(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Waymarking Edition

Spent several hours wandering around Detroit this weekend.  

Just on the corner of Woodward and Warren are some amazing places!

Hecker Mansion

Inns on Ferry Street - the "inn" consists of 5 houses in a row

Josephine Ford Sculpture Garden in front of the Creative Center

Detroit Institute of Arts - Rodin's Thinker is out front

Detroit Public Library

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History

Detail on the Maccabees Building

Park Shelton Art Nouveau Building

Patterns of Detroit Mural - Look!  A Quilt!

Scarab Club

Freer House - once the home of the Peacock Room

I'm not saying all of Detroit is like this... but you don't have to look far to see remnants of its Golden Age!

"Not all who wander are lost".  Visit Waymarking.com to see more!

Elisa

Joyeux Noel

So many amazing free holiday patterns in the blogosphere! This one from Gail Pan Designs:

http://gailpandesigns.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/12/my-christmas-gift-to-you.html

Stitched with Threadworx Floss - Desert Sunset (1042) from 123stitch.com - LOVE these colors!

Happy Stitching!
Elisa

FALL-ing in Love with Birdie Stitches

One nice thing about a nine-hour roundtrip car ride is the ability to stitch!  Finished my September Birdie Stitches! Now... just don't ask me about June, July or August yet!

 Oh, and don't forget the first Christmas block for the Sew Happy Sewalong has been posted! Except for the first block, they are only available for one week.

I'm spending the rest of today piecing my Tis The Season top together.

Happy Stitching!
Elisa

(Almost) Wordless... Friday!

I normally post waymarking and sightseeing pictures on Wednesday, but the trip over the long weekend has thrown off my schedule so here are some gems from my most recent trip.  Hope you enjoy!

Mad Knitter covering water fountains, trees, park benches.

State Park right outside the campsite

Julia and Jenna being absolutely adorable!

Michigan waters are so blue!

Jon finding the first cache of the trip!

2nd largest pie pan in the world!  According to the sign, was the largest in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1987.

Formerly Bowers Harbor Inn - Can we say haunted?  Cool story! 

Sister city monument outside historic county courthouse

Went caching in these woods.  The post warned of zombies.  Believable, eh?

Julia found her first cache!

Lighthouse on Old Mission Peninsula

Proud Grandpa!  

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Elisa

Interquilten in Interlochen, MI

If Quilt-n-Bee is a cherry nut cupcake, then Interquilten is a country cherry pie.   Interquilten is located in Interlochen, MI (renown for their world famous performing arts program and beautiful, sparkling lakes and scenic roadways).

To get there, you must drive about 20 minutes west of Traverse City along curving roads (trees are changing colors right now) sharing the road with anything from timber trucks to caravans of Porches or an odd Model A or two. 

I love Interquilten for their rustic charm.  Pull up to this odd shape little building and you know it’s filled with goodies inside!  Last year I spent hours pouring over their gorgeous batiks (and buying WAY too many). This year, unfortunately, it was a mad dash in and out between raindrops.

The inside looks like a NW Michigan cabin with high, slanted ceilings, wooden floors & counters and a tree sprouting in the middle! 

I did take the time to browse their batiks, touch some wools, ooh over their novelty fabrics, and finally cut into their Halloween bolts!  Right when you walk in you are greeted by a treasure chest of Marcus Brothers' Tricks or Treats Halloween fabrics watched over by the cutest of witches!  I can’t wait to get started:

The staff are very friendly and the type of ladies you gab over coffee with (they were making a fresh pot while I was there).  

Not an actual staff member!

As I was leaving, they asked that I remind you about an upcoming quilt show this weekend.

Rumpled Quilts Kin Presents

Patchwork in the Pines Quilt Show

An Exhibition of the Quilting Arts

Sat. Sept 24 from 9-5

Traverse City East Middle School

Go to www.tcquiltshow.com for details

There's approximately 290+ quilts but vendors, demos, raffle quilt, etc.

Northern Michigan is beautiful and the Northwest region is truly a jewel.  I wish everyone could experience its natural beauty (big trees, blue lakes, Sleeping Bear Dunes, deer & chipmunks) and its man-made gems (fun & funky shops, Mackinac Brewery, Cherry Republic, Boomers Ice Cream shop).   And, while up there, stop in at some of the many amazing quilt shops peppering the peninsula area!

 Happy Stitching!

Elisa

Quilt-n-Bee in Traverse City, MI

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged because I was out of town for a long weekend.  It was grand!  It was my family’s annual pilgrimage to Traverse City to site-see, enjoy good food, geocache, and watch the Red Wings at training camp.  

Playing with my iPhone again

Not only is Traverse City a geocacher’s paradise (Old Mission Peninsula, with its rolling hills, stunning view of the bays and nature trails, is home to many popular family-friendly caches) but home to some great quilt shops!

Every year I take 1 day off from watching the Red Wings to hit my favorite shops and do the tourist thing.  Not far from the 2^nd largest pie pan in the world (not to be missed! See the pic at the bottom) is Quilt-n-Bee in Traverse City – it is pure confection.  A definite sugar HIGH!   It is a clean, bright shop – very well organized – with many fabulous samples on their walls!

Of all the shops I visit regularly in Michigan, I’m always guaranteed to find some amazing redwork patterns right inside the front door (snagged a few of them).  Then you pass the table with the latest holiday fabrics (this year I found my red striped "Ready, Set, Snow" fabric for the Sew Happy Sew-along).  Continue to head towards the back for reproduction prints (not sure where they order from but it’s always fabric new to me), move along the wall to themed bolts and fat quarters, and then continue onto the fabulous batiks (broke the bank on these batiks last year). 

After feeling all the fabrics and chatting with the friendly staff, move onto the notions wall (always the latest and greatest) and then into (what I think of as) the “samples” room.  This is always the most dangerous part of the visit for me.  Above the mantle, on the table, propped up on the bookcases are completed embroideries, darling wall hangings, framed pictures of patterns completed.  More embroidery patterns, baskets of kits, the latest gadgets & books! 

See the snowman wall hanging in the upper left corner of this picture?  Yep, pattern and kit ended up in my basket.  That is one of the world’s greatest mysteries, isn’t it?  Why is it that the shop sample is always better than the pattern picture?  You’d think designers would just hire shop owners to create the sample for them!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I had hoped – had to get back to the family.  But my brief respite was like having dessert first…..

Happy Stitching!

Elisa

2nd Largest Pie Pan in the World!

Sew Happy Sewalong

It’s just amazing all the talent in the quilt blogging world! 

Check out this new Sewalong from Sew Happy!  Each Friday, for seven weeks, Lesley Boost will share a one-of-a-kind Christmas embroidery pattern on her blog for all of us!  Week eight will have the assembly instructions for this Christmas bunting!

Here’s a picture of the finished project from her website:

I’m joining!  Because we all know I need another Christmas Stitchy project right now!

Happy Stitching!
Elisa

And Then There Were None...

... I couldn't help the Agatha Christie reference.  Sad day.  Last night my Borders Books & Music (store #180 - Birmingham, MI) locked its doors for the final time. 

Instead of dwelling on the sadness, I've decided to share some of the happier times so you can understand why I'll miss it so dearly. 

Click to enlarge.  As usual, Blogger is having issues with so many pictures but life is too short for me to fight with this application tonight..



Me with Brad Meltzer - he remembered me!

 

Gabe at Chelsea Handler Event






Gabe and Susan

 



Whitney is shelving in magazines!




Nicholas - the Thinker.



Annie having fun!







Mitt Romney

 

Barenaked Ladies with Flat Stanley

Bobby Flay

Lewis Black

Martha Stewart

Radio City Rockettes

Melissa and Kristen



Janet Evanovich



The Grinch



Curtis Granderson



Chelsea Handler







Jason





Jenn Lancaster

Another chapter closed.

Elisa