Needles or photos....prcrastination

I feel as if I haven't posted anything quilty in a a long time...vacation can do that to you...also, I am trying hard to finish an applique block for the guild donation quilt. It just isn't talking to me. I think I have un-stitched each leaf, cherry, and stem enough to have made an entire quilt top! It is due tomorrow morning at 10 am...my applique standards have dropped accordingly!

Yesterday I went to my local guild's quilting bee. By the time I got there the heat (100 degrees according to the bank sign) had already wiped me out. I did help vacuum clean the centennial quilt the guild made for the town which is going to hang in the brand new government center.
The quilt has several photos of well know landmarks around the city that were transferred to fabric as well as an early map of the city limits. Crazy quilts were still very popular in this area around the turn of the century so we decided to follow early quilters lead when we designed the quilt. It was also and easier way to incorporate the varied sizes of the photos...The local art association is very supportive of the guild and helps with advertising and set up of our quilt show.I have been playing with my California photos...those that I am not happy with "out of the camera" I like to edit a lot in Picassa to see what I can do with them...the one above I added glow tint to so it looks like we had blue skies.

The one below is the same spot but I first used the sephia (spelling?) option then added the aqua tint to make it look like an old postcard. I can spend a lot of time playing with what are sort of boring photos! (time I should be spending finishing that %&@# applique block....I think I raised procrastination to an art form on this project!)

Wordless Wednesday

Hallway in a very funky (and very purple!) San Francisco hotel....

Home again...

We got back late last night (or was that early this morning?) from our California vacation. It was great seeing my DH's family but I have to say I am exhausted.In one week we visited San Jose, Lake Taho, San Francisco, and Carmel. A lot of territory with a lot of golfing and family get togethers. Fun but exhausting....
While walking the beach we came across this seal making his way back to the water...the bay was foggy every morning which made it possible for me to spend time on the beach!
And this hawk swooped past the deck every afternoon....

The weather was wonderfully cool...glad I missed the heat wave back here in Georgia the past week. The yard is a jungle that I will have to deal with later...where do those weeds come from and how do they get so tall in only ten days?

Wordless Wednesday

(Molas from Panama)

Dog days

Yikes the thermometer spiked today back up to the mid 90's and I'm feeling it! Good day to stay inside and sew except it was Macbeth's day to go to the groomer and get his summer cut!

He looked better when we got to the car...immediately upon arrival at our yard he rolled across the grass messing up the beautiful job she did on his eyebrows and beard. I had to take a photo quickly since that bandanna had an expected lifespan of 10 minutes...he is not a dress up dog! Last I saw Brownie was dragging what was left of the bandanna to her fabric hiding spot behind the couch.....
I finished...and I mean a real honest to goodness finish...my folk saying wallhanging. It has a binding, a sleeve and a label! whoo hooo...now I just need to trim the dowel and it is done! This is hand pieced, hand embroidered/embellished and hand quilted. I think this came from a primitive gatherings book...I gave the book away before I left England so if anyone recogizes the pattern I would appreciate some help. I like to give credit where credit is due but that takes organization (I do know the booklet is at least 8 years old and had a garden angel on the cover.)

More daylillies are blooming....sigh....aren't the ruffled edges of this one so dainty...you wouldn't know that earlier this year the plant was run over by a lawn mower...

Not much quitling

Sorry about the posting lapse...seems there was a price to pay for the all the energy I had last weekend and it was paid with the last few days in bed. Still...it was worth it!I have continued washing, sorting, and airing (though not usually in that order) the vintage blocks donated to our guild. These are going to be put into sets and sold on the silent auction table. These plates have some fun fabric in them and are over 20 inches across! They would be cute with some embroidery or applique done in the center or cut apart and used for arched borders (saw something like that in a Fasset book....) The problem with taking care of these blocks is I start planning projects with them....like I need more projects!
On a gardening note our daylillies are in bloom. I think it was General Lee who said "daylillies are the sign of a lazy gardener." Lots of color with little work...like there is something wrong with that?! I don't think they had as many varieties back then though. We have them in everything from pink fluffies to an very old double orange (given to my by a fellow quilter!)
I also have some very small apricot ones with sweet faces....

Wouldn't you know it I forgot my camera last night so no photos of guild show and tell...sorry! I did finish quilting my Favorite Sayings Wallhanging and started binding it...just have to hand sew it down on the back now.

This will be a binding month for sure with two king size quilts and this wallhanging to finish! I have to admit sewing binding is my least favorite part of quilting. I once had a quilt quilted and then let it sit for almost 5 years in my sewing room before I put the binding on...so bad. So I'm thinking if I focus on finished one a week during the month of June I should catch up. I'm also hoping that putting it on my blog is sort of like stepping on the scale at Weight Watchers...it will make me focus!It is hot, hot, hot out now. Tomatoes are doing well but that is about it. Something ate my pumpkin plants down to the roots last night. Guess I'll be making a trip to the farmers market this October....

Good news, the foot has almost healed up from it's ant attack. Bizarrely, since the attack my MS spasms have stopped. Not sure why but hey, I'll take it! Here's hoping it lasts!

Mr. Postman...

My mailman was happy that I was happy today (picture me jumping up and down when he arrives with two squishies and a big box)...nice break from delivering bills he said.
My Scrappy Bargello - Vale of Evesham is back from Judy Lockhart who did a great job with her longarm. There are vines and leaves in a pale peach which gives it just enough texture on an already busy quilt. This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern started on a superbowl weekend - really had fun making it. I am working on making some binding right now for this one. Whoo hoo, I stand a good chance of having two large quilts in the quilt show in October!The next is my "king of log cabins" which was a leader and ender project that just kept on going (but the basket of 1-1/2 inch strips never seemed to go down? Quilter physics?) I am bringing them with me to my quilt guild meeting so I can get some photos...that is if I can get Brownie to move.....)

No photos yet on the squishies...one is from Victoria at Bumble beans with a couple of embroidery blocks to finish up. She is making me some very fun words (maple scones and cupcake) for my Bakery Memories Quilt!

The other envelope held a couple of fatquarters from a quilter I met up in North Carolina at the quilt shop. She was looking for some old Moda Folk Art Wedding fabric that I happened to have in my stash so I sent it to her last week. (that gives you an idea of just how long the fabric stash has been building...I bought that before I was married and we celebrated our 10th anniversary last week!) Amazing how things work out!

Adventures of Brownie

I've been stitching away on a little wall hanging for my kitchen. It is so close to begin done that I've pulled some binding fabrics out to press.
Thursday I had a run in with two of my least favorite backyard pests. Red ants and a snapping turtle. Brownie decided to walk with me to the mailbox. On my way back to the house I noticed she was crouched by the front garden. Just as I started to walk over a nasty, prehistoric looking snapping turtle the size of garbage pail lid raised up from beneath the daylillies. Now my brownie is little but she is a scrapper and I could see her tail swishing back and forth as she got ready to pounce. It was standoff and I knew who would win if I let it go any further.

Just then the big turtle began to move so I whipped off my sandal threw it at its back/shell. Boy did that make him made. Keeping an eye on the monster I picked Brownie. Let me tell you those turtles move a lot faster than the should...I threw my husband's Entertainment magazine and my Redsox cap. The turtle must be a Yankee's fan cause he opened up that mouth so I thought I could see his stomoch!

NOthing makes a girl forget she has MS better than an large, angery snapping turtle. Cat in hand and mail spread across the lawn I was off to the front door...so of course I didn't see the newest red ant hill but my barefoot found it. My body really doesn't do well with those monsters. The last few days my toes have resembled Plum Tomatoes and the itch/pain is wicked. In the years I have lived here I have tried every remedy in the drug store and on the internet...none seem to work really well on getting the entire thing to go away quickly.

So today - more hand sewing and keeping off the foot. The boy down the street is coming by later to clear the yard of any unwelcome animals and insects after which I will feel safe going out for the mail again without wearing my old army boots! (that is once the swelling of my toes goes down enough that I can wear boots/shoes again!)

Back from the Mountians

We came back from the Smokey Mountains last night. I really loved it up there! The weather was a bit unpredictable (lots of rain...even when the sun was shining?!)

For those of you unfamiliar with the area it is in Western Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. (Think the book/movie Cold Mountain.)

We did a little bit of hiking...mainly jut to get to the waterfalls.DH gave me a few minutes to visit the Cherokee Indian museum and craft shop...beautiful baskets. They had these painted bears around the town. This one was outside the museum. He is decorated with letters from the Cherokee alphabet.

The rhododendrons and mountain laurel were still in bloom around the cabin...
We drove a a bit of the Blue Ridge Parkway...great views. I did visit one quilt store (Quilters Quarters in Waynesville, North Carolina) and wouldn't you know it they were having a Memorial Day sale! I bought about 10 yards of fabric for backings. It is very nice little shop if you happen to be going through Maggie Valley...

playing with blocks

Not much sewing happening...packing to get ready for the mountains this weekend and trying to clear up the counters a bit since we have folks coming into take care of the animals while we are gone. (Not that these kids care...as long as there is food in the fridge and the DVD player is working they are happy!)

I have been rinsing/washing lots of blocks that were donated to our Guild. Most of them are hand pieced and mostly made of cotton. All are circa 1940 - 1950...
They must have been made by a heavy smoker and later stored in the garage. It is taking a lot of sorting!
They are fun to play with though and should make good additions to our silent auction table at our show this fall.

It was from this same bag of blocks that we pulled some for our guild challenge. I finished my little top this week. This was the block I started with...(the black plaid is a poly-blend that didn't shrink like the cottons...nice to find out early!)

and this is how it looks now....

I'm calling it "Favorite things" and am going to use it as a table-topper when I am finished. It is coming with me this weekend to hand quilt while my Dh is out playing golf.

down time

I've been off the computer lately trying to give my eyes a break...not sure how much it helps since I end up reading or sewing...
I finished my picnic quilt top. I drafted the block off of one in my vintage stash and then just made it scrappy. Used up a lot of 2-inch squares but that doesn't seem to make a dent the box of them. Oh well, all good.

Now making several quilt backings has made a dent in the stash! Brownie has claimed this scrappy bargello as her own. This backing is a very soft batik..wild but soft!Macbeth and Brownie were very quiet this morning...very unlike them. Usually they want to sit next to me or even sit on the keyboard. Instead the two of them were tracking this poor turtle across the back yard. Mac just thought it was fun while Brownie...the turtle need to be afraid - very afraid. I put her in the house to give the turtle a head start. Boy is she angry at me!

Last weekend I did go to the new Star Trek movie. It is a lot of fun. Even my DH who isn't a Trekkie enjoyed it (though he did refuse to wear his communicator/beam up badge from his cereal box!)

Visitor!

First, yes I finished my name and will now get a fat envelope in the mail to Tonya! Whoohoo! I know the S is a bit strange but that is part of my lesson - do not work on multiple letters (like and S and an O) at the same time. The natural order of things requires you phone to ring and leaving you staring at a pile of scraps on the cutting board asking yourself "who am I, what are these scraps, and how the heck do they get pieced together?" In the end you have a dog legged S...oh, well.

Got an email yesterday that Bonnie was coming through town on here way to Southern Georgia for a quilt class and did I want to do lunch...like there would be any question about that! So at 11:30 I parked in front of my favorite Indian restaurant, Bombay Central, and read old Quilting Magazines until Bonnie arrived a few minutes later! The food was exceptionally good today...either the company or the fact Sonnie, the owner of the restaurant was working! (Their Vegetable Pakora and curried cabbage are amazing and I ate way too much of it....)
Anyway, after lunch we went to a local antique mall. Bonnie bought a little sewing machine and I got an embroidered table runner. There were several quilts (including a Chinese import that was labeled "nice old quilt" and priced at $125...ya, it was about 10 years old and cost maybe 50 dollars when purchased new at someplace like JC Penny.....) There were a couple that almost tempted like this funky trip around the world (seems to a theme with me lately...like my log cabin phase....)

There were a few too many stains for the price they have on it...it has been there awhile though so maybe I'll make an offer and sew what happens...

Pearl Fryar Topiary Gardens

Road trip....today my friend Rachel and I visited a very cool garden in Bishopville, SC. Walking among these topiaries and garden art are like climbing into a children's book!There is a documentary out in the small theaters right now about the man who made this garden. Pearl Fryar is totally a self taught gardener. What trained horticulturalist would make a snowball out of a dogwood tree! You don't prune dogwoods into snowballs! Yes he did! And it looks great...
He also pruned this dogwood in the photo above into a sort of umbrella...now you get to really appreciate the wonderful bark....

We were lucky to get a tour by Pearl around the gardens. (As we were starting out a church bus full of people pulled up..."wasn't expecting that," Peal said, "gonna need some more fliers.") There are no hours posted and no admission (though there is a donation box for his scholarship fund for C students "the A students get enough as it is," according to Pear, "someone has to look out for the rest of them.")He makes a lot of the yard art out of things most other folks would throw away. There is a theme of love and caring through much of the yard art. This one says "hate hurts." Growing up in the segregated south and through much of the social revolution has heavily influenced Pearl's work.

Since I have been piecing some words for Tonya the past few days I thought I was hallucinating when I began to see letters...

letters everywhere....

too fun....

He spent a year putting in the driveway to the house...he laughed when he saw me taking picture of it!

oh, well. I also took lots of photos of his yard art....
and of the landscaping he has done for the local Waffle House!
Not quite sure how this could be incorporated into my quilting. I took it more as just a chance to see someone who loves what they do do it so well. The inspiration is in how he designed his life not just in the garden design.