Off to the Big Show!

Now that I've given you a little taste of southern Florida beauty on the St. Lucie River, let's be off to the West Palm Beach Convention Center which is about a 35-40 minute drive south, depending on traffic. It was the site of the "World Quilt Show- Florida VI", January 8-10, 2015. This event, organized by Mancuso Show Management, was  comprised of 19 shows under the one roof! The big draw was of course the World Quilt Competition XVIII - On Tour. These are the international entries of the 2014 World Quilt Competition, which was judged in August of 2014. Participating countries were Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
The others were a mixture of state, national and international shows: Florida Guild shows/challenges, the Florida Quilt Competition, the Hoffman Challenge, shows from Israel, Curaçao and SAQA Brazil... I'm sure you get the picture. There was something for everyone- art quilts, traditional quilts, thought-provoking quilts, humourous  quilts, hand quilted, long arm quilted, you name it, it was there. And then of course there was the Vendors Mall- 73 vendors this year, and naturally you must visit each and every one! Some we visited twice. And some we visited more than twice... (Now you're beginning to understand why we spent three full days, from 10a.m. to 6p.m. at the WPB Convention Centre. By the time we exited the building each day, the sun was going down...) Yes our feet, our eyes and our brains (and our wallets) were tired, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!!
So- let's look at some quilts, shall we? I'm going to begin with a few Guild Challenges first. My friend Sandi is a member of two guilds in her town, and she had an entry in both of their Challenges. The Martin County QG did a music challenge in 2014; participants were to select a favourite song as their inspiration for  a quilt, with a perimeter no smaller than 96" and no larger than 180". I thought the entries were all awesome. They were so varied - it's always interesting to see how each person interprets the theme.

Best of Show/Viewer's Choice and Best Use of Theme ribbons went to The Other Mozart by Jane Taylor.

First place and Best Use of Color was won by The Reach by Nancy Smith.

Second place went to Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes by Sandi MacMillan.

(Sorry, I somehow missed getting a photo of the third place winner...)
Honorable Mentions went to three quilts:  Achy Breaky Heart by Joan Carman,

Splish Splash by Sandee Monk

and finally, Come Fly with Me by Maureen McNally.

Sandi's other guild, Gone To Pieces Quilters, meets weekly, and they had an exhibit of their 2014 Challenge, "From The Sea". Entries in this challenge are not judged. Here are just a few of my favourites:

Oku No Kame (Lots of Turtles) by Mary Anderson.Mary is a sweet, sweet lady who does such beautiful hand appliqué. I loved this one!!

Of course Sandi's entry, Bathtub Beach was a favourite as I too love Bathtub Beach. You can see photos here of my visit to this beautiful beach last year. Sadly I didn't get there this year (ran out of time.)

I think Sandi did an awesome job quilting this piece. Note the iridescent bubbles...
I wonder if it's a coincidence that this cat bears a strong resemblance to Sandi's cat Angus...

I loved the blues (of course!) in Jane Taylor's quilt One Fish, Two Fish. Great quilting too!!

That's all for tonight. Stay tuned for lots more quilts to come....




Peace,
Linda

My body is here, but my heart is at the beach.

I'm Back....

I'm back! Back from paradise, and back to reality... sigh... The cold, the snow, wearing socks... not to mention winter coats, scarves, gloves, boots. Sometimes I wonder why we live where we do, especially in winter! You've likely guessed by now, that my vacation trip was a return to southern Florida where the grass is green, the sky is blue and the palms are waving in the breeze. I am so fortunate to have a very kind and generous friend who welcomed me once again into her home, for 10 full days this time! Ten very busy days I might add - we were on the go all the time and accomplished a lot. "No stone left unturned" as they say... You'll be hearing all about it in the coming days.

The main focus of the visit was the World Quilt Show - Florida VI in West Palm Beach. It was every bit as good as last year's show, and I have many many photos of fabulous quilts to share with you in the next week or so. But first, especially for all of you who are already tired of our long cold winter, I thought I'd start off with a taste of warm weather - green grass, sunshine, and birds. Much as I love the little chickadees that frequent my feeder, it was wonderful to enjoy some colorful southern birds - what's not to love about parrots and flamingos, pelicans and egrets?

Sandi's new home is on the south fork of the St. Lucie River, and oh what a treat it was to sit on the back deck and enjoy that river and all it entails. The view and the sunsets were so beautiful. And I so enjoyed watching the birds too - the ospreys and pelicans are continually gliding by, keeping a keen eye out for their next meal or snack, the ospreys soaring high and the pelicans gracefully skimming the surface. Herons and egrets are frequent visitors....

This osprey loved to sit high up in the Live Oak. What a perch!

A young Blue Heron, a frequent morning visitor.

Herons and egrets strolled along near the shore, just feet from the deck, often snapping up a small unsuspecting fish with their lightning fast jabs underwater with those long beaks. They were so amazing to watch. Sandi frequently sees a kingfisher as well, but we did not spot him while I was there; of course we weren't home that much during the day, either.

I first visited Florida when I was 6 years old... many years ago! I can still remember a verse I learned on that trip, about the pelican....

"A gorgeous bird is the pelican
Whose bill can hold more than his bellycan.
He can put in his beak
Food enough for a week,
But I'm blessed if I can see how in hellican!"

(It was a big deal to a 6 year old to be allowed to say the word "hell"...  lol)

Well it's getting very late and I have spent way too much time on this post. I'll leave the parrots and flamingos for another day, and end this post with a sunset on the St. Lucie River. The following photos are "as is" out of the camera - the color has not been altered or edited. The sunsets were incredibly beautiful. They changed hue very quickly, some of these photos were taken just seconds apart. Enjoy. (These photos were all taken on the same evening... I simply zoomed in or out, and moved back and forth a few feet on the deck.)

At this point, I thought "Okay, that's it. The show is pretty well over." Then look what happened....

What an incredible show! All for free... right from the back deck. Life just doesn't get any better than that....

Peace,
Linda

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." ~ Lao Tzu

The BEST Caesar Salad dressing.

Ooooof! I think I indulged too much over Christmas. My scales tell me I didn't gain any weight, but I feel like I did... It's a good thing I love salads. Do you? I think I'll be eating more of them in the days to come. Good healthy ones...
I have a number of homemade dressing recipes I love using. This is one I make often, as we love Caesar Salad, and it's fairly "low cal". It is quick, easy and doesn't have any "exotic" ingredients; it takes less than 5 minutes to make. Hope you'll try it - let me know how you like it!

1/2 cup Miracle Whip (I use the low fat version)
1/4 cup milk (I use 2%)
2 Tblsp. lemon juice (I use fresh if I have it, but bottled works well too)
1 - 1.5 Tblsp. grainy Dijon mustard (the original recipe called for 2 Tblsp. Dijonnaise, but I am quite sure it is no longer produced, so I use a grainy Dijon. Use the lesser amount if you don't like it too mustardy)
1/4 cup grated parmesan (fresh is best, of course!!)
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1-2 crushed garlic cloves  (to taste), crushed, minced or pressed- whatever your preferred method

Mix ingredients in given order, store in refrigerator. Make at least a few hours ahead of anticipated use, for best flavour. This makes enough for several good-sized salads, and will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

Tear up freshly washed romaine lettuce. Toss with dressing and top with crumbled crispy bacon, croutons and freshly grated parmesan.  Yummmmm.

Peace,
Linda

"I really regret eating healthy today".. said no one ever.

Ready for Another Book Review?

On February 14, 1982, the oil rig Ocean Ranger sank in the Hibernia oil fields of the North Atlantic, off the coast of Newfoundland during a severe storm and all those aboard drowned. Lisa Moore's 2009 novel February fictionalizes the deep physical and emotional grief still resonating years later with those who lost fathers, sons, husbands, brothers and lovers in the tragedy by telling the story of one widow, Helen O'Mara while she struggles to carry on and bring up her young family. Helen is left with three young children, and a fourth on the way.
The novel jumps back and forth in time; back to Helen and Cal's courtship and marriage, ahead to the present (2008) when Helen is in her mid-fifties and still grieving, back to the time of the disaster when Helen finds out Cal has drowned... In some cases this drives me crazy in a book, but Moore has written it so well, and often included a date at the beginning of each chapter, I didn't find it confusing or hard to follow the story.
Over twenty years later, Helen's grief is still profound - she still wonders exactly how things unfolded that night. Was Cal asleep? Or was he playing cards? Was he thinking of her and their children? Did he really understand what was happening? Helen struggles to get on with her life. A sub-plot involves her son John who arrives home unexpectedly with life-changing news.
We all deal with grief differently, it is a very personal process; Moore has captured one woman's journey. A powerful story of love and loss, and the long road back, it was the Canada Reads winner of 2013.

Peace,
Linda

"I think books are like people, in the sense that they'll turn up in your life when you most need them."
~Emma Thompson

Grow Your Blog Party Reminder

This is a reminder post for all my blogging friends.... You may have noticed a new button recently at the top of my sidebar - it's the third annual Grow Your Blog party, hosted by Vicki at 2 Bags Full. Vicki came up with this midwinter event to brighten our long winter days, and increase our readership. If you'd like to join in the fun and attract some new readers to your blog, you should sign up soon - the deadline to join in the fun is fast approaching- January 17th is the final day to sign up. Simply click on the button on my sidebar, or click here and it will take you to Vicki's  sign-up post. You can read all the guidelines and leave a comment to join in the fun. This event is open to all bloggers, regardless of where you call home. Who wouldn't like to attract some new readers, and possibly they will choose to become followers too! And of course, you will meet all sorts of new blogging friends, and find some new blogs to follow yourself! The party starts on January 25th, but signup closes on the 17th so hustle on over to see Vicki and sign up now! I can't wait for the party to begin!
(If you are not a Blogger, of course you too can visit Vicki's blog on January 25th to see the long list of participating bloggers- you too will benefit by finding many new interesting blogs to visit. This year the participating blogs will not only be grouped by the number of followers they have at present, but also will list up to three hobbies/interests of each host blogger.)
Okay, what are you waiting for? Scoot on over to Vicki's to check it all out and sign up!!

Peace,
Linda

"Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them."
~Francesco Guicciardini

Off On An Adventure...

As you read this today I am heading off for a bit of vacation.... I'm not taking my laptop, only my new iPad (which I'm still learning about!!) so I'm not sure if I'll be doing any blogging while I'm gone. I may do a bit if I can snag my friend's laptop to use.... but right now, no promises. I have heard that blogging from an iPad is not easy.. I don't think writing the text is a problem, it's adding the photos. At least, I haven't figured it out yet. Any of you have any suggestions or advice? I'm all ears, do tell. There must be a way, surely?

Now don't go running away... I do have some posts pre-written and scheduled to post while I'm away. And who knows, I may be blogging a bit, but it'll likely be brief. But I'll have lots to "show and tell" when I get back!! You can be sure of that!! Can you guess where I'm off to? Listen hard, maybe you can hear me singing  ♫ "I'm leeeeavin', on a jet plaaaane...." ♫

Not at all sad to be leaving the minus 38 degree temps with wind chill behind......

Peace,

Linda

"I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth. Then I ask myself the same question." ~ Harun Yahya

Simple Beauty

I'm busy busy today so just a very quick post to share this beauty with you. My (supposed to be PINK) amaryllis has four lovely scarlet blooms, with another stalk and swelling bud containing hopefully another 3 or 4 blooms still to open. The stalks are not as tall, nor the blossoms as large as some I have had. I bought this one later in the season and it was already growing in the box. I think this often results in one that is not as tall; I've gotten better results when buying these as soon as they appear in the stores, so the tip of the growing stalk/bud is just barely peeking out of the bulb. Just my thoughts, no scientific proof here.... And as for the size of the blooms, this bulb is smaller. Often you will see two prices on the amaryllis "kits"- the higher priced one will be a larger bulb (more mature) and this will give you a larger plant.
Regardless, it is beautiful- what's not to love about  gorgeous fresh blooms in the midst of  a cold snowy winter?!! So, no more talk. I'll just let you enjoy the beauty....

Peace,
Linda

"Each flower is a soul opening out to nature." ~ Gerald De Nerval

Christmas Sewing... Reveal #1.

I promised you before Christmas to show you my "holiday gift sewing" once the gifts were received and opened. Well, that was more than a week ago now, wasn't it? Just call me slacker! The issue has been the photos. I had three projects - the first was a set of Christmas placemats for Laura- yes, my current fav pattern - the "Take Four" mats. They were done for a while before I had the package ready to send. But can you believe we seemed to be in a "grey" period weather-wise, and there was not one bright day to get a good photo outdoors with natural light. The ones I took inside are yellowish- very poor for giving you a good idea of the true color. You might have caught a glimpse of the fabrics in this photo of Ollie, my tried and true studio companion and "helper". (I use that term "helper" very lightly!)
And Laura has not been off work on a bright day either, so still no good photos of the set. She did send me this photo of three of the four mats on their table one night recently just before dinner. So this will have to suffice until she gets a better outdoor photo in natural light.
The second project was a table runner which I finished late the day before I sent the package off, so you know what happened- once again, no good photo. You'll see it once she sends a decent photo. It's a runner by Disa Designs.
The third project is still waiting.. you might have to wait till Christmas 2015 to see it! lol  Maybe I'll get motivated to tackle it later this month... We'll see...
I just didn't want you to think I've been a total sloth lately...
What are you working on these days?

Peace,
Linda

I think of my sewing machine as a power tool... with thread.