Project 365, End of Summer Edition, Part 2

This Project 365 post is longer than usual because it encompasses our trip down south and a bit beyond. I still missed a lot of photo opportunities but to make up for it, I'm sharing multiple pics from some days. Mainly because I am having a bad case of DMD (decision-making disorder).

A lot of you have already seen an almost duplicate of the following photo since Robin and I had the server take photos with both our cameras.

It was so fun to finally meet a blog (and fellow Project 365) friend! We got together for dinner while Ivan and I were at the mission headquarters outside Atlanta. I'm just sorry I missed Skoots, who was out of town -- but we're already making plans to get together when we're back on our next home ministry assignment!

Also while in the Atlanta area I met another quilt fanatic enthusiast who showed me some of her recent projects, including this gorgeous Christmas quilt:

I was so inspired by her studio too. We took photos of her set-up in hopes we can duplicate some of her smart, space-saving ideas. And bless her heart, she gave me some fabric! This was the third gift of fabric I received in August, which brings me so much joy :)  All three benefactors are quilters who share my passion for fabric and wanted to help as I gather supplies and materials so I can teach quilting when we return to Argentina.

[And last night another friend said she was going to give me a cutting mat/ruler/rotary cutter combo that she no longer uses! I'll add those to the ones I've been picking up with my 40% and 50% off coupons at Joann's. My goal is to have enough for a class of 4-6, with some sharing as needed.]

Anyway, back to Project 365...

We left Atlanta and headed to South Carolina to visit family, taking the route that went through Savannah, a city I've always wanted to visit. We parked at the south end of Forsyth Park and started walking up Bull Street. Talk about hot and humid! Within a block my bangs were matted to my forehead and I was sweating like a pig "glowing" as they say in the south.

But I did love our short time touring a bit of the city! The gnarly trees are so picturesque and I am determined to make a quilt based on this photo.

I had no idea that Paula Deen's restaurant, Lady & Sons, was right smack downtown, and better yet, we were able to have lunch there! I'd heard how hard it was to get in, but we're guessing it was a slow day because of (1) the HEAT, and (2) the hurricane. During our very short wait I was fascinated by these doors between the restaurant and her store. Those are frying pans, people!

I was enthralled by this "secret garden" spied through some of the ornate ironwork that's so common in Savannah. Can you imagine having this private space in your back yard?!

We have a thing for architectural art, and by that I mean art with buildings or bridges or something of an architectural nature. And because prints are flat and lightweight, we've determined to try and collect those from our travels. Of course there are many art galleries and studios in Savannah and it wasn't hard at all to find LOTS of gorgeous prints but we ended up settling on a small, inexpensive but lovely watercolor of this home, which we hunted down to photograph so we could keep it with the print:

We picked up another print while in Charleston, South Carolina, visiting family. It will be fun to frame and hang those back home, remembering this particular trip and the fun experiences. While we didn't choose a print by this artist, he was the only one who was working on-site at the City Market in downtown Charleston, and he didn't mind when I asked if I could take his picture.

Our nephew, Philip, took us on a tour of the city as well as a trip out to Fort Moultry (which is on the mainland across from Fort Sumter).

We had so much fun hanging out with Philip, Roz, their daughter Rachel, and Ivan's brother Lynn. It was a relaxing weekend that culminated in a special tri-fold communion with their church. Our background is Grace Brethren which practices tri-fold communion (including foot washing), but we've been members of a Bible church for many years now and it had been probably close to 25 years since we'd participated in a tri-fold communion. I am sad to say I took very few photos of the weekend (except at Fort Moultry).

Monday, August 29th, we headed to North Carolina, stopping briefly at Columbia International University where we picked up some information on their post graduate distance programs and drove around campus (too hot to get out and walk!).

That night we enjoyed catching up with dear friends, Jim and Gina.

I could use a week at their house on the mountain...so beautiful and peaceful there!

Here's a kitschy photo we took at the first rest area in Tennessee. Gotta love a place that provides rocking chairs and a view of the mountains!

Yes, that's Ivan in the rocker :)

Okay, here's a teaser photo...

Guess what I'm working on?!

And finally, here's one of very few photos we took this past weekend while Ivan's youngest brother and his wife were with us.

All our photos were of plants we took on a walk by Lake Bawbeese :/  Not a single photo of them or them and us... Oh, and by the way, that plant is jewelweed and you might want to take note of what it looks like, because it helps prevent and/or heal poison ivy and other rashes!

And that finally brings us to the end of the End of Summer Edition!