Bits of This and That

First up is the night picture we took of the Eiffel Tower. (do you realize how hard it is to spell that name? Thank you Wikipedia for the correct spelling. It is correct isn't it??? ) I just read that it is the single most visited paid monument in the world. Hum, the writer in me would love to rewrite that so it isn't so awkward sounding, but that would take a bit of thinking on my part and I just don't want to think that hard. This isn't a good sign when there are more tiny thought words than actual commentary on the pictures...

Next up are a couple of pictures of quilts made by my friend Sharon. I had permission to show you the pink one but not until she gave it to her daughter. Her granddaughter, Alexis, was born a while ago so I can share this cute quilt with you. I love the mix of colors in this. The border is subtle but really goes so well with the center. Great job Sharon.

This next quilt was a round robin if I remember correctly. Our guild, Faithful Circle Quilters sponsored the RR many years ago. Each pass had different rules -- must have triangles, must have applique, curve piecing. Whatever. Some of the best quilts I own are ones I've done in round robins.

Yesterday I spent several hours quilting on a twin size charity quilt. I hadn't touched Ruthie for a full month. (hey, we were on vacation!) I borrowed some pantographs from a friend who is spending part of the winter in warmer climes. (HA! They got 5" of snow in lower Mississippi the other day.) So I used the panto Waterworld. (scroll down to see the design.) It isn't all that hard but it certainly isn't looking as nice as it should. I'll finish that this morning and then I'll put the rows together on the quilt I was doing earlier in the week.

Off to get going this morning. Can't laze the whole day away although sometimes I really wish I could.

Hapy Quilting All!

We're Home & I've Been Sewing

We got home from Europe on Sunday morning after spending the night near JFK airport. Of course we woke up around 6:30 am so were able to leave for the Poconos pretty early. Most of the afternoon I vegged around but I did do a little bit of sewing. Pure joy to be at it again.

So here are a few photos from our time in Paris. I didn't take all that many photos for quilt inspiration. (I left my charger and the second battery at home for my camera... rats!) But here is one. Can't you just see the inside decoration as an applique on a quilt? And the colors are fabulous. I don't remember where I saw this but I think it was the Louvre.

My favorite day was spent at the Musee d'Orsay. Or the museum of 19th century art. Here is Degas' Little Ballerina. Sigh, what joy to see the original. (Or course, I may have the title wrong may be... Little Dancer -- actually, I do it is the Little Dancer.) Amy Littlesugar wrote a children's book about this called Marie in Fourth Position: The Story of Degas' "The Little Dancer." It's a fictional account of how the statue came to be made.

I was sorry there weren't more of Degas' ballet paintings. But, there were many wonderful impressionist paintings Renoir, Manet, Monet and others. Ah, glorious. Unfortunately the museum was being renovated so we didn't see as much as I would have liked. Of course, we were exhausted so probably wouldn't have lasted any way. It was a real hoot to see the an exhibit of the revival of the Art Nuveau (Nevau?) from the mid 60's. Yikes, I lived with some of the art -- ads, album covers, furniture, silver...

We spent an entire day at the Louvre. As we were walking in we saw this "guy" cleaning the windows of the pyramid. Pretty cool to watch ---

We didn't get too many pictures of us together but we ran into a couple from Malaysia at the Arch de Triumph so we swapped cameras to take "couple" pictures. I'm surprised we look so awake as this was after a long day at the Louvre.

And, of course, the icon of Paris, the Eiffel Tower. We didn't get close to it but enjoyed it from a distance. I also got a beautiful picture of it lit at night.

Next up should be snow pictures -- 6 to 12" of snow is predicted over the next 24 hours. Nothing like the 30" or so dumped on our kids and friends in Maryland and DC recently but more than enough for me!

Hopefully soon I'll have some pictures of some quilting to share. I'm putting together these blocks: http://institcheswithbonnie.blogspot.com/2010/01/help-wanted.html

And, I'm making a miniature basket quilt for the yahoo group Small Quilt Talk's challenge.

Last but not least, for the Ragg's enthusiast he's happy to be home although he enjoyed playing with the dogs at the Puppy Palace. He's trying to smile for the camera.... He was groomed before we picked him up -- he's been shaved again... we forgot to leave instructions so no hair, again! He doesn't seem to mind and it keeps the fur from going all over.

Happy Quilting All!