In Stitches

We were slow off the mark leaving Folkston yesterday. By day's end we'd made our way to Tybee Island, and this is our last stop in Georgia. We're here through the Christmas weekend, and then heading south for Florida. The drive yesterday was mostly interstate, and I didn't even take my camera out of its case until the freeway ended in a historic district of Savannah. Of course, that's not saying much because Savannah is a city of history.

Recently I read on the Wheeling It blog that we could expect nice wide streets in Savannah, and that sounded pretty good to us. We weren't prepared for these low-flying trees, however. The streets along the way were lined with huge old oak trees...lovely, but worrisome. We passed through without any problems aside from fingernails bitten to the quick.

On our way to Tybee Island, we crossed over the Bull River, which, as it turns out, is vast. The waterway here is only the beginning. It is surrounded by acres and acres of mud flats.

We also realized we're right next door to Fort Pulaski National Monument...and that was a bit of a surprise. I'm hoping we'll get a chance to visit, but it is closed on Christmas Day, and our time here will be busy with other Christmas activities.

Also, feast your eyes on this next image...a monument to my photography skills. (Cough.) So...I was trying to catch the Tybee Island lighthouse, but when I looked through the viewfinder, my eyes settled on the water tower there, and I nearly completely missed the lighthouse. Also...the horizon is tilted. I couldn't straighten it without completely cutting off the lighthouse. So, which do you want? A straight horizon, or a little sliver of lighthouse? You can't have both. (Taps foot while waiting for an answer.)

Okay...well, I'm also hopeful we'll get a chance to visit the lighthouse, and then I promise I'll get a better picture of it. For now, you can rest easy knowing we're camped almost directly below the water tower, and about three blocks from the beach. The sun was shining yesterday...today it is raining. We haven't been to the beach yet. As for today's activities, we're going to be running some errands in Savannah. We didn't plan this visit very well, did we? Much to see...no time to see it.

Moving on...I finished the eighth block of Wine Country this morning.

The next time I work on this, I'll be doing the chianti block. Mmmmmm...chianti. The first red wine I fell in love with, but not the last. I'm kind of a cabernet gal, if you want the truth.

Next up in the stitching rotation is the 2nd block of the Snow Globes quilt. This one is called "Winter Wishes." It seems completely appropriate for the season, doesn't it?

This morning, I traced it out. The background fabric is giving me trouble. It has little snowflakes stamped on the cotton, and the snowflakes don't want to absorb the ink from my Pigma Micron pen. It means that whenever I trace over a snowflake, there is a blank spot in the design.

When I stitched up the Mr. Bear quilt (my third embroidered quilt),

I learned this about these kinds of fabrics...but...mind like a steel trap, don't you know? Maybe when this quilt is finished, the lesson will take permanently, even if the ink does not.

In any case, it's hooped up and ready to go, and I'll get started on this one tomorrow.

Now the Resident Engineer is waiting for me to hit the shower and get ready to go. It'll be a day of running around, fighting last minute Christmas shoppers, no doubt. I'll be taking a chill pill before we leave...actually not. I'll probably just buy myself a big bag of M&M's if I can make it through the day without killing someone.

How are your last-minute preparations going?