New addition to the village

This morning I made blueberry pancakes with real Vermount maple syrup, lots of coffee, bananas with fresh strawberries and english bacon. The blueberries were from France and gorgeous. The Strawberries were picked yesterday in a field not far from our house...most were consumed during the drive home. Due to the lack of water I hadn't cooked in days. This morning I decided to splurge a bit. It helped!

The photo on the left is our village blueberry...a blue bowzer (in the army we called them water buffalos!) There are four of them within walking distance so we are pretty lucky. They also give out bottled water each night at the village hall. I've been really impressed with how helpful everyone is being. They say we may get water in the lines by mid-week that we can use to flush toilets and clean. That will help.

It is amazing how much water it takes to get through the day! We fill the Folgers containers on the left at least twice a day. We have enough bottled water for drinking, cooking and coffee (as noted by other bloggers the latter is an absolute necessity!) At one point my DH threatened to toss my boxes of empty coffee containers. He thought I was planning on building and earth ship or something with them! The first few days of the shortage we gave out most of them to our neighbors. They are large enough to make a trip to the bowzer worth-while but small enough that our elderly neighbors can lift them. I knew being a pack-rat who hates to throw out anything that could be reused would work out someday!



They say we are going to get some more rain tomorrow. The photo on the left is of our main street. Even this morning there was still run-off from a bit of rain last night. The soil is so saturated that the roads fill up with only a few minutes of rainfall! It is also difficult because the water did so much damage to the road. When the water is across the road you can't see the huge potholes and it can bottom out the car! it could even be worse if you try and walk through it (I did go out and buy my first pair of wellies yesterday! Thought that might stop the rain!)


I am working on some Halloween tablerunners. I wanted to play in the bright colors! I'll try and get some photos later tonight.

Checked my mailbox on Friday...still no Harry Potter book...I love Amazon but they really let me down on this one...

Water everywhere and not a drop to drink

Well it has continued to drizzle on and off today but that isn't the worse of our problems...the local water plant is now under 5 feet of water and the faucet has turned to a trickle. They say it could be a couple of days until we have water. How crazy does that sound!!!

Anyway, growing up in New England I was "trained" to have canned food, bottled water, and lots of paperproducts on hand. I think we can make it through a couple of days OK. I will be desperate for a shower by then I'm sure!

The photo is of our apple tree that was doing so well before the rain. About half of the apples are on the ground and there is a black spot attacking those on the tree. We could use a few days of sun about now. My neighbor lost most of their plums as well. This can't be good for the farmers.

I am spending the day watching the British Open and putting the final border on the sampler quilt. Amazon sent me an email letting me know my Harry Potter is on its way so I have something to look forward to this week!

Time to build an ark...

The last 24 hours have been very, very wet and worrisome. It has rained, rained, and sometimes just poured. My DH left work at 4 yesterday afternoon. It usually takes only 20-30 minutes for him to get home. He walked in the door at 9:30!

The highway was blocked with cars and the road from the M-5 to our village was flooded in two areas. The roundabout about 1/4 mile away was the end of the line for many folks...the road was closed in all directions. We ended up with 3 visitors overnight...the man Dh carpools with couldn't get into his village because all routes into his village was closed and a young women and her 3 year old daughter whose car ran out of gas at the roundabout. The guys took pity on them and brought home. She had been on the road for 7 hour! The little one barely finished a bowl of soup and fell asleep on the couch. It made for an intersting night. The cats and the dog were happy for the company!

It stopped raining for long enough for us to get to them home this morning. It just now started to rain again. Good thing I did lots of shopping this Wednesday! (Wow, just watched two huge rescue helicopters go overhead!)

While it rained and I worried about my DH on the road I worked on my rose sampler quilt. These are the blocks I made with the group up in Fairford. The brown homespun was from an abandoned project. I really like it....wish I remembered where it came from?!

Unanswered questions

Brownie spends much of her day sitting on our front wall. Some people have marble lions, some stone gargoyles, we have a small, fuzzy brown cat. who, as you see below, gets tired very quickly.

Not much quilty to write about today. Yesterday I had some MS problems with my leg which left me gimping and grouchy...not a pretty sight! Today I am doing better so am on my way to the library to help with the summer reading program for the 8-12 year old group (what did I get myself into!)

There have been some question from my past posts that I couldn't answer by email so here goes...

First, the red in the lavender fields are poppies. They look wonderful against the purple. There are whole fields of poppies around here and they are breathtaking. Unfortunately I usually see the field while driving on an impossibly narrow road with a high performance German made car tagging my rear bumper. Tough to get a photo that way....

Second, yes I did get fired for too many chips in the chocolate chip cookies. It was one of those jobs you take for the summer while at university. It was a small "shop/stand" in a touristy area of Boston. (I don't know if it is still there or not.) Anyway, the owner/manager was there all the time. The mixer would dump a huge lump of dough in front of the us and we would put the dough onto the pans as fast as possible. Each time you finished a pan you put it on the shelf over you and moved a bead on the stick. When the lump of dough on the table was finished the owner would check to see who finished the most pans and who did the least by counting the beads(about 5 girls were working on the pans.) Needless to say - I was never the fasted. Then she would randomly take a pand and check the size of the cookies and count the chips (no more than 4 were the rule.) I routinely flunked that as well. Did I hate the job...you cannot imagine how much I hated it! The same day the owner gave me the "do you really want this job" speech I got a call about a summer job at the Department of Education. I think it worked out best for all of us! (except the poor customer who paid big money for little cookies with hardly any chips in them!)

Third, I was diagnosed with MS about 3 years ago though I had syptoms on and off for 4 years prior to that. I decided early on to be open about the conditin/disease for a couple of reasons: with the unsteady gait and occasional slurring of words folks could easily think I have drinking problem (with all the meds I take at most I can have a glass of wine/beer/cider with food,) it is easier to explain the condition when you feel OK rather then waiting until you feel pathetic (in my last job the office was on the third floor with no elevators! They moved me to the first floor and a week later I had an episode...if I hadn't moved I would have taken half a day to get to my office!), and finally, it makes my DH feel more comfortable knowing there is a support network in case he has to travel or work odd hours. I think trying to keep it a secret or avoiding the discussion would only add more stress to an already stressful situation.

Lavender fields

Today I went to visit the Lavender Farm in Snowhill. The weather was a bit iffy but it held off long enough for us to get through the fields and the distillery barn. They usually are harvesting this week but because of the wet weather this summer it has moved out a few weeks. The owner gave a nice talk about the history of the farm, how to care for lavender and how the distiller operates.

I love the different colors of the lavender...makes me want to play in my hand dyed pink and purples! The scent was amazing. The teashop at the farm was packed with people so we went down the road to the Plough at Ford for lunch. It was a nice outing. I am such a wimp these days...just the morning really wore me out.

I worked on another table runner this weekend. I thought the inner border on the christmas runner was too narrow so I added a half inch to the red white and blue. It handles easier and lays flatter. The pattern for this came off of the Fatquarters.com website.

Medieval Festival

The weather here has been nice the past few days so I haven't spent much time on the computer.

Last weekend we went to the Medieval Festival in Tewksbury. It was really fun. I thought this little boy in costume was too cute. My DH got a new walking stick so he was happy.

I did spend some time sewing this weekend. I put together a baby quilt (to be shown later) and a table runner as a sample for out all day sewing event later this month. The fabric was from my stash (I even had enough to kit up another!) I'm going to make a potholder and a tea cozy to go with it.

Sorry so short. Mac is bouncing against my leg begging for a walk (his buddy dogs just past the house....)

London City Break

First, today has been so strange. To start with, I made M&M cookies. The recipe says it makes 2 dozen so naturally I doubled it (going to a picnic this afternoon.) As I packed the cooled cookies into the tin I counted them out....48 cookies. That has never happend to me before. I was fired from a job one summer off from university because I put too many chocolate chips into the chocolate chip cookies!

Anyway...more on all that later. First I want to catch up on our latest visit up to London. Just once I would like to see the city when the police aren't out patroling in bullet proof vests and carrying machine guns! We seem to have the worst timing on our trips. It was still a great trip though. the photo on the top is me in front of the underground near Big Ben. It rained nearly the entire time we were there so the photos are all dark and we both got colds!

Our first day we went on a Harry Potter walk. I had fun but my DH was sort of miserable. There were too many people on the walk so it was difficult at times to hear the wizard leading it. He did as good a job as you could under the circumstances. The photo was taken outside the "ministry of magic." Part of the problem may be the Harry Potter movie primier was that weekend. Hundreds of screaming HP fans in Leis. Square. I like the movies but am more of a fan of the books. If it were not for the crowds, rain and a grouchy DH I may have hung around. I'd rather hear J.K. talk about how she planned the books then see some teenage actors!

We went to see Caberet that night. A bit more racey and political on stage then the movie. It is a great production though. Because of the rain I ended up spending most of the next day in the V&A. I love that museum. Hours just disappear as you sit in the textile study room. It is very quiet and a bit dark - feels like you have gone back a centry or so. I spent most of my time on the samplers but did look through some medieval pieces as well.

What a great place for inspiration. Even walking though the corridors with the examples of metal gates I could see possibilities for quilting designs! I could feel my blood pressure drop as I sat looking at the new exhibit being unpacked (maybe because I wasn't doing the unpacking!)

Got to run. (ps. thanks to all the folks who sent me tips on the hand crank sewing machine...I'm going to try it this weekend!)

Tagged....

Yikes I've been tagged by Julie at Feeling Simply Quilty for seven Random Things about me. I'm terrible at these things!

1. I love auctions, boot/yard sales or anything like that. I used to collect anything related to quilts now I am picking up typiclly British things to bring home with me. My latest buy was a light pine chest of drawers to help with fabric storage. The pastel star below is one of my favorite finds!

2. If I were to pick a craft to learn that I don't currently do it would be pottery...or maybe stained glass...or furniture refinishing....

3. My favorite color rose used to be a rosey apricot but now I like the deep golden color that my neighbor in the village grows.

4. I love to bake. I still use the Brownie recipe I got in middle school but I collect recipes all the time. My husband complains that once I get a recipe right I never use it again!

5. One of the things about MS that I hate most is how it has effected my writing and speaking - not sure if it is the MS or the meds I take for it but I feel a step behind.

6. I currently have four projects going on my cutting table; a bright baby quilt; a repro star and hourglass; a red, white, and blue sampler; and a pink and green rose sampler. No problem with getting any of the fabrics mixed up with this lot.

7. I read at least one historical mystery a week. They are like brain candy! Right now I am reading The Traitor's Tale, A Dame Frevisse medieval mystery (I've read a couple others of this series and they are fun.) Also on the bedside table is Medicus, a Novel of the Roman Empire from a new author (at least to me!) Ruth Downie.

The photo below is of Tewkesbury Abbey. I really love how it towers above the town. On a clear day you can see the tower from out little local church. There is some sort of covenant that says that nothing can be built or planted that blocks the view from the church to the abbey.

The royal Ascot Races

Just a quick post today. The weather is really gloomy outside and the dog is demanding some attention...so much harder to wear him out if you can't go outside and thow the ball across the fields.

Yesterday I went to the Royal Ascot Races. It would have been nicer if the weather had behaved a bit better but overall it was a nice time. The horses were beautiful however I think we spent most of our time people watching! The outfits went from totally gorgeous to "what were they thinking?"

My favorite spot for seeing the horses was in the paddocks area which is the photo above. Before the race they walk the horses around a few times then the jockey jumps on. The colors and patterns of the jockey's silks is breathtaking at times. (There is a quilt in there someplace!)

My favorite spot for people watching was on the other side of the course by the winner's circle. There the attendees were dresses more like the TV photos (thre are unfortunatley some tacky -no pun intended - areas in the course...my friend who was doused with beer by a drunken 20-something was not a happy person!) That aside, I wish we had come over to the Winner's circle area earlier. No man really looks bad in a morning suit...which I will add to the list of white shirt with jeans, flight suit, and tuxedo.

Black and white with the bright, bright pink was a big color combination for women. My favortie outfit was an aqua blue dress with a black hat, bag and shoes sooo wish I could have gotten a photo. Interestingly she wasn't the prettiest woman there, not the youngest, nor the thinniest...but heads turned as she walked past. Good for her!

Now this is an awfully long ramble on style and clothing from a woman who spends 90% of her waking moments in either sweats or jeans. (as I write this I am wearing a read University of Nevada Las Vegas red hoody sweatshirt, greay baggy sweatpants with the elastic missing at the right ankle, and grey socks that show the London Underground map (never know when you'll need one of those!) I did dress well yesterday though not a stand out by any measure. There was a point in my life that I did really care about what I wore. I had my colors done. I had two suits custom made. I spent outrageous amounts of money on handbags/briefcases/shoes. The 90's were an expensive decade!

Below is another of the village garden's that I love to walk past...

High Tea

Sorry it has been so long between posts this time. Life has gotten in the way of blogging and at the risk of whining for way too long I'm just leaving it at that.

I did go to my first British High Tea at the Queen Hotel this week. Very nice. It gave me incentive to get out of my pajamas and dress like a big girl for a change! I took the bus into town so I wouldn't stress about parking. I wandered through some stores hoping to find something to wear to the races Saturday...that is just another depressing post that I will leave to another date (it is cold in this country so why I ask do none of the dresses have sleeves...heck most barely had straps to hold them up!) I ended up buying a hat that mad my husband laugh so hard he almost choked - do you think a jury would convict me for that?!

For the Americans - High Tea was served using the really nice three tier servers: on the top were the little sandwiches (salmon on white and egg salad and cress on whole grain - both with the crusts cut off); next came the sweets (fruit cake, pound cake, and eclairs); and then finally, the scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. I am very partial to scones and these were very, very good scones. It was a nice afternoon.

The photos are of two of the blocks we are doing in the Fairford group. I am doing two sampler quilts - one red, white and blue and the other in pinks and greens. Unfortunately I don't always get each block finished in both colorways so this was a bit of a catch-up week for me. Next week we will do paperpiecing which I love but I know it takes a bit of getting used to...somehow seeing things backwards never quite bothered me but I've worked with folks who end up destroying the paper because they have to "unsew" so many times! We'll take this one slow!

June Garden Tour

Today I have gotten lots of quilting inspiration from the local Garden tour...amazing. Just what an American would think English Gardens are supposed to look like! The tour was in Ashton-under-Hill, which is one of the many villages around Breedon Hill. Thre were over 25 gardens open and lots of stalls selling garden stuff.

It was a bit to hot (can't believe I'm writing that!) for me to walk around too long but we got through almost half of them. (one of the volunteers was nice enough to check off the ones she reccomended!) I couldn't believe it when I got home and went to upload my photos to my computer...87 photos! I think that is a one day record for me! (don't worry I will not be posting all of them....) The colors were just amazing. I wasn't sure if I wanted to run home and play in fabric or pull the paints out of storage!

Happy Birthday

Well another milemarker is swiftly moving into the rear view mirror! To celebrate my birthday today I let myself buy some quilt-y stuff on line - timtex, thread, a few yards of fabric, and batting. I also stopped by a local potter and got a new pot to put on the black stand I picked up at the auction last week.

I played in fabric most of the morning without a lot to show for it...mainly folding, planning , and deplanning (taking fabric out of boxes/bags after deciding I don't want to do that project anymore!) That is one way of shortening the someday list!

I also made myself a Birthday cake.... a Peanut Butter Pound Cake! I got the recipie from a co-worker in North Carolina years ago (maybe 9!) and had never attempted making it myself. It is great. (must be a bit of homesickness coming through....) DH is bringing home chocolate ice cream to go on top so I left off the topping (like that helps the calorie count at all!) It makes a huge cake so I ran some pieces over to neighbors...if it sat on my sideboard I wouldn't be able to zipper my jeans tomorrow! (not the best way of starting out a new year....)

Peanut Butter Pound Cake

1 cup butter

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking pwder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 Tablespoon vanilla

(topping optional)

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/4 cup evaporated milk

Beat 1 cup butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter at medium speed of a electric mixer until soft ad creamy (about 2 min.) Gradually add 2 cups sugar and 1 cup brwon sugar, beting at medium speed for 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until yellow just disappears.

Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt; stir well. Add flour misture to butter mixture alternating with the milk beginning and ending with the flour. Mix at low speed until just blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. pour batter inot a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 35 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10-15 mintues. Remove from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

For the optional topping: beat powdered sugar, peanut butter and melted butter together at a low speed until well blended. Add evaporated milk and beat at a medium speed until smooth. drizzle over cake.

Baby Quilt blocks

The sun is shining here in England...what a relief! Yesterday we walked around Breedon Hill and peeked into some of the gardens. Beautiful! The poppies are putting in their appearance and stealing the show in this photo from Beckford.

As I promised in my prior post here is a photo of the blocks I am doing for a baby quilt for one of the new quilters in our group. The blocks are 7.5 finished. I made up some 'kits" for the other members of the group or they can use their own fabric (as quilting newbe's they don't have deep stashed yet...but they are working had at it!)

I had to post a photo of my walk 'buddies." (once again I am sure the other villagers think I'm crazy for taking photos of livestock but hey...I'm a city-kid!) This black and white cow/steer follows Macbeth and I along the fence when-ever we pass her/his field. Today I brought the camera and low and behold the rest of the herd nudged their way into the act! They are so cute it almost makes me swear off meat!

Back to the world

The photo of Goldie shows a bit how I have felt lately. Too much rain-rain-rain, a cold, an MS relaspe has made me a whiney-whiney woman. Anyway the sun came out yesterday and I am crawling back out into the world.

Just one example of how this past week went. I really wanted to go to my quilting group on Wednesday. I had printed out some paperpiecing blocks, made some examples (with low eyesight paperpiecing is more of a challenge than you would think!) and had packed up some "find a new home" bits and pieces of fabric. In the the morning it was raining so DH offered to pack the bags and my sewing machine in the car. A few minutes later his ride pulled in the driveway and he was off the London for the day. I finished my coffee, locked up the house, went to get my keys off the rack - no keys. Looked through my bags, the kitchen counters....(you know the drill.....) Then it hit me...DH must have put them in his pocket.....I stayed home.

(if you are thinking why doesn't she have a spare?...see my post on being robbed in Barcelona - whine.whine.whine)

I did pull some bright fabrics from the stash and start making blocks. I stacked my CD player with Bonnie Rait, Eurythmics (sp?), Tina Turner, and Blondie. Boy does that tell my age or what! The blocks will make up the core of a baby quilt for one of the Fairford quilters....I'll show them tomorrow.

My big adventure was a quick trip into Tewksbury for an auction. I picked up a cute tea service (bright yellow with roses on it!) and a hand crank sewing machine with some nice graphics on it. I haven't quite figured out how to use the machine so if any of you have a hint. (does it use a bobbin and if so where the heck is it!!!)

I am so tired these days I am having problems doing anything with my quilting projects. Yesterday at the stitching meeting I worked on one of my little projects...how can a 15x15 inch quilt can take 5 years. How many months per square inch would that be? Too many...

The quilt at the top is an antique maverick. It is so ugly it is beautiful. I think I may have posted it when I first started blogging. It is still one of my favorite quilts!

Thanks for all the ideas on what to do this bank holiday weekend. I think we will make it up to Shrewsbury and take a few trips across the Welsh border. (I'm going to try and get him to Strokesay but he isn't a castle type of guy!) Another american loaned us a book called Cadfael Country which we will use as a bit of a guide. I'm just happy we don't have to deal with an airport this weekend!

MaggieART - Margaret Hunt: So we met ETV Roadshow and

I hope this link thing works.....My friend Maggie Hunt back in the states had a big day. A couple years ago she met a very talented artist that moved back to S.C. from NY. His art is primative but not...hard to explain but I love his works. He often has textiles in the paintings - quilts, clothes on the line....anyway a news magazine show featured both Maggie for her quilting arts and Jeff for his painting. You can see the taping of the show at her blog (make sure and go down to the second to last photo and check out the really neat chicken quilt!!! MaggieART - Margaret Hunt: So we met ETV Roadshow and

Anniversary

Today is my wedding anniversary. We have been married for 8 years. Boy has that gone fast. I was thinking this morning as I absorbed my caffine that in 8 years we have moved 3 times (including the most current one overseas!) DH has changed cars once, me twice and his son 5 times...(Ishould hear a big thank-you from Detroit on that one....) We have visited 8 countries (seems like that should have been more but there it is....) To celebrate we are going to a local Pub restaurant, The Hobnail, for dinner later this week. Tonight I am making him Youvarlakia Avgolemono (Meatballs with Rice in a lemon sauce) and Greek Salad. He is not a big dessert person so I am making some biscotti with pistachios, cranberries, and apricots.

Thanks to Calico Cat for the fun link that I made the photo at the top on...so easy even I was able to work it and that is saying something!

The photo above is another of the bed uncoverings...it is a 1930-ish crazy quilt. There are some fun fabrics in there with lots of peach and blue. It is hand quilted with a very thin batting. It came from the eastern shore of Maryland. Makes me think of the crumb blocks!

We are trying to think of places to visit over the long weekend coming up. Since I am a huge Cadfael fan we may go to up there for a day. I'd like to take a long walk around Broadway if the weather holds up.

I am at sort of a stalling point on my quilting. Too many projects at awkward phases. I just need to put them all on pieces of paper, toss it in a hat, and pull on out. Not very scientific but it may work!

Here is the recipe for the Meatballs.....

1 pound ground beef

1/3 cup rice

1 egg, beaten

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh dill, chopped (or 2 teaspoons dried)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup flour

Sauce:

1 cup boiling chicken broth

2 eggs, beaten

juice of 1 lemon

Combne meat, rice, egg, garlic, pasley, and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Knead well. Shape into walnut size balls. Roll lightlyin flour. Shake off eny excess flour.

Place the meatball in a large skillet, pot or casserole dish that can be used on the stove top. (you want the meatballs to all be on one level) Pour in enough boiling chicken broth to cover. Simmer covered for 45 minutes. Add more broth or water is there is less than 1 cup of liquid left. Increase heat and boil a few minutes more, then remove pot from heat.

Beat the 2 eggs until frothy. Slowly add the joice of one lemon, beating continuously. Remove one cup of the hot liquid used to cook the meatballs. Slowly add this to the egg and lemon - beting continuously. (If you add it too quickly you will cook the egg and the sauce seperates.) Pour the avgolemono sauce into the pot of meatballs. Stir gently. Serve hot with lots of crusty bread! (makes about 24 meatballs. It should serve 4 but my DH and stepson could finish off the pot in very little time...)

Quilt Show

This has been such a busy week...can't do too many like this! Thursday I went to an auction preview to see another sampler. It was a good news/bad news: Bad news - the sampler wasn't anything I was interested in; good news - it made the decision on going to the quilt show on Friday easy!

I met up with some of the Fairford quilting group on Friday at the Quilt show in the Malvern Three Counties Showground. For several of the folks it was their first quilt show so it was fun to see their reaction to the quilts and the vendors. (And before I forget I got the most American-like hot doughnut at the coffee stand outside the showground...heaven!)

I was impressed by the show. Most of the quilts have a definate British feel to them. The best in show was a green wholecloth done with the Welsh/British designs. I loved this quilt! The quilting was beautiful. The photo seems to emphasis the color gradation a bit more intense than it is in person.

The second quilt also won several ribbons. I would be more specific about who made the quilts however as I ran to my car in the rain (surprise, surprise, surprise...) I must have dropped the show booklet. Must have been that mudslide I did for the last 15 feet to the car. Anyway back to the quilts...the blue applique was done entirely by machine. Now I do my applique by hand and admit to being a bit of a "hand stitch snob" but this quilt may have converted me! The holly block on the bottom orw second from the left was don so that the leaves looked like they were velvet. The stippling was soooo tiny and perfect.

I really like it when I see colors or techniques that I had turned my nose up at a show and find myself loving the quilt! The photo on the left is one of those quilts. She used the cathedral windows technique but used beautiful fabrics and then surrounded it by the flying geese. At the end of the day - a very classy looking quilt. (So unlike the cathedral window potholders I made in high school!)

I will post more photos later...blogger is being tempermental and taking its own sweet time with the photos. I volunteered to help at the British American social groups table at the boot sale this morning which ment and early wake-up only to get the whole thing set up then the rain came pouring down (seems to be a theme here.....) I got home drenched and cold. I went right back to bed to restart the day.....

Rainy and tired...

It has rained, rained and rained some more. This is getting old. I just haven't had the engergy to do any quilting...or much of anything for that matter.

So you are getting some more photos of my long day of folding quilts...those of you who viewed earlier posts will notice that we are now one level down on the same bed from the maryland applique!

I love log cabin quilts. This one isn't in the best shape but it has some great fabrics and I love how the center block is split dark and light. It also has a very funky red and green border. I am wondering now if I am going to bother putting these all back on the bed anytime soon....

Maryland Applique Quilt

My niece and nephew have gone back to the states and the house feels very quiet. Even the pets are fast asleep.

I thought I would post a few photos of my Applique quilt dated 1864. Most of the signitures are from Maryland however there are two from Pennsylvania. It makes sense since the towns listed are all on the border of the the two states.

The blocks are about 17 inches. The fabric that now reads blue would have been green. The dye process then was to over dye the blue with yellow to get green. Unfortunely it didn't stand the test of time!

I saw a few blogs that quilters were listing their fantasy or dream quilt. This would be mine. I've had it for over 12 years and each time I take it out I wonder why I have waited to start making the blocks! They are not overly complicated. Many are so "wonky," like the flower and berries above, that I could almost applique it freehand! I just need to sit down and start. I think I have collected enough fabric to make it ten times over.