Garden Whimsey and the Variable Stars

Tuesday night we met again at Roxie's house, this time to try our hand at making garden whimsey's out of garage sale finds.  There was some glass breakage, but all in all I think even those who didn't make one still had fun.  Even Roxie's grandsons joined in.

Carol concentrating very hard to get it just right.

This is the red, white and blue one I have been saving bits and pieced for for the last few months.



Is Roxie wondering it it's tooooo tall?

This is my green one.  Melanie pulled some of the class that I used.

Shipshewanna Quilt Show

This past Saturday my mother and I went to the quilt show in Shipshewanna Indiana.  We went last year and enjoyed the show a lot.  We also had to shop at Yoders and Lolly's.  Yoders has changed quite a bit.  The grocery area is being replaced by a deli/cafe and they added 60 feet across the back of the store so the hardware department got some and the fabric department got more room.  Bought a couple of quilt backs and a few other pieced. 

Here are some photos from the quilt show.

Red and Green Revisited by Darlene Donohue  quilted by DebbieYezbak

La Louisiane Goes to Alabama by Linda Pourciau.  This was indigos.

Mini Madness by Karen Penrod; quilted by Doris Goins

Puss-in-the-Corner by Mary Scott, quilted by Nancy Scott

Ode to the Tigers by Jane Windell.
I had to show this one for the Tiger fans in the family.  The red blocks have different Tigers and their stats.  The other blocks are baseballs.  Closeups to follow.

This and the next quilt were by Priscilla Kibbee, entitled "If Leaves could choose"

Visions of Peppermints by Marcia Hollopster and quilted by Sue Boxell

On the other side of the center where the quilt show was is the Hudson car museum.  This year they had quilts of the same vintage as the cars displayed in and around the cars.  Here are a couple of those quilts.

Victory quilt

Jan's journey continues

At quilt guild last week I found out that my friend, Jan Gagliano, will be taking on another bike trip.  No where as long as her trip from Florida to California in 2010.  On that ride she had a sag driver, Irene Blanchard.  This time Jan will be doing it all on her own. This next ride will be from a family reunion in southern Indiana back home here in Lansing, Michigan.  She once again will be keeping a blog of the trip.  Jan's writing is always enjoyable, so join Jan on her next adventure at
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/indianapuzzle

Good luck and happy trails.

Tailgate Treasurers

These are a few of my purchases over the last few weekends.  Before I headed to the quilt retreat I hit an estate sale.  More glass for possible garden whimseys and items to resell at the flea market.  The variable stars are going to get together and try their hand at making garden whimseys. 

Got this small metal folding chair at GR sale.  It's perfect for setting a pot on on my deck.

Lessons from Ben Franklin

Recently I printed out a list of 14 lessons from Benjamin Franklin from http://www.businessinsider.com/.  They seemed worth repeating

"Well done is better than well said."
"Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today."
"By faling to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
"When you're finished changing, you're finished."
"All mankind is divided into three classes, those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move."
"Never confuse motion with action."
"Do not fear mistakes.  You will know failure.  Continue to reach out."
"To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions."
"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man."
"Diligence is the mother of good luck."
"There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self."
"Who had deceived thee so often as thyself?"
"Energy and persistence conquer all things."
and
"Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late."

When I started this post 2 years ago, I didn't think I would reach this point, but this is my 100th post. Yea!

First day of vacation, and I got to have my eyes checked and then found out my mom was admitted to the hospital overnight, so I got to spend the day with her.  Fortunately by 7 pm she was feeling much better and will probably go home tomorrow.

Hankerd Quilt Retreat

This was the weekend of our Variable Star Quilt Retreat at Pleasant Lake.  These are always so much fun.  Time to get some serious sewing done, no cooking, no cleaning, no interruptions.  I went with 4 projects: Darryl's quilt, Molly's quilt, our current mystery quilt and a mondo bag project.

Working steadily I finally finished Darryl's top except for the final border.  I stopped at a couple of shops on the way home but didn't find what I was looking for so I ordered my border and backing fabric when I got home.  I have some adjustment to make on one border that doesn't want to lay flat, I think my edge setting triangles are too big, but all in all it is good to have it this far.

Wendy introduced us to these mondo bags.  They are built on a gridded fusible web.  I think there were four of us, Carol S., Melanie, Barb and I, who were working on our bags.  I actually got mine done by Saturday night.  It is a little tricky, but if you take your time, it's not too hard.  But that meant that I didn't get any farther on poor Miss Molly's quilt.  Next week I'm on staycation so I will try to get some time in on her quilt as well as the challenge and the mystery.