MORE BLOCKS DONE

I'm still putting together some of the Carolinas blocks.

I had already cut out the pieces and had them on the wall.  Since I've decided I'm happy with them, I'm sewing them together.  I'm not sure if this is procrastinating making the next few or what.

The Tower block.

Fashioned after a Tower at Biltmore in Asheville NC

I was really excited to sew this next on together.  It has curves and ends up being a circle.  Very cool.  I'm glad I left it unfinished for a while, because I ended up changing the color of the melon.  It looks better now.

Porcupined melon.

Very slow and careful stitching.

The finished melon part.

The Dome block

The inner dome at the capital building in Columbia SC.

The next block is a close-up one of the lamps outside the main  entrance to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC.  I love how all of the points came together and the y-seams worked!  That doesn't always happen for me.

A close-up - look at those points!

The Lamp block.

The actual lamp.

The main entrance to Biltmore, with the lamps on the sides.

Then it was the Stairs block. 

The Stairs block.

The stairs at the Nathan Russell house in Charleston SC.

And finally, the block that has been bothering me.  Here it is after I changed alot of the colors.

I'm hesitant to say what this one is fashioned after, but what the heck.  It's the back end of the harness and Rowdy's tail.  

Come on Mom!  No more sewing - let's go to the park!

BUSY WEEK

I've been busy all week working on my Carolinas quilt.  

I got somewhat bored and frustrated in the middle of the week.  I wanted to move on to something else until I realized that I was frustrated because I was not happy with one of the blocks.  Once I figured that out my enthusiasm level went back up.

I got a bunch of the blocks sewn together and re-did the bad block.

Nashville Capital Building

Darrell and  I in front of the Nashville Capital Building

The ceiling in a room at Biltmore in Asheville NC

Taking time out for our morning walks.

Jax doesn't really like rain, but he loves going to the park.

Jelly likes being off-leash.

BILTMORE

We've been wanting to visit Biltmore for ages.  It's called the largest family-owned residence in the United States.  At 178,926 square feet, it is a Châteauesque-style mansion built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895.  It is situated on over 4300 acres, there are extensive gardens and rolling hills.  There is also a winery and hotels, which we did not visit.

The drive to the house is over 2 miles, winding through beautiful and exotic trees and shrubs, landscaped by Frederick Law Olmstead.  When you finally come out of the trees, you are wowed by the sight of this huge mansion.

The front entrance.

The front entrance.

The lion by the front entrance with the staircase windows in the background.

The three fireplaces in the formal dining room.

The formal dining room table.

A sitting room - I loved the colors.

A chair in the Music Room.

Looking out from the back terrace at Deer Park.

The Terrace in the rear of the house.

From the rear terrace.

The grand Tapestry Room.

In the Library.

In the Billiards Room.

The formal dining room from the other side.

After the tour, we sat out in the courtyard, outside the stables, and drank iced tea.

 After the house tour, we walked through some of the gardens.

Off the house there is this wonderful veranda, pleasantly shaded by overhead vines.

The view off the veranda.

Looking back at the house from the gardens.

The conservatory, which is full of heat-loving exotic plants.  Out front is a Chihuly exhibit. 

Lots of orchids and other plants.

We hurried back up to the house and managed to get seated in the Stable Cafe for lunch.  It filled up very quickly after that and people were waiting to get in by the time we left.

Lunch at the converted Stable Cafe.  Very good.