One Day at a Time

As I prepared to leave our upstairs home office,  the morning sun shone on my quilt rack and I was struck (once again) at the power of quilts to make us smile.

Top to bottom these quilts are:  Vivacious (2016), Words to Live By (2017), Amish Strings (2012),  Scrapbook Quilt (2018), and Epicenter (2018).

Both of my Christmas cacti now have buds!  This one will likely be the first to bloom.

This is the third year for these plants - the longest I've ever managed to keep a Christmas cactus alive.

And because this phrase uttered by Meg Ryan/Kathleen Kelly from You've Got Mail is my mantra once Daylight Savings Time ends each fall . . . 

. . . our fall decor includes this 4-foot tree in the foyer decorated with autumn berries and a few pale sunflowers with loads of pumpkins in DH's wood bowl on the lower shelf.

And this year we put up the big tree a month early and decorated it with creamy color pumpkins, more pale sunflowers, and picks with cream and gold beads.

More twinkle lights definitely make the evenings better.

* * *

On the finger front, I'm now wearing a single bandaid and allowing the finger to get wet (thus needing to change the bandaid) instead of strictly keeping it 100% dry.  It will be a few more days before I dare to go without a bandaid (I don't want to snag it open again) but life is getting easier now that I can use all 10 fingers.

In the interim, I've done a full inventory of my Glide thread and rearranged the contents of the Ikea drawers in my sewing room so that the threads can each be seen at a glance (no longer massed together with half of the cones upside down).  It's been one of those things I've put off when it wasn't that hard and didn't take that long but definitely makes life easier.  (why is it that we do that over and over?)

I've also done some collage in my No Sew November journal and a bit of writing in my creative common placing journal named An Unfolding Story.  I'm also cleaning out files, boxes, and drawers as I work and will be making another batch of paper snippet strips to use the overflow of scraps.

Sewing and quilting are on the horizon now . . . just a few more days until the bruise/ache in the finger tip eases up.

Quiltdivajulie

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"If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate.  Give in to it."

Mary Oliver

Quilt Show Photos

Chris (above) and I met at the local quilt show Sunday afternoon.

(That's Saturation Infatuation on the left and Color Bridge on the right ~

two of the quilts Chris had at Davies)

(photos should supersize if clicked twice)

That's me with Dumpster Diving . . .

and me again with Gotta Love It 

(which, sadly, was hung so only one side showed).

Here is a photo of Border Town with Gotta Love It in the background.

What fun to see the quilts in this kind of setting!

* * * 

I have no idea which quilts will earn Viewer's Choice ribbons

because there were still a few hours left for visitors to vote

at the point that I headed off to the grocery store.

We go back to pick up our quilts on Wednesday.

You can see some of the other photos that I took (with captions) in my Picasa album.

Enjoy!

Quiltdivajulie

Annual Quilt Show Anticipation

I delivered my quilts to the registration desk

during a longer than usual lunch hour excursion.

(This is the one local show in which I participate each year)

Waiting for the Mail, Plaid Happens,

Gotta Love It, Border Town,

and the White Coat

will all be there.

This is an open event with no judging,

but visitors are encouraged to vote for their favorites in each cateogry.

(. . . hence the "Viewer's Choice Award" ribbons)

This gazebo is just outside the main entrance to Hillwood.

I love how the vines were trained to grow and cover the canopy!



One of the outbuildings at Davies Manor.



Davies Manor Plantation is one of the oldest in Shelby County.

During the weekend event,

the older quilts will be displayed at the manor house

(in most appropriate surroundings)

while the 200 or so newer quilts

will be showcased at Hillwood. 

If you are in the Memphis area this weekend,

hope you'll stop by!

Quiltdivajulie



Moving Right Along...

It is officially summer now  . . .

the crape myrtles are in full bloom!

(This is also my new office computer's desktop photo.)

Here are the four quilts Chris returned to me over the weekend

(this makes a total of eight that I need to bind in the next few weeks).

Usually they would be trimmed and hung over the balcony by now . . .

but I've been seriously pre-occupied by a collaborative project with DH.

Did you hear about their secret project"

You knew this was inevitable, right?

A quilter married to a woodturner . . .

Stages one and two have been successfully completed.

Next step is to research and test options before moving forward again.

(sorry ~ no photos until it gets much further along)

And I finally filled my long-empty Moda laundry basket!

It now lives in our sunroom, near my laptop.

[Two of the quilts were made with flimsies pieced by my grandmother,

and the middle one came from PA and DH's family.

The roll on top is one of my wedding-dress-satin table runners.]

TTFN 

Quiltdivajulie

Quilt Swap!

Pieced back for Brush Strokes

Chris and I met for a quilt swap Sunday.

She now has Exuberance (the amazing flimsy by Wanda)

along with Brush Strokes (liberated YBR in Marcia Derse fabrics)

and Liberated Posies (the scrappy table topper made with the former BOM blocks)

These two came home with me!

Bits & Pieces on the left

and

Good Morning Purple on the right.

I took Jester down off the wall in my studio,

ran it through the washer/dryer, and

hung it on the quilt rack in the living room.

I love how freshly-laundered quilts feel.

The wall in the studio is now bare ~

waiting for the return of Exuberance.

Cannot wait to have it quilted and hung!

Quiltdivajulie

Tuesday Touring

Hugo here with my weekend report.

That's me, hiding in the quilt cupboard . . .

I helped gather and sort all the papers for this project.

This all-day-Saturday (well, almost) made me sneeze!

Too much paper!!!!!

(you should have seen what all went into the trash cans)

Miss Julie seems all excited about having

lots of empty file cabinet drawers now . . . 

and about dropping over 100 lbs. in a day!

I helped wrap DDIL's birthday present

(that's her card in the front).

After all that, I took a tour to check out 

some of Mr. Larry's amazing wood art.

These pieces are redwood burl ... 

and they're closer to my size!

The one on the left is titled Bad Hair Day.

I like the one on the right

(double click to see all the details, like the red berry things).

Miss Julie told me that this framed piece

came all the way from the other side of the world

(DDIL brought it home after one of her Asian recruiting tours).

There sure is a lot to investigate here!

Hugo for Quiltdivajulie

Looking Good!

WOO HOO!

Spirit Song (2010) has been hung up in our foyer!

We were especially tickled to discover the almost-identical lengths 

of Spirit Song and  No Rules For Julie (Lynne Tyler, 2010).

Who could have planned that?!?!

Colors of Joy (2006) is now on the back of the sofa.

On the opposite wall, above the stairs:

Vortex Interrupted (2008).

And, in another couple of weeks,

according to my contact at Martingale

(publisher of Tonya's Word Play Quilts book)

Flying Monkeys (2008) will be making its way home.

We saved its spot next to Vortex . . .

(that's a reflection, not a streak, on the wall)

I am SO glad DH has a really long ladder

and that he's willing to hang quilts!

Quiltdivajulie

Davies Quilt Show 2010

This year's quilt show had quite a bit of press attention ahead of time,

including this story.

The highlight for me was spending time visiting with Hattie Childress, 

a local quilter who is as proud of her homemade chow-chow as she is her amazing quilts.

The Civil War quilt shown above and in the linked post was draped over the table beside her 

and I read nearly 1/2 of the quotes she had handwritten on the panels.  

In the photo album, you'll see several other quilts of Ms. Hattie's . . . 

each one unique and historically linked with her written words, 

I could only try to absorb her spirit and grace.

I couldn't stay for the afternoon program by local quilter Marilyn League, 

but I was able to view several of her art quilts.  

[there'a a photo of her group in the album]

This year there were categories (assigned after all quilts had been received):

Non-traditional piecing (Spirit Song was placed in this group)

Traditional piecing (Chris's Enchanted Stars II and 2 of her mom's quilts were here)

Challenge quilts (including the little log cabin in the woods AQS Knoxville entries)

Art quilts (where No Words Needed was displayed)

Applique (where Chris's Pumpkin Seed was displayed)

Civil War Commemorative quilts

Mixed Technique quilts

Vintage (I didn't go up to the Manor House to see these)

Holiday quilts

Other Needlework entries

Visitors were asked to choose their favorite in each group

and then from that list pick their "Best of Show"

No judges ~ no juries ~ just Viewer's Choice awards.
They stopped accepting votes 10 minutes before the show ended
so I only saw two of the award winners get their ribbons.

To see lots more, click HERE and enjoy the photo album!

(If you want to see even more, you can visit Chris's post and photo album.)

Quiltdivajulie

p.s.  This is my week for jury duty . . . we'll see how that goes.

Stars Over Leehaven ~ design work

Stars Over Leehaven

has become my working name for Karen's blocks

that are soon to become a flimsy.

There are two blocks with signature squares pieced into the centers

plus several 3" or 3-1/2" individual name squares.

I chose the third star

(the one in the middle)

as the best color bridge.

Pondering a layout for this grouping...

In preparation for the arrival of my swap quilt from Lynne,

(six to eight weeks from now)

I've moved my Baobob Tree quilt (from DDIL's African safari)

to my design studio.

I really like it in this spot!

See, Lynne ~ the spot for No Rules is ready and waiting!

(yes, that's what I've named my quilt)

Quiltdivajulie

Red Chair Dreams

I've always loved red chairs . . . like this one painted by KGreen . . . 

and this one painted by Caprice Clark.

There's this one, painted by Laura Verdu. . .

And this one - entitled "Fort Garland: The Red Chair" by Lela Bouse-McCracken.

My late mother-in-law had a petite colonial-red plank chair in her bedroom.  DH says she had it from the time he could remember.  We don't have it now (it wasn't the least bit comfortable - only to look and pile things on).

Over the weekend, our younger son returned a chair that he borrowed several years ago and it is perfect to become MY red chair (once I paint it, that is).

Wish me luck ...

Quiltdivajulie
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"When in doubt, wear red."  (Bill Blaiss)

So Many Colors . . .

The annual Davies Manor quilt show was held November 6-8. There were ever so many more quilts this year. I had five on display and Chris and her mom had fourteen.

The day I picked up my quilts was one of those wonderful autumn days when the temperature, air quality, and glorious sunshine demand that you stay outside just as long as possible . . . so I stopped by the park to take photos before heading back to work. What fun seeing my quilts playing in the fresh air and hearing my feet crunch through the thick carpet of leaves!

The new photo album is here ~ easiest viewing is with the slideshow feature (last year's album which includes photos of the Manor's original house is here).

Enjoy!

Quiltdivajulie
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"Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways." (Oscar Wilde)

Friday Randomness

I ordered this quilt rack quite a while ago and we've finally hung it on the wall in the family/living room. (For those who worry about it being too close to sunlight from the window, we chose to install replacement windows with UV protective glass.)

I'm delighted to report that Miss Angel is returning to her feisty self (this is her "I want my supper" look). She had a nasty abscess that was causing all kinds of havoc. She's half way through her 14 days of antibiotics, still not happy about being confined to the sunroom for the duration, but purring much more.

Eventide has finally been hung up in DH's home office (he's a telecommuter located in what used to be our oldest son's bedroom). Sure wish I had a window like his at my desk!

Speaking of my desk, here's my latest small quilt: Teapot & Rosewater Jug (one of her series by this name) by Dijanne Cevall of Australia. Here's what she recently posted: there is quite some process involved in making them- papers have to be painted then printed, then transferred to lutradur, background fabric needs to be dyed, then the whole is stitched and then satin stitched bound. [Note ~ the boys in the photo are now almost 31 and 28!]

And these are my three Iraqi Bundles of Love boxes. They've been shipped (no thanks to the USPS clerk who decided he had to leave for lunch in the middle of my transaction) and are on their way across the ocean.

Update on pattern giveaway - the patterns went in the mail today. Again, many thanks for the kind words and good thoughts!

Re MIL's diagnosis after the MRI ~ there is a reason she's been in such pain. She has the expected pinched nerve (stenosis) in the lumbar section of her spine but she also has two (2) sacral insufficiency fractures (translation - due to osteoporosis, the thinned bones in the back of her pelvis have developed fractures.) Treatment? Pain pills, patience, continued use of her walker/cane as needed, and time. She goes back in a month for x-rays to check on the healing. Words to the wise: Drink your milk and/or take your calcium or other bone density medication NOW before your bones thin any further.

Looking forward to the weekend ~ time will tell what it brings!

Quiltdivajulie
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"This time, like all times, is a very good one; if we but know what to do with it." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)