Huntsville Alabama….

My time in Huntsville is winding down! Today I am off to Athens Alabama for a Sister’s Choice workshop this afternoon! But checkout time isn’t until 11am, and I’ve got plans to get the borders on this baby quilt before packing up and leaving. I’m sure the maids will be glad to have my snippy thread mess GONE!

Yesterday after our workshop, Lisa took me on a bit of a tour through some areas of Huntsville – it’s amazing what can be noticed when you are riding shotgun and not driving! Wonderful old homes, historic cemeteries, and a church that looks like Jesus is riding in a wire-whisk egg beater….I guess it was perfect for the rapture-that-never-occurred!

We also drove past the US Space & Rocket center! If I had enough time, I’d tour this today, but I've got to be in Athens by noon!

I also had a lot of fun visiting Patches & Stitches Quilt Shop! I was in search of some border fabric possibilities for the baby quilt I’m working on with the African fabrics—and some more black on white to replace what I’ve used and build up some more variety…and they didn’t disappoint!

I was also thrilled to spot THIS in their book selections:

I was happy to be told they are moving like hotcakes and they keep having to reorder! Thank you thank you for carrying my books in your shops!

So a bit about the texas braid workshop! What a fun group of ladies! Maria had brought in bags of donated scraps, and it was a feeding frenzy when we dumped the bags on the table and started pawing through ((And yes, that includes me too!!))

Wouldn’t you love to come see what goodies were on this table?!

I believe the ladies had a great time sewing their braids, and building up variety by trading rectangles with each other. It was fun to see how different they all were!

You don’t want to mess with the “SEW SERIOUS Corner”! These ladies had their duelling featherweights just a humming in their portable featherweight card tables….Just look at those braids coming out of their machines!

And the lovely Miss Diane was just treadling away on her beautiful old Pfaff treadle! I loved hearing stories about the last retreat --- when the power went off and everyone else was at a standstill and Diane just kept a treadling away!

DIane has taken my new hand crank home with her and is giving her the once over – She’ll be ready to start sewing on when I arrive in Winchester TN next week! YAY!

		Texas Braid Workshop, Huntsville AL May 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

My Hotel sewing has gotten me THIS far on the baby quilt:

There was no good place to lay this out in the hotel room, so where did I go? In my jammies? Down the hall, past the elevator, into the area where the ice machine and vending machines are! Nice tile floor, lots of light…a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do when late-night-sewing in the hotel room!

Quilts, Caddies & Containers!

Bins, Boxes, Baskets, Bags, Buckets, Barrels….if it will hold fabric and or notions we will carry our stuff in it!

We had such a great time with the Heritage Quilters of Huntsville yesterday….but what really was fun for me was to go table to table and look at the goodies that everyone brought. You know, we all have our favorites --- certain things that MUST accompany us to class, that make our own personal sewing space that much better for us!

These are just a few of the fun things I found:

Plastic baskets are great for organizing strips…these fit the 2” X 5” braid rectangles perfectly..but LOOK at that tiny laundry-basket-style-cuteness!! Just perfect for the red accent squares…FUN! ((And it's lime green, what’s not to like about that either?!))

What about a repurposed cutlery container from the goodwill?! I liked the compartments in this one!

Cardboard boxes are NOT just for shipping! Boxes of uniform size can be filled with strips and squares, labeled easily and stacked on shelves with full projects in them!

Plastic containers with lids come in all sizes. Nice because they are see-through….and I can’t resist the storage aisles at any given store….

OH WAY TOO CUTE AND TINY!! This little storage bin just FIT Lisa’s cornerstone squares!

Lisa also had this adorable felted wool thread caddy. Can you see how the thread runs through ALL the needles in the cover? Just pull one needle AND the thread……….perfect!

A friend made this for her….what a sweet gift! And LIsa had more to share!

What about using a toothbrush case for pens , pencils and other markers?

Have you seen THESE little caddies? I’m thinking this would be great for a traveling hexagon project!! Its by Yazzi --

This is the front and back of a pocket caddy…made to fit over a 5 X 7 $1.00 picture frame!

Wouldn’t these make great gifts??

Because there are pockets on both sides of the caddy, look how much stuff is accessible at her fingertips?

And of course we all did our best to EMPTY this container before we could fill it with other quilty stuff! YUMMMMMMM!!!!

There is more to share from yesterday’s workshop…but I’ve got to be there for today’s workshop…in 15 minutes..so I’ll upload MORE later!

Have a super Saturday!

Tennessee Road Trip, Evening Edition!

I love discovering new places! Many people suggested I try the aquarium in Chattanooga, and some other things, but the morning was SO beautiful, all I wanted to do was be outside. I wanted to move my body after sitting in the car all day the day before, and I knew I still had 3 hours to go on my journey to Huntsville, Alabama where I was meeting up with the Heritage Quilters ---

So I got up on the internet and searched for “walking trails” and I hit the Mother Load!

Turns out I was only 6 miles from the Tennessee Riverpark! There are 8 miles of paved trails especially designed for walkers, runners, roller bladers and cyclers…and it was a great way to spend the morning!

Isn’t this so peaceful? I love seeing the mountains in the distance!

The trails are sidewalk….8 miles worth! I can’t imagine what an undertaking it was to make this beautiful spot for the people to enjoy, but enjoy it they are. There were even school groups doing relay races in the park….moms pushing strollers with babies, people on bikes, you name it!

As I got closer to the end where the dam is, I could see the old Cincinnati Southern railroad bridge!

It was quite the deal in the day it was made…and the dam is just beyond.

The fishermen were out in full force! But it wasn’t just the fishermen enjoying the beautiful weather that fascinated me….it was THESE guys:

The Herons!! Can you see them? They almost blended in to the rocks from where I was standing, and I tried to get real close to get better pictures…they were waiting for their chance at the fish of course, and they weren’t happy with me invading their space!

They were definitely fun to watch, and when they fly….are they ever graceful!

There are a few of them along the water here, and one in the midst of the rocks…really hard to tell they are even there!

This guy was a real poser! Perhaps he was the model for this statue that is further down in the park:

I enjoyed the time I spent along the river..and didn’t even notice that I was getting a bit sunburned by the time I returned to my car 5.75 miles later…

I left the park and headed on my way toward Huntsville – and by lunchtime I found myself taking an exit at South Pittsburg, TN with two things in mind….Find a post office to mail off the Civil War General panels to their respective winners, and to get a bite to eat!

As I took the exit, I caught a glimpse of this:

Oh I love small towns! And let me tell you, the burger and fries could not be beat! I wish I could tell you the same on the cones, but I was so full from the burger that I didn’t have room to TRY the ice cream, but if I ever make it through here again, you can bet it is on the agenda! I ordered at the outside window….and ate on some tables that were outside to the left of the building, just enjoying the day.

The post office in South PIttsburg is as cute as it can be:

From what the person behind the counter told me, it has been in business since 1933! And you can tell, just by how things are preserved inside ((Did I ever confess to loving old post offices too?!))

These post office boxes are SO COOL! And they are original. I’m told that it is harder and harder to keep them functional as the lock parts become impossible to replace….And can you see that table? It is original too, as is the tile floor!

How many people in the past 75+ years have stopped to address their mail here? I just thought this was super cool. Okay. That and the fact that it is the perfect height for a really neat cutting table ;c)

I just loved the doors, the original woodwork, and the smell of murphy’s oil soap in the lobby. SO…I’m easily entertained. Who else do you know who takes pictures of post offices on her journeys?! And I’m happy to say that the two packages are winging their way off to Utah and California respectively!

It’s just 8pm here…I’m back from dinner as of a bit ago, and I think I have enough energy to go outside for a bit of a stroll around the area of the hotel to stretch my legs a bit.

Have a great evening, everyone! There will be some more piecing going on in the hotel room tonight!