Stitching and Connecticut

Stitching and Connecticut - I could have named the post “Things I Forgot”, since that describes them both.


First of all, I was getting ready to mail off Janet’s blocks in our “For the Birds Round Robin”, when I realized as I was packing them up, that we had a lady drop out.  So, we had all decided to do a full block and then a fourth of another block, so that Janet would have five full blocks when they returned home to her.  And I had forgotten to do my fourth. So, last night I whipped out a motif and a couple seam treatments on this block.

Above is the little floral motif I did with silk ribbon, gold Kreinik thread, some beads and a metal rose.

And this is a bit of lace embellished with silk threads in cast-on stitch, lazy daisies and a beaded chevron/cretan mix stitch.   I also did a feather stitch on one seam that one of the next ladies can embellish.

This is our joint-effort block for Janet.  Nicki Lee had already added the lace and top curved seam treatment.  Connie K and Cathy L will finish off this round robin.

 
My complete block for Janet was posted here.

Also, I FORGOT that I was going to post some pictures of Connecticut that we took while Bruce and I spent our post-Adventure week being tourists.  But lucky for you, we didn’t get many.

The Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT
He wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn here. 

 

Side view of home showing his 3rd story Study/Billiards Room

The front porch area

Following standard museum protocol, no pictures were allowed in the home.  But, looking across the lawn, you can see the Harriett Beecher Stowe house (below).  Her most famous work was Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which is often cited as the book that sparked the Civil War.

We actually visited the Harriett Beecher Stowe house on another day, but it was raining, so I didn’t get any good outside pictures.  However, the rain also kept the crowds away, and Bruce and I got a personal guided tour, including some areas where the public is not often allowed.

We were thoroughly enchanted by the homes in the area. There were the salt boxes and Dutch Colonial homes, which are common in the East but rarely seen out West.  But somehow, those with Victorian leanings or farmhouse styles really excite me.  I want to live in the farmhouse on the little farm below!!

What lovely rolling countryside, right within city limits.  Here in Utah, like much of the west, the cities and their suburbs are concrete jungles.  And then there is the rural countryside.  Either/or.  The East seems to mix it up better, and it is so charming.

It is common to see homes with historical placards on them denoting the home builder and year of construction. Some date back to the 1600’s and 1700’s.  That is “new” compared to European history, but out here in the west, most of the states don’t have much, if any, recorded history before the 1800’s.

My grade school sure didn’t look like this!

 And wouldn’t this be a fun church to attend on a snowy Christmas Eve?  You’d have to walk there or ride in a one-horse open sleigh, of course!

My final two pictures are either going to make you roll your eyes or laugh.  Now, tell the truth.  Many of the ladies (in groups I walked with or overheard) thought the patterned carpet of the Hampton Inn in Manchester, CT (where the Sharon Boggon workshops were held) was interesting.  Imagine, if you will, attending full-day classes learning about stitching: seam stitches and variations, motifs, angles, curves, embellishments..... and then walking down the hall to see this carpet.

I know I was not the only one to see design possibilities for crazy quilting in these patterns.  Was I the only nerd attendee who took pictures of it?

Hugs,