Blog Hop - Kris's Color Stripes

I've decided to give a flower to the owner of the blog I highlight each Monday. The photograph was taken by moi :)

I've been following Kris's blog(s) for a while now and I love the simplicity of the layout. Almost every day she tries to share a photograph of some kind of object which she breaks down into colors, hence the stripes. She calls it her color diary. Today she is breaking down some lovely old floor tiles.

Fabulous way to train your eye. Some of her ideas would make great textiles/quilts.

Kris is from Italy and in the fashion design industry. When she travels she shares some of the designs and colors from the places she visits.

She has another totally fun blog about one of her collections. She creates boats out of odds and ends. You gotta take a look.

So hop on over to her blog(s) http://color-stripes.blogspot.com/ and http://one-boat-a-day.blogspot.com/

Project update - my sewing room and wall hanging

I decided to rearrange my sewing room and it feels so much more spacious. I now have decent floor space for laying projects out. The table in front of the window can fold up and be stored in the basement when I don't need to use it but I have a feeling it may stay. It was a gift from a friend who was moving. Lucy likes to sit under there and look out of the window.

I still have to finish putting peg boards and projects up on the walls and I plan on making a felt hanging wall for the long bookcase to use when I want to look at my blocks in progress.

The bed is still in the room and John and the kids like to lie on it and chat if I am working away on a project :)

With our corner unit now back in the corner I can sew away without Lucy lying across my feet and the sewing machine pedal, as she was prone to do. She is happy to sprawl across the floor :)

I was going to show you progress pictures of the wall hanging I am working on for I am a Stitchers Angel but all of a sudden blogger uploading went screwy on me and none of them would go right way up. Aaaaaaaaaargh. Maybe next week. The background is finished and I have decided to makes the leaves, bird wing and some mini poppies 3 dimensional.

Local Life - Red Caboose Park

We live in Bellevue, which is about 12 miles south west of downtown Nashville.

We love our park. It is set on a small hill and is used a lot by people of all ages.

There is a walking path all the way round and if you don't feel like tackling the slopes you can use the flat track at the middle school across the street.

Next to the park we have our community center which is housed in what was part of the old Bellevue high school. Right next door to that we have a building that houses the library and fire department. There are plans to build a new library within the defunct Bellevue Mall when it gets re-built.

This is why the park has it's nick-name. We have our very own full size red caboose. We also have a ticket station (public toilets) next to it.

The park has it's own little amphitheater and during the summer it gets used a lot. We have summer family concerts every Friday evening which are almost always well attended. Families bring their blankets, chairs, picnics, games and generally have a good time. The little kids love to stand right up by the stage when the groups are performing. If there is music they will dance even though it's on a slope :)
The local children like to use the amphitheater to act out their own little plays. It's fun to watch them do their thing. Some of them will even burst into song.

This is part of the enclosed childrens play area that was built in 1996 by about 1800 volunteers to celebrate Bellevue's Bicentennial. It is much loved and draws many people to our neighborhood. We arrived about 2 years after it was built. At that point most of the trees were fairly young and there was not much shade. Now they are much larger and look great.

There's covered picnic areas close to the play area and many parents use them as discreet viewpoints to watch over their older children. Having said that it is fairly common to see the parents in the play area having as much fun as their children. The local teenagers enjoy the area as well :)

At the top of the hill we have an elderly cabin. This is not it's original location. It was taken down piece by piece and put into storage till somewhere could be found for it. The local historical society raised funds and in 2006 it was put back together. It does get used on occasion and definately adds to the ambiance of the park.

The cabin dates from about 1797 and was built by Louis DeMoss. It was named Belle Vue. So our community is named after a log cabin.