Niagra Falls...

We drove from Michigan through Ontario, Canada, to Niagra Falls. It really is spectacular from the Canadian side. You can see the falls falling. There are two falls. American Falls...

...and Horseshoe Falls. There is mist coming off both of them and when the light hits it just right, you can see rainbows. It's very cool. And noisy. And damp depending on which way the mist is blowing.

You can't park near the falls. The walk from the parking lot to the falls takes you through some serious tourist-y stuff. The Frankenstein Burger King was pretty impressive.


King Kong was attached the the sideways Ripley's Believe It Or Not. I was happier to find fudge and a nut-covered carmel apple.

We got to our hotel and they asked if we would be willing to upgrade to a jacuzzi suite. Well, why not, right? There's a huge jacuzzi in one corner of the room and we might actually use it! Actually, no, we didn't. It just seemed a little icky.

Michigan flowers....

What is this flower? It might be some sort of lily.
These white flowers were big - 8" across or so. The petals seemed sheer. Is this a peony? It does not grow in my part of the world.
I think this is a lady slipper...
Even the dandelions are pretty here.

Fun stuff from Michigan...

Isn't this an amazing roof? I've never seen another one like it.
These pansies are pretty, but the colored pots are what make these special.

Very ornate wrought iron looked wonderful in front of a Victorian house in Charlevoix...
The Charlevoix Public Library is a renovated elementary school. The children's area was one of the best I've ever seen - and it was obvious that the kids thought so too. One thing I noticed in particular was this old refrigerator door mounted on the wall with word magnets. The kids were encouraged to make new poems. Great idea for an old fridge.
All in all, I have to say that the parts of Michigan we visited were absolutely beautiful, the people were great and the food was magnificent!

More from Michigan...

Charlevoix, MI, is a lovely resort town. We did a walking tour of the "mushroom houses" designed by architect Earl Young. These houses are happy! The owner of this house was outside and we got to visiting. He and his family are from Austin, TX. He invited us in to see the house - what a treat! The house is tiny and quirky - perfect for a summer home.

The mile long drive into Charlevoix is lined with petunias on both sides of the street.
This young woman was outside a restaurant, luring in diners. I would seriously love to have those striped tights. But not the dress.

This mosaic was outside of a restaurant. Very cool.We had dinner with friends, Jackie and Jerry, at their house on Torch Lake. It was so much fun! Jackie helped me find petoskey stones on the lake shore (mostly she found them for me). Petoskeys are the state stone of Michigan. Steve and Jerry went sailing. Where the color of the water changes, the lake bottom drops from about 5' to 200'. Torch Lake at its deepest is 300'. It's so very clear and blue - it makes our lakes at home look like mud pits.

Bay View, MI...

We spent several days in Michigan. Petoskey was our first stop. The town of Petoskey surrounds an older township called Bay View. It was founded as a religious resort community in 1875. As we walked around I realized that when I imagine small town America - this is what's in my head. Lovely Victorian houses, tall leafy trees, lawns that blend together, kids out playing, people on porches, and the most amazingly clean outdoor smells - amazing. Unfortunately we didn't actually get to stay here - but it was fun to visit.


The sign on the green house says "Wee Hoose"! You can't say that without smiling.

Fountains in Chicago...

Chicago has lots of fountains. Big ones, little ones, modern ones, old ones. Water does not appear to be a problem in Chicago.

I had to stop and look at this fountain in particular. I couldn't help but wonder why is the water hitting this poor stone woman in the waist? I'm just sure she's wondering the same thing. That would drive me crazy.

Steve at the Art Institute...

That's Steve in front of the largest painting at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's Georgia O'Keefe's Sky Above Clouds.

I loved this green dotted wall. Steve looks lots better in front of it than I did. The photo he took of me was almost immediately deleted. Don't you love that - no wasting film, no guilt, just delete those bad photos!

From Chicago...

We went to the Art Institute of Chicago last Wednesday. What an amazing place! The bronze lions flanking the entry are just about as wonderful as the art inside.

I wondered about people taking photos of the art... and then I found myself snapping a few photos. It was allowed, I wasn't breaking any rules. I bought a postcard of this Van Gogh, but I'm glad I have the photo too. It's different in its frame.
I'm also happy to have this detail shot of one of Monet's waterlilies. That man could do amazing things with splotches of paint.Dots have always been good...

Everyday Best in Wool...

Vicki Norris made a small version of Everyday Best in wool and brought it to a class I recently taught in Kingwood, TX. It's on our Show & Tell page too, but I wanted to be sure you blog readers saw it. It's way cute!

Flowers from home...

I'm on the road now with my husband, Steve. We are on our way to the Vermont Quilt Festival via Chicago, Michigan, Niagra Falls, etc. I'm also going to be teaching Connecticut and we will visit NYC and Baltimore. I hope to be able to post from the road but here's some flowers from TX for now...

Folding a quilt...

My students noticed how I fold my quilts for travel. I thought it would be a good trick to share. I didn't think this up - I learned it from Quilter's Newsletter. The thing is to never fold them on the straight of grain. When you unfold and re-fold, change the location of the folds each time.

I fold quilts to fit my suitcase. When I'm home, I roll my quilts and store them on a long shelf.

Bring one corner up...
Bring another corner up...

Fold one side up. That triangle of quilt up at the top folds over the rest.Fold it up (sort of like rolling it up, but keep it flat).

The last Raleigh photos...

There were several sidewalks made from these wonderful bricks. They were not exactly level, but the pattern on the bricks made me think of quilts...

I may have to paint my front door lime green. Isn't this great!?
The NC Quilt Symposium was held at Peace College. Peace is a liberal arts college for women. The buildings and walks on campus were all red brick. This acorn finial was very different.

This view of the angel in the cemetery was truly lovely.