The Show / Sale

Ah, another show/sale ends.  I am happy.  I got  up waaaaay early for me (4 am) and started on this today. Luckily I have been making things for weeks/months for this sale.   I did well!  I sold all but two potholders, all but three packages of notecards and some of everything else. I even sold a quilt.
Here is a picture of my booth before the sale opened.

The picture on the wall is NOT my painting.  It is there all the time.  I hung the bright puzzle quilt in the window behind me to ward off some of the heat from the sun. (it got surprisingly hot!) Then on my PVC pipe display rack I hung four other quilts.  The sampler quilt on the left is the one that sold. I made that quilt from the Jelly Roll Quilt Along blocks.  The purchaser wants first dibs on the one I am making now in the Layer Cake Quilt along.  Isn't that great?

I also have my A-frame display rack on the right loaded with covered notebooks, photo albums, table runners and coasters. Just under those are my potholders.  My jewelry display is in the center of the table and my notecards are along the front left two thirds of the table.  There are paintings in the window behind the table. 

Yes, ma'am/sir, I really did make all of this myself. <----- I said that numerous times. I also got lots of nice compliments. I think my head may have swelled a bit. 

I took pictures of some other booths also. But I will save those for another day. It was beautiful outside. I went out into the courtyard and took some pictures. I will tease you with a couple of them.

Japanese Maple near the outdoor altar. 

Roses by the door. 

Another red tree and the fountain.  I love those gabled windows. 

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Should I or Shouldn't I ?

I just entered a wonderful giveaway.  The title of this post is how I am feeling about telling you all about it.
I truly want to win this one.
Someone is giving away Master Machine Stitching - Thread Sketching Beyond the Basics by Susan Brubaker Knapp.  Should I tell you where to go to enter?  Or should I keep it to myself and 'maybe' increase my chances.  Kelly   errr...The  blog didn't offer extra entries for blogging about it.  So maybe I should not mention where to go. Hmmmm.........


Okay, I love you all so much, I Have a Notion to tell you.  But maybe I won't and you can figure it out for yourselves.  


But I guess I should tell you about this OTHER giveaway - Over at Retromummy , Corrie is giving away a FQ bundle of Sweet Broderie.  I am entering but you should too. (that way if you win, you can share it with me.) 

 

Quilt Along and Mail Call!

Today was busy at work.  I had lots to do for a good part of the day. I love it when the work day goes by and doesn't drag.

I did peek and see that the block had been posted  for the Moose on the Porch Quilts Layer Cake Quilt Along (that is a mouth full) had been posted.   So making it was on my agenda when I got home.
Here is my version:


I also got a NICE package in the mail.   Melissa, at Ardeas's Nest had told me that she was sending me a little thank you. She said she was "working on it" so I was thinking "cool something she is making!"
Meanwhile, another friend, named Barb,  has been teasing me about a present she knows I will be getting in the mail soon. She told me that it wasn't from her though.  She also said that I would know when I got it and to let her know.
I love surprises, but man, I was going crazy wondering about it.
So I got a priority mail envelope that was very thick.  I opened it to find this loveliness:

There are seven nice sized pieces of fabric there. It is heavy to the blue side (someone paid attention! LOL I love blue. )












Here are some closeups:

okay...someone was lucky because I can't remember telling either of them how I adore dolphins, but I do. 

The fact that I am a music lover and musician was not lost on these ladies.  I have even considered getting a ukelele, but decided against it -and ordered a penny whistle instead. (and doesn't this fabric make you think of the Elvis movie "Blue Hawaii" ?)

These two are made to go together. Mmmmm. Hibiscus! 

Now isn't this a vibrant red?  I love the flowers in a border like effect. 

And more hibiscus in a blue-green and a burgundy toned red.  

Can you imagine a floral quilt with all this in it? (the dolphins will have to find another  quilt I guess) 

I have some other hibiscus fabrics that I got in Mexico -won't these go nicely into the mix?  (maybe - I will have to put it all together and see. )

You know, I am thinking maybe I can add the dolphins in and make a "Flowering Island Delights" quilt. 

 

How old are you? Thoughts on aging

How old are you?  How old am I?  Does age matter much?

One of my online blogger friends, Wanda, is having a birthday today. She says "I have decided that my age is "ageless" in case anyone asks. "  I think that is a good answer. But it got me to thinking and I remembered reading this:
"I am still every age that I have been. Because I was once a child, I am always a child. Because I was once a searching adolescent, given to moods and ecstasies, these are still part of me, and always will be... This does not mean that I ought to be trapped or enclosed in any of these ages...the delayed adolescent, the childish adult, but that they are in me to be drawn on; to forget is a form of suicide... Far too many people misunderstand what *putting away childish things* means, and think that forgetting what it is like to think and feel and touch and smell and taste and see and hear like a three-year-old or a thirteen-year-old or a twenty-three-year-old means being grownup. When I'm with these people I, like the kids, feel that if this is what it means to be a grown-up, then I don't ever want to be one. Instead of which, if I can retain a child's awareness and joy, and *be* fifty-one, then I will really learn what it means to be grownup."
— Madeleine L'Engle


By Jove, I won't grow up if it means losing those parts of me. I love being a child in excitement. And trust me when I am really excited and anticipating something good, I am around 5 years old for a bit.  When I go to a party where I don't know many people, sometimes that shy adolescent pops out and I find a corner to "hide" in.  Put me in a play and I am 19 again and sure I can woo the world.  Let me play with a 3 year old and I can get very silly and play and crawl around on the floor. (Not to say I will be able to hop up like that 3 year old - my body is not as flexible as my mind with switching ages.)
So some days I am a teenager, some days I an an "adult" - but mostly I am ageless too. I frequently shock younger people when I tell them my age. The number one response: "I thought you were my age" I am, I have been that age! 
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