MODEL HOME

When I think of my nasty old lady neighbor who gets hysterical over a dandelion.. I will forever have this house to remember. I saw it on my drive to Paducah and I had to take pictures.
Oh, where should I start? It is the place where old bowling balls go to die. Bowling balls all over the front yard. Then there's the big lighted bunny in the front window.. Oh.. and we musn't forget the life-sized rearing horse in the front yard. I missed the hogs and goats to the side. This is only the tip of the iceberg. I should go back with a bigger memory card...

SAMS X-RAYS

I have copies of his x-rays.. see on the right.. his bladder stones..

LAST TWO PHOTOS

One photo is of the unfinished section of Bryerpatch Studio. It is really nice inside and really big. I would love to see what is in the back. There are 3 rooms open in the front to buy fabric and patterns.

The second quilt is of an artist's studio I happened to drive by. We saw this great metal giraffe and I needed a picture.

MORE PICTURES

These are photos of some store windows, Kirchhoffs Bakery. In the restraunt, they serve the sandwiches on bread that they make in the bakery.

There is a photo of a house that is for sale in the lower arts district. Would make great digs for a studio..

Also included are a couple of pictures of store windows. One had interesting murals, one had an old quilt with an interesting pattern.

MORE PADUCAH PICTURES

Pictures of the Cottage we stayed in, my Paducah motto, Gail's quilt, and lunch at Kirchoffs

PICTURES FROM MY FRIEND KAYE

1,300 MILES AND 3 HOURS

Whew, I'm home. What a trip. We had a busy, great time. Note to Karoda.. I lost the paper with your phone number after I got to Paducah. I'm sorry that we ddn't link up. I hope that you had a good time. I roomed with 5 of my guild friends and my two friends from the internet. Gail won 2nd in the mixed media category with her quilt "Idling in Neutral". She was surprised and happy. That crown I got her almost didn't fit!! :) Her friend Becky was delightful. I could take a week with her, she was happy and laughing all of the time. Really nice lady. I am happy that I got the opportunity to meet them. When Gail is there with next year's quilt, which is, in my opinion, more striking than this year's quilt, I will get to see them again.

We left a day early. I was just so tired, one of my friends was on her last leg with back problems, and I just think she couldn't make it another day. I know she was happy to go home. My other friend was going to give up an opportunity to see her visiting daughter, so now she will be able to visit. And I missed my dog..

God must have intended me to leave when I did, because when I got home, my poor Sam was very sick and we had to rush him to the emergency vet. We spent 3 hours sitting there. So I wasn't in the house 5 minutes, before we were out the door again. Poor little guy has huge bladderstones and has degenerative disc disease in a disc in his back which put him in so much pain, he was shaking and crying. My husband isn't as in sync with Sam as I am, so he doesn't read the clues Sam gives when he is not well. The vet gave him some Morphine and anti-inflammatory and Sam is feeling better this morning. I will have to take him to my vet on Monday to arrange to have the bladder stones removed. Poor little guy.

And I wasn't going to tell the world, but I got my first speeding ticket on the way home. I never go more than 4 miles over the speed limit. I set my cruise to insure it. So I go into this construction zone being closely followed by a truck, and passed by cars, but I forget to take off my cruise right away. I got nailed. He asked if I knew what I did and I said "I was speeding". What? Should I have tried to get out of it? I have a hard time begging for anything. And I am big on accepting responsibility. Although, I WAS hoping my charm would get me out of it.. THAT didn't work.. My friends told me that it was the end of the month and he needed to meet his quota, and a person in an out of state car wouldn't bother to contest it.. which I won't.. eight hours away. So, so much for me limiting my purchases so I would bring money home...

I got a good night's sleep, and I didn't unpack the car. I just wanted you all to know that I was home, and that I am in good company with others that have won ribbons in Paducah in the past, but didn't this year.. Zena Thorpe, Linda Roy, Gabrielle Swain, Emily Parsons, Robbie Eklow, and many others that I can't think of. There were many beautiful quilts that have won in other big shows that didn't get anything in Paducah. I am satisfied with just being there. There were quilters standing by their quilts answering questions. I just couldn't bring myself to do that. Maybe if it had a ribbon, it would have been different. But I am just enough of an introvert, I don't want to be noticed that much.. The only negative thing that I have to talk about is Caryl Fallert's 3rd place in the Miniature category. I heard a lot of sour grapes about it. What she did was print a photo of one of her large quilts out onto fabric. Then she quilted it. I guess that you could look at it as quilting a whole cloth. But everyone who didn't look at it closely, or didn't have the knowledge of what it was, thought that she pieced those little spires and geese. There were a couple of other quilts in that case that WERE pieced with tiny spires that should have got a ribbon. There was this mariner's compas that was wonderful. Jane Holihan got first with her appliqued rose quilt. The quilt is beautiful, and she is sweet. I met her while standing in line at the NQA show last summer. She and her husband travel together to the shows. They are both very nice to talk to.

Well, I have to upload my pictures, so stay tuned. My 1gig card didn't work.. so I have to find the box and return it. I have lots to do.. talk to you later!!

NO DICE

I am sitting in the AQS Cyber Cafe. It is before the show opens, although, we visited it in a sneak preview last night. Sharon Schramber won Best in Show with her beautiful quilt Sedona Rose. She also won best.. something.. wall quilt..
I did not win anything.. didn't expect to.. Caryl Fallert won 3rd in miniatures.. with a printout of another quilt that she made and printed the image out on fabric and quilted... go figure.

Gail won SECOND in her category and $1,000.00. She was really floored.
There is a line behind me and I should get off. I will get here earlier tomorrow. Bye for now.

PACKED!!

Thanks to these nifty bags, I got 3 pair of pants, a sweater, eight or more shirts- I lost track, an extra pair of shoes, and slippers enough clothes for a weeks stay.. in this one carry-on size bag.
I am anxious to go.. but also dreading it. I slept poorly last night. And I don't feel that great today. Hopefully, It will clear up. Maybe a good nights sleep is all I need.

I need to pack "compactly" because 3 of my friends are riding along with me in my Mazda. I need for there to be enough room in the trunk for their things. This is one of those times that I wish I still had a minivan. I do like the 30 mpg mileage my Mazda gets though.. especially since gas is so expensive. Figures that it would be this high the one time in the year I actually travel.

Thanks George.. if only you would have gone to war for the oil.. it wouldn't be hitting me so hard in the pocketbook now.. dumbass...

STAY TUNED!

My friend Robin reminded me that I can go to the public library to check my email and update my blog so you will know what is going on in Paducah. I did a mapquest and I see that the library is less than a mile from the Executive Inn where the show is held. I will need some quiet time, and it will be nice to sit in a library and keep you all updated. So check back. I wish I could add pictures.. but you will have to wait until I get home for that! Lots to do! I will post again later today with some packing pictures.

VIRTUAL PADUCAH

http://www.quiltersnewsnetwork.com/

You don't have to be able to go to the AQS show to enjoy it! Quilter's News Network starts out it's Paducah coverage on Tuesday, April 25th from 6:30 - 8:30 pm EST with the AQS Awards Presentation!! then they will take you around town throughout the week, show you quilts and what is going on. Sounds like fun. You need to have a High Speed connection with your computer to view it though! I see it fine with my souped up computer. ( buying a new motherboard and memory is way less expensive than buying a whole new computer! )
I probably won't be talking to you for a week, I am leaving early Monday and I won't be home until late on Sunday. I have read that they have a few computers available to check emails. I will see if I can sneek in a blog entry. Sometimes I wish that I had a laptop. Mostly, I don't know what I would do with one. But now that my computer works so well.. maybe I will think about getting one for times like this... nah..

YAY!! IT'S FIXED!

It didn't take long. Matt fixed my computer. It was re-formatted, which means the drudgery of re-installing everything. But I have a new motherboard, more memory.. so it's faster. here is the fying geese quilt that I promised to show you. It's hard to tell, but the blue ran all over the large triangles between the geese..

Someone suggested soaking it in Oxyclean and washing it a couple more times. I might give it a try and see what happens.

COMPUTER PROBLEMS

I have been having problems with my computer for a while. Now, on Blogger, it says "Runtime error, do you wish to debug?" Anyway, Nothing but a text box shows up. None of the buttons, none ot the tabs. All of this started happening when my son left a flashdrive in his pants pocket and threw it in the washer. Stupid me.. when I found it, I put it in my computer to see if it still worked. U dib;t gyess ut dud, because ever since that I have been having trouble. I didn't want to re-format until I could upgrade. So her told me what to get. I just ordered a new motherboard and memory so I could soup up the size and speed of my computer. When I go to Paducah, he will fix my computer.. he BETTER fix my computer.

I am quilting my flying geese mini that was ruined by running hand dyes. I made it before my AQS entry, and I was so disappointed that it was ruined, I never finished quilting it. It's almost finished and will hang on my studio wall since you can't tell anything is wrong from a distance.

Sorry... no pictures for a while!!

GOOD FRIDAY

I hope that you all are having a good day. I was going to watch, what was going to be my annual viewing of The Passion of the Christ.. but I couldn't find my DVD. It has to be around here somewhere... but where?
Now, I could have watched my Jesus of Nazareth DVD. It was a mini series back a LONG time ago.. maybe the 80's. But it is SIX hours long. Not all in one day.. Okay.. I have devoted my day to the Lord of the Rings movies... I guess I could devote a day to the Lord of Lords... Maybe tomorrow.

I could watch while I quilt this quilt. It has been pinned forever. It isn't anything special. It is just a bunch of orphan signature blocks for several other ideas that piddled out. I put an old flannel blanket in the center instead of batting, which made it surprisingly heavy. I always like to take my own pillows and a quilt to Paducah. I think if I can get with it and finish it, I will take this quilt.

I went to Sam's yesterday to get another memory card for my camera. They had 1 gig cards!!! They hold about 700 pics. Now I have enough memory to take probably 1500 pics when I go to Paducah.. like that would happen.. but I could!!

Okay, I am going to get back to work. Talk to you tomorrow!!

BORED PART 2

First off, there's the cottage. This is the cottage that we stayed in last year. I think that we will stay in one similar to this one this year. The kitchen/dining/living area were combined, with vaulted ceilings. The porch was great, although we were too tired to sit on it by the time we got back from the show. The best part is that it usually only costs around $150.00 a day. It sleeps eight, so when you go down with a bunch of friends, your share is generally less than 100.00 for the whole stay. KY has beautiful parks. Some people may look at having to drive 20 minutes from town as being a bad thing. But it is worth it for what we get. I have reservations for the next 2 years.

I think that we will have to pace ourselves this year, because we will be there almost a week. Maybe get a pizza in town, bring it back, heat it in the oven and sit on the porch.

The last picture is of the rest area in the main show room at the show. it is like a courtyard. Sometimes there is even somewhere to sit!!

BORED

These are a couple of my projects. First, you will see that I have cut the 3/4 inch strips of one of my 10 step gradation bundles. This should hopefully get me through quite a few blocks because they are each only 3 inches finished.
And then there are my take along applique projects. I have no real plan for any of these blocks. They will finish at 8". I just really like hand applique, and I like to have something to work on whenever I have to wait around somewhere. I call these kind of projects, "in between projects". If I had something important to work on, I probably would be working on that instead of these. I have a kind of loose idea of what I might do with these blocks when I am finished, but they may end up with the rest of my orphan blocks. Probably would have been a good idea to have some sort of color that would connect them all, but I make each with no plan, I just pull out what ever hand dye catches my eye at the time.
I am getting ready for Paducah. I wish that I had the ability to post photos during my week there, while I'm there, But I don't own a laptop, and I doubt that the cottage will have any type of internet connection anyway. But look for a treat when I come home, because I love Paducah and I love my camera.


This is the opening day crowd in front of the door of the AQS 2004 show. I didn't stand in it in 2005. I walked to town and had coffee and bakery goods.

OKAY, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS?

Please also submit a normal quality print of the full front view of your submitted piece on typing-weight paper. Write your name, title of the entry, corresponding
digital file name, and indicate the top on the back of each photograph. The photo should be no larger than 6" x 4" (15 cm. x 10 cm.).

So, does this mean to print a 6 x 4" photo onto a piece of paper.. say a 6x4 photo on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.. or a 6" x 4" photo printed onto regular paper.. and cut out? Why don't I get their wording? I actually did email IQA about this, and they didn't answer.. they probably think I'm a moron..

RIDDING MY LIFE OF A POLITICIAN

I decided to delete Cynthia. I don't know why this story has ticked me off from the moment I heard about it. The whole arrogance of it probably. Then every time I see her on TV, dancing around answering a direct question better than any politician/lawyer I have ever seen, just incenses me even more. Then seeing all of these left wing actors and others backing her up immediately. Uh Oh... here I go again. I don't want to get into my political views on my blog. I want it to be a fun thing to read, and nothing about politics is fun anymore. Bunch of crazy self-serving dopes.

Anyway.. on to quilting. Let's talk about marking tools. I got the chance to mark an applique pattern on a piece of my peach hand dye. I don't usually mark the background, but I did for a class that I am taking in Paducah. I used a water soluble graphite pencil that I got in another applique class I took a few months ago. Well, at some point after I traced about half the pattern, I decided not to use this fabric. I put it in water... nothing. Scrubbed it a little... nothing. Threw it in with a load of towels.. and STILL there remains a faint outline. I am so glad that I didn't use it on something important!

Give me a blue washout pen anyday. A nice cold water wash gets out everything. Everytime I hear horror stories about these pens, I try something else, and it never turns out well. I also like the iron off markers. They just don't make them in fine point.

Well, off to work. It was nice talking quilting with you.

DENVER NATIONAL QUILT FESTIVAL

My Skeleton Quilt was juried into the Denver National Quilt Festival. If anyone reading this is going, would you take a picture?

I got this in my email this morning and I thought it was interesting.

On Wednesday of next week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00
in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

That won't ever happen again.