WOW! (and free books)

I've been amazed by a lot of things lately.  Bermuda was amazing - I don't remember ever being in water so clear and warm; I spent HOURS floating on my back in the ocean.

That's me in the black cover-up.  This was day 1, the first beach we hit.  We went to at least one beach a day, every day.

I'm not usually much of a fan of the beach, mainly because I don't like sand or sharks (!), but since the water was so nice, I didn't spend any time in the sand, and since the island is surrounded by coral reefs, they don't have sharks there (at least, that's what they told me, and I chose to believe them).

The kids enjoyed the waves,

the sand,

dressing up in costumes at the world heritage center in St. George,

jetskiing, riding the bus all around the island, taking ferries from port to port, and riding in the limo that my MIL hired to take everyone back to her house from the airport.  It was definitely a memorable vacation.

But I was also amazed by the prices - why didn't anyone tell me how EXPENSIVE everything is there!?!  All I could think was, "Thank goodness I just got paid!"  :)

I was also amazed to learn when I stopped by the farm store today that I had my first sale (YAY!) and that the proprietor had gotten lots of positive comments about my items for sale, and she specifically asked that I make some of my pillowcase shopping bags to bring in to sell because she's interested in buying some and thinks others will be, too.  Validation makes me so happy!

And surprisingly, yesterday I got bitten by the PURGING bug.  I am a nester and a collector by nature, so when I am moved to get rid of something, I do it fast before the feeling passes.  I took a load to the dump, 4 boxes to Goodwill, and I cleaned out my sewing/quilting books because my bookcase was overflowing.  I was so proud of myself for pulling about 30 books out to get rid of, but my quilting books STILL don't fit.  Gonna have to get another bookcase, I guess.

Anyway, I wanted to offer those books free to anyone who wants them.  I was going to list them here and on Paperbackswap.com.  I listed them on Paperbackswap.com first, and by the time I had finished listing all of them, 3 had already been requested.  I went to cub scouts with the boys, and by the time we were done, 9 more had been requested and 7 were placed on hold.  Holy cow!  I had no idea they would move that fast! 

I'll list what is left, and if you see a book you want, list it in a comment.  If it hasn't been snapped up through Paperbackswap.com yet when I receive your comment by email, I'll put it in the mail to you.  I'm just going to list titles and ISBN numbers - you'll have to look them up to see what they are actually all about.  They are mostly older books, but all in very good condition.

Quilts for Chocolate Lovers - Janet Jones Worley - 1574327607
Quilts from Simple Shapes: Squares - Mary Coyne Penders - 0913327336
PS I Love You Two: A Sequel - Nancy J Smith & Lynda S Milligan - 1880972263
Osage County Quilt Factory - Virginia Robertson - 1564770133
Singer Sewing Reference Library Quilting by Machine - 086573254x
The New Sampler Quilt - Diana Leone - 0942786416
Scrap Happy: Quick Pieced Scrap Quilts - Sally Schneider - 0943574730
In The Beginning - Sharon Evans Yenter - 1564770052
Better Homes and Gardens Patchwork & Quilting - 0696001756
American Patchwork Quilt Designs - 0870407449
The Shade Book - Judy Lindahl - 0960303227

I'm happy to be back, and looking forward to catching up on what y'all were doing while I was lounging about in paradise!

Did someone say BERMUDA??

I should be up front with everyone here in my office today - I am not going to be able to focus!  This is my last day in the office before a week's vacation in BERMUDA with the family!  I've never been - does anyone who has been to Bermuda have advice or "can't miss" recommendations for us?

In addition to exploring (by bicycle?  Is it one of those places where we can all rent bikes and get along just fine for the week?  I hope so!), I will be relaxing with some new quilt fiction that I ordered just in time for this trip,

and with some hand quilting.  I was hoping to have my String Star Bee quilt completely assembled and ready to quilt for this trip, but so far, I only have 2 rows together.  Last night I sandwiched my Orange Creamsicle quilt

Remember this one, made from vintage linens?

with a vintage sheet backing.  It is relatively small, lap sized, so will be a good one to work on while traveling.

Last night, I also finished the quilting on my little pink and green doll/baby quilt.  I'll definitely do the big stitch with embroidery floss quilting again - it was fun and quick.  The binding is sewn onto the front, and now I just need to hand stitch it down on the back and it'll be completely done.  I'll post a full picture when that is done, but here is what I did with the big white spaces on all four sides of the quilt

No flash so that there wouldn't be a glare and you could actually see the quilting.

and for the little white triangles in the borders, lots and lots of french knots.

OK, taking decent photos of quilts is HARD!

Even though I haven't washed it yet, it already has that crinkly look that I love!

I wish this were bigger to I could use it myself!

So, I'm not sure what my internet connectivity will be while I'm abroad - you may not hear from me a while.  But rest assured, I'll be doing JUST FINE!

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Last week, a little Farm Store opened up between Lexington (where I work) and Buena Vista (the next town over).

The Farm Store, Rte 60 and Bares Wood Road between Lexington and Buena Vista, VA

It is a cute little place!

I stopped by to check it out because I love eating local foods when possible, and the Farmer's Markets here on Wednesday and Saturday mornings just aren't convenient for me.  I was delighted to see when I arrived that they also sell local CRAFTS! 

The wheels in my little ole brain started turning and I thought, "hey, maybe I can put some of MY stuff here..."  I'm pretty shy about this kind of thing, but as I was checking out with my fresh veggies, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and asked how one becomes a vendor.  I'm so glad I asked!  She gave me an application, I completed it over the weekend and printed out some pages from my ETSY store so she could see my stuff, and took it by to her yesterday.  She approved me on the spot (YAY!) so I went by at lunch today to set up my spot.

My little spot, right under the window! (and beside the potatoes - hee, hee, hee!)

Crayon rolls (making these is like eating potato chips for me - can't make just one!), Scrabble tile earrings, upcycled denim bookmarks and business cards



Half aprons made from upcycled pillowcases and table scarves. I need to go back and take a photo of the orange apron with embroidery - it is one of my all-time favorites!

I didn't take much, just the stuff I've made lately that isn't in my ETSY shop - 3 aprons, 7 crayon rolls, 7 pairs of Scrabble tile earrings, a mini quilt and some bookmarks.  And business cards, of course.  I am so excited, and hope that someone who wanders in there likes my stuff, but even if I never make a sale, I am so proud of myself for getting over my fear of putting my creations out there (and possibly being critiqued or poorly received).  As the old adage goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Way ahead!

My fabric for the August Bee Block arrived early, so here it is still July, and I've already gotten my August block done - awesome!

I'm not the only one way ahead these days. My kids swam in their championship swim meet today. Donald came in first in the backstroke for his age group, finishing a full 10 seconds before any of the other kids! He was cool about it, but I'm so happy for him I could pop!

Jason said it best on his back:

Tomorrow is my husband's birthday.  I'm not sure what he wants to do with the day, but I hope there is time for some porch sitting and some quilting.  I wish summer could last forever - it is my absolute favorite time of year!

Cognitive fatigue?

My brain hurts.  I have been scrappy and wonky for so long that this month's bee block really strained my brain.  The block is beautiful, but I was really stressed out about putting all those HST in the right place.  The construction isn't challenging, per se, but you do have to pay attention.  Isn't this the SWOON block?  There was a time when I thought I'd like to make one.  Well, I can cross that off my list.  Making a whole quilt of these blocks would send me off the deep end.  How smart of her to make this her Bee Block - have everyone else make the blocks for you.  Genius!

My quilt is home from the fair.  Now I can finish up the quilting and just admire it.  I wish it were just a tad bit bigger so I could have it on my bed.  It is 77" square (well, kinda square), and it covers the top of my queen sized bed, but if either I or my husband were to roll over, the other one would be left out in the cold.  

Oh well. I have a scrappy green and cream quilt I've been working on for years that is probably big enough to cover my bed. I must finish it - I can't go through another winter without a quilt on my bed - it just isn't RIGHT!  Of course, I've said that before. This post from 2009 references the fact that I started quilting this quilt for myself years before and hadn't finished yet, and that was three years ago!

I hosted a quilting bee at my house back in 2004 or 2005 - that's how long ago I started this quilt.  Time to finish it, wouldn't you say?

Surprise!

I promised my kids that we'd go to the county fair last night, but this has been the "Summer of the Storms" here in southwestern Virginia, and last night was no exception.  Heavy rain, thunder and lightning meant that the midway rides were closed down.  We went anyway to see everything else going on.  We started with the quilt show (of course!).  As I walked up to my quilt, I was hoping against hope for a green ribbon, Honorable Mention.   I've gotten 2 of those in the past, for this baby quilt

Honorable Mention - hand quilted, 2010 Rockbridge County Fair Quilt Show

and for this mini quilt,

Honorable Mention, Miniature (although also hand quilted), 2008? or 2007? Rockbridge County Fair Quilt Show

and well, heck, it just feels nice to be recognized, doesn't it?  But I knew it was unlikely.  After all, my quilt wasn't even DONE, for heaven's sake.  So when I didn't see the green hanging there, I admit to feeling just a bit crestfallen. 

Until I got a little closer and saw the RED RIBBON!!!! 

Are you kidding me?  Second place!?!  I am just over the MOON!!!  To say I was surprised doesn't even do my feelings justice.  I must have let out a shriek or something, because all of a sudden, other people at the quilt show were peeking around the other quilts at me to see what was going on.

After that, I didn't care that I got wet and dirty wandering the fairgrounds with the boys.  We got our dinner, followed up, of course, with yummy funnel cake.  We watched them show some cattle, and then checked out the rest of the animals on our own, petting all of them at least twice, I think.  The cutest thing, though, was this kid, born right there at the fair just hours before.  Isn't he/she just adorable!

Before we got back home, my husband called to let us know that a tree had fallen across our road during the storm, and that we'd have to park the car, climb the fence into our neighbor's pasture, and hoof it back up the last STEEP hill to our house.

To my kids, this sounded like a fun adventure, so they were pretty disappointed when we got home and my AMAZING NEIGHBORS had already cleared the road.

Who says life in the country is slow and boring and predictable?  NOT ME!

Board meeting vs. BORED meeting

I have a Board Meeting once a month for our non-profit community-owned drive-in movies here in town, and I usually have to bring my kids along with me.  They call them BORED meetings, and I can understand why - what 7 year old wants to spend 2 hours discussing the price of buttered popcorn or staffing issues or fundraising ideas?  (although, Jason did suggest one time that we use kids as carhops so people can order from their cars, and we are actually considering it for next season!)

Our meeting space is actually right next door to the (indoors) movie theater in town, so last night, I let them go see The Amazing Spiderman (again!) while I went to my meeting next door.  Boy were they excited, not just to miss the BORED meeting, but also to go to the movies alone! (turns out, one of the city cops that we know was seated behind them, so when they came out of the theater, he let me know that they were perfectly behaved - I couldn't have planned it any better if I had tried!)

I brought my little pink and green scrap quilt to work on at the meeting.  I know some people think it is wrong to sew or knit at a meeting, but truly, it helps me to stay focused on what is going on at the meeting rather than daydream about what else I'd rather be doing.  And I participate MUCH MORE than some Board Members who sit there silently (with nothing in their hands) throughout the entire meeting, so they can't claim I'm not paying attention.

Anyway, I'm really liking this big stitch quilting.  I will definitely give this a try on some other quilts. 

I have some wide open white space, and wasn't sure how to fill that. I was thinking, since it is embroidery floss, perhaps I could try some french knots. LOVE IT!

Hmmm, that one on the bottom right is crooked...I wonder how much that is going to bother me.  Enough to take it out and do it again?  Unlikely!