One More Time With Feeling!

I wrote a whole post while on the way to visit my in-laws, went to look something up and must have forgotten to save it!  Lesson learned!

Last time I wrote I was on my way to China. It was an amazing trip!  Quite honestly, China was never on my bucket list but I was given a unique opportunity with my friend living in Shanghai.  Another friend and I spent 11 wonderful days exploring Shanghai, Xian (home of the Terra Cotta Warriors), and Beijing.  I won't bore you with a long travel log but share a few highlights and som quilting designs I saw.  The Chinese government does not like Goggle or Facebook and, apparently, some of the pictures I took. They magically disappeared-just some, not all. Oh well, at least I have spectacular memories and the other girls have shared their pictures with me.

We started in Shanghai where we saw a lot of everyday life, the world's tallest building being built and a wedding market.

The three of us on The Bund-the river front dividing the old part of the city and the new.

The world's tallest building. The fogginess is partly due to the dirty window but mostly from the smog.

Sunday Wedding Market where matchmakers post potential brides' and grooms' resumes on umbrellas and on the ground.  Some have pictures but most don't. I wonder what the success rate is!

From Shanghai we flew to Xian to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.  I couldn't believe how big the area was!  We even met the farmer who discovered the Warriors while digging a well and had him sign a book for my dad.

Each warrior and horse is life size!  I was a bit disappointed as how commercial the area outside of the exhibit is getting.  They force tourists to walk thru a maze of shops, basically selling the same things, to get in and leave the area.

We then flew to Beijing.  We had an amazing tour guide for 3 days who took us to Tienamin Square, the Forbidden City, The Great Wall, the Summer Palace, a portion of the old city, lots of temples and The Pearl Market.

This is only about half of Tienamin Square.  It is HUGE!

The entrance of the Forbidden City.  It's not really tilted, just me trying to take the picture too quickly. 

I couldn't get over how enormous it was!  

The Great Wall was amazing!  I had to keep pinching myself that I was really there!  We had exceptionally great weather with hardly any smog.

A portion of the old section of the city.  Our guide told us they are getting ready to tear it down and replace it with high rises.  I'm glad I got to see it before it was destroyed.

This is just a small area of the Pearl Market. There are 4 floors of little booths with scarves, purses, silk robes, Knicks knacks and just about anything you can think of.  You have to bargain and our hostess is a master bargainer!

I did get pictures of some designs I want to incorporate into upcoming quilts.

So, back to reality. 

More later!

Happy Stitching!

Gift Quilt

I've been working on a quilt I will take with me as a hostess gift.  I saw the pattern in the Late Summer Miisouri Star Block Idea Book. It's a star quilt-I'm partial to stars-and its a new technique to me that I wanted to try using 10" x 10" layer cakes. 

First you layer 2 squares, one light and one dark, right sides together and stitch completely around with 1/4" seam allowance. 

Next, cut diagonally across the layered square twice. 

Cut 1

Diagonal cut the other way. 

Press open and arrange with the hourglass design in the middle. Do you see the star yet?

Sew together. 

Next, be sure you have good light-especially if you are of a certain age!

You then need to cut 2 1/8" on either side of the center seam both horizontally and vertically. 

No star yet!

Then you start flipping the blocks around!  First turn the corners 180* ( no degree symbol on my iPad so I'll use the asterisk instead). 

Then flip the center 90*. 

Finally flip the remaining squares 180*. 

And there's your star!

Here's the layout. 

It's not my favorite color combination but I understand the colors in her home are black, gray and cream. If not, it's still pretty neutral.  I still have to add the borders and quilt it before I leave. 

So why the extravagant hostess gift?  Her home is in China!  She is a gal in our golf league whose husband was transferred to Shanghai for 2 years. She's midway through (hopefully) and gets home occasionally but misses the States. A few of us started talking about visiting her last summer and 2 of us are going next week!  The next few days will be busy getting ready for the trip but I've traveled enough that I know what I like to pack. I usually like to travel pretty casually but I think I need to take at least one nice thing for dinners out. 

Getting late.  Another busy day tomorrow including a private paper piecing lesson with a student. 

Happy Stitching!