Blogger's Quilt Day

Glady's Gab and Sweet Peas and Possum bloggers were together today.  After a big hug, the first thing we talked about was how much fun we are having with our blogs and the honor of getting the Liebster Award from Mrs. Dilly Dally.  
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My little red car breezed, or should I say sloshed, down the freeway to visit Carol's quilting studio from Sweet Peas and Possum Blog.  It's way down in the country - 88 miles down from me.

 You could see the rain coming in like a mist across the corn field . . .  it will be a corn field as soon as it grows.

I decided to advertise my quilting addiction.
You can find assorted decals in the Keepsake Quilting catalog.  Barbie got the decal with a picture of a rotary cutter that says "This is How I Roll."

Barbie's daughter, Barb, (it gets confusing, so we will say Mama Barb and Little Barb)  Little Barb brought lunch, Tuscan Chicken Stew and "homemade" angel food cake.  It was delicious  - one of those McCormick Spice Recipes you can find by the spices that includes the little packages of pre-measured spices for the recipe.  This one had fennel seed, basil leaves, minced garlic, rosemary leaves, oregano leaves and black pepper.  A very unique taste combined with cut up chicken breast, onion wedges, cannellini white beans, tomatoes and spinach leaves.  Oh, yummy!  It was the best.  As quilters often do, we made short work of the food!  If anyone is interested in the recipe, let me know.

Little Barb cut material all day, Mama Barbie sewed a quick little quilt and Miss Carol kept us all on track, well she tried to to keep us on track.  I got the binding done for my Walk in the Woods and gabbed a lot!

Carol has been so busy this winter and she treated us to a mini-quilt show of her latest projects . . . look at those designs and colors; what a treat for the eye.    

The blue and white is so dramatic!

I thought of Easter, but look closely and you'll see snowmen.

Barb showed us her quilt she made from the kit she found on sale at Fabric Shack.  I love the Magnolia flowers in this quilt.

Because Little Barb likes flowers, I had to add this dandelion.  Just think if this was a rare flower, we would be buying the plants for our yards.  The dandelion has delighted children for years.  It deserves some recognition.    

 "Good friends are like Quilts. They age with you, yet never lose their warmth."
From Quilting Quotes - Click Here for the LINK

Driving a Long Arm

Kathy, a very trusting friend, allowed me to try out her long arm machine to quilt my "Walk in the Woods" quilt.  First, she helped me practice an over-all loopy pattern, then with her help and guidance, I squiggled and wiggled my way through the quilt and completed it in one day.  It was an adventure; a little like driving a motorcycle down a winding road without a map.  At first I kept breaking the thread, operator error, but then kind of got the rhythm.  Kathy was very patient as she helped me fix my errors and start again.

By the end of the afternoon it was complete, and honestly, it doesn't look too bad for a first attempt.  What do you think?

I arrived at the end of the quilt with a big, tired sigh - happy for this new experience, but knowing that I will probably leave this part of quilt making to the experts..
I now have a greater appreciation of the workmanship and art that goes into long-arm quilting!  

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. ~ Robert Frost

Visiting Amish Country

Sunshine, Amish buggies and quilt shops - shared with a best friend, who could ask for more!  Thursday was great, considering that there was snow on Wednesday.  The sky was a bright blue and the temperatures were well into the 60's.  I met Barbie at Dover and we drove on down to Berlin to quilt shop hop.  As usual, we were sidetracked by the flea market, but managed to get out in under an hour.  Below is the view from the parking lot; Barbie is looking over the rolling southern Ohio hills.

Right down the road we came to Gramma Fannie's Quilt Barn.  Oh, joy!  I took pictures of a quilt that Barb is working on.  She bought the material and pattern from the shop, so they let me take a picture.

Snake River Quilt

Shop, shop, shop then on through Berlin and out to the little town of Charm.  Our next favorite quilt shop is Miller's Dry Goods.  I found the Minkee fabrics there, but didn't buy any - yet.  That fabric is so soft and now I know where to find it.  I love the atmosphere in Miller's.  It has old boards on the floor that creak when you walk around the store.  They are remodeling an old house close by - where you see the white trucks - to have quilt retreats and we can't wait!  Here is the link to their shop:  http://www.millersdrygoods.com/

Now we are starving and Barb knows of a nice little restaurant just up the road from Miller's.  It is built in the fashion of a Swiss Chalet; in fact it is called the "Chalet in the Valley" - very charming.   We enjoyed a nice lunch and of course I took some pictures.  ☺

After lunch we were ready to roll again.  We didn't get too far until we found Hershberger's market and some new photo opportunities.  I am very partial to clothesline pictures because it takes me back to my childhood when my mom always hung up clothes in the back yard.  We didn't have this high-tech, pully clothesline though . . . or better known as the drier in the sky.

The market had the biggest jelly rolls in the world, but we were too full to indulge.  We did see some Amish work horses, in fact a team of four across, at the market.   Horses and buggies share the road and you always have to be aware that you might come up behind some slow moving vehicles.

As all good days do, this one had to end too.  I am truly blessed to have a friend like Barbie.  We have been best friends since we were both kids and I'm not telling how long that has been.  We have traveled many miles together.  It is so true that . . . "A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same."  ~Elbert Hubbard

A Walk in The Woods

The top is finished for this Walk in the Woods quilt for my grandson Nick and I took a picture in the back yard on the clothes line.  That's when I noticed that the bottom border has the bears on top or upside down.  I obviously don't have that new wall up yet!  However, now the bears on the top and bottom are both right side up.  Does that make sense?  Looking at it on the line, it works for me and is just a happy, little accident as Bob Ross would say.

"Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."  ~ Steve Jobs

I've discovered a whole new world of quilting blogs and it is interfering with my online job, lets just say that I'd rather be seeing what quilters are doing in Alaska, Vermont, Texas, and West Virginia than grading papers . . .  I love reading the posts and looking at all the pictures of quilts and scenery.  It feels like I'm visiting friends.  I just finished up grades and spring break starts for me next week - can't wait!  I'll be visiting blogs and hopefully finishing this quilt for Nick.

Quilter's Garage Sale

It's been on the calendar for six months and still we call each other the night before to make sure we don't forget.  What's the big occasion?  Why the quilter's garage sale, of course.  We have two a year close to Kent; one in Streetsboro for the fall and one in Brimfield for the spring.  I promised to let you in on my big buys.  First deal: I found tons of yarn and knitting needles for my church for the Knitting Ministry.  They are sending it to Japan for a ministry started to help the ladies that lost everything.  Click here for the Wall Street Journal Story about the ministry.  It is awesome!

Second best:  A Quilters Wall for $5.  Now I'm not sure how this thing works, but it is brand new, pretty big when opened and has directions.  It is sticky on both sides.  Here is a picture.  Does anyone have one like this or know about it?

My second favorite buy was the book Picture Play Quilts by Ami Simms.  It is full of I Spy patterns and I have a basket full of I Spy material.

 Barbie stocked up on big pieces of material.  It took three of us to get it all to her car.  I should have taken a picture of that!  At first she said she couldn't find anything to buy - huh!  Barbie, Michelle and I went to lunch after the sale and gabbed the time away.  Can't wait for next year.

Remember I talked about the quilt rack that I found at Farm Brook?  Here are the pictures I promised with  my unfinished jelly roll quilt and a quilt I am doing for my grandson, Nick, called "A walk in the Woods."  It's a kit I picked up at the Vermont Quilt Show a couple of years ago and is really an easy little quilt with fish, bears, polka dots, pine trees and moose.  Nick is 10 and loves the outdoors and loves to fish.  The rack has lots of space in between to hang quilts.  Nice!

Last of all, I want to share a favorite poem, "Barter" and my favorite line from the poem that reminds me of our Quilter's Garage Sale day.  I truly believe that one should "Spend all you have for loveliness,/Buy it and never count the cost;"


Barter

Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children's faces looking up,
Holding wonder like a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell,
Music like the curve of gold,
Scent of pine trees in the rain,
Eyes that love you, arms that hold,
And for your spirit's still delight,
Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,
Buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost,
And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be. 

Sara Teasdale

Spring flowers that Zoe, my 7-year-old granddaughter, and I picked.  She loved the violets.