It’s time to break up the vacation posts with a quilt! This is Jackie Hillman’s Whimsical Quilt Garden — isn’t it lovely!
It’s a quilt you could stand in front of and savor for a long time. So many cute details!
FYI: If this is a pattern you want, order it soon. The pattern is going out of print and I still have some in stock. Once those are gone, it will only be available as a digital ebook.
Thank you, Jackie, for sharing your quilt with us!
You take an elevator most of the way up and then there are narrow passage ways and stone stairs with the occasional place to stop and look out. Barcelona is beautiful from above!
This is also where you get to see the mosaics and other building details up close.
You walk a stone spiral staircase back to ground level.
You can’t see them, but there were a lot of people up there with us. There was not a lot of time to linger. That made taking this photo more interesting/challenging. Do it too fast and vertigo sets in.
Steve and I hope to go back to visit the Sagrada Familia when it is finished.
You have to buy tickets to go inside the Sagrada Familia. Entries are timed to control the crowd. I am Catholic so I did wonder if, or how often, mass is said. Pretty often as it turns out.
The space is massive and filled with colored light. You find yourself looking up, a lot.
This space is about light and color. The shapes feel organic and alive, and amazingly modern.
We also went up into one of the spires. That’s for tomorrow.
Bev C is this week’s winner. She will receive the Curved Perfect Scissors that I use every time I machine quilt. If you are not Bev and still want a pair of these great scissors, you can find them and more at pieceocake.com!
I’ll be back next Wednesday with another Giveaway. Happy stitching!
Ever since I learned about the Sagrada Familia in a history of architecture class in college, I have wanted to see it with my own eyes. It really is a spectacular place.
Click here to go to the official site: http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/. There is more information there than I can possibly include in a post. And here is a link to the apartment where we stayed. This is the view from our window:
This is not a subtle building. There is something going on everywhere you look. However, the more you look, the more you can feel the rhythm of the place.
This is the newer side of the church that depicts the Passion of Christ. The long columns simulate Christ’s tendons, the shorter white columns above that simulate ribs. The cross and figures at the top of the ‘ribs’ were installed just before we arrived. Workmen were taking down the scaffolding as we left Barcelona.
The statues on this side are more severe and I found them to be very moving.
The opposite side of the basilica is happier, and more worn. There are depictions of the nativity and of Christ’s early life. The style of the statues is different, less angular.
Catherine, this one is for you :-):
This is the back of the basilica.
If I remember correctly there are 5 more spires to be added to the top, plus the ones that will be built on the front. The front side (on the right in the photo below) is the least finished side:
The scale model shows more spires and a bank of stairs that might go into the street, and maybe into the apartment building across the street. I’m not sure how that’s going to work and, thankfully, it isn’t my problem.
There is a planned finish date, perhaps by 2026. Until then, the work will continue. (Look for the workmen, on the tallest spire.)
We spent our last morning/early afternoon of vacation at Empurius beach, followed a visit to the nearby ruins.
The ruins are Greek below and Roman above. Steve and Jeff listened to the audio guide… and then I asked them questions :-).
It was another wonderful day!
We’re back at Mas Blanc now, packing and getting ready for a very early morning. We fly back to JFK at 10:00am. It will take Steve and I about 18 hours to get home, and it’s daylight all the way!
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