Friday Finish, fun and not so fun!

 

This has been one of those weeks, but I was able to finish one project I had started. It is a design by Robin Leuschen of Bird in the Hand Primitives. I used the main design and made a lavender sachet. It was a fun piece to do for Spring.

We didn't do a lot on the weekend, the weather hasn't been the greatest, but we had a nice day for a ride and headed into Connecticut. We took a loop ride to check out a few pond areas, but no birds or areas that we could get into without walking in the cold. 

So what did we see? Something you wouldn't expect along the roadway, a dinosaur.

And a Teradactyl on a roof. It is a place called Dinosaur Village, the kids have been inside so we may go again with the boys, when they reopen.

Another thing in the village is a large antique mall, a great place to explore on a cold day. We spent hours and I saw a lot of great items, but a bit pricey for me. But I did come home with a few goodies.

And on the way back home, we made a few stops at local lakes and parks.

And then things went downhill. I wanted to rest on Monday, wasn't feeling great and my injuries were acting up, but that was not to be. I woke up to voices, my husband and son. My son was nice enough to go pick Bill up from the hospital so I wouldn't have to. Bill was on his way to work and stopped for coffee and slipped on the ice at the shop, so now he is laid up. 

We had to wait for permission to get an MRI, so that happens on Tuesday and we will find out what the damage is. So, I am back to taking care of everything that I can and luckily my son is good about helping and I discovered online shopping for food. Not as good as what we pick out, but easier on me since I cannot lift too much.

I hope everyone has had a better week and it won't be long before Spring is here.

Weekend Wanderings!

This was a great weekend for getting out, even though it is getting cold. But not too cold to go for long drives and find new places to shop.

We headed into Connecticut to check out a new quilt store. We have driven by this town a lot and never knew that it was there. Sometimes it pays to do searches of areas you want to visit for shops that are in the area.

The store is called Colchester Mill Fabrics. I wasn't sure how nice it would be and if it was local mill fabrics but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a full service quilt shop, with 3 large rooms of fabrics, supplies and crafting items. They carry a lot of Moda fabrics and even wools, so it is a great store to stop in, if you are in the area.

The staff was friendly and helpful, if you had a question or needed to know where something was, they had the answer. So much nicer than the big stores, where they have no idea what is in stock. The only negative for me was, not that many prim patterns. They had a few but none that I wanted, which I guess is a good thing, lol.

Another thing they have is an assortment of gifts and decorative items. I found this cute snowman garland and had to have it. The hearts are rusty, but the flash washed the prim out.

Once you are done shopping, you can drive to the next town up, and visit the Shops at Marlborough Barn where there is a wonderful antique barn and a few other small shops and businesses. I was surprised at how big it was inside, room after room of antiques and primitive goodies and gift items. The prices were also reasonable, so another shop we can visit, since our favorite one is closing.

On Sunday, I just wanted to have fun and I wanted to have fun with Nick. Luckily my son stopped by and Nick stayed here, so we could just go and not pick him up. We took him to Mystic Aquarium which is also in Connecticut, not sure whey we just don't move there, lol.

We wanted to see the new Dinosaur exhibit, which was really fun and the boys loved it, both of them.

I loved what I saw in this photo, I think the whale is smiling at me;)

I took a quick shot of the penguins and noticed something picking out, behind the rock, when I looked at it closely. We all had a fun time, and since we got a Grandparents pass, we can come back anytime and bring Alex with us.

Today was an easy day, we went to our favorite antique barn, which is closing this year. They are trying to find a new place, so hoping they can and continue to host dealers and prim artists, since we usually find great things there. Today nothing interested me, but always fun to look.

Since we had time and the tide was going out, we hit the beach for an hour. Bean got to play and I found some nice pieces of glass, for my collection. It was cold and getting cloudy, so we didn't wait for the tide to go all the way out, I am sure there was a lot more glass, waiting to be found.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a week ahead, full of creating. The kids decided to have dinner at their house, so I said fine, leaves me more time to work on my quilts and get my Christmas items ready.

Weekend Wanderings!

Since Bill has the week off, we have been getting out and doing some shopping and exploring new areas. We went to the antique consignment first, hoping for some after Christmas sales but the things I had my eyes on, were gone and the rest was over priced, so no buys there.

Then I wanted to try a back road and go around the area in a circle to see what was there. It was a long back road that came out to some beautiful lakes, great places to revisit in the kayaks this summer. I didn't realize the circle came back to another town, called Chepatchet. Chepatchet is home to several antique stores and a primitive country store, so of course we stopped in town and walked around.

Love the old buildings and the colors on the different shops. These two shops are well worth a visit.
The gold building is home to The Town Trader. It is a huge antique store, filled from top to bottom with antiques and newer items mixed in. There were a lot of things I loved, especially a huge trencher, but I refrained from buying anything, trying to be more practical this year.

The second building is Brown and Hopkins Country Store. It is a two story building filled with country and primitive wares, as well as an old fashioned candy counter. They still had all of their Christmas items on display and everything was half off, I know I will regret not buying some things;)

The bridge out of town was a nice place to walk and give Bean some time out. Old mills and homes line the streets going out of town, as well.

And, I am working on a project, though a bit slowly. This design is a free design from Broderie D'Antan. They have a lot of different types of designs that you can use and always adding new ones, each week.

The floss that I used is Finca, I like how it looks in the piece, though it doesn't show as well in a photo. This has more to come and will be a candle mat.

Primitive Heaven!

Yesterday we headed to Connecticut for a change of pace and since we were headed in that direction, I couldn't go without visiting my favorite prim shop, Milltown Primitives. The store features five rooms, each one decorated in 18th century reproductions and antiques. It is like visiting a museum, each room is set up like a room in a home and there are so many wonderful pieces that I walked around and around, seeing something new each time.

Robin is a wonderful host and her husband is part of the team who makes wonderful reproduction furnishings. Robin is also an accomplished cross stitch designer who was featured in Early American Life and is thinking about starting up her line of patterns again. She was kind enough to give me one of her iron on designs to try, so I will be working on that and feature it in a future blog posting. Her designs are done with iron on patterns, so perfect for those of us who have poor eyesight and love to work on linens or osnaburg.

Here is one of the larger rooms and this is just a section.

I am bad at shopping, I tend to refrain from buying too much for myself, but I thought I deserved a treat this week and when I saw this banner, I just had to get it. It is made by a local artist and of course, it is perfect for a textile artist;) I need to redo my peg rack, and today I threw up the wreath and added some dried florals to it, so later I might make an old dress or sack, things to hang on the rack.

And here are the rest of my goodies, one item is not mine, but I have been looking for one and I wanted to grab it while I could;) The yarn is hand spun, prefect for my needle felting projects.

If you are ever in the area, Milltown Primitives is a must, on your places to visit.

I send blessings and well wishes to all of you this Easter.