Today we walked around the city taking in more of the beautiful homes.  Charlestonians are proud of the fact that they do not tear down their beautiful architecture but restore it.  The outside of the homes reflect the original elegance but have been updated to make sure that the owners are well into the 21st century.

Some of the homes boast beautiful gardens.

Small Garden with Wrought Iron Gate

We walked through the City Market area today also.  I noticed a store that had a 50% off sale on Jim Shore pieces.  I couldn’t resist and walked out with this Santa’s Workshop collection.

As a bonus they added the Santa with tree figurine, signed by Jim Shore.

Apparently the owner knows Jim personally and Jim is frequently at the store to sign his pieces.  In addition I learned that Jim lives in the northern part of the state and the inspiration for his pieces comes from the antique quilts that

he and his wife purchase whenever they can.

Santa's workshop on RV fireplace

I’m thinking that next year the collection will be displayed on my living room mantle.  I just couldn’t resist displaying it on our RV fireplace this year however.  (Luckily the outside of the fireplace stays cool)

It’s still cold – but that is not stopping us from having a great time and seeing the sights.  Today we took a walking tour of Charleston.  The grand old houses have withstood the Revolutionary and Civil Wars along with devastating hurricanes. and earthquakes.  The homes have such unique features:

• welcoming staircases.  Women would climb one side and men the other so that the men would not be able to see the woman’s ankle.  It was an era when viewing cleavage was acceptable, but seeing a woman’s ankle was not.

• Privacy doors that concealed entry porches

• gardens and much more that shows the elegance of the architecture and the city.

Of course I am always looking for quilting ideas.  City Hall had some interesting ironwork displayed on some of their windows

I couldn’t help but think that it would make up into  very beautiful appliques with ruched flowers.

We came south for a couple of weeks – first to visit my son and his family – but also for a bit of a break from our upstate New York winter.  In North Carolina it was in the 40′s all week and even dipped down into the 20′s a couple of nights.

Frozen Fountain?

Now we’re in Charleston SC and it looks as though our weather is going to be cold here also.  The forecast is mid-thirty’s during the day and 20′s at night.  Normally daytime temperatures are in high 50′s this time of year.

I think we will be banned from going South in the winter.  Last year we brought colder than normal temperatures to Florida and now it seems the cold has followed us to South Carolina.  It hasn’t been this cold here in twenty years!

But were Central New Yorkers – we won’t let that spoil our vacation.  We visited the City Market on Sunday.  It’s so cold that we thought one of the city fountains had frozen.    Upon closer examination we could tell that it was fake – but it made an interesting picture anyway.

Christmas in the Park

I liked the palm tree and Christmas tree display in the park. This is something you can only see in the South.

We will be taking a walking tour of Charleston today.  (Luckily we brought winter gear with us for our return to CNY.)

Haven’t found any quilt shops yet – but I’m on the lookout for one.

Well it’s that time of the year again – and I hope I do better this year than last.

I retired last December 31 and was sure that I would be able to make a significant dent in my UFO’s will all the extra time that I would have – Wrong!  I also vowed that I would not start anything new until I had made a good dent in the collection.

I didn’t even get through New Year’s eve before my resolve vanished with a call from my daughter with great news.  She and her boyfriend would tie the knot in 2009.  We couldn’t have been happier.  That was all it took for me to focus on looking for planning a quilt for them.  I bought the fabric while we were wintering in Florida, got together with a couple of friends to start the quilt in March and finished it in plenty of time for the wedding in July.  They were ecstatic – and I was pleased that they liked it so much.

I did get to finish a few projects along with a few new ones also.  Two table runners (Rainforest  Rings and Red & Green) have been quilted and are in the finishing stages of being bound.  I completed my son’s king-size Adirondack Quilt in time for giving this Christmas.  New projects included two octagon table toppers from the mystery challenge at Watson Homestead.  I finished one and gave it to my daughter for Christmas and have one for myself that only needs binding.  In addition there were two Operation Kid Comfort quilts for children of newly deployed servicemen and women.

UFO projects slated to be completed this year are:

• Watson mystery 2007 and 2009 quilts- binding
• Seasons wall hanging
• Autumn Pennies table topper from a class by Kim Diehl
• and probably the most important project of all – organize my stash!

I plan to learn one or two new techniques this year also and I’ll probably sign up for an online classes and take at least one or two classes at our local quilt shops.  I took a Scrap Therapy from Joan Ford last year and would really like to finish a quilt using the technique.  Also I’ve checked out the Fons and Porter Master Class series and am planning on trying out one of the classes online.

I know that I will not be able to limit myself to “just” completing UFO’s and organizing, but I’ hoping that I can at least get these completed along with the normal shop hops,  guild activities including our biennial quilt show and raffle quilt for 2011 and at least one or two new projects that I just can’t resist!