Streetsboro Quilt Show - Continued

This was the favorite pick of the Streetsboro Quilt Show - Rachel's Baskets made by Helen Rankin of Aurora, Ohio.  I can see why it was the pick of the show.  It was hand quilted, has soft lovely colors and an interesting log cabin frame.   

Prisoners Quilting Project - Grafton Correctional Institution

An interesting display of quilts at the show was made by the all male population at a state prison in Ohio, Grafton Correctional Institution.  How wonderful that the men quilt, knit, crotchet and cross stitch.  The finished products are then donated to charities.  They are giving back to the community and I think this is a charity that I would like to support.   If you are interested in this program, the contact person and number on the flyer is Barbara King, Deputy Warden at 440-748-1049 ext 203. Look at the beautiful quilts make by the prisoners!

Pictures of the prisoners in Grafton

Pineapple quilt made by the men in Grafton

Quilt made by the Grafton Prison Inmates

More Quilts for your enjoyment . . . 

Local quilt shows are so awesome!  I hope you enjoyed the show!

"Quilting is sharing yourself with others." 

Streetsboro Quilt Show

Raffle Quilt

Oh joy for a weekend at the Streetsboro Quilt Show!  I love seeing the quilts from all the talented quilters in our area, and for the first time ever, I entered a quilt in a show and had it judged.  I have been quilting for about four years, so I guess it was about time to join the quilters who dare to put  "pieces" of themselves on display - pardon the pun.

The Streetsboro Quilt Guild puts so much time and energy into this wonderful show.   They make and raffle a quilt and baskets, and even included a sewing machine.  Much of the profit goes to the local food bank.  What an awesome guild!

I tried to win this cute, little Bernina, Bernette, but no luck.  Talking to Nancy from the Twinsburg Bernina Shop, I found out this Bernette 46 is only $150.  I think that is a good price for a portable machine and it sews great; I tried it out!

 Every quilt has a story and my BOM Civil war quilt is no different.   It earned a 2nd place ribbon, but I know that the ribbon belongs not to me alone.  The honor is shared with all the people who encouraged me and helped me along on my quilting journey: the quilt shop ladies, Michelle, Kathy, Barbie and Miss Carol just to name a few. Most of all, I have to thank the good Lord for granting me the patience to put all the little pieces together in the first place.  Without them, this quilt would not be finished.
After it was finally sewed together, Eva Birch added her quilting magic of swirls and feathers . . . such a lovely final touch.

My son Adam is holding up the quilt for me. 

You can see a bit of the quilting here. 

Here I am by my BOM Civil War Quilt.  Does my head look bigger than usual?

"Finished is way better than perfect!"

Tomorrow I'll post more pictures from the show.

Kent Haymaker Farmers' Market Mural Update

Last Saturday at the  market, I was amazed at the progress on the mural being done by the artist, Elaine Hullihen.  It's so much fun to see what has been added each week.  To get some perspective on size, look at Zoe in front of the giant ear of corn.

Now that is an ear of corn!

Sunflowers growing from stone

One of my favorite local musicians was performing at the market, Kathy Johnson.  I own her CD called Small Town Girl, and play it over and over - it is just wonderful.  She writes some really fun, original music like "Nancy Drew" and "Well-Tanned, Hairy-Chested, Bare-armed Men."  She sang those for us on Saturday, and we purchased her Christmas CD, Home For the Holidays.  The title song is an original that Kathy wrote.  She is a wonderful singer and I really enjoy her original lyrics and style.  Here is her Website if you are interested in learning more about her and listening to a sample of her music.  I would highly recommend her CD's.  http://www.kathysongs.com/

I love the jars of honey and jam!

I know that the artist is trying to get this mural finished before winter.  I hope the weather cooperates.  However, this weekend the weatherman did add in that four letter word that begins with S.  We are in for the 30's by Saturday night.    

I can't wait to see the man with the hat when it is done!

Renfro Valley, Kentucky

What a great weekend!  Barbie and I were on the road again and took a tour to Renfro Valley, Kentucky with Buckeye Tours out of Cambridge, Ohio.  I have to say if you are looking for a fun and relaxing way to travel, check out their website . . .  http://buckeyetours.net/   I give them a five star rating.  They are easy to contact and when you call, you get to speak to a "live" person.  That is big in my book.  Our tour director, Sarah, was fun and professional and our bus driver, Jim, was excellent.  Needless to say, after our last tour with "another unnamed tour group," we could relax and enjoy the journey.  I hope to travel with Buckeye Tours in the future.

Kentucky is a charming state with rolling horse farms and lovely countryside.  The people are so friendly and I love their accents and how they say, "you all."  

The weather started out rainy, but quickly changed to blue skies and fluffy white clouds.  Sorry, I can't show many pictures.  There was a glitch with my camera.  I bought a new SD card and when I tried to use it, it said that it needed formatted.  What is that all about?  I tried to "format" it, but it just didn't work.  So there I was, stuck without my camera!  However, I was able to take a few pictures on the camera hard drive.  Barbie didn't bring her camera because it was acting up too.  Ah well, life is never perfect, so we go with the flow.

Renfro Valley:

If you love country gospel music and browsing in little local shops, you should visit Renfro Valley.  Their website, linked above, tells about all the upcoming shows and about the history of Renfro Valley.  I have to say the shows were so inspiring.  Listening to the entertainers was like getting a heart massage.  They feature many big names in the music world.  Our evening show headliners were Mo Bandy, Janie Fricke and David Frizzell.  We were lucky enough to beat the crowd out after the show and get a couple of signed CD's.  It was fantastic evening of fun and music.  

Painted Quilts in Renfro Valley

If you like quilts but don't like to sew them, how about painting them on your barn or your house?  Here are a few examples that I found in Renfro Valley to inspire you to put down the needle and pick up the paint brush . . . 

Another good find from our trip is a book that I purchased from the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, Kentucky.  Quilt Stories: A Collection of Short Stories, Poems, and Plays.   It is published by the University Press of Kentucky.  I can't wait to read it!  

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Stop back again, you all!

Double Slice Layer Cake

Double sliced layer cake, not a chocolate layer cake, although it is pink enough to be strawberry flavored.  For my latest quilting project, I decided to try the tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company, one of my favorite sites, and make the "Double Slice Layer Cake" pattern with Pink Dazzle fabric from AdornIt.  I picked this fabric line with a young girl/teen in mind.

I don't think that I am always the best judge of what goes together, but how could I go wrong with a matching layer cake?  Hmmmm.  I'm not sure if I like it or not.  It seems awfully busy and polka dotty.  Of course I am still not done moving around the blocks and it will have a border.  That will change it up.  I'll show the finished product later.  Hopefully it will come together and be awesome . . .

I still have some to finish sewing

Isn't he cute?  Do you think it's a Woolly Bear or a carpet sweeper?

To escape the crazy pink quilt, I decided to go out on the porch and sew on some binding.  I'm in the basement all day tied to the computer online, so the porch is my retreat spot.  Well, what do I see?  I think it's a woolly bear caterpillar, but my son says it's just a bug.  Does anybody know?  In Cleveland, we have a Woolly Bear Caterpillar festival where the caterpillar predicts winter based on the stripes.  If this is the real thing, I think this little guy may be predicting snow, snow and more snow.

Then a flock of big black birds stopped by and robbed the bird feeder.  Look at the size of these scavengers.

One good thing going on outside though, my tangled vine of Morning Glories that climbed up to my garage roof "finally" bloomed into one flower.  Maybe more will come out later.

Back to the binding.  I'm turning binding for my "first quilt ever" to be in a show, the Streetsboro Quilt Show.  I'll post more information about that event later.  This quilt was my third I ever made and a BOM Sampler.  A big challenge for my beginner skills.  Three years later, I finally finished the dang thing, I mean the lovely quilt.

I'm not going to post a picture of the quilt now, because I want to take photos of it in the show.  I will show you a tiny sample of what I'm doing though.  Hopefully the judges will have some advice on binding because I know my hand sewing is not the best. That is fine, I'm enjoying the process, as Miss Carol would say.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and I hope you are enjoying the little pleasures in your life today.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." ~ Maya Angelou

Barbie's Quilts

Barb's Happy Kitten Quilt 

Barbie and I have been friends for more years than I want to admit.  Now we are more than friends, we are Qbees.  It all started with yet another garage sale.  We were browsing around sales and came across material and a White Sewing machine.  She bought some material; I bought the machine and then the fun began.  At that time, Barbie had been working on an applique quilt that she created from old coloring book pages - see the quilt above.  To me, this is folk art.  You will never find another quilt like this!  Much of the material is from her old scrap barrel and it is all "hand quilted."  It's so interesting and fun to see all the different "happy" kitties.  You can enlarge the quilt by clicking on the picture.  The black border has little paw prints.  Perfect fit.

Another quilt Barbie  completed is this Baby Log Cabin, so soft and pretty.  It went to Colorado for her new great granddaughter, Willow Harper.  Isn't that a pretty name for a lovely little girl?

Barbie and Willow Harper

Firecracker Quilt

Barbie made this quilt for her friend Cindy.  Cindy loves wolves and bright colors.  Barbie thought the firecracker theme fit her perfectly - and it does.

  

Bruce's Quilt

Barbie's son Bruce was in the Coast Guard and stationed in Kodiak, Alaska.  Barbie picked out the material and designed this quilt for him . . . Miss Carol of Sweet Peas and Possum helped with the flying geese (come to think of it, she has helped me with flying geese lately too)  Take a look at this sweet Alaska themed quilt.  

30's Quilt

Barbie loves the 30's Depression prints and made this quilt just for fun.  It's a rainbow of color.

These are just a sampling of all the quilts Barbie has completed in the past three years.  She is an inspiration to me to keep sewing and trying new ideas.  Barbie is my best Qbee! 

 “To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.”            ~ Reba McEntire
. . . and a best friend!  

Kent Haymaker Farmers' Market Mural

For most of the 20 years that the Kent Haymaker Farmers' Market has been in existence, I am happy to say that I was there.  If you know anything about Kent, the market is located down Franklin Avenue past Ray’s.  In the first years, the market was tiny with only a handful of vendors, but now . . . America is on a health kick and everyone wants to eat healthy and buy local.  I say, “It’s time to visit the market!” 

Our little market has grown into a community hot spot and that is where we spend our Saturday mornings.  I guess the fact that my son Earl sells corn down at the market is a big incentive – free corn for mom!  However, I would go with or without the corn.  My son Adam and my granddaughter Zoe usually go with me and Zoe put it very nicely when she said, “Everyone knows me at the market.”  And indeed they do: the cookie lady, the scone man, the bread lady the maple popcorn lady, the pierogie booth and the cheese sample guy.  We visit them all!

This year, the market planners commissioned a mural to be painted on the “legs” or pillars of the overpass bridge.  A young artist, Elaine Hullihen who studied art at Kent State, is doing the mural.  The mural has vegetables, people, art, and poetry to represent the market and Kent’s history.  I had the pleasure of meeting Elaine.  She is a wonderful young lady who along with doing art also teaches yoga.  Climbing up on that lift and painting the pillars – I can see that yoga might come in handy. 

I am very proud to live in Kent when I see art projects like this happening in the community.  Click on the link to view an article from our local paper about the mural project: http://www.recordpub.com/news/slideshow/5204161

Take a look at the mural progress so far.  I will add more posts as the painting gets closer to completion.

Artist Elaine Hullihen at work

Do you see the hands?

My son Earl selling corn.

We enjoy a variety of local entertainment.  Lots of talent in Kent

Zoe loves the flowers

Model of Mural

The mural is starting to come to life.  Can you see part of the poem?

The hands are taking shape

I can hardly wait to see the finished mural.  How about you?  I'll be sure to share more pictures.