This and That...

Yes, I am still alive... I know, you've probably been wondering... Life is just very busy at our house these days; harvesting the garden and doing pickling and freezing, gardening and watering (mostly the latter), helping the kids get things ready for their upcoming moves, etc. etc. I did my pickled beets yesterday, and am not so patiently waiting for the tomatoes to hurry up and ripen (more than one or two at a time) so I can make salsa and ratatouille... Tomorrow's task is a big pot of turkey soup.
Just a brief update on my bro.... things are finally starting to look up for Wayne. It is 14 weeks tomorrow since his accident and he is now outfitted with an adjustable boot cast. After some problems with major swelling a week ago, and two trips to Saint John Regional in the last week, he finally has the Doc's permission to try a little walking, just in the house, with minimal pressure on his foot. The Doc said if all goes well, he should be walking by Christmas. So Wayne is feeling pretty good about that! He still has no feeling on the top of his foot, but there is feeling on the sole and some in his toes. So, we're thinking positive thoughts... :)
In my last post, I mentioned going to a quilt show in Houlton Maine. This is the annual show of the Friends and Needles Guild of Houlton. It was a nice little show, but smaller than previous years, I think. The downstairs was mostly filled with vendors, all from various parts of Maine, and the Silent Auction table, with most of the quilts on display upstairs. I didn't take many photos but have a few to share with you. I try not to post photos of other people's work unless I can give them credit, that is only right. So I have several photos which you will not see as I just cannot make out the info on the cards. Too bad, but it's not fair to display their work without giving them credit. Most shows these days actually ask you to not publish any show photos without giving credit to the makers. So, that being said, here are a few of the ones I particularly liked. Winter Wonderland by Sandra Henderson was a beautiful redwork piece which got my Viewer's Choice vote for "small quilt". (My friend Wendy in the Northstar Guild is working on this same pattern- are you inspired Wendy? Actually Wendy had a great idea to help out her sister, working on the same project- they teleconference on the phone while they work on the border star blocks. Way to go girls!!)




William Morris Friendship Star by Kim Hazlett was another favorite. Kim's work always stands out to me; she has great color sense, and her workmanship is top knotch. I always love her quilts.




Wonderful Watermelon by Diane Raush was a simple quilt, but very well done and what impressed us most was how well the overall machine quilting design suited the quilt- it looked just like wandering watermelon vines. Click on the photo for a closeup look to see what I mean.





Last is North Star Remembered, made and quilted by five sisters: Karen Gallop, Louann Ritchie, Jennifer Carr and twins Tricia McCarthy and Pamela Mailman. It was raffled off with proceeds going to the Houlton High School Alumni Association and, get this- it was won by their sister-in-law Gayle Cyr. It was beautifully hand quilted, and made with batiks in all the colors I love- blues, greens, pinks and purples. No wonder I liked it so much.

The special exhibit quilt by Laura Peterson was what I really went to see. The Quilt Show is 108" by 30"and full of amazing detail. We especially enjoyed naming the people, as many of them looked like gals we know! (No names mentioned!! wink wink) The hubby who was more interested in what time it was (looking at his watch) seemed very familiar as well - he's probably worrying about some game coming on the Sports channel... The detail on this piece was exceptional: the folds of the black drape on which the miniature quilts are displayed, the tiny real ribbons, the 3-D totebags full of purchases and the show catalogue, the painted fingernails and toenails.... incredible. You might want to go to the website here which Laura created to tell about the making of this quilt. Each of the 12 individual quilts are amazing in detail as well - you will want to read about each one on her website.
Our day trip was topped off with not one but two visits to a "new to us" Quilt Shop in Woodstock, The Christmas Crab Quiltery, located at 794 Main Street. What a lovely shop- spacious, bright, well laid out and a great inventory of fabrics, patterns and notions. We stopped on our way to Houlton, and stopped in again on our way back! What does that tell you? It's a shop worth visiting!! AND- big bonus- she's a Bernina dealer!! Woohoo!
Lastly I want to welcome several new Followers of my Blog: Maria Regina of Rio Grande do Sul Brazil, Fiona of New South Wales, Australia, and G.B. Where are you located G.B.? Glad to have you all along, hope you enjoy my ramblings... I will be back at my sewing machine very soon, with some projects to show you..

Come back tomorrow to see what's happening in the garden...

Piece,
Linda

Quilters know how to hold 'em and how to fold 'em...