New Watercolor of One of my Favorite Spots

I just finished up a new watercolor painting of one of our scenic spots on our rides over the mountain in Laurel Springs, North Carolina.

View From the Top, Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2013

 

 

I did this mostly in one afternoon, with finishing touches today.   Sure makes me want to go back up there and gaze at that scene again!  (And smell the Christmas trees!)

 

We stayed home this weekend.  Yesterday we had a showing on our house, so I spent the afternoon cleaning.  Today we worked in the yard until a gentle thunderstorm passed through.  Tomorrow we will visit family, including one of my cousins who is living in California and we rarely get to see.  It is nice not to be traveling on a weekend for a change.

 

 

Happy Turkey Day!

Tomorrow is the day we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the US. Traditionally, a time to gather with family and friends, and have a delicious traditional meal of roast turkey. I made two of these little turkey quilts last year for gifts. There is a pattern called Turkey Feathers, by Rasmatazz Designs, for this 24" square quilt. Fun to make, and pretty quick!

Our weather has been, on the negative side, gray and rainy for days. On the positive side, it has remained unseasonably warm. My daffodils are coming up, Maggy's viburnum is still blooming,

and here is one of my old-fashioned roses that decided it was time to bloom in November! It smells divine! Why is Blogger making it stand on its head?

My grandchildren will be here on Friday, which makes me so happy. Look at this cute hand-painted stool I bought at my friend Carolyn's church bazaar...

It was only two dollars, and will be perfect for them to stand on to wash their hands and brush their teeth. Or sit on!

I just opened this wonderful surprise in the mail...a handmade Christmas tree from Elizabeth Creates, one of my favorite bloggers! I won her blog drawing honoring her 350th post, but did not know which of the three prizes she would send me. We had been corresponding about her Christmas ornaments. Elizabeth very generously explained to me that the stand was vintage wooden spool attached to a wooden disk from the craft store. I guess she knew I would love this colorful little tree! It is made of canvas that is painted and beaded, and decorated with fun fibers at the top. Thank you, Elizabeth! I am so proud to own one of your creations!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, let me just say, I am thankful to all of you who visit me at All Things Quilty, and especially those who leave comments or write e-mails about my little columns. I never knew blogging would be so rewarding, or put me in touch with so many people all over the globe!

Mountain Beauty

Peak Creek, 5" x 7", 2009

We start today with a picture of a little art quilt that I made on my Babylock Embellisher needle-felting machine. Then, I free-motion quilted it on my Bernina. It is supposed to represent the bridge that crosses Peak Creek and leads to our family mountain home. The emerald green foliage is Dupioni silk. The tree trunks used to be the fingers from a cashmere knit glove that sadly lost its mate. The sparkle is Angelina fibers.

We went up on Friday morning and had another fabulous weekend enjoying the beauty of nature.

Mountain Fun

It was another gorgeous weekend in the North Carolina mountains. Charlie and I went up on Thursday night. On Friday afternoon, we got to meet my newest great-niece, Lacy. Sixteen days old! What a sweetheart! I caught her smiling in her sleep in this picture.We did not have our grandchildren there this time, but we enjoyed watching everyone else's.We spent lots of time fishing in the pond, putting our chairs in the creek and watching the little ones, and of course, riding up the mountain on our Gator. The weather was sunny and warm most of the weekend. Look at the happy clouds and blue sky!Mother Nature decorates the Christmas trees in the field during the summer.

So pretty on the mountain! Charlie and I picked blackberries on Saturday afternoon, and Mary made a cobbler for dessert. I did most of my picking from the Gator, since at our first stop I almost stepped on a very big snake. Just a black snake, but ....The wildflowers were abundant, with lots of black-eyed Susans.

We took one more ride on Sunday afternoon, and it looked like we might get a storm. Look at these scary snag trees!

This picture reminds me of the John Denver song: "There's a storm across the valley, clouds are rolling in..."

However, we only had a few sprinkles before we left for home. We stopped in Cary for a birthday dinner with our son Dave and his wife Emily. Here they are with their new ECU flag.

Dave wanted us to try some Thai food and Sushi for his birthday dinner...something we normally would never had experienced. It was an excellent delight!

Tired today...I have a customer's Christmas quilt on the Gammill today, so I guess I know what I will be doing!

Beautiful sights

While we were in the mountains last weekend, we visited friends from Raleigh who were staying in a borrowed cabin. Below is their awesome view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The cabin itself was so tucked away that we could not find it, so we met at an intersection and followed our host. Not only was the cabin and view a delightful hidden surprise, but the furniture and decor of the cabin was a lovely cache of art treasures from all over the world. This guest room has two twin beds with pillows and bedspreads made from molas from Panama. Aren't they scrumptious! I actually own three mola squares which I purchased at a Latin American festival in Chapel Hill one year. They are made by using reverse applique, cutting away layers of different colored fabrics.


One of my favorite things to do at our mountain place is to walk along the creek and take pictures. This is the dam that used to power a mine at the top of the mountain. The structure for the turbine is still in place. We used to camp next to the dam, just behind that big tree on the left. It was wonderful to hear the sound of the waterfall. Along the creek and all up the mountain are huge laurel thickets. Actually, rhododendron, but known as laurel up there in Laurel Springs. They should know! The laurel leaves are a weather indicator. Flat when it is warm, they curl up to the size of pencils when it is freezing! The first afternoon it was quite warm and sunny.
After that, it got down to the single digits every day. It was only 2 degrees F when we woke Monday morning.

Friday night a group of us rode to the top of the mountain on Gators and four-wheelers. What a memorable night! the moon was almost full, the sky was clear, and the snow crystals sparkled like diamonds in our headlights.

Christmas tree farms in the snow.
We had no trouble with power outage or frozen pipes up there in the frigid cold. However, when we got home, our water pipes had frozen at the connection at the street. Poor DSH dragged a generator up our long driveway to the curb and used it to place a light in the connection box until they thawed. It was not nearly as cold here. Made me glad for our snug little home in the hills.