY!  And before the 4th anniversary deadline, too!  Hahaha!

Front.

Back.  I'm debating on whether or not to stick it in the washer before I present it. I'm a little afraid.  All that hand quilting.  LOL!  I guess I should just put it in on delicate and go with it!

Last night I finished removing all the paper templates from my little apple core piece . . .

Seriously, I think that's the most difficult (or perhaps tedious is a better word?) part!  It's even kinda fun to look at from the back . . .

Now that it's pieced, I'm not sure what to do with it next.  Hmmmm.  Need to get on that.

I also worked on my Starburst block . . . 

Got the reds all finished, so now all I've got is the oranges and yellows.  

The oranges will take the longest, because there are eight of them (they go in the empty spaces).  Still, I'm loving the way this original-to-me block is shaping up!!

My darling friend Ronda, from church (and Ronda Quilts), was manning a fund-raising yard sale last weekend and found these goodies and thought of me:

Wasn't that sweet?  More hexie templates!  Yay!!

My sister and her crew left on Wednesday -- we had a marvelous, marvelous time and I've got lots of pics to share, once I sort through them all.  For now, I'm off to bake some bread (thank you Kim and Pinterest)! And since it is Feline Friday, I'll leave you with this little tidbit:  Jocelyn is moving this weekend.  Ellie's doing her part and making sure her most important treasures make it to the new house.  

Leia, stuffed owl, and apple tv remote.  Way to pitch in and help, Ellie!  Leia's relieved she makes the moving cut.  Whew!  (Linking up to Feline Friday at Sarah Did It!)

:)

coming home . . .

You've heard the old adage, as good as it is to get away, it's nice to get home again, haven't you?  That's exactly where I am!  Todd and I had a lovely ten days away, visiting with family and taking our MSC funding class (which was incredibly informative and helpful).  But it was ever-so-lovely to arrive home late yesterday afternoon.  Especially when the cheery daisy faces greeted me every which way I turned!

Aren't they sweet?  Since yesterday was a holiday, we couldn't pick up our mail until today.  And when we did?  BINGO!  I hit the jackpot!  First was a prize I'd won through StitchMAP . . .

Lots of stuff, huh?

She'd put together a crazy quilt kit for me -- with four pre-stitched blocks and *tons* of lovely embellishments! Isn't that awesome?!?!?!?!?

Next came a package all the way from Australia!!!  Yay!!  

I'd entered the Red Brolly Girl's Own Stitching Club Competition way earlier in the month.  Guess what I won . . .

A present!  Wrapped in red and white polka dots!

The perfect book for me!  It's a beautiful book, too -- full of beautiful stitch illustrations!

And next (I know, right?!) was this fun package from Stacey, at Stacey's Place.

Yes!  A copy of 100 Blocks!  I was so excited!  Stacey's block was on page 35 . . . the Bedtime Story block.  It was so cute and resonated with me, since I've got some grands who adore being read to!

Stacey also included these two mini charm packs . . . 

That was so nice!  Especially since I just finished whipping together my apple core piece!  

I can't decide if I want to place with mini hexies or tumblers, next!

I worked on a couple of other things during our trip -- especially during our 13 hours of driving!  I finished up some flowers for a corsage . . .

Worked on my sunburst block (which I decided to EPP) . . . 

And (drumroll, please) finished quilting . . . 

Wait for it . . . 

The Wedding Quilt!!!  Big YAY!!!  I have the fabric ready to make binding.  I'm down to the home stretch!

So it *is* good to get away--especially when I have the time to finish as much as I did . . . but coming home is a happy, too!

:)