Update on Quilts for Oklahoma!

I received an email last night thanking us all for the number of quilts that have been received in the quilt drive for Oklahoma.

Thank you SO much for participating!

If you still have a quilt to send, there is an update in the address to send it to --

Please read the following:

Just wanted to thank you for reposting info regarding the recent Quilts for OK! (Quilt Drive for OK Tornado Victims) I initiated.

We began the Drive with one post on Facebook, and off it went!

So very many kind donors mentioned that they read about it on your blog! We believe well over 1500+ quilts have been received at my Studio in Tulsa- aren’t quilters amazing??!!!

Thankfully I was contacted by Janice Grimes of “Quilts of Compassion” from Toledo OH after the FB posting.  We were happy to partner with them as we were totally overwhelmed with the kind and generous response we were experiencing!
 

Our Drive ended early in June, and I was wondering if you might post that our Studio’s part is over, but if there are still those who wish to help…please send directly to Quilts of Compassion at:
 

Quilts of Compassion
PO Box 350296
Toledo, OH  43635
 

If you have any questions, please contact me, or Janice Grimes (419) 708-9343. You can see all the wonderful blessings the quilt donations have been on the Quilts of Compassion’s Facebook Page. They have already made 2 trips to Moore, OK and vicinity to distribute the quilts!

Many thanks again,


Ellen

Alternately, there are quilts being collected for the Calgary, Alberta Canada area – they have been flooded to the max and there are many out of their homes.  Quilts are needed there.
 

For anyone wanting to donate quilts to those affected in the Calgary and Canmore area by the recent flooding please send your donations to:
"Quilting for Calgary"
38 Rockbluff Close NW,
Calgary, AB T3G 5B1

Please be aware it will be several days before your donations can be distributed as many of our roads are still closed and we are being asked by officials to stay home.

Many of our evacuees are still in the process of being moved/shuffled to other facilities as officials learn where needs can best be met so we are still in a state of flux. Donations will be distributed as soon as possible.
Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity.

Thanks so much for your willingness to help, everyone!


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Rolling Out the Changes!

This is what the house looked like BEFORE yesterday.

Very dark brown –wood sided, which always needed treating --- painting, staining and sealing and bug protection, etc.

That is all changing!

It’s amazing how much these guys got done in just a day yesterday.

And it was HOT HOT HOT and humid here in the South East corner of the USA…I kept the pitchers of ice water flowing ---

I enjoy talking to the workers – this is a family business, a father and sons and they are doing excellent work.  One of the sons has a 7 month old baby ---who would guess that such a rough and tough tattooed guy would sit there and show me a bunch of baby pictures on his phone, as proud as could be?  I just love it when daddies go gaga over their babies :)

There are ladders and stuff everywhere..but I love the new khaki color!

These two windows are the front master bedroom and there will be shutters on either side.

The bottom level is my basement – it’s all brick so will be left as is, but the two upper levels will be dealt with today!

As well the side of the front porch.

Do you see how weathered it is? It’s a pain to keep wood in tip top shape away from rot and moss and all else.

But the part I’m loving most is the detail we are adding to the front porch area…

Vinyl shake shingles!  I love the color and the texture!

Around the front door ---

The shutters will be this rust color.  You can see that the old wood is underneath the door…this looks so much better!

Kind of dark, but I’m liking it.  That porch railing is also going to be replaced.

Inside of the porch in progress ---These windows will have new shutters too.

Exciting things happening here.  And under it all is more insulation that will wrap our house up tight and making it much more energy efficient!

I’m expecting the pounding to begin again within the hour ---

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Updating–Houses…and Quilt Backs!

The guys are hard at work on redoing the siding on my house!

Oh, the pounding, oh the sawing and hammering!

Sadie is hiding out in the basement with me as that is the quietest place to be!

It’s amazing how fast the transformation is taking place.  The old siding is being completely covered with new insulation and the new siding is going right over it..new moldings added everywhere, even under the eaves.

The front porch area will be a bit different…adding siding that looks like shake shingles in the front porch for a bit of a different texture.

Shutters and porch railing will match the rust colored front door that we added at Christmas time.

A total house face lift!  It will pay for itself over time with the energy we save, and the value added to the house and the fact that we won't need to paint, stain or seal anymore.  It's all good.  In the long run.

Down in the basement I am getting ready to deplete this unloved unwanted ((but fondly remembered)) stack of old pinks and dusty mauve’s into a queen sized quilt back!

I just couldn’t make myself buy 9 yards of one thing for the back of a scrap quilt.  I just couldn’t do it.  The gauntlet has been thrown down ----

I think I’ll dig into the orphan bin too and see what blocks are in there that contain pink in them and see if I can empty out from two areas in the stash that really need to GO.

What is the most unloved color in YOUR stash?  Can you find a way to use it? 

I dare you!

((photos to come))

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Down Donegall Square --

From St Anne’s Cathedral we wandered, exploring – headed vaguely back in the direction of our hotel.

The signs for tourists were extremely helpful, and a detour was made to go see the Belfast City hall – a recommendation that had come earlier in the day in a conversation with some locals at lunch.

If you want to know the best places to visit in a limited amount of time – talk to the locals!

As always, I am enamored with the architecture of old city center areas.

The brick and the windows…it feels like stepping back in time 100 years or more.

And I do love street scenes as well – capturing things with my camera as they are, completely unstaged.

People walking around, milling about, intent on completing whatever errand they are about on a busy Friday afternoon in Belfast.

Friends chatter on, as we spot the city hall in the background.

Strange the mix of Greek revival city hall  next to the ultra modern of the shops that line the street!

What a beautiful building!

From Wikipedia:

The site now occupied by Belfast City Hall was once the home of the White Linen Hall, an important international Linen Exchange. The Street that runs from the back door of Belfast City Hall through the middle of Linen Quarter is Linen Hall Street.
 
Plans for the City Hall began in 1888 when Belfast was awarded city status by Queen Victoria. This was in recognition of Belfast's rapid expansion and thriving linen, rope-making, shipbuilding and engineering industries. During this period Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the most populous city on the island of Ireland.

 

While we were in Belfast, the whole of the city was getting ready for the G8 summit –President Obama was due to arrive just as we were leaving Ireland, and to tell you the truth, we couldn’t get out of Belfast fast enough ---Buildings were being posted to be closed, the protesters were already starting to gather.  Later in the day we had wandered the botanical gardens and they were setting up for that there too ---if there was ever a good time to leave Belfast, it was at 5am on Saturday morning when we all headed back to Dublin for our flights home!

 

There were quite a few policemen on hand at the City Hall building, posting placards about the facility being closed during the summit ---we were just in time to still be able to tour inside!

 

 

Would this stop you in your tracks?

 

 

This one did me!

 

 

Carrara, Pavonazzo and Brescia marbles are used extensively throughout the building as are stained glass windows featuring among others the Belfast Coat of Arms, portraits of Queen Victoria and King William III and shields of the Provinces of Ireland.

Up Into the dome…WOW!

Art in the rotunda.

From here it wasn’t a long walk back to the hotel at all.

Home Sweet Home for our last two nights!

Back to reality chez Quiltville ---

Today my house turns into a disaster zone as the new siding project on our house should commence!

Our house was built in the 1970s and has cedar wood siding – it’s time to say bye bye to it.  It’s being replaced with new insulation and vinyl siding meaning no more painting – no more staining – no more sealing – and better energy efficiency!

But it’s going to be a mess….but still so exciting to see the transformation!

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