PTA - SEPTEMBER SHOW AND TELL

This month our group gathered at Dort Lee's home.......to say she lives off the beaten path would be an understatement. The ride to her home is quite a distance off a rural highway....along a very narrow, winding gravel road that at some point intersects a small creek. PTAer's are hardy souls......and we don't miss meetings, so when invited....we come.

She lives in a 100 year old home with charming out buildings sprinkled around the beautiful and serene property, filled will treasures of the past.

No wonder Dort creates such visually appealing landscape quilts!

For the last several months she's been concentrating on small wall quilts featuring birds. She says this new direction came about in an effort to use up her many fat quarters. I wish my fat quarters would inspire such works of arts from my studio!

Enjoy her very special one woman show.....and thank you Dort for sharing them with my readers.

We all oohed and aahed over this little charmer, which is only about 6" x 8". Believe it or not, the bench is made from lengths of ribbons. She's used inks and paints to provide texture and shadows..... Fabulous don't you think?

9-11 TRIBUTE

As the 10th anniversary of the day that changed life in America forever approaches.....I wanted to share how we are planning to fly our American flag on Sunday.

It will be displayed in a bracket, and therefore can't be flown at half-mast. So, as an appropriate show of mourning we will be attaching a length of black ribbon to the base of the finial as seen in the following photo.

Feel free to copy and paste this post or link to my blog so others may consider this approach too.

ARE YOU READY......

.......FOR FOOTBALL?? I'M TALKING PACKER FOOTBALL!!! LAMBEAU FIELD, GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN, HECK.....FOOTBALL FANS EVERYWHERE AWAIT KICK OFF. WHAT'S REALLY GREAT IS WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL SUNDAY. THE PACK IS BACK, OPENING THE NFL SEASON ON THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!!!!!!!

Our boy.....Aaron Rodgers

Packer fans are always show their spirit.

Cheese and brats.......that says it all.......

I nearly didn't join the annual suicide football pool that my nephew had run. A family illness has us all poorly enthused this year.....but after some nudging, I did sign up. The rules are simple.....each week you pick 1 (and only 1) team to win.....the catch is.....you can never select that team again. Obviously there is some strategy involved.....hummm that means research too. So.....here's to NFL week #1. My pick to win is Arizona...fingers crossed....

GOooooooo PACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be sure to watch tomorrow night......

PUSSY WILLOWS

Slowly but surely seems to be my mantra lately......that's often the case when one creates original designs. What you see in your mind doesn't always translate to fabric quickly or easily.....but the journey is worthwhile!

This piece of hand dyed felted wool is unlike most of the others I've dyed.....and its an approach I want to try again. As many of you readers know.....I love working with a theme.....and pussy willows has been on my short list for quite awhile. The motif and fabric seemed like a great blend.

Naturally, I intended to bead the pussy willow buds. I started by experimenting with two different beading techniques.

The first one began by outline the shape and filling in the center with rows of beads. It was tidy....but certainly didn't provide the necessary texture.

The second one began by outlining too, but the center was filled with clumps of beads instead. It's the one I chose to proceed with.....

I can't believe how long it's taking to bead these little buggers......but I'm liking the results so far.

SUZY BOGGUSS

A true bonus of moving to the Asheville, NC area is the availability of such a variety of live music (though we truly gravitate toward Bluegrass the most). This time we visited the Highlands Playhouse a small, appx. 200 seat theater in Highlands, NC.

Even if you don't know the name Suzy Bogguss you probably have heard her music. She lives in Nashville and has performed with just about everyone in the country music industry. Her singing voice is perfection and her personality is just adorable. You felt like she was speaking one on one to you as she told the story behind the songs she was about to sing.

Enjoy this little clip of Suzy singing an old Ian and Sylvia song that was popular back in the late 60's.

ISLAND LIFE

I'm continuing to relive my recent trip to Charleston, SC and its surrounding barrier islands....hope you will enjoy it too.

There are several barrier islands that surround the coast in this area.....some, like this sit between the ocean and a large river. The homes are often grand and beautiful. This view is from the river looking toward the homes....with a marsh in between. Of course the homes are built on stilts as the tide affects the water level here.

View from the land side looking toward the river. Everyone has these very long piers.

When the tide is out.....it's so interesting to watch all the tiny crabs burrow into exposed sand.

Hurricane Irene didn't cause many problems in here though we could see a lot of marsh grass piled up in certain areas. Isn't the texture and pattern great?

Adorable bungalow beach homes make you want to come and stay for an extended visit.

....and the larger homes make you wish you could win the lottery!

....though this beautiful view was free!!

EXPLORING CHARLESTON AREA

My friend Beverly suggested we take a short detour on the drive to the Charleston to visit People, Places & Quilts in Summerville, SC. I'm to the point in my quilting that I rarely visit quilt shops.....basically shopping only for specific projects.

I'm so glad she suggested this stylish, well decorated, charming shop.....

I could probably post a 100 photos of all the clever touches displayed in this well lighted, spacious shop....

....like nooks for reading.....

Samples galore....

.....cute, don't you agree?

......loved the button flowers.....

......fabric foliage.....

.......vignettes that make you smile....

....and oh ya.....there is plenty of fabric, batting, tools, patterns....they have it all......

MINI VACATION

My needle has turned into a magic carpet....taking me places I would never have experienced and allowing me to meet so many wonderful friends.

Several years ago I taught for the Cobblestone Quilt Guild in Charleston, SC......where Southern Hospitality was born. It was there that I meet two gals who accompanied me on one of my quilting cruises....we bonded totally and have been in touch ever since.

Fast forward.....I now live only about 5 1/2 hours from these buddies so we made plans to gather on one of the barrier islands.....an area that happily hurricane Irene pretty much by-passed on her recent terror along the East Coast.

The sea on Folly Beach were we strolled for sea shells was still a bit churned up.......yet still awesome.

Looking down can draw attention to so many interesting 'designs'.

This shell encrusted plant material was so strange...... I confess to knowing and experiencing very little about the ocean.....I am going to become more informed to better enjoy future visits.

We found 2 live star fish just out of reach of the waves.......this little guy was struggling to make its way back to the water. We helped one and then thankfully, a young girl came along and assisted us with the other!

Any time quilters gather......show and tell is required. My friend Beverly Cone shared block after block of her exquisite hand applique work. We all got a kick out of her clever tote bag. It was made from blue jeans.....a rather large size. Notice the silk ties she attached onto the belt loops to create her handles. Clever!!

She also enjoys using the 'big stitch' on her pieces......believe it or not, this main fabric is flannel cheater fabric!

Most of her blocks hand hundreds and hundreds of pieces......all beautifully and invisibly hand appliqued. We had such a wonderful visit....ate too much and stayed up too late.....making us all happy and content!!

SNEAK PREVIEW

We got a nice suprise.....our 3rd. place winning quilts from AQS's Ultimate Guild Challenge will be in their upcoming magazine.....thought you might like to see a sneak preview so you can be sure to pick up a copy which will of course be filled with photos of all the other fabulous winning quilts in the show.

BABY QUILT

I don't have much to show for my week......though gosh....I wasn't just sitting around eating bon bons! I'm trying to fast track this project so before it's out of my hands, here's a look at a partially completed baby quilt.

Which reminds me.....I need a wife! (to take care of household errands, cleaning, bill paying, cooking). Wouldn't we all just love to devote every waking minute to our sewing?!?

I recently posted the layout of this quilt on my design wall. It's now assembled, the body is machine quilted, and today I'll quilt the recipient's name along the borders. It will be bound in the same green paw print fabric and mailed off to CA as quickly as possible. So....I wanted to share it with you now before a brand new baby girl starts to love it.

For all you in the path of Irene.....stay safe..... The only impact we are having here in the mountains of NC is some well needed rain......got some drenchers last night and are actually hoping for more.