Friday, April 8, 2011

A different view



After much consideration, I'm taking a bit of a break. I do need the next 3 or 4 days left of my vacation week to get some things done around the house and put my thinking cap on a bit. I do appreciate your comments as they mean the world to me that you took a piece of your time to let me know if you like the blog pics or such. To even those who read and decide not to comment but just stay interested for whatever reason, I appreciate your time as well and hope it's added some interest to your day too.

I hope you found the pics of Williamsburg interesting. I know that the majority was not specifically on stitching but I wanted to share. 

I took this pic above at the end of the quilt hall in the Dewitt museum at Williamsburg. Hubbie didn't even know I was taking this with him in it which made it even better so I could reflect a minute. I could stand back and observe the whole picture and it was beautiful. The light effects were awesome from that end and I watched as he played with the wooden "quilt pieces" in the table, waiting patiently for me to catch my breath at the beautiful quilts and how they were preserved with such care over many years.

Sometimes life is a bit like that. We stand at a distance to see where we've been and then look forward to where we need to go, or at least I do that. I'm not saying that is what anyone should do but for me, from time to time, it's a necessary thing. I'm a bit quirky.

For it's really only in the distance that I can see the things that really matter and the things that don't.
I can see who shares our life and who chooses not to.
I can see light and dark, colors and neutrals, young and old, things that trigger and things that don't.
For me, sometimes, I don't get to choose what flashes forward like the light images on the floor in this room in a beautiful pattern and I'm definitely not complaining, it's just something I've accepted.
I wish I could.    Ways to cope start popping in my head.
It's usually when I'm exhausted and just so tired.
I've gotten to that point because I have a problem of putting my heart into whatever I do, and wholeheartedly wear myself out sometimes but through the years I have figured out when it's time for a break.

If I had one picture from this trip to Williamsburg to save, only one, it would be this one.
To you, it's just a museum with a man in it.
To me, it means alot more.
The reflections, the light effects, the old quilts, the colors, and the man that is always there by my side during those kinds of times.

Have a great weekend of relaxation with the ones you love.

Jennifer

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Ok So What I brought back from a short trip to Williamsburg!!!!


Because I'm a bit spoiled like Miss Abbie, I brought back a few things I drooled over for stitching purposes.
This book has many of the colonial houses at Williamsburg that I can "visit" when I have the time and also tells the history, design, details, etc. that I couldn't fit in an 8 hour trip.
I still haven't read it yet but it's awesome full of pics. My designing mind wants to know!




I just can't wait to delve into this book and simmer into it's stories with a cup of Earl Grey tea.



isn't this beautiful?



Like I needed another sampler to stitch.....LOL  anyways, I wanted this one The Ann Hill sampler



the history of it.

included the floss and 35 ct linen



absolutely gorgeous colors which would go on our sampler wall in the master bedroom.



with 35 ct linen, antique ivory. I should have taken out of the plastic but this is fresh out of the suitcase!



I did a full happy dance when I saw this smaller floor cloth!  I LOVED IT!
The colors in our Dutch colonial home are sooooooo pretty! and I knew this was the spot to put it.



If you've never seen a floorcloth, it's actually like a piece of canvas and very durable. I have one in front of the fireplace, and it's withstood 2 winters so far without any scratches with walking on it and building fires.

They are gorgeous! This is actually a placemat size but I just got one because I knew exactly I wanted this on the sofa table.







and my most fave treat is this pincushion. I couldn't decide on which one to get as they had many ones to choose from. I almost chose the delft blues but decided I wanted this one better, besides it had pins in it!!!!


yep, this just fit with Feathers in the Nest very well.



I got a couple of other things as gifts for others but these are my favorite things from the Williamsburg short trip we took. I hope we go back one day and get to visit the other museums and buildings and I believe that we will in time.

Miss Abbie was so glad to see us. She dug right into a piece of pizza when we came back and slept soundly in the laundry pile all day.



she's a bit ready for play her on her snack mat, we call it, under my stitching chair. She has her fave treat, the sweet potato treat in her "paws".


brushed and groomed a bit today. She was pretty rough-looking when she came home...LOL



She loves to drag her blanket to the stitching chair.

But I haven't been in it today. Too much to do.



I tried to put bows on her after brushing but she doesn't like them and this was taken a few minutes before shaking and flinging them in mid-air.......



And praise the Lord, I found my "close up" glasses when we got home. OMG, I had to get readers again and what a difference as one eye is different than the other.  I was in a "tizzy" before I left and couldn't find them at the last minute, but finally did when we came back.....thank you, Lord!



and here is some progress on a design I'm making called "Follow Your Heart".

Methinks I have too many going on at one time.....stitching ADHD

I still have some pics from the Quilting section of the museum.....but later......

nite,

Jennifer

Part 2 Colonial Williamsburg


The next section of art on our tour was ceramics, tiles, especially this wall of Delft which made both our hearts sing. We love Deflt of any kind (especially me) and so here are a few pics to follow:




Look at these old flower frogs/scissor frogs. Wonder if they used them for that in the day too?















this is so beautiful and breath-taking!



















Love this phrase!





a cup of tea?















a beautiful pin cushion for embroidery work.



These are still snapshots in the Dewitt-Wallace Art Museum. If you've been there before, you know the beauty of the preservation of history and art. Just cannot really be expressed fully but I definitely would take a visit there. You could spend at least 4-5 days with so much to see and do. We only had the day but it was filled with good treats.
More pics in part 3. I was so thankful for permission from the museum to share pics!!!

We did enjoy a nice lunch with some Earl Grey hot tea and lemon in between our adventures.

till later,
Jennifer