Sewcation part 2

Catching up on my blog posts going back to June.

After I spent a few days in Boone at the NCRA leadership Conference I traveled on to Gatlinburg to stay in my parents Blue Green vacation club. 

 It was a lovely place.

The drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains was beautiful.

The place was a lovely condo with wildlife every where. 

 Though I never did see that bear. 

 There was plenty of room for me to set up my sewing area.  And even an empty chest to store my fabric.

 I used the included ironing board and iron. 

My goal was to make the Kauffman Solids challenge quilt. 

I had a triptic board covered in felt to use as a design wall.

As you can see I had fun and accomplished my goal. 

I also worked on the cancer quilt.  I need to finish sewing on the borders and then quilt it.

There was a great Fabric Store on the Artists 8 mile loop. 

 It was a moda fabric lovers dream. 

The store was in a small pedestrian mall. 

 She had a long arm studio in another storefront across the way. 

Her husband helps her out. 

When I was there he was cutting fat quarters. 

She had lots of repros-40s and Civil War prints. 

I really loved this quilt pattern. 

She also had a lot of batiks. 

This is the quilt she designed for the recent shop hop that unfortunately had already happened the weekend before.

It was a wonderfulfour days in Gatlingburg.  Its a little commercial though more quaint then Pigeon Forge.  It was just nice to get away from life and be ablt to sew without distraction.

Keep dreaming...Colleen

Foto Finish-Patriotic

American flag, The Lump milepost 264.4 Blue Ridge Parkway, NC April 5, 2007

When I saw this I was sooo excited!  The fourth of July is a huge day in our family!  Lots of flags, family and friends, fireworks, food, and patriotic expressions everywhere.  But the first picture that came to mind was the one of the above flag.  I love to drive and hike the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC.  One of my favorite short hikes is called the Lump. 

 

Its is a round hill you hike straight up through a field and you get a 360 degree view of the mountains.  This was my first trip back to the parkway after having cancer.  About a year and a half later on April 5, a cold day-about 32F day .  I did a day trip driving from Fancy Gap entrance in Va to Boone in NC.  The air was crisp, cold, windy, and clear.  The water running down the rock faces was frozen.  When I got to the lump I bundled up, grabbed my day pack and camera and started up.  I felt rejuvenated after years of illness and recovery, I felt as if I had come home.  I walked between the high dead grass toward the low rocks I liked to sit on.  It was there I saw them. 

Two small flags stuck in the ground and blowing crisply in the wind.  It was so poignant a moment.  I took many pictures and even framed one.  Ive been back a few times since and every time I pack a small flag and leave it  stuck in the ground.  A tribute to our great country that makes such beautiful, natural places possible.

Keep Dreaming...Colleen



View from the top looking down on the parking.  See my jeep?