Another Month, Another Trip

Just two weeks after returning from Pennsylvania, I went away again, this time on a girls' getaway to Spring Green, Wisconsin.  You may have read about the Country Sampler on other blogs, because they have a wonderful 3-bedroom apartment above their store that they rent out to groups of 7 or less.  It's set up so that you can either stitch or quilt (or both), with a large U-shaped work table, cutting tables, irons and ironing boards.  It's been used by many happy stitchers and quilters.

Here is the store, and you can see

the windows of the apartment above.

And here's a peek inside the store...

Lots of fabulous stuff for both

stitchers and quilters,

with a definite prim flavor.

While we were in Spring Green we visited Taliesin East,

the home and studio of the late

Frank Lloyd Wright, an American architect.

It is a sprawling compound that

includes not only his house and studio

but also a school, theater and farm

on over 600 acres of lush rolling hills.

Here are "a couple" of the 

many photos I took.

The house wraps around a hillside.

He used a lot of limestone, both inside and out.

This land is all part of the estate.

You can peek into the dining room

from the upper floor.

This curtain in the theater was designed by Wright,

depicting the hilly landscape of

this area of Wisconsin.

I love the way the stairs are tucked away...

Looking into a multi-functional room:

a sitting area and dining table on one side,

and a long work bench with built-in shelves on the other.

Only a partial wall separates them.

He was doing "open concept" in the early 1900's.

I took a lot of ceiling photos; I love geometrics.

We were lucky to be able to take photos

of the interior of the buildings.

Prior to this year, they were prohibited.

Of course, in addition to Taliesin

and exploring the shops of Spring Green,

our main activity was stitching,

with some knitting and sewing, too.

Karen J was working on this

stunning French boutis piece,

one of many samples she plans to have

for an EGA regional class that

she will be teaching this fall.

She is also the person who

finishes my smaller stitched pieces

to perfection.

Karen P was working on this

lovely holiday runner.

It's actually a stamped cross stitch

design, but you would never know it

because her stitches are so perfect

they look just like counted cross stitch.

Anne had a good bit done on the

Prairie Schooler R is for Rabbit.

This chart is on my to-do list!

I will probably get to it around 2020

after I finish letters A through Q.

(No, I haven't started yet.)

She alternated between the rabbit

and this delicate knitted piece.

Joyce was working on a couple of cross stitch pieces.

This one is a cute Halloween design from The Primitive Hare...

...and she finished it, too!  (happy dance!)

Sue was cutting fabric for a tote bag 

that she plans to make and use 

on a trip around the world

coming up in just a couple of weeks!

She was also working on this

beautiful canvaswork piece

featuring a free-form tree

made from silk ribbon.

I worked on Autumn Logs, and came close 

to a finish, but not quite.

You guys have seen it so often,

I won't show it here until it's completed.

I also started this hardanger bookmark on the trip...

...and finished it after coming home.

It's from the 2011 Nordic Needle

Bookmark-of-the-Month Club.

I only have (ahem) six more to go now.

I should tackle a few more,

because they really don't take much time.

On the way home, we stopped at Lynn's

in Madison, Wisconsin.

It's a large store whose merchandise

consists of half needlework and half art supplies.

Here is my stash enhancement:

From top left:  a Permin miniature kit "Two Horses"--

they are hard to see in this photo;

a gold frame that I have in mind for a

Lizzie-Kate piece that's almost finished

(they had a wonderful selection of frames there);

a Mill Hill kit by Laurel Burch: "Fur-ever Friends;"

another PS chart "Happy Christmas" (really?!);

and finally two coloring books

featuring designs from one of my

all-time favorites, Charley Harper!

(I had to buy both because 

I couldn't decide which one I liked best.)

I might try transferring one or two designs

onto canvas to see how they stitch up.

DH has already expressed an interest

in the toucan!

It was a fun trip with good company.

That's it from here for now.

Hope you've had a fabulous weekend.

Thanks for visiting!

Pennsylvania Six-Five Thousand

OK, the title of this post is a stretch.  It has nothing to do with the jazz song that the Glenn Miller Orchestra recorded in 1940.  I do love the song, however.  But we did go on a short trip to Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago, and here are the highlights.

This is the cottage we stayed at near Somerset.

We had it all to ourselves.

First we went to the Flight 93 Memorial.

It was a very solemn place.

Next up was the Johnstown Flood Memorial.

The flood occurred in 1889 after a

catastrophic failure of a dam upstream of the town.

Over 2,200 people were killed.

This was part of an exhibit inside the Visitors Center

depicting some of the carnage.

We visited the Allegheny Portage Railroad

National Historic Site.

This is the Skew Arch Bridge.

The railroad was the first to circumvent

the Allegheny Mountains in 1934 and included

the first railroad tunnel be to built

in America.

We also went to Fort Necessity National Battlefield.

The confrontation there in 1754 was the prelude

to the war fought by England and France

for control of the American continent.

This was the first major event in the

military career of George Washington,

and it was the only time he ever had to

surrender to an enemy.

As you can see, it's a pretty small fort.

There is a lot of history in Pennsylvania,

and we explored only the western part

of the state!

We spent a little time in Pittsburgh, too.
We took a tour on one of the ducks
(amphibious vehicles built for the Army in the 1940's).
It was entertaining, informative and a lot of fun.
We quacked at passersby
and they quacked right back at us.

We rode for free on the Duquesne Incline
(one of the perks of being old).

The view from the top of the hill was great.
Tall buildings and a river or two?
I felt right at home.

Pennsylvania is a really pretty state.
I love all the hills, having lived in
the flatlands of Illinois my entire life.

Meanwhile, back at home,
a friend and I went to a "Sip & Paint" class.
If you're not familiar with the concept,
they are usually held at a restaurant or bar
and you go there to paint a picture
under the guidance of an instructor
while sipping some wine purchased at the site.
Our class was held at Color Cocktail Factory
and it was a BYOB (and snacks if you wanted).
No painting experience is necessary.
Our instructor was great
and took us step-by-step through the process.
Both my friend and I had a blast.
And here is my post-impressionistic "masterpiece," 
Van Gogh Comes to Chicago:

And since this is a stitching blog,
I do have a small new piece to show you:

This is the May Flip-It Bit
from Lizzie-Kate, wonderfully finished
with French knots and a bee charm
by Averyclaire.

That's it for now.
Hope you had a great weekend.
Thanks for visiting!

Leap Year List - May Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

We had a very cold and gloomy end to April, but the sun's out now so May seems promising.  I missed most of that gloom because we were out of town last week; the weather where we were staying was nicer--more on that in another post.  I took four projects with me for stitching in the evening.  Ha, ha, what was I thinking?  I got a little bit of stitching in on the trip (Autumn Logs), but not much.

On to the list...

First up we have the afore-mentioned Autumn Logs 

by Needle Delights Originals

Here's where I was last month.

And this month.  So close--the border stitches up quickly.

Here's Dawn Chorus by Long Dog Samplers, as of last month.

Here's this month's progress.  The end is in sight!

But there's still a lot left to stitch.

We met this fellow last month:

Tanja Berlin's blackwork horse.

I did get the stitching started!

Tanja's model is all black,

but I'm turning my guy into a bay.

Last but not least, I finally started this piece.

That barn took a while to build!

I'm stitching this on 25-count

wedgewood blue lugana, one over one.

That's it from here.

They (Google) rolled out their new

photo site replacing Picasa recently,

and this was my first attempt at using it.

I'm sure it can do many things

of which I'm not aware,

but I must have figured out the basics,

since my photos showed up in this post!

 Thanks, as always, for visiting!