Getting ready for market…

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I have been really busy this last week tying up loose ends before I leave for Quilt Market in Portland, OR, on Wednesday. Normally both Linda and I go to market but this year Linda is going to her niece’s graduation. Luckily, Linda was able to help with a lot of the preparation for market – she’ll just miss out on the visiting. She really enjoys that part of market so I’ll have to visit for the both of us!


So, how do we prepare for market? This time we have a new collection of fabric coming out with P&B called Elanor’s Picnic. It is way cute and includes our first ever cheater cloth prints. Linda has heard that some are now calling them “convenience prints” which does sound pretty good. Quilt shops can order the fabric at market, but it isn’t going to ship until August. We all have to be patient until then. I’ll be teaching a short Take & Teach class using the fabric at market.
We are also introducing Aunt Millie’s Garden, our new block of the month published by C&T. Many of you may already have it but, if not, it’s lovely! I’ll be talking to the shop owners at market about good ways to offer blocks of the month in their shops. 
Linda made the red Aunt Millie quilt that is pictured on the pattern. (FYI – we don’t usually work together on our quilts. We each make our own. That way we know who gets to keep which quilts!) I have added Aunt Millie to my teaching repertoire and since I won’t have Linda’s quilt with me on the road, I’m working on a 4-block version of it using some of our new fabric! 
We have been working with Superior Threads on bobbin sets of their Masterpiece, 100% cotton thread, in luscious colors. There are 3 sets of 12 bobbins and they are called Frostings! We’ll get them on the site when we have them in hand. 
I have one more day to get ready… tomorrow will be a day spent on the computer. I’m mostly packed. I’m looking forward to seeing friends I only see once or twice a year!
And, last but not least, the kids were over for dinner earlier this week. I took a movie of my grandson, Jack. He’s gets more interesting every day! It’s not going to be long before he actually makes forward progress. I’ll have to do a little more baby proofing!

from Thunder Bay, MI…

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I’m just returning from teaching at a quilters retreat in Thunder Bay, MI. It was held at the Thunder Bay Golf and RV Resort just outside of Alpena, MI. This event is similar to a guild retreat. You can sew as late as you like on whatever project you want to. But here they also bring in a nationally known teacher to teach a class or two. There’s golf which is nice if your spouse or a friend wanted to come along and not quilt.I’ve never been to this part of the country before so I learned a lot about it. Did you know that the upper part of Michigan is referred to as “UP” (not the word “up” but U-P, the two letters). That’s easier than saying “upper peninsula” all the time. 

There is still snow on the ground in the UP! I didn’t see it, but I believe that it’s true because it was practically cold at Thunder Bay in the mornings. I’ll be flying home to hotter weather so it felt nice to me.
The Thunder Bay Resort is known for their elk viewing sleigh/carriage rides that include a gourmet dinner. I went with several of the women in my class last night. We rode out in horse-drawn carriages (when there is snow on the ground, runners are exchanged for the wheels on the carriages). This is the carriage that was behind the one I was in. 

We did, in fact, see elk! They are there in the photo, hidden in the trees. I learned a lot about elk last night. More than I can write about here. Suffice it to say that if you want to know what I know, you should go on the carriage ride.

Dinner was lovely. Cooked on wood stoves in a modernized cabin in the woods by Jan. She and her husband, Jack, are the developers and owners of the resort – and of a herd of elk! They are rightfully proud of what they have built. This retreat is a fun event and worth considering if you like to quilt and travel.

You just never know…

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My friend, Laurie, and I walk 3 miles 5 mornings a week when I’m not on the road teaching. Early, before dawn.

This morning at the end of our walk we heard a faint noise. I thought it was a cat in distress. But then the noise started to sound a little bit like a person—in distress. We went over to investigate and it was indeed a man. On the ground. In the bushes. In distress. Saying “call 911” in a faint voice.
Laurie stayed with him and I ran for help. I found a woman in a car with a cell phone and asked her to call 911. Then I looked up and realized that the emergency room door was pretty close (part of our walk takes us next to the hospital). So I ran there. It was like a bad movie… I was so out of breath I could only choke out the most important information.
Once I got it out, I went back to let Laurie know that help was coming and then I stood out in the road to point the way to, first, a security guard from the hospital, then the fire department, and then the ambulance. All the while Laurie was over there holding hands and praying with the man in the bushes. 
As it turns out, the man shot himself in the chest the night before and spent the night unable to move in the bushes. He didn’t kill himself, but he did hurt himself very, very badly. 
The police came. A lot of them. (There was a gun. The security man found it and moved it and the police were not happy.) Laurie and I both gave statements. I learned a lot in a very little time about suicide (and suicide attempts) from the policeman in charge. 
You know what… this is probably not what most readers of this blog would expect to read. I never had any idea that I would write a post about this sort of thing. Who expects to find a man in the bushes at dawn who shot himself the night before!? Not me. Certainly not Laurie who spent a lot more time with him than I did. What I feel compelled to say is that, if you are depressed, get help! Please don’t hurt yourself.
PS – It’s days later and I have no idea what the end to this story is. I wish I did because we all like a nice, neat ending. But life isn’t like that, is it? 
I do know that I’m more aware of the fact that you never know what’s going on inside of the mind of those around you. As a result, I’m trying to be a much nicer person to those I encounter and perhaps that’s the moral of this story.

The dancing granddaughter…

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My granddaughter, Elanor, decided (with her mother’s help) to do a happy birthday song and dance for my mom (her great-grandmother). We’ll be seeing this number again at the end-of-year dance recital. She will be more spectacularly dressed then. My son, Christopher, had the thought of putting the movie on Youtube. It’s way easier than I thought it would be!

From Florida…

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I’m teaching in the Tampa Bay area and I have to say that the Florida I have seen is really beautiful. It’s very lush. I think that you would have to beat back the vegetation to keep from being grown over! 

I’ve seen birds that I don’t see at home. One day during class (with the Manatee Quilters) I looked out and there were birds with long, curved beaks poking around for insects in the grass. Some of the women in class knew what they were, but I have forgotten. Ibis maybe? It takes me longer than one sighting to put the name and the bird together in my mind. Whatever they were, they were fun to watch.

I’m in Sarasota now with Friendship Knot Quilters, staying near a golf course with many ponds. Haven’t seen any alligators yet, but I am told that they are definitely here. I walk early in the mornings (before dawn) and am sticking to pavement! I took these photos today on my walk (after the sun came up). the golf course is how I have always pictured Florida in my mind. The shapes of the leaves on the fan palm really caught my eye.

Flying

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I flew last Friday (on American) to North Carolina to visit friends. After all of the flight problems I was surprised to get to DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) and find the place nearly deserted. There was no one in the security line! It was sort of amazing. Lots of personnel, no passengers. I was on the one flight to Raleigh-Durham that made it out on Friday morning. My flight home on Sunday was uneventful as well. These days, that’s all one hopes for.

While I was in NC I got to visit with Hollis Chatelain and see the exhibit of her quilts that was hanging in the Duke Chapel. It was truly moving. If you get a chance to view these quilts be sure to take it.
We walked through the Duke gardens that afternoon. I have never seen so much wisteria in one place in my life (we don’t get much wisteria in Sherman, TX). The scent was close to overpowering. The grounds were beautiful. It’s worth a visit!