HANGING DAY

Today was hanging day for my solo exhibit," Viewed With A Smile", at WNC Arboretum in Asheville. It will run through Aug. 3rd.

I'll post some more specific photos in the days to come, but if you want an immediate look at some of the quilts, my buddy Judy Simmons stopped by with her family just as we were finished and she's posted some pictures on her blog.

The Arboretum is such a serene and beautiful place to visit, especially now with everything in full bloom.

This water feature could lull anyone to sleep with it's sound.

Quilt exhibits at the Arboretum are coordinated through the Asheville Quilt Guild. The space is located in two inside hallways, in the upper level of the main educational building, rather than one of their many window filled atrium which could fade the quilts.

This view shows my seasonal series of a white oak tree that grew in front of our river house in Wisconsin. I had always displayed them individually by season, so it was great to be able to view them as a group.

YARD ART

I'm kinda stalling about posting my current project because it's a commission, therefore I'll wait until I'm finished and the 'buyer' approves. I'm always a little less confident when I move back into making traditional quilts (even if the design/setting is my creation).....esp. when it will be beadless! I am documenting the progress and will post soon.

In the meantime, I'll share some of the yard art we found on an antique outing yesterday. Our drought must be officially over by now as we are getting tons of rain, followed by hours of nice warm, sunny weather, then more rain, which means things are growing here like we were in a rain forest.

This has brought our attention to our many planting areas.....and we decided a few more pieces of yard art would help balance all that green.

We can get a lot of wind up here......and I mean serious gusts of wind......so we must take that into consideration. I loved this fellow......sadly it was way too big, and of course way more than we wanted to spend.

'The husband' has some strange ideas about what he considers appropriate yard art......he voted for this.....I voted....no way!

I'm a big fan of re-purposing things.......not just because it's good to recycle but because I enjoy the creativity involved. This sea turtle got a second look from both of us, but the subject wasn't fitting with our mountain living.

TA-DA.......this is what we agreed on..... Since there isn't much surface material for the wind to catch, we think this was a good option.......the globe part actually rotates with the wind...though we must first remove the rust that is right now preventing movement!

MORE FRUGAL DESIGN HOUSE

Look at this good stuff.......I'm not going to pass by thrift shops or Goodwill in the future!

There were two beaded pillows in excellent condition that were still for sale at an incredible price of $20 each! The beads cost far more than that!

This screen was one of several that was decorated by a local artist and part of the auction items.

Did I say everything was for sale?!? Yes, even this very clever valance made from men's ties. I wish the huband's 'man cave' was a suitable setting for this type of window treatment....I loved it.

Frugal Design Home

Our small fiber group (PTA) participated in the the Frugal Design Home which is a community based project whose funds support several non-profit groups. A select home is furnished/decorated soley from items obtained from thrift and resale stores, or other donations. Tickets for a tour of the home are available for a 3 day period where all the contents are sold. Some items created by local artists are auctioned, others are priced and the profits all go to a good cause. This brand new home is located in a new subdivision in Hendersonville.

When our group of 9 arrived about 1:00 PM on the first day, I'm guessing that 60% of the items had already been purchased and boy where there bargains. Most items must stay in the home until the end of the open house for obvious reasons.....I was blown away by the quality of the items displayed....not to mention the low, low prices assigned! I wonder why I never see things like this when I go to thrift stores!! Guess I'm not shopping in the right places.....

Speared headed by member Georgia Bonesteel, our group created this denim quilt....made from thrift store blue jeans and bandannas donated by a local Hendersonville store. There was already a good bid for the piece. I know I blogged about the making of the quilt.....but darn if I could find it when I looked just now. I've been having some computer issues after downloading the newest Safari update.......so I decided to get this posted while I actually was able to log onto Blogger.

A local artist painted this small desk.....it too was part of the auction pieces. I apologize for not knowing the artists name.....in an effort to not be wasteful, I recycled the booklet I was given when I departed so they could pass it along to someone else......I should have retained it to acknowledge this lovely work.

We all thought this was so clever....turning bird cages into tables by adding glass tops!!

More photos tomorrow......I'm heading to my workspace to get some stitching done.....

BACK TO MY NORMAL LIFE

Now that my air travel has been completed, and my bag got delivered to my house yesterday afternoon, I'm looking forward to my next trip to Tennessee Quilt Fest, July 16-18th. I'll be teaching 3 workshops and a noon lecture on Thursday......click on the above link to register.

Last night I attended the monthly Asheville Quilt Guild meeting. Anita Heady, our speaker shared her numerous and innovative methods of creating string quilts.

Many of her samples were unquilted, which allowed members to examine the stabilizing technique she uses. As you can see, the designs vary far beyond what we typically think of string quilts.

So....what's this? Would you believe this fashion blunder by a nationally known instructor who happen to be sitting next to me. We struggled to keep our giggling under control when she first noticed her mismatched socks!! To keep her embarrassment to a minimum, I'll keep her name to myself...... We quilters can be so focused on our quilts.....that other daily ho-hum tasks become secondary......I'm still grinning....

I COULDN'T MAKE THIS UP!

I know you must be sick of my travel drama.......I am too........my return home started out so good.....but I was almost denied boarding on the flight to Asheville.......seems USAirways had no record of my ticket. United and USAirways sure don't seem to play well together.

AND THEN..........yup.....you guessed it.......my bag didn't come.......I beyond annoyed. Tomorrow the sun will come out......

YARD ART

Antique shopping is a past time I enjoy......and I keep my eye out for yard art. I've never seen anything like this. My guess is you'd have to live in an area with low winds.....cause these items would surely shatter if blown over.

So....what the heck is this? Upon close examination, they appear to be created from old glass bowls, vases, and vessels, glued together. Interesting concept, no??

I'm bracing myself for another day of travel drama as I travel back home from Portland, OR. They are not allowing any online check ins for my 6:00 AM flight tomorrow morning....worse yet, the airline will not explain why.........sigh......

FINALLY

My last few posts are so self serving....really....I don't know why anyone is still reading my blog! But in case you still are.....here's the latest on my missing bag.

Nah.....I can't go into all the details......my head will explode due to sheer frustration over the stupidity, incompetence, and just plain laziness of both USAirways and United employees. What ever happened to pride in doing a good job?

I wish I could report the persons who left my bag unattended!!

Nope....it's not here....

Well, I can guarantee I had to move heaven and earth to get people from passing the buck rather then going out and LOOKING for my bag. I almost considered giving a good belt strapping to some of them.

Alas....Cliff.....my hero!! Now after being well into the 3rd day w/o my bags and literally hours on the phone I realized the only way my bag was coming direct to Eugene, OR from Denver (where I guessed it had been sitting) was on the first of only 2 flights into Eugene today. So we went out to the airport to see what comes off that plane. The United agents swore it was impossible that my bag would be on it because United had NOT been given the bag from USAirways....it wasn't scanned into their system, therefore they were positive they didn't have it.

But......oh my.......wrong again.......it was on the plane after all......

Fat lot of good all this 'rushing' for an expedited bag did........but......finally I have clean undies and another lesson in learning to be a personal advocate and in my quest to be less stressed.

Good night all.......sweet dreams......

THE FINAL STRAW

I'm now on my 3rd full day of wearing the same clothing.....no cosmetics, creature comforts that were in my suitcase because the butt head airlines still can't find my bag. I will spare you my head exploding frustration of literally hours on the phone dealing with two airlines who blame each other but neither will admit to knowing anything about this bag except that it was located in Gulf Port, MS, Thurs. night at midnight. Location now?? Guess it evaporated....

Yes, things happen, but what is maddening is the lack of responsiblity of the airlines to assist one and the incredible incompetence in this world. Sorry this is depressing....so I'll sign off and go back to having fun and hope for the best.

AIRLINE HASSLES

I'm in the Pacific NW where environmental concerns are always in the spot light. This is a new one on me.......the flushing instructions posted in a Portland, OR airport public bathroom. Couldn't help but take a photo and share this with all you green folks.

So....this is sort of how my day went......I left my home about 5:00 AM Thursday morning, I arrived in Eugene, OR at 11:45 PM EST.....spent the next hour on the phone trying to locate my bag which didn't arrive...DESPITE having a 2 hr. layover in Charlotte and what turned out to be a 6 hour delay in Chicago.

Since there wasn't a seat to be had in the gate area, I stood for over an hour watching this ridiculous sign tell us falsehoods! When I took this photo which stated 'boarding' would begin in 6 mins.....DAH......he inbound flight wasn't even in yet. This repeated its self over and over again....each time with a new later departure time, new boarding count down times and still no plane.

Of course it finally did come......and we depart Chicago after 5:00 PM.......very weary. The worst was yet to come when I stood waiting and waiting for my bag to appear on the carousel. It's a long story, but apparently, it was found in Gulf Port, MS.....I'm assuming it was never taken off the Asheville/Charlotte flight and just rode around in that aircraft..........but why nobody took the time to reroute it back in the system and on its way to me show the typical incompetence we often find these days. At this writing - 6:30 AM PST (ya....after only about 5 hours of sleep, I woke up and cant' get back to sleep) I still have no clue when I'll get my clean underwear.....my guess is it won't be till later tonight......grrr!

But, the luggage rack will be here waiting........ Life on the road can certainly be stressful. No matter, I arrived safely and am looking forward to some sibling bonding and family time.......and for that I'm thankful.