Monday Meanderings 7 - 3 - 2023

July snuck up on me.  How about you?  For those in the USA Happy Fourth of July.  We don't tend to go to fireworks shows anymore but we do enjoy A Capitol Fourth on our local PBS station.  It will also given me some time to work on some hand projects I've got going. Most of this post will be pictures from our day in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

On to my goals.  I didn't list many last week and I barely got through them.  On the other hand a friend brought me a quilt to do and the sooner I could get it done the better for her.  So I spent 2 days working on it. I was happy to give it back to her yesterday.  I'll share it with everyone in the next week or two. 

6/26/23

✅Cut out 1 quilt for upcoming retreat - at least I started one.

✅Make some blocks for FCQ EQuilter — 4 done so far.

✅Make some more 30 something blocks — units for 2 more blocks done and a lot of pieces cut out.

The right hand blocks are for Irma, the FCQ Equilter for this 2-month period.  The one on the left is called Two by Two and was the practice block once I cut out a couple of blocks.  Silly me, I had also made it last week for Irma.  Anyway, I'm using up a bunch of my bright whites making the blocks.  I've got about a third of them cut with almost all of the whites cut.  The go-with rectangles are going to be completely scrappy. I've got a stack of fabric on my cutting table that I'm slowly working through.  Only 1 block (4 rectangles) from each fabric. I'm using the rectangle in my Accuquilt 9" Cube.  In fact the first two blocks below used my Cube and the last one is a block on board called Go Starry Path. 

And now, on to goals for this week.

7/3/23

Finish cutting out Two by Two blocks & String Bean Blocks 

Make more blocks for FCQ Equilter

Cut out more background fabric for 30 something

Quilt something on Ruthie

Figure out fabric in and out since I last reported it for 2022

UGH! I can't believe I just stopped reporting my fabric in and out since the beginning of the year.  I know I kept up writing it down in a little notebook I have but I didn't publish any of it.  And, honestly sometime in May I quit writing things down.  So, I may only get a few months figured out this week. If I do I think I'll organize the reports by quarter years.  Eventually I'll admit to all the fabric I've brought in this year. (And, I have a hankering to buy more...) 

On to Copenhagen, Denmark.  We were only berthed for a day in Copenhagen.  The cruise we were on offers one free excursion for each port.  So we chose Christiansburg Palace and Tivoli Gardens.  First stop was a quick photo opportunity to the Little Mermaid statue.  It is based on Hans Christian Andersen's story of the Little Mermaid.  (Although the Disney version ended happily, Andersen's version does not.). I was surprised that it wasn't in the middle of the harbor. You can read more about this major tourist attraction on Wikipedia. 

After a short visit (along with throngs of other visitors) we went to Christiansborg Palace for a short tour. Although this is not the residence of Queen Margrethe II it is used for state receptions.  We saw several of the public rooms. Our first job was to put booties over our shoes to protect the beautiful inlaid wood floors. 

This room is one of the royal reception rooms.  Notice the beautiful parquet floors. This palace was started in 1907 and finished 1928. Evidently the day before we toured it had been used for a reception. (Hum, I wonder if the guests had to put booties on their shoes?)  

I didn't get a picture of the huge dining room (and table.) Below is a close up of a star on the floor.  Hum, does anyone want to make a quilt using this star idea -- star with strips? 

This doorway was on the right as we went up the staircase (I think it is called the King's Staircase).  I was enamored of the colors.  The lovely dark peach with a deep sage green.  My quilty mind was thinking about Cheryl's newest mystery Malted Mystery which starts July 6. Realistically though I doubt I have anything in these colors.  But I will take a look and see what comes up! 

Although I showed one of the Queen's Tapestries earlier, I thought I'd share a close up of a section now.  This is the left bottom part of the tapestry. I'm sure you recognize some of the faces on the bottom.  The men with the gas masks represent World War I when mustard gas was used. On the far right you see can see Nazi Salutes and some soldiers in German helmets. What you can't see in the upper right is Hitler's face with a swastika with a red circle and a line through it next to him. (You can see the whole tapestry on June 18.)

After our short tour of the castle we went on to Tivoli Gardens. (Read a little more about them here.)  There are lovely gardens along with a small amusement park.  We had a couple of hours at the gardens and walked through a good portion of it.  We had a light lunch at one of the venues before walking back to the front to await the bus.  Sometime during that time I realized I had lost my boarding card for the ship and was doing a little panic. I rationalized that I would be allowed back on the ship although it would be a mess getting back on.  As we neared the front we decided to go check with guest services. SURPRISE! They had my pass.  Evidently I dropped it as I was entering the park and someone picked it up and turned it in. Phew! 

I was enamored of the main stage. It is so vibrant and has so much to look at.  Lots of people were just sitting around enjoying the weather and the scene.

There were a lot of flowers around. 

But look closely... 

Anyone need color inspiration?  It somewhat resembles the colors I used in Melodic Mystery quilt. Hum, also the quilt in my header. ⬆️

For my last glimpse of Tivoli -- aren't these birds wonderful?  They were on glass panels. Unfortunately the glass reflected a bit in the photograph.  Can't you see a fun quilt using these birds as inspiration?  Unfortunately I could not find any further information on them.  I'll keep looking and let you know if I find out more about them.  

Needless to say I really enjoyed the excursion into Copenhagen.  The only problem with the excursions in general is there isn't really enough time for the amount of sites we would be visiting.  Sometimes instead of an hour to spend somewhere we had 40 minutes.  I wished I'd done some research on the locations before we left.  I might have looked more closely at the locations or at least known what to look at. 

I'll be linking up with my normal Monday parties. (Hopefully I'll remember to come back to link up to To Do Tuesday on Tuesday!) 

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings 

To Do Tuesday 

I'll be back soon to share Mysteries and Quilt Alongs post for July.  And I'll probably add more photos from Gothenburg, Sweden to the end of it. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie