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Sunday, September 30, 2012

iPhone-o-Gram! Home Sweet Home!

I arrived home just a bit ago. Man, that last 130 miles or so was hard!!

It's just a long way from Louisville, Kentucky to Wallburg, North Carolina!

I got really excited when I saw Pilot Mountain out in front of me through a very dirty windshield.

And then the familiar skyline of downtown Winston Salem came into view. I was almost home. About 12 miles yet to go.

I made it and Sadie was so excited to greet me she had to do ALL her tricks!

Now for the hard part. Unloading Shamu.

There are treasures in my car and I can't wait to get them out of there!

Just wait and see!
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iPhone-o-Gram! Quilt Block City, WV!

I've crossed from Kentucky into West Virginia!

I needed a rest break and a gas tank refill for the van and a chance to stretch my legs.

Turns out I'm in Huntington WV which boasts a whole section of antique stores but of course they are closed on Sunday.

It's still a great walk-about opportunity! And look at the quilt blocks painted on buildings!!

Heading back out on the road now but glad I got off the interstate for a bit of a wander. I might have missed the smiles these buildings brought to my face and to my heart & soul!
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Simply Star Struck in Shepherdsville!

Dear Santa:

Is it too early to ask you for a little machine like this one?

I’ve seen these a few times in my travels and they always make me smile.

Their foot pedal is air-controlled.  The size is compact with just enough stitches to do just about anything a quilter would want.  The extension table is metal ----no breaking this baby off.

And shoot!  Who wouldn’t want a machine with a handle that makes it look like a hand held kitchen mixer?!!!! 

This is the Bernina Nova 900.  They were made in the mid 1980s and only for a few years.  Who knows, if I keep looking, I might cross paths with one at a price I want to afford at some point.  It would be a great travel machine as it is completely mechanical and there are no circuit boards to shake loose on long car trips.

This little beauty weighs only 15 lbs.

So many machine-dreams, so little time!

Here are the photos from yesterday’s Star Struck workshop.  Such great quilts are going to come from these ladies.  Each and every quilt is so different from the next.  These ladies were on a mission to get as much done in a 6 hour class as they could and by the middle of the afternoon you could really see that their dedication was paying off!
Dear Bluegrass Quilt Fest ---Thank you so much for inviting me to teach at your show.  I had a wonderful time, and you put on  a terrific show at a great venue.  I’m happy to be coming back in September of 2017!  My only wish is that it could be sooner.

It’s a travel day home for me.    I’m NC bound, but before I really head out on the road I have a short stop to make in Louisville, KY to meet up with a quilter who made me an offer I’m afraid I can’t refuse!  And that’s all that I’m saying for now ----

Catch you from the road!
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Saturday, September 29, 2012

iPhone-o-gram! Pass the Pickles, Please!

After class was over and all of our supplies were tucked back into our vehicles, a handful of seven of us headed out to dinner!

We were told that Mark's Feed Store was a place not to be missed for Kentucky BBQ. Bring it on!

Of course we had to stop and play around on the hog statue out front just for fun!

If you've never tried fried pickles, they are delish!

What a great bunch of ladies! We were from all over Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Arkansas, and me from North Carolina---and you'd never guess that before Thursday most had never met each other.

Quilters are like that. We bond and we bond quickly!

Safe wishes to those who start their drives home tonight. I'm staying for one more night and heading out in the morning.

I've got an invitation in the morning that I will fill you in on later---

Right now I plan to don my jammies and spend the evening sewing!
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A Moment of Reflection.

I recently received a link to a terrific post written on the topic of Online Etiquette,  The Digital Community.Seeking a Safe Place.

Over the past few days I have read this article over again and again and again.  The Bedlam Farm blog has NOTHING to do with quilting, and it is a nice breath of fresh air to step out of the arena that has consumed my life and read about someone else’s adventures and what they choose to share.

I encourage you to go read the article.  And I want to quote the part that hit me the most.

"My life is not an argument to be reviewed by strangers on my own digital space, my Internet home. Comments must be productive, of use to other people."
 
"So the rules of my home are really simple and free. Everyone is welcome here, whether they agree with me or not. No one is welcome here who uses anger or cruelty or righteous judgment to attack me or anyone else. I don’t expect people who come into my home to be hostile or insensitive with me, nor do I accept it online. The fact that I open a part of my life up is not an invitation to be rude or nasty. I also want people to feel safe here."
 
"I want this to be a creative place, a safe place, a place of encouragement and shared experience. Sadly, the Internet seems to breed hostility and disconnection. It is just so easy to be a lug-head when you are hiding behind an e-mail address."


Or might I add an anonymous or other persona that hides your true identity.
 
Thank you, Bedlam Farm, for putting it so eloquently.
 
NO ONE has the right to send “I’m disappointed in you, shame on you” emails or comments to ANYONE.  PERIOD.    What is the world coming to?
 
If I feel that comments are getting out of hand, I reserve the right to remove them.  This is MY home.  It does not have to be politically correct. 
 
This is my space, I do not have to provide both sides of ANY story.  I feel what I feel.  If you feel differently, please feel free to express your side of the story on your own blog.
 
This is a place where I share my feelings and my experiences.  You might not agree with them, and that is fine, but I’m not going to argue my stance and you shouldn’t have to feel the NEED to call me up on my behavior or my words to suit your idea of what I "SHOULD" do or be.

These are my thoughts, my experiences and I can’t change them and not share how I truly feel.  You may have handled the situation differently, but you wouldn’t chastise me in my own home if you were a guest there, at least I hope not.
 
I don’t want to bottle up ME inside – and only post a candy-coated version of what I think you want to read.  That’s not the purpose of me writing here.
 
Yes, I am totally made of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.














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iPhone-o-Gram! Star Struck Stitchers!

The show may be ending today but the party continues!

We've got good ole college football fans in attendance too, the Tennessee contingency dressed in TN orange and rooting for their home team!

We are on lunch break now with plans to head to a local BBQ joint in the works for later this evening after all the tear-down and pack-up is completed.

I've been told that local Kentucky BBQ is not to be missed!
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Oklahoma Backroads Slide Show

Tank in the Room!

An Italian Tank that is!

Meet another Necchi Supernova Ultra from the late 1950s!  The story was that the mother of the quilter bought this machine in Spain in the 1950s--- she was a dressmaker at the time and this machine was top of the line in the 1950s.  These machines are built like vintage Italian race cars, sleek of line, full of power.

I’d never seen one with the fold-down extension bed which reminded me of the fold down featherweight bed.  Full metal machine, full metal bed….FULLY HEAVY!

KY_Sept2012 282

It was fun to learn the history of how this Italian made machine came from Spain back to the USA and to the daughter of the mother and her love of quilt piecing!

Yesterday’s class had SO MUCH VARIETY!  Quilts are well under way, putting the scraps to good use.  Civil war prints --- either in all colors with scrappy everything, or planned in pinks and browns with creams --- patriotic or batiks or browns and turquoise – so many ways that this could be colored.

We had the music going --- at 3pm-ish we fought the mid-afternoon tire-out by turning up Jimmy Buffett and singing along.  It was a party of the best variety!


Ladies were still sewing at 4:30pm as I started to move things from the classroom to set up where the dinner lecture was being held.  Dinner for 75+, my presentation after – and my best part of all ---a big hug from Harriet Hargrave afterwards, thanking me for keeping the love of traditional quilting alive and well.  I feel SO honored!

Today is the last day of the Bluegrass Quilt Festival ---my 5th back to back day of teaching.  It’s gone so fast!  And it’s been a great time ---I’d love to come back, it’s such a beautiful area here and a great location.

Sunday --- it’s the long drive home!
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