Color It With Love

Today really is the DAY for me!  

I've taken a giant leap forward in the world of quilts and blogs.  I am participating in the Table Topper Blog Hop sponsored by that wonderful smiling face behind the coffee cup......Madame Samm of Sew I Quilt.  These things always seem so doable when you first sign up.  But when the deadline got moved from February to April, I let my personal deadline slip too.  So there I was, facing the month of March with no Table Topper and a trip to Europe coming up in April.  Nothing like a little pressure to get one's creativity flowing.  

I mulled over ideas, I pulled out books, I read blogs.  What kept coming back to me was that I very much LOVE color in a quilt.  So my idea was born.....

Color My World With Love.  

First I pulled fabrics from my scraps. 

Then I picked out a block for the center called Ribbon Star.

 It needed some hearts since the theme of the hop was "I *heart* ______________"

A few words, some colorful binding, a little quilting and it is done.  

Thanks for stopping by to see my efforts.  Thank you Madame Samm for inviting me to participate.  I enjoyed playing with color. 

P.S.  Note that my table topper is attached to the holder with binder clips.  I had all good intentions to get a sleeve put on but time and packing for Europe got in the way.  In case you are wondering, it is still in display mode with binder clips. Such is my life. 

And Sew It Begins.....

Today is the day.........The Table Top Blog Hop begins.  Check it out.

Table Topper Blog HOP Schedule

Monday April 16th

Jacque (Snoodles)

Lesley

Sharon

Dawnmarie

Piece Peace * please visit her on Wed April 18th

Tuesday April 17th

Kris

Marcia

Jenny

Sheila 

Josie

Wednesday April 18th

Vickie

Shanna

Deonn

Mrs Pickles 

Sharon 

Piece Peace 

Thursday April 19th

Leslie ( lesquilts)

Jennifer ( that girl)

Karen 

Katherine

Friday April 20th 

Marlene 

Charlotte 

Leslie

Darlene 

Jane

Michelle

Cherry

Monday April 23rd

Christine

 Just Carol 

Patty D

Wendy

leanne

Elaine M 

Judy C

Tuesday  April 24th

 Jennifer m

Roxanne 

Syd 

Selina 

Connie

Patti

Jane

Wednesday April 25th 

Mary 

Marianna

Thearica

Kelly

Marnie  

Pauline

Mdm Samm

More Views From Treasures of the Rhine



A lovely little canal in the darling town of Gouda, Netherlands

I've got to catch the internet connection when I can.  This afternoon is on our own and it is raining.  Not the most glorious day to be exploring Rotterdam.  Fortunately, this morning the sun shone brightly with beautiful puffy clouds for our excursion to Gouda.  We tasted marvelous farm gouda which is made from raw milk. ( Note to Loosies -- there is a wheel of cheese that will be coming to Paducah)

Amsterdam was quite crowded but the canal cruise was fun.  There were bicycles everywhere and they were ready to run you down if you weren't careful.  The best part of the day was a trip to the Kuekenhof Gardens.  Heaven looked down on us and granted us a beautiful sunny day while the tulips and other flowers were blooming.  It is just an incredible sight. Pictures do not do it justice.

And now a few more pictures from along the way------

Strasbourg Cathedral at night with St. Martins in the foreground

Typical scene from the canal boat tour of Amsterdam

Of course.  Another tulip picture

And one final picture from the outing to Gouda.  Interesting note is that here in the Netherlands, it is pronounced "hoe da".  I think you are supposed to add a little gutteral sound to that.


The real wheel deal -- Gouda



Cruising Down The Rhein

It is a bit dicey trying to get in to my blog.  Between slow connections and language translations, it is a challenge.  For some reason, even though we are in Germany, the sign-in page came up in Spanish.  But I figured it out and now I'll attempt a little travel log.

I imagine it is pretty obvious that we are in Germany.  We started the trip in SFO and after 19 hours we landed in Basel, Switzerland on Friday.  Basel is a delightful little town that is easy to get around.  The cruise line provided us mobility passes for the tram system and we could go everywhere.  We were able to see the cathedral, the history museum, the music museum and the art museum.  Quite a bit for just a few days.

Charming buildings in Basel, Switzerland

On Sunday, we joined the cruise ship Viking Sun and began to enjoy the pleasures of unpacking and staying in one place.  The next day, Monday, we joined the afternoon excursion to Lucerne, Switzerland.  We had been there 40 years ago in 1972 on our first trip to Europe.  It was fun to remember that trip and our adventure up to Mt. Pilatus.  This time we walked across the "new bridge" because the original actually burned down in 1993 and then was re-built.


The symbol of Lucerne -- The Lion

The next port along the way was Kiehl, Germany which was across the river from Strasbourg, France.  We had a long morning walking the cobblestones of Strasbourg.  In the afternoon, we took another optional trip to the Alsace region and town of Obernei.  We enjoyed wine tasting at a small local winery and then there was more walking along the cobblestones of the town.  I have ancestors on my Mattern side that came from the Alsace-Lorraine region when it was part of Germany in the 1700's.

The cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg has amazing windows

Manheim was our latest port.  We didn't actually tour Manheim but instead went on an excursion to Heidelburg, home to a famous University.  While taking a break for a cup of hot chocolate, we met a young lady from the U.S. who has been studying at the University for two years.  Wouldn't you know?  She was from San Francisco.  There are very old ruins up by the castle but the castle itself dates to the 17th century.  The views are lovely but our pictures would have been better if it hadn't been so cloudy.

Happy together traveling in Germany!

And that is it for now since it took me forever to get these four pictures uploaded. Connections and time may not allow for another posting from Europe.  But in this age of the internet how could I not try for at least one.