A Nice Trip Away

I apologize for being MIA for a few days, but losing Jinjo threw me for a bigger loop than I ever expected, and after the events of last week, we all needed to get out of the house and out of town for awhile.

So we headed up to Linville Caverns, but it turns out the caves are closed in the winter and only open on Saturday and Sunday. That was a bit disappointing, but we quickly changed plans and decided to head further north to Grandfather Mountain and Boone, NC.

free motion quilting | Leah DayHere are some pics from Grandfather Mountain on Friday. It was SUPER windy and cold. We all had 3 layers on at least and James was actually wearing a hat, but we were still cold.

James wasn’t too into the heights or wind either. We made it halfway across the swinging bridge before he declared “I wanna go home!” and that this was way “too much!”

But we did have a good time in the nature area and James loved the animal habitat despite the fact that no animals actually showed up. In his almost-4 year old’s mind, the best thing in the whole world is running, running, running and the ramps and pathways allowed a lot of that!

free motion quilting | Leah Day

I got lots of inspiration for more filler designs from inside Linville Caverns. On our way back home, we stopped in for a 30 minute tour and I took many pictures of these interesting rock formations:

Does this one remind you of anything? It’s a bit like Brain Coral which was inspired by corals in Josh’s fish tanks, but this is actually Cave Coral. I’m going to have to play with this texture and see what happens!

Overall it was a great trip, we all had a good time, and coming home today the weight of losing Jinjo wasn’t quite so heavy.

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

5 Responses

  1. Sandy says:

    I'm so glad to hear that you got to get away with your family and that you are feeling a little better. Welcome back. I can't wait to see what that shadow quilt looks like. Very cool pattern.

  2. quilter501 says:

    That is what I call making lemonade out of lemons. Good for you, Leah! Going back to our chosen families when we hurt is what it is all about. They are our support, we are their support.

  3. Monica says:

    The caverns look neat – I used to do a lot of wild caving in Virginia and West Virginia while a college student in Pennsylvania. Haven't been in a cave in years.

    Love the photo of you and your little guy!

  4. Ray says:

    Hi Leah,

    I'm glad that you and your family were able to get away and have some fun. I'm very sorry for your loss. I don't care what some people say, a loved pet is a member of the family, and the loss is always very tramtic!! I love the work you do and am very pleased that you are so willing to share that work and yourself with us!!! Hugs!

  5. Kay Lynne says:

    What a sweet picture of you and your son 🙂 I miss those days, but also treasure them. Glad that you and your family took some time off.

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