NeedledMom: October 2016

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Catching Up on Some Fun Sewing

Being away from the sewing machine for several weeks meant that I had to make up for lost time. ;-)

One of our granddaughters has a birthday tomorrow and her request was for doll clothes for her 18" doll. Of course, I LOVE sewing doll clothes. I used to enjoy sewing for my own dolls and I was taken back to those olden days while I stitched these outfits.

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought this was necessary.

I had such fun with this little day outing dress with the waist bag.

Of course every doll needs some soft lounging p.j.s and a matching robe.

I also caught up and mailed off my bee blocks for October. First off was for our MCM Bee.

Finally for our Spelling Bee.

Bring on November!!!

Linking up with Val's Quilting Studio

Linking up with Freemotion by the River linky Tuesday

Linking up with Quilt Fabrication Midweek Makers

Linking up with Busy Hands Quilt

Monday, October 24, 2016

Up, Up and Away - Venice

After spending a week in Florence we took the train to Venice. Walking out from the train station, we were amazed at the fact there were no streets, but only canals. All transportation is via the canals - cab boats, bus boats, trash boats, supply boats and all else boats. We truly enjoyed our days visiting the city.

Again, we took a walking tour and discovered so many wonderful sights - St, Mark's church, Doge Palace, Marco Polo's neighborhood and so much more. St. Mark's church was breathtaking. The tiny mosaics outside and covering the inside is done in 24 carat gold. I can't begin to imagine what the cost would be today. As well, there are four life sized horse sculptures done in gold too. Until 30 years ago they were in St. Mark's square, but have now been moved to the inside of the church. Unfortunately, there were no photos allowed on the inside.

Some of what we saw....

The Main Canal - the Interstate!

Rialto Bridge

St Mark's

Gold mosaic on outside of church

Another gold mosaic

St Mark's Square from the church balcony

The clock tower from the 1500s. The two little men on top hammer out the hour to this day.

Marco Polo Square

The current hospital

Doge Palace

Golden Stairway at Doge Palace

Ceiling in Doge Palace

Another interior ceiling...so much gold everywhere.

The boat dock (front door) of our hotel.

A bridge over the water street.

High tide brings the water to your front door. Yikes!

To die for- cannoli!!!

Loved the pretty marzipan fruits - so realistic looking.

Bet you can't guess what this is. This was what they used before there was indoor plumbing. To keep the men from using the corners of buildings to relieve themselves they put these rounded structures in the corners. Apparently, it had a splash back effect on the men.

One last gondola...farewell to Venice. Next stop is Lucerne, Switzerland.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Up, Up and Away... Part One

For the past few weeks we have been away....out of the country and away from our normal lifestyle.

One of our granddaughters has been studying abroad this semester in Florence, Italy. We convinced her parents (our son and DIL) to join us for a visit while she was there. We spent a week in Florence, Italy and then headed off for a few days in Venice and on to Lucerne, Switzerland, returning last evening. The trip was amazing and such fun to share with our children.

I'll share some of my favorite photos in three posts - one for each stop. We never cease to be amazed at the beauty that can be spotted everywhere.