Memphis ... and I'm sewing!

So to continue on my journey ... on Sat 18th April, we headed off for Memphis. We being Linda, Karen, Gerri and myself. An early start for us, and most of the day travelling. After we picked up our rental car, we checked into the hotel, and headed for our first stop:

We were excited to meet up with a long time blogging friend Forest Jane, and thought it would be fun to eat somewhere that locals eat. This is where we met up, and my goodness, we had the most delicious BBQ meal. I'm sad that I didn't get more pictures, and also that we couldn't spend more time with Jane, but it was delightful to meet her in person! xox

An early night was in store for us, because the next day we were having the most amazing adventure - we were going to visit with Elvis at Graceland! This is something that was super high on my bucket list, and I was beyond thrilled for it to be actually happening!!

 I couldn't resist this picture ... we're getting so close to realising a dream!!

 And here is Karen's ticket ... we're getting even closer!!

And now Linda and Karen are heading on into Graceland ... I cannot even describe to you how amazing this experience was. I do have pictures from inside - let me know if you'd like to see some of them, and I'll put them up on another post.

I was quite touched to see his grave in person, and to read the lovely testimonial from his family. Even though I'd never say that I am a crazy super fan, I have always loved him and his music, and it's fair to say that I appreciate him even more now. It was just amazing to share this experience with some of my loveliest friends. What a lucky girl I am :-)

After we were done visiting all the museums and shops at Graceland, we had to really hurry to get back into the city in time to see another famous attraction in Memphis:

We visited with the ducks at the Peabody Hotel. It was 5.00pm and time for the ducks to waddle to the lift and head up to bed for the night. What a fun tradition, and awfully cute. It was over really quite quickly though, and probably a good thing, because our day wasn't over!

Last on the agenda for the day was to head into Beale Street - and for baffling reasons I haven't taken any pictures. We spent the night in the Blues City Cafe, eating ribs, drinking wine and margaritas, and listening to a fabulous band. A really great night. And to make the night more memorable, as we were walking back to our hotel, a huge thunderstorm broke out, and by the time we'd dashed back to the hotel, Memphis was under a tornado warning!! Something I hadn't experienced since last time I was in Paducah. We could see the rain falling sideways outside our window while we kept our eyes on the TV to make sure we were safe. What a crazy night.

The next day was just fine again, and we headed out early. Our first stop was the National Civil Rights Museum, the location of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King.

The museum was amazing, and also terribly moving. How far we have come, and how far we still have to go. I was so impressed with how the museum is integrated into the original hotel, and how well preserved room 306 is. You can see it just as it would have been on the day Dr. King died.

The balcony, and the memorial. A very sombre scene. I'm so glad I visited this museum.

Last on our agenda for our quick trip to Memphis was a visit to Sun Records. The place where Elvis recorded his first songs and got his start in the music industry. 

I didn't get a good picture as it's a tricky little wedge shaped building on a busy corner, but I'm so glad we were able to visit - I don't think a visit to Memphis would be complete without it!

After Sun Records, we had to hit the road as the next stop on our trip - Franklin Tennessee - was beckoning. I'll leave my travels here, and fill you in some more on another post.

I'm excited to share that I've fnished the applique portion of the Montmellick quilt, and I'm ready now to add the final border print:

I need to fussy cut the border print out, and then I can get busy sewing it on :-)

And though I probably should have waited a little, I started putting a few blocks together of the next project I'm going to plod along on:

The project is 'Go Four It' which is in the February 2015 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting (I pinned a picture here). I saw the original at the Edyta Sitar lecture in Paducah, and fell in love with it. Funny, these are some of the same units I made while working on the Omigosh! project, but on a MARGINALLY larger scale. The strips were cut at 1" for Omigosh!, but in this project they're 1 1/4". Yes, a quarter inch larger :-)

I have a good long way to go with this one, and I'll have to intersperse piecing with quilting time, as I'd like to start hand quilting on Montmellick at some stage.

Well, this post has gone on and on, so I'll sign off. I'll leave you with a promise to get back to all the emails I've received really soon - I'm starting to get back into a normal routine. Amazing how quickly that can happen! Chatter soon :-)