New TV.Through the Lens And the Skateboard Quilt gets quilted

 I was busy yesterday getting things ready for the CAAWS Board Meeting but today I got one of the Skateboards quilted.  (I DO feel like  Joni!)  I will put the other one on the frame this afternoon and maybe get it done tonight.  Depending on what is on TV.  I have two bindings to put on so that can occupy me in front of the TV.

I took what I learned in Krista Withers wonderful class at QuiltCon.  See?  It wasn't all bad!  I knew I had to start somewhere with her method so I modified it to be simpler and easier.  It took me about 3 hours to complete the quilt.  I like the graphic nature of the quilting with the negative space and the skateboards.  Definitely says BOY!




Here is the last of the New Orleans posts I have set up.  Let me know if you want a few more of the zoo photos.......or more stories, I always have those!  LOL


 New Orleans ------


We rode around a  bit, I didn't want to see the places where the hurricane damage still can be seen.  I  wanted a thriving view of New Orleans this time!  Although now I wish I had gotten a few pictures.  When we went to the party the night before the wedding, it was very obvious to see the houses that were raised and the lots that were still empty.  I heard a statistic recently saying that about80% of the Pre-Katrina population has returned.  But old, long time families like mine and Frank's never returned.  All the old ones have died and the younger ones have no interest in returning.

Here is that fabulous shot of the Mississippi River from the 30th floor of the Marriott on Canal Street.

We could see the Mississippi River Bridge that connects the East Bank to the West  Bank.  We lived on the East Bank and thought the West Bankers were not as smart or wonderful as we were!

Canal Street is the main street in the city.  Most people think of
Bourbon Street but some of the best streets are just off Bourbon.  Royal Street, for example, has the antique shops, art galleries and fine restaurants.

Here is that same river shot in the nighttime. New Orleans changes at night.  During the day it is sleepy and calm,  but it comes alive when the sun goes down.  Someone said to me recently, Bourbon Street is nothing but drunks.  Oh, but it is so much more.  It is a feeling, it is a lifestyle, it is a mindset.  You need to feel it to understand it.





Uptown there is Magazine Street where the modern thing is happening in the old buildings.  The art galleries, the shops, the clothing, the bistros are all here. And St. Charles Avenue.  Where the old rich live and the families pass the houses from generation to generation.  My mother was friends with the girl who lived in this house when she was in high school.  Most likely her grandchildren own the house now. 

The street car runs the length of St Charles.  They are the very original cars from the 1800s and run on electricity.  If you look closely you can see the black rod that connects the car to the electric lines.  At the end of the line the seat backs flip and you just travel back to the other end of the line.  The back of the car looks just like the front of the car!

On Saturday there were two cruise ships docked, the Royal Caribbean and the 5 day Carnival.  On Sunday there were two more, another larger Carnival and a Norwegian.  I got some photos

of the Saturday ships leaving down the river.

There are several riverboats you can ride and there is always the ferry.  My Aunt Annie used to take cousin Karen and I on the ferry just for the ride.  We would go get tiny Silver Dollar Pancakes and hot chicory coffee if we sat still during Mass at St. Louis Cathedral.  Sometimes we would go into the museums on either side of the Cathedral, the Presbytere or the Cabildo.



Moon Landrieu was Mayor of New Orleans when I was young.  You may know that he is the father of Mary Landrieu who just lost her seat in Congress after 18 years of being part of the political machine.  It was a given that she was expected to win because of her political family lines. 

The walk along the river is called the Moon Walk as a tribute to Moon Landrieu.  I found a pattern in a fountain that would make a nice quilt!  This area was part of the Worlds Fair that was here in New Orleans when Carrie was little.  And the Trade Mart Building is now abandoned since Katrina.  The circular portion on the top was a rotating restaurant.  It rotated 6 degrees a minute so in an hour you could make an entire revolution and see everything!  It was amazing to be up there.  There was nothing as high anywhere around the city.

Frank took me there several times when we were dating after dances or a graduation.  It was thrilling to be in such a tall building.  The only other tall building in New Orleans when I was a child was the Plaza Towers, which is also closed and condemned since Katrina.

OK.  More later.