Day 2: in which we see stuff!

Yesterday was a touristy day for my sister and me - and Curt too! 

It was easier getting around than I thought it would be; we only walked 4 blocks to the Metro, then at Union Station we got tickets to the sightseeing trolley which we caught just outside the doors.

 

There are a lot of stops along the route, but IMHO at $39 it's a bit pricey.  There are 20 trolley stops in a loop, including a chance to transfer to a different shuttle for the Arlington National Cemetery.  20 stops!!  Come on, who can cover all those places in one day!?  So basically you have to pick and choose which ones you want to visit, then get back on the trolley for the next part of the loop. 




Curt and Michelle at MLK memorial

 Curt was really interested in the King memorial, so we stopped there first.  They were impressed with the layout and the quotes from Dr. King's speeches - Shell says it definitely told a story! 

I visited the memorial just after it opened to the public, before it was scheduled to be dedicated, and it was "standing room only"!  Yesterday, not so much - plenty of room to move around and get close for photo ops.


Shell wanted to see the First Ladies' gowns at the American History Museum, where we also had lunch. (Taste alert!!! They had some chocolate bread pudding in the Stars and Stripes cafeteria that will make your taste buds dance!!) I haven't been to the American History museum for years and years! We didn't have time to go through the whole thing so I'll have to make it a point to go back later.  So much good stuff in there!

Here's a bit of history I wanted to share: when I was born, this is the china service that was being used in the White House!

Then-First Lady Bess Truman had worn this pretty red gown to their inaugural ball.

We didn't have any 9-11 related issues yesterday, it was a great day for doing the touristy thing.  I'm glad Shell and Curt could come at this particular time because a lot of the really hot weather has gone so we all sleep comfortably (I have no central AC). 

I got up this morning (whilst they slept!) and made a few more six-inch blocks; it's coming along nicely!

Shell wants to visit the new casino in Arundel, Md, so today we'll make that short trip among other things.  Enjoy your Wednesday, sew forth and sew on!

While they were sleeping

Three things to be happy about:
(1) the first day of school, woot woot!
(2) early morning grocery shopping
(3) cinnamon-raisin bagels

Hi everybody, thanks so much for visiting and commenting!  Yesterday my sister and brother-in-law (or should I speak blog-ese and say "BIL") arrived safely and soundly! My sister is a big Pogo Scrabble fan, and she wanted to play after dinner; my BIL is a big TV fan and he wanted to play with the remote. So I figured, Shoot! Why can't I play with my fabrics???

While I was de-cluttering and busting the bunnies a few days ago I found some time to cut some fabrics for another cobblestone quilt, so while they were doing their thing I sneaked upstairs and sewed a few.  When we had the cobblestone workshop at the WeeBee in July, Charlene used black and white for hers and it was so pretty I thought I'd go with black and white for this one...

There's something so classic about black and white!

On the previous two quilts I made, the blocks all finished at six inches.  Six inches is a great size, but I want to make a larger quilt, so I'm going with larger blocks - bust that stash! 

Now here's where this one is different:  to add interest to the quilt, I decided to use blocks in 3 different sizes:  6 x 6, 12 x 12, and 6 x 12.

Also, I'm putting in just a teensy bit of red, just to liven things up!

I wish I had more of that red above; it's an Alexander Henry fabric I think. 

Basically the quilt will be based on a 12 x 12" block configuration, except some of the 12 inches will be made up with 6 x 6 and/or 6 x 12 inch blocks!  Clever, eh???

So, while Shell and Curt were still sleeping this morning I got up and made a couple blocks, itchy fingers and all.  In no particular order, here's what I've done so far:

I'll worry about the layout after I've done a lot more!

Well, today we go out after brekky to visit museums and the MLK monument.  Have a great day everybody... sew forth and sew on til later!

A fine day for a fair!

... until the storms came and we were told to seek immediate cover... then it was a fair day!

Yesterday I went on a bus trip to the York (PA) county fair with my friend Felicia, the Slow Quilter.  What's the best way to start out a bus trip?  Why, you get that photo op - Felicia and I "opted"  each other with self-portraits!  What is it you call someone who writes your autobiograpy for you?  A ghost writer?  On the bus we ghost-auto-photographed each other!

Felicia kept saying "I just have to get one of those polish sausages, a funnel cake, and play "I Got It!", and I'll be satisfied! 

Those funnel cakes are super-delish!  I tried one with peanut butter; even after it got cold it was yummy!  I ate about half of it, and brought the rest home and had it with coffee.

No fair would be complete without the giant pumpkins and the decorated pumpkins and the little pumpkins that you wonder why they're there, but you see the tag that says "second grade" and you sorta know it's to encourage the little guys.

The judges must have had a really hard time, some of these were gorgeous as well as creative.  But I really liked this gourd painted like a duck...

As we were inside waiting out the storms, we got a chance to watch Felicia play with some shoestring licorice, LOL.

Never a dull moment around this lady!

In the handcrafts building there was an interesting demo of wool spinning and weaving...

Nostalgia, anyone?

Anybody remember these detergents - Surf, Rinso, Oxydol, Ivory Flakes, Duz??

We saw the camel and the zebra but we missed the pig races and the circus ...  and we didn't EVEN want to see the giant rat!  Living in the District, why would you PAY to see a rat???  A giant one, even.  Just hie thee away to Dupont Circle and wait a few minutes...

But I came home with this prize - a Helping Handle tool that I won at "I Got It!"

The Helping Handle is sold as a bathtub handle, but as many of you know this handy-dandy tool can be used as a handle on your rulers!  And it only cost me one ticket, which I won at some point while playing 8 games of "I Got It!" (at 50 cents a game).  Basically "I Got It!" is a bingo-like game where you toss little rubber balls into a 15-slot box as the caller calls numbers; first one to get 5 balls in a row wins.  Not a bad deal, I reckon.

I also bought some delicious Honeycrisp apples at the Brown's Farm booth.

I tell you, these apples are so good it makes you want to roll your eyes!  (But I resisted though ...didn't wanna scare anybody!)  Really, they have a slightly-sweet/slightly-tart taste that is indescribably delicious!   I've had a lot of different apples but I don't think I've ever had Honeycrisp apples before.  If you run across them, get some!

We had a great time and of course, as with all great times, we were tired afterwards ... I took a wee nap on the bus coming back home.  All in all, it was a fine day for a fair!

My sister comes tomorrow, so I'll be doing the tourist thing for a few days... sew forth and sew on til later!