I have not been carrying my camera around with me, so I haven't blogged. Funny how you think you MUST have pictures or it's not worth blogging...
So, I guess I can document only one thing: I finished Marci's quilt!!! Yay! I've been in kind of a quilt rut since Carrie was born (finding time to start a quilt and finding time to finish a quilt are two separate challenges, esp. with 4 kids now). So it was a major accomplishment to start this quilt after the Peterson Reunion at the end of May...and finish it just a few weeks ago!
Sadly, that's the end of my pictures...but not the end of my blog! ;)
The 3rd of July: After packing up the entire household (it seemed), we headed up into the Shenandoah Mountains for one night of camping. As we weaved our way up and up, we decided (okay, I did) that these "mountains" looked more like rolling hills of broccoli. Much different than those in Colorado. We had a fun night roasting marshmallows and grilling burgers (not in that order, but the kids wished it were) and Eliza told us a great ghost story to end the night. Very FUN!
The 4th of July: We woke up...and it was WARM. Really warm. I didn't need my sweatshirt kind of warm. True, I have only camped in mile-high altitudes before, but regardless....I woke up HAPPY, in a tent!! (My past experiences have shown that there's nothing like a rotten night's sleep with a baby in your sleeping bag and waking up to frigid temperatures to make for a grumpy mom.) But this was different...Caroline only woke up for a minute in the night and James only had to go rearrange E, S, and R once. Those temperatures made a HUGE difference...I think we'll be going camping again this summer!
After an amazing camp breakfast, we broke down camp, and hiked down to a waterfall. I kept telling James on the way hiking down that I really enjoyed the uphill part of hiking better. Not that I was complaining,--I wasn't--just expressing how I don't particularly relish the feeling on my knees of stopping inertia. (Am I getting old??) So, after stopping and skipping rocks into the waterfall's pool, we had a lovely hike back UP to our car, cooled off with perfectly ripe nectarines--YUM!--and headed home.
Early afternoon we left for the 4th of July celebration at Great Meadows. This means nothing to most of you reading, but it's a GREAT location on the local polo fields. This year, though we did see more of a crowd and ran into a few tipsy men, we enjoyed our time there SO much! The fireworks were AMAZING--we sat RIGHT beneath them--and the kids enjoyed the entertainment and air show. The setting was just gorgeous, the weather was cool and windy. Just perfect!
You could sum up the two days in a word: magical. We wish James had more time off like this!
9 comments:
during our fourht celebrating we actually discussed our awsome it would be to live in virginia/washington during the fourth. sounds like a lot of fun!!
your quilt looks beautiful.
sounds like a good time! Love the quilt... Did YOU do the quilting part, because it looks AMAZING!!! I don't think mine will ever look that good(maybe if I had a quilter machine though...) Good Job Val!
VAL! I am currently working on a quilt that started out as a flying geese quilt! I love that pattern. I even consulted my #1 quilt consultant, Jeff (he actually gives me good advice on patterns and colors), to see if he thought I should arrange the colors to look like a pinwheel, or not!
I changed my mind, and went with a different pattern, which is probably a good thing because my corners wouldn't be quite as pointy as yours. Mine would definitely be blunt ended.
Looking at your quilts makes me feel like a sloppy quilter. Your quilts are PERFECT. I love this one.
I have a few questions that I meant to ask when we were visiting but forgot:
-do you prewash your fabric? I go back and forth on this. I can't decide which is better.
-what brand of batting do you use? I go back and forth between hobbs heirloom and warm and natural.
I had one more random question, but I can't remember it...I'll ask when I remember. Sorry this is so long, I should've sent an email.
hey! hoorah! now I don't have to find my camera to show people what my quilt looked like, thanks for blogging about it! you're the best!!!
as for your camping trip, it sounds amazing! how has reading harry potter gone?
Thanks! I usually don't post pix of quilts cuz I think they'll bore the majority of readers!
Sarah--you can totally learn to stipple, on any machine! It's SO much fun. If you get serious and want to learn, I could recommend a few good books!
Nettie--the fun thing about this quilt is that the flying geese are BIG...4x8. This too was meant to be three rows of flying geese, but I was playing around with the extra geese and made the pinwheels. That was my favorite part in the end!
Now on to your questions:
I go back and for with prewashing fabric. Lately I haven't. I think I'm getting lazy. It's one step to starting a quilt that I don't enjoy, so if it's going to make me not want to start a quilt, I don't do it now! Besides, I like to think it gives the quilt a lot of character after you wash it the first time if you don't prewash. (A few years ago, I always did though.)
I usually use warm and natural. Mostly it's because I can get it to lay out flat, since it doesn't come rolled up and wrinkly. It makes me frustrated to lay out a quilt with hobbs sometimes. I really haven't done enough quilts with hobbs to see the advantage there, so I always go back to what makes the quilt lay flat...I wish I knew the real difference there.
Valerie, I love the quilt you made - it's gorgeous!
I also love your description of the New England hills as "rolling broccoli" - it fits them perfectly!
What a fun time camping (and you're a great example of "not complaining") though I'm amazed the trip down was less enjoyable that the trip up! I assure you it would be the other way around for me (can you say "Joanne is out of shape?" probably...but I refuse to be "old"). :-)
I got a few blankets for Sam that the material wasn't washed and when I washed them they shrunk weird and now are just a mess in my opinion. They were made of flannel so I say for flannel: ALWAYS wash first. I am not that experienced with quilting fabric But I think its horrible that you spend that much time making a beautiful blanket and then it's just ruined after washing it. I think it's worth it to wash first because of this.
Wow, look what I've been missing! Sounds like your 4th was great! I might enjoy warm camping as well!
Can I tell you that I wish I had one small piece of your craftiness? There you go, I'm jealous.
Your quiltis beautiful-and I am eternally jealous of you guys. However, I don't have the determination, I guess. That said, the fireworks here are so much better than in Fallon. I'll bet they really put on a celebration there--I bet they're great. Now for the camping trip--sounds great and it is something the kids will remember forever.Relationships is what it tis all about!I also love your description of the 'brocolli hills'.
Post a Comment