My latest project

My latest quilt project is for my oldest friend's mom.  She is sick right now and I wanted to do something nice for her.  Here are the pictures so far.

Quilt boot camp with aunt Donna June 2012

I spent the past four days down in Charlotte making quits with Nina and her aunt Donna.  I decided the easiest project would be to make couch size quilts for my two nephews.  I hope my brother and sister in law don't mind!  Anyway, here are the photos of the front and backs of the quits.  They are all pieced together, they just need to be quilted.  I bought my own sewing machine down in Charlotte and that plus the quilts are being shipped - should be here Thursday.  In the mean time I need to find and purchase or order two additional "feet" for my machine.  I can't wait for my stuff to get here!

This is my older nephew's quilt.

This is my younger nephews quilt.

Safe and sound

Well, we made it back to NYC safely from our tour of New England.  We had a great time, but it's good to be home.  I don't really like being gone for so long.  I leave again on Thursday - yeah, I am quite the traveler.  I am going down to Charlotte where my roommate is currently staying with her aunt for a long weekend.  This would be the aunt whose house I went to the past two Thanksgivings, and the aunt who helped me make the quilt that I made last November.

We are going to a quilt show on Friday where we are hopefully going to get me a sewing machine (there will be vendors at the show) and pick a pattern and the fabric for a queen size quilt for my bed.  Then my roommate and her aunt and I are going to quilt like crazy on Saturday and Sunday to get as much done as possible.  Hopefully we will get the whole thing cut and pieced, and the back pinned on, and then if I get my own machine, I can do the quilting myself.

Then I have planned two other projects - couch quilts for my nephews!  Fun!  I am really looking forward to this weekend.

And for the last stop

Our last stop was Newport, Rhode Island.  I have to say, this was my favorite stop for sure (well except for the week we spent in Vermont with my brother's family, that is really the highlight).  I loved the town and walking along the water (known as the Cliff Walk) to see the mansions was really fun.  Looking back on the trip, I think it would have been more relaxing to stay in one place, however, at the same time, it was fun to see many places (and we did after all just take a vacation where we stayed in one place).  Newport is definitely the place I would come back to for sure. In just a little bit we head out for breakfast and then head back to NYC.  We have been gone for two weeks so I am really looking forward to going home.  Here are a few pictures from Newport.

Stop number four

After Kennebunkport we headed down to Provincetown, MA on the cape.  We stopped off at an outlet mall and that ate up a significant portion of our day and we still had a long drive ahead of us.  Shopping was successful though!  Anyway, I wish we would have had more time in Provincetown.  It was a really unique place and seemed like it could have been fun to spend a few days there.  Anyway, we only had one evening there, so we made the most of it.  Here are a few pictures.

For the third stop on our road trip home

We went to Kennebunkport, Maine for  a day.  Our stops were sort of timed so that we wouldn't have to drive more than 4 hours per day.  So we get up in the morning, do the drive, and then we have the rest of the day in whatever town we are in.  Yesterday we went for a nice long walk, had some dinner and bought some small gifts for my nephews.  I had this idea when we started out on the trip home to buy my nephews something small from each place that we stop.  A trinket or a souvenir.  But I have tried to put a lot of thought into it and get them things I think they will really like.  They are just tiny things, but I hope when they get the box they will think it's fun.

Anyway, after we eat breakfast we head down to Provincetown Cape Cod...but on the way, there is a giant outlet mall!  Who knew this could be the highlight of the trip (well not really of course).  It's just, I haven't been outlet shopping in forever, and well, there is a LOFT outlet AND a Coach outlet.  I am in trouble.

Here are a few photos from our stop yesterday.  See you from Provincetown!

And continued again...

We are still in Bar Harbor, Maine, but tomorrow we leave for Kennebunkport.  Today we went whale watching, well, tried to anyway.  Shockingly, we didn't see a single whale (although we did see other animals) - and the guide said they have a 97% success rate when it comes to finding them!  It was a beautiful day to be on the ocean though (a bit cold while we were way out there - it was a 4 hour trip).  While out on the water, we also saw a couple of Maine's lighthouses.  There is a lighthouse tour which sounds interesting, but we won't have time to do that.  Here are a few photos.

On a separate note, I got a call today about some possible job opportunities, so fingers crossed something works out.  There will be more from the road...see you at the next stop!

 

Second stop on our road trip continued...

So after the Bar Harbor beach and walk around downtown, we went to the Acadia National Park.  This park actually takes up much of Mt. Desert Island.  We did the scenic drive loop around the park, stopping off at key points to check out the view.  Here are some photos from the drive.

Second stop on our road trip home

We spent last night in Bethel, Maine and headed out this morning for Mt. Desert Island, Maine which is on the coast - more specifically, Bar Harbor and the Acadia National Park.  On the way we passed this bridge, called the Sunday River Covered Bridge.

We then got to our destination in Bar Harbor and headed for the Bar Harbor beach.  The tide was out so we were able to walk out between the two islands.

We walked around downtown Bar Harbor for a bit and then headed for the Acadia National Park.  I'll post those photos separately in a bit...

First stop on our road trip home

We left Vermont on Wednesday (sad to go), but headed out on our New England road trip home.  The first stop was the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire - more specifically, the Mt. Washington Cog Railway which we took to the top.  Unfortunately, the weather was terrible Wednesday so we didn't get much of a view.  Here are a few photos anyway.  Today the weather was beautiful however, and fore casted to be such for the rest of our trip.  I hope the weather holds up because it is just gorgeous outside right now.  Anyway, on to yesterday's photos...

The great debate(s)

I have a lot going on in my head - not the least of which my lack of a job situation, which is really stressing me out beyond belief, but I think I am hiding that kind of well.

And my favorite photo of all from the day...

And we can't forget...

The always adorable Maddox!

Hiking in Vermont

Whenever I come to Vermont, I always think I will post more.  And then some how I find myself too busy, or just not in the mood.  Here are a few pictures though from our hiking trip today.  That's my brother and my older nephew Ellis, and Ellis and I by the waterfall.  Write more soon!