What started as a bummer of a day – actually turned out fairly well.

We just returned from a trip to VA on a scouting venture for one of Tom’s photo workshops in the Shenandoah National Park. Friday we were supposed to tour the facility at Big Meadows Lodge on Skyline Drive and drive to some of the places that might be used during the workshop.  Unfortunately the all-day rain Thursday froze on Skyline Drive overnight and it was closed all day. It seems that they just wait for a natural thaw to happen.   No salting of the roads like we do in Central New York.

So now what to do with the day???

We spent the morning driving through some of the surrounding area for potential photo sites. When the road was still closed at noon and not likely to open up until the next morning we decided to stop at the in-town visitors center for some suggestions on how to spend the afternoon.

One of the suggestions was a quilt museum, that just happened to be across the street from the Visitor’s Center. Don’t know how she might have thought that would be of interest to me. Guess I just must have the ‘look’ of a quilter about me – or maybe it was the thread snippets that seem to cling to every bit of clothing that I have. (I’ve been sewing the binding for one of the quilts that I’m making for Christmas presents while riding around in the car).

After a lunch at Clementine’s Cafe I went off to the quilt museum (many the area buildings have been not only restored but completely transformed from their original purpose.)  The building, which originally housed the Strand Theater, has been transformed into an eclectic mixture of modern art, live music (in the evening) and as we experienced – good food.   Tom headed further downtown to look at more of the historic buildings.  And on the way found a co-op art gallery. (I think we must be magnets for the things that interest each of us.)

The quilt museum was definitely worth the stop. The building which was built in 1855, is the former home of FTH Warren, a lawyer who died in the Civil War.  It also served as a hospital for Confederate soldiers during the war, and was later the home of George Sipe, an attorney and House of Delegates member.   Currently it houses many Civil War quilts and has a special exhibit by the members of the Country School Quilters. This guild is one of 7 chapters of the Richmond Quilters Guild.

Museum exhibit curator, Estelle Porter, says that the “quilts encompass many styles and techniques such as Baltimore Album, whole cloth, and surface-embellishment with beads, found objects, crystals, Angelina fibers, ribbons, painting, dyeing, thread painting, photo transfers, and couched thread scraps.  Some quilts are entirely hand made. Many are machine quilted.  Some quilts use traditional patterns, while others are completely original.  Several quilts have won prizes and/or been exhibited in national competitions and several quilters have been published in national magazines.”

Unfortunately photography was not allowed in the museum, but some of the quilts can be viewed on the website of the Virginia Quilt Museum.

A perfect end to the day after all!

Well here we are in Bar Harbor and planning on going to Cape Cod tomorrow. Starnge time of the year to be visiting both I know – but…

Actually Tom is planning on doing some photo workshops in both places next year – so we’re in Maine and Massachutes to lay out the route of photo sites and choose lodging. Actually the weather has been very welcoming so far – mid50′s. We’ve been able to walk around during the day without coats and in the evening with a light jacket.

This afternoon I took a walk along the Shore Path. It actually begins at the town pier, runs in front of the Bar Harbor Inn, where we’re staying, and follows the harbor along the eastern shore of Mount Desert Island. People have walked the path along the ocean since 1888. Some very beautiful homes can be seen from the path and some of the homeowners have dedicated paths though their property That connect Main Street, Bar Harbor to the path.

What a relaxing way to spend an hour or so!

Today was my husband’s birthday.  We decided to take the day off and explore some of the beautiful countryside near our home in Central New York.

We stopped at Buttermilk State Park near Ithaca NY – but the Falls had stopped!  It looked as though they were doing some kind of restoration project and had to divert the water so they could work.  Normally the falls are cascading down the rocks.  It was quite a disappointment to see the rocks ‘naked’.

As an alternative, we decided to go down the road to Robert H. Treman State Park and have a picnic lunch.  This park features a beautiful 115-foot waterfall.   While I was fixing our lunch, my husband surprised me with a copy of Northwoods Flannel Quilts & Projects by Debbie Field.  He had picked it up on a recent trip to the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake.  We both love the Adirondacks and these quilts just ‘speak’ of the mountains and scenery of the north country.

It may have been his birthday – but I received a gift too!

One of our ‘must’ stops in New York City was a trip to Ground Zero.

On display is a quilt by Deborah Fell.

Does God Have Enough Hands?

The accompanying plaque certainly gives us pause to reflect, especially as we approach this Fourth of July weekend.  Please don’t let us forget how and why this country was founded – on Christian principles and ethics.  The song that Congress chose to sing on the steps of the Capitol on that horrific occasion was God Bless America. Partisan politics were set aside showing the world and ourselves the solidarity of our country.    I wish we were able to do that every day!

(Unfortunately with my photographic skills, or lack thereof, the plaque is very hard to read in this picture so I’ve repeated the wording below.)

”  ‘Tuesday’s Child:  Does God Have Enough Hands?’

A news story about a young child epitomized the week’s tragic events.  The parent was trying to explain, why Daddy wasn’t coming home from work at the World Trade Center.  In her explanation, the mother said that God came down and lifted Daddy to heaven that day.  The little boy looked up at his mother and asked,

‘Does God have enough hands?’

The art quilt is a response to the horrific events that changed the United States forever.  It is an abstracted image of the toppled World Trade Center Towers.  The rubble below are photographic transfers of newspaper articles, headlines and photographs.  It is unorganized with chaos reigning everywhere.  The quilt is unfinished — the building is exposed & charred & threads are not trimmed — reflecting the vast number of lives that were so unfinished when the World Trade Center was destroyed.

There are no words.  Only frozen thoughts.

This piece is dedicated to all the victims of the World Trade Center bombing.  It is specifically dedicated to my friend who carefully walked away from the bombing, navigating the darkness until he & a colleague reached safety across the Brooklyn Bridge.”

Let us never forget!

We recently  returned from a visit to New York City with my son and his family.  It was the first visit to the ‘Big Apple’ for my granddaughters so we focused the two day trip on the most noteworthy tourist attractions;  Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Ground Zero etc.

One of our side trips included the New York Public Library.  Since I got my ‘ Nook”  a couple of years ago, I have downloaded most of my eBooks from our local library.  I took advantage of this trip to the city to get a NYC library card so that I could access their extensive database also.

The library was first opened to the public in 1911.    According to a 2009 article published in the New York Times, “The New York Public Library, with its headquarters at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, encompasses four major research libraries and 87 branches, a total of 20 million books, 50 million cataloged items and a growing demand in this recession for loaner laptops and other free services. Only the Library of Congress and the British Library are larger. But even the Fifth Avenue landmark by itself is a marvel of big numbers. It is undergoing a $1.2 billion makeover in preparation for its 100th birthday. Built from 1899 to 1911, it cost $9 million, contains 530,000 cubic feet of white Vermont marble and 125 miles of shelving, and opened with an inventory of one million items. ”  Amazing!

My husband was taking some picture of the library architecture when I noticed the scroll work on the windows.  What a perfect applique pattern.  I had him take a picture for me.  I’d love to draft a pattern for this.