Shakespeare in the Park

I've pieced all that I can for now. As I laid this out, I realized I also have not cut the "K" triangles, so that will also wait until we get home.

DH says, " I really like the colors. I don't really notice the pattern." Hmm, maybe it needs a little more contrast in places? I did not take time to rearrange the blocks to get the best play of colors, so I am sure I can improve that. Or it might be that it's just not perfectly lined up, so it loses something that way, too. But I like it.

Vacation - Day 6

Yesterday had sewing and knitting and reading....

This morning we tried a new restaurant for breakfast, Surfers, in Southport. It was very good.

I've done some reading - I'd like to finish this book to leave it for DS when we go.

We took a long walk on the beach after breakfast. It was right at low tide, and we found some pretty shells.

Today I plan to finish putting the large star blocks together for Shakespeare in the Park. I ran out of the smallest light triangles, so finishing the small stars will have to wait until we get home. I may decide to make this larger than twin-size, in which case I'll have to do more cutting and piecing before I can put it together. As soon as I get the large star blocks pieced, I plan to lay it out on the bed to get an idea of what it is going to look like. The other thing I want to try to accomplish today is to finish the first sock. I have about another inch or so before I start the toe.

Vacation - Day 4

I'm posting yesterday's progress a little late. I finished the large dark squares for Shakespeare in the Park.

I also made a lot of progress on my first sock. I've finished turning the heel, and am getting ready to do the straight part of the foot.

Most of the day yesterday was spent on a trip to Wilmington. We took the ferry to Fort Fisher and went to the North Carolina Aquarium. What a neat place! The exhibits were centered on the types of aquatic life in the coastal regions of North Carolina. The albino alligator looked more like a plaster cast than a real alligator. If we get a chance to bring the grandchildren down for a visit, this will be a good activity for them. Lots of up-close-and-personal views of the fish.

Vacation is winding down now. Only two more days at the beach, then the drive home.

Sunrise on the beach

Sunrise is beautiful this morning. The ocean is more tranquil than yesterday.

Vacation - Day 3

It rained last night. The waves have been bigger all day today. This morning, there was foam all over the beach.

It was another sewing day for me. I finished all of the dark star/light background evening star blocks for my Shakespeare in the Park. Eighteen of them are part of the border, and the other 6 are the centers for the larger stars. I realized that I did not cut enough dark small squares to make up all of the light center/dark background stars, so went to the local quilt shop for some more darks.

Angelwing Needle Arts is in Southport, NC. They carry supplies for quilting, knitting, needlepoint and cross stitch. Lots of beautiful hand-dyed threads, and yarn of all types.
And beautiful hand-painted needlepoint canvases. In addition to getting several dark neutrals to be able to finish my piecing, I decided I really want to knit a pair of socks, so I bought a set of DP needles, a couple of sock patterns, and this beautiful yarn:

I've knit socks before, but don't tend to wear them very often. I'll have to get a pair of clogs to show off my hand-knit socks. I plan to start these tonight watching the baseball game with DH.

Tomorrow, we're going to take the ferry to Kure Beach, then in to Wilmington for some shopping with DS. I'll try to get a little more sewing done tomorrow evening.

Vacation is being just what we needed it to be - a time to relax and recharge.

Vacation - Day 2

It's been another great day at the beach. As it becomes evening, it's just about low tide. It has been cloudy, but in the 70's. Only a couple of small spells of drizzles.
We found a crab living in the front yard of the beach house - he comes out of his hole in the ground and looks around every once in a while, but if you move or make noise, he scurries back into his hole.


I've been sewing today. I've finished all 20 Snail's Trail blocks for the twin-size Shakespeare in the Park. I'm using Judy Martin's piecing directions - I haven't cut all the pieces individually for a pieced quilt in a long time. But this is going together SO smoothly! Everything fits and the finished blocks are very flat. I haven't yet measured to make sure they're really 12 1/2", but I'm confident, since the final round of pieces went on so easily. Now I have 18 large stars and 36 small stars to piece. Tomorrow's goal will be to finish the small stars, then Thursday's goal will be to make the large stars.

Last night I worked on the hand-quilting project I brought with me - a queen-size pieced album quilt. This has been in the works for several years, and doesn't come out very often. I actually enjoy hand quilting - I think I'll try to keep an hand quilting project going for sitting downstairs in the evenings. But once I finish this one, the project will probably be smaller.

High Point Classic Results

The High Point Classic was very well run. The facility was very nice - I just wish the dance floor had been a little bit bigger - we had to rework our set routines Saturday evening because they wouldn't fit. But we broke them into pieces and never had a "brain lock" moment, so that worked. The floor itself was great - smooth, no ridges from the metal rims that some of the sectioned dance floors have. The people were great! We'll come back here if they hold this again next year.

Best part - DH ordered a new tailsuit. I'm excited about that. It should be ready in time for the MAC in January.

I think we danced about as well as we could. We made all of our finals. We got videos, and have posted them to YouTube. We're couple 152.
Sr. 1 Silver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ql963APwSU
Sr. 1 Bronze Finals: http ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvTpeDZRXY8
Sr. 1 Bronze Semifinals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1y0CK4C

Vacation - Day 1

Sleeping to the sound of the waves is very soothing.

We started the day with a walk on the beach. A flock of pelicans swooped by. Then there were terns - they wanted us to feed them, I think. And finally a group of little birds - don't know what they were - they kept running down behind the waves to get to something left behind by the water, then running up the beach when the next wave came in.

We've done some grocery shopping - dinner will be comfort food - meatloaf, baked potatoes, peas and corn.

We've decided we like this idea of renting a beach house as a vacation.

I've never been a "beach person" - mostly because I don't care for crowds, and I'm not fond of hot weather. Oh, and I sunburn too easily. But the beach in October is really nice.

I has been raining off and on all day, but that makes for an interesting view of the ocean. And for today, we've been content to just relax - a little bit of computer time, a little bit of reading, and probably some sewing before the day is out.

Almost a Weekend

The hectic work week has continued, but is coming to an end. And this will be the first weekend this month that I'm not working through the weekend.

The weekend will be devoted to dancing. The High Point Classic DanceSport Championships are this weekend in High Point, North Carolina. This is a Regional qualifier for USADance National Championships. This will be our second qualifier this season. I'm looking forward to competing, even though we haven't been able to spend as much time in the studio this month as we normally would. I think we've fixed more than we've broken in the last few weeks, so our dancing is improving. We're competing in Sr. 1 Bronze (WQ), Sr. 2 Bronze (WQ) and Sr. 1 Silver (WTF). What a great way to spend a weekend!

Shakespeare in the Park

I've gotten the piecing started on my Shakespeare in the Park (SITP). I'm pleased with how the blocks are going together - everything fits beautifully. I'm using light and dark neutrals. There are a few places where the contrast is not as strong as it could be, but I want subtle, so I think it's OK.

Secret Santa shopping

This weekend is Tour de Quilt in central Virginia. My local quilt shop (Patchwork Plus, in Dayton) is participating. Because the end of the week at work was crazy, and this weekend is not really any different, I haven't been able to do the shop hop. But because it is shop hop, the LQS is open late (and on Sunday). I stopped by after leaving the football game and started collecting little things for the two different Secret Santa exchanges I'm in this year. Each one has different requirements, and I didn't have the rules with me, but I'll be creative in making the things I found fit the rules, LOL. In one, we are to put all of our gifties in a 6" to 8" decorative tin; for the other one, everything has to fit in a flat-rate envelope from the Post Office. So I was looking for flat things. I found a few to get me started. The items do not have to be quilt related, so I'll do most of my shopping just around and about. I'll probably finish while we're on vacation at the beach. (one more week - YAY)

The only quilting I've managed to do this week is cutting for the Shakespeare in the Park quilt I'm making along with a Yahoo group ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sitp/ ). Well, I'm sort of making this along with the group. I'm not following the weekly "assignments" but am enjoying seeing the different color combinations that are being worked on. Mine is in neutrals. I'm almost finished the cutting for a twin size. I just have to cut the squares in half for the smallest triangles and trim the corners. Then I can start stitching together. All of the pieces are in their Ziploc bags. I plan to take this project with me to the beach and do some sewing while I am there.

My new blog

I've decided I want to get into the world of blogging. I faithfully follow several blogs, and this looks like fun.

A little about me. Beyond my family, my two passions right now are ballroom dancing and quilting. One hobby with my husband and one of my own. We have three children (two on their own, one still at home) and two adorable grandchildren. We live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia - a beautiful spot nestled up against the Blue Ridge Mountains, where I'm active in both the Shenandoah Valley Chapter of USA Dance and the Shenandoah Valley Quilter's Guild. At the moment, dancing gets more time and attention than quilting.