Friday, January 3, 2014
On the quilting front...
I am moving a week from tomorrow so I have been in the process of packing and getting ready for the move so I haven't had an opportunity to do any quilting. Once I am settled into my new place I will be able to get started on a project. Now I just need to choose which one to do....
Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard
I'm sure we are all well aware of the 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy and the craze it created. I read the books and they were....okay. I thought the sex was too gratuitous and fantastical to be believable and I ended up caring more about their relationship than anything and so I by-passed the sex scenes.
Garbiel's Inferno is the first in a series by Sylvain Reynard and I have to say is WAY better that the 50 Shades books. Slightly more believable and has more realistic events in them. However, the issue I have with these types of books is that so many of them involve some rich guy and a lowly girl who supposedly needs "rescuing". Where are the books about a blue collar guy and hardworking woman who fall in love? I would fall in love with a blue collar man far sooner than I would a guy with a ton of money.
That being said, I loved this book. I loved their relationship. I love that it wasn't ALL about sex (SPOILER ALERT: they don't have sex until the last chapters of the book). As their tension builds you build with it and I loved that about this. It can be cheesy at times but for the most part it is an endearing book.
I recommend it over the 50 Shades trilogy.
Garbiel's Inferno is the first in a series by Sylvain Reynard and I have to say is WAY better that the 50 Shades books. Slightly more believable and has more realistic events in them. However, the issue I have with these types of books is that so many of them involve some rich guy and a lowly girl who supposedly needs "rescuing". Where are the books about a blue collar guy and hardworking woman who fall in love? I would fall in love with a blue collar man far sooner than I would a guy with a ton of money.
That being said, I loved this book. I loved their relationship. I love that it wasn't ALL about sex (SPOILER ALERT: they don't have sex until the last chapters of the book). As their tension builds you build with it and I loved that about this. It can be cheesy at times but for the most part it is an endearing book.
I recommend it over the 50 Shades trilogy.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Wine Tasting in Napa Valley
Since my blog is called "Quilts, Books and Wine" I figured I should actually post something about wine.
Over the holidays I took a trek up to San Francisco to see the 49er's play their last season home game at Candlestick Park. Such an amazing experience and I am so glad I went. The following day I drove up to Napa Valley to do some wine tasting. My family is from Napa and have lived there my whole life but I have never done any wine tasting there, pathetic I know. So I made an effort to do it this time.
Our first stop was Beaulieu Vineyards, otherwise known as BV coastal. A standard winery with a basic tasting room. Wines were very pricey and tasted "OK". Nothing exceptional. My friend liked it and bought a bottle for herself. It just wasn't that great, I thought.
Next stop was Beringer. The Beringer property is absolutely beautiful and has been there since the late 1800's. I have driven by the property my whole life so I wanted to be sure to see it. The property was all that the winery had going for them unfortunately. Both my friend and I did NOT like the wine. Even their special reserve was not that good. But we had a blast anyway and had to leave fairly quickly to make our appointment for the tour at Castello di Amorosa.
Ah, the Castle. The Castello di Amorosa was built to look like a castle from Europe. Every stone and every piece of wood actually came from Europe. It has been 14 years in the making and is still in process. It even has a moat! Simple beautiful property! Our tour lasted about 45 minutes and ended in the cellars where they keep the barrels. We even got to taste wine straight from the barrel. The wine was not expected to be ready until 2015. But it tasted good even now. Our tasting happened in the cellars as well and was exceptional! I paid a little extra to do the reserve tasting and I am SO glad I did. The wine at the Castle was less expensive than BV or Beringer, if you can believe that. The Castle does not sell in retail stores so you can only buy it online or in the Castle itself. And it truly was some of the best wine I have ever tasted. So smooth and rich. I bought 3 bottles. 1 of their standard Pinot Noir, which was some of the best I have ever tasted. And 2 of their reserve La Castellana "The Lady of the Castle" which I will be saving for a special occasion. I could not have been happier with our visit to the Castle. The tour was amazing and the wine was superb. Highly recommend visiting this castle.
http://www.castellodiamorosa.com/
One nights where I just want to enjoy a simple glass of wine I drink my $6 bottle of Castle Rock. :) It's smooth but tends to go bad pretty quickly so I have to finish the bottle within a couple of days before we starts to go bad. But oh well. Cheap can sometimes be just as good as the better bottles of wine.
Over the holidays I took a trek up to San Francisco to see the 49er's play their last season home game at Candlestick Park. Such an amazing experience and I am so glad I went. The following day I drove up to Napa Valley to do some wine tasting. My family is from Napa and have lived there my whole life but I have never done any wine tasting there, pathetic I know. So I made an effort to do it this time.
Our first stop was Beaulieu Vineyards, otherwise known as BV coastal. A standard winery with a basic tasting room. Wines were very pricey and tasted "OK". Nothing exceptional. My friend liked it and bought a bottle for herself. It just wasn't that great, I thought.
Next stop was Beringer. The Beringer property is absolutely beautiful and has been there since the late 1800's. I have driven by the property my whole life so I wanted to be sure to see it. The property was all that the winery had going for them unfortunately. Both my friend and I did NOT like the wine. Even their special reserve was not that good. But we had a blast anyway and had to leave fairly quickly to make our appointment for the tour at Castello di Amorosa.
Ah, the Castle. The Castello di Amorosa was built to look like a castle from Europe. Every stone and every piece of wood actually came from Europe. It has been 14 years in the making and is still in process. It even has a moat! Simple beautiful property! Our tour lasted about 45 minutes and ended in the cellars where they keep the barrels. We even got to taste wine straight from the barrel. The wine was not expected to be ready until 2015. But it tasted good even now. Our tasting happened in the cellars as well and was exceptional! I paid a little extra to do the reserve tasting and I am SO glad I did. The wine at the Castle was less expensive than BV or Beringer, if you can believe that. The Castle does not sell in retail stores so you can only buy it online or in the Castle itself. And it truly was some of the best wine I have ever tasted. So smooth and rich. I bought 3 bottles. 1 of their standard Pinot Noir, which was some of the best I have ever tasted. And 2 of their reserve La Castellana "The Lady of the Castle" which I will be saving for a special occasion. I could not have been happier with our visit to the Castle. The tour was amazing and the wine was superb. Highly recommend visiting this castle.
http://www.castellodiamorosa.com/
One nights where I just want to enjoy a simple glass of wine I drink my $6 bottle of Castle Rock. :) It's smooth but tends to go bad pretty quickly so I have to finish the bottle within a couple of days before we starts to go bad. But oh well. Cheap can sometimes be just as good as the better bottles of wine.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Over The Rainbow
I finished another quilt. This one is for my dear Bryce for her 8th birthday. I called this one "Over the Rainbow".
Those are all the blocks sewn together.
A close up of my awesome corners. :) and a bit of the free motion quilting I did. Kind of hard to see on the purple but it's there.
The backing with the quilting. In the essence of time I only quilting the colored blocks and not the white sashing. If I had had more time I would do the whole thing.
The finished product. This was a super quick and easy quilt. One more to notch on my belt. Getting better every time.
On to the next!
The finished product. This was a super quick and easy quilt. One more to notch on my belt. Getting better every time.
On to the next!
Monday, December 2, 2013
Getting better at this
The more and more quilting I do the more I can see my progress. Slowly but surely I am getting better at this. First case in point:
I'm very pleased with my corners on this one! Look how awesomely lined up they are! I love it!
This is for the Kaleidoscope quilt I am working on. More to follow soon.
This is for the Kaleidoscope quilt I am working on. More to follow soon.
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