And the winner is…..

I asked for help in naming this quilt:

and got LOTS of wonderful suggestions.  Thank you all so very much.

The winner is Carol, who suggested:

Carol…email me with your mailing address so I can get a prize off to you.  It will be a surprise…to BOTH of us!  LOL

I chose the name “Love, Second Time Around”  because the tablecloth was used… re-purposed.  And because this project was as wonderful/awful, loving/nasty, good/bad, disappointing/satisfying, and easy/difficult as my 2nd marriage.  I was madly in love with my late husband…. and miss him all the time.  But living with him was like living on a roller coaster.  Much like working on this quilt!  I thought of him often when stitching it.  So the name fit!

I got my MQX entry info sent, and some other little jobs done in the last few days.

My next little project is to put a border on this round robin I am involved in.  The next border has to be appliqued.  I have a plan.  Plan #537 in fact!

Exciting news

You know how sometimes you donate time or money and then wonder if that effort was worth it?  Well, I have news for you.

Almost a year ago I was taking names for the Alzheimer’s banners that were made by the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative.   Many of my blog readers sent me names of their loved ones who are or were affected by Alzheimer’s to be included on the banners.

If you go to the AAQI blog, you will see the displays of these many banners.  But MOST importantly, you can read about a huge discovery just made about Alzheimer’s.  And that discovery was made because of the donations made to this cause by quilters and quilt lovers throughout the world.

It is true.  We can make a difference in our world.

Please….. go to AAQI and donate, if you haven’t already.  Or donate again in celebration!

 

 

Stimulating the economy

I did my civic duty today, and helped to stimulate the economy.  I went fabric shopping.

These are for a feathered star quilt.  I will be taking a class at MQX on how to do it.  Ronda was supposed to teach, but she is recovering from a total knee replacement.  Linda will be teaching instead.  Tomorrow I hope to start cutting.  I have to have “homework” done before I go to the class in April, so want to be sure I get it done before hopping a plane to New Hampshire April 12.

CBS Sunday Morning

Make sure you get up to watch the CBS Sunday Morning Show. They are supposed to air a piece about the International Quilt Festival in Houston and something about Ricky Tims.

A great day for quilting. Do you think it is finally being aired because TODAY is National Quilting Day? They taped the Houston segment last November.

Let’s hope for no more disasters that create breaking news… which would interrupt quilting in the spotlight!

Working with Wool

I finished the wool quilt today.  The top was a combination of cotton pieced blocks and wool appliquéd blocks and borders.  The backing is cotton, batting is QD wool.

I am allergic to wool, but really had very little problem.  The fabric made me much itchier than the batting.  I will definitely be using this batting again.  It quilts just like butter.  I had a hard time taking pics of this one.  It was too big to handle myself, with the camera…. Steve was hunting.  And no matter what kind of lighting, the quilting doesn’t really show up in photos.

Two of the corners on the borders are appliquéd.  The other two are just negative space.  I “ghost quilted” the negative space in the borders and in the basket blocks.

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If you didn’t get a chance to go to the Houston International Quilt Festival, then HERE is your chance! This is a link to  the best photos I have seen from the show.  If you are on  cable or dsl, you may want to click on the slide show feature.   Enjoy!

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I went to the funeral home today to see the family of my quilting friend that died.  On the way home I missed the best opportunity for a picture.  It was almost dark (would have been too dark for a good shot) and on a back country road (too dangerous to just stop to take pictures) when we came up behind an Amish buggy.  As we were passing, I realized the guy had a dead deer riding on top of the buggy!   It would have surpassed all the deer photos in the back of the pick-em-up-trucks!  I had never seen this before, but know people who have.   In the summer we see Amish buggies with boats on top, headed to the lake.

Steve  saw 3 or 4 deer on the run today, but couldn’t tell if they were bucks or not through the brush and trees.  A buck has to have at least 4 points on one rack to shoot them.  And he doesn’t have a doe license.

Oprah is in Chicago area

My Oprah quilt will be in the Chicago area at the Mancuso Show this week. Hopefully some of you will be able to attend? More information HERE.

Grand Finale of 2007 World Quilt Competition Tour
November 8-11, 2007 Schaumberg, IL

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Here is my little thought for the day. Something that I have been thinking about.

Why is it that some people can’t just move on and leave it alone? Surely you know people like that in your lives. The obsession continues and grows and is such a waste of energy. I just don’t get it. I don’t need that kind of negative energy. I am happy, relatively healthy and want to keep it that way. Negativity and worry about stuff that mostly wont happen anyway is such a waste.

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And here is what I need to quilt tomorrow. Any suggestions?? Sure could use some on this one. The top was pieced using Quiltsmart. (nope, not mine, belongs to an out of state client) Ooooo…… I didn’t know till just now when I checked to make sure the link worked…. they have a dahlia now too. Right. As if I needed another project.

Hoping someone can share some magic with me…….

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That new header is a picture I took from the plane on my way home a few days ago. It is the sunset over the Houston area. I have never seen a sunset like that. I was told by the pilot that it had to do with the Autumnal Equinox.

September 11

If I ask you where you were on 9/11, you will know. It is an event that is seared in our collective minds and souls. I look to the anniversary of this day with a sense of sadness, and yet also with great pride and joy.

You see, 9/11 is also the day Steve’s business was born. It is the day the Gammill Classic Plus (our longarm quilting machine) was delivered and set up. We were also trained that day. Well…. we tried. Steve tried. Our dealer tried. I mostly stood in front of the tv in shock and profound sadness. I can’t honestly remember a lot that I was supposed to have learned that day. I should have been so excited…. but I was not. Our world as we knew it, had stopped. Changed. In ways we could not grasp. It was too big to comprehend. Too awful. Too much. Too many lives. GONE. Too many citizens. Gone. For what? How could I learn how to run a longarm on THIS day? I couldn’t.

So as I reflect on the anniversary of that day, I am pleased to report that Steve and I have fared better than our government…. better than the world. His business is thriving. We have learned a ton of things about business, quilting, people, quilt shows, and most importantly….. about ourselves…. in the past 6 years. We have grown personally, professionally and together. Neither of us has regretted buying the Gammill at all.

6 years ago, I did not know that I was an artist. I didnt know that my true talents would come through quilting and art. I did not know I would share with others how I feel and think about my world thru quilted art. I did not know I could.

On that note…. let me share with you my art quilt that was in a special exhibit called “The Culture of My Country” last year and traveled to France, Houston, and Chicago.

“The Price”

Oprah’s Travel Schedule

Ok, so I really dont know where all the real Oprah is traveling. But I do know where my “Oprah” quilt is traveling!

Possibly some of you will see it at the Mancuso Quilt Show that starts tomorrow in Harrisburg, PA. If so, I would love to see a photo of it hanging there. Look for the special exhibit titled “She Made Her Mark, Too” and then look for Oprah! Here is what she looks like.

The travel schedule is below.

The Mancuso’s Venue Tour
World Quilt & Textile Show
September 6-9, 2007 in Harrisburg, PA

Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF)
October 11-14, 2007 Santa Clara, CA

Grand Finale of 2007 World Quilt Competition Tour
November 8-11, 2007 Schaumberg, IL

As usual….. my quilts travel MUCH more than I do.

Gayle