Feelin’ Down & Out?! Who, ME?!

I seem to have hit a brick wall here at home…by yesterday morning when I woke up, there was a distinct tickle running down the back of my throat….

A quick couple of hours to get caught up on book orders and paperwork, and off I went to the Post Office, followed by a trip to CVS for some airborne and some cold-eeze and a stop at the hole-in-the-wall Chinese place for my cure-all of EVERYTHING~~A large container of Hot n Sour Soup.

I so RARELY get sick that this has really ticked me off! I don’t have TIME to have an elephant on my chest taking up residence. I don’t have time to sit around with a box of tissues and feel sorry for myself. I need this to be gone…..I am headed to Tyler, TX next week!

Besides, Karen is coming over tomorrow to put a quilt in the machine, and that means that I need the cruise quilt loaded, quilted and unloaded before she gets here. Maybe I should wait a day..the machine needs to be empty when she gets here :c)

There are errands to run….some of which may wait a day or two, but I am NOT passing up on the 90 minute massage I have scheduled for this afternoon. There is a nagging knot in my right hamstring that also needs to go away.

So there you have it, my whiny complaint for today, but it won’t keep me down for long.

See this wrapper?!?

I LOVE how Halls cough drops have little messages of encouragement on them! This one says:

Don’t wait to get started!

Get Back in the game!

Tough is your middle name!

Flex your “can do” muscle! ((Okay, this one had me laughing out loud…and thinking in other directions! LOL!))

Fire up those engines!

Impress yourself today!

You’ve survived tougher!

Seize the day!

I wanted to post more Philly pics, but I’m running short on time this morning, and Karen is coming tomorrow, so some things are hitting the back burner until later. YES! I did go to the Betsy Ross House! And YES! I did sit in George Washington’s family pew at Christ Church..and took wonderful pics..but….another day!

However, I did come home to THIS:

The old roof is off, new plywood has been laid, the skylights removed…and the weather proofing put in place! We are well on our way to having our new red metal roof!

The light was kind of funky toward evening, but it’s going to be great. I am hoping for red shutters eventually too. The house is wood sided, very much like a cabin in the woods type of cottage, and I think that will need a re-staining at some point too.

This is the view from the back, ladders and all…and the blue tarp is covering the woodpile. The gazebo houses our hot tub, and it will also get a new red metal roof so it will all match….

I want to thank everyone who stopped by to visit yesterday! This drawing isn’t over yet! I’m keeping the comments open until the morning of May 7th when the whole blog tour has ended! So click back to yesterday’s post and leave a comment there if you want to be in the drawing for a free copy of 100 blocks, volume 3!

Back to the quilting machine….Elephant on the chest be danged!

It’s a Quiltmaker Blog Tour! ((And a Give-Away!))

I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for my turn to post! IT’S TIME!

This is my second issue as a designer for Quiltmaker’s 100 blocks by 100 designers magazine. I missed the first one. I had too many irons in the fire, and who knew what a big thing it was going to turn out to be!

I loved the excitement that built last time, so there was no way I was going to miss this issue, or the next, or the next or the next!

My block in Vol 3 is #279. It’s found on page 65 and is called Winston Ways. ((I am a Winston Salem, NC girl, after all!))

I really love blocks that create secondary designs, and this one was made to be set block to block to block with no sashings in between as the opposing checkerboard corners will join together and fit light to dark! ((This is also something you have to pay attention to when you are sewing your blocks….the corners are opposite of each other!))

I dug into my bins of pre-cut strips for the checkerboards, pulling out red and neutrals --you know how I love my pre-cut scrap bins, all ready for me to sew in usable sizes!

I did use scrap strips and the easy angle ruler for the 1/2 square triangles, but you can use any method that gives you the size of triangles required.

The white cats on black background are my tribute to Oscar, who I lost last month. He is missed dearly, and I'm happy I used that special fabric there.

And see that stripe next to the star points? That was one of MY own shirts that was re-purposed into my scrap stash when I stopped wearing it. I love how the stripes add motion to the design by twisting and turning different ways.

Here I’ve done a simple straight set of blocks, set 6 X 7 and added two borders, one cut 1.5” to finish at 1”, and the second cut 4.5”

Look at this on point! It also makes an interesting design!

And let me just add, that if this is your first visit to my blog, I'm SO happy that you stopped by! I write a regular column for Quiltmaker called Addicted To Scraps~ Take some time to wander around the blog, there are free pattern links at the top, some recipes, and other goodies for you to discover.

Don't forget to wander over to my Website, Quiltville.com for more Scrappy Quilt Goodness!

I am also busy on facebook! I love being connected to quilters around the globe, and you can find the facebook widget in my right hand side bar ===> Simply click LIKE and you'll be kept up to date with all my doings!

You can also find the "Google Friend Connect" button as well, so you won't miss a post!

In conjunction with this blog tour, We are giving away 2 copies of “100 Blocks, Vol 3!”

One will be mailed directly from Quiltmaker, and one will be signed by yours truly and mailed to you from me!

Leave your comment at the bottom of this post and a winner will be drawn at the end of the blog tour, the morning of May 7th. Please be SURE to include your email address with your post. If you sign in as “anonymous” there will be no way to track you down unless you sign your post with your name and email address!

More news from Quiltmaker!

“We’ll showcase a new set of designers each day on our blog. We’ll have lots of giveaways.”

At last mention on Quiltmaker’s Blog, Quilty Pleasures, prizes were flooding in from all over, so you’ll want to follow along with the blog to see where else to visit during the next few days so you can enter to win there too!

Good Luck, everyone, and Keep It Scrappy!

Philadelphia Freedom!

If I could give ONE piece of advice to anyone who’s life is so busy they feel like they can’t breathe side-ways – If you’ve ever put OFF doing things you’ve always wanted to do, because a better time will come up later, or there will “always” be a next time – it would be to DO IT NOW! Keep your schedule a bit flexible, and JUST DO IT!

I was going to head home from Glenside, PA on Sunday afternoon. That was the plan anyway—but during set up for Saturday’s workshop on Friday evening it struck me, that I had been here several times, always “NP” ((Near Philadelphia, don’t you know!!)) But NEVER once had I actually been “IP!” ((IN Philadelphia!))

And as much of a history buff as I am, it just hit me ---WHY DON’T I JUST ----and I voiced it out loud! And you know how quilters will just chime in and push you along---Marsha started telling me all the places I *HAD* to not miss, and before I knew it, on Saturday morning, she had brought me a tourist map!

From then on ---wheels were really turning! Did I have to really hurry home? No! The roof was half OFF the house by Saturday afternoon when I last talked to DH. It’s a mess of pounding and construction debris and, well……okay! I’m going in to PHILLY to sight see!

And I posted it on my facebook page, and lo and behold, I get a message back from Elsie Campbell who I’ve taught with at a couple venues this year telling me SHE is in Philly too visiting her son! She lives in Ponca City, Oklahoma! So what are the chances we would both be showing up in the same place at the same time? She was on her way up to NY to teach this week….and more plans were quickly made to meet up for dinner at a Mediterranean place downtown!!

SO…off I go!! Guess where I went first?

It was kind of pricey, but the visitor’s center has 24 hour parking beneath it….and it is central to EVERYTHING, and since I had quilts and books in the car, I felt safer in the spendy garage than I would have on the street.

These guys were so cute, I could have just taken them home with me! All over the place, people are dressed colonial style, and they will talk to you as if they are in complete character. VERY fun! They directed me to where to get my tickets for the tour at Independence hall….which is free, you just have to get tickets for it.

I was just AWED to be looking at these buildings….thinking of all the history that happened here. It gives me goosebumps! I think because it was mid afternoon on Sunday, the lines were extra short, and there I was, just walking into these places that have so much meaning in our country’s history!

Here I am in the court room side. I love asking families if they want their picture taken together, whenever I see them struggling to find a way to get it to work. ((I don’t know about you, but trying to take my OWN picture by holding the camera at arms length does NOT work for me!)) And sometimes, they will return the favor! I'm getting a bit braver about just asking people if they wouldn't mind just snapping my pic too in exchange!

But THIS is what I really wanted to see. This is the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Our tour guide was fabulous, so full of information and she made it all sound SO exciting, really pulled you in. See that chair in the center back? George Washington sat in that chair. He really did. More goosebumps!

From here I walked across the way only to find that the line for the Liberty Bell was VERY short!

The light is pretty crummy, it was late afternoon, but can you see Independence hall behind me through the window? Just amazing! I’ve seen the image of the Liberty Bell all through my life….but I was THIS close to it. Very cool!

I was meeting up with Elsie and her son at 6pm, so I was hoofing it on foot to as many places as I could get in a very short time frame! Some other highlights were:

Benjamin Franklin is buried in the Christ Church burial ground along with several other signers of the Declaration of Independence, and other well known patriots.

Old cemeteries just have such a reverent feel to them. I guess it brings to mind my own mortality, and I think of these people who lived, loved, laughed and wonder about their lives, and what they would tell us if they could. Would they be amazed at how we live now, or would they think we are missing out on so much because we are SO BUSY!?

All shapes and varieties of headstones and markers. I love reading the names and the dates, and pondering on each – some of them had really INTERESTING verses on them! But the one I came to see was close to the front, very simply marked:

Here is Benjamin Franklin’s tomb. Covered with pennies and nickels! I couldn’t hardly read the writing from the foot, so I had to go around to the front and take a picture from the other end, and then reverse the photo to have it legible…

Benjamin & Deborah Franklin, 1790 That’s all it says. With all the other graves so beautifully marked, listing the accomplishments and memories ---the simplicity of this one just was so striking to me. Really. What more needed to be said?

Of course, Benjamin Franklin was a Mason, as were many other of our nations’ founders..and I found it wonderfully fitting that this beautiful floral display was at the head of his stone.

I have more pics to edit down, my day was only about half done at this point, and I’ll continue this post later! Stay tuned!

Also, remember to return tomorrow, it is my day for the Quiltmaker Magazine blog tour for 100 Blocks Volume 3! You’ll want to remember to leave a comment to be in the drawing for 2 free copies!

Crumbiness in Glenside!

What a pleasure it’s been to spend a couple of days “near Philadelphia” with Nancy, her hubby Joe, and also to feel the love of her fur coated family members!

Nancy’s church ((let’s see if I can get this right, and it will probably be wrong!)) is sponsoring a mission trip to go help those in need in New Orleans. Yes – there is still great need there!

And she thought that funds raised during a quilting workshop could greatly benefit the mission fund --- and she was RIGHT!

And boy howdy, did they go all out! If you want to read it straight from the organizer’s mouth, you can check Nancy’s post HERE!

We were even so spoiled as to have this event specially catered…for both BREAKFAST and LUNCH! for 30 of us! And yes…of course…if there is food, and me near food, any pictures of me will be found putting said food in my mouth….as witnessed in Nancy’s blog above!

We did a crumbs workshop, and everyone brought piles of scraps, traded pieces, looked for the perfect colors, made suggestions to each other, played outside their own boxes to test the water a bit, and let loose!

		Crumbs in Glenside, PA 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

This is a small segment of the work that was accomplished during this fun filled day, and I am so happy they invited me to be a part of it! Several of the ladies left with Tonya’s Word Play Quilts book in tow, ready and raring to go on their own projects with specific words and phrases in mind! It was a veritable creative out pouring!

This is Bodacious. He is very talkative and loves to be loved on, but will tell you in no uncertain terms when he has had enough! Look at that face! Isn’t he a sweetie?

THIS, my friends, is Blackberry! And just LOOK at that face! Those eyes! That soft velvet mouth and cute hanging lips! One look at this guy and I was in puppy love for sure!

Trips to visit Nancy, NP come around every couple years it seems, and it is always good to touch base with real life friends! I hope it won't be too long until we can spend some girlfriend time NP again!

When in PA---

There are just certain things that quilters HAVE to do when they reach the Mecca of Near-Lancaster-County, Pennsylvania!

We have our “Routes” and our “Routines” and we map them out to a T to make the best use of our time, not leaving out any possibilities for BARGAINS!

Yes, folks, yesterday was my Fabric Acquisition Road Trip!

Although I threw myself behind a little bit…one must always be open for DETOURS, right?

What’s this up ahead? a huge YARD SALE!

The sale looked to be run by a bunch of “plain folk” with SO MUCH STUFF! There were baked goods too, but I passed on those, I’d just had breakfast!

There was even something for the men folk! THis whole flat bed trailer was laden with tools and implements and fun stuff like blue canning jars!

I had to wander around a bit….I really enjoyed seeing what they had already planted in their garden too..it looks to be huge! I did bring home a few things….a couple quilted heart pillows made from antique quilt, and a small flow blue dish that was too pretty to pass up. I’ll get pics later!

From there on I was in a HURRY….

Which of course meant that I was going to get stuck behind slow moving buggies! ((But this makes me giddy too!))

I took this pic while sitting at a stop light…most of it is blur….but you should see these horses! You can tell they LOVE pulling the buggies..they are so regal and proud!

My first stop? OBIE’S!

It looks fairly unassuming from the outside, but when you get inside….OH. MY. GOODNESS!

Fabric is stacked floor to ceiling several bolts deep ….and the aisles are NARROW!! If you are looking for fabric from the 1970s? For that UFO your mother never finished? You just might find it here!

I KNOW I have sewn with this at least 30 years ago! LOL!

It’s a tight squeeze through here….but we are on a mission to find bargains…can we do it?

Maybe around THIS corner, there has to be something that I need in here? I just need to look!

This is upstairs! And it is all full of Amish made quilts….I no longer feel guilty about my stash of quilts at all…LOL!

There were so many gorgeous ones! Can you see that red ocean waves peeking out in the front? Where do you start to look?! Really nice workmanship on many of these…

ALL of this wall was quilts folded on shelves, pillows, pot holders, oh, and there were more potato bags here ((the microwave kind)) than I have ever seen anywhere!

Novelties, baby prints, can you fit down this aisle? I gave up trying!! I was afraid the whole pile would come down on me….”Clean up on Aisle 11!!”

Can I have that bolt? Yes, that one, the 6th down from the ceiling, 3rd pile to the left?!

Did I leave happy? Yes I did! I found some chrome yellows, a beautiful blue indigo, and a peach floral thing that is big enough for a backing. Price? $3.49 per yard ---well worth the thrill of the hunt!

Next Stop?

On to Zooks! It’s changed since the last time I was there….the flat folds are in the front now, and they were only 3 yard cuts, so I didn’t find anything that I really wanted or needed here, but it is always fun to go!

Sauder’s was next! And it has the most memorable aroma in the world. How can you combine the smell of fabric, bulk foods and spices and NOT remember it the next time you walk in? I’ve been here many many times, and it is always the aroma that hits me first…..pavlov’s dogs effect I guess!

Yes I did find some big pieces for backs etc on the remnant tables! I’m a happy quilter!

I’m enjoying my time with Nancy, NP! We have a fun day planned today, stay tuned!