Christmas Time Once Again

Here's the quilt with the Christmas Tree. I'm posting this picture because I was looking back at earlier posts and saw the picture of the quilt with the tree back in December 2007. Check out that post. The quilt was much smaller then. This quilt is certainly a life lesson. If someone tells you that you must prepare 9000 hexagons and then sew all 6 sides of these hexagons together, it sounds like an unsurmountable task. If you work a little, work a little, slowly over time, the project doesn't seem quite so overwhelming.

Thanksgiving in New York

The quilt travelled to New York for the Thanksgiving holiday. It did NOT want to get roped into another game of Bingo!

One of the most enjoyable things we did was a circle boat tour that made a complete circuit around Manhattan. Here is a quick visit to the Statue of Liberty

The quilt visited the birth of the gay rights movement: The Stonewall Inn.

In New York, we stayed in a condo found on VRBO, Vacation Rental By Owner. Here is a view of the Empire State Building from the condo. The view was truly amazing.

What would a visit to New York be without a visit to the New York Public Library? Here we pose in front of one of the lions in front of the main library with the branch in the background.

After seeing the Empire State Building from the window of the rental condo, the quilt insisted on visiting the top floor observation deck. Here we see the Chrysler Building in the background.

Hawaii - again

Once again the quilt travelled to Hawaii. And what could be more Hawaiian than sunshine and rainbows?

May in Costa Rica

Again the quilt wished to visit Costa Rica. I mean, really, what can I do when the quilt insists?

This photo shows the Manuel Antonio National Park in the background. Costa Rica is wonderful in May. Don't take my word for it..... visit.

Quilt Seeks Relief from Winter

Here are a few pictures showing the state of the quilt on 1-1-11 (that is a lot of ones!). A full 9 rows have been completed and the pattern has certainly emerged. I believe the quilt is about 1/2 finished. As I was finishing this last row, the quilt requested (actually it sounded more like a demand) that it be taken some where warmer. It was sick of winter and wanted to get away for a little relief. Of course, being someone who also hates winter, I was quick to comply.

I like this zoomed in picture with none of the edges in evidence.

So... where did the quilt get to go? Where in the U.S. would there be the best possibility of warm weather. My first thought was Florida, but hey, it's been cold down there too this winter. Then it hit me.... Hawaii.... guaranteed warmth.

Here the quilt continues its preoccupation with flags. I had to continually remind the quilt that it was still in the U.S. and not in a foreign country. We heard other tourist talking about their trip to Hawaii being their first outside of the country. Americans are NOT known for their geographical prowess.

If anyone watches Hawaii 5 0, they are sure to recognize the next couple of photos. The Hilton Hawaiian Village has been featured quite prominently on the show. Friends David and Cathy stayed in the Rainbow Tower. The grounds were remarkable, everything you could want including 2 Starbucks and drum roll...... Lappert's Ice Cream!

This building and statue also figure quite prominently in Hawaii 5 0. While in real life it is the Judiciary Building and King Kamehameha, in the TV show it is the Hawaii 5 0 Headquarters and King Kamehameha. You might not be able to tell in the picture, but the quilt was quite impressed.

And what is a trip to Oahu without a picture of Waikiki and Diamond Head.

A fact that few people know is that Hawaii was a Kingdom. Which means, of course, they had Kings and Queens. What it also means is that there is a royal palace. The Iolani Palace is the only royal palace in the U.S.

Finally, we'll end with a picture of Scott Caan (Hawaii 5 0's Danno). The quilt was witness to the filming of an episode of Hawaii 5 0 on the grounds of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It wanted to have a picture taken with Scott Caan, but he was rather aloof, so the quilt settled for a picture taken with the telephoto lens.

Another Baby Interruption: Andrew Michael Martin

Hannah's quilt once again got placed momentarily on the back burner. Friends, Annie and Mark, had a bouncing baby boy. They didn't want to find out the baby's sex before birth, so I had to make this quilt unisex. The quilt is from City Quilts by Cherri House; it is called City Sweets and is suppose to call to mind a box of Petit Fours.

Here is a close-up showing the quilting. When I was deciding what to use as the binding, my first thought was white. However, Colette, owner of Quiltology, suggested using the dot material from the back side of the quilt. I was hesitant, but decided that white might not be a good idea on the edges of a baby quilt, too likely to become soiled. I like the results.

This shot shows the back. I have instructed Annie that if it looks like A. Michael M. (that's what I've decided to call him) looks like he's going to spit up: place him on the dots side; if he looks like he's going to be cooperative, place him on the rectangle side. Of course, I'm kidding. The only squabble I've had is the order of the child's names: Andrew Michael Martin. I mean, why not Michael Andrew Martin, or even Michael Martin Andrew? I finally figured out that she wanted him to have the same initials that she has. Oh well, I should be happy that Michael got included at all.

Panama: Birds, Waterfalls, Capybara and Mountain Produce

The Quilt returned to Panama in November. It didn't really have a good time last time, and so decided to give the country another chance. First stop was the Gamboa Rainforest Lodge on the Chagres River where it meets the Panama Canal.

Birds, birds and more birds. At our second stop, the Coffee Estate Inn, the birds would flock to the feeders to eat bananas and oranges. Five different species can be seen in this photo. We saw a total of 224 species this trip.

In the mountains near Boquete, we hiked to the end of the Pipeline Trail and came to this beautiful waterfall. It was an adventurous hike, crossing scary bridges and fording streams.

The grounds of the Coffee Estate Inn were beautiful. The purple flower loved to wander around on the many trails visiting.

Near Gamboa we saw many wild capybara. I know there are people who think they are cute, and want to pet them or keep them as pets. The Quilt feels that they are best left to graze in the wild and isn't impressed with their looks.

The purple flower made many friends during it's afternoon hikes. Here it spends some time hanging with some oranges.

The purple flower tries to decide which it likes better, red berries or green berries. In any instance, the mixture of the two brought Christmas to mind.