Out of the loop

Have really been off the radar lately. Youngest daughter is now offically married, the reception is over and everyone is back home and back to work. This is the year that the kids visit the husbands family on Christmas, so we'll be having several celebrations this year. Plans are to go to Atlanta some time during those last two weeks.

Well, grand-daughter Chloe was just barely walking when we saw her the last time. The next week Rachael reports that not only is she walking, but that she is RUNNING! Good grief they grow up fast!

I'm in a lot of new Block swaps. Always sign up for way more than I need to do. Well, I do plan on doing most of them from my stash. My Thursday Bee are all going in together on 7 bolts of of ICE fabrics (that is Ivory, Cream and Ecru). I need to take some pictures of the swap that we just finished from my NO PITA Blockbuilders that meets once a quarter. It was Churndashes done with BRIGHTS and Black on White or White on Blacks. The new swaps all are using the creamy backgrounds and either civil war repros or scrappy fabrics.

Well, I thought I was getting rid of a LOT of fabric. A large container packed and overflowing with fabrics. Donated to the ARTITUDE bunch that is going to make a crazy quilt for a fund raiser for the next quilt show. I ended up coming home with a car packed to the gills with 'stuff' from a friend who is moving to San Antonio. She was having the junk movers come at 4:30, so we were all 'rescueing' good stuff that was just going to get dumped. Still going through things, but I think the neatest thing was the stone tumbler doo-hicky thingee. Can't wait to put some of the Huatulco shells and glass that we brought home in there and see what comes out.

PC or Mac?


Don't you all enjoy those Mac ads where PC is valiantly trying to prove himself as good as Mac? Well, I've been a PC user since the mid 80's and you would think that when I asked for a new computer for my birthday that I might consider a Mac. Well, I didn't, and I got a new Dell. Actually, it has been a pretty painless switch-over from my old pc to the new one. I was also afraid of Vista, but apparently I've got Microsoft 7. I actually kinda like it. Guess I'm that nerdy PC guy.

Quilt Market Houston

Back from Quilt Market. It was early this year, but I was more than ready. Didn't really see any new 'gadgets' that I couldn't live without. Lots of new fabrics, patterns and books. What I'm noticing is that the patterns really are not 'new', but the same old traditional thing done in current fabrics. Does that consitute a 'new' pattern? Reminds me when I was 'little' and Mom would take me to Cloth World to look at dress patterns. She would remind me to look at the 'lines' of the pattern not the colors that the pattern was presented in. I mean really, a Churn Dash or Hole in the Barn Door is still the same. Do we really need new patterns for them? Now, if the 'artist' is presenting a new technique, that is something else entirely. The same thing when your favorite author (Merced Lackey) releases a book and you get it because it is your favorite author after all, you get it home and you figure out it is a book you read 15 years ago, just has a new cover and a new title. Bummer. OK, off my soapbox, and back to the Market report.

I think I only took one picture, and that was of Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. She has a couple of new books. HOP TO IT and FRIENDSHIP TRIANGLES . Friendship Triangles will be available in November 2009. Edyta was doing a book signing, and these were available to us at Market. She loves doing half square triangles and apparently one shop made about 50,000 of the little squares! I don't think it takes THAT many to make the cover quilt. LOL. I'm already doing the HOP TO IT applilque quilt. Well, lets just say I have the first block cut out. Not sure if I have actually put an applique stitch in yet. BUT, this will be one the of the projects that I'm working on while babysitting the OLD FASHIONED QUILTING BOOTH at Festival. I'll be one of the ones sitting around the quilting frame showing others how to hand quilt. Be sure to stop by and say hello!

Paradise Found!

What a wonderful week! We just spent the last week in Hautulco Mexico. I bet most of you have never heard of this little piece of paradise. This is an undiscovered area that there are a few resorts in the area, but the has not been highly developed. Only recently, a couple of cruise ships a week stop in there, but otherwise seems untouched by the outside world. One of our shopping trips, we found a textile district. One place had the larger looms where they were weaving cotton blankets. The shop a couple of doors down was a smaller business where they did everything from raising the animals, getting the wool, dyeing, carding, spinning and weaving. They had smaller looms for making intricate wool designs. More on that later.

The main reason for going to Mexico was that our youngest daughter was getting married - on the beach. What a pretty bride! Family and friends attended the ceremony. Most everyone was barefoot! The band that played was a gift from the resort (Dreams Resort & Spa) was a nice touch. NOW, we need to start thinking about next set of grandkids! No pressure!