Mountain Sunset Quilt Revisited

Another quilt that I recently hung in our new kitchen is Mountain Sunset, shown here on the wall next to the sliding glass doors to the deck/balcony.

I made this quilt in 2009 on my embellisher (needle-felting machine.)  You can read about the process here.  I based the scene on a photo from one of our sunset trips to the Christmas tree farm on the top of the mountain where we have our cabin.  The mist was setting in, and the trees in the foreground glowed luminously as the sun set in glorious color in the sky.

I used lots of layers of sheers for the sky, a dark green velour for the hills and trees in back, and some Angelina for the sparkle.

 I quilted over all the layers, adding branches and foliage to the foreground.

We had planned to go the mountains this weekend to meet with the contractor for the new cabin, but he now wants to wait until he gets the official blueprints.    Since we are babysitting for our grandbaby this weekend, it will be much easier to do that at home and not have to take her on a long road trip.  So, I can't wait for a weekend of baby love!

Red and White Friendship Blocks

We had a great time in South Carolina.  We met with our builder and contractor and signed on the dotted line to get our new cabin built in the mountains.  We might even be in it by Thanksgiving!  Now I am getting pretty excited!  Charlie's brother Grady lives about ten miles from the cabin company, so we spent the weekend with them, mostly sitting on his back deck and enjoying the refreshing cool weather.

When we got home, there was a wonderful surprise waiting for me.  My Whacky Ladies Bee made me an astonishing gift...a whole box full of red and white sampler blocks!  What a surprise!

Here are some of them laid out on my ottoman.

I have been in the Whacky Ladies since about 1995, but they are all in the northeastern part of Wake County or even Franklin County.  Since they meet at night, that would be a rather long way for me to drive by myself (minimum 45 minutes.)  They decided to surprise me with this wonderful array of red and white blocks.  You may remember the one that Carolyn made and Donna quilted that I was so crazy about.

I think that was their inspiration for the color scheme...not to mention that my college colors are red and white!  Some of the blocks even have fabric featuring the NC State mascot.

This is one of the most unusual.  Carolyn has been taking some block-of-the-month classes for some time now, and has quite a library of unusual block patterns!

This one that Irene made is an exquisite pineapple log cabin.  A perfect choice for a quilt for our new home!

And Donna took a picture of the ladies holding up their blocks, and made it into a quilt block for me!

I was very overcome and also thrilled by this wonderful gift from my quilting friends.  Quilters really are the best!

Making Progress

It is slow going, but the rooms in our new house are starting to come together and feel like home.  Our bedroom and closets are done.  I hung one of my watercolors over the bed yesterday.

We have sliding glass doors that open to a patio and the deck with the hot tub.  Oh, how we have enjoyed relaxing in it at the end of the day!  It is totally secluded from the street.

We have a very nice kitchen.  The sink is in a corner which has a stainless steel dish drying rack.  

There are sliding glass doors to the patio from the kitchen, dining room, and living room on the main level.

There is a pass-through from the kitchen to the dining room.  Through it you can see right through to the living room.

It has been fun to rediscover some of my art quilts and paintings that have been packed away.  This one is called Sunday Drive.  It is on the kitchen wall just to the right of the pass-through.  It represents my husband and me on our Gator, driving through the Christmas tree farm at the top of the mountain where we have our little place.  You can see our dog, Kasey, along with a deer and a wild turkey peeping out from the trees.

Our front yard is now paved with asphalt, as the driveway comes right up to the front stoop.  It is surrounded by raised beds of azaleas, backed by dogwoods and crepe myrtles.  I can't wait to see it in the springtime.  I set out a bench, a little table, and some planters in front of the azaleas.

There are lots of woods all around us.  

But the best part of the yard is looking down at the pond.  There is quite a steep hill that leads down to the pond.  From our balcony, or back deck, you can view the pond through the treetops.

The leaves are starting to turn autumn colors, especially the dogwoods.

I started working on the sewing room today, but it is very frustrating.  There is too much furniture in there, and I have neither the strength to move it nor anyplace to store it.  I had lots of shelving and cubbies before, and they are taking all the space in the room.  I don't really need them because there is a walk-in closet with shelves, and a built-in wall of cabinets and shelves.  But I know I will need them when we build our mountain cabin and I have more space.

Speaking of which, we are going to South Carolina tomorrow to sign a contract to get our cabin built!  We have selected the builder, contractor, and floor plan.  Lots going on!

Respite

It has been a couple weeks of hard work since we moved in to our new house in Raleigh.

After a few days, I just had to get away from the unpacking and organizing, so Kasey and I took a short drive to the beginning of the Crabtree Creek Trailway, just a few miles away.

Crabtree Creek is most famous for flooding its banks and in the process, flooding the biggest mall in the Southeast, which was built on its banks.  Since then, they have put in lots of flood protection devices along the creek.  The very first one greets you immediately on the trail.  This is only a short distance from the NC Museum of Art greenway trail...this rusty pipe could be mistaken for a type of sculpture!

But there are many more pipes and reservoirs all along the trail.  I didn't mind them.

The path is level and paved, easy walking.  It parallels the creek and sometimes offers some nice water views.

On Thursday night we left for a long weekend at our mountain place.  How wonderful to go up there and not have to do anything!  We had some nice visits with my sister and her husband, our great niece and nephew, and Ricky and Mary's family.  Loved my cabin time!  Once when Charlie went to town, I stayed home and did a quick watercolor of a tiger swallowtail.  My only art for a long time!
  

Of course we took a lot of Gator rides and some walks across the mountain.  Here are a few pics.

 There was a beautiful mist after an afternoon shower.

When we got home, I did one day of my "nanny" duties for my sweet grandbaby Charlie.  She is getting so much personality!  Love, love, love my days with her.

I knew that today we would be having our driveway repaved, so yesterday we went to yet another greenway trail at Lake Lynn.  Very nice!  All either paved or boardwalk, and the boardwalk often is built right over the water.  We saw lots of birds and turtles.

They were supposed to pave our driveway while we were gone last weekend, but they did not do it until today.  We had to stay home all day.  They did a great job, and got rid of all the scary potholes and trenches.

I spent most of my time today trying to fix up our guest bedroom.  We are supposed to babysit for Charlie while her parents attend the N.C.State football game.  We only live 2.7 miles from the stadium now!  They will all spend the night after the game.  Did I tell you that my daughter-in-law's sister is the school mascot at my alma mater, North Carolina State!  Charlie was wearing the NCSU cheerleader outfit that we got for our first granddaughter, Lily.  Love it!