Happy Birthday America ! ! !

Art Quilt Class

I had the opportunity to take an Art Quilt class with the wonderfully talented Laura Wasilowski

Laura hand-dyes all her fabrics and her threads - her finished work is beautiful. Check out her website to order fabric, threads, and learn about how you can attend "The Chicago School of Fusing". [it's not a real school you go to; Laura travels to your area].

Bed & Breakfast

For three nights I stayed at the most beautiful B&B in Bird-in-Hand, PA called Greystone Manor. Breakfast was a pure delight every morning!

Antique Quilts Purchased

Penryn Fire Company Mud Sale, Lancaster, PA.

Hand-pieced and hand-quilted too! One quilts tag is dated 1923.

Have Journal will Travel

A spur of the moment road trip with my girl friend to Lancaster, PA. The main event is to go to an authentic Amish Mud Sale. They are called mud sales due to the thawing of the ground and the mud created! Look at all the cool stuff that will be for sale!! I quickly put together a travel journal & a travel kit for each of us today!

The kits are inside of the plastic zippered cases my pillow shams came in [ I didn't want to ruin my nails picking at the price tags]. I placed our names inside the slot that had the Biltmore bedding label - it was on card board and slipped right out. Loads of fun stuff: journal is an artist sketch pad, pens, crayons, watercolors, stamps, masking tape, etc.

I hope we actually use them along the way so I can show off some pages!

Hope to reveal more about our road trip

as we head out at 8 AM tomorrow morning!!

Look What I Made

Made a pin cushion while hanging out at a quilt shop! Ya' hang around a barber shop long enough, you'll eventually get a hair cut - - -same goes for a quilt shop! I made the hen in the middle . . . her name is Henrietta. The red one was named Little Red by the shop owner.

Two of the hens - middle one & hen on the right - are both made from old, worn out, and tattered quilts that were too ragged to be repaired . . . now recycled into pin cushions! I fell in to LIKE with this quilt hanging in the shop . . . if I get skilled enough at the whole quilt process this may become a future project of mine!

Embroidery

Completed embroidery. I joined a "Block of the Month" at a local quilt shop with my girlfriend. We joined late so are several months behind. Better to have started late than not at all!!

I finished my "October Angel of the Month". I cannot decide if I will embroider the title of the month or not; I will probably wait until several are done and I have a feel for whether or not I want the month on them. My son suggested embroidering the names and birthdates of family members in each square and I do like that idea! What do you think??? Please comment!!

I am almost finished with November's angel. All of these blocks are embroidered using 2 pieces of muslum with batting in between. Once each month is finished they will all be squared and made into a quilt. I've already started to collect fabric for edging each square....fabric will be that homespun look to go with the folk-art look of the angels. Each block will be tea-stained to give it an aged look!

Wow.... I know you can't wait to see more.

One of my favorite things!!!

I just had to share one of the neatest things I've seen in a long time! I just got one of these Bodacious Beach Blankets for my birthday. Whether you go to the beach, the lake, or a picnic, this blanket rocks !!!! Buy 2 - one for yourself and one to give as an awesome gift - the gift reciever will be thrilled, just as I am!
Thank you to my dear father-in-law for finding such a great gift for me!! Dad got me the blanket in Royal Blue .... love it!!

Self Examination

Yesterday was not a lot of fun as I discovered some hard truths about myself.

It is one thing to have high principles and integrity - - quite another to practice these principles in my life. I've been playing with potential fire lately and unable to stop myself. . . . strike that, I've been unwilling to stop myself.

I have no excuses; the excuse I attempted to use when explaining to my friend yesterday is this:

"My mother would understand; she knows the history; she would say no harm done." I said.

"You mean your mother would have co-signed your bullshit!" she exclaimed.

* * * O U C H * * *

I can't play with fire if I stay away from the dry leaves and don't pick up any matches. How Freudian of me to use "dry leaves" . . . . . they are old; past; done for; no more; and can never be made green again and put back on that tree.