Monday Meanderings 2 - 03 - 2020 and Stashbusting January

I've been busy trying to get my challenge quilt made.  I usually spend several weeks (months?) thinking about any challenge quilts I plan to make.  The challenge for this quilt is to base it on music and to use a variegated thread.  I came up with several ideas that I could have developed but when I looked at the rest of the lyrics beyond the well known section I didn't like them.  I finally came up with a  song I knew well and was happy with.  I won't be showing much of it yet.  It will be hung at the Mid Atlantic Quilt show in Hampton Roads at the end of this month.  Our guild has been displaying our challenge quilts there for a while. 

Here's a sneak peek of a practice piece.  I'll share more about it in the coming weeks.  But now, I need to get the darn thing done by Saturday.  I'm slightly behind my plan but making steady progress. 

Figuring out the house color...

It was really easy to figure out my stashbusting statistics this month.  I didn't bust anything.  And I added to my stash. But most of the fabric I bought is being used in my challenge piece.  So here are the sad stats. February should be better.

2020	Fabric In Month	Fabric In Year	Fabric Out Month	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
Jan	5.00	5.00	0	-5.00	-5.00

On to another day on our vacation. Our next destination was Willemstad, Curaçao. We had a half day tour that started on a bus that drove us through the town and deposited us by an inlet.  I'm sure I heard where we actually were but specifics didn't lodge in the brain.  We got on a boat to go to look at fish and coral.  For the ride out to the viewing site we were on the deck enjoying the sun and water.  But once we arrived at it we went below deck to sit by windows to look out at the bottom.  Lots of fish and coral and sand were visible.  Here's a few pictures I took of the inhabitants.

The guide did a great job identifying the fish and talking about the coral.  I have no idea which fish these are!  At one point he got into the water and started feeding the fish which is how I was able to get such a closeup. These fish had yellow green stripe and tail with the rest being light blue.  

Once the tour was completed we decided to walk across the the Queen Emma bridge to Punda. This is a quintessential picture of the area.

Here's a bit of information about the bridge:
"Spanning the St. Anna Bay, the Queen Emma, or also known as the "Swinging Old Lady," is a floating pedestrian bridge that connects Willemstad's two halves, Punda and Otrobanda. Built in 1888, the Queen Emma Bridge is supported by 16 pontoon boats and swings open laterally to allow ships to enter and leave the bay."   https://travel.usnews.com/Curacao/Things_To_Do/Queen_Emma_Pontoon_Bridge_62787/

The bridge did not open while we were there unfortunately. We walked around Punda for a bit and I was able to take a couple of pictures. 

I have no clue why this trio of birds were in a square but they were fun to see. And, here's a beautiful mural that was close to these birds. 

We found a bar to sit in and enjoy some adult beverages and free wifi.  As we walked back to the ship we realized the fuel spill we had been told about was still being cleaned up.  It was rather surprising to hear the captain on our ship announce in the morning that there was to be no smoking on any parts of the ship as there had been a fuel spill. Luckily, everyone was careful. It looked like most of the spill had been cleaned up as we walked back to our ship. (Evidently the fuel supplier had caused the spill when he was trying to fuel a different ship.) 

Here's another view of Punda and the St. Anna Bay taken from our verandah before we left the ship in the morning.  The short turquoise building to the left of the pink one might have been where we sat and enjoyed drinks and wifi. 

I'll share Cartegena, Columbia next week. 

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap, Monday Making, and Design Wall Monday.  Once I get my challenge piece done I'm going to spend some relaxing time seeing what people are working on. I'll get back and link up to Design Wall Monday after it posts. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie