Busy, Busy, Busy....

A gazillion little tasks to complete today, and here it is nearly bedtime and I really can't see where I've made a dent in the list....sigh....well, I have taken a bunch of pictures so that I could move that stack of quilts off of the guest bed, so at least Mary Helen will have a place to see when she gets here Wednesday! Yay for that.

Gratitudes:
* Grateful for the love of old friends who will jump on a plane to come see me!
* Grateful that while I can't see progress in my list, I'm able to have enough going on in my life that I need a list.
* Grateful that I know it will all work out.

I love Anna Maria Horner's fabrics and these are from her Chocolate Lollipop line. I saw these pieced strips in the trash can at the local Quilt Shop....they were scraps from some pieced pillowcases they had made as samples for the shop. I asked if I could have them and they do indulge me, (gotta love Tod, and Barb, and Meee-lissa...so if you are in Boone stop by there and say Hi!), so I took the forlorn little scraps home.

I pulled from my stash to add to the lovelies already here....did a little applique, and this is the result....a little quilt called "Which Way is Up?" I like it.

I hope to get the sewing room straightened up before bed tonight, so I must get back to my little project. I'm making some red and white blocks for a quilt project in France that Clare asked for help on. I need to get those finished and in the mail tomorrow.

So, since I'm in a French mode, "Au Revoir" (I know that's goodbye, and I'd like to say goodnight, but don't know how in French)

"ni-night"

Terrific Day....

Today, I hit the floor running. But first ~ Gratitudes:

I'm grateful for the Saturday morning Farmer's Market......it is a sensory delight and you can't help but feel that you are doing your body a favor just by buying there. Also, they make great coffee...yum.
I'm grateful for my friend Clyde, who calls from time to time just to remind me that he's paying attention......gotta love that!
I'm grateful that I finally gave up on trying to be in synch with a gas-powered lawn mower which I never could get started....I surrendered....and got an electric one.
I'm grateful for the smell of freshly cut grass..........it's delightful.
I'm grateful that on cool days mowing doesn't seem like such a chore.

As you can see, I was at the Farmer's Market today. My haul:
Lovely fresh cut flowers for the kitchen table.
A small handmade zippered bag to carry in my purse.
Coffee...............yum.

On to a 12 step meeting after and then home to mow the lawn.




The drawing is a copy of a painting, "Sunset Over Vallarta", by Ada Colorida. Since I wrote recently about my time in Mexico, I and how it affected my color sensibilities, I thought I'd give you an example. Strong color is evident in everday life there. I think the first time I was aware that I had developed "cojones" about color was when I repainted my house there....






Gold, Rosy Pink, Green, and Purple.
My neighbors who were not native Mexican were aghast....they wanted me to pick one color and stick to it. I loved my colors.

I lived downstairs and rented the upstairs to surfers (see the surfboard cover hanging off the upper wall?) and other adventure travelers.

Now, it's time for a shower. I have a new chandelier in my bathroom with crystals hanging from it and little teeny champaign colored silk shades over each bulb that have crystals hanging from them too..........altogether decadent and I know I'll feel princess-like when I'm showering. It's going to be cool enough for flannel jammies tonight. Lovely.

You know what I really love about the "Hidden Wells" quilt technique? When you are sewing those strips together you have an idea about how those blocks are going to
turn out, but once you whack em apart and rearrange them they look different. But still, being smart as you think you are, you imagine what the finished quilt top will look like. It is not until you arrange those blocks, sew them together, sew the rows together and stand back that you really see it.........and what is so terrific, is that it looks nothing like what you thought it was gonna look like.

Life is kinda like that too. Which brings me to my next point. I love quilting because there are so many comparisons you can make between quilting and life. I think that other than what I learn about life from those 12 step meetings, I learn the rest in my sewing room! Quilting is meditative in some ways and for the most part a quiet endeavor (except when those blocks don't exactly all measure the same and bad words happen, but, I digress....).

Which brings me to my gratitude list; today I'm feeling grateful about ~
* learning from the ordinary, instead of always learning from the extra-ordinary....cuts down on drama
* my grandma Grace who was the first quilter I encountered in my family, and my sister Jill, whose example still inspires me
* my godmother Freda who first taught me to sew on her machine and my mom Ginny who encouraged me to learn to sew in the first place

Today, it is cool and crisp and driving through Boone, I was aware of the scent of burning leaves which brought so many memories back. I love the fall. Tomorrow is a big game for ASU, and the town is full of alumni and visitors gearing up......traffic is interesting.....LOL. Glad to be living in the country with mah dawg.

I have been thinking about the little village in Mexico where I've lived for the 6.5 years before moving here to Boone. It is just about the end of the rainy/hurricane season there where it is so hot and humid and wet that generally only the locals stick around and nearly everyone else that can, leaves. I don't miss that, but I do miss some of my friends there and a lot of the people that lived there part time and in the US the rest of the time. I hope I can make a quick trip down there this coming year. Casa Contenta was the name of my casita...see it there on the map?

Living there also changed my quilting. I learned a lot about color from being there, and learned not to fear being bold with color.....you can see it in my Hidden Wells Quilt up there.

Hope your day is shaping up and good memories are visiting you too!

Day late and a dollar short....

yes, that's the case again today....nearly dinner time and I just remembered to do this. Why?, you might ask......well, because I have been trying all day to get one little quilt uploaded to my ETSY shop. And, I managed to get 2!!!! The fact that it took 4 hours to do it is beside the point. My pictures were the hangup, but once I learned exactly how to format the photos to within allowable # of pixels, I was good to go. It will get easier (I'm chanting that as my mantra). That little TQ up there is my logo....cute, huh?

Okay, I have to go now, cause I'm still trying to work on these pictures and get them organized, etcetera.

Gratitudes:

I don't have to have all the answers.
Sometimes not knowing is freedom.
I'm 62 and still learning.
Life is good.

You have a good day too!

Wednesday with the Quilty Girls...

Okay, as promised, here is a picture of my new sewing table made by Roberts and ordered through the Sewing Table Shop online. It was 3 weeks late in getting here, but it finally made it and I'm so happy that it is finally here.
Can you see why I'm so excited?
Finally, a flat surface for free-motion quilting!!

Now that you've seen it, I can go to my usual Wednesday meeting with the quilty girls. I love this day and look forward to it all week. We are a varied group of women from our 40's to our 70's with one in her twenties. She fits right in with us, and we have the best time. Most of us try to bring a project or more to work on. I don't have anything to take today, but I do have some fabric to select for a Christmas project and will just sit and visit.

You have a great day too!!!


pssssst....did you notice that I managed to take the picture with my new camera, unload it to the computer, and then upload it to this blog?? See, I'm getting there!

Okay, these are the quilts waiting to be uploaded to my ETSY site. See, I do actually have some done. But, I need to write a description of each of them, measure them, photograph them and resize the photos for the site and then I can upload them.

Whew!

I'm tired just thinking about it ~ LOL.

I didn't write yesterday. I tried, but it was late and for some reason before I could get the posting finished it would disappear when I hit the space bar. I did it twice, but never got it saved or got it to post properly, so I did what any wise person would do...I took my sleepy butt to bed!

Today, I picked up some clothes to take to the local Hunger Coalition and dropped them off. They run a free medical clinic on Wednesday nights and I've volunteered to help them when they open an additional evening...but they haven't called me yet. Today's the first time I saw the place and it's a neat facility already set up to do a clinic since it's in the old Health Department building. They have a food closet, a clothing closet, and it's the central distribution place for meals on wheels.

I got my new sewing table today!!! Wa-hoo!~it allows me to set my machine down and has a custom inset to match my Pfaff, so I have an absolutely flat surface now when I sew and it should help me with my free-motion quilting. I'll take a pic!

Tomorrow is my day with the girls at the quilt shop and I'm looking forward to it, though I don't have anything to take along and work on.

Susan

Gratitudes:
* My family.
* The lovely colors that are popping out on the trees.
* The change in seasons.
* The coolness of the evening and the snuggliness of my down comforter.
*

Gratitudes:
My back is sooooooooooooooooooo much better.
The follow up appointment at the Jung Tao clinic was today and went well.
Traffic allowed me to be on time.
My new sewing table is on the truck and will be delivered on Tuesday!!!!
I'm a little low on the energy scale today, but am expecting that tomorrow I'll be all fired up.
The cows stayed behind their fence and I wasn't called on to herd them today .... great cause I'm not feeling like it and Heidi isn't my name!

I love that design up there.....my friend Rod designed it and I love it. I decided to show it off on here today since I don't have any quilts photographed and ready to upload (do I hear a tsk, tsk?).

I'm close to being ready though and as soon as I can clear a path in my studio, I'll get right on it.
Meanwhile .... be patient and think quilterly thoughts. Oh, and have a great rest of your Sunday!

Busy, Busy, Day!

I had just the best day so far, and no reason to think it won't stay that way!
First off, though, here's a picture to keep all you folks who need visuals happy:

This is the center of a quilt I made for my Aunt Aileen....finished and sent off a month or so ago. She liked it just fine and I was happy with my first attempt at hand applique. Guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Okay so early, early, early this morning Maya and I went into town for the farmer's market...our haul today:
1 loaf of Amish friendship bread (so good you got to go to confession, if you're Catholic, that is).
6 ears of sweet white corn and it's from the same guy I got the sweetest yellow corn from a couple of weeks ago.
While I was there I dropped off a bag of designer silk fabrics and some other samples to my friend Erin's husband to take to her....he had the nicest looking broccoli, but I've already got enough gas=creating veggies in the fridge, so I had to pass on them.

After we got home, Maya and I went for a walk and herded some cows back into the break in the fence and then called their owner to let him know they had busted out.......Prison Break, country style.

I drove up to West Jefferson in Ashe County to go to their guild's quilt show. It was good, but the one last year seemed bigger to me. I stayed away from buying any fabric, but did come home with some little mug mats and made a stop at a little shop there called "Everything I Love" and scored some amazing Verbena scented French soap......oh man, heavenly scents will be coming outta my shower.......and I got a cute little paisley tote.

Back home to wrangle cows again......until they fix the fence this might be a recurring theme and you might think you've stumbled on the "Little House on the Prairie" blog. NOT!

Have a great rest of your day!

Halfway through the day

But here I am! I'm working towards some consistency here, folks, so give me props!

Today was a red letter day! I got a call from that designers shop in Lenoir that they had 4 boxes of designer fabric samples ready to be picked up. Cool! I'm there! I drove down through the misty rain, clouds hangin all off the side of the mountains, to the flatlands and loaded them up. I just got done unloading them and looking to see what was there and they are tooooo cool. There's a group of women here in the mountains that stand ready to take them off my hands. They make groovy things like bags, totes, wallets, pillow shams, throws and stuff and are able to sell those to generate some dollahs........wa-hoo for that. Anyway, I put the word out and they won't be here long. I'm gonna hang on to a few so I can make a new doggy bed cover for my girl, Maya.

Yesterday, my visit to the Jung Tao School of Classical Chinese Medicine (since it's classical, does that mean they aren't into rap?) was good. I got there a bit before 5, filled out all the papers you have to fill out when you establish with a new practitioner, and saw 2 interns and one doctor. I was there about 2.5 hours, got accupuncture and am returning on Sunday for another treatment. The coolest thing, though, was that they do sliding scale and since my income is under $25K....my fee was $15.00!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about!

Altogether a terrific experience.

Ouch...my back!

Somehow, rolling over in bed the other night, I felt something "pop" and got a sharp pain in my lower right back..........it's been 5 or 6 days now and it's not better. (see frowny face here)

Okay so who woulda thought that here in this little mountain burg.......there would be a chinese school of medicine? Well, there is, and I have an appointment at the Jung Tao School at 5 this afternoon to get needled.....YAY!

Gratitude List:
* I've had accupuncture before with good results so I am optimistic
* Here in the mountains there is a culture that is accepting of different philosophies
* My girl, Maya, knows I'm moving like an old land crab and hasn't made any demands on me to romp

No work on quilts for the past few days.....can't sit too long in any one position. I can, however, start taking pictures and get them uploaded to my ETSY shop

You have a great day!

Rest in Peace ~ Laurel Burch

I just read that Laurel Burch has died...at only 61.
http://www.laurelburch.com/
Take a look at her gallery and see how she saw the world....just marvelous!
I remember some enamel earrings that I bought way back in the 70's that she had designed and since then she has gone on to influence design in many areas, including fabric!
She left her mark in our world.

Good Morning.........no, make that GREAT morning!

My gratitudes:
* getting some sleep last night
* the coziness of my down comforter ~ warm, but not weighty...I feel like I'm floating in bed
* the warm sun in this cool morning
* my girl, Maya, who loves her belly scratched in the morning and gives a good hug in return

I was thinking about fabric designers and how there are some that are like "rock stars" to me. I love their design, their color selections, and am amazed at how prolific they are. Like Anna Maria Horner.... have you ever read her blog? She is one busy woman....designs fabrics, makes clothing, quilts, home decor stuff...has kids, and the coolest house you'd ever want to see. Go check out her blog and then you'll understand why I think that she probably gets 48 hours in a day...how does she do it?

I also love, in no particular order......
Denyse Schmidt (Free Spirit)
Joel Dewberry (Westminster)
April Cornell (Moda)

April designed a line for Moda called "Poetry" ~ I spied the focus fabric when it hit the shelves and over time bought bits and pieces of the line, but absolutely adored the focus fabric the best ~ I put a pic up here so you can admire it too!

I probably made 5 or 6 baby quilts from it, and never got tired of it. The one you see was the first one, for baby Angelina Joy.

I've still got 2 of those quilts here, and they along with a bunch of others are going to end up in my Etsy Shop just as soon as I get those pics taken.

Have a great day!

Can't Sleep.....

You know how you get those times, at least I do, when I just can't get to sleep....then I remembered I forgot to post today, so I got up.

Last week I made a Thomas the Tank Engine quilt for my friend's son, Elijah, who loves that character. The top photo is Elijah sitting on the back of the quilt, and below that is brother EJ sitting on the front.

EJ has his own super-heroes quilt and when I was visiting them last week, I asked where Elijah's quilt was and found that he'd never been given one. When I got home from visiting them in Georgia, I sent for the fabric. It got here on Thursday, I cut it out on Friday, pieced it on Saturday, sandwiched, basted, and quilted it on Sunday and got the binding sewn on too! I mailed it out to them on Monday and it got there on Tuesday... DHL is amazing like that!

Their mom, Randi, said Elijah was so happy when he saw it, and from the pics, it looks like it was a hit!

That's just the best thing about a quilt! I've never seen anyone frown when they got one as a gift.

Today I was grateful for:
* My niece, who called to let me know that her Daddy, my brother, isn't taking care of some medical stuff that he needs to take care of. I love that she gave me a head's up so I could call him and remind him how much I love him and need for him to stay here.
* My friend Carol who came over to have lunch with me and asked me to show her my quilts....I love show and tell.
* My body that is working hard to get past and heal from that little pulled muscle in my back. I appreciate that hard work.
* The change in the seasons that is happening now. Last week I was running the A/C day and night and now I have set the heater to come on when it gets down to 63 at night....and it's been coming on. Chilly nights and warm autumn days ~ just lovely!
* Netflix!

Missing in Action

It's been over 2 months since I last posted....I have to get a handle on this consistency thing. I haven't just been sitting around eating bon-bons though....I've been trying to build a little shop on Etsy.com. And, I've been making some little quilts to sell in that shop! And, I've had to buy and learn how to use a different digital camera.......jeesh! That's a whole 'nother story.

Anyway, I'm going to commit to writing here daily. Even if it is no more than a daily gratitude list.

Here is my list for today (today is nearly over, but here goes anyway...I am Grateful....

* For those 12 step meetings that keep me on an even keel
* For all the other bloggers who I read regularly and who inspire me and give me the giggles too
* For another chance every day to experience beauty and wonder

You will see that I've added a list of my favorite bloggers........The one who started all of this for me is a young woman whose blog "My Happy Little Life" always makes me happy to check in on her life. She turned me on to Etsy.com, to blogging, and I think she is an extremely talented photographer and special young woman. Check her out!