The Carolina Quilter

2009-06-27T09:17:00.002-05:00

Farewell, Gloria! You Will Be Missed.

It's been a while since I posted but I am coming back. There have been a few painful events in the quilting area of my life but they are behind me now and I'm resurrecting my blog--even though no one out there will probably even happen by to read it anymore.

I had to post today to note the passing of one of our well-known area quilters, Gloria Granger. Gloria machine quilted for many in our area of Upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina as we are situated on the border of the state line under the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Gloria was a sweet, giving, easy-going lady and everyone who knew her thought well of her. I would only hope this could be said of me one day. Gloria suffered a heart attack a year or so ago and her doctor eventually told her to give up the quilting she so loved. She died at a young 56. Gloria will be buried today and I cannot attend her funeral as I am manning the quilt shop while Becky is vending at a local quilt show but she and her family are in my thoughts and prayers.

One of the entries in her guestbook says, "Save me a seat in the sewing room. I'll be seeing you soon." If we as quilters look around we see a lot of gray hair, glasses and possibly other accoutrements of old age among us. I am 46 and as an employee in a quilt shop, many of our regular customers are retired from their careers, many grandmothers or even great grandmothers. So, say a kind word to them. Admire their quilted works as this is what they will leave behind as their legacy on earth. Gloria touched many lives through her quilting. We will miss her.

Cherry Blossoms and an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

2008-08-09T14:23:00.001-05:00

Cherry Blossoms and an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
Originally uploaded by Momba

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail by Momba on Flickr

2008-06-01T08:33:00.000-05:00

2008-05-04T20:53:00.001-05:00

A Quilt of My Church for our Centennial HomecomingThis is the quilt I made for our church's centennial homecoming service which was today. I actually found out I was to make it after I made an innocuous statement at the centennial planning committee meeting to the effect, "Oh, I should have made a quilt of the church. . ." as in "too late now" when it was mentioned that two artists and former members were painting pictures of the church. That meeting was about six weeks ago and the minutes came out about two weeks later and they read in part, ". . .three pieces of art will be on display, .. . one a quilt by Jody Raines . . ." What? Panic! Had a lot of loose ends to tie up, a thread painting program to do for a guild in North Augusta, SC, etc. so I made this in one week working on it all day long. We had it framed to avoid it being touched by a multitude of hands, large and small. Thank you, Roger Newman of the frame shop in Inman! I'll post about it more but my batteries are on 8% and so is my body at this time of night, 10 p.m.

2008-04-07T11:25:00.003-05:00

Part Two of My Ocean Lakes PostSee below for our family pix from Spring Break at Ocean Lakes. I just had to blog about it. Ocean Lakes Family Campground comprises 310 acres of camp sites and permanent sites and one mile of prime real estate along South Carolina's Grand Strand of beaches. It is owned by Leonard "Popo" Jackson and his wife and is packed with campsites, permanent sites, an indoor and outdoor pool, meeting facilities, a pavillion on the ocean, bath houses, laundry, security, a golf cart sales and rental building, the front offices, food, etc. Here is the Meet & Eat where you can grab a burger. Note the mix of golf carts and cars. Golf carts are the preferred form of travel (electric only and no drivers under 16 or anyone after curfew at 11 p.m.). The Meet and Eat is next to the Sandy Mart which carries everything from swim suits to RV parts to ice chests to souveniers and candy.
Here is one of the sites which represents the 'early days' of Ocean Lakes, a trailer with a porch wrapped around it. You can still find those but they are becoming antique relics of the distant past as general prosperity has increased and the surplus of wealthy retirees moving to the beach has increased from the '50's and '60's. It's not uncommon to see little signs saying "We've spent our children's inheritance!"
Now you find lots of these, mansions by the sea squeezed in beside more humble abodes, trailers and campers. This is the one Jerry wants when we hit the lottery. Oh, and did I mention the lakes? Ocean Lakes really does have lots of lakes interspersed where you can fish or just watch the ducks, swans, geese and turtles.
And this guy is demonstrating the pace of life Ocean Lakes has to offer. See him snoozing underneath his neon palm tree in his hammock under the cool shade of his RV rollout UV canopy? If you're middle to upper class, it don't get no better than this right here as Larry the Cable Guy would say.

And speaking of decorations such as the natural looking palm tree pictured above, this is my favorite as far as landscaping in Ocean Lakes. So cute! As much fun as lying on the beach or collecting shells is riding around on the golf cart people and dog watching and perusing the various types of housing. Plus, as parents, you can let your preteens and teens run free because security is so high, you have to have a pass to get in and there are so many other kids down there, you know they've either got to be on the basketball courts, the beach, the pool, the Meet and Eat or somewhere they congregate. There is even a small section of ocean front road the teenagers call The Strip and you can find them riding back and forth in their golf carts checking each other out and asking that age old question, "What high school do you go to?" And you will find RVand car tags, little house signs and various t-shirts from Michigan, New York, Ohio, Virginia, North and South Carolina, out west, Canada and various points from around the globe. Truly, it is middle class Shangri-la. Everytime we go down we seriously consider what we could get if we sold the farm, the house, the John Deere and everything else we own and move down. Unfortunately, with the price of real estate down there (and you're not really buying the real estate--you never own the ground your place is on--you lease it for various amounts per year depending on the size of the house and your proximity to the ocean) we could only afford the lowliest of the little trailers and would still have to work full time. Oh well, we can dream!

2008-04-07T09:08:00.003-05:00

Half a Week in Paradise!
We, along with half of the upstate of South Carolina, migrated to Ocean Lakes at Surfside, below world famous Myrtle Beach for spring break. I think this may take two posts to get in all the pix and the info I have about Ocean Lakes. I would love to do a documentary about it. Here's Joanna showing a shell she found.
Here's Ben with the wind blown look on one of the cooler, more blustery days. We got down there about 11 p.m. Wednesday and it rained all day Thursday so we visited Bass Pro Shops and took naps. Friday it was partly sunny and cool. Saturday and Sunday, beautiful. We were depressed to have to pack up and leave.
Here I am post-skin cancer with my big ole sun visor and my big ole shirt hiding some of my big ole self. But since I'm usually the photographer, I did want to document that I was there.
Here they are (oh, by the way, Maggie had been there all week with friends and it had rained most of that time so she chose to go on home Saturday instead of staying another day--of course, she and Nick were going to pick out his tuxedo for prom which is next Saturday so I'm sure that weighed in heavily in her decision) on the golf cart which is the preferred mode of transport around Ocean Lakes and, like many other indicators, the more prosperous you have been in life, the bigger, grander and more pricey your golf cart is. People watching is part of the fun as well as driving around, and in our case, dreaming of which house you'd buy if you hit the lottery.

2008-03-19T11:49:00.003-05:00

My Favorite at the Pigeon Forge ShowThis was my favorite quilt in the professional division at the annual Pigeon Forge, Tennessee quilt show this past weekend. It was made by Patricia Kerko of Sunset, SC (a fellow South Carolinian) and she used fabric paint to do the face and lots of stippling, feathers, and other techniques.
This one is called Sissy Loves Carrotes by Lynn Drennen of Lindsey, California and since my FIL has donkeys, this is quite typical of their everyday behavior. You could purchase "Sissy" for a cool $3,000.
I'll post more quilts from the show but I had to show the photo that proves I am a good mother. My Dad who goes with us every year likes to take the children, my three and my brother's three to ride go-carts. It was a rainy, chilly weekend and I really didn't want to ride. But the older ones, all 13 and above now, didn't want to ride with Joanna, 8, and Jerry claimed he had a headache so, here I am. There's my neice, Sydnie, zooming ahead of us and I had it floored.
And look what we found off of Hwy. 411 on our way home. Down a side road I went and there it sat. Gorgeous.

2008-03-11T09:20:00.004-05:00

Ben's Birthday, the Georgia Cousins and Favorite QuotesHere was our Ben on his 16th birthday blowing out the candles on the cake his grandmother made him while the Georgia cousins and his sisters look on. He was a big boy when he was born, 9 1/2' to be exact and I thought they had left him in there too long. He was so big he could barely open his eyes at first and it took two people to unfold him to change his diapers. Now he's about 6' 2" and probably still growing! He played football for one season and decided it wasn't for him and now I get funny looks from the coach who expressed much dismay when he quit. What can I do?
Here's the same motley crew outside Bubba Gump's restaurant in Savannah last summer. They enjoy being together but Caleb, my SIL's little one and my little one, Joanna are both fractious, bullheaded and quarrelsome at times and I find my blood pressure rising when they get into it.
On the Ohio Quilter's Journey blog, she was sharing favorite friendship quotes. This pix I took in one of the famous cemeteries in Charleston, SC, reminded me of my favorite epitaph which is on a local grave, "Remember friends as you pass by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, soon you will be. Prepare for death and follow me." Jerry has an ancient aunt whose epitaph should read "I told you I was sick."

And here is my favorite Irish 'blessing': May all who know us love us. And if they do not love us, may God turn their hearts. And if he cannot turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so that we may know them by their limp." My Jerry often quotes Shakespear: "All the world is queer except for me and thee and sometimes I even suspect thee."

Speaking of Charleston, (I found disks of photos when cleaning and excavating in my basement yesterday and downloaded them to my laptop), this is the pool at the guest house where we have stayed when we go down to visit friends who now live there from our Up-country home. We don't get to swim in it as it's usually winter and the owners just allow us to stay in the guest house, not have complete run of the place--go figure! Anyway, this pool is something to see. The wall is covered with climbing fig which is quite prevalent down there. It must thrive on the salt air blowing in off the Atlantic. We haven't been down in over a year and I'm really needing a Charleston fix. There is something quite magical about it.

And here are Maggie, Joanna, Sarah and Isabelle, friends of our's who went down with us the last time we were able to go down. See the Cheezit's on the table--obviously, teenagers were present. Joanna actually had a good time despite her stoic expression in this photo! Good memories and good freinds.

2008-03-07T10:29:00.004-05:00

A Wonderful Surprise in the Mail!! And a Moth Attempt!The other day seemingly out of the blue, there arrived a package addressed to me from Australia!! I wracked my brain to think if I had inadvertently signed up for a swap and was not fulfilling my obligation--or worse, did someone get me mixed up and think I was in a swap and I received someone else's package. Then it hit me--duh! Sue Green, http://greenfingers-sue.blogspot.com/ had a post a while back that said that the first three people who commented would receive a gift sometime in the next 365 days. Not averse to receiving some goodies free and from Australia, no less, a country I would give my eye teeth to visit, I signed up. Looky, looky, looky! A sunny dish towel, a beautiful fat quarter, a recipe, and a quilt template! What a great surprise. Thank you, Sue and I will pay it forward. So, the first three who comment here will receive from me (sometime in the near future) a gift under the condition they agree to also pay it forward.
This is my favorite coffee mug and quite befitting of my curmudgeonly personality at times. My favorite--and only--son, Ben, brought it back to me from Savannah, Georgia. He said he saw it and thought of me immediately--isn't that sweet???! I am also into miniatures and in my non-existent spare time (when I should be housecleaning) I dabble in mini's and have been dubbed The Wicked Witch of the South on the GSOLFOT (Green Sock on Left Foot Tuesday) Yahoo Group. So, this is also my official GSOLFOT mug.
Now this is my piece d' resistance of late, my attempt to emulate Annemeike Mein's moths. They are roughly 11" x 6" and have two floral wires sewn into a satin stitch around the edges for shaping. The base fabric is batik and there are two layers of sheer chiffon on top of that on both sides. There are also two layers of Dream batting and one layer of stiff stabilizer and lots of thread painting. I would be immensely ashamed for Annemeike to see my little efforts--I have decided that only God and she can make perfect moths and how I am going to do the body is yet to be determined although I have both mink and rabbit fur to decide between. Below are a closeup and the back. Feedback will be appreciated!

2008-02-21T13:26:00.002-05:00

What are the Kids up to??Here is Maggie before a date recently. Her hair was so luscious and beautiful I had to take a pix or two. This girl leaves us for college this year and I'm trying to be brave about that.
Oh, this guy below is not a kid--he's a grown goat! Haha! I slay myself! This is Papa's newest acquisition, Babe.

And here's my good looking son, Ben with his golden doodle, Scout. Cute pair but they both need haircuts!

2008-02-16T16:46:00.002-05:00

Thread Painting an Underwater SceneUsing the book, The Magic of Free-Machine Embroidery by Doreen Curran, I used two layers of sheers to create a small free motion coral scene. I tried another layer on top but it covered everything entirely too much. Then I was seized by one of my "hey, I can do this!" moments so I spent most of the afternoon at the shop searching for mermaid images to inspire a larger piece including a mermaid. So, we'll see if that seizure of creativity bears fruit.
Here is a closeup of the lower portion of thread work.
Here is the upper portion. Next time I work with sheers, I plan to use very dark colors on the underlay and less intense colors on the overlay. But for an experiment in sheers, I thought it wasn't half bad.
I have a thread painting program I'm doing in Columbia coming up in April and am working on some small projects to take to that and found this among my things. I'm going to ruminate about the mermaid over the weekend while I also think about this month's Take it Further Challenge that I have yet to do.

2008-02-08T18:47:00.001-05:00

Jerry's Quilt and a Valentine WallhangingThis is Jerry's Jacob's Stars quilt from Susan Dissmore Teegarden's book, Clever Quarters (I think that's the name of it--I don't have it in front of me). I love it. Something about plaids and the multi fall colors. . . . And the border is stunning.
This is one of Late Bloomer's Quilts patterns, Sweet Hearts. I used Moda fabrics for this but, of course, can't think of the group. The embroidery is hand stem stitch and the blanket stitch was done on the Berninad Artista 730. The background is stipple stitched with ecru thread.

2008-01-22T16:12:00.001-05:00

Take it Further Challenge ProgressHaving completely missed the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge last year on Sharon B's In a Minute Ago blog, I had to sign on for the Take it Further challenge. I'm still a bit fuzzy on the details but you can go there and read them for yourself. I am hoping I can hang in for the entire year despite my work/children/church/occasional household chores and laundry duties. I must confess that this is a piece I had begun before I joined and it happens to go with the color scheme she chose for January. The vintage beauty is a gel transfer. The glittery embroidery floss came in an Oliver Twist package of coordinating threads. The fabrics are by Moda and Maywood.
This lavender fabric is Fusions by Robert Kaufman. I have used little glass beads here but I need to get more adventurous with my crazy quilting like Allison Aller (no rules).
Silk ribbon petals with gold bead centers. The piece of eyelet lace is vintage.
This is a corner of a vintage handkerchief I paid $9 for. I would normally not cut up such a gorgeous piece but life is short so . . . . ..
You can see the French knot grapes I started but abandoned and will have to get back to. There is also a Czech glass button and some larger glass beads. I will show more details when I get more accomplished.

2008-01-20T17:40:00.000-05:00

Believe it or Not, We Had Snow Here in the Upstate!We live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains so usually if we get winter weather besides ice cold rain, it's plain old ice that breaks limbs, turns the roads into skating rinks and knocks out power all over the region. It's gotten to be a rarity for us to get snow so here is our little accumulation that occurred this past week. Only Ben got out in it. Joanna has been deathly ill. I kept thinking it was a bad cold and cough and she would kick it on her own. After a week had passed and she was looking near death and asking to take naps all day, I took her to the doctor to find she had strep throat and the flu. So, needless to say, she is on major antibiotics and we stayed in.
A pix of Jerry's barn in the snow from the front porch--as far as I ventured out.
Here is Ben a little damp from his frolic and warming beside the fire and under his quilt I finally finished only recently. He loves it.

And lastly, I had to share the bouquet Jerry sent me for my birthday--the big 45. He also bought me a beautiful blouse and took me lunch. Even though we had a class at the shop that night, it was a wonderful birthday.

2008-01-15T08:29:00.001-05:00

Christmas Quilts for Everyone!
This is my nephew, Jay showing his Yellow Brick Road quilt made from batiks and next is his sister, Sydnie, showing her sampler made from brights. Two of my neices also received quilts but between my little basal cell recovery when I wasn't allowed to sew (I am fine now--just a little scarring which will diminish), singing in a funeral on Christmas Eve, and everything else that goes along with the holidays, I was sewing on bindings on Christmas Eve so barely had time to get them finished much less photographed.
This is my Dad doing what he does on Christmas day, enjoying watching the grandchildren open their gifts. He is such a sweetie. He still misses my mother terribly but he has rallied on these past four years without her and continued all the family traditions. He is truly a good man.
Here's my brother--notice the lack of resemblance?? He is slender, 6'5", has brown eyes and thick hair at 42. I am a bit on the fluffy side (due to a galling lack of exercise and no willpower whatsoever), 5'8", blue/grey eyes. There is a logical reason for that. We are both adopted. Our parents had seven miscarriages and then a baby, Nita Jo, who was paralyzed from the waist down with spina bifida and lived nine months. After further complications, my mother had a complete hysterectomy and they adopted us. The letter that arrived describing me said that "Baby Betty" had fair skin, red hair, blue eyes; one eye being larger than the other; and a deformed left foot being corrected with therapy. My mother said, "They are sending us a monster!" As it turns out, I was no different than the average (Remember, you're unique just like everybody else!). Most people have one eye larger than the other and many babies are born with a foot turned outward. So, lucky for me, they accepted me, a flawed but nonetheless 'normal' individual. Joey (yes, gentle readers, they named us Jody and Joey--cute huh?) did not have the Conquistador goatee and 'stash when we were growing up but I think it makes him look right roguish and distinctive. He was the quiet one and I was the creative one filled with the adolescent female angst and sucking most of the attention away from him throughout his formative years. So much so that when we went to his high school graduation we were floored by the amount of academic awards and superlatives he received. Where did all of that hidden wonderment come from? Now, he is a chemist and computer genius who has travelled to Hong Kong twice, Paris a few times, all over the US, Thailand, Canada, etc. and I am lucky to get to Greer, SC once in a while about 15 miles away from home to Hobby Lobby. Oh well, the meek shall inherit the earth--ours being the very case in point.
Lastly, here is a pix of a pillow I just listed on eBay. Someone please go buy it! We had to send Wofford College, the private college where our daughter has just been accepted and where her grandfather went in the 50's, $300 to be officially on the roles! And so it has begun. I will probably be listing more stuff on there as I have time. Selling my body is pretty much out of the question as a second job--there would sadly be no takers! haha. Hope everyone is having a happy, healthy New Year.
http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Love-Letter-Handmade-Quilted-Altered-Art-Pillow_W0QQitemZ110214831411QQihZ001QQcategoryZ116649QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Love-Letter-Handmade-Quilted-Altered-Art-Pillow_W0QQitemZ110214831411QQihZ001QQcategoryZ116649QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

2007-12-21T20:22:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from Our HouseOur Christmas tree complete with decorations we've collected through 22 years of marriage plus my college years, so 26.
Joanna's star from when she was a baby.
The antique table we were given by a former pastor's wife covered with several year's Christmas cards featuring pix of the children and the clock I bought at an antique store in Rock Hill, SC when I was a student at Winthrop College. It's one of my cherished items. The figurine on top is made of pot metal.
The ornament Jerry bought for me at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City when he traveled with his former job and one of the Christmas place settings my parents collected back in the 80's when Christmas china was just coming on strong. My brother and I inderited a place setting each of about 20 different settings so we can set a really diverse table during this time.
Some of the stuffed animals and my stuffed stocking from my childhood. Scout, our Golden-doodle, thinks that the moose is supposed to be her personal chew toy. Luckily, I have word that Santa is bringing her a stuffed duck. These are sitting on the hall tree I inherited which belonged to our Aunt (pronounced "Aint") May Gramling from my Dad. Merry Christmas. I wish you all health, prosperity and joy.

2007-12-14T09:56:00.000-05:00

In Lieu of Personal Pictures TodayEnjoy this vintage Santa image and this gorgeous Silver Leaf stocking by Soledadalberti on Etsy. This is so beautiful and she has also has some beautifully embellished pillows featuring her artwork. I'm trying to improve my karma by featuring other Etsy sellers on my little blog spot.
In other news, I get my stitches out this afternoon so will be eager to hear if I'm going to have this 'growth' of tissue on my eye for the rest of my life. Maggie asked if I would be singing in the choir Sunday. I said only if I wear my eye patch. But dangit, you don't want to go around looking like a wounded pirate awaiting his official eyepatch for the rest of your life.

2007-12-11T09:13:00.001-05:00

Our Christmas Card PixHere is our gang, including Nick, Maggie's boyfriend who has been around now --well for all of her life but as a boyfriend since she was 12. Who knows where this relationship will go but he is a good boy, a Christian boy, treats her with respect, is from a good solid family so even though they have neither ever dated anyone else, they seem to be level-headed and good together so . . . These things tend to take more serious consideration as he is now a sophomore at Clemson and she has just been accepted at Wofford College in Spartanburg. She was considering USC in Columbia but visited there with two friends who are going (and who had launched a major campaign to get her to join them) and I think she saw that it was a bit large for her. She is basically a small town, small school, small church girl and a homebody. I have tried not to say much although we really wanted her to go to Wofford which is right down the road from us about 20 minutes. Her Daddy and grandparents made no bones about expressing their desire for her to go there but I want her to be happy and not feel like she was coerced or pressured to go somewhere she might really not have wanted to go. But she seemed thrilled when she was accepted and now on to trying to get as many scholarships as she can. Wofford is private and not cheap. Incidentally, my Dad graduated from there in the 50's and has attended every Wofford home game since somethink like '47. So, we know he's proud.
Well, I look like home-fried scrapple. Luckily, I am wearing an eye patch but when I remove it, it appears that the doctor took that skin from my neck and wadded it up and randomly stuffed it into the hole left by the basal cell on the bridge of my nose. Plus, my eye is turned inside out and stitched partially closed. I look like the hunchback of Notre Dame or a partially melted wax figure at the Halloween wax museum of horrors. Not to mention the big bandages on my chest where the other basal cell was removed and over where they took the graft. As I said, my husband, whom one of our artst friends calls The Beautiful Man, remains as beautiful as ever while I am looking a bit grotesque and frightful. I'm not medial expert but lets just say this thing has a way to go before I look remotely human again. I get stitches out Friday so I guess we'll see. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of making myself a nice crazy quilted eye patch to wear when I go out among the public for quite a while.

2007-12-04T14:48:00.000-05:00

I have been tagged

by Weronica in Sweden and boy, did I need it--wallowing in pity today (see my earlier post!) and sorry!

4 Jobs I had..
1. pumping gas & cleaning restrooms at my Dad's Interstate service station
2. Public Relations intern while a student at Winthrop College
3. stringer for the Tryon Daily Bulletin newspaper in Tryon, NC
4. Substitute teacher at district elementary, junior high and high schools

4 films I can watch over and over…
1. Harry Potter, the first two
2. The Indiana Jones movies
3. Romancing the Stone
4. The Gods Must Be Crazy

4 Tv-shows I watch
1. The Closer
2. CSI
3. Sunday Morning
4. Funny Home Videos (Gosh, I sound shallow and uncomplicated but I'd rather laugh)

4 Places I have lived
1. Charleston, SC where I was born and a foster baby until 3 months
2. Landrum, SC
3. Inman, SC
4. Still Inman, SC

4 favorite foods
1. manicotti
2. Blue Bell's Pistachio Almond ice cream
3. steamed oysters
4. chocolate with almonds

4 favorite colours
1. burnt sienna
2. autumn rusts, browns and golds
3. Robin's egg blue
4. sage

4 places I would love to be right now
1. In bed resting with my husband by my side--any time
2. Port St. Joe Florida
3. Colorado
4. My imaginary mountain cabin in Waynesville, Maggie Valley or Flat Rock, NC

4 Names that I love but would not use for my own children
1. Luke
2. Olivia

3. (woops) Clara

4. Blythe

4 People I would love to tag with this Meme
1. Dee in Long Island, New York (I'm somehow screwing this up, too)
2. Allie in Washington
3. Jeri in Texas
4. Vivian in California

This was fun I think! I hope you will enjoy it too.

2007-12-04T12:44:00.000-05:00

I Shouldn't Have But I Had to Look

I mentioned earlier my little pity party I was throwing myself for having to have two basal cell carcinoma's removed this Friday--yes, it's the most common kind of skin cancer, yes, it's 'routine' (but you know they say that all surgery is routine unless they're performing it on you), yes, it's out-patient, and yes, thank God, it's not the worst kind of skin cancer , or cancer period, you can have. However, this one is on the bridge of my nose right beside my right eye--right near my tear duct. And so this morning as if I wasn't already emotional over other issues going on right now, I had to look this little procedure up on the internet (thank me for sparing you the pictures). If I was trying to be brave and even joke about it before (my friend, Cliff, asked me Sunday where they would get the skin graft from if they had to do one--my buttocks? Boy, I said, I really would have a sh--ty outlook on life then, huh? yuck, yuck, yuck!) But given my emotional state today and having looked at these pix, it ain't funny anymore. I'm officially dreading it. And, knowing my husband, the man, who first of all, is nearly immune to pain--I could tell stories of his bucking up under severe pain throughout his life--and secondly, kids me over my wimp factor in the face of pain, needles, etc. he will be shaking his head at this entry. But hey, it's not his handsome face going under the knife. He'll still be beautiful and while I've never been accused of that before, now I'll be . . . well, Scar Face Al Capone. So, anyway, this is my little blog, my little web journal and you're my poor unwitting readers so there, I'm venting for all the world to see (or at least the ones in my webrings and those who stumble by)! Alright--I guess I feel better so it's back to work trying to get two quilts finished for Christmas gifts before I go into my week of recuperation where I'm told I won't be able to look down to sew on binding nor even wear my glasses so I guess I won't be able to make out much on TV either. The only up side to the whole thing is that they are giving me a prescription for Lortab. I guess I'll just knock myself out and snore. sorry for the draggy post--I'll do better after this is over, I promise!

2007-11-29T09:24:00.001-05:00

This is how I changed the ornamentThank you all so much for your kind comments on my ornaments and my impending little nose flap procedure! I'm just hoping I can get a little handwork done while I recoup since I'll be climbing the wall if I can't. This is one of those paper mache star-shaped ornaments I painted with Gesso, then with gold metallic paint and then dabbed Martha Stewart's glitter glue and sprinkled gold glitter on it.

Now for my search: I bought this Timeless Treasures Nature print many years ago at the Pigeon Forge, TN quilt show and on my little limited budget, I bought two yards. Shelved it and fondled it ocasionally wondering what I would do with it one day. When this pattern came out in Fons and Porter magazine, I knew that was it. However, to make a full-sized quilt, I needed three yards. Searched Lost Fabrics, eBay, quilt shops all over webland, etc., etc.. I am finally getting it put together and am still hoping someone has a few yards of this elusive fabric on a shelf somewhere they might be willing to sell.

Here's Joanna on Thanksgiving Day. Just had to put her little pix in here.

2007-11-26T15:29:00.001-05:00

Some Christmas Ornaments I'm Working On!This is one of the 2 1/2" covered buttons I have worked on for a commissioned project. Guess I can't tell for what right now?? Anyway, this was what I came up with, a vintage Santa transferred to fabric using Printed Treasures, crazy quilt patches sewn on with feather stitching, cross stitches, fly stitch and blanket stitch in various flosses and threads and embellished with beads. I also darkened Santa's eyes, cheeks and mouth a bit with Pigma Micron pens. This one, I must confess, is going back to the drawing board because I coudn't get the ribbon rossette to glue to the back of the metal button. I am going to plan B on this one.
This is my 'Tussy Mussy' to hang on a tree, wreath or door with ornaments and gifts inside. It is made from a cone shaped piece of background fabric with peach and cream patches zig-zagged on randomly, bits of lace, a piece of copied sheet music, "Oh Holy Night", and a vintage Santa transfer. The whole thing was covered with sparkle organza and then embellished with embroidery and beading. It is lined and this one I did a binding around the top. It has gold grommets on each side with nylon cording for hanging.

This last one is another covered 2 1/2" button with a vintage Santa image, crazy patches, embroidery and beads. This one has a double ruffle and a piece of green felt glued to the back to cover the raw edges. A covered button doesn't allow much scope for creativity but this is the best I could do with such a small 'canvas'.
Now I will mention my little pity party I'm throwing myself. Nothing to compare to what some of our fellow quilters are going through but I have to have two basal cell carcinoma's removed, one on my chest (where I fried myself in my wastral youth) and one on the bridge of my nose right beside my right eye! Not only does the one on my face involve either a 'flap' to cover the hole he will gouge out or a skin graft causing me to fear that I will resemble the bride of Frankenstein right here at Christmas, but this is going to cost at least $1,000 which is my deductible--right here at Christmas!!!!! Of course, Jerry, who takes great pleasure in pointing out that the o.b.gyn said I have a low pain tolerance while I was in the throes of agony giving birth to his three children weighing in at 8 lbs. 14 oz., 9 1/2 lbs. and 8 lbs. 15 oz. respectively, is referring to this little procedure as "Jody's extreme facial reconstruction and near death experience". haha. However, I have pointed out to him that although I will be at home for a week recovering, not only will I not be able to sew but vacuuming, dusting, laundry and cooking will definitely be out as well. So there. Anyway, my little hole-in-the-face procedure is December 7th for all of you who will lend a positive thought and a little prayer (I really don't like pain, truth be known).

2007-11-21T13:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!This photo is one my friend, Edgar Woodfin sent me. He is like my personal nature photographer (except that he sends them to all of our fellow choir members as well). He sent this pix this morning along with some breathtaking fall foliage shots.

2007-11-19T16:53:00.000-05:00

Cherub Pillow Top

I have been working on this little cherub pillow top using a vintage art image transferred to fabric using acrylic gel medium. It's embellished with covered buttons, glass beads, vintage lace, and embroidery stitches. I am thinking of adding a ruffle using sparkle organza. I love these little cherubs.A closeup of the feather stitch using a metallic thread included in the Oliver Twist "Two of a Kind" thread packages. They are luscious.
Another closeup of the buttons and glass beads.
I finally got around to quilting Jerry's Jacob's Stars quilt from Susan Teegarden Dissmore's book, Clever Quarters. I think I posted a pix of it last year when it was just the top. It was one of those "I've got to make that" quilts and I love it. Be honest--give me your opinion on the quilting--I did it on the Handi Quilter and I think I used five bobbins of Bottom Line thread!!
Another closeup (am I brave or stupid?!). I guess you'd call these free form feathers. Too much?

2007-11-13T13:05:00.001-05:00

A Beautiful Barn on Highway 11Fall, the leaves changing and the cooler temperatures always makes me yearn for a drive to the mountains. So, Sunday, we played hooky from church and went to Highlands and Cashiers, North Carolina. We took my Dad and just drove up for the day. The weather was gorgeous and though most of the leaves were past their peak in the upper elevations, they were beautiful a little farther down. We had brunch at Cracker Barrel in Hendersonville and shopped around in Highlands. The photo of the barn I edited on our HP 3310 printer for a soft focus effect which I love.
A bit hazy but this shows the breathtaking views available in the Smoky Mountains.
Daddy, Ben, Maggie and Jerry waiting in the rocking chairs for our seats at Cracker Barrel.
This pix of Joanna I cropped for a closeup. She's such a cutie.
And also treated to lighten and soften them, this 'gaggle' of turkeys were just a few of the many we spotted on a side road on our way back down the mountain so had to pull off and take advantage of the photographic opportunity.
I'll get back to posting pix of my quilting endeavors but had to share these pix of our little one day adventure in the higher elevations of our region.

2007-11-07T09:20:00.001-05:00

God is the Greatest ArtistWe have been in a severe drought this summer--hardly any rainfall. So the appearance of these gorgeous gray clouds drifting across the skyline was a welcome sight and so extremely beautiful I had to take some pictures. This is the line of trees along our upper pasture.
Ben was riding up to the house on the four wheeler carrying his fishing pole. He has taken a renewed interest lately in fishing.
Yes, gentle readers, I got a Featherweight but Jerry got a John Deere with a cab, AC, and a radio that works. The interior is nicer--and cleaner--than my van. And did I mention his radio works? Ever since we left my windows down about four years ago on a hot summer day and went somewhere in his truck during which time there came a rain storm of Biblical proportions and soaked everything in my car, my radio has never let me forget it. Depending on the weather, you either get an echoing sound, a wheezing, a crackling or it's as clear as a bell. You never know. But, hey, if I want to listen to music, I can go sit in the John Deere which has a jam-up comfortable seat by the way, and crank it up.
Here is the little imp herself, Joanna. She is evidently trying to make up for the older two having been so good, honest, well-behaved and, well, just plain good. She is the one my mother used to wish on me as in, "I hope you grow up and have one just like you!!!!!". Every time she pitches a fit, demands her way or does something else out of the realm of good behavior, Jerry says, "Wonder who she gets that from?" And she has brooding over past slights down pat (my good friend Little Ben Gramling always looks at me when I am ranting over past incidents and says, "Well, Jody, you know you are a brooder."
We'll be driving to school and she'll say, " Mamma, remember when Ben took my pocket book and wouldn't give it back because he said it used to be Maggie's and I took it?!!" To which I will respond, "Joanna, that was a year ago and it had been Maggie's and you took it." To which she will retort, "Well, she wasn't using it anymore and it's none of Ben's business and he does that to me all the time and you don't fuss at him for it!" And so on and so forth. And adding to this situation, my Dad constantly says, "Jody, she's just like you!" Truly the only thing she got from her Daddy besides being plain cute is the brown eyes and unfortunately the wide thumbs.
These two have always been like this--close and able to joke and talk with each other like friends. Joanna considers Ben her arch rival and nemesis. I'd like to think they would stick up for each other if one was threatened and my Dad claims to have actually witnessed Ben watching out for his little sister but mostly he picks on her, tries to micro-manage her and drives her to distraction. And am I ready for Maggie to leave us next year for college????? NOOOOOOOOO. And am I ready for Ben to launch out a mere two years later??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. They will be peeling me off their ankles as they walk into the dorm. And then by the time Joanna, eight, graduates and goes off to college, she'll be putting the parking brake on my wheelchair and leaving me babbling as she moves in.

2007-11-06T08:12:00.000-05:00

Maggie in Her 'Dream Dress'

I would love to say that Maggie's high school beauty pageant, Miss Panorama was enjoyable but it was like a night from hell. But she, ever the positive, bubbly one, enjoyed it so that was what was important. Besides the girl who placed who slunk around the stage like a hooker, the freshman who won (an unprecedented occurrence) and the cringing over the slouched shoulderd, ill-spoken waifs who dotted the stage among the really poised, beautiful girls, there was the very pregnant pause (no not contestant, thank God) when the 'judges' were making their final decision and the girls--all 150 of them so it seemed (there were about 50 I think) had to stand there and the crowd grew restless and some began to show their redneck roots. There were catcalls, bellows, screams, chants, etc.. For all of the 'emcee's' attempts to remind us that this was a formal pageant worthy of dignity and respect, it seems that in many crooked corners of society these days, there really are no such concepts known. By the time we left, my stomach was churning and my head was pounding. And I know this sounds like a mother whose daughter was overlooked--last year she did place in the top ten--but it really was horrible. So many of the truly nice, respectable, friendly and genuine girls were left standing in the background while some of the much-less-so's were awarded for their apparent snobbiness, sluttiness, and commonness. So there, I've had my rant and I feel somewhat better. If only there were events like these where the attendees could manage to act decently I wouldn't have felt so ready to bolt out the door. I will say that the only thing that made me proud besides seeing Maggie's sweet smile and her walking out in that lovely dress was the fact that our family didn't have to hoot and holler as if it were a hillbilly hootenanny. And for those of you from up north still patiently reading my rant, a hillbilly hootenanny generally involves lots of beer, some nudity, much 'hollering' back and forth and often some random shotgun fire. Had the beer and shotguns been allowed and a few of the dresses a little more revealing, it would have been officially dubbed an HH event worthy of Jeff Foxworthy's attention. I'm just thankful Maggie is a senior and I don't have to sit through another one of these . . . wait . . . I've got an 8-year old. Well, by then, I'll be even more deaf and blind, probably on more meds and I'll just drift through it all in a senile stupor.

On a lighter note, here is my early Christmas gift--a Singer Featherweight complete with the case, a new belt, foot attachments and the booklet. One of the ladies who attended our retreat collects them and didn't 'need' this one so she had it for sale and Jerry bought it. The only thing about it is that my good friend, Fay, who also attended, wanted it as well so now I feel a bit guilty having bought it out from under her as it were. I'm considering calling her to ask if she wants to buy it but then I won't have one . . . decisions, decisions . . . ..
This is one of my many pillows I've made recently. I call this photo transferred vintage beauty "Flossy". It's made with Maywood's Willowberry Winter coordinates in peach, sage, pale tan and cream and embellished with yo-yo's, buttons including a Czech glass button, beads, ribbon and a double ruffle. I will put it in my Etsy shop but alas, so far, no sales for me, sniffle. Maybe it's my cold, black heart (as revealed in my beauty pageant rant above). All that negativity is not good for my karma which is sorely in need of improving. But I have always been profoundly truthful and that's the way I saw it. I am also painfully honest about myself and as I was never, nor am I now in my middle ages, beauty pageant material so just take it as a good case of sour grapes all around if you will and forgive a mother's railing forth at the general state of things every now and then.

2007-11-05T10:06:00.000-05:00

Pix of our Fall Retreat this past weekend with Dee DoeblerHere is Veronica and Mary Margaret, two of my favorite quilters (Mary Margaret helped me with this year's Shop Hop quilt. She did the math for the center medallion!) leaning toward each other to compare notes and stitches! The only drawback of our venue, Starry Nights, was the lighting. The building is mainly used for wedding receptions, anniversary parties, etc. so soft ambient lighting is perfect for those types of gatherings. For a quilt retreat where seeing your work and stitches was essential it was less than ideal but the ladies seemed to enjoy themselves, got a lot of progress made and enjoyed the technique. We had Dee Doebler whose quilt, Reflections, a yin/yang type of design, won several awards and was published in some books, calendars and magazines back in 2000 when she originally designed and showed it.
This is Dee in the pink quilted jacket assisting Karla with the technique. This was toward the front of the building where the light was better. That's the quilt hanging in the background. You can see the quilt and read about Dee here: http://fringesisters.com/DeeDoebler/dee_doebler.htm.
Here is Caroline peering up at me from the ironing board. She is so funny. I enjoy just having her around. She is a middle school teacher in Rutherfordton and tells the funniest stories. She is officially a hoot.

Dee is laughing at something said at this table while Darlene and Cyndi work away. Again, note all the lights. We did forewarn them that task lighting would be necessary so they came prepared. Quilters are like boy scouts in that regard. They came equipped with lighting, ironing boards et al. I should have hauled a Bernina down the street and learned this technique since I was the very one who suggested we have her. I remember when her quilt won Best of Show at the Asheville show. We all stood just staring in amazement at it. I did get the pattern so I'm adding that to my list of to-do's down the road when said list ever shrinks some.

Eve Ensnared by Temptation

2007-10-30T10:58:00.001-05:00

Eve Ensnared by Temptation
Originally uploaded by carolinaquilter

My attempt at a fabric collage art quilt. Eve Ensnared by Temptation.

2007-10-24T09:13:00.000-05:00

Finally got some things listed on Etsy!In light of having bought Maggie yet another evening gown for this year's Miss Panorama pageant at school (this dress is gorgeous and flatters her tremendously--I will be posting pix!), buying two high school annuals, car insurance due, etc., etc., I really am in need of some Christmas bucks.
So, in keeping with my recent pillow theme, I have listed this Wistful Mermaid Pillow. I had some things listed last year--some of our shop samples, some fabric postcards, but didn't sell anything. I'm hoping these two items get noticed--and purchased!
This one is a wallhanging--a vintage image of two canaries. I used a torn strip from a vintage silk scarf, some vintage checked fabric, buttons, a paper image of the nest and egg and commercial fabrics. I meander quilted it with a pink sliver thread but I can't remember who it is by. I have really been trying to stretch my creative boundaries beyond the ordinary to altered art and fabric collage. I have Lesley Riley's book Quilted Memories and pour over it religously. I want to do that!!!! In fact, I'm going to find her blog and add it to my list of favorite places. I suppose these look too planned, uniform and staid to be considered 'fabric art' but I'm going to persist.

2007-10-19T12:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry to post twice in one day after silence for so long but this is "Blondie" the sexy pinup witch to which I allude in my post (see below)!!!!!!

2007-10-19T07:37:00.001-05:00

On a Pillow Kick

Lately, I've been making pillows. I've been playing with reverse bobbin work on the Bernina 730 (I like it) as well as the decorative stitches and the Bernina Stitch Regulator. I'm also obsessed with finding vintage and 'free to use' images around the web (at least I am hoping the ones I am downloading are truly 'free to use'. From what I've read about copyright laws they are confusing and can be tricky. But as I am not going to be showing my pillows at the Louvre or someplace akin to that, I guess I'm marginally okay??? But did you know that you can go to Google Images and type in various things and the world opens up at your fingertips?!!! As much as I play around on the computer and surf to find what I'm looking for, I have just recently discovered this most fascinating universe waiting to be explored out there in cyberspace. Perhaps I am just late to the game as usual but it's my latest thing. I am putting a few of my pillows at Becky's and my booth at the Inman Antique Mall. Got to pay the rent and Todd's salary. I'll have to head down there and take some pix to post. One of my resolutions of late is to post more often now that my big excitement/crises/cerflumux/etc. with the Bernina dealership has sort of quieted down and I'm not a bundle of raw nerves over the entire affair and to get UFO's completed.
This is my cowgirl pillow with part of a poem I found on the web. I have also begun collecting buttons, here again, mostly from the antique mall and from various places in my house where I've put buttons through the years. I have them in an old glass candy container and they sit on one of the Horn cabinets. It's interesting to watch customers unscrew the lid and go plundering through there. I'm also carrying Bead Soup and Gravy so am incorporating beads in my pillows.This one I made for Jerry. Both the background fabric and the sexy pinup witch fabric are no longer available. I found the sexy witch material last year at eQuilter and bought three yards of it so when these ladies are gone, they're gone. One of our good customers looked at her and said, "She looks like you!" Bless her heart--I knew I loved her but she is in desperate need of a good optometrist but I appreciated the sentiment nevertheless. Oh to look like Blondie here. Woops! she somehow disappeared. I am trying to find her to get her back up.!!

Now this next one comes closer to looking like me. She's my favorite hag. I think she's got class and style. Lots of decorative stitching, the eyes were embroidered using the Designer Plus software and I sewed the eyelash yarn on by hand.

I actually have done a few more pillows which I will try to post tomorrow. I am going to try to post more often here. We'll see if I can do that!!!! I've missed everyone.

2007-09-18T07:35:00.001-05:00

Cancel the Search Party! I Am Alive Despite All Obstacles.
I can't believe I haven't posted a dad-gummed thing since we got back from Bernina training in Chicago back in August. We have our machines set up (have even sold one without advertising our presence yet so that's good). The better news is that we have found a wonderful Mastery and software teacher and she may lend us a hand on our website which will be fantastic. I have been busy trying to turn out samples, learn the machines and get myself oriented. Jerry and I are working six days a week, him at his 'regular job', me for Becky at the shop through the week and both of us here on the weekends for the Bernina's. So, hopefully, ever upward from here. I just wish I weren't the kind of person who would rather start with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony than Mary Had a Little Lamb when it comes to the piano and I want to be well-versed and 'all knowing' about the Bernina's before I have even had them on the floor for a full month.

Anyway, all in due time, I suppose. We had a girls' pillowcase class last night here at the shop and it was a raving success. Here is Allie clowning with her 'jelly roll' pillowcase at the ironing board. Isn't she cute?

Here are Elizabeth and Lindsey, our two Lady Cardinal volleyball players who came straight from the game. Elizabeth and my son, Ben have grown up together from infants. Elizabeth is 20 days younger than Ben and they have been good buds forever. They went to preschool together, have grown up in church together and they traveled through most of elementary school until she started going to Campobello Gramling and left Ben at Inman Elementary. Then as high school approached, Lizzie, as they call her, left Ben for Landrum High and he continued on to Chapman. He misses her. The cute story about those two is that when they were in about fourth grade, Maggie said to Ben, "Everybody knows you and Elizabeth will end up marrying each other one day." In all seriousness, Ben replied, "No. We decided in preschool we were just going to be friends." Time will tell. Elizabeth is the taller of the two--her Dad is known affectionately as Big Dave. He is nearly 7 feet tall and his shoulders are nearly as broad. When he gets in the pool, children climb him as if scaling Mt. Everest. He's a big teddy bear.
Here is the lovely and elegant Sarah working on her pillowcase. This girl is sweet, athletic, mature and beautiful. She's the total package. All of these girls were great to have in class. They are among the cream of the crop among the young girls around here. We missed Nikki, another friend who was supposed to come but had to babysit her younger sister. We'll try to catch her next time.
Here is Maggie, my girl, checking on Casey's progress at the ironing board. "How ya doin' there, Casey? Take it from me, the iron is hot." Maggie seems to have a thing about burning herself. I worried about her--and the brand new high school--in chemistry lab.
And here is the whole crew surrounding Marie who taught the class. We fed them pizza and Pepsi, cut their fabric and turned them loose on the Bernina's. And they loved it. They want to come back for more classes. Casey even bought a camouflage-looking batik to make a pillowcase for her boyfriend. She and Allie both plan to attend the University of South Carolina, thus the burgundy and black pillowcase fabric choices for them. Maggie's choice, of course, was pink. She's the ultimate girly-girl. Cute, cute, cute bunch of girls. Oh, and that's Shelby, Casey's sister on the floor beside Sarah. She and her mother, Dawn, came in to see what was going on and Casey stayed to make her own pillowcase. Sarah and Casey, the two Chapman volleyball players were victorious over the Landrum team but since they are all friends, no harm no foul. Precious girls.

2007-08-05T18:43:00.001-05:00

Country Mouse in Chicago!We did go into the Windy City. We took the train from Aurora into Union Station. Ate a Chicago style pizza at Giordano's--spinach and it was great. We walked several blocks toward Michigan Avenue and toward the shore but Lollapalooza was going on. Some were merely lolla'd and some were downright palooza'd so we didn't get to go to the lake shore. We did ask two very nice looking black policemen how we could get to it around the Lolla and they pointed out a way to go but (I suppose) recognizing the country mouse out of her element, they recommended that as it was dusk, and the 'hawks would be out hunting tourists'--exact words!--that we take a taxi back to Union Station. Which we did. The taxi drive alone on spinning wheels, swerving in and out of traffic and going at breakneck speed was harrowing and blood-pressure-raising but much better than being mugged--or worse--as we seemed to have SOUTHERN TOURISTS OUT OF THEIR NATURAL ELEMENT--EASY PICKIN'S tattooed on our foreheads.
I had to call our son while we ate pizza and tell him that we walked past this burned out wreckage sitting in the street as well as an entire street cordoned off with police officers patrolling as they were filming Batman Three!!! I told him I tried to jump in front of the cameras but I was detained so he told his sister that I had been arrested. haha. Actually we saw no actual filming equipment as we gawked by but there were movie vans and 'official' type of film crew people all around. As the daylight faded, however and the Lollapalooza was getting into full swing, we prudently decided to head back to the more sedate, well manicured and scenic greens and lakes of Aurora.

Today before Jerry had to head back, we did go into Naperville. What a beautiful little city! This was the DuPage river heading through the downtown. I spent a small fortune in quilting and sewing magazines at Barnes & Nobel and of course found a sweater set on sale at Eddie Bauer. Since we are here for Bernina dealer training, I am newly inspired to resurrect my limited abilities in garment sewing as well as quilting. We have met some of the nicest fellow new dealers this week from all over the country and were very impressed by the intense training offered by Bernina of America. I must say that having never owned a Bernina, I was a bit skeptical and a non-believer in what I considered the hype surrounding the brand. I must say that as jaded and doubting as I can be, I am now a convert. I can hardly wait for the Product Training that begins tomorrow. Let's hope the alarm clock doesn't fail me.
We also visited Stitches-N-Stuffing in Naperville. Wow! What a beautiful, well-stocked and organized quilting and sewing shop. We all loved it. And the staff was very friendly and helpful and, as seen here, let us take pix throughout the store. Very inspiring. Well, I already miss Jerry and am certainly not used to be several states away from my children and family but they will keep us so busy this week I'm sure it will fly by. Tonight, I have done my laundry, have the computer on one table and my machine on the other and I'm sewing until I get tired of doing that. Thanks to all of you who made comments. I will try to check in to everyone's blogs as I can this week.

2007-07-30T08:52:00.001-05:00

Country Mouse Headed to the City!!
See the look of alertness and fear in my eyes! Jerry and I drive to Charlotte to catch a plane to Chicago, specifically right into O'Hare during this summer of 'increased watchfulness in the face of increased chatter' from our enemies. Isn't flying enough to put terror into the hearts of most of us without people seeking to use us as human missiles? I mean, I'm generally a very devil-may-care sort of person and am usually not scared of anything. I can walk through a deserted graveyard at midnight on Halloween without hesitation. But for this flight, I just went to Eckerd's and bought enough stomach acid meds to share with everyone on our flight and I may double up on the Prozac.
Gee, this place is a little bit bigger than little ole' Inman where we live! Plus, I'll be there an extra week after Jerry flies back home and without a car. I doubt I'll be spending big bucks on cab fare to paint the town red. Oprah, for example, will have to do without me gracing her studio audience. So, what am I planning to bring as my large carry-on? My little old workhorse of a Pfaff which I began sewing with about 20 years ago. I've already pre-cut the Moda A Little Romance kit and I'm packing the essentials--rotary cutter, scissors, seam ripper (Remember my motto, "As ye sew, also shall ye rip!", etc.

Why, here I am now looking just thrilled to pieces to be sitting at my machine. Actually, I will be quite more content and happy than 'Maudie' here (what did photographers tell our ancestors anyway, "Okay, look as dour and downhearted as you can possibly look! And, snap!"
Oh and here is where I would personally prefer to be heading but alas, I may never get anywhere remotely like this. Maggie just got back from Costa Rica in June so I'm glad she got to go somewhere tropical. If I ever make it, it will probably be like an older widowed friend of our's who went with a group of other little widowed ladies on a cruise. She showed us the pictures and, speaking of dour expressions, she would say, "Here we are at the Captain's Table!" and there were four blue-haired ladies with bifocals staring at the camera as if they had just learned that their families were killed in car accidents. "Here we are on the deck" Same expressions. "And here we are in our cabin." You guessed it--not a smile among them. Oh well, if I were over 75 and wearing support hose while young hotties in thongs and flip flops frolicked with hedonistic abandon all around me, I'd be depressed, too.

So, anyway, fellow bloggers and quilters, pray for this little country mouse flying to the big city and being abandoned by her husband (is this a fiendish plot to really leave me up there all alone???!!) for a week. I'll be checking in and may get to post while there although probably without pix if I can figure out our new laptop!

2007-07-18T08:04:00.000-05:00

A Closeup of Our Shop Hop Quilt

Our Carolina Shop Hop is in full swing and has been fan-tabulous. Not only have we had hoppers from North and South Carolina but Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio, Alabama and even Indiana! It's been great and we've added more names to our addresses and e-mails.

I did the quilting on our Shop Hop quilt and am pretty happy with it. I'm getting better with the Handi Quilter. I also showed Joanna's fish quilt she did in our Children's Day Camp (I posted a pix of her working on it in my last post). I got it quilted yesterday afternoon in a hurry. The borders have swirley-bob's that are supposed to look like waves and the center is just large meandering. She was happy with it and she went with me (actually our whole family sans Ben who is in Georgia at a church camp with this cousins, went to the meeting with us so Jerry was the lone rooster in the hen house) to show it during Show and Tell. Maggie wore the Cabo Halter so she was part of my Show and Tell. I brought the Four Corners Apron, my high tech tote, a Weekend Shirt I've made from Heather Bailey's Freshcut line but haven't gotten the buttons sewn on and an Everyday Handbag I've started in that line also.

One of my many projects is going to be cloth dolls. I ordered a beautiful witch pattern by Elaine LeGros, Ester and her Prize Pumpkin, from Joggles.com and want to work on that. The only drawback about Shop Hop is that I can't sew. My machine is sitting idle under the table in the middle of the store and I'm itching to get going on some of my millions of projects. Here is the link for Ester since the photo on Joggles couldn't be copied:
http://www.joggles.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_165&products_id=1867

Love her!
And speaking of millions of projects: the last photo is the Jelly Rolls, charm squares and kits we've gotten in of April Cornell's line for Moda, A Little Romance. It is gawgeous!!! So, of course, I had to buy the kit to make for Joanna and as a shop sample. I think I'm going to do my cutting and take the pieces with me on Jerry's and my upcoming business trip if I can fly with my sewing machine! Well, Hoppers are here so more later!

2007-07-09T14:09:00.000-05:00

High Tech Tote, Haircut and Shop Hop Quilt

Thank you to all who put in your vote for which fabric to use for my High Tech tote by Indygo Junction. After making it and wrestling with those layers turning it inside out and round about, I see why they charge the prices they do for the Vera Bradley purses, bags and totes! And this one wasn't even quilted. I ended up going with the red large floral in Roman Holiday by 3 Sisters for Moda. I still have to make the long strap that goes through the side D-rings but today I am tackling the Shop Hop quilt on the Handi Quilter. Wish me luck there. I'm such an amateur mid-arm quilter.

The second photo is me (when did I get so plump and matronly? Hmmm . . . maybe I'll tape this pix to my refrigerator as a reminder to back off the trough). I wouldn't normally assault you with my picture but I got a haircut. I have to do this on a whim since if I plan it ahead of time I end up not going through with it (Maggie says no matter how I ever get my hair trimmed I end up right back with the style I've had since college anyway) or deciding I can save money by whacking away at it myself. So when I took Ben to get him sheared the other day (oh, to have hair as thick as my son's), I asked Deidre if she could fit me in and I showed her a picture in one of those hairstyle books. I said, "Now I don't want it quite this short so I can get used to it before I go really short." She said 'sure' and whacked it off at the base of my skull. So much for a gradual adjustment. But I really like it. It's cooler, easier and faster to fix and it looks a little thicker shorter. I had said to myself I would lose 25 lbs. and then get it cut but until I resolve to exercise and diet, I guess this is me for now. There is a treadmill at Jerry's work for sale but he refuses to meet her price and she refuses to budge. Oh the various conspiracies at work that keep me fluffy--like my mother-in-law's cooking for one. Oh and note the 2.50 glasses hanging from my sweater for close-up work and picking out stitches and the scissors fob for working on the Handi Quilter. Don't I look official? Next stop, the eye doctor.

The next photo is our Shop Hop Creation, a collaborative effort between Mary Margaret LeJeune, Gen Cox and myself. Sorry to Gen for putting her through paper piecing on those New York Beauty blocks. She doesn't have a hankering as we say in the south for PP. But, loyal and true to the core, she rallied on and put most of them together herself. Today, Becky's friend Debbie Rogers and our friend and good customer, Jenny Lindler were here helping us prepare for Shop Hop which begins Friday the 13th through the 21st. Wish us luck!

The last photo was Joanna during our Children's Day Camp in June. We had four girls and they each made a nine-patch lap quilt. They all seemed to enjoy it and thank goodness Amy, a mother of one girl and aunt of another was able to stay every day and help. Whew! That was a fast put-together of a quilt for girls who had either never sewn or had only made a few projects. Joanna at seven was the youngest, two were 11 and one was 10. We only had one slight injury on the field when the ten-year-old accidentally nicked one of the 11-year-old's elbow. Of course, according to the ten-er, it was the 11-er's fault for moving her elbow so quickly toward the point of the scissors--funny. They were cute.

Well, the Shop Hop Creation awaits. I'm back to it.

2007-07-03T10:08:00.001-05:00

Please Vote on Your Favorite Fabric for my Tote!!!!

I know I have been so defunct in updating my blog as I should and visiting around to everyone else to see what you're all up to--I should be flogged with a 15-yard bolt of fabric. But it has been the summer from the nether-regions we've been so swamped. And nevertheless, even though I am also an absentee member of these two rings that I love, I am still appealing to you all to help me decide which fabric group I should use to make Indygo Junction's High Tech Tote pictured above. Little ole country bumpkin me and my darling Jerry have a business trip planned for the end of July in preparation for our big venture (yet to be announced) and I'd like to at least look'all business-like and important'!! Should I choose (pictured in the first bolts-on-the-floor photo) Amy Butler fab's, or to the far left, from the Heather Bailey Freshcut line, good ole Chocolat by Moda or new Roman Holiday by Moda????? Or in the next bolts-on-the-floor photo, Benartex Tuilleries or Moda's Sonnet Collection by April Cornell??????

In the next to last photo, Darlene, the Dress Form as we call her, is modeling the Four Corners Apron by Vanilla House in fabrics from Amy Butler's Gothic Rose from her Belle Collection. That, along with the pear pincushions pictured last, were my projects du jour yesterday (if you read yesterday's post--miracle of all miracles I've been able to post two days straight without a six-week hiatus--I had fallen madly in love with Heather Bailey's pear pincushions on her gorgeous blog). I did one pear here are work and stuffed it and sewed the other one and took it home to stuff after dinner. I had one panic attack while watching my favorite show of all times, The Closer on TNT, when one of the pears mysteriously disappeared out of my sewing basket. There was Ben's Big Galoot, Scout chewing on it under the coffee table. I had to pitch an almighty hissy fit as we say in the south and retrieve it. Luckily, I caught her before it sustained any damage. Of course, I only had yellow wool felt to make two of the sections between the Heather Bailey fabrics and no green for leaves and I'm still debating on what type of stem I will use--some use wrapped cording and others use actual stems. I had to make a flying trip to Hobby Lobby this a.m. before opening at 10 a.m. for zippers (which, of course, they did not have exactly what I needed), fusible fleece, D-rings and a vain search for wool felt.
While sitting at the Hendersonville show unable to sew this past weekend, I was bursting at the seams to get back and get some of these projects underway. And once Shop Hop begins next Friday, I doubt there will be much time to work on anything then either. But I really want to get this high tech tote done so please cast your vote!!!!!!!! And thank you for all of you who have been so faithful to read my little diatribes as sparse as they are. I intend to do better.

2007-07-02T11:54:00.001-05:00

I'm in Love With A Pear . . . and Heather Bailey's Freshcut line by Free Spirit!!

If you haven't been to Heather Bailey's website, Hello My Name Is Heather Bailey, http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/heather_bailey/, you have got to go see it. We already had some of her Freshcut line in the store but somehow the other day I found her blog and fell madly in love with the pear pin cushion pictured above. I couldn't find what pattern she used but I have since found a pear pincushion pattern by Fig Tree Quilts. And her studio, pictured above as well, is to die for. I also have a pix of the fabrics we have in the line at the shop but more are back-ordered. When they all come in, I want to make the free quilt, also above, from the Free Spirit site. Love the ruffle. I even ordered the Favorite Things Weekend Shirt pattern and I want to make some shirts from these fabrics. I'm on a Heather Bailey kick.

The top photo is Maggie wearing the Cabo Halter by Amy Butler. That's all I can quickly post right now--have intended to do so much better about posting and visiting around the rings but between shows (we just got back from the Hendersonville show so spent the morning trying to get somewhat reorganized), Shop Hop coming up next week--we're not prepared for that either, classes, etc.--there has been little time to breathe much less play on the 'puter like I'd like to.

My husband and I also have big plans in the works I'd best not reveal yet but will as soon as I can . . . . a business venture in conjunction with the shop. We'd appreciate prayers and positive thoughts since it is such a big leap of faith. Just to show you how busy this summer (is it summer?!) has been, the other day, Jerry brought me coffee in bed and soon afterwards kissed me and left. After I'd had my shower and was somewhat vertical and functioning, he called back and said, "Now that you're awake--Happy Anniversary!" I had completely forgotten our anniversary, June 22 and my Dad's birthday two days earlier. sad.

2007-05-29T12:18:00.001-05:00

Back from North Carolina Quilt Symposium

We're back from North Carolina Quilt Symposium. I had to include three of the beautiful quilts that won ribbons in the show. The first quilt pictured won Best of Show. It was called Leaf Cycles and made by Patsy Thompson of Holland, Ohio and also won Best Machine Quilting. She hand-dyed some of her own fabrics and her machine quilting was absolutely wonderful. The second won Most Innovative and Judge's Choice, Vincent's Sunflower Daze by Judy Petersen of Pinehurst, North Carolina. It was so gorgeous and had so much movement and eye appeal. The third won Best Landscape, Atop the Blue Ridge Parkway by Judy Lily of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She combined excellent fabric choices with some thread painting for the perfect combination in this small piece.

The next pix was one of the many old barns I took pix of during a break while the participants were in classes. Mars Hill mainly consists of Mars Hill College and a tiny little town. On the college website they say that the population is about 2,200 and the elevation is 2,300 above sea level. Surrounding the college were rolling hills and meadows, beautiful aging barns and so much hay my hay-cutting and selling husband would be in heaven. It's such a small town that the first full day I went in search of an afternoon cup of java. I drove from the gym where the show and vendors were set up up the hill to the municipal parking lot, parked and walked toward the Deli and Grill across the street. Closed. Got back in the car, drove around the block to the campus ice cream parlor. Closed for the summer. In one of the administrative campus offices in that building, I asked where I could go get a cup of coffee. The lady said, "Try the florist. She sometimes sells coffee." The florist! Why didn't I think of that????!! So, back in the car, around the block again to the municipal parking lot again, down the hill to the florist, yanked on the door. Closed. Went to Papa Nick's Pizza (wonderful pizza and manicotti as we ate there twice during our stay) and asked where I could get a cup of coffee? They sent me around the corner to a little restaurant, The Postman and that's where I got really good, really fresh coffee in the afternoons for our pick-me-up. The gym was not air-conditioned and the temps and dryness made it feel like about 104 degrees in there so we were a bit soporiphic--and more than glistening--by mid-afternoon so coffee was an absolute essential.

I always love chatting with Brenda and Fred Arrowood of Schoolhouse Quilts from Forest City, NC and enjoyed seeing them across the way from us and also met the couple who own the Pin Peddlers and make these beautiful enameled quilter's pins and also got to meet Carol Britt and her husband, Randy who own Batik's, Etc.. They were a super-nice couple who shared a lot of good information with us and were great next door neighbors. So, all in all, a good show for us. Especially after I found the elusive source for coffee!

The last photo is Maggie modeling the Cabo Halter by Amy Butler. She really likes it, it went together very easily and she intends to wear it in Costa Rica when she and her Spanish Club members go next week. We have to be at the school Monday morning at 2:30 a.m. speaking of coffee since they have to be at the Atlanta airport three hours in advance for security to clear them, their luggage, check passports and parental permission forms, etc. I'm trying not to think about the dangers of sending my precious 16-year-old to a foreign country and trying to look at what a fabulous opportunity it will be for her. While visions of Natalie Holloway, poisonous serpents and spiders, jungle guerrilla's and drug lords, malaria and dinghy fever flit about in my motherly sub-conscience. Oh, the giant crap shoot that is life.

And I can't close without wishing my gorgeous, loving husband a happy 46th birthday and many, many more. I tell him all the time that if he ever leaves me, I'm going with him. I really hit the jackpot in life and didn't deserve such a man but I am so grateful every day that I have him. Happy Birthday, Jerry. I will always love and adore you.

2007-05-17T11:39:00.000-05:00

To 'splain Today's Three Posts and My Seven Random Things!

I could not get Blogger to let me post pix of Maggie's prom the normal way--I kept getting this incompatability error notice or something. So, I put them on Flicker and then posted them individually so sorry for the three little posts with pix. So, look below this post to see Maggi's prom shots.

Anyway, Jules tagged me (I sort of hinted around and she obliged--thank you, Jules). I had been away for so long I felt left out of the fun you guys were having in Blogger land and needed some attention!

1. In high school, I worked for my Dad at an interstate service station on Hwy. 11 and I-26 pumping gas, cleaning restrooms, selling local peaches, checking oil, sweeping, etc.. In fact, when my precious husband, Jerry, came to ask me out, he came on my day off and got $10 worth of gas. The next morning he came back before I got there and bought $10 more (this was when gas was cheap) and drove around and came back and got $10 more and I thought he must be a cheapskate. I was standing there in my red shorts and Exxon uniform shirt holding a hubcap in my hand asking "Slick", the manager's son if he could put it back on my car. The very picture of feminine beauty, no doubt. Incidentally, that was an interesting place to work and I can say that I filled Perry Como's car with gas and checked his oil and he reached out to touch the dip-stick and burned his hand after which I commented, "Sir, that's hot." Helpful to a fault--that's me. He and his wife had a summer home in Saluda, NC and were very nice and tipped Slick and me each $1. My fleeting brush with fame.

2. I am adopted. My parents had seven miscarriages and a baby, Nita Jo, who died at nine months of spina bifida. My birthday was January 7th, 1963 and her's was January 7th, 1950-something. My brother, Joey (cute names, huh?), was born August 7th, 1965 and was adopted October 11th of that year, the same date that Nita Jo died. They always told us we were chosen and when I was little I was a bit confused--and spoiled. I told my friend Rita Jo that her parents had to take what they got; that I was specially assembled in a factory out of parts my parents CHOSE!

3. I can handle (literally handle) snakes, lizards, snails, salamanders and newts but I am almost phobic about spiders. Spiders are not my thing although I admire their intrinsic beauty and their delicate webs. I just don't like to run smack into one of their feats of engineering while trying to walk for exercise around our pasture and over the creek where the cow crossing (ironically) used to be. I'm sure any cars passing by when I did so a few summers ago would have been amused or disturbed to see a woman all by herself in the middle of a pasture apparently having some sort of fit screaming and fighting at an invisible foe.

4. Besides being a card-carrying member of Procrastinators Unlimited and not a very good housekeeper, I am also a certifiable beach bum (I love the mountains but give me the ocean any day). I am still grieving that my husband's sister, who was married to a man you wouldn't want to be married to but he sure was handy to be divorced from due to his millions, sold the Florida beach house she received in the settlement. That had to be the closest to paradise I may ever get (and if I don't change my wastrel ways, it was). Our children literally grew up going to that house in the summers and I will miss it the rest of my life. I have a secret desire to sell everything we own and maybe we could scrape up enough to buy a small lot with a double wide near the beach somewhere since the price of beach-front property versus upstate foothills property, at least in South Carolina, is vastly different.

5. I now regret not majoring in Art or going to an art school after high school. At the time, I didn't have enough confidence in my ability and didn't want to spend the rest of my life painting even though during my liberal arts college years, I did minor in Art and my art professors all told me I could draw and paint well. I hadn't found fiber arts at that time but I could have studied photography or any other mediums and eventually found my way to textiles. I didn't really sew until after we were married and I really started with smocking and heirloom sewing just before Maggie was born and morphed into quilting after Ben and Maggie grew out of smocking. Poor Joanna wore Maggie's hand-me-down bishops and fancies although I did make her her own christening gown with lace insertion and shadow embroidery so they all three have their own.

6. I am still as madly in love with my husband as when we were dating. He is truly my best friend, always supportive, caring, considerate and complementary (he pretends not to notice all the extra pounds and little rolls that I've accumulated over 22 years of marriage and three children. And I still think he is as handsome as he was when we were dating even though he's lost a little hair and gained a few pounds. He is truly tall, dark and handsome. My parents were wonderful and my brother and I certainly lacked for nothing but my happiest years have been since I've been married and I thank God for him every day. We've been through some difficult years (a failed business venture it took us 10 years to pay back while raising children) but God has compensated us richly for our loss. We have a small farm, a nice house and three beautiful children. I did not deserve him, the children or any of our other blessings but I am so glad I have them.

7. Halloween is my favorite holiday. For most people, and especially Christians of which I strive to count myself among the ranks, it's Christmas. Christmas was always so sad to me in many ways. A baby is born to be ridiculed, betrayed and brutally crucified:

³He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.

⁴Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows and pains , yet we considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God.

⁵But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement, peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes Him we are healed and made whole. Isaiah 53

Especially since we lost my mother nearly four years ago, Christmas is even more sad even though my children certainly help ease that loss. But I have this thing about Halloween and witches. Not a satanic, walk-on-the-dark-side that some people view Halloween but a fun fascination with ghouls, ghosts, haints, witch's and such. One of my favorite movies is Hocus Pocus and my friend Beth and I can quote passages. In my fragments of spare time (when I should be house-cleaning, for example), I am making Beth and me a miniature witch's cottage! Another favorite is the first two Harry Potter movies and the book series. Just this past weekend, I managed to freak out my two neices, 14 and 12 with a Ouija Board! So, I am a Halloween nut.

Prom 2007

2007-05-17T11:36:00.001-05:00

Prom 2007
Originally uploaded by carolinaquilter.

The bevy of prom beauties, Maggie, Casey, Nikki and Alex. We met them all at Cleveland Park in Spartanburg and took pix beside the lake.

Prom 2007 006

2007-05-17T11:35:00.001-05:00

Prom 2007 006
Originally uploaded by carolinaquilter.

This is the gang of Maggie's friends who went to prom together: Nick and Maggie, Casey and Nick, Nikki and Tanner and Alex and Brian. Aren't they cute?!

2007-05-17T11:34:00.001-05:00

This was my favorite pix of Maggie and Nick even though 'Joe Cool' had on his sunglasses!
Prom 2007 024
Originally uploaded by carolinaquilter.

2007-05-17T08:49:00.000-05:00

I am trying to post pix of Maggie's recent prom. If successful, the bevy of beauties is Maggie, Alex, Nikki and Casey; one is Nick and Maggie and the group shot is Casey and Nick, Maggie and Nick (not the same Nick), Nikki and Tanner and Alex and Brian.

2007-05-16T12:29:00.000-05:00

The top pix is the center medallion for our Shop Hop quilt Mary Margaret and I made Monday. We were both whipped by the time we got finished but we felt that sense of accomplishment I rarely get to feel since I begin so many projects and end up putting them aside and starting new ones and it is soon out of control. I so appreciated Mary Margaret coming to help me and thank heavens she did because I am mathematically challenged so she did all the math, helped me cut all of this out of our various batiks, arranged and layered them and I did the sewing. We had our own little sweat shop going! Our theme for the Carolina Shop Hop this year is Charmed to Pieces and the colors are blue, purple and green batiks. Our shop hop is Friday, July 13th to July 21st and includes 12 shops this year from Burnsville, Franklin, Hendersonville and Asheville, North Carolina to Taylors, Spartanburg, Central, Inman and Greenville, South Carolina. You can visit our website: http://carolinashophop.com.

The other pix are of my efforts at small, photo-sized thread painted pieces. I ordered the book, Beginner's Guide to Machine Embroidered Landscapes by Alison Holt. Oh, my gosh! What artistry in thread. Whereas she uses silk and silk dyes and the frame to paint her backgrounds, I am going the southern, country-fied route and using Kona cotton and my vast array of fabric paints. I may branch out into buying the silks and silk dyes but at this point, that's yet another investment and more stuff to find a place for. And poor Becky, the shop owner, can testify that I have quite enough bins, boxes, bags, containers, stacks, piles and assorted other manner of dis-arrangement of stuff as it is. Not only have I managed to amass a small fortune of sewing and crafting junk in our basement and scattered throughout the house but I am threatening to take over the entire store as a secondary storage facility. When I told Jerry about Becky's attempts to put all of my billowing piles of stuff into boxes and on shelves in the closet and under the bed she has here for aesthetic purposes and how she throws a wallhanging over my current assemblage of at-the-moment projects when I'm off, he said, "Well, give her time. You'll wear her down." Sad but, regrettably, true.

Anyway, for my version of the thread painted pieces, I am using Kona cotton backed with French Fuse tricot fusible interfacing. I am tracing the main elements from the photo (horizon lines, major trees or structures, etc.) using a light box and painting the details with fabric paint. For a sky, I use a light wash of blue or blue/grey and splotch some greens on for the grassy areas. I then load the heat-set piece into a hoop, drop the feed dogs on my Brother PQ 1500 straight stitch machine, put on the free-motion foot (mine is a Juki 1/5 foot) and 'paint' with a combination of rayon, cotton and polyester embroidery threads. Because Alison Holt uses silk, she uses various combinations of bobbin and upper thread colors and tweeks the tensions to create various effects. She also uses a zig-zag stitch for various elements such as close leaves. Because I am using stabilized cotton at this point, I just use either black or white bobbin thread and because my machine that I piece on is a straight stitch, at this point, I'm sticking with that. I welcome anyone's critique or suggestions as I really like this and want to continue striving for improvement--maybe even branching into the whole realm of silk eventually.

In other news, here in upstate South Carolina about an hour away from Asheville, NC, we are covered with a layer of smoke and haze from the fires burning in southern Georgia! They are warning anyone with respiratory distress not to go outside! Hard to believe we can be affected that far away.

2007-05-14T07:57:00.000-05:00

The top photo is my niece's quilt for Christmas. It started as a Beginning Quilting class with blocks I made along with my students and I added sashing and a border. Now it goes in the "to get binding put on" pile along with several others. The mountain river is the North Pacolet River right above us near Tryon, North Carolina. We go up to my Dad's house on Sunday evenings and visit him. Maggie and Ben had a movie with the church youth group so it was Daddy, Jerry, Joanna and me. We all four enjoyed the drive up the old Saluda grade, up 176. It is very curvy--fun to drive--through the mountains and along the river. We stopped and took some photos. When I was little, we used to drive up there with my Dad's parents and picnic along the river. We plan to do that some. The Blue Ridge Mountains, of which we live in the Foothills, are known as 'the place of a thousand drips' so there are numerous waterfalls, large and small along the drive as well.
The photo of Joanna I took on the bridge. The children's choir did their musical, Holy Moses for Mother's Day and Joanna did a great job with her solo. She was still wearing the t-shirt, of course.
The last pix is of a local relic that used to be a country store. I'm doing some thread paintings and want to do this one among them. Now my friend Mary Margaret LeJeune is here to help me put together our Shop Hop quilt so I've got to gobble the cheeseburger she brought me and get to work!

2007-05-07T08:36:00.000-05:00

Okay, at least I could post two pix at a time. The top one is Ben's Goldendoodle he bought for his 15th birthday. She is supposed to be a 'designer dog', a cross between a Golden Retriever and a standard Poodle. She is huge, fluffy, floppy and so lovable, you can't help but love her but as she is an overeager puppy, I call her the galloping dimwit. In fact, this fuzzy pix in the car was about one of the only times she was marginally still so we could get her picture. If I can somehow post more pix--and if I can't, I may have to switch blogging thingies--I'll post some more of her. The second one is a seascape I did painting the background on white Kona cotton and then thread painting the sea oats and other elements. Now I've got to cut out BOM pieces which will take me pretty much all day. Glad to be back--if not able to post five pix right now--among the land of the blogisphere.

2007-05-07T08:27:00.000-05:00

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. I have not posted in quite a while for three main reasons: life in general and our tremendous responsibilities at work, i.e., about six recent and upcoming shows we're participating in as vendors, our approaching Shop Hop, two Block of the Month classes for which I cut every individual piece, making samples for our upcoming classes and my own landscape and thread painting endeavors for which I did a recent guild presentation and have one tomorrow night plus a guild vendor night tonight two hours away. In addition, I have tried repeatedly from home to post to my blogs without success. I get a connection timed out message or some other error message. So I am trying to post without pix. From my seething perusal of the 'help' info through Blogger, it might be that--go figure--I need to purchase more space on Picasa or that I haven't posted in a while or some other unknown glitch in their system or my two computers. If I happen to get this posted, I may try to immediately post another update with pictures. The last reason is that I am ashamed of myself for not being able to live up to my commitment to make a journal quilt per month in the Quilt Studio ring. Had I known my life would catapult into hyper-overdrive, I would have never signed up. So, I am sorry that I have failed to live up to that. So, here goes, I'm trying to post sans pix.

2007-03-22T11:16:00.000-05:00

My February/March Journal Quilt & Another Example of Kathy Drew's Quilting

Par for my course of late, I have just completed my February journal quilt in time for the March one to be due. And I say completed but we see no binding here. That makes Chocolat, Joshua's Prayer and Ode to a Stash the other ones I also have to bind.

My journal quilt background is a piece of fabric painted by Mickey Lawler of Skydyes which I have had for a while and I cut snippets of it to use for small landscape pieces. The tree is thread painted using rayon thread on layers of tulle and water soluble stabilizer. I did this piece on the Handi Quilter to see how much I could control small movements of the machine. I think it turned out well for my lack of experience. I used monofilament thread for the quilting with just an orange cotton thread in the bobbin. The backing is a piece of batik I've also had for quite a while. I really enjoy thread painting.

We had the show in Athens and then my family and I went to Pigeon Forge to that show this past weekend and this weekend is the Quilters of South Carolina Spring Meeting where we will vend. I'll go up and spot-clean my Dad's house tomorrow since I didn't get to go last Friday morning and then come back here to pack things up. We have to set up tomorrow evening and then be there bright and early to start selling by 8:30 a.m.. Bring on the coffee!!

So, I have not had a chance to get my journal quilts done. Anyway, I am finally posting it. Nor have I had time to visit everyone's blogs and see what everybody's up to. I'm going to gobble down my Banquet Chicken Pot Pie and see how many places I can zoom in to check on everyone out there. Hope all are well.

The last photo is another shot of Kathy Drew's phenomenal quilting which was very much on display at the Pigeon Forge show. I don't know her but golly, wish I could take some classes from her!

2007-03-20T09:01:00.000-05:00

Pigeon Forge Quilt Show & Chocolat Quilted

The Pigeon Forge show wasn't what it has been in the past--I was so looking forward to seeing some of Cassandra William's quilts and quilts by other professionals but it seems to have reverted back to more of a hometown show this year. In my humble opinion, I think they need to decide whether they want it to be a large, professionally run and judged (one of the blue ribbon winners for example, had wrapped the binding around to the back and machine sewn it!!! Hello!) and really fantastic show or whether they really want to keep it a small, more home-town show where only their guild members can enter and win. An acquaintance of mine who I usually run into there and at the Asheville show says that the impetus is really on getting the big name teachers to come in so they can book hotel rooms. She said that the show is more about their guild members winning. Which, if true, I think is a disappointment because it really has the potential to be a major show. They've certianly got the tourist draw with outlet malls as far as the eye can see and they do get the major teachers in and therefore quilters from all over the nation but then they can't seem to find a venue large enough to house all of the quilts. For the past two years, quilts were displayed both in the Pigeon Forge convention center and the Boyds Bears building but that building went out of business so now you had to get back in the car and drive all the way down to traffic light #1 from traffic light #9 to the Music Road Convention Center to see the rest of the quilts. In addition, they crammed more vendors in so that you had to squeeze down the hallway to get to the back where more vendors were located. Oh well, they didn't consult with me about it so I guess my opinion is worth about as much as nothing. I would just love to see it grow into a major quilt show in the southeast but I'm afraid it certainly won't at this rate. Enough venting about that.

I took lots of photos which I will show in future posts but the first two here are examples of quilting by Kathy Drew. Her quilting was absolutely beautiful. It was flawless and it was the first thing you noticed when you approached the quilt. I took lots of close-up's of her work. The next photo was of a whole cloth quilt that a lady did and, according to one of the guild members, when it didn't win a ribbon in the first show she entered it in, she colored it with colored pencils and textile gel medium. It was stunning and the same on the front as the back. I was a bit shocked that it won only Honorable Mention.

The next two are my freehand quilting on Chocolat. I am still getting acquainted with the Handi Quilter and really loving it now that I'm gaining confidence. I'm eager to get Jerry's Jacob's Stars quilt loaded and done. I also worked on my now very late February journal quilt that I have hardly had time to do and I'm pleased with it. I would love to finish it today. Jerry and I go to Travelers Rest tonight to set up a Handi Quilter for our first customer. Wish us luck! I get nervous when people are watching me work with anything mechanical or requiring any type of mechanical knowledge. Thus, I talked him into going with me! We also have the Quilters of South Carolina Spring Meeting this weekend where we will vend. So it's another busy week of preparation and packing.

2007-03-15T12:18:00.000-05:00

Photos of Our Booth At Athens, Favorite Quilts

I can't believe I haven't posted since February. The top two photos are of our booth in Athens. That was the best quilt show to participate in! The guild members were so nice and really had a great time together. Plus, Jerry told them it was the only quilt show he had been to and gained weight. They came in every morning with crock pots full of soups, stews, spaghetti, lasagna, cakes, cookies, salads, sandwiches, etc.. We would eat breakfast at the hotel and then lunch and snacks there and the vendors were invited to eat free of charge! It was wonderful. Plus, Jerry and I got to eat dinner with Fred and Brenda Arrowood from Schoolhouse Quilts in Forest City, North Carolina whom we really like and they have given us a lot of helpful information on doing shows. We will see them this weekend at the Pigeon Forge show in Tennessee where they vend every year but we haven't been able to get in that one.

The other two pix are of my favorite quilt down there using the Northwind block in batiks and then a very pretty one in fuschias and greens. When we got back, I had four Block of the Month classes to prepare for, one morning and one evening class using traditional piecing and the other morning and evening classes using applique plus we've had orders to put in for new books, notions, patterns, fabric, etc., we've met with sales reps and I have quilted two quilts on the Handi Quilter. I even had a makeup Beginning Quilting class last night when I was supposed to be at choir practice. But since we wouldn't be at church Sunday anyway, it was the only time we could fit it in. I haven't downloaded pictures of the two quilts I've done on the Handi Quilter yet but I'll get them in here when we get back next week. Hope all out there are well and when

we get back, I'll post pix of the Pigeon Forge quilts and try to get caught up on everyone else's blogs! I'll sort of be glad when things slow down a bit but we've got the Pigeon Forge show this weekend, the Quilters of South Carolina spring meeting next weekend, and our Handi Quilter event March 31st and then our family goes to Tybee Island in Savannah for a few days during spring break with Jerry's sister and her three children. Whew! No wonder I am tired as soon as I get up these days. And I am totally defunct on my journal quilts. My February one is finally loaded in the Handi Quilter and I'm going in there right now to work on it and the March one is due. sorry all.

2007-02-28T08:08:00.000-05:00

Athen, Georgia, Here we Come!

Whew! What a busy, busy time. Haven't been able to finish my February 12x12x12 Challenge quilt, nor much of anything else on the quilting front for getting ready for the Athens, Georgia show this weekend sponsored by the Cotton Patch guild. Jerry and I leave out tomorrow morning and there is a preview party for the guild members tomorrow night and the show is Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Today, I'm wearing my (too tight) old jeans, have my hair pulled back in combs and am ready to start packing the shop van and our van. Then, we'll have to get our things packed for the trip and the children packed to stay with their grandparents for the weekend. I'm truly hoping some of the fabrics we've ordered come in today since it would be so nice to have some of the new lines in to take with us.

So sorry I seem to have shirked my responsibilities of completing my February challenge and also regularly posting but we've been so busy with classes here and also getting ready for this show and others we have coming up. I'll buckle down and get some things done when we get back. In the meantime, I hope everyone wishes us God speed and good wishes for a great show. I'll try my best to travel around and check up on everyone's progress when we get back and I can breathe a sigh of relief!

2007-02-19T14:51:00.000-05:00

One of my Landscape Pieces and Daddy's Latest Clocks

I am still working on my 12 x 12 x 12 challenge--life and the quilts I am working on at and for work keep intervening. I humbly ask for everyone's forgiveness. Meanwhile I'm enjoying all of your art work. The top two photos are of one of my landscape pieces based on a photo I took of an old stump at the North Carolina Arboretum in Hendersonville, NC last year. I've got to get it quilted.

The other photos are of two clocks my Dad recently finished. He has made clocks for all of his grandchildren using German clockworks and wood he has gotten from various sources locally. We also have two of his clocks and these are earmarked for good friends and family as well. It gives him something to do and he loves it. Since he's a widower, he tries to keep his hands and mind occupied and I'm proud of him for keeping on keeping on since my mother died three years ago.

2007-02-15T12:32:00.000-05:00

Late WIP's and a Where In the Heck I've Been Update (to all who give a hoot-haha!)

These are belated pix of my various WIP's. Life has been so hectic lately, I've not even had time to get around and visit everybody, check on the 12 x 12 x 12 challenges (nor get mine done) nor even update my blog. As I'm typing this, I'm gobbling down my fattening Banquet chicken pot pie and my embroidery machine is making a label for my neice's Christmas quilt--yes, Christmas! I've decided "as God is my witness" as Scarlett said, I'm by-gosh going to at least try to have a homemade Christmas this year. As Mary Kathryn's favorite color is purple, I made a purple, lavendar, pink and mint green quilt for the shop that I will picture here some time and am going to give it to her. I had started one for her sister, Anna Grace, but it is in the shelved-but-not-forgotten-stack of UFO's I am perpetually drowning in.

The first two photos are of the Everyday Handbag I had started and finally got finished. I love it but will make a 'free-standing' lining when I make another one instead of as the pattern directs. The third pix is of the label I've got to sew on Jerry's Delectable Mountains quilt in order to enter it in the Pigeon Forge Mountain Quiltfest. It won't get but a slight glance from judges or viewers but he'll enjoy seeing it displayed there--although he is quite fond of sleeping under it and keeps it folded neatly over his prone and might I say luscious self at night. I've got a fuzzy white blanket that was my mother's that I'm huddled under on my side.

The next photo is of the blocks I'm working on to make Miss Rosie's Opening Day quilt. Love it! The sawtooth star is my favorite block and I love her shortcut method for making the flying geese. I'm using leftovers from the Miss Rosie's Chocolat quilt I made as a shop sample and intended to keep since I purchased the fabrics. However, I think it's going to be my SIL's Christmas present and I'll keep Opening Day which will have the Chocolat fabrics and also the Moda April Cornell Sonnett Collection fabrics. Just think--that would be two Christmas presents down and it's only February--not our usual two weeks before the big day when Jerry and I are running around like chickens with our heads cut off through the mall and I find myself standing in the middle of a packed store staring in bewilderment at an array of consumer enticements saying, "I don't know . . . what if they don't like it?" Or, "What if it doesn't fit?", Or, "What if they already have one like it??" Meanwhile, Jerry has swiped up something within our budget (usually something small) and is dashing to the checkout counter saying, "That's not our problem!!!!" Compared to that annual ritual that really puts you in the Christmas spirit (yeah, right), this will be ever so much more meaningful and from the heart. Now to figure out what quilts to make for the neice and nephew on my side since she a fourth grader, is into every sport imaginable and he, a junior high student, is so very, very much not. Who knows what his favorite colors are or what either of them would like (flashbacks to my annual bewildered shopping dillemmas).

I have sent my apologies to Debra and Sande for not getting my 12 x 12 x 12 Challenge completed on time and will work dilligently on finishing it ASAP but since we just had a big show and have two coming up in March plus the Pigeon Forge show I'm going to and have to get a label and hanging sleeve sewn on, I just haven't had time to come up for air!!!! I will be checking everyone's out however and I'm sure I will be awed at the talent as I was last month!

2007-02-06T16:55:00.000-05:00

My Day's Project!
We got the cutest patterns in from Block Party Studios; the top photo is Joshua's Prayer and I made it today! They do printed panels and coordinting patterns. Isn't this the cutest thing you've seen??! The pale blue I used for the house doesn't show up that well in the pix but I love this pattern. It's perfect for a wedding, house warming, friendship or whatever gift. The pattern actually calls for a checkerboard border but I used this pretty floral by Timeless Treasures.

The other photo was our set up at the Lancaster One Day Shop Hop this past weekend. It was a very successful first event for them and for the ten vendors they had there. Everyone seemed to pour in at once from about 10 a.m. to 12:30. It was covered up with quilters. The afternoon was a little calmer. They are talking about having it in a larger facility next year which would be much better and possibly for two days which would also be a plus. We are now in a frenzy getting ready for the Athens Cotton Blossom (I think that's the name of their guild) show which is the first weekend in March. March is going to be quite busy. We have Athens, my family is going to the Pigeon Forge, Tennessee A Mountain Quiltfest (I've got to enter Jerry's Delectable Mountains--which means sewing on a hanging sleeve, dangit! and borrow the house quilt back from Deteria and send those in by the deadline). We also have the Quilters of South Carolina Spring Meeting March 24th in Greenville and our Handi Quilter event day March 31st. If anyone needs me, I'll be making samples, cutting more fat quarters and half yards and trying to get UFO's quilted!!!!

2007-01-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

On Joanna, Bailey White, and Road Kill

On the quilting front this week, I'll be mainly preparing for a one-day Shop Hop in Lancaster, SC, about two hours away. I'll be cutting fat quarters and half yard's and, if I get up the nerve, loading the Chocolat quilt on the Handi Quilter and getting it quilted.

My post today is about Joanna, Bailey White and road kill. This morning, I was driving Joanna, aged seven, to elementary school and as we go down the driveway in the 18 degree chill, she says, "Mamma, you just ran over a baby turtle!" Now, we do have box turtles that tend to cross roads and driveways--and often pay the ultimate price--but not generally in the winter.

"Joanna," I said, "Turtles are buried down in the ground hybernating during the winter. They don't come out again until it's warm. I assure you, I did not hit a baby turtle."

"Well," she says, "Weewee (her grandmother) hit a middle-aged turtle one time."

I started laughing hysterically at her term, "middle-aged turtle." "Mamma," she says, "Why do you find that so funny? He was smushed on the road!"

It reminded me of the time I actually did hit a grey squirrel with all the children in the car. He was evidently in a crazed state of hormonal desire because he threw caution to the wind in his pursuit of another squirrel and ran right out into the path of my Dodge Sport van the children affectionately call 'The Red Flash' since I'm always speeding wherever I'm headed. Not to make light of the unfornature demise of the little fellow, we all laughed when she told Jerry in all seriousness, "Daddy, I looked back and that squirrel was just lying there flat as a pancake!"

Which brings me to Bailey White, pictured above in black and white. If you've ever read Bailey White's essays in her books, Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Other Dangers of Southern Living
or Sleeping at the Starlite Motel, or heard her read aloud on NPR years ago, you'll appreciate this reference. If you haven't, go out and buy these two books. Whenever I'm blue and have had it with life in general, I drag out those two books and read and I always end up laughing. She writes about her eccentric relatives and neighbors including her mother, Lila, who began writing her memoires several times on the backs of used envelopes but always ended up using them as a grocery list before heading out to the Piggly Wiggly and who experiments with lethal herbs and sometimes gets a 'hankering' for smoked mackerel down at Rosie's, a dark, dingy and dangerous place Bailey dreaded going. Anyway, one of her stories is "Dead on the Road" about her mother's proclivity to collect and cook road kill. Since I don't have the book at hand, I can't quote passages but she says that she learned early on to thoroughly question the origins of any meat dish set before her at the table. She says she doesn't eat it unless her mother can tell her where and by what vehicle it was hit. In "Dead on the Road" she tells about her prissy aunt, Eleanor who comes to lunch occasionally and they have to get out the linen tablecloths and good silver. Aunt El dove into a roast with gusto and said something to the effect of "Lila, I don't believe I've ever tasted a roast quite like this! Wherever did you get it?" To paraphrase, her mother responds, "Intersection of I-60 and __ Road; green Ford pickup. . ."

Oh, and as an update on the Little Green Men from last week's post, turns out it was a meteor! Who knows where it hit but I wish I could find it! People pay alot for meteoric rocks. Sort of like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

2007-01-25T11:39:00.000-05:00

Little Green Men, George Clooney and a Local Scandal

In local news hereabouts, yesterday several people in the region spotted strange glowing lights in the sky slowly descending towards the earth: http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=5987366&nav=2KPp . It was all the buzz this morning on our local news and on talk radio as I was driving to work. So, maybe the little green men have invaded. There are reports it was a Black Hawk helicopter but who knows? And what was it doing here! Many, many bloggers would answer,"IT'S A GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY!" If I see men in black suits wearing dark sunglasses and grimly stalking around, I'll let you know.

Also, George Clooney has 'invaded'. He has been in Greer, South Carolina just a few miles from where we live, scouting locations for his romantic comedy, Leatherheads. http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=5965180&nav=2KPp . I didn't rush over there when he was in town to fawn all over him as so many others did. I figure he's pretty non-plussed by your average middle-aged mother figures. I did love him in O Brother Where Art Thou? One of my favorite lines from the movie:

"Any of you boys smithy's or otherwise educated in the metallurgic arts?"

Others: "You stole from my kin!";

"We thought you was a toad!";

"Come on in boys, the water's fine!";

"DO NOT SEEK THE TREASURE!";

"Vernon's got prospects. He's bonafide. What are you?!";

"Lots of respectable people get run over by trains. . . "

Love that movie! That and The Gods Must Be Crazy, the B movie about the little Aussie bushman who must go to the end of the earth and return a Coke bottle to the gods because it only caused dissention in the ranks of the otherwise peaceful tribe.
But back to George Clooney in Greer. Jerry and I always laugh when we think about Greer. It was just a sleepy little burg with nothing much going on or to recommend it until BMW located its North American manufacturing facilities there (which was then referred to as Bubba Motor Works and I must admit that so many of our population are driving Beemers through their employee leasing program who otherwise would be tooling around in an old Chevy truck or a used Honda) . In fact, Greer was such a small place, a local old timer who is now long deceased, told his poker and drinking buddies one night he planned to marry this particular woman who had quite a reputation. "Marry her?" one quipped, "She's [had marital relations with] every man in Greer!" "Well," he said, "Greer ain't that big a place." If only he could see Greer now! They have upscale restaurants, a ballroom dance studio, antique and art shops and are quite la-di-da. They even have a magazine called Greer Now which shows the rest of us on glossy, thick paperstock just how swanky the Greer upper crust have it.

And, in other news, our region has hit the big time with a really sad and embarrassing scandal. It seems that the cheerleading coach of the Ware Shoals High School cheerleading squad has been arrested for inviting some of the girls to recruiting parties for national guardsmen and giving them alcohol. The principal, a lady, has also been arrested for covering it all up--reportedly. To make the matter worse, the cheerleading coach is married with two children and her father is a minister and on the school board. And this is the way our area gets plastered all over the news--aliens, George Clooney and a cheerleading alcohol scandal. Life is just so darned interesting, you never know what's going to happen tomorrow!!!

2007-01-24T12:18:00.000-05:00

Works in Progress Wednesday and Etsy

Today, I am trying to finish sewing the binding on Jerry's Delectable Mountains quilt. This poor quilt was made last summer and has been drug to every quilt show we've participated in (un-quilted and bound), to choir practice one night and to Jerry's work for a few 'show-and-tell's'. I had purchased Eleanor Burns' Delectable Mountains book complete with the acrylic ruler you need for her technique several years ago when she was at A Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee teaching this quilt. Everyone had these beautiful DM quilts they were showing off. When we got in the Moda Summer Nights fabric group by Holly Taylor, I decided DM would be perfect to showcase the panel elements. We have sold a ton of DM books, fabric and kits from having this quilt as a sample which goes to show everything old can be new again as they say.

Of course, I had to purchase it for Jerry since it looks so manly to me--and since I'd buy him a winning lottery ticket if I could--he wins the husband of the century award just for not only putting up with my various ADHD forays into my various arts and crafts pursuits but for miraculously loving me despite my many faults, downfalls and shortcomings. Someday I'll dedicate an entire blogging literary and photographic masterpiece to him. But for now, back to good old DM. I finally got him quilted on the Handi Quilter (mostly meandering but a few fall leaf shapes quilted in for practice) and am now finishing up the hand sewing on the binding. He chose flannel for the backing on this one and the one I made him called Jacob's Stars from the book, Clever Quarters, Quilts from Fat Quarter Cuts by Susan Teegarden Dissmore. I have got to work up the nerve to get that one quilted.

As for other WIP's, well, I have plunged headlong once again into the world of minutia. In my erstwhile, rambling, stumbling crafting past, I actually purchased a kiln and jumped into the porcelain dollmaking world with both feet. As it turns out, they have to be poured, greenware cleaned, bisque fired, china painted and fired in multiple steps, bodies sewn and attached and then when you feel that sense of accomplishment, they still have to have eyes (turns out no one wants a doll with hollow holes in its face), wigs, and a complete set of clothing. This is a hobby for people with a lot of time on their hands, something motherhood and work deprive most of us of. It slowly dawned that making porcelain cherubs instead cut out the time-consuming step of at least dressing something nearly life-sized.

So, feeling overcome with guilt that I have the kiln sitting idly in the basement, and having some sort of mad, depraved, irrational, etc., etc., proclivity toward the world of the tiny, I am back into miniatures. Seems I have some sort of posessed and crazed desire to create a Santa's house in miniature--why I cannot precisely pinpoint. So, over time, I have haunted eBay's dollhouse miniatures section making incremental headway toward that end goal. I have boxes (also in my basement cabinets) right now housing tiny little pieces of furniture, furniture kits, teensy toys, miniscule tools that Santa or his missus might use including a tiny coping saw, and lots of little beads and jewelry findings that will become ornaments on the Christmas tree I actually started which is also in a cabinet awaiting completion. So, I just took my Christmas and birthday money and ordered two Doreen Sinnett molds, an older man and an older woman (I think they are Ethel and Arthur but I'd have to check to make sure) which will be Santa and Mrs. Claus. And to get back in the swing of the porcelain process, I have poured several of my old Scioto angels which will--as soon as I can get around to finishing them--appear in my Etsy shop.

Speaking of Etsy, I think I finally got my link to my little shop fixed on my blog so that when you click on it, it actually takes you there. Life has prohibited me from adding new things lately but hope springs. For anyone who hasn't checked out Etsy, there are some really talented people out there creating a variety of handcrafted items. I ordered wool roving from a lady nearby me in Asheville, North Carolina and it is gorgeous. Check it out--I intend to do some of my Christmas shopping there this year.

Well, enough rambling for today, if anyone has hung in there this long, thank you for 'listening'. Back to sewing on binding, a most tedious task.

2007-01-22T16:18:00.000-05:00

Hi, everyone! Remember me? Been gone from here (bloggin' land) for about a week--or more? I'm not really doing anything earth shattering on the quilting or otherwise creative front. Got Jerry's Delectable Mountains quilt finished on the Handi Quilter with mainly meandering but some fall leaves interspersed throughout so I'm sitting at the computer catching up on everyone's blogs and sewing on binding (a job that nearly bores me to tears). My quilting is okay I guess. I'm one of those people who don't want to start learning piano by playing Mary Had a Little Lamb but plow right into Chopin, Bach and Beethoven without a hitch. So, I guess I won't be satisfied with my Handi Quilter skills for quite a while.

The photos above are by local watercolor artist, Jean Jones. I'm posting them because Miriam at Quilting Development posed the question of places with interesting names and she mentioned Intercourse, PA. Near us is here in the South Carolina upstate is a little town called Sugar Tit (in Civil War times you dipped a clean rag in sugar water and gave it to the baby to suck so you could get your chores finished); Little Africa, Pumpkintown, Tooter Town (population 11 according to the sign that says, "Welcome to Tooter Town, population 11" followed just a few yards away by the sign that says, "You are now leaving Tooter Town"), Little Chicago (so named, the story goes, because there was a locally infamous shooting there during the days of the Chicagoland gangsters and locals dubbed it Little Chicago). A friend from church called this morning and was headed to Tucapaw (we have some places originally named by the Cherokee Indians). We also have the Chattooga and Nantahala rivers near us.

The top photo is called "Over the Hill at Little Chicago". This was the service station of the late Bloomer Williams. My Dad was an Exxon jobber and delivered gas and fuel oil to him on his route. When I got completely under my mother's skin, she would send me with him so I visited Bloomer quite often as a child. He was quite an interesting character. He was also locally famous for making homemade sausage. The signpost to the right of the store was also locally famous. It had small boards nailed on listing places all around the world including Paris, Hong Kong, Chicago, New York, etc. and their distance in mileage from Little Chicago. The bottom board said Junkie John's, 1/2 mile. Junkie John had all sorts of junk in his yard and hung out at Bloomer's store. He lived about half a mile down the road. The second print is "The Last Cotton Crop in Holly Springs". We live in what is considered the Holly Springs community and near our house is this very cotton gin, now falling into disrepair and neglect, where local farmers took their cotton to be ginned. Proving once again that nothing in this world is constant but change. But then, in some parts around here, things haven't changed all that much from Bloomer's days. Jean's brother owns a convenience store near Bloomer's old building complete with a 'liar's bench' where locals hang out and tell tall tales and stories.

2007-01-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

I finally got my 12 x 12 x 12 Challenge Quilt finished. My theme was Seasons and Moods and in the bleak, chilly winter (even though this one has been mild so far) I have a wistful longing for the beach and the warmth of summer. We were actually on the beach this past weekend as we visited our friends in Charleston again and went out to Sullivan's Island. My friend, Ruba and her children, Sara, Isabelle and Hank went as well and the children enjoyed playing in the sand and running around in the shallow part since it was in the mid-70's there--I'll be posting some pix as soon as I get them downloaded on my home computer (two digital cameras and two computers)! Our beaches are not sugar-white like some beaches in Florida and some tropical islands (at least from the brochures I've drooled over, most tropical beaches look pure white!) but are more tan and gold.

I used Pebeo Setacolor gold metallic fabric paint to paint over the batik fabric I used and gold and white sparkle organza, glitter tulle, shells, shark's teeth, pebbles and sea glass I've picked up on the Carolina coast and the Florida beaches and a mixture of metallic seed and bugle beads to simulate the bits of shell and coral that are left behind as the waves crash in and recede. I am not completely satisfied with the way I tried to simulate the seafoam with batting and sparkle organza. I should not have done this as a whole piece but more 'fractured' somehow. But, I hope it at least comes across as what it's supposed to be. I am going to try to branch out into more abstract, 'artsy', less structured, traditional styles in this challenge. It's hard for someone so set in their little way of doing things! I am so enjoying seeing what everyone is doing! This is fun.

2007-01-10T09:54:00.000-05:00

WIP Wednesday

The first two photos are my somewhat pathetic attempts to aproximate Linda Schmidt's seascape in the winter edition of Quilting Arts magazine for my Journal Quilt. I didn't have Xpandaprint nor liquid beads so am trying to do something similar without these 'ingredients.' My theme was seasons and moods and since I love the ocean and just returned from Charleston--and we go back this weekend--I got to at least see the ocean and how beautiful it is. I'm using seashells and shark's teeth I have picked up in Florida and the South Carolina coast and I still have work to do, obviously. I know it looks amateurish but I'll tweek it.

The next two are the blocks for two BOM's I'm teaching here at the shop, one is just a double nine patch from Lori Smith's Quilted Sampler and the other is from her Pieceful Nights sampler.

The bottom photo is one I found when cleaning out my sewing basket. It's a landscape quilt of my SIL's former Florida beach house where our family spent many wonderful vacations over the years. I grieved when she sold it. I used a pix I had taken standing on the beach and looking back at the house. The trees and grasses are thread painted; the background is fabric painted and the seashells in the border are couched under tulle.

Just a note: I tried to make comments on some of your blogs this past week and for some reason, could not do so! I hope it was Blogger Beta issues and not my computer or something.

2007-01-03T10:08:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know it's WIP Wednesday but . . . (stick with me--you won't believe it!)

I know it's WIP Wednesday but I had to post these pix and tell about our New Year's weekend since for some reason, I can't seem to post pix from my home computer and my many efforts yesterday at home were unsuccessful. We have good friends who moved to Charleston where he is a very successful developer. We took our three plus Maggie's boyfriend, Nick and his brother, Joe who are also friends from church of our Charleston friends. That's our assorted gang including two of their sons, Phililp and Robertson, in the top photo pictured on their apartment balcony overlooking the harbor. The next pix is Robin's gorgeous dining room which should be featured in Southern Accents magazine and the rest are what I call the 'secret garden' at the home where the girls, Jerry and I stayed in small, cozy apartments. This pool has actually been featured in Architectural Digest and the bottom two photos are of the little alcove garden that feels much like a jungle as you're walking through it past 1 a.m. trying to find the doors to the apartments! It's gorgeous. For anyone not familiar with Charleston, SC, yards and gardens are at such a premium because the historic luxury homes, condos and townhouses are built so closely together (most with literally a small alleyway to place little pocket gardens, fountains and statuary. But it's also usually warmer than in the Upstate where we live and, because it's right on the ocean, much more humid so the perfect environment for year-round gardening if you are lucky enough to have a spot.

Okay, here's the 'real story' from the weekend. Friends of their's stopped by and with them was this very tall, statuesque red-head and a cute, shy little moppet of a child with a halo of soft black curls. He and Joanna ran off happily to play and the mother says to me, "I'm so glad Joanna is here. He needed that after this week. His father just died a few days ago." Now, I had had two little celebratory libationary imbibements at this point and I said, "Oh, my goodness! I'm so sorry! What happened???!!" She said--and I tell you no lie, "His father was James Brown. I'm James Brown's wife, Tommie Rae." Turns out she is staying with friends in Charleston. At this point I picked my jaw up off the floor and returned it into its upright and locked position. I will just say that after hearing her very exciting, passionate and tragic story in the kitchen (part of which being that she and little James were locked out of their home as anyone who has vaguely been aware of the death of the Godfather of Soul knows--as Becky says, this week we've lost a good man, an evil man and a soul man!) I will be planted firmly in front of my TV tonight watching her on Larry King's show telling her side of the story. I do wish her well and what a very precious and innocent little child to be embroiled in such a bitter trial. And another sad part of this story--believe it or not as they say at Ripley's--is that I was afraid she would mistrust my intentions if I asked to take a picture of her little boy with Joanna so when Joanna goes back to school and tells her teacher and classmates that she played with the son of the Godfather of Soul, who will believe her? Especially as she is prone to exaggeration and embellishment (see my earlier post about her 2nd grade science experiments with "methosaurus and uranium")?!

2006-12-27T16:12:00.000-05:00

Christmas Morning at Our House!

I know it's WIP Wednesday (at least I think this is Wednesday--Christmas got my calender all mixed up!) but the only thing I've got going on today is inventory at the shop and deciding which miniature doll molds to buy with my Christmas money. On to the pix and I'll discuss my wandering creative yearnings on farther down.

My older two will hate me for posting these pix of them right out of bed and downstairs to see what Santa brought. Ben got mostly athletic stuff including Nike Shocks that looked like there should be passengers inside waving down to the dock as they set sail (he wears a size 14 at age 14.) He also got an Airsoft gun (I think that's what it is--shoots plastic beebee's). You can tell Santa has to know what he's doing to buy for Ben. I'm totally unfamiliar with boy stuff for that age.

Maggie got a digital camera for her Costa Rica trip with the high school Spanish club this June, some pj pants and a watch. Joanna got a three-story Barbie Dream House and about nine Barbie dolls of various complexions and sizes (an entire set of those little Kelly dolls) plus the Little Mermaid CD and Little Mermaid doll. Beach Glam Ken (he of the excessive hair gel and rock hard abs) is the only male in the scantily clad harem so he's having a blast with the two big Barbie's and Teresa, I'm sure. Gabby got a Chuck-a-Duck which she enjoyed chewing up under the coffee table where she figured we wouldn't crawl under to take it away and some pork rawhide chews. Santa always remembers her too.

The last pix is the dining room table Maggie set for Christmas breakfast. Since Jerry's sister, his only sibling, is divorced and the agreement is that the children will be at their home a state away on Christmas morning so both parents can see what Santa brought, the Raines come to our house to see what Santa brought and to have breakfast with us before we head to my Dad's to open presents with my brother and his family and have lunch. Then it's back to the Raines that evening for presents and more eating--I now need to go on the diet to end all diets (but of course, that aint' happening). Maggie loves to set the table with the Lenox Christmas china and red glasses. We also have a place setting of about a dozen different Christmas settings which my parents collected through the years, two place settings of each. So when my mother had her family Christmas dinner with her two sisters, brother and their famlies, everyone got a different place setting. After she died, my Dad said his days of big entertaining were over so we now have our settings and I use those when I have what little remains of my mother's family over--this was not my year--next year is my year. This year, my cousin, Joan has it at her house (thank the Lord) so scheduled it for January when the Christmas rush is over.

Note in the last pix how our skinny dining room tree is leaning at the top?! I tried to fix that but, alas, it seemed to want to look out the window the whole time so that way it remained. I was so slack this year, we got that one decorated Christmas Eve!!!!! Also note how there are no window treatments over the windows? And you know I can sew pretty well--I guess it's true, the cobbler's children have no shoes. Well, we're far off the road so it's not like everyone's looking in. I'll get around to it one of these days. So, in a way, my house is the biggest WIP!

Now to my scattered ADHD creative bents and fits and predilicitions. I had a dollhouse my Dad put together, painted and wallpapered and even wired when I was young. It got partially furnished and pretty much abandoned in a few years. Of course, I still have it and every now and then I enjoy picking up a mini magazine, making a mini bear from upholstery velvet, or some items from FIMO. Well, one of my new 'down-the-road' projects is to build a Santa's house. So, over the last two years or so, I've been collecting through eBay, Cotton Ridge Designs, DH Miniatures and other venues mini's that will fit with that theme. I even have a Reutter's Porcelain black oven, a Vermont table, a pine hutch and miscellaneous other mini furniture items and accessories.

Back in my porcelain doll making days (by far the most costly of my creative pursuits to date--our basement looks like a graveyard of cast off arts and crafts of various types, magnitude and materials), I used to buy and pour my own porcelain dolls. I still have the kiln which is not currently wired up but I never bought the mold set I so wanted: the miniature Parker Levi Santa and Mrs. Claus mold set. So with part of my Christmas money, we bought the wiring Jerry needs to wire the kiln back up (that took quite a chunk with the price of copper wiring these days) and I got on the internet and guess what I discovered????? Doreen Sinnett . http://www.doreensinnettdolls.com/index.html By far, she has the most beautiful mini doll molds around. I think I have decided on James for my Santa and Ethel for Mrs. Claus. Of course, poor, long-suffering Jerry has discovered through the years that he must take great, courageous, yet delicate measures to rein in my euphoric creative bents, wanderings and visions so he very deftly talked me down from ordering about $350 worth of molds right off the bat having not even poured slip in, what now?? Maybe five years? He convinced me that the more prudent course would be to just stick with the Santa and Mrs. Claus (and the football field length of Scioto cherub molds, for example) and see if I will actually have time to balance quiltmaking, shop management, motherhood and what little housework I do (not to mention the many hours of nightly sleep I require just to function) with the renewed doll making endeavors. I guess someone must be the lone voice of reason crying in the wilderness--or the fun-sucker, whichever way you want to look at it. Can I help being born creative? No, I cannot--I just wish, as he fervently does as well--that I could focus!

2006-12-21T10:48:00.000-05:00

Quilt Labels, Epitaphs and Famous Sayings and Christmas (Hope this is worth the read to you)

I love famous quotes and sayings and thought you would find this quilt label, listed among some serious ones on Dawn Pages, funny:

From Patricia: "This Christmas I made a quilt for my older brother. The sentiment that I added on the label was this:
"May all of your lifes ups and downs happen underneath this quilt"
While somewhat bawdy, it was met with appreciation!"

Brings to mind my all-time favorite Irish 'blessing':

May all who know us love us.
And if they do not love us, may God turn their hearts.
And if he cannot turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles
So that we may know them by their limp.

Some of my other favorite famous quotes:

When choosing between two evils, I always like to choose the one I've never tried before.--Mae West

Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.--???

'Be yourself' is the worst advice you can give some people.--Tom Masson

If you win the rat race, you'll still be a rat.--Lily Tomlin

Life is what happens while you're making other plans.--John Lennon

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.--Mark Twain

Get your facts first. Then you can distort them as much as you wish.--Mark Twain

God gave us our relatives; thank God we can choose our friends.--Ethel Watts Mumford

Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time and sometimes you weep.--Carl Sandburg

Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.--Elbert Hubbard

One thing they never tell you about child raising is that for the rest of your life, at the drop of a hat, you are expected to know your child's name and how old he or she is.--Erma Bombeck

Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving.--Erma Bombeck

Housework is a treadmill from futility to oblivion with stop-offs at tedium and counter productivity.--Erma Bombeck

I haven't trusted polls since I read that 62% of women have affairs during their lunch hour. I have never met a woman in my life who would give up lunch for sex.--Erma Bombeck

Favorite Epitaphs:

Remember friends as you pass by.
As you are now so once was I.
As I am now soon you will be.
Prepare for death and follow me.

Here lies an atheist.
All dressed up and no place to go.

Favorite Christmas sayings and quotes:

Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space. ~Dave Barry

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause.
He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life at its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Clause! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. --Francis R. Church

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.--The Book of Isaiah

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel." --The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, versus 22 through 32

2006-12-20T08:36:00.000-05:00

WIP Wednesday and Baby Goat

My FIL has goats and when a Mamma either rejects a baby or is unable to nurse a baby for whatever reason, he brings it inside and nurses it to health if he can. This baby is Nanny's baby, a surviving twin from the oldest goat in the pasture whom we thought was beyond 'child-bearing'. She must be 98 in goat years and gave birth to twins. One died before he could bring it inside to try to save it but the other, a little girl, is flourishing under Papa's dilligent care. Nanny, meanwhile, is 'crippled up' as we say in the south from her ordeal of late-in-life childbearing and unable to care for this little one. I hope she makes it--she is truly a grizzled old goat but like a pet. She comes to you wanting to be petted whereas the others keep a wary eye and skitter away when you come near. My father in law never changed diapers nor got up in the middle of the night when my DH and his sister were infants (he says--and I quote: "That's woman's work" which pretty much tells the era he came from although my MIL responds, "That's okay--I don't get up in the night to nurse goats either") but he will get up at 2 a.m., warm a bottle of collostrum for a baby goat and even give it a tub bath (and goats do not like water so this is quite an interesting and harrowing adventure for him, the goat and any observer). The top photo is my son, Ben, holding the baby and the other two are our Yorkie, Gabby checking out the little critter. The two cutest photos of Gabby giving the goat 'sugar' did not copy to the CD for some reason so I may try to post them another day.

The bottom pix is the purse I started yesterday afternoon from Moda Chocolat scraps I had left over from the quilt I made. I posted an emergency plea for help in turning the button loops but finally got them turned using my bodkin. My fingers are sore but my resolve was stronger than my pain threshold if but barely.

2006-12-19T16:34:00.000-05:00

Help!!!

I am trying to make a handbag which calls for button loops made from 1" wide strips of fabric folded lengthwise and sewn with a 1/4" seam. When I insert my long bodkin with the hook on the end into my strip and try to turn it, I get a big old ruffled up strip of fabric, sore fingers, and no luck. It's been a while since I did any type of garment sewing and used a bodkin--is there some sort of trick I've completely forgotten?!! I'll post some WIP's tomorrow and pix of my little Yorkie, Gabby loving one of my FIL's baby goats whose mother couldn't nurse it. I have two digi cameras and the one from home I couldn't get my pix copied to CD's to bring to work and post! Thanks for any tips and techniques. I could have had this bag made but have been fiddling with this strip of fabric for 30 minutes!

2006-12-16T10:03:00.000-05:00

Mormon Temple and Going's on at Our Farm

I finally got my pix of the Mormon Temple from Becky's and my sojourn out to Salt Lake City for Handi Quilter rep training downloaded and even though the third one is a bit blurry, I like the effect. It was breathtakingly beautiful--and may well be the only snow I get to see this winter! The third pix was taken from the roof restaurant in the Joseph Smith building where Handi Quilter pres, Mark Hyland took our group for dinner--27 desserts!!!

The last two pix are of Jerry in the cherry picker he rented to put the trusses up on his barn and the front side of the barn that he already has the roof on. You can see his tractor and round baler and some of the round bales he has left from this fall's cutting. He took Friday and Monday off to get the trusses up and yesterday, Friday, he only got two up so today I think he wants to get as many of the remaining 11 up as possible. When I took water down to them while ago, he had put up a few more. On our budget, most of what we accomplish around here is DIY. It was cheaper to rent the cherry picker for the weekend than pay professionals to put the trusses up. The estimates he got for labor alone to put up 13 trusses were around $7,000, slightly above our means right here at Christmas with three children, assorted neices, nephews, in-law's and 'outlaws' to buy for. His father and Ben, and today, my Dad, are here assisting with the process. Our across-the-road neighbor, Homer High, was also down there watching the proceedings. At least the weather is perfect for barn raising. It's in the mid to high 70's and not even a breeze blowing, much to my relief as I watch the love of my life rising 25 feet in the air in a little metal hydraulic basket he only learned to operate yesterday while also operating an AK-47-looking and sounding nail gun.

As for me, since this is really my first day off in quite a while, I am excavating in the house (well, when I'm not down in the basement updating my blog and checking my e-mails). Jerry should have splurged and rented a front-end loader for me to push the debris out into the garage. I've already filled up three plastic grocery bags with paper recycling, washed the dishes we left from last night as we dashed out with our covered dishes to go to the Sunday School Christmas dinner, washed the sheets from our bed and other assorted piles of laundry, etc., etc.. There are oh, so many, many more chores to be done just to get the house presentable, and suitable for Santa to visit, but at least a modicum of progress is being made. Alas, despite my poor mother's mentoring efforts ("A place for everything and everything in its place"), I was not born with the neatnik gene--mine was more the mess-making, pack-rat, accumulating, stack-it-up-and-deal-with-it-later gene so when I finally get a day to clean, there is oh, so much scope for my pitiful labors. Nevertheless, here I sit updating my blog. My mother would hang her head in shame. She tried. But I do assauge my feelings of guilt with reminders to myself that I 'have a good personality and can sew my own clothes' as they used to say about less-than-attractive blind dates!

2006-12-14T12:47:00.000-05:00

Brave or Stupid???

I cringe to post these pix but I am getting acquainted with the nuances of the Handi Quilter yesterday and today. Now, a sane, cautious person would practice on many, many pieces of muslin before plunging in and loading an actual quilt but one of my mottos is "Fools rush in where angels fear to trod" (seconded only by "As ye sew, also shall ye rip" which goes hand in hand with the former) so the poor Florida quilt is now the guinea pig for my hefty learning curve. And even more subdued fools would stick with a neutral thread, but hey, this fool goes gung-ho and uses a purple thread! Oh, will I ever learn???!!

I have to say that I'm pretty good at free motion meandering on my trusty and faithful companion, the Brother PQ 1500 but learning to do stencils on the frame has a definite learning curve for me. So far, I am not a very good representative for Handi Quilter although I do love the machine and frame. It's entirely user error here. So, yesterday, I finished practicing straight line quilting using the deck and ruler to outline each square (finally was able to stay pretty much in the ditch) and today feeling ever so confident, I am plowing on to stencils. I tried tracing on Press n' Seal with a water soluble marker but couldn't really see my outline well. So ditched that. Then I drew directly through the stencil with the water soluble marker onto the quilt and tried speeding up and then slowing down with mixed results (both pretty lame) and now I am trying out the laser light, also with mixed results. But, hey, I'm not letting this get me down. Maybe by the time I reach the bottom of the quilt again, I'll have improved some. All prayers and positive thoughts sent my way greatly appreciated.

2006-12-11T10:02:00.000-05:00

A Veer Left From Quilting for the Weekend!

This weekend while mostly lying around the house blowing my nose trying to get over this darned cold, I picked up some miniature needlework I had begun last year for the Santa's house I am slowly accumulating things for. For a while I was really blowing my budget buying mini's on eBay and from various online mini shops. I'm also making a lot of the stuff. Of course, I have pictured the magnifying glass and glasses I have to wear (and mostly look through the little super magnification bubble at the bottom since I am increasingly far-sighted). This is worked on silk mesh (not the smallest you can get--I couldn't see that at all) but I forget which size this is. It's worked in one strand of embroidery floss. Sometimes I take a far left veer from quilting and piddle with other creative outlets. I've got to search for a good photo editing program. The flash made it a little hard to see the details but, then again, maybe that's best since my stitches are far from perfect! There is another bell to do on the top one so it may be another year before I finish. However, there is no hurry because I don't even have the house yet! I do have a beautiful stove, sink, some furniture, and lots of accessories. See my links to view Faye Zerbolli's dollhouse if mini's interest you. It's absolutely to die for.

2006-12-08T08:09:00.000-05:00

Since I can't seem to get into the Christmas spirit, I thought I'd post some Christmas pix I've taken or had taken over the last few years. My parents, Joe and Juanita, used to play Mr. and Mrs. Santa. They would go to nursing homes, preschools, elementary schools and participate in Landrum's Christmas stroll sitting in the rocking chairs at the fire house where lines of children would come sit on my Dad's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. They were naturals. And I made their outfits--velvet and fake fur.
The second pix is Maggie and Ben wearing their hats and posing after one of those town strolls.
The third pix is Maggie and Ben posing in front of the tree one year (I was bad not to date my pix!) and the last two are last year's Christmas card pix--haven't done that this year--and the last one is Joanna sitting on the Westgate Mall Santa's lap last year.
So far, we haven't even put up our tree nor have I made any headway getting the Christmas pix done for cards. I may be like our friends, Ruba and Eric Nix. One year she didn't get her cards out by Christmas so in February, everyone got their cards from the Nix's saying, "We missed the birthday of the King; We missed the birthday of Elvis the king; Happy Martin Luther King Day!"

Today, while I am getting over this cold, I'm staying away from Daddy where I'm supposed to be cleaning his house today and I'm going to try out the new toy I bought at Piper's in Salt Lake City, a punch needle. I dabble in miniatures occasionally as well as embroidery and I've wanted to try punch needle for years. So, I found a Cameo punch needle out there with three needle sizes, small, medium and large and I'm going to try to refrain from jumping into the most complicated pattern I can come up with among my many patterns and things which is what I usually do. I have three sayings that apply to me as a quilter and craftsperson: "As ye sew, also shall ye rip!", "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread!" and "Jack of All Trades; Master of None!" Those three sayings pretty much sum me up in a nutshell, pardon the pun!!!

2006-12-07T10:11:00.000-05:00

Back from Utah and Handi Quilter

We're back from Salt Lake City and Handi Quilter headquarters. Boy, were we ever educated about the machine--even doing an 'autopsy' to study the internal mechanisms and how to repair any damage done by catastrophic events such as running over one of the 1/4" thick rulers while stitching or some other unforeseen event.

The top photo is Becky scraping ice off our rental car at the hotel the first morning. We'd been having unusually warm temps here at home with high's in the 70's so it was quite a different climate out there for us southern gals. There was snow on the ground but thankfully not on the roads. We had some of our typical navigational mis-haps, especially the first night we arrived and went in search of the Handi Quilter offices. I kept insisting Becky drive toward these lights spread for what seemed miles since, I erroneously reasoned, it had to be the city of South Salt Lake 'proper'. Turns out it was an oil refinery! Who would have thunk it?! Anyway, we did happen on the building and then had to find our way back to the hotel as we had taken at least eight turns and detours. However, we managed to drive right into downtown Salt Lake which wasn't far at all from Bountiful where we stayed and it had to be the best time of the year to see the Mormon Temple and Temple Square. I took photos of it with the other camera so I'll share them when I get them downloaded. It was beautiful! And our group was hosted out to dinner at The Garden restaurant on the roof of the Joseph Smith building by the CEO of Handi Quilter so we dined on a scrumptious buffet and dessert table featuring 27 desserts while surrounded by a bank of windows overlooking Temple Square, the Temple itself and the city spread out in lights below us. It was a magnificent dinner and a magnificent setting!

One of the photos is Handi Quilter instructor Vickie Hoth showing one of our fellow students, Mary Beth Groseta of Quilter's Quarters in Cottonwood, Arizona, some of the quilting patterns you can use.

We also managed to find, in our evenings after sessions, some of the local quilt shops including Quilter's Haven in Bountiful, which was a beautiful shop, Piper's downtown which has not only fabrics but yarns and also Quilts, Etc. which boasts over 17,000 bolts!!!!! We were in quilting heaven and did our share to support the local quilting economy!

While I brought home a silver money clip for Jerry, a t-shirt and a hooded sweatshirt for Ben, a hooded sweat shirt, earrings and Mexican jumping beans (by far the biggest hit) for Joanna, and a pink vinyl bag and earrings for Maggie, I also seem to have brought home a cold and woke up this morning with a scratchy throat, stuffed up nose, aches and a low grade fever. Yes, one of my new "Most Embarrassing Moments" will be when I fell asleep on the plane from Dallas to Charlotte and woke myself up with a loud, resounding snort. I'm sure other passengers are telling their colleagues and families about the woman who fell asleep sitting upright and woke up with the loudest snort they'd ever heard come from a supposed member of the fairer sex. My children thought that particular episode from our trip was the biggest hoot beating out our various driving around lost scenarios. Anyway, Jerry called his mother this morning to carry Joanna to school and after valiantly dragging myself into the kitchen to cook breakfast (mainly because when Maggie hugged me last night, she said, "We missed you! We had no breakfast! Just kidding."), I took Alka Seltzer cold medicine and Ibuprofin and crawled back in bed until time to drag myself out again and get dressed to come in. So, I'm drinking gallons of hot tea and going through a box of Kleenex as I'm typing. I'll probably pretty much be here at the computer catching up on e-mails, reading everyone's blogs and watching the Handi Quilter DVD's all day. I will leave the chair to wait on customers of course and try to refrain from sneezing or breathing on them but otherwise I'll be right here if anyone needs me.

2006-12-01T18:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry about this image--for some reason something is whacko with my scanner and I couldn't get it to resize but I had to share Joanna's latest story--and her school picture. She cracks us up when she isn't driving us insane fussing with her brother. Yesterday evening when I picked her up at her grandmother's to rush home so we could go do a little Christmas shopping, I thought I'd ask about her day at school since her grandmother helps her with homework and I'm usually either yelling upstairs, "Get your clothes on and hurry down for breakfast! We'll be running late!!" before work or, "Hurry up and get your clothes off and into the bathtub so you won't be so late going to bed!" after work.

So I said, "Joanna, tell me one thing you learned today." Well, did I ever find out how cutting edge the second grade science lab is at her elementary school! She says, "Well, you know that stuff when you mix it together and it turns green and explodes and then it turns purple?"

"No," I said incredulously, "I don't think I'm familiar with that."

"Well, we all had to put on gloves and wear goggles and we took Methosaurus (??) and Uranium (!!!) and mixed it together in those glass things and first it turned green and then it exploded and then it turned purple. And some of it came out on Gracie's arm and burned her."

Imagine my shock and surprise that they are apparently working with highly dangerous and volatile radioactive material and perhaps liquified dinosaur remains or something (Methosaurus--that's a new compound I've never heard of)!! This has got to be some sort of advanced group of four feet tall, snaggle-toothed youngsters! So, I actually have no more idea what they could have been doing in the lab--or, knowing the way Joanna embellishes a story, wether they even go to the lab, than I did before I asked.

Well, Becky and I are off Sunday to Utah for the Handi Quilter retreat. Well, first we meet at 5 a.m. to travel to the Charlotte, NC airport where it is about $130 cheaper per ticket--albeit two hours away--than our local airport. Then we board a plane where it will be a little cooler than the warmer-than-normal annual averages we have been experiencing here, around 70 degrees. When we land in Utah, the high's are supposed to be in the low 30's. I haven't even been brave enough to check and see if they are having snow! But we are excited. So, if I don't get to post anything before we head out, hopefully we'll be back without a hitch and I'll have lots of pix to post of Utah and the progress we made out there! I know you all will be praying for our safe travels and I thank you profusely in advance!

2006-11-30T07:56:00.000-05:00

A heartfelt and humble thank you to all who responded so kindly to my post yesterday. Your responses brought tears to my eyes. No matter what separates us whether it be geography, political or religious beliefs, age, etc., I believe quilters are some of the most giving and compassionate people there are. Thank you very much for your empathy and warmth. It is always bitter sweet to visit the cemetery with my Dad. His daily grief over my mother's loss is profound and unrelenting though he rallies on keeping the traditions she established. We both shed a few tears at my mother's grave yesterday and I learned some interesting family history as we arranged greenery and red velvet bows on some of the others; things I never knew about long-lost aunts and great grandparents. My parents used to decorate about 11 graves including my SIL's little girl, Fiona, from her first marriage, who drowned at age five and he never actually knew, a cousin's first wife who died in a car accident and was an only child with no surviving relatives, a couple of which the wife was reared by his grandparents and, again, no surviving area relatives are here to do so, and my mother's brother's grave. Daddy was an only child himself and my mother's three siblings were his family. They are all gone but one who is, for all practical purposes, gone as we always knew her. She survives with Alzheimer's and seems to have more and more trouble placing who we are when we visit. I can't visit her very often due to work and also that she is the one who most resembled my mother. He's now decorating about nine graves including the husband of a widowed friend from his church. In a way, I think he is trying to instill the habit of doing this so that I will carry it on after he's gone. It was very important to my mother to decorate the graves of loved ones so that you remembered and showed respect. He always says, "I think your Mamma would like that. It's beautiful" as we stand back and look at our crude workmanship. Both of us would starve as floral arrangers and both of our methods of 'decorating' with Christmas greenery is just to cut them down to size and cram as much down into the vase as you can, wrap the wire of the bow around a blunt stick and shove it down into the front of the haphazard Frazier Fir melieu. In the spring, he takes the grandchildren to the store and lets them choose various silk flowers and we trek out to the cemetery to decorate the graves before Easter. I wanted to reassure him yesterday that I would continue this ritual of remembrance after he's gone (if things come to their natural biological conclusion--you never know I fully realize--he and I both thought he would be the one to go first). But I didn't say so. I think he knows.

2006-11-29T08:10:00.000-05:00

WIP Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

I always seem to have an eclectic mixture of works in progress I'll be able to show on WIP Wednesday's because I can't seem to begin a project and see it through to its conclusion without starting at least four more on top of the ones I already have waiting to be completed in boxes, on shelves and whereever else I can stash them. Anyway, the top pix is the Florida quilt on the HandiQuilter frame where I am attempting to learn to use the thick acrylic ruler and 'deck' for straight line stitching in the ditch. I'm finding this technique comes with quite a learning curve for me but I do love the machine. I'm sure in more experienced, capable hands, it runs like a wildcdat on speed. This quilt is called the Florida quilt because it was made in a week when we went to my SIL's former beachfront home in Port St. Joe, Florida for a fun-and-sun-filled vacation (she has since sold it for a townhouse in Tybee Island, Georgia unfortunately for us--Port St. Joe was heaven on earth, I'm convinced) and what they called a tropical storm and we called a hurricane blew in and also took up temporary residence for the entire week. During the torrential daily downpours, grey skies and chill, while Jerry paced the house like a trapped animal, Maggie and I went daily to Miss Von's quilt shop in town and had our own quilting retreat while snacking on her homemade pound cake and fresh coffee. I figured it would be a good quilt to practice getting to know the Handi Quilter on since it's not a family heirloom and for Jerry, I'm sure, has negative memories attached.

The second, third and fourth photos are two crazy quilted pillow tops I started . . . oh, at least a year ago and abandoned to go onto other things. One of them was begun at a guild meeting where that was one of our monthly programs. The other I just started as one of my wild hair notions. I do enjoy embroidery and embellishments but am always working on traditional pieced quilts these days.

The last pix is The Girls. I posted in October about my frantic search for these pinup witches after having seen them last year and saying to myself, "I'll get them sometime . . .". After a futile half-day internet search, I finally located them at eQuilter. Funny story about The Girls. I was working on them in the shop the week they arrived and a lady Methodist minister came in to buy a few things. She asked what I was working on and I pointed to The Girls. "I'm making a sexy witch wallhanging for my husband," I said. She looked at The Girls lollling about friskily on the floor, looked up at me and said, "Will he like that????" "Oh, yes," I said. "He will."

Since I'm in a rambling, scattered mood to match my scattered style of quiltmaking today, I have to say this is a blue day for me. First, I not only dreamed about my mother who died of cancer three years ago but also about my friend, Rita Jo's mother, Pherby, who also died of cancer the spring before my mother died. Seems they were having a benefit concert in the front yard where they lived when we were growing up and Rita's Dad worked for my Dad and we were practically like sisters. For some reason, I had to leave but I reached over to Pherby and squeezed her hand in parting and gave her a sad smile and she looked into my eyes and smiled back as if she knew this was the last time she would see me. Secondly, I sometimes suspect I sleep like a goose with my head somehow folded under my armpit so my neck is stiff and sore this morning. Thirdly, I forgot to go by the store last night after our special Tuesday night choir practice to get milk, juice, bacon, etc. to cook breakfast this morning so we had cream of wheat and . . . water to drink (bad wife and mother award coming right here). And fourth but certainly not last, this is a grey, dreary day and my Dad is coming this way to pick me up so we can go put greenery on the graves including my mother's, his baby's who died of spina bifida at nine months in 1955, his parent's, my mother's parent's and a plethora of others including my uncle's whose remaining daughter lives in Minnesota and never comes here--nor would she bother to visit his grave but that's yet another sad story. Anyway, I'm like Eyeore today so forgive my imparting a gigantic cloud of darkness and despair to every visitor who has stayed with me thus far during my self-pitying soliloquy. There are a few other issues I'd best not blog about but that I find, during which, you just have to say I cannot deal with this, put one foot in front of the other and remember to keep breathing--in and out. And fair warning, I will probably be this way on and off through the holidays since they don't quite have the same air of excitement and happiness since my mother died. Sorry to be a proverbial drag but this thing is just too much like a diary not to vent when I need to.

2006-11-27T08:29:00.000-05:00

"These Are A Few of My Favorite Things"

Over the weekend, I decided I would pretend I'm Oprah Winfrey and post a listing of 25 of my favorite things. These are products I buy all the time at the grocery and drug store; some I've used since I was a teenager. Of course, as I'm far from a celebrity, these are your scaled down, affordable products I recommend as a middle class wife and mother, chief cook and bottle washer. I wish I could give them all to you in my Jody's Favorite Things Show but alas, I can only recommend you go out post-haste and try them yourself.

1. Oil of Olay--I've used this religiously since I was 15 and saw it on the bathroom counter at Linda William's house while I was babysitting. She had the prettiest skin so I decided I'd best give it a try. I did and have used it daily under my foundation and I do get complements on my complexion. Plus it has sunscreen.

2. Noxzema--I've also used this religiously since my teen's and love it as a moisturizing cleanser and makeup remover.

3. Duke's Mayonnaise--This is the staple mayo in most Southern kitchens. Duke's was founded by Mrs. Eugenia Duke of Greenville, South Carolina (about a 30 minute drive from me) who began her career by selling sandwiches to soldiers stationed at Fort Sevier. In 1929 the C.F. Sauer Company purchased her company and Duke's is still made in Greenville and sold and marketed by Sauer in Richmond, Virginia. Most self-respecting southern cooks swear by Duke's.

4. Hazelnut Coffee Creamer--This is divine in coffee morning, noon or night.

5. Hershey's Chocolate Nuggets with Almonds--need I say more? The perfect sized piece of chocolate with an almond in the middle.

6. Arm & Hammer Baking Soda toothpaste--baking soda is an excellent tooth scrub. Love the flavor.

7. Bath & Body Works scented lotions--My two current favorites, Fig and Brown Sugar and Cotton Blossom. You don't have to wear perfume. These moisturize your skin and give you a wonderful fragrance.

8. Shout Color Catcher dye magnets--A miracle product to catch excess dye in new clothes, fabrics or quilts.

9. Maybelline Age Rewind liquid foundation--When Almay stopped making their Sport Tint, I switched to this and love it. It doesn't melt off your face like some liquid foundations and is light and blends well.

10. Coty Airspun Transparent face powder--Another product I've used since I was a teenager. It sets your makeup with a light powder dusting and you're good to go. I also like the way it smells.

11. Alka Seltzer Cold Medicine--This stuff is a bonafide miracle agent. It is effective for stuffy noses and indigestion and I give it three thumbs up--both of mine and somebody else's.

12. Arm & Hammer Clean Burst laundry detergent--A 60-load box is $5 at Dollar General ($7-plus at Walmart so what's up with that???) and you can't beat it with a stick. Works like a charm.

13. Twenty Mule Team Borax--This stuff is a great laundry detergent booster and it kills roaches as well. One of those multi-use products that has been around since the invention of the wheel.

14. Orville Reddenbacher's Smart Pop Kettle Korn--Sweet, salty goodness that is supposedly lower in fat and calories. The ideal Pay Per View snack.

15. Maxwell House Lite--The perfect reduced-caffeine coffee for us Type A personalities who can be dangerous on full-throttle caffeinated drinks. Truly 'good to the last drop.'

16. General Mills Oatmeal Crisp with Almonds--Ah, the best cold cereal I've ever eaten plus it's supposed to be good for your heart and overall health. Every morsel sweet, crunchy and tasty.

17. Cream of Wheat--I lived on this in college. We had a microwave and ate this with a little sugar and a little butter while we studied at night. I have always loved the mellow flavor and prefer it with lumps.

18. VO5 shampoo and conditioner--my current shampoo of choice. It seems to give my hair great body.

19. Ragu Chunky Garden Tomato and Garlic sauce--Zesty, chunky goodness in a jar which makes life so much easier. Brown your ground chuck and drain the excess fat, pour in a large bottle of this stuff, boil your spaghetti pasta and voila--practically instant gratification!

20. Almonds--my favorite nut seconded only by cashews. I love them sliced, minced, roasted, lightly salted, in cereral, etc.

21. Brummel & Brown Strawberry spread--This spread made with yogurt and strawberries has a light, buttery taste and is the perfect spread for bagels or toast.

22. Jello 100-calorie Chocolate pudding--It's pudding, it's chocolate and it's 100 calories--what will they think of next??? My friends who have been on Weight Watchers say it is one point. So eat up.

23. Oral B Soft bristle toothbrush--Nine out of 10 dentists recommend it so, hey, why fight professional advice?

24. Libby's Pumpkin (made into pie)--This has got to be my favorite back-of-the-can recipe. Wholesome, delicious, simple and Joanna is our pumpkin-pie-eating little queen.

25. Blue Bell Pistachio Almond Ice Cream--This is the best stuff since they learned to churn milk with sugar on ice. Every bite is creamy, sweet and delicious and has a pistachio or almond in it! How do they distribute them so evenly??? My children say I like any green ice cream since this and Chocolate Mint are my two all-time favorites. Try it---you'll love it!

2006-11-22T14:19:00.000-05:00

Handi Quilter Assembly Day (and Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!)

We got our Handi Quilter at the shop about two weeks ago. The top pix is the UPS truck that delivered it right before the guy drove off and left us to assemble the thing all by ourselves--the rascal. The second pix is the machine in its lovely pink packaging looking so pristine. Then there's Becky amidst the many boxes and finally, me trying to assemble the adjustable table with a screwdriver while Frankie shows me how much faster the proper power tool can do it. He happened to be here putting up new shelves in the back for our sale fabrics and took pity on us.

Anyway, as a card-carrying member of Procrastinators Anonymous, after we got the table up and I took everything out of the boxes and screwed in the handles I pretty much put off actually setting it up to use because I was afraid of cutting the velcroed leaders down to size. Well, today I decided enough of being scared to totally ruin something so I bravely put the adhesive velcro strips on the frame poles and without ceremony, cut down the leaders and drug in my serger from the back of my car to serge the ends. I now have graduated to placing the machine on the carriage and plugging in all wires and cables and the power cord and I've even turned it on. It works. Then I quickly turned it off to finish initial assembly. Then I called Jerry to see if he could come by here if he gets off work early to hold my hand through the remainder of the operation. I'm not 100% sure but I may have the set up totally backwards from the way it's supposed to go--with my keen sense of spatiality and engineering, I most likely do.

We fly to Utah to be trained the first week of December. I plan to take thousands of notes and pictures. I'm not too keen on the flying part. I can do it but it's just as James Gregory, the comedian says, "You'll never hear the pilot say, 'Shhhh . . . shhhhh! I'm gonna pull over up here and look under the hood to see if I can figure out what's makin' that noise!'" So, please pray for us! Also, we're bona fide Southern gals and I've rented us a little compact car so if we get there amidst a blizzard, they may find us frozen under a thawing snow bank about March holding mounds of notes in our laps.

2006-11-21T08:30:00.000-05:00

My All-Time Favorite Cassandra Williams Quilt

This is my all-time favorite Cassandra Williams quilt. It's called Dance of the Deep and is pictured in Jan Krentz' book, Diamond Quilts & Beyond. I got to see it 'in person' at the Pigeon Forge, Tennessee Mountain Quiltfest last spring and I kept going back to it over and over to photograph it and just ogle it. I wanted to reach out and run my hand over it but, alas, that wasn't allowed--of course. I have even begun to do a few elements of my own undersea quilt based on this one (sans the octopus which would be a little too much outright copy-work). I think her quilts are stunning and I would love to meet her and take a class from her although I'm not sure if she teaches. The only book I have in my extensive library with any info about her is Leisure Arts' Great American Quilts Book Ten which also features a group quilt on the front cover made by the Out-of-Towners, four women from Oak Ridge, TN who are members of a Sevierville, TN guild. That quilt is also a stunner and is called the Sunday Quilt. I had to buy the book when I saw it on the cover after seeing it 'in person' at the Pigeon Forge show a few years ago. Cassandra Williams happened to be one of the featured artists in the Designer Gallery section of the book but there isn't very much information about her, only that she lives in Oregon and began her artistic career as an oil painter. Maybe one of these days she'll teach a class or at least publish a book detailing her works.

2006-11-20T14:43:00.000-05:00

Woops! Forgot a Bond--Pierce Brosnan--and he kind of looks disgusted at having been left out here doesn't he? Of course had to post another pix of the REAL James Bond, the King, Sir Sean Connery--didn't he age well???! Roger Moore, while droll and subtly funny, was never really James Bond to me nor was Pierce Brosnan for some reason. I guess I was still picturing him in that '80's show, Remington Steele. But for yet another reason I can't fathom, as I say below in my Casino Royale review, I'll take Daniel Craig as a close second to the king.

2006-11-20T11:13:00.001-05:00

My Review of Daniel Craig as James Bond
We went to see Casino Royale Saturday night. We normally don't go to the movies because there are rarely any worth paying that much $$ for and if you wait a little, you can buy them on Pay Per View, pop your own popcorn, turn on the gas logs and lay on the couch. No one around you is talking on their cell phone or with their date or jumping up to go get candy half-way through it or refusing to take out their wailing toddler who shouldn't be there to begin with.
Anyway, Jerry is one of the biggest James Bond fans in the world and I knew Ben, like his father, would like the flashy cars, speed boats, loathesome villains, amazing stunts, hand to hand combat and excessive gunfire and explosions, all taking place in exotic locales; not to mention the always well-endowed and drop-dead gorgeous Bond girls. So, Jerry, Maggie, Ben and I went to see Casino Royale.
I was prepared not to like Daniel Craig as Bond (the blonde Bond as some have referred to him). I've always said Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan were mere pretenders to Sean Connery's throne but after seeing the movie, I like him. Maybe it was his scruffy, dangerous, rugged good looks or maybe it was when he rose out of the sea like Adonis with his really buff shoulders and hard abs or maybe it was his piercing aqua eyes but, hey, I really like him. I think he's worthy of filling Connery's shoes in the role and that he made it his own. And for me, that's quite an endorsement. Was there anyone as suave, sexy and smooth as Sean Connery shaken or stirred???? Which, by the way, Craig's bond makes it clear he couldn't care less whether its shaken or stirred. Craig shows a wider range of emotion from gripping fear to grief to explosive anger to gentle sensitivity and I liked him in all ranges. So, Sean, I still love you as THE classic James Bond but I'll take Daniel Craig as your worthy replacement.
So, girls, if you can stomach two or so hours of heart-pounding, very loud gunfire, explosions, building demolitions, car crashes, a plethora of dead bodies, a tragic love scenario and a really disturbing torture scene, I think you'll like Craig as the new Bond. That's my review!

2006-11-20T10:40:00.000-05:00

Seems I somehow alleviated the comments posting abilities on my blog and am trying to fix that! I love getting comments so comment away. If I can't get it resolved, I'll send a holler out to the techies to try to get it solved. I've tried re-enabling and let's see if it does that here!

2006-11-17T13:21:00.000-05:00

Because I like to see pix of everyone's work on their blogs and I have nothing completed at this point to show, I'm showing a pix of a landscape quilt I did based on photos of Kiawah Island, SC at sunset. I painted the background with fabric paint and the grasses, trees and shrubs and egrets are thread painted. It doesn't really do the beauty of our Carolina coastline justice but I guess it gives the idea. My friend Ben bought this one. I told him if I made a better rendering, I would trade with him. He is a developer in Charleston and we so enjoy going down about once a year to visit with them. I'll post some pix of Charleston at some point.

2006-11-16T08:25:00.000-05:00

My Morning

This was my morning: Caution: This is lengthy but to those of you who can relate and I hope and pray some of you can and I'm not just the worst mother and chicken-owner in the world, it's worth the read for a sadly amusing story. For those of you who without fail successfully juggle motherhood, marriage, work, hobbies, etc., etc., etc., it will be a cause for a sad shake of the head and consideration of calling DSS and PETA.

To get things started right, I woke up this morning with one of the worst headaches I have ever had. It was like a tremendous hangover without the benefit of having enjoyed buckets of liquid libation and a really great party the night before. Plus, I had had the very bizarre dream that I had had a stillborn baby. I was greatly cheered despite my pain to remember four of the happiest days of my life were the day Maggie was born, the day Ben was born, the day Joanna was born and the day I had my hysterectomy. So, that was a relief. Anyway, Jerry had my morning cup of coffee waiting for me on the bedside table (yes, he gets up every morning, fixes coffee and brings me a cup in bed--I know--I am lucky and grateful--and undeserving, etc.). I could not move my head without searing pain. When he told me it was time to take my shower (yes, he does that, too but in my defense, I can't see in the mornings--or pretty much anytime else--without my glasses) I let the hottest water I could stand beat on my head as I stood there moaning. Anyway, back to the headache. Let me just say that in my carefree, wastral youth, I rarely ever had headaches--or muscle--or joint aches . . . . but now that the much-touted 'golden years' are rapidly approaching, everything hurts at different points in time. What was it Dolly Parton's character in Steel Magnolias said, "Time marches on and eventually you realize it's marching right across your face." I could add "mid-drift, thighs, lower drift and upper drift, joints and internal organs" to that as well.

Anyway, for reasons largely beyond my control (just take this word of advice: DO NOT BUY GE APPLIANCES. Our double oven has never worked and, really really long story short, they refused to replace or repair it), I didn't get Jerry's breakfast (frozen biscuits this morning since, of course, we're out of eggs, bacon, etc.) fixed in time for him to eat before he had to dash out to work (I know what you're thinking and yes, I feel guilty about that). But can I help it if the lower oven does not work at all and you have to take the computer panel out of the unit and fiddle with the wires (a dangerous but necessary daily operation if you want food that has actually been heated) and by the time I got the danged thing back on, he was going out the door and the biscuits were still sort of a 'whiter shade of pale'???

Then, and you'll want to call PETA here, my son informs me that I forgot to put up the chickens last night and that one is missing and another has an injured leg. We live at the edge of the woods where there are raccoons, possums, skunks, foxes, stray dogs, coyotes, etc.. So now I am a certified chicken killer by way of benign neglect. And, yes, I feel guilty about that, too.

Okay, on to the harried journey to school: Since Maggie is driving, I no longer have to take her and Ben to high school as well as getting Joanna to elementary school by 7:45. Picture, if you will, a great big obtuse scalene triangle (I had to look this up--it's sort of like an off-sides cut pie wedge) at which the farthest skinniest point is our house, the last house in our school district out our way; the top point is the elementary school in a neighboring town and the lowest point is the high school all the way across town. According to Mapquest, the high school is only 6.14 miles away and a 16 minute drive. Since my older two call my van the red flash as we're always running late for school and I have to catapult us there at the speed of light, I can usually make this in about 10 minutes depending on traffic. Anyway, I wouldn't have had to worry about that as I said since the older two go there on their own volition. HOWEVER, Joanna and I get in the car as I'm yelling, "Where's your book bag???"

Her: "Oh, no! It's in Maggie's car." (Which, of course, is at the high school).

Me: "Joanna! Why is it in Maggie's car???"

Her: "Well, they picked me up to go to church last night and they forgot to take it out!" (Notice how it is their fault and not her's? Typical.)

Me: "Well, jump in! I'll take you to school and then go get the book bag."

Her: "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! If I go to class without my book bag, I'll have to write my name on the board!!!" (And, presumably, the world will stop rotating on its axis and mass pandemoneum will ensue!!)

Me: "Well, if we go to the high school first, you'll be late for class!" I say this as we are flying down the driveway at breakneck speed.

Her: "That's fine!! I can't go without my book bag!"

So, we head to the high school and as we're hurtling through space and time, she says, "Wait a minute . . . maybe they took it out of her car and put it in the garage. They might have." As well as, when we pass through downtown, "So that's the Salvation Army! Hmm. I thought it was a real army." and, "Did you know that Ulea never takes her pony tail down . . . at all?!" She is, after all, seven and unaware of the severe ramifications of this whole cunundrum.

Now, I must confess here that I cannot recognize cars and associate them with owners unless they have, say, identifying magnets, major dents or particularly large and humorous bumper stickers. My children are perpetually saying, "Mamma, there comes Ruba, wave." Or, "Mamma, you just passed the preacher and he was waving!" or "Mamma, Beth is trying to flag you down . . . and you just passed her. . ." so as I'm catapulting toward the high school I'm thinking, "Will I know Maggie's car?" and "Will I be arrested by Officer Noe for trying to break into a student's car?" and "Will I be stopped for slowly casing out the student parking lot??" and, perhaps most importantly, "What if the book bag is not in Maggie's car??"

Luckily, since Maggie is new at backing into parking spaces, her's is the farthest car from the school entrance sitting way off and all alone--at least I'm hoping it's her's. I park beside it, jump out and sure enough, there is the bookbag in the bag seat--God is taking major pity on me. You have to understand here, this is also the week in which, on Tuesday night as we had taken the first slurp of our salmon stew for supper, Joanna announces, "Oh, Mamma! We're supposed to be at the school at 6:30 tonight for the Christmas program because I'm supposed to be singing!" It was 6:20 at that very moment and this was the first any of us had heard about this. I had gotten no note (okay, I mostly leave it up to her grandmother who helps her with her homework every day but who saw no note about this either as it turned out) and do I ever read the school sign? Ha! I do look around it to make sure no car is coming before I pull out but that's about it. So, this was also the week three of my friends had either called or asked at choir practice, "Where were you guys? Joanna was supposed to be singing with her class and they were so cute! Did you not get the note? Did you not read the sign???" And that was the moment right there that all of those times I had loftily proclaimed, "It's not the public schools which are at fault! It's the no-account parents who don't give a flying rip about their children and don't care enough to get involved who are at fault!!! Don't blame the system for inadequate parenting!!!!!" came back to bite me on the arsifidity. Turns out I AM one of those very parents at any given time.

Anyway, by some miraculous intervention, we pulled up at the elementary school at only 7:48 and Mrs. Cobourn was still out there greeting children. Joanna will probably still be marked tardy but, hey, she won't have to write her name on the board which would have ended civilization as we know it. So, all is not lost and it's early. Things could always improve. And as for my headache, I took Aleve and it's on the wane.

2006-11-15T10:52:00.000-05:00

WIP Wednesday

It seems I will always have something to show on Works in Progress Wednesday since I am constantly juggling several projects at once and not finishing many at all. Oh well. The top three photos are of postcards I am working on. The first is just strips left over from fall quilts and fused leaves with some metallic thread embroidery. The second is a fabric painted poinsettia with thread veins and center and the third is a photo transfer of a vintage Santa postcard with a thread-painted beard and pine boughs and outlined in gold metallic thread with a decorative stitch.

The bottom two pix I can't take credit for (and sorry the bottom one is blurry--I tried to take it without the flash which caused a big white spot on it). Both of those are fabric and paper collages from the book Quilted Memories; Journaling, Scrapbooking & Creating Keepsakes by
Lesley Riley. I love this book! The top photo is of a collage by Lynne Perella, a mixed-media artist and the bottom one, which is also used on the front of the book, is by Riley and features a picture of her mother at six years old holding a chicken while visiting her grandfather's farm. I especially like that one, I guess because I have chickens and have always loved them. I want to do more mixed-media journal quilts and collages. I'm starting with postcards to experiment with various techniques and methods.

2006-11-13T15:51:00.000-05:00

Okay. I shouldn't put these things up to public scrutiny when I am not happy with them myself but there you go. The problem with fabric paint on fabric is that it runs and bleeds. You think you've blotted enough water out of the brush by dabbing it on a paper towel and you put the brush down on the fabric and there it goes. Plus, like any piece you're currently working on, you're viewing it within two to three feet or closer. I took this pix when I had taped it to the wall to view from a distance. I still have work to do on her eyes especially but someone be kind and tell me to just lay off and quit adding shading, tweaking the cheeks (where the paint is especially prone to run where you dont want it to) until I get some of the details done around her like, say, hair. Color, shading, etc. are, after all, relative. Hair and background will help--I hope. And this is only about my tenth attempt to capture her face 'perfectly' over a period of several months. Anyway, feel free to offer construcitive criticism--or just criticism. I can handle it and I've already been doing that to myself. In case anyone is interested, this is done on Kona flesh colored fabric with a combination of DecoArt and Jacquard fabric paints and Tsukinek inks . . . plus a lot of water and a little bit of cussing interspersed with a little bit of praying (what is it Larry the Cable guy always says, "Lord, forgive me for that there.")

I think really I have the Monday blah's. On observing my actions (or lack thereof) on Monday's, you'd think that during the whole of the prior weekend I must have drunk myself into a stupor and just haven't recovered sufficiently to function in a constructive, productive manner. Not so but good Lord! I have no energy today and everything I've tried to accomplish has been fraught with little niggling problems, frustrations and dead-ends. Best that for now I leave alone "she who shall be called the painted gal" (even though she is based on a historical fictional figure) until I rise out of this Monday funk and get it in gear. The goal is to get her finished by spring to enter in a regional show. At this rate, I won't make it.

2006-11-10T13:38:00.000-05:00

Couldn't let the day go by, even after I've already posted and especially after I've been bragging and sharing pictures of my healthy 16 year old daughter, without mentioning the loss in our area of a courageous young girl, Hanna Marie Sobeski. http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=hannahsobeski

Hanna lost her fight with Sarcoma yesterday. Although we didn't know Hannah personally, Jerry was matched with her for a brief time as he gives platelets every two weeks and is often matched with either premature babies or specific people fighting cancer. Hannah has been an inspiration to us in our region as we have followed her struggle and her immense faith as she has faced her death. She has been on our prayer list at church and, I'm sure, in churches around the nation. She was recently named Homecoming Queen at Dorman High in Spartanburg and left behind many, many caring friends, family and even strangers. Please say a prayer for her family and friends today.

2006-11-10T10:33:00.000-05:00

Okay, enough bragging on Maggie and back to issues of quilting. Thank you for indulging a Mamma's pride in her cub. As I was perusing blogs in the Quilt Studio and Quilting 4 Pleasure webrings I visited a few Etsy stores. Didn't know there was 'a such a thing' as a friend says. How do you Etsy gals do there? I saw that some people have racked up big sales and some haven't sold anything yet. I'd love to hear more about Etsy from people who use the service. I've listed a few things on eBay but gosh, they can eat you up in fees, especially when you don't sell and listed a reserve price. Like the comedian who joked about the bank charging him a bounced check fee, "they know I don't have the money--why would they do that???" So, maybe Etsy is the way to go if you want to list some quilty things for sale.

Anyway, I didn't post anything for WIP Wednesday but I'm posting my Have you Ever? today. I think this originated with Shelina???! I borrowed it and added editorial comments--my friends and relations say I am highly prone to this habit, editorial comments. I have no comment on that except to say that you might as well say it as think it!

1. Taken a quilting class
2. Paper pieced Can’t do New York Beauty without it!
3. Hand quilted I like it but I ‘ain’t’ got time to do it!
4. Hand pieced
5. Created your own pattern
6. Published a pattern in a magazine or book Was published twice in Creative Needle back in my smocking, heirloom sewing and shadow embroidery days.
7. Gone on a quilting retreat Does it count if while on vacation in Florida during a week of torrential rain which the weather gurus in their wisdom called a tropical storm but we were pretty sure was a hurricane, Maggie and I camped out at the local quilt shop in Port St. Joe and made one and a half quilt tops while Jerry and Ben went stir-crazy back at the beachfront house???
8. Gone to a quilting convention How large a convening of quilters must this be??? Not sure.
9. Met someone who wrote a quilting book Elly Sienkewicz, Georgia Bonesteel, Fons & Porter
10. Combined your quilting with some other craft I carry my quilting notions in a country basket I made during my reed-basket-making phase. I’ve combined embellishments, stamping, fabric paint, ruching, etc..
11. Done any three dimensional quilting - like fabric origami?
12. Made something using Thimbleberries fabric
13. Made something using batiks
14. Dyed your own fabric
15. Made a landscape hanging Love it!
16. Made a New York Beauty Quilt
17. Made a baby quilt
18. Made a wall hanging
19. Made a journal quilt
20. Submitted your journal quilt for viewing
21. Made a fabric postcard
22. Made a artistic trading card (ATC)
23. Exchanged artistic trading cards
24. Mailed out your postcard?
25. Made a lap quilt
26. Made a twin size quilt
27. Made a full size quilt
28. Made a queen size quilt
29. Made a king size quilt I draw the line here.
30. Donated a quilt to charity--do good intentions count here?
31. Sent a quilt out to a quilter
32. Thrown away a UFO
33. Given away a UFO
34. Cut up a UFO and made something else with it
35. Ripped fabric instead of cutting it
36. Made a quilt exactly like the pattern, with no changes whatsoever
37. Done any Sashiko
38. Quilted your own quilt
39. Did free motion quilting
40. Put any embroidery or beads on your quilt
41. Given away your quilt to a stranger
42. Swapped fabric
43. swapped blocks
44. participated in a round robin
45. participated in an ostritch round robin (a WHAT?)
46. kept a journal about your quilting
47. written a letter to someone who made an antique quilt(Hey, Shelina, where's #48?)
49. kept a blog about your quilting This one!
50. participated in a gift exchange
51. sent a quilting random act of kindness Don't know what this is but would like to get in on it.
52. joined a newsgroup about quilting Yahoo Groups, Superquilters, Handi Quilter, PQ 1500--I highly recommend them all!
53. made a quilt using a pattern from [ http://www.quilterscache.com ]quilterscache Marcia Hohn rocks!
54. joined an online block of the month
55. made a block of the month quilt Woops! Yet another UFO!
56. subscribed to a fabric of the month club
57. bought fabric at an online store eQuilter, Quilted Banty, Tattered Rabbit, Big Horn Quilts, . . .
58. bought fabric from ebay
59. own more than one sewing machine Two Brother PQ 1500’s, two Pfaff Hobbymatic’s, two sergers, one Babylock Esante
60. have a room dedicated solely to sewing does my partially finished basement studio count?? Does the whole quilt shop count in which I spread all of my WIP's out from front door to back?
61. hide a fabric purchase (not really hide, more like discreetly camouflage among the stash somewhere)
62. finished making a holiday gift before July Who’s kidding here?! Who does this???
63. made a landscape quilt
64. made a quilt using a book from the library I rack up too many fines this way—might as well go ahead and buy the danged thing. I've singlehandedly built wings on library branches in our county, they're just not named for me.
65. worked with someone else to make a quilt None of my friends are willing to sew on their own buttons--they are needle-and-thread-impaired.
66. joined a quilt guild
67. become president of a quilt guild
68. taught a quilting class
69. helped someone else get the quilting bug At least I hope so!
70. taught a child to sew
71. made a Dear Jane block Does having the book and CD in my library count?
72. Made a miniature quilt
73. watch QNN - quilters news network
73. subscribe to a quilting magazine from your own country (aha! It's #48 dressed up to look like #73!)
74. subscribe to a quilting magazine from another country
75. buy fabric from another country
76. swapped completed quilts with someone else
77. asked for quilting help online Yes, Ellen Anne Eddy even sent me her home phone number to call her for help; Fons & Porter answered an e-mail; Jan Krentz tried to walk me through a rough spot on the Lone Star, Tammy Tadd's staff called to clarify an instruction in a tote bag pattern and other quilters on forums and groups have offered tons of help—thank you all!!!
78. gone to a quilt shop to ask for quilting help
79. bought fabric at a local quilt shop All the time, I work here so get a discount!!!
80. traveled more than 100 miles to go to a quilt shop
81. used nontraditional fabric for a quilt - something other than cotton or flannel 82. made a quilt using instructions given to you on a blog I’ll get around to it—just discovered the world of blogging for quilters—I’m technologically behind.
83. make comments on someone's quilting blog Every day now!
84. meet a quilter in person after only having talked online Connie from Maggie Valley, NC, Kathy from Texas.
85. had a quilting retreat in your home
86. own quilting software
87. made a quilt you designed on your quilting software *(see #86)
88. done any quilt research - history, interviewing quilters, etc.
89. had any quilt related subject published anywhere local newspapers in my local journalist days
90. donated a quilt to a museum Don’t I wish?!
91. bought a quilt from a thrift store
92. made a quilt using fabric from a thrift store
93. made a quilt using photos
94. made a pastel quilt
95. made a quilt using brights
96. made a quilt using ethnic fabric from another country - African, Asian, etc.
97. made a quilt using leftover blocks from other quilts
98. had your quilt in a magazine, newspaper, newsletter, TV, etc. The News Leader and the Tryon Bulletin when I won Best Large Wallhanging for my Ballenger Mill quilt at the Pigeon Forge show. Since then, sadly, nada.
99. submitted your quilt to a quilt show?
100. won any ribbons with your quilts?
101. had more finished quilts than UFOs Hahahahaha (laughing hysterically!)
102. made a quilt using reproduction fabrics
103. took a break from quilting that was longer than a year
104. made money with your quilting
105. had a job in the fabric / quilting industry Yep, Inman Quilt Cottage in Inman, SC

2006-11-09T20:22:00.000-05:00

Couldn't resist posting one more pix of Maggie photographed by Carri Bass of Spartanburg, www.carribass.com, (see below for more!). Sorry to be a proud Mamma but I had to share just one more of my favorite's! And thank you to all of you who have left such sweet and nice comments about her. I promise I'll move on to posting quilting photos and tellling about my many and sundry UFO's and WIP's!

2006-11-09T17:53:00.000-05:00

I got the proofs from Maggie's Miss Panorama portraits. These were made by professional photographer Cari Bass of Spartanburg, SC, www.carribass.com, and I think they are gorgeous and Carri is so nice and great to work with. She's friendly and easy-going and I will be going back to her for photos in the future! She must have taken about 80 pix and let us take home at least 30 proofs to choose from. And they are all so good, it's hard to pick. I just wish (for the millionth time since losing her to cancer three years ago) that my mother were here. She would be so proud of Maggie. And be forewarned, I may be posting a few more! Especially since it took me all day to figure out how to enlarge my scanned pix. Duh. Usually I can figure most things out but that threw me for a loop--and will I remember in the future?! [Okay--note to self--scan the pix, send to HP Image Zone, highlight and click on Edit; click on crop and crop to the pix itself. Don't try to enlarge it--if the mountain won't come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain--or something like that.]
Also, thank you to all who posted such nice comments about Maggie's prom pix and my house quilt. I really like this blogging! I feel like I'm 'meeting' such nice quilters, knitters and other bloggers!

2006-11-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all who left such kind comments about my attempt at capturing the Bush homeplace in our town. Now to do the label and the owner who commissioned it way back several months ago can finally claim it!

Well, Maggie made it to the top ten in her high school pageant, Miss Panorama and that was out of 38 girls so we were very proud of her! She looked so beautiful and elegant in her evening gown and we had her portraits done so I'll have to post a photo of her (giving credit to the photographer) when we get the photos! The young lady who won, Jessica Tucker, is a sweet, genuine, very nice and well-rounded girl so if Maggie didn't win, we were thrilled that Jessica did. You try to put these things into perspective and my advice as a mother to Maggie was to just enjoy herself, be herself and be happy to be participating no matter what the outcome but I will say as a mother, my heart was pounding as they were announcing the top ten. I will post pix of Maggie in her prom dress this past spring so you can see how pretty she is--lucky for her, she looks like her Daddy and the best thing about her is that she is a truly sweet girl with high moral standards and she is friendly and respectful of her classmates, teachers, friends, parents and grandparents. Of course, she's not perfect but she is truly a blessing as a daughter. She is pictured with her boyfriend, Nick, who is a freshman at Clemson but seems to come home an awful lot on weekends even though Clemson isn't that far away, a little over an hour. The other handsome guy she's pictured with is her Daddy, Jerry. Her pageant dress was black and very fitted in the waist with a low back and a flowing, pleated skirt. Both the prom dress and the pageant dress came from Cache, the prom dress from Cache in Charleston and the pageant dress from Cache in Haywood Mall in Greenville. We seem to have the best luck finding gowns there.

2006-11-02T13:25:00.000-05:00

2006-11-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

I finally finished sewing the binding on the landscape quilt I was supposed to have finished this past summer. I am a procrastinator and when working on a commissioned piece of someone's home, I am reluctant and nervous at every step. The first photo is the actual house, a fifth generation home here in our town of one of the first settling families in the area, the Bush family (no relation to President Bush that I know of). This is a different angle from the pix I actually used so looks quite different. I used fabric paint for the sky, ground and parts of the house such as the windows, chimney, brickwork in the yard and porch and banister rails, thread painting for the tree, grass, and plants, 'trash work' with bits of fabric for shrubbery and meandering with monofilament thread. The homeowner hasn't seen it yet so I hope she will be pleased. She has kept the house in tip top shape and true to its era. It is beautiful. I tried my best to do it justice but it's so beautiful, I'm afraid I have fallen short. Let's hope she finds it acceptable. I'll try to post a few more detail pix since I was able to upload these on the first try.

2006-11-01T08:57:00.000-05:00

The top photo is a quilt I made for Jerry. The pattern was in the book, Clever Quilts from Fat-Quarter Cuts by Susan Teegarden Dissmore but I can't remember the name of the pattern. These are my favorite colors and I love the Swamp Angel block and Jacob's Ladder, which reminds me of the name of it--Jacob's Star quilt. It is not yet quilted as are many of my tops but I can feel some sense of accomplishment in that I used a lot of fabrics from my stash without having to buy completely all new fabrics! I'm waiting on our Handi Quilter which is scheduled to arrive TODAY!!! All seven boxes and 295 lbs.. Then I'll have to practice a bit before I load this one in and give it a whirl. The second pix is a closeup of the Memory Block featuring Moda Giselle. I'm still thinking sashing. See below for my Works in Progress for Works in Progress Wednesday on the Quilt Studio webring!

2006-11-01T08:36:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of my works in progress for Works in Progress Wednesday on the Quilt Studio Webring. The top photo is a quilt from the September/October issue of Fons & Porter magazine, Smoky Point Star by Jayne Conwell. I had bought two yards of the Timeless Treasures Nature fern print at the Pigeon Forge, TN Quiltfest a few years ago and loved it so much I had been saving it for the right project. Of course, to make a full-sized quilt, I needed three yards and had only bought two (typical for me) but could not find this print still in existence anywhere so it will be a lap sized quilt when finished.

The middle photo is our Christmas Mystery quilt, a class I'm teaching here at the shop, and the pattern is from Patchwork Showcase, Simple Quilts with Big Impact by Nancy Mahoney for That Patchwork Place. The quilt in the book is done in reds and yellows and called Tobacco Rose. We're using Moda fabrics from the Mistletoe Manor line.

The quilt on the bottom is simply the Memory Block using Moda's Giselle in blue and here again, I bought at least a yard less than what I should have and again, being a popular Moda print, when I tried to find more, it, too, had disappeared off the face of the earth. I haven't decided whether to sew them together as I have them arranged here or to use 2" sashing in between. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Of course, I have many more UFO's I could picture but it gets to the point of embarrassment to admit you have that many projects languishing in boxes, on shelves and various other points of venue.

Oh and one more thing, because I think it's better to laugh than to cry or be angry, my brother sent me this today which is a classic I loved the first time I saw it and I've now saved it:

D ear God,
Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember
to be A good dog:
- I will not eat the cats' food before they eat it or after they
throw it up.
- I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because
I like the way they smell.
- I will not munch on "leftovers" in the kitty litter box; although
they are tasty, they are not food.
- The diaper pail is not a cookie jar.
- The sofa is not a face towel; neither are Mom and Dad's laps.
- The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.
- My head does not belong in the refrigerator.
- I will not bite the officer's hand when he reaches in for Mom's
driver's license and registration.
- I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the
toilet.
- Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is not an acceptable way
of saying 'hello.'
- I do not need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm lying under
the coffee table.
- I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the
house.
- I will not throw up in the car.
- I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt
across the carpet.
- I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my
crotch when company is over.
- The cat is not a squeaky toy; so when I play with him and he
makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.

2006-10-31T15:09:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween!! A picture of my favorite witches, Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mary (Kathy Najimy) Sanderson from Disney's Hocus Pocus, my favorite Halloween movie. One of my favorite lines:: "He's got a little woman" (Winnie to her sisters when 'the devil' (Garry Marshall) invites them in to meet the 'little woman', Penny Marshall whom they mistake for Medusa since she has those twisty curlers in her hair which they think are snakes). Another: When Bette Midler flings open the shutters and declares: "Another glorious morning! Makes me sick!" I love, love, love that movie.

For a real ghostly experience, go to http://www.bellwitch.org/story.htm to hear the audio story of the supposedly true account of the Bell witch. Among those who encountered the witch was Andrew Jackson who visited John Bell's Tennessee farm and camped out in the pasture to see it for himself. Scroll down on this site and download the audio story. Spooky! Movie coming out soon, I think: http://www.bellwitchthemovie.com/. There was also a movie with Donald Sutherland as John Bell, An American Haunting but I didn't see it.

2006-10-31T10:15:00.000-05:00

Today I'm showing pix of my Halloween New York Beauty quilt with Laurel Burch border and the Alexander Henry Pinup Witch fabric I spent the entire morning searching for on the web. I had seen it last year and thought I'd [procrastinate] wait until later and, like many popular fabrics, I couldn't find it anywhere. Finally located it on eQuilter and bought three yards of it--and they're not big fabric discounters. I doubt they'll mind my putting in a plug for them. I have no idea what I'll do with it but since Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I have a good friend, Beth, who shares my love of the now classic Disney movie Hocus Pocus with Bette Midler, Kathy Najimi and Sarah Jessica Parker (we quote lines from it and guffaw at how funny we are--you'd have to know us), I had to get the pinup witch material. Wish I looked like that one reclining on the crescent moon but alas, I feel like I look more like the stereotypical witch with the large hindquarters, severe expression at times, and drooping 'front quarters' !

This is a day of mixed feelings. I love Halloween but it's one of the holidays during which I really miss my mother who died of cancer three years ago. She made a big deal of all the major--and a few of the minor--holidays decorating her house and they always had my cousins, my brother and his family and mine for Halloween since at least 150 to 250 people came by to trick-or-treat where everything was decorated, spooky music was playing and they had the really good candy--Butterfingers, Snickers, Reeses, Baby Ruth, etc.. My cousin, Joan, who incidentally is a young-at-heart grandmother, was one of the local 'grande dames' of the local little theater and played the wicked with of the west in the Wizard of Oz one year so, for our Halloween party that year, she dressed up in her flowing black garb, pointed hat and green pointed chin to hand out candy. I believe that was the year she was sitting stock still with the large bowl of candy on her lap and a timid little fellow about nine approached and reached out to grab a candy bar and suddenly, she grabbed his hand. As my mother was getting ready to come out the glass door, she was greeted with the sight of a little boy plastered against the door having thought it was open. One year Joan was a corpse lying on a pall and the black light above her attracted hordes of flying insects and beetles adding to the macabre scene (and what a trooper she was just lying there still as death letting throngs of creeping, crawling bugs traipse around on her neck, face and body-eeewwww). Yet another year, she was Freddy Kruger complete with the warty face and steel claw hands. My Dad, who has a slight tummy inherited from his family, dressed as a clown most years and bless his kind, pure, wonderful heart, he looked eerily like the Chicago serial killer, John Wayne Gacy though we never pointed that out to him. He would have burned the costume. He is the exact opposite of such a monster. No sweeter, more generous, caring loving man exists on earth. My Dad has been a trooper himself since we lost my mother carrying on those traditions so we will go up there tonight to eat and pass out candy and see old friends from my hometown. But it isn't the same without my mother and we have let the scene-setting and costumes fall by the wayside except for the children. He still gives the good candy out and now he has young couples who bring their babies by and say, "I remember coming here when I was little and how much fun it was."

We've also reached another mile stone in our family. Maggie, in her 16 years of accumulated wisdom and experience, drove herself and her brother, Ben, to high school today for the first time. She had lally-gagged around (for anyone not from the south and still reading this, that means procrastinated--wonder where she gets that?!) all summer and didn't take driver's ed until after school started, although she does have a July birthday and is next to the youngest in her high school class. Anyway, she finally got around to that, took her driving test the other day and passed; her Daddy had found her a good deal on a Chevy Blazer for her birthday, we got it in good working order and she was off to school this morning, out in the cold, cruel world of traffic and drivers running late and people driving with suspended licenses and illegally and . . . . DEEP BREATHS . . . you get the picture. The scariest part of that for a mother is the grim statistics just in our region alone; since the beginning of the year, 10 teenagers have been killed in traffic accidents in neighboring Greenville county. We lost a beautiful, bubbly, precious young girl in our church many years ago, Susan Hodge and we all still miss her. This is where that test of faith in the good Lord really comes in to play. You just have to pray that He will protect and guide them and then try not to worry yourself to death clawing at your clothes and sitting on the ash heap wailing. So we gave her my cell phone, told her to be careful and watched her drive away. When I got to work, Jerry called and I said, "Don't tell me she's already called and something happened." He said, "No, I was calling to see if you had heard from them." Nobody told me how brave you had to be to have children. I was unprepared and a major weenie. And I face going through this two more times, good Lord willing. Of course, Maggie's former high school principal who moved on to the District Office, said that when he got his permit, you could come back in two weeks and take the driving test to try for your license. He says that his mother woke him up early that day, two weeks after he got his permit and said, "Get up! We're going to the DMV and you'd better pass the test because I'm tired of hauling you around everywhere!" He said he was more afraid of her if he didn't pass than simply of not passing so everything boils down to how you look at it, I guess.