NFL WEEK #1

WHEW!!! Seriously for awhile yesterday, I thought it'd be 'one and out' for me. I'm talking about the Suicide Football Pool I'm in. This year there are 53 in the pool, all vying for the $1,060 payoff.

The rules are simple.....each participant selects 1 team...and only 1 team to win each week...if your team loses, you are out. Seems simple right? NOT so....because you can never select that team again....so there is some strategy involved.

I picked Arizona....who interestingly played the Carolina Panthers.....even though I live in NC....I couldn't even tell you the name of one player. My team is the Packers......who thrilled us all on Thursday night (like you all don't already know that!)

While I was biting my nails over the Arizona game, I took guilty pleasure over the 20 participants who had selected the San Diego Chargers. Their team was behind most of the game. It would have been a first if 20 people were out the first week with just one game! As it is, so far 6 are out. 8 players must wait till tonight to see if they can move onto week #2. You can be sure I'm already studying and making notes to help me with the next pick.

OH.....and my sister-in-law Barbara is playing for the first time this year. Humm, her pick of Detroit seemed gutsy....but they won which I know also made faithful reader Robbie happy too.

9/11

REMEMBER

UNITED WE STAND

44' x 30"

Beaded binding detail

This piece is available for purchase $400, email me using link at upper right

payment via check or Paypal.

PTA - SEPTEMBER SHOW AND TELL - PART 2

...the continuing saga.....

Our show and tell often goes beyond seeing the actual piece.......explanations in regard to inspiration/s serve as a helpful jumping off points as well.

The hardest part of this process was (and always is) keeping the 12-14 of us on task.......we pretty much are always all talking at once. Barbara S. had to wield the power of the 'talking spoon' more than once during this gathering. What's a 'talking spoon'? It's our method of trying to control chaos. When we get out of control....someone grabs a spoon (we are quilters...there's always food and eating utensils nearby).....bangs it on a hard surface and we are all to shut up while a point is being made...... Does it work?? Hummmm sometimes.....

So...on with the show....

Cathy N. brought her in-progress piece, " Sunnyside Up", that's being made for our exhibit "Inspired By..." The artist she selected is Kandinsky.

Each block is different, all very colorful and display machine applique and hand embroidery....

Super don't you think??

Barbara S. has had a lot of distractions in her life lately and admittedly was getting anxious about her lack of a design for her "Inspired By...." artist piece. This book was given to her by fellow member Georgia Bonesteel and she's now revving to go! So....you see...one's ideas can come from anywhere....even a children's coloring book.

Janice M. shared this very pleasing visual quilt. Her inspiration came from seeing a young lady wearing stripe knee high socks.....one leg the stripes were running vertical the other horizontal...... What great vision Janice had to think of tweaking it into a quilt!

Janice M. also brought a stunning needlework project she recently had framed. I'm so sorry my photo doesn't come close to how exquisite it was. Janice took an interesting approach....instead of using (for instance) 3 strands of one color, say red.....she mixed 1 darker red with 2 brighter ones which provides it's own sort of shading, depth, and texture to the piece.

Jack of all trades Gen....who can do anything.....showed these yummy socks.....I don't know what the yarn was but I wanted to cuddle with it. And....it probably only took her 10 minutes to make them......!!!!

Georgia Bonesteel and Charlotte Warr Anderson host an annual retreat at a Montana ranch.....this is the design Georgia's students worked on this year. What may not be apparent is the blue back ground fabric is a cowboy print and the white is a cheerful polka dot. Notice the steer head on each border......complete with huge horns!

This is the same design but assembled with more traditional fabrics......such fun to see the differences.

I hope you enjoyed our PTA show and tell.......I'll report again about this fiesty group next month!

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......