Monday, December 15, 2014

Appreciated

I know many of us are in the throes of holiday craziness with the added bonus of working on gifts, and thus having nothing we can show on our crafty blogs. The dude and I find this time of year to be a little quiet at work so we decided to take a couple of days off. On Thursday we went to see the Magna Carta at the Library of Congress (through January 19). You might recognize the document as the predecessor of our own Constitution and Bill of Rights. One of the things I found most fascinating was that the Magna Carta was loaned to the US during the 1939 New York World's Fair. When it became dangerous for the document to return to the U.K., it was held at the Library of Congress. And when the U.S. entered the war, it, along with the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were moved to Fort Knox. If you get a chance to see the Library of Congress, you should. It's a beautiful building with some fabulous displays even without the Magna Carta. On Friday we went to Longwood Gardens to see the Christmas decorations. We did a few other things about town. It was a nice, relaxing day. It definitely has helped us gear up for this last full week of work this year.


Today, my mother texted me a photo of her outfit. "Thought you'd like to know that I still wear this. So many compliments!!!!" I have talked about it before, but I've never shown the photo. It's from Hollie Designs and I took it as a class, I think, at Spirit of Cross Stitch. It took a long time because we had to flip the Santa (stitched on the other side of the vest). I have the distinct inability to rotate shapes in my head, so it was a nightmare to do the second half, but I persevered. Lots of fun fibers in this one. I'm glad she still wears it because the vest I made myself (photo at the above link) never sees the light of day! 

9 comments:

Margaret said...

I'd love to go to the Library of Congress someday. I will miss the Magna Carta -- didn't know it was there. Did you know that where it is usually displayed in the UK, it's in the same room as the Beatles' lyrics? (At least it was at the time of whatever filming they did for that story about the Beatles' lyrics.)

Linda said...

Lovely vest Nikki as is your Mother.

Linda

Beth said...

What a nice weekend. Historic document + lovely old building + great garden = Wonderful Time!
That is an amazing vest - I'd have had to stitch it looking in a mirror or something to rotate the Santa - I'm terrible at that too.

Chris said...

Wow! I got to see the Magna Carta in Boston this summer. It was a special moment. So nice that you got to take some time around the holidays to see it.
That vest is fabulous! So is your Mom.

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Your Mama is cute :) And I would wear the vest too! I'm in to Christmas wild wear :)
I've seen the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence and Constitution when we visited DC three years ago!

Heather said...

I'd love to visit the Library of Congress one day. I find old documents fascinating. The ROM had some of the Dead Sea Scrolls a few years back, and they were very interesting. I've also been lucky enough to see a fabulous copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. I can only imagine how great seeing the Magna Carta must be.

I love that your mom wears a Christmas vest you made. It looks so good, and so does she. ;)

Beth W said...

How lucky you are to be near that kind of foundation history! And also to have a mom who still wears your projects. Mine framed my largest project (I have never had the guts to attempt cross stitch on a piece of clothing before) but every time I see it my eyes go to the three spots where I messed up. From what I can see of that vest, it looks pretty intricate, but fun!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Love that ceiling. How nice to have time for some culture this close to Christmas too. I have never seen the Magna Carta, I ought to take the Large Boy to educate him.
Lovely photo of your very youthful Mum in her waistcoat. They are not really fashionable here either but I personally like them!

Melody said...

It sounds like you had a great day touring! I would love to visit the Library of Congress someday...