What I do

I really have a hard time defining what I do. I do many things, but the thing I enjoy the most is this...

As the crowds gather and my tummy churns with stage fright, I am going over passages in my head, reminding myself that I really do love this.

I set the stage with my props and put Dad up. This has been the best nerve-calmer for me, it reminds me they want to see my quilts, my stories are the icing, but the quilts are the cake.

Time to settle down and get the business meeting done. This is when I get the worst case of nerves. I try to pay attention to what this guild does, gauge the personality of the group. This group is one of the friendliest groups I have run into, very involved in good works, and it seems everyone is genuinely happy to be here. Today is a record crowd for them-167 quilters!

I'm only nervous for a minute, til the first quilt goes up. From that moment I am having the time of my life! I love to stretch my stories in different directions according to the group I'm talking to. The response means so much to me, that I'm connecting. All cylinders are firing today!

After I talk a while, some just want a closer look.

Some want to know how.

And some see straight into my heart. This conversation nearly brought tears, as I talk to this lady, I know that I am doing what I want to always do - quilt, make beauty in fabric, talk about it to other quilters, share and inspire.

I just love this picture!

Thank you, Debbie, for making this visit the most awesome 'business trip' I've ever taken. You are the best!

Food Pantry at YUMC

The food pantry at church usually looks like this...It is open 2 days a week for 2 hours. It is barely bigger than a closet, and shares space with the choir robes, table decorations and the water heater. It seems so small, and most of the time the shelves are sparse. But we have never turned anyone away, and there always seems to be just enough. A few times we have been very well stocked because of a drive from the local school or postal workers, we felt so blessed that the shelves were bulging! Lately times are hard and the volunteers have to pre-pack the boxes so that it is distributed evenly.

This week we had a anonymous donation and it was huge! Look at all that food! So, if by any chance anonymous reads this blog, THANK YOU!!! If not, and you're reading this, buy an extra bag of rice or beans this week and take it to your local food bank. It means so much, that little box or bag of food, to so many.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jessie Lee's favorite Valentine's Day treat, using very simple ingredients, is Chocolate Cherry Mice. We bought Marachino cherrys with stems, drained and dried them, made chocolate dipping sauce, added Hershey's Kisses and sliced almonds.

I dip and add the Kiss while Jessie adds the ears. Then we take turns dotting icing eyes. All done. Cute as a chocolate mouse!

Happy day to my favorite valentines, Jessie, Rubin and Gerald.

I had a rare, productive day yesterday. I have been attempting to clean up the sewing room. It seems insurmountable most days. But yesterday I tried a new strategy. Pick one thing that can be done in one day. Did the sewing room get clean? Most certainly not. Did I accomplish something? A big something? Most certainly I did!
I bought this quilt top at a tag sale for $10.00! I had big plans for embellishments and outstanding freemotion quilting, etc, etc. Well, today it is lightly quilted and ready for a binding. A beautiful quilt is a finished quilt~

I also picked fabric from Harold's Quilt Shack to sew backs for these FOUR, yes, count them, FOUR quilt tops! I measured, cut, sewed and pressed them all in one day! Then I pressed the tops, and marked them all with sticky notes. Yay! Then I made the continuous binding tubes to match each one!

A simple rail fence, made just to have some fun with value.

Then a few years later, using the same color scheme and a simple pattern. I wanted to see if my use of value had matured any. I think it has. I picked fabrics with texture in mind, also I think the pattern itself was a fun way to add another dimension. I tried to be more subtle and sophisticated (so not a word associated with me).

These 2 plus one more not pictured, are giant Lone Stars, one of the classes I teach for BEGINNER QUILTERS! Yes, I am crazy enough to teach a beginner quilter how to sew a Lone Star quilt. It gets even crazier when I teach a room full of beginners at once! I do this periodically with my weekly sewing group. I am so confident that they can do it, that I promise to do a Lone Star top per week until the last student is done. needless to say, this means I have many Lone Star tops just hanging around, waiting to be quilted.

Now, the best part...

I am going to take these quilt tops to someone else to quilt! Yes, I am a good quilter. Yes, I have a Handi-quilter. Yes, I am a frugal (cheap) person. Yes, I am a control freak that likes to do it all myself.

I have to let all that go and "just do it". Once I got past that idea, I feel so relieved! This time next week or so, I will have 5 quilts FINISHED! phew.

On loan to the museum, sounds so artsy!

The Florida Museum of Natural History hosted an exhibit in 2006 that featured quilts that depicted 'natural Florida'. I had a quilt that was juried into that exhibit, Secrets of the Suwannee.
That quilt was pretty popular at the exhibit and made it into a couple of very nice press articles. It was the catalyst for my career as a quilt... okay, here I hesistate much too long, trying to decide how to describe what I am... teacher? professional? lecturer? Anyway, it pushed me into my current state as a quilt lady that some people know.
It is a nice quilt. I have a better appreciation for it now, but at the time I didn't think it was so fantastic, just another of my creations. Here are some pictures of it.
The Secrets of the Suwannee

detail of bottom right

detail of top right

detail of bottom left
It is a collage of animals you might see if you float down the Suwannee River, against a backdrop of Florida as I see it. The blue border meanders into and through the quilt, that's the actual 'map' of the river from the Okeefenokee Swamp in Georgia to the point it passes the Stephen Foster State Cultural Center in White Springs, FL.

The exhibit was a total success for the museum and they immediately made plans to host another. Quilting Natural II opens tomorrow, Feb. 6th, 2010. I am happy to say that another of my quilts was accepted to be displayed for the new exhibit. "Road 9, Crandall Pasture" is not of the same caliber as "Secrets of the Suwannee", (I can say that 'cause they're my quilts) and some of the other quilts in this exhibit are absolutely stunning. So, my quilt just blends in with the exhibit, not a knockout like the last time. But I am completely tickled to be there!
Gerald and I drove down to Gainseville, had a nice dinner, then attended the preview party. Gerald lurked all night, standing near my quilt to eavesdrop. He was funny, a couple of times coming to drag me over to hear what was being said or to show me off.


Here he is, admiring another quilt, made by David Strom (sp?).
It was nice to visit with friends from all over the state that I don't get to see very often.
Here is a link to the museum if you'd like more info...

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/

I hope you get to see the exhibit sometime this Spring.

Daddy spending quality time with the boys

Priceless.