Evening Edition: Free Kindle Book!

Show and tell was great, the table prizes were awesome ((See last post!! A Kaffe Fassett Bundle and a new rotary cutter!)) and Jennifer Chiaverini’s presentation was delightful and inspiring.

I’m tucked back in my room, in my jammies editing down photos for tomorrow’s slide show and thought I’d pass on a little freebie that I just downloaded for myself.

It’s not my usual choice of genre ---but I found the book description and readers reviews to be interesting enough to consider it worth a try – it sounds like a good story!

Okay, and I’ll admit it – when I saw the hard copy print price was $25.95 it makes me feel almost guilty for snatching it up for free! ALMOST!

Spirit Horses by Alan Evans is free tonight in the Amazon Kindle Store.

Genre: Drama

In the hills of Tennessee, Shane Carson, a gifted, nationally-recognized horseman, is living the good life. When a mysterious mustang shows up on his farm, Shane doesn’t know how—or why—the horse appeared, but the horse’s distinctive brand identifies her.

She is one of the Spirit Horses, a rare, wild herd that runs free on the Shoshone reservation in Wyoming. Watched over for centuries in the tribe’s ancestral valleys, these exquisite horses, according to belief, provide a link to the afterlife.

When tragedy strikes in his life, Shane nearly loses his will to live—but for one promise he made to his young son: to return the mustang to her rightful home.

On this bittersweet journey, Shane finds a world where tradition reigns, and ancient beliefs transcend modern logic. In this magnificent expanse of blue sky and wide open spaces, love is alive, but hate, intolerance, and greed threaten to close in.

Review:

"A wonderful blend of Western, Fiction, Drama, Adventure, and Romance. A superb new voice in fiction who delivers a 5-star read."

Double check it’s still free – yada yada yada, you know the drill!

I’m gearing up for tomorrow’s Midnight Flight class. I thought I’d have more piecing time in the room, but the last couple of nights I’ve been so worn out by the time the evening’s activities were done that I just crawled between the sheets with my laptop to edit the next day’s slide shows --- which is what I’ll get back to after I finish sending this. Look for THOSE photos in the morning ----

Night Everyone!

iPhone-o-Gram! Evening Goodies!

What could be better than door prizes, great food, a room full of quilters, and a lecture by Jennifer Chiaverini?!

iPhone-o-gram!! Wildly Winston!

We are raising our rotary cutters high in day two of classes at Quiltmaker's Block Party here in Williamsburg, VA!

Loud cheers of happiness as quilters discover their half square triangles turning out square and the right size with the easy angle ruler!

We are spinning our seams on our four patches so they all will butt through the quilt with ease---

Much love from us to you wherever you are!!

Talkin’ Turkey at Quiltmaker’s Block Party!

Yesterday was our Talkin’ Turkey workshop, as you saw from the iphone-o-gram I sent yesterday!

For those of you looking for the pattern, the block can be found in Quiltmaker’s 100 blocks by 100 designers vol 5 ((the most recent one out)) and the full quilt pattern is in my new book String Fling. The units in the quilt are simple --- 9 patch, string blocks, flying geese – lots of them!

It was fun for me to see the other color ways that students were working up their projects in. We did have a lot of red/neutral – but we also had blue/neutral, some purple/green, some green/neutral and some random scrappy everything to name a few! And the pink, oh yes, don’t forget the pink!

The pink blocks are special. Our pink quilter is celebrating 4 years post breast cancer surgery. She is here with a dear friend, both of them relatively new quilters. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know them and hope to see much more of them over this weekend! After all, there are still TWO WHOLE DAYS of classes left here in Williamsburg!

This photo was found on the Quiltmaker Magazine Facebook page!

Let’s let the pictures in the slide show do the talking for you ----the blocks these ladies were turning out are just amazing!

		Talkin' Turkey, Williamsburg 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Today? Winston Ways! Or is it Midnight Flight --- I guess I better find out before class starts just to be sure!

The big excitement tonight is Jennifer Chiaverini’s lecture --- and I can’t wait to meet her in person and to hear her presentation!

It’s going to be another full great day in Williamsburg!

More Williamsburg Wonder!

The gardens. Oh, I love the gardens! I think that is one of the most beautiful “slow down and take a breath” spots within the whole town.

And I think of those colonial women ---planning and plotting and working in their long skirts, their aprons, in the heat of a Virginia summer with its drenching humidity and oppressive stillness.

They had to grow food for their families, and even “in town” kitchen gardens were tucked in here and there, providing vegetables and berries, staples for colonial families.

Along with the vegetables, there were beautiful heirloom varieties of flowers and herbs ----and on our walk yesterday morning, Carolyn, Diane and I found ourselves bending over plants, looking close, examining!

You can walk through colonial veggie patches right in town. You can also purchase pots of heirloom varieties of plants – the same kinds of plants you would find if you had walked down these streets in 1750.

Come take a wander!

Pomegranate trees!

How often was the beautiful pomegranate fruit the inspiration for early applique designs? These will turn brilliant rosy red within the next couple of months.

At first glimpse I thought these long skinny fruits had to be some variety of cucumber…but check the shape of the leaves! Watermelons!

Stop along the herb beds and pinch a bit of rosemary between your fingers….rolling the leaves releases the wonderful fragrance that we still love today as much as colonial women did then. I love fresh rosemary!

What’s a kitchen garden without a row of peppers?

These are growing nicely ---they love Virginia’s hot-house heat and humidity!

Not all plants were cultivated to be eaten, some were planted just for their beauty. How delicate are these little purple and white pom pom flowers?

I bet you’d have to touch them too!

((Oh, and there is something about that purple color that is calling me!))

Tonight is my lecture and trunk show here in Williamsburg….I’m so excited to share my love of scrap quilts from those who have come far and wide…..our “furthest traveler” is here from FRANCE! How exciting to spend this time with everyone, making new friends!