The First Few Days of my Christmas Vacation

I'm blessed that my company is closed during the week between Christmas and New Year's ~ this meant a 10 day break this year. Of course, I spent time with my family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Then I did something I haven't done in years, I left home during Christmas week instead of burrowing myself into the sewing cave and just sewing. I went to Intercourse, PA to spend a couple of days with Gaylen and her husband, at their new B&B - Carriage Corners. 

I hadn't seen Gaylen since she was on the east coast during the summer so it was good to see her and her husband again. However, it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G to spend some downtime away from home in her wonderful B&B. Let's start my adventure at Carriage Corners with a few pictures!

This is the Lonestar Room where I stayed!

I wish I'd gotten a picture of the Gazebo at night because

 it was beautiful lit up with Christmas Lights

...and a few of the countryside. I couldn't get over how stunning it was and it is the dead of winter.  All of the crops had been harvested and the trees were bare but it was stunning...especially at night when there were no lights...just acres and acres of farmland stretching out into the horizon.

Monday evening we had dinner at Fireside Tavern in Lancaster County. Not only was the atmosphere beautiful but the food was delicious! 

Trip to Fabric Mart ~
Tuesday after Gaylen handled her Inn duties, we headed off to Fabric Mart which is located only 30 minutes from her B&B. I was especially excited to go because the last time I'd been to Fabric Mart was with Shams and Peggy in 2011! OMG ~ I thought it was just 3 years ago but here's the blog post to prove when it was! 

Entering Sinking Springs...

Gaylen in front of the Fabric Mart sign

Melanie was shopping in the store and reads my blog!

My haul - 32 yards

I was rather restrained even though one of my Christmas presents was gift certificates to Fabric Mart!

After lunch Gaylen and I headed back to the B&B because she had more guests checking in for the evening.

Strolling Around Kitchen Kettle Village ~
Since both Gaylen and I are fabric fanatics, I really only wanted to experience the fiber related stores this trip so on Wednesday afternoon we headed over to the Village to explore.

Yarn from Lancaster Yarn Shop

Pattern from The Old Country Store

Our first stop was at Lancaster Yarn Shop where of course Gaylen has already made friends with the owner, Wendy. It was a lovely shop and I did buy some hanks of yarn and a crochet hook. I thought I would start on an afghan that one of the daughters asked for, but of course, buying was as far as I got!

Then we stopped at Village Quilts. This store is a smorgasbord of handmade quilts. The artistry on display in that store was just awesome! Personally I don't understand cutting up fabric into small pieces and stitching it back together but I can truly appreciate the hard work and creativity that goes into each quilt. There were some beauties there that just took your breathe away. I bought one of the plaques below to add to the sewing cave - Gaylen gifted me the other!

Plaques for the Sewing Cave wall

We crossed the street to visit The Old Country Store which had an entire section of quilting fabrics and notions. I love quilting cottons because they are vibrant and when arranged well in a quilt store they are a visual feast. Gaylen purchased quite a few of the Christmas quilting fabrics especially since they were 30% off. However, I bought odds and ends, things that appealed to me because I was on vacation.

Rick Rack, a postcard and a fabric panel that appealed to me 

I'm sure because it was on sale!

After that it was back to the B&B. Dinner was pizza made by an Amish family running the local pizza parlor that was delicious. Couldn't tell the difference between it and local pizza ~ seriously!

I left Thursday afternoon after spending some more time with Gaylen and her wonderful family. It was a great four days away!

Sew In at Carriage Corner B&B ~
Now if you've made it to the end of the post, here is a scoop! 

Gaylen will be hosting a Sew-In at the B&B, March 24-26, 2017 and I will be there helping people with fitting challenges, working with your Tried 'n True pattern or anything you want to work on. There will also be a trip to and tour of Fabric Mart with time to shop. 

We just have dates now but follow the Carriage Corner Instagram and website for further information. Gaylen will post the registration information there!  I hope that you can come out and sew with me!

...as always more later!

An Emergency and Some Fabric

So this is a long involved story...you may want to settle in with your favorite beverage. I will wait a minute for you to go get one if you don't have one already. Snacks...do you need some cause believe me this is a tale and you want to be well nourished for it! Okay all settled...

...so it starts like this...

On Wednesday, July 22nd,  I wake up to my cellphone beeping which was unusual because I was in the middle of the Caribbean on a Royal Caribbean cruise liner. I got several text messages from my middle daughter that her older sister was in the ER. Each message got progressively worse until the final one that said she was in liver failure in the ICU and she was being transported to another hospital that specializes in liver transplants in Houston (she's been living there for the last 9 months).

The Ship on Fire ~

I went down to Guest Services and talked to a crew member about how to get off the ship and fly to Houston. While there the fire alarms start going off...yes, I was on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship that was on fire while coming into port at Jamaica. You can read all about it here and here.

photo courtesy:  jamaicaobserver.com

Now I never saw the plumes of smoke from the ship because I was one of those people standing outside on the deck - I'm not actually in the picture of my fellow cruisers below. Then I was ensconced in the skating rink, freezing while waiting for them to put the fire out and find missing passengers.

photo credit: foxnews.com

As a public service announcement, if you are ever on a cruise ship and an emergency is called, please for the sake of your fellow passengers report to your station. Do not hide in your cabin. Do not go where you're not suppose to because the crew announces your name over the intercom and your fellow passengers know you're the reason they are still waiting to continue their high priced vacation. It was getting ugly people!

Finally we are allowed to return to our cabins and I head back to Guest Services to get off the ship. Another aside, the crew on the ship was just awesome! They helped me get a flight and a car service to the airport and walked me through customs in Jamaica. 

That was the easy part because of course there was no direct flight to Houston from Jamaica. So Jamaica to Miami and wait and wait and wait and 4 hrs later still waiting (I HATE YOU AMERICAN AIRLINES!) 5 hours later I finally board a flight to Houston. I was suppose to be at the hospital by 10:30pm, Wednesday evening. I actually walked into ICU at 2:05am Thursday morning.

I'm just glad that my daughter didn't get worse or die while I was sitting there because the gate attendant just so didn't care about my predicament.  Let me say again I HATE YOU AMERICAN AIRLINES!

An Update on my Daughter ~
My daughter is recovering and doing much better and has been released from the hospital...although it was touch and go there for a day or two...she ended up spending 5 days in the ICU and 6 days on a medical floor and did not need a liver transplant. 

However, once she starting doing better, my daughter and my best friend who recently moved to Houston, decided I needed to leave the hospital. My friend took me to Hancock Fabrics to fabric shop. 

Yes, we've gotten to the fabric portion of the post ~

I haven't been to a real suburban chain fabric store in a long time - like years! So the entire experience was like deja vu to me. I knew how to act...what to look for...but it seemed a little surreal! *LOL*

A few interior shots ~

I was a little too excited to take a lot of pictures...I was too busy shopping. I did know enough to go online and get the coupons for the current sale.  So I bought Vogue Patterns - 2 for $10 and McCalls Patterns for $1.99 each. I tried to find the new Butterick Patterns but they weren't in stock yet. I've bought all of my patterns from Club BMV since the inception of the club. Again a light bulb went off cause I now understand why my fellow sewists have so many patterns! Those prices are AMAZING!

This is the fabric I bought ~

When I saw this "Frozen" fabric I knew Miss Lena needed a new summer dress so a piece of this came home with me.  The other two pieces are cottons (and after experiencing a few days of temps in the 100's and higher, I understand why y'all wear cotton fabrics all the time! Geeze it's hot in Houston!) Because I lived in maxi dresses on this trip, I was on the hunt for knit fabric to make more. 

So these knits were purchased too...

Two days later after my daughter's nurse raved about High Fashion Fabrics, my friend took me there too.

I honestly was a little disappointed with this shop probably because it caters to a clientele that needs evening, wedding and prom apparel. 

I did like the signage and the place is huge. I just wasn't that impressed with the fabric selection. However, if this is what's available to you, it is an amazing assortment all in one place, although the price points are a little high.

There was only one piece that excited me enough to purchase...this printed cotton guipure lace.

Conclusion ~
So this is why it's been sooooooo quiet here and on my Instagram account. When I walked into my bedroom this afternoon, all I could do was sigh with delight & relief. It has been a very traumatizing two weeks. I'm so thrilled that my daughter is doing better and she will be home next week after some folllow-ups with the doctors.

Also I just want to say that the Doctors and nurses of The Methodist Hospital were the most amazing health care professionals I've ever dealt with. The ICU staff let me stay as long as I wanted and took great care of not only my daughter but me too. I truly believe that those Doctors saved my daughter's life and why she was able to check out of the hospital with a wonderful prognosis for recovery.

The maxi's that I finished prior to leaving will be photographed next weekend and up on the blog then. I know that this has been one extra long post but I just did not have the wherewithal to make it two separate posts. I hope you made it all the way to the end!

...as always more later!

Home Again...home again...

Well I'm home again after a week on the high seas.  First some pictures...

The Lady of the Harbour, on the way 

out, at the beginning of the cruise

Second night at sea 

on the promenade deck

Arriving back to the ship in Orlando

Back of the ship & it's wake

 during my daily early morning walk

Leaving the ship in Nassau

On the dock in Nassau

Towel Monkey in stateroom

Last night at sea - from the stateroom balcony

Self portrait on the day I sat on the balcony 

in my stateroom & just read a book

Now some observations...

1. I'm fat.  I don't feel fat in my real life.  However, at sea I felt fat.  Not because there were a lot of skinny people there but because the cruise ship has the most unflattering mirrors EVAH.  And because the onboard photographers don't understand the magic of photography illusion. Seriously who shoots a fat girl right on, up close...fat I tell you fat!
2. Whenever I travel, I never over pack.  I am the mistress of getting a lot of outfits into a small carry on.  I listened to some others, over packed and lived to regret it when we disembarked the ship because I shopped ALOT when we were in Nassau and none of it was fabric...can you believe?  So I had too many shoes, too many outfits and too many souvenirs which meant too heavy suitcases to cart too far to get on the chartered bus!
3. Which brings me to the point that I don't really like to travel.  The best days on the ship were when everyone including their children had gone ashore and the ship was quiet and everything was convenient and easily accessible. Which makes me the grouchy old lady, that everyone avoids! *LOL*

Finally, I'm thrilled to be home and ready for the rest of my vacation (meaning the real part *LOL*) starting now with sewing! In the days leading up to my vacation, I made a list of some projects I'd like to work on.  I'm going to sew from the list because even though it's robust, I won't be able to complete everything on it this week!  That's fine...I really just want to enjoy the process...indulge myself and get fat with sewing creativity...tap into my inner Creative Zen self and sew ALOT.

So stay tuned for some serious creative endeavors...and thanks for hanging out and waiting for me to show back up!  

...as always, more later!





   

While I'm gone...

...sitting on the ship, reading a book or taking an island excursion...may I encourage you, well those of you who are missing me...to read some of the older posts.  Many times I'm asked a question in the comments section that's been explained in a previous post and not all of the good stuff is mentioned in the "My Popular Posts" tab.  

There are also some book reviews on older sewing books that after reading the review, you might want to own.  Finally I won't be gone long...and when I come back I have a list, the fabric, notions and the time to create a couple of new garments...so there will be goodies I promise!  That's my souvenir to you...*LOL*

Oh and if there are any thieves or robbers out there waiting to pounce on my fabric collection...someone is house sitting for me...so don't waste your time...mmmmkay!


See ya soon!