Good morning all. I am enjoying a lovely, quiet morning here with coffee and some blog reading and I thought it a good time to catch up. It has been a while right?
Last weekend I spent a couple of days as a vendor at a fun show in the small town of Brownsville. I can’t say how much I enjoyed this little show. It was so relaxed and the people, quilters and wanderers both, were incredibly friendly. This guild has a membership of about 30 people with roughly half being very active. The town has a population of approximately 1300 people. It was quite nostalgic for me as my first husband’s grandparents lived in Brownsville and we spent many Thanksgiving weekends with them in their very tiny house. Grandma Ada cooked on a woodturning stove and was into quilting, crochet, and stamp collecting. I have one quilt of hers, all hand stitched hexies. It is in need of repairs, being made in the 1940’s and hopefully one day I will get around to it.
Back to the show! Because it was a very small show, I didn’t bring as much inventory as I normally do. There was a corner of one table with fun notions and projects. The toddler fabric books were a fun find for customers – I had a sample of each one available.
I pre-cut quite a bit of fabric into one yard cuts so I would have enough selection without having to pack and unpack all of those bolts. Not shown in the picture is another table which displayed a number of bolts as well as the pre-cuts.
Other than the friendly quilters, one thing I was really taken with was the presentation done on Sunday afternoon at the end of the show. This small group of quilters makes an impressive number of community service quilts each year. They get together every Wednesday to work on their CS quilts. The stack they had on display was just amazing. On Sunday afternoon, the representatives of the groups to which the quilts are donated are introduced and presented with their quilts. There was a representative from the Fire Department, Hospice, local Domestic Violence as well as the Sheriff’s Department. Most of the representatives told a heartwarming story of how the quilts are used before thanking the group and loading up with quilts for the year. There was an emotional support dog who came along with the sheriff that works with children who have been removed from scary situations. The idea of presenting the quilts in this way was really touching. Do any of you do this with your community service quilts? I think it provided a meaningful opportunity for the quilters who make all of these gifts to see how valued and appreciated their work is.
Last week I finished up the October blocks for the Mosaic Mystery QAL. These were simple (as you can see) but I think this is truly the only sewing I did all week! At least I am caught up and can begin the November piecing now.
My husband and I spent a couple of days away earlier in the week. We had to go up and check on our house in Downieville since we had not been up there for so long. Because of the power outages we had to toss everything in the fridge and freezer which was quite annoying. We also spent a day with my in-laws which was lovely. We took a long walk along the river and got a lot of visiting in.
Finally, just in case you haven’t seen this yet – there is another great quilt along coming up. The Push-Pull Quilt Along begins next week. The schedule is very relaxed with prompts announced every three weeks. Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl is the host and as with the last QAL, it is a transparency quilt. This technique is so unusual and the results are always striking. Needle and Foot will be sponsoring some of the prizes for the link ups. Quilt fabric kits will also be available in the shop for those who want to choose a ready-made collection of solids. The kits were curated by Yvonne so you know they will be a stunning set of color. Photos of these will be shared in a couple of weeks.
This is a three day weekend for many in the US (honoring the veterans in our country). For me, it means Julia had time to come home from school. She is here until Tuesday early morning, when I will take her back down to school. She sent a list of foods she has been missing so lots of cooking is going on. This is what all of my kids seemed to do when they were home during college. “Mom, will you make XXX for dinner?” So spaghetti and meatballs, bbq pulled pork with slaw, and Baked Potato Soup are on the menu this weekend. Ah, a light and low fat menu to be sure!! I love feeding my kiddos. Hope you are enjoying the long weekend if you are in the US. Many thanks to all of those in Service who support our country now or did so in the past!
What a great quilt show. We do community service quilts for our local hospice, domestic violence shelter, Open Arms – an unplanned pregnancy center for unwed moms, and Project Linus. Have a great weekend with your daughter!
Thank you Carole. I think we provide quilts to our unplanned pregnancy support center as well. So many ways to help out.
We had a lovely weekend together – lots of homework for her and too much food for all of us!!
As a female Veteran (Army) let me tell you that it means the world to have people take the time to say, “Thank you.”
I served during the Vietnam Era and the things I heard while serving were often just the opposite.
I will hasten to say, however, that I also have wonderful stories of lovely people, places and events from that period of my life.
Torry, I didn’t know you served in the Army. What sort of work did you do? Thank you for sharing that. Vietnam was such a hard time in this country and I am sorry you weren’t appreciated for the service you did. All of our veterans deserve gratitude!
I was a Chaplain’s assistant. I taught classes, did clerical stuff, and washed communion cups. My name is also on a lot of wedding certificates as witness.
My husband served in the Army also. He was in Vietnam, so nothing I went through compares to what he went through.
I get a bit teary-eyed when I read about the donation quilts and how they bless those who give them and those who receive them. How nice that you were able to see the display of quilts and hear the stories, Bernie. So glad you have Julia home for the weekend. Enjoy your time with her. I’m going to go listen to Brownsville Girl by Bob Dylan now, since it’s stuck in my head 🙂
I didn’t know that Bob Dylan song so I had to go listen to it! That is so cute.
We had a fun weekend together though I am soooo full! We ate continuously. Yikes!
Back to normal now!
The quilt presentation sounds like it was really interesting and meaningful. It’s always great to get a glimpse of how our donation quilts might be used 🙂
It was so special and it made me want to go home and finish up the quilt top I have here waiting to be finished up for Mercy Hospital – It is really motivating when you hear these stories of appreciation. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving Louise!
That quilt show looks like so much fun. To me the small ones in small towns are the very best!
I hope you are feeling well. I thought of you yesterday when I found some orphan blocks and thought they might make a good start on a Mercy quilt.
There is not a lot better than cooking for your kids, especially when they want something they’ve missed you making. I know Julia will enjoy Mom’s cooking. 🙂
That reminded me of when our son went off to college in the late 1980s. He usually wanted something he missed eating when he came home on weekends. But one weekend he surprised me by asking for shrimp gumbo. I had never made gumbo, but off I went! I bought fresh shrimp from a roadside stand that had fresh Galveston bay shrimp, peeled them and made shrimp stock, and stirred roux until it was the brown indicated in the recipe. I had never had shrimp gumbo, but what I put together was very good! My son loved it and declared it excellent, but I’ve never made it since – lol!
I love the story about the shrimp gumbo. That is so sweet!
I would love another Mercyful quilt whenever you have some time to make one. I have two sitting here waiting to be picked up and a quilt top I need to baste and quilt for them. But they need them all them time so if you are so inclined, that would be awesome.
Thanks Linda!!!
I love the idea of the representatives of the organizations that receive community service quilts saying something about how they use the donations to bring comfort to the community!!! What a great thing to hear!
Thanks for the link to the baked potato soup! I love skinny taste but haven’t stumbled on that recipe. It’s getting to be soup weather and that one looks delicious!
I totally agree – I am hoping to get something similar going with our guild. It was very special.
Enjoy the soup – we are all soup lovers here – I love having the leftovers for lunch too. Yum!!
The quilt show sounds like so much fun! I love your picture of the river, too. That’s one to frame for sure. Hope Julia enjoyed all the goodies that you made for her.
Hi Mari – The river looked so low to me. We really need rain. Pretty picture though. The colors were really nice and autumnal. Julia, Ray and I ate our right through the weekend. I am stuffed!! She goes back tomorrow morning so back to reality. She did so much homework this weekend – I looked at her Chem notes and they may as well have been written in some other language – I had no idea what the heck she was doing. I guess I am old now!!!
I love the picture of the river ! Such a beautiful place. I,too, prefer small community quilt shows. The atmosphere is more relaxed and the quilters seem to be more interested in sharing techniques and tips. Enjoy the week-end with your daughter, lots of cooking and fun !