World Series and Halloween all in one week!

You have to say for someone who is a fan of both baseball and Halloween this a good week. Change that to Red Sox and Halloween and it is a great week!!

We again got up early to watch a tape delayed version of the final game of the World Series. It was a really good game. There were lots of moments that I though the Rockies were going to pull it out and go on to another game. No one could have predicted how the rookies on the Sox were going to step up the plate and contribute the way they did. It was crazy and exciting.

Now on to Halloween and quilting....I made a quick Halloween table runner this week. I used the disappearing 9-patch technique. I apologize for not remembering whose blog I saw that on - it is a fun and quick technique...I really did finish the top in a few hours! By the way it isn't as wonky in real life as the photo - both Macbeth and the cats thought I should be taking photos of them and kept jumping onto the quilt! To take this one I had to throw the ball across the room and take the photo before he had a chance to get back to the quilt...as you can see it was close!

The other Halloween quilt is one I finished last year with little witches on it. I love the blue fabric with the eyes. I think I may have used the last of it this year. Isn't it funny how some fabrics seem to just last and last. I don't think I bought more than a yard or so of it but it is in at least four quilts that I can think of!
I hang this quilt near my front door so at least the trick-or-treaters can see a bit of it. I think I may have overdone it on the candy...I would pick up a bit each time I went to the store and didn't realize how it all added up until I pulled out the Halloween bowl and filled it this weekend. I have enough to fill it three times over!

I have started working on a Christmas bag. I haven't made a lot of bags but have put aside a lot of a project-bags (these are platic bags with the fabric to make a bag!) At some point I needed to dive in and get going so wish me luck! I may even finish a few projects this week...now that would really make it special!!!!

Go Redsox!!!!

It is amazing what sports fans will do to stay up with their teams. This morning my DH and I got up at 0600 to watch a taped copy of the Red Sox vs. Indians baseball championship game. It was a great game but it just isn't the same watching baseball with coffee and shredded wheat instead of beer and a hotdog...ah well, at least the Red Sox won!!!

We went on a long walk/ramble this weekend up in the Cotswold hills. Each time we do this I am amazed how beautiful it is in this part of England. I'm still a bit nervous walking through fields of cows and sheep (I'm not afraid of the sheep but I worry about scaring them!) The cow in the photos was such a prima-dona. She "posed" for all the silly Americans taking photos then followed us to the gate! The rest of the herd moved to the top of the hill when they heard us coming over the gate.

I got to play with my new camera. As usual I play with it first and then read the directions. I do the same thing with new software...I think it is how I learn best but it drives my DH batty! The flower and bee photo at the left uses a "flower" setting which is just that a tiny flower- now how hard it that to figure out without a book!!

Today I am going to play in my Halloween fabrics. I should clean house but I just don't feel like it! Maybe I will clean one room and then let myself play!

I also need to come up with something fun for my 200th post...I can't believe I have written that much. Watch this space for an anniversary give away...don't know what it will be!!

Playing with strips

I pulled out some of my half-finished bright strippy blocks last night. I thought it could be a quick finish...of course I had to complicate it!

I had a panel with these funny bight cats on it. Originally I was planning on just quilting it up for a quick baby quilt...of course I had to complicate it...

Through the magic of hoarding, procrastination, and piles of fabric strips I took took quick and easy projects and made one fiddly quilt. It is a talent!

I hope to finish it up tonight so I can go back to my scrap quilt. It is a bit hectic...brights on one table and reproduction fabric on another.

A couple of bloggers have asked how to identify civil war fabrics. When I started out collecting quilts I was given the best piece of advice - visit museums and read as many antique quilt books as you can find. Now there is another resource that I would add to that list - http://www.quiltindex.org It lets you view quilts from several major collections and state surveys via the internet. You can narrow your search to whatever date range or type of quilt you are interested in studying. (just make sure you have a big cup of coffee when you start...there is a lot to look at!)

Firkin Woolen Mills

Yesterday I had to drive to Fairford to pick up DH's prescriptions so I treated myself to a side trip to Firkin Woolen Mills. Their fabrics are so beautiful! It makes me wish I had paid more attention when my sister tried to teach me to make clothing. I did treat myself to a scarf and picked up a couple as Christmas presents. The clothing they have on sale there is really nice but with the really weak dollar I have to think twice about it...maybe later!

They also had some wonderful blankets...the colors on the household side were both traditional and a bit funky. They even used wool fabrics to upholster some furniture (I think I've seen that in a Ralph Lauren collection too) which looked very warm - it was a cold and rainy day so it was very inviting. Not sure how it would stand up to two cats and a terrier though!

They also have a wool museum there that is worth a look. I love how these bright colored yarns are on the old wooden equipment! There is also a little coffee shop there with some fun paintings on the wall. The folks working there were very nice. All and all a good stop and I am fairly sure I will go back again with other Americans in tow!

Afterwards I stopped at a couple more antique/collector shops in my hunt for the gurgling cod. No luck. This has become a bit of a Holy Grail search! Anyway the hunt will continue for a few weeks and it I don't find one the two I have will go to our friend. She really helped us out a lot when our bags were stolen in Barcelona.

A got a few emails about the Kate Greenaway book I mentioned a few postings ago...here are a few photos from it. I'm not sure if I will be able to conserve/restore the book. The binding is in really bad shape and there is some water damage on the back pages. If not, I will take it apart and frame up the pages. The halloween/witch page is not what I normally think of as a KG drawing but I really like it!!! It would go nicely with my raven and blackbird prints!

Dilemma of the Gurgling Cod

The title of this post sounds more like a Sherlock Holmes story...and in a way it is becoming one! A few weeks ago I brought an American woman who works with my husband to her first auction. She told me she was looking for a "gurgling cod." Now the first thing that jumped to my mind was those battery operated singing fish that were popular a few Christmas's ago...I'm glad I didn't say anything! When we got to the auction she pointed out a ceramic jug shaped like a fish that in fact makes gurgling noises when you pour water out of it. (Note: I had to learn how to spell gurgling just for this post!)

The next weekend my DH and I go to the bootsale at the racecourse. (It is a great place to buy plants...ok, I admit to going there for the doughnuts but I've already confessed that in earlier posts!) As we wandered around we saw 4 gurgling cods! They were only a couple of pounds so I bought two. When I got home and washed them up I really liked the off white one and decided to hold onto the green one for a Christmas gift.

Now the dilemma.....My DH goes to work and tells his coworkers. He had failed to tell me that another coworker (who has been very good to us) had also asked him to find a cod. CW1 (the one that went to the auction) immediately laid claim to the green cod, assuming that I bought it for her. CW2, the one that has helped us out, said she would like the green cod. So this weekend we went cod hunting. Of course if you want to find something at a boot sale it will not be there...trust me. After scouring boot sales and local antique shops we came up with one small cod. Here is the dilemma - it looks great with the off-white one. I think it would be a shame to split them up. So I either find yet another cod or give the pair to CW2 (not knowing if these are the type she likes or not?! Which would be a shame since I like these better than the fancy ones!) Yikes.

On the quilting front (this is a quilting blog after all) I finished a baby quilt! I couldn't post it in-process in case the recipient logged onto the blog. Several members of the quilt group made the blocks and I put it together and quilted it. I put the binding on the night before the baby shower. (finished is better than perfect...finished is better than perfect.....) All and all a busy weekend.

Flog it! Filming

Yesterday was the "big auction day" down in Cirencester with the Flog It" TV team. It was much more stressful than I expected it to be! (that may have had something to do with my wearing a suit and high-heels for the first time in over a year...but I digress.) The answer to the big question - yes the quilt sold (phew) and it sold right at mid-estimate (my reputation is safe!) The "hammer price" was 130 pounds which comes to about 260 $US. I sold some fabric and excess scissors fobs at my last quilt meeting which should cover the auction house commission so I will send $260 to the MS society. The photo is of me (looking very pale and chubby) next to the TV show expert Charley. He hardly ever looks as serious as he does in this photo...does this mean I never look so chubby - no such luck!

Today I am planning to get a few more Halloween decorations out... I made the little wall hanging on the left a few years ago. I had a box of ceramic Halloween buttons that I loved but didn't see myself wearing. I just made a little quilt to fit in the frame and sewed the buttons onto it. More Halloween to come!

Room Box almost done

The fog is so dense this morning I could barely see MacBeth at the end of the leash! A good day to stay in and finish a quilt or make another table for my mini Tudor kitchen. Yes, the walls are up and the "historically accurate" electricity is working! I've finished a chair, bench and table. It is starting to look lived in. Since I took the class near Stratford-on0Avon I am going to make a couple of actors to hang out there (note the tiny tankards are already there waiting for them.) I love the aging process for these minis - lots of "mucky water." A far cry from keeping my hands and workspace clean while sewing!


I've started pulling out my Halloween decorations. My pumpkins are on the steps already...I'm the first in the village but that is OK with me. I put out a bowl of chocolate eyes and fingers on the sideboard (very popular with little boys! Also popular with some big-boys...my DH grabbed a handful on his way out the door this morning!)

Tonya is a bit Halloween-sick. Not a lot of decorations up for this holiday in Paris so I am going to post lots of Halloween photos the next few weeks. Maybe I will even pull out the half made Quilt witch I started a decade or so ago and finish her! Now that would be magic!

I have a niece and nephew who have birthdays on either side of Halloween. I made one Halloween quilt for them but feel like I should make another (sharing a quilt isn't much fun.) The quilt is in the photo below. It was a really quick one to make. I need to start another project well...I can't think of an appropriate finish to that sentence but you know what I mean! I just don't need to right now. I need a finish...mainly I need to finish a baby quilt for a shower this weekend (I work best under deadlines - for that read pressure!) I also need to get my hair cut today...I'd much rather stay home and sew...ah, well what we do for fashion....

This and That

The past few weeks have flown by! Dh has been sick which makes everything more complicated...he is doing better and went to work today so I can take a breather! Also we have been having problems with out internet connection...this morning we finally get a call back from BT broadband and of course the computer is working fine and the tech help barely speaks English and I don't speak "Edward's" language so I can't explain the problem....uggggh.

First, the "E" Quilt blocks belong to one of the members of my Fairford group. They were made by members of her family for her father when he was born! (His initials were EE!) She was home last month and a relative gave them to her to finish. I know I just saw this pattern somewhere on the ring but can't remember. Funny how you don't see a pattern for years and suddenly - there are two within a few weeks on opposite sides of the world!

Next, I have almost finished my Tudor mini-room. Here is the fireplace and the walls drying out. I've already sketched out a second floor. We visited Shrewsbury this weekend (finally) and I found myself taking lots of photos of timber buildings for inspiration. (Shrewsbury is a great shopping town! Lots of fun, funky stores. I need to go back without my DH!) Since I am a huge Cadfael fan we visited the Abbey. Not what I had pictured in my mind but still beautiful. While we were there the organist started practicing which made me feel like my Dad was with me (he was our church's organist.)

Part of our trip to Shrewsbury was for me to play with my new camera! DH gave me my Christmas present early...a Nikon D40. It is a lot of fun but also a lot to learn. Exciting though!

On the quilting front...I finished a baby quilt top this week and am trying to finish another. I feel very behind right now....what is that saying "the faster I go the behinder I get."

Miniature Class...

I spent the last three days in a miniature class with the folks from Gandads Playroom. They are retiring this year so this was their last class. I made a Tudor kitchen roombox with a large "working" fireplace. I learned a lot. I'll post a photo soon.

The cottage the classes were held at is beautiful. Close to Stratford-on-Avon the houses on the drive there gave me lots of inspiration for the work each day. The photo on the left is of one of the "traffic" jams I got into on the way home! I love pheasants but boy are they stupid! I had to get out of the car and chase them off the road! Since they don't have flight feathers yet they would have just continued walking in front of the car for I don't know how long!

I have continued working on my Mile a Minute...that has become more like the Big Dig in Boston (maybe I could blame it on the pheasants?) Anyway, I took some advice and added some larger strips to the off-size blocks. I also added the large half square trianges to make a sort of medallion center to give it a bit of structure. It is now about 32 inches across. I think I like it. I've started the next row...not sure how big I will really make this...it is getting heavy quickly! It is continuing to be fun and I guess that is the important thing!

My Dh is back from his extended business trip. I was able to get most of the house in order before he walked through the door...not a minor feat (the cleaning not the walking!)

Two top finish

My Dh is coming home on Monday so today was final quilting day is today...tomorrow I clean!

I put the final border on my Rose Sampler quilt. I am only putting the brown secondary border on the top and bottom of the quilt. I found it too brown when I put it the entire way around. (That is my story and I am sticking to it!) Now I have to think about finishing up the Cowgirl sampler quilt. I think I am sampler-ed out for awhile...

I have decided not to put a border on the repro star quilt top. I auditioned a lot of fabrics but didn't find anything that really hit me. I also looked at a lot of photos of quilts from the turn of the century and a lot of them do not have borders...also the one that I based this on didn't have a border.

I like how this came out. It gave me a chance to use a bit of my favorite fabrics all in one quilt. Sort of a fabric memory quilt. This may stay as a top for awhile. There is not bed to put it on here and the tops take much less space! Who knows by the time I quilt it I may find the perfect fabric for a border!

Recipe and daily stuff....

Well MacBeth (my scottish terrier) really did it this time. Last night Brownie (my small brown cat) escaped from the house and a few moments later we heard a loud screeching noise. When I opened our front door MacBeth almost knocked me over as he speed past me. In addtion to the cat's screech I now heard loud growling, yipping and howling. Brownie zoomed out of the bushes and ran into the house. When I picked her up she was wet - I looked at my shirt and there was blood.

So I go rushing into the bushes yelling and waving my "CSI" flashlight (you know the big black one that looks like a lethal weapon!) Anyway, Macbeth comes out all terriered-up but bleeding. I get them both in the back seat of the car and race to the vet hospital. Long story short...MacBeth spent the night and came home with one less tooth and a few stitches (and very proud of himself I may add) while Brownie just needed a few scratches taken care of and some antibiotics.

It was a long night and I did very little sewing today.

On a lighter note...yesterday an American friend brought over a British quilter she knew. I forgot how fun it was to pull out the quilts and do show-and-tell. Lots of fun. A bonus...she makes jams and is willing to show me how to make blackberry jam next week! So after they left I put on my hiking shoes and long sleeved jean jacket (works well against the thorns!) and walked down to my favorite blackberry patch. As you can see in the photo I will be picking here for many weeks to come!

In addition to getting the blackberries I get to visit with the sheep and the cows along the right-of-way. OK not visit...but take their photo from a very long distance! (one of those bad boys is a bull and I don't care how friendly the farmer says he is...that is a big, big bull! or should a venture - a lot of bull!) The hills way off in the background are the Malverns.

I am almost finished the last two rows of the repro quilt top from two posts ago...slow going. Seems like the only squares left are the same fabrics...the fabrics I didn't like well enough to use earlier. I know I shouldn't but I went up to the quilt room and pulled some more fat quarters out to cut a few "nice" fabrics. I can't help myself!!!

Bonnie over at Quiltville was talking about recipies using bananas. Here is my favorite recipe for Hummingbird Cake:

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

3 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 8-oz can crushed pineapple with juice

1 cup chopped pecans

3 medium size bananas, mashed

Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

in a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a separeate blow, mix togter the beaten egg, vegetable oil, vanilla, crushed pineappple with juice and bananas. Fold into the dry ingredients. Add pecans and blend well. Pour mixture into tube pan. Bake for about 45 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened

8 oz pakg cream cheese, softened

16 ox powdered sugar

1/8 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 tsp. lemon juice

3 Tbsp. chopped pecans.

Blend together the butter and cream cheese. Gradually add powdered sugar. Add vanilla and lemon juice. Stir well. Use th pecans as garnish.

Time for a lottery ticket

I am one of those people who never win anything. I can't even begin to count how many quilt raffle tickets I have purchased in my life and never have I won so much as a block! So imagine my surprise when I got a call from the local miniature club telling me that I won a doorprize at their show today!

I dabble in miniatures. Every few years of so I get the itch to make a mini sofa, room, or library...I have boxes of almost finishes. This box is great since it is further along than any of my own projects! It is a storefront so I have to figure out what sort of store I want to put in there...it is a bit small for a quilt shop. Maybe hats? A tea store? Decisions....

So this weekend I got 2nd place in the chili cookoff and won a roombox...maybe it is time for that lottery ticket!

Well it appears as if my fabric has grown legs. My DH is away on business so my projects have found their way into every room in the house - including the bathrooms! There is red fabric soaking in the downstairs sink, an ironing board in the hallway, a quilttop laid out on the sofa auditioning border fabric, the island in the kitchen is perfect for cutting fabric, the spare bed has a dozen sampler blocks sorting themselves out, and the stair-railings are draped with long lengths of backing fabrics being paired up with lonely tops. I feel less like a quilter than a fabric dating service. Of course all of this needs to be rounded up and herded back into the official and unofficial sewing rooms before the end of the week. I'll worry about it tomorrow....

2nd Prize Chili

Today I went to an Anglo American picnic. The group gets together every 3 months or so. As part of the entertainment they held a chili cookoff. I entered a rather off-beat New Mexican White Chile (made with chicken and green chilis.) I was very suprised to get second place! (There were ten entries.) My friend Maya got first - well deserved I may add...hers was much more traditional and had a real kick to it!

The quilt above is from some very old blocks. They were won at a state meeting by a member of my guild back in Georgia. She died from breast cancer not long after. Her husband gave the blocks to the guild. Now this all happened before I joined the guild. I was given the blocks to put together into a quilt not long before I moved to England. In the move the blocks were packed into a box with fabric. I found them this week and have almost finished putting them together. I hope to have this done before next week.I just have two more corners and a print border. the bright blue fabric used on the edges is from the Quilt for a Cure Collection. Once the top is done I can mail it back to the states. I may be slow but I get there!

Not to be....

Some days no matter how well you plan you feel like just nothing is going to work out...this is one of those days.

Right now I should be quilting in Fairford - a town about an hour from where I live. Last night I packed the car up with my sewing machine, the basket with my projects, a box of books and patterns that I don't want anymore, a folder with directions for a new 12-inch bloock for the group, and a duffle bag stuffed with fabric culled from the shelves of my overstuffed sewing room. The back seat of the car was covered in quilting stuff! I even made a batch of brownies and a Peach Brandy pound Cake and packed them into tins for the group.

This morning I got up early...allowed myself an entire pot of my favorite coffee (friends just came back from the states and brought me a pound of Dunkin Donuts coffee...heaven!) So far I am on target.....

I drove for about 20 minutes...which puts me in the middle of absolute nowhere. The sun was bothering my eyes so I pulled over to get glasses out of the glove compartment. The engine stalled...I turned the key...nothing. No problem - we have towing. I pull out my cell phone and dial the number...nothing. AHGGGGG.

Now why is it I go for walks/rambles across the countryside and love it. Faced with a two mile hike to the closest phone (at the animal park) I get all tense and angry! By the time I got to the phone I was better. A nice farmer gave me a lift back to the car on his three wheeler so I gave him some brownies (at least I knew I wouldn't starve out there....)

My car is now down the local garage...still full of my quilting stuff. I gave the guys at the garage the last of the brownies and walked another couple of miles through the fields home. All this an it isn't even noon yet!!!

We do have another car...my husban's MX-5/Mazda Miata. The problem is that is an american car so the steering wheel is on the wrong side for the UK. My DH acually likes it that way and can't drive my British car...I can't drive his car! I know some folks and jump back and forth but the one thing my DH and I agree on is that neither of us are one of those folks!

So I have all this time to quilt right...wrong! My machine is in the car...both my machines! I told you it was full. So I guess I am destined to spend the day playing in fabric again. Maybe I will cut out a new project or baste a quilt top....

The photos are of a current project. About 5-6 months ago Bonnie showed a vintage quilt on her site. I really like it so have been making half-squares and cutting out 3-1/2 inch squares of repro fabrics. The past fews days put together a few more rows and now am past the halfway mark! I'm really starting to like it again....

The original didn't have a border. I'm debating if I should add one to mine. I generally like borders but am unsure on this one. I guess I have all sorts of time today to audition fabric no?!

sunday boot sales

The sun was shining so I decided it was too nice to stay inside...even to quilt. So I drove over the boot sale they hold every Sunday at the racecourse.

Usually I don't buy much. My major reason for going is to provide entertainment for Macbeth and to stop by the trailer that makes the little fresh doughnuts! Nothing like a greasy fried piece of dough dragged through sugar and cinnamon to start the day out right...I digress - back to the boot sale.


I must have been in a Halloween sort of mood. Maybe it is because I read the new Martha Stewart Holiday magazine the night before. (Now before you rool your eyes...this is a great edition of her magazine. Has a good halloween side and a bad/scarey halloween side. The projects are fairly straightforward and very fun! Again, I diress - back to the boot sale.)

There was a table with lots of bird prints (pages torn from books - grrrr) and I bought the Raven and the Crow. I am going to make a frame this week and hang them in my hallway at halloween! Beside giving me an inexpensive decoration it will insipire me to unpack my mat cutter!

I also picked up a little singer sewing machine for 7 pounds. It is very similar to my featherweight so I should be able to figure it out. This should make my sewing downstairs easier since my husband keeps walking off with the transformer to use for silly things like the stereo or the vacum. The machine just needed a good cleaning, a new needle, and some oil. I'm going to test drive it some more today but so far looks fine!

I bought some lace and buttons from the same stall. I know I am trying to clear out my workroom instead of add to it but these are vintage lace and vintage buttons still on the card!

My final big find was this tiny needle case and thimble! I've never seen one like this before. The thimple fits snugly on the case so it works as the top. It is made of brass but has a sort of rubbery coating on it. The woman selling it thought it was from the 1950's but couldn't remember. The color is in line with the Halloween theme too....

Well off to walk Macbeth again and maybe pick a few more blackberries! There is a blue sky again today and I am learning to get out an enjoy them while you can!!!

Blackberry Quilting Days

Today I decided to take a day off of everything and just play in fabric. I finished two blocks for a group baby quilt, finished piecing a backing, and have two more rows of a quilt that has been in-process for at least 6 months.

I also picked lots and lots of blackberries while I was walking Macbeth this morning. I put three bags into the freezer and with the remainder I made a blackberry and apple crumble. It is fun to use the apples from our own tree and berries that I gather myself. Makes me really feel like I am living in the country! (The pears in the photo came from our gardener's trees...)

I love fall food. One of my latest favorites is making a curried squash soup. I've made it every week for the last month! Maybe I do need to branch out....

The photos of my current project didn't come out very well so you'll get them tomorrow. The photo below is my leader and ender/mile a minute mess! I've kept the small pieces of my repro fabric in a basket next to my sewing machine and sort of randomly sew them together...ok, very randomly. I've started to wonder what I could do with them...it is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to put them all into a quilt top and since the pieces do get very tiny it is even a bit buzy for me! I was thinking of maybe trying to make a bar quilt...any ideas?

Doing something with these is part of my clear out process. I have two bags of fabric that will find new homes soon. I've even put aside some buttons and other "stuff" that I know I will never use. I now have enough space to turn around!

Day at Charlecote Park

Now that I am feeling a bit better I am trying to get back to my resolution of going to at least one new place or doing one new thing every week that I am living here in England. This week I visited Charlecote Park in Warwickshire.

It is part of the National Trust which maintains lots of properties around the UK. Charlecote is a Tudor property, visited once by Queen Elizabeth I, that was renovated in Victorian times. The rooms and the grounds are beautiful. The photo on the top is of the gatehouse going towards the main house. The Victorian kitchen here is amazing. There were at least 5 stoves of varying type...all huge!

The small house below was called a "Wendy House." I loved this little building. It has a thatched roof, randomly put together stained glass windows, and amazing doors and flower boxes made from branches. It was used as a playhouse for the children. I would love to have a little house like this in my garden back home!

I am slowly organizing my sewing room (again!) I hope to be back to sewing tomorrow night. I have a pile of fabric in the hallway that will be either cut into strips of look for a new home...how did I ever end up with four 6-1/2 inch acrylic squares. I think anytime I couldn't find one I just ran out and got another! Either that or they act like rabbit in the quiltig room!

Now a shameless plug for the MS society...Bonnie at http:/quiltville.com and her husband raise money for this cause each year by participating in the annual bike ride. (David rides and Bonnie does lots of support!) On here site is a link if you would be willing to sponsor/donate to this cause.

As a person with MS I am very grateful to the society and to all those who help support it. When I was first diagnosed with MS the society provided me with lots of information. The local chapter held monthly meetings with speakers addressing a wide range of issues from legal issues surrounding disabilities to alterantive therapies like water aerobics. The society also funds a lot of research into new drugs and therapies. Treating MS has come a long way in the past 10 years but there is still a long way to go.

So I am putting my money where my mouth is...the money I raise from auctioning the quilt with Flog It will go to the society. (see Flog It post below.)

Flog It!

Here in the UK the BBC runs a show where folks bring in things to be appraised (like the antique roadshow) then they bring the item to auction to test the accuracy of the appraisal. The show is filmed in different locations all over the UK. During the show the host, Paul Martin, does a segment on something historical or artistic specific to the area. I love this show!

So when one of my neighbors told me the show was coming to a town near us and invited me to come along to the appraisal day it only took me a second to say yes! I have long been considering slimming down the piles of antique/vintage quilts I have been accumulating over the past 25 years. I brought about 25 with me to England so the selection was already limited. In the end I picked out a pyramid quilt circa 1880 made in the Maryland area. It is the quilt on the far right in the photo (taken at the Augusta Museum of History quilt exhibit last year.) I thought it would bother...quilt seperation anxiety maybe...but in a way it is a relief when they selected it to be filmed and to go to auction. I'll let you know what happens when it "goes under the hammer" in October!

Do you think it is possible that having too many quilts, fabrics, boxes, threads, beads, yada, yada, yada....can inhibit creativity? Sometimes I just get overwhelmed looking at all the neat "stuff" I have to work with and as a result get very little done. I'm wondering if paring back could clear some space both in my "studio" and in my head!

Speaking of clearing....here is a quilt top I unearthed. It was folded inbetween two antique quilts. Maybe there is hope of my finding the English paperpiecing quilt that was 80% finished before we packed up back in the states! If my memory serves me this fabric came from a quilt show in Maryland back in the mid-90's!

Off the Grid...

Well I am back. Sorry about the long delay. The short version - the infection got worse, I spent some time in the hospital, my eyes got a bit wonky, and thus I was "off the grid" for a bit. I am much better now and will be back posting from now on....

We drove over Wales today. We visisted a town called Hay on Wye that has dozens of book stores. The photo on the left is of the castle book store. There was a bookstore for science and natural history books, another for mystery books, and another for just about any type of book you are interested in!

The hills around the town are very pretty. I'd like to go back when we can do some walking.

More later...I'll have some quilting photos later....

Sashing and border...

I haven't been sewing very much this week but more on that later. Right now I am trying to make up my mind on a small Halloween table runner. It was a free pattern given out at least ten years ago by my LQS. I made one in homespun sort of colors for a silient auction and then put the pattern in with my Halloween fabrics promising to make a bright one for myself one day. I just can't seem to make up my mind on the sashing and border.

The first one has the pumkin blocks floating on blue sashing with a thin black stipe inner-border and then a wider red border. (I've also played with making the red border orange...?)

The second option is to use the red as the sashing with the think black stipe inner border and then a wider crackle blue border. (There are three jack-o-lanterns on this table runner...)

I'm making it for my sister in N.M. My niece and nephew have birthdays on either side of Halloween. I've made a halloween quilt and pillowcases. So this is my project for this year. I know I should just pick one and get going but I thought taking photos and stepping back may help me....now I'm not so sure!

Anyway, back to the why no sewing. The weather here has turned beautiful. Come Saturday the water from the faucet will be drinkable. Since everything else is working ok it would only stand to reason I would get a terriable throat infection, fever, and generally feel like crap. I'm on my second course of antibiotics but they don't seem to be doing much. There is this horrible MS "thingy" - when I cough or sneeze and move my neck forward quickly then horrible pain shoots through my shoulders and arms like I've been nudged by a cattleprod (not that I've ever been nudged by a cattle prod but I can imagine....) I am so ready for this to be over!

My DH says he that folks from work moved a business trip for him so he could be here for a meeting on Monday (he was to leave tomorrow) but I think he didn't want to leave until I was doing better. He gets hubby-points for that. When I am better that equates to a pan of brownies and some Kung Pao Chicken.