Where does the time go.... another UFO.... and a practice piece, the wonderful Old Guard Fife and Drum corps....

Ok, I think I may have shocked a few ladies...today...telling some of the "old" days stories! I was a bit crazy back in the day.... and I will admit...I hitchiked! I even met the Professor hitchiking...... yep...and no....he didn't pick me up...but his roomate did! How else does someone from Pennsylvania get to meet someone from Oklahoma.... in Washington DC as luck would have it. The Professor was in the Old Guard Fife and Drum corps.... it is a ceremonial unit attached to Ft. Myer, Virginia. And the Professors outfit...does all the retirement, Arlington funerals, and they march in front of the Presidential motorcade...at the Inaugural Parade. He sure looked cute in his red coat and white wig...and breeches. Just like a proper old Minute Man. But that is a whole other story.I think I may have taken them aback...just a bit.... at the H ( hitchhiking ) word. I am not proud.... but I did do it. .... FREQUENTLY!!!! What was I thinking. But it was the 70's.... I was poor and carless.... so it beat going by feet. At any rate after I shocked them a bit...I did show them the latest quilt attempts. I got sick of doing muslin practices..so have been using quilts for my hand guided quilting...but decided that I really needed to practice a pantograph... so I did...but I used some

stash material..leftover from making a curtain.... on the front...and some cool green fabric... almost a light upholstery.... one..for the back. AND I love the back..... I am so glad I opted for something more fun than muslin. So I pantographed a custom bedspread to match the little bedroom curtains. And I have hung up my South AFrican MEmory quilt...on the South Korean rack I bought to hang quilts on. I can't show the AFRICA header...as have to sort how to hang it up there.... but it hangs in the lounge now. We are having a Barbecue tomorrow night...for some fellow students...so I want it up!!! I do think I like the green side which shows the pretty panto better....now just have to sort how to keep it all straight! Hope you all have a great weekend. My ship hasn't come in....but after another phone call today to the movers...they tell me it will be loaded for Texas on MOnday....so maybe next week! Hope so..... it has only been since January my ship has been coming!!!!

When will my ship come in???? and more UFO's for Finn's challenge.....and the real haunted house!!!!

Well have just finished binding the string quilt...with the dark, quick binding...and bound and finished a little old Christmas panel.... did some very simple swirls on it. But I made Wonky letters for my South African Memory quilt....made from blocks my friends made for me before I left SA. They incorporated some of my favorite things...and memories into each block. What a pleasure to see it loaded on my machine.... and have begun dwirling.... or colleenishing the quilt. About half way through now. I am so excited...as still have some of the bright sashing fabric to use for the binding. Nothing from SA yet...but now have been told it will be coming next week.Will my ship ever really come in???? It will be fun to see when that actually happens.

The South Africa quilt....has a picture of the Mountain that was just behind our town, and animals from the Kruger Park, My favorite radio station, Algoa FM, A cricket player....... a Xhosa hut, my books for Africa program, our sewing group.... Can't wait to have it all done..... and show it off. I think it will look pretty grand...now have to sort where to hang it. As my buddies added some beading... and dimensional things...so really can't be used on a bed...or laid on. The South AFrican quilt, has been fun.... and I had never used Tonya's methods to try to do any kind of lettering before. I had so much fun, not quite as Wonky as I would have liked, but I really enjoyed trying to do these. Its going to be quiet week here, I must baste a quilt for a hand quilting friend.... and finish off Memories SA, then try to work on my Halloween stash buster table topper. I am going to use Libby's idea..of putting some harvest colors on back...so it can do double duty. Can't wait to scratch through the strip drawers to see what I have out there. And finally a picture of the real haunted house...... My mom's house....taken last year.... just before Thanksgiving! I warned you ..... it really is falling to bits. Can't find the pics of the closeups.... but still looking. Have a great weekend...... I so am going to!!!!

Hard to say goodbye....

This week has been one big party for me.My dear friends have gifted me with several going away do's. One was even a surprise..... to which I almost didn't show up for! I had been given a fully quilted quilt a couple of years back.... it is safely back in the US. But one day a couple of months ago....as we all sat around stitching on our Baltimore blocks.... I was having a bit of a down day...and being UNUSUALLY quiet.... and they decided to surprise me with some blocks that were going to be my going away quilt! Well, I cried horribly that day...and the blocks were made as Memories....of some of my favorite times here in South Africa. I received a block of the mountain that our community is named after, and a Xhosa hut, and because I love Cricket, bridge and Algoa FM radio....that was added. They also took photos of our church and then got a bit tongue in cheek with some of my very American expressions....like HOLY CRAP and Talk to the hand( I know very old fashioned, but I do say it) and they included my book drive for the LIbrary, and Rotary...and quilting and Baltimore. It was so special..... I say all of this to say....I decided to sew it up this week....and the first attempt....was horrible....the sashing colors I chose were awful...and deadened it up....then I remembered a bright piece of African fabric I still hadn't given away or packed....and when I layed the blocks on it.... It was perfect. Now it isn't totally finished, but I will be adding a black border...and hope to try Tonya's letters....to add SOUTH AFRICA into the border...then finish with the bright African stuff. This is a photo of me holding it up to show the girls. They are such dears. I have been blessed by these lovely talented ladies. I also asked them...rather cheekily, to make me a Christmas block .... to sleep under ...while I am freezing next Christmas ...and they are all sitting by the pool.I think I have been gifted with about 12 so far. Can't wait to figure out how I am going to set that one out....in the US. It is almost like I am not leaving for good.... but just going on another trip home. I don't think I will really feel it, until my hubby and I actually set up housekeeping...back in the states. I am going to have to start a fund to return to AFrica at least once. It will give me something to work toward. Feeling this way...has made it very difficult to say goodbye... though, because it doesnt feel like I am going home for more than a quick trip. Hope you all have a great weekend.My next post will be stateside!

Am I a quilting snob????

As I perused several blogs today...noting who is working on what, I actually came to a question...Am I a quilt snob??? Do I appreciate Hand quilting over Machine? Which do I personally prefer? Why?What about quilt frames???? Hoops???? Until I moved to South Africa, I could count on 1 finger...yes...1 finger the number of quilts I had quilted on a machine....I didn't like it....I didn't appreciate it....would never voluntaily do a quilt by machine. Every quilt made prior to July 2004,save for one, had been done by hand....including about 75 baby/cot quilts....Did I mention that my friends and family seem to be prolific breeders!!????? I also had tried just about every imaginable quilt frame...I came across....at thrift stores...auctions..and even quilt shows! Yikes those are expensive! I had an antique frame held together by c clamps...to quilt my first quilt in 1985....I had done a quilt the year before...but not used a frame...rather the large hoop. The large rectangle c clamp frame seemed rather cumbersome...and of little HOME DECOR VALUE!!!! The next quilt I went back to the hoop...but this one was a large oval...from the goodwill. It worked but was a bit flimsy...and constantly had to be readjusted. Next I found a plastic clamp on frame...from another thrift store...That one was more compact...but the batting could really make for an ill fitting quilt and it would loosen up very quickly. I also tried changing how I held hoops...in the lap...propped up on the arm of the sofa... on my knees sitting on the floor? I thought I had a fair quilt stitch...but everything got so sore when I quilted very long. I have to admit...that having had two surgeries on my right elbow, I haven't done much hand quilting of late...and here I taught a girl how to hand quilt...bought her a portable frame...and she does all my hand quilting for the moment. I personally love seeing the designs appear under my needle...and the patterns giving depth to the project. Not sure how you feel, but I think even if I do get my Long arm someday....I will always have at least ONE quilt being hand quilted all the time...as long as my hands work! I plan to try the Hoopless/frameless technique of Tonya at Lazy Gal quilting http://lazygalqulting.blogspot.com/Maybe its just the tactile feel of the fabric under the hand. I am sure its not the sore fingers. Since there are quite a few handquilters out there, I 'd love to know what your best thimble /protector is???? I cut off fingers from old ladies leather gloves bought at the thrift stores/antique shops...even at a couple of bucks..I get at least 6-8 leather thimbles from one pair. Sometimes all 10. Now this true for home sewing machines...always had a dream of owning/using a long arm of my very own...that machine quilting I did value. But long arms are few and far between here in South Africa, so I noticed that many of the quilters here did lots of vermicilli...meanderning on their quilts. I had never even done that on a machine! Although that isn't something I aspire to do...I did try it...and had some disastrous (thankfully....those projects were donated...or went to family members who didn't know the difference...and that puckers on the back....weren't SUPPOSED to be there! I am somewhat ashamed that I sent them anyway...but the thought behind it was genuine! Now I must admit...that some outstanding quilting seems to be going on...with HOME sewing machines...and amazing things can be done with the longarms. Never compared these...if any of you have a particular machine...or long arm. I am in the market for one of each...so am open to suggestions. I have included another small baby quilt that I finished...there always seems to be someone pregnant in my family!!! And a queen sized one...before it was hand quilted...a hunter green and white chain.It is fully handquilted and stored in the US for now. Have an amish bars quilt on the frame...but not taken a stitch in it. Maybe over Christmas will work on it a bit. Had to include a photo taken of a young man, who was sitting in the back of a bakki here...at the Mall ..waiting for his ride to finish shopping. He is studying to be a Tsongoma ( sorry for spelling...the SA girls can correct me) a traditional healer. It still strikes me as funny when I see these very unique individuals in every day life. Since leapord is endangered, or it could be economics...he is wearing leapord cloth! No animals were harmed except whatever he is wearing on his ankles. He also had bright orange clay paint on his face and body. Enjoy your weekend, I can't beleive that its almost here.

Dorothy I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!!! And not an actual "cracked" rib!!!!

Ok...because I felt so crappy this week....I finally went to the Dr. here....never been to him before except to get malaria pills..when we went to the Kruger Park back in 2004....but the good news after an exam...and being sent to the hospital for x ray......VEry wierd here...as they send you with a note..(kind of like going to the principals office) to the specialist or hospital. Then you get into the gown to get the procedure done....then you leave and have to go back to the Dr's office?????? Did I mention that they chased me down because I didn't know to TAKE my x-rays with me back to the dr's office????? It was crazy, I have never touched my very own x-rays before, felt kind of wrong in so many ways. But the girl told me to put my clothes back on, so I left. Which reminds me that the last time I had a chest x-ray, in the US, the very kind young man, taking my pictures asked me to Please LIFT AND SEPERATE the "girls" as they obscured the Lungs too much!!!! Now this girl took x-rays without asking me to adjust anything...but her x-rays didn't look all that great...so maybe they did need seperating! At any rate....they do the x-rays, then send them off to Bloemfontein to be read by a specialist, but you have to take them back to the dr. office....and then he holds them up to the light...says how difficult it is to read x-rays and then explains that he has been taught how to.(Did I mention that my dr. is Croation????) So I have difficulty understanding him at times...but he did get the info...that I tore the cartilage...holding the ribs to the sternum...a costocondral( sorry about spelling) cartilage tear. All I know is that I have been given several good meds...to help me while I travel this coming Sunday back to the US....about 34 hrs...straight through London..Chicago, then Nashville. I also developed a lung infection...hence feeling kind of crappy past couple of days. But will be right as rain once meds kick in. No sewing today...just didn't feel like it. I am including a couple of quilts made and delivered to various friends. Nothing special...just little lap rugs.These were made out of bin scraps that I scratched from the Overage...seconds bins, at the fabric store...and you pay by the kilo. Hoping to go by there tomorrow to pick up some blue schwe-schwe. Cathi at Celtic Knots sent me a photo of a dear jane quilt made from navy ( and I have a bunch of it already) schwe-schwe. Wow, I am hooked. Bought the book years ago....no time like the present to get started on one!Since I am hoping to have my Baltimore about finished when I get back from the US....well at least by Jan. I want to start the DJ as my next big Project. I will have access to the fabric for a while...so need to get a move on!!!! Speaking of Baltimore...working on block no. 12....so finally getting there. Just may have to incorporate more blocks than I initially had planned on. Hoping to get the next three squares all cut out...and put into baggies...so that I can take on the plane with me. To sew while sitting around. I am including a photo of something which stuck my children as pretty crazy when they visited here..... don't know that this is a sign that you really want to see when you are visiting a casino!!!! Yikes!!! Really want to send this to Jay Leno....for his crazy photos section. Maybe it is just me....but never seen anything like this back home! Have a great week. Hoping to post at least once more, after I go to the stinking camera shop to get photos put on cd....dang, where did I put the Nikon cord to my old digital????? It is such a pain....but the only way I can post new photos! Have a great couple of days. I plan on it...long as the Wizard doesn't send me back to Kansas....where things seems to make more sense!!!!

Things that go bump in the night???

Well, Hubby and I were all tucked up in bed last night...visions of ....Who knows what going through our heads. When the outside security beam must have been broken...probably by the neighbors cat...as only 1 motion sensor light came on and the alarm wailing like a screaming banshee!!!! Now I will digress a moment and tell you about my first encounter with this cat as it came almost three years ago. We had only been in country for a few months, and at the time, not having been burgled yet, we slept with the doors open( not the outside doors, just the bedrooms) and most of the windows in the house also. October 31, 2004, Halloween, I decided I couldn't go to sleep early and DH was already tucked up in bed, so I sat up watching a scary movie on the satellite dish. Yes in keeping with the mood, I was sitting in the dark...and it was a cool evening...so I had a blanket on my legs. I was sitting on the couch facing the hallway to our bedroom when all of a sudden, I saw some glowing eyes coming down the hall toward me. I was so scared, I admit it, I did have visions of wild monkeys, or worse, some sort of slithery creature coming down the hall with glow in the dark eyes!!!! All I could do was pull the blanket up around my face...and hold my hand over my mouth so I wouldn't shreik. I was terrified....but as it came out into the light of the TV I saw it was the cat!!!! Then I let out more than a scream, but a string of words to go with it. The cat ran back to our bedroom and out the window. The next day, the neighbor told me that when her MOM lived in our house...the cat would come and sleep on the bed. So THEN I knew that I would have a frequent visitor. Now this cat still comes into the house...mostly to see what we may have left out from dinner, but occasionally she does come to visit late at night...I guess out of habit...SO maybe she did try to come in last night...and when she walks up on the front porch, through the burglar bars...she breaks the Infra red beam...that lets us know we may have an uninvited visitor! Technology is grand, because with the beam...we can still sleep with our windows open...and feel somewhat safe. There are burglar bars on the windows...and on the front and back doors....but you never know. When they broke in both times( we were not home)...they just kicked in the window bars. Another good thing to know...if we ever have a fire! I know I could get out just fine! At any rate, about 3:30 AM the alarm went off...but all was well, a quick call to the security company to tell them that we were fine ( I have them on speed dial now....ever since I accidentally dialed the wrong number and woke some poor guy up...at 3 AM!! Yikes!!!) Its just so hard to go back to sleep. I slept fitfully after that...and everything I planned to get done this AM ...got done much later. I was in slo-mo all morning.So I will blame that on the mid-night visitor!!! I've posted photo of our humble abode...the front door...with last years Christmas lights being turned on.Another thing I have brought from the States. I brought about 50 strings of lights back..as lights are not very nice here...and very expensive...as in about 20.00 US for each string!!! Cheaper to import and buy voltage adaptors!!!! My neighbor and I both decorate with my lights...and we are raising money for Charity lighting up our little corner this coming Christmas for Rotary. Mine isn't near as impressive as hers. I only have a little garden and no big trees near to any plug.I have a much more limited electric supply...only put in one outside outlet this past year...so can only do about 25 strings of lights in the garden...tops. I also pass out candy canes, which they don't have here???? How is that possible??? No candy canes or chocolate chips??? I had the girls for tea and sewing this afternoon...and served Chocolate chip cookies....thanks to the care pack from Dana or JEN...not sure whose choc. chips got used this time. The girls adore them.Some things you just take for granted...back home in the US. At any rate I did some "stripping" tonight. I cut strips for a quilt I am hoping to get pieced this next week...will take photos.Blocks are done...just need to get squared. That is the dilemma as they were embroidered by some rural women here...very colorful...but they didn't cut their black backgrounds square...so they are all wonky and I have to do something to square them up. What a time consuming job. Just wish I'd have known...since it would have been much easier to have cut the squares and GIVEN them to embroider. If I make headway, will take photos to share later in week. They are really cool I think. Also posted a small baby quilt....I did for a nephew's baby.Enjoy your weekend...and hope you have no "uninvited" visitors of your own!

Guild quilt and a sample of traditional costume.

OK, the "orange hair " picture isn't the most attractive...and I do look very drained...I had cried all the way home from the hair dressers place as well! Now, that is why I choose to do it myself!Why pay when my wash out color is much more me???? I have to say that I hang out with mostly retired ladies here...or at least those who only work part time. We meet every Thursday to sew, knit,chat, drink tea...coffee...and have a good laugh. Now these ladies had me laughing so hard, my chest hurt badly by the time I got home today, so not much sewing going on. There was much chatter about the upcoming craft market this Sat. morning.It is going to be held on the grounds of the B&B I live at.So there will be much activity going on this weekend. I am helping the "Church ladies" do the tea and scones for the event. I had planned on selling off some of my scrapbook stuff...but have sold a sizable chunk..and need to save the rest to finish up pages I have to work on when I come back to SA in Dec. from my mini vacation to the US. So I will gawk and enjoy the offerings. One girl showed us her latest hand made/fitted bra......especially nice if you are a wierd size ...or very uneven!A girl about two hours away...fits you and makes them. They are quite pretty...keep thinking should try to have her make a few for me. Maybe someday I will go for a fitting.I haven't sewn as much as I would like this week, but have been putting together leaders/enders in reds/tans/creams.Have a small top pieced together, will hope to sew on a few blocks to make at least double sized tomorrow. I am posting a photo of me wearing a friends traditional costume...mine will not look anything like this one...as mine has color! But have no idea how it looks exactly as I gave her carte blanche to make mine!I think I look stunning of course! I am also showing the last quilt top our guild did together. They saw it in a magazine, showed me the photo...we drew off a graphed image of the finished size of blocks...gave everyone a block to make, we all scrounged through our stashes to get the fall fabrics...then made it. There was much gnashing of teeth, when the blocks didn't fit together as planned...not having any concrete patterns.... But we made it work. Then after it was pieced, we decided that each would hand quilt the block we made....and raffled it off amongst ourselves! What a pleasure. I didn't win it...but was thrilled that one of the girls who put in the time on it, DID!!!!! We each put in a pre-agreed upon amount to add to the coffers of the guild and it really was fun.This was taken just before we added final borders, and began the quilting process. Hope to get to camera shop and run errands in morning...so I can sew in afternoon tomorrow...it is Friday night stripping...so will try to cut strips...if ribs agree with me!

Baltimore and so much more!

Worked on the two Baltimore blocks from this week...no photos of those.Did manage to start sewing on my navy/white stash busting quilt. made about 50 small 4 patch blocks...enough for about 12 of the blocks I hope to turn into another top. Will work on marking off the half squares tomorrow.Also went to scrapbooking today...finished two pages.But very tired today...had a prowler of some sort in the yard last night about 5 AM. The alarm went off...outside infra red beam was broken...and both motion sensor lights were on when we flew to the window to see who might be there. Well it wasn't SANTA....let me tell you. Not sure, could have been a Big cat...I guess. But the security people came with their flashlights...after about 10 min.Glad we weren't in danger....but saw nothing. I couldn't hardly go back to sleep...so a bit cranky this evening. Didn't get as much sewn on my stuff....as I would have liked, but every little bit helps I think. At least my sewing room/ Husband's Office( used to be anyway) gets a bit messier....so something MUST be going on!!!! But hope to get some things sorted for early in the AM, get at least some more of red/white quilt going...or work on the black African embroidered squares....they are so pretty and need to be done. This is a photo of a quilt I finished earlier this year....more of the German Print or Schwe-schwe... which I have been using. The two maids are some of the neighbors...from her B& B another of the quilt tops I will hope to quilt when I return to the States for good. HOPE my husband doesn't mind all the navy that will be around the house. I think I have about 5 or 6 tops in navy now....not counting the stolen and donated ones. I still have enough to make at least 2 or 3 more!What was I thinking???? Never slept in a navy bedroom....ever! And there sure aren't any holidays with a navy slant???!!!!! Shame!

My UFO's and MIP's.....

Since I taught scrapping on Wednesday, and helped three girls do their prep work for the tesselation quilt class I am teaching on Sat...day after tomorrow...., haven't had much time to sew on my projects...but did finish a quilt last week....made from some scrap fabric I found in the reject bins at the local fabric store.The only problem is that I didn't have enough fabric to make it a bed quilt...so I improvised!Just a bit. It was wild fabric anyway...so add a little more to it.....then its big enough ....doesn't really matter if it is wild to me. At any rate finished it last week...and have almost finished another bed sized one.....I have always been a quantity /over quality type of girl anyway....as my family can attest to! Using just my leftover scraps from a quilt I made my daughter in law.....and out of the really small bits of red and white schwe-schwe fabric, I plan to make at least one more small 9 patch quilt...hope it will be double sized! That one is on the planning board ...er....paper ....as we speak. Had to share the news....but haven't taken a photo of either one yet. will get them this week...and if lucky, will finally finish the lavender and green tesselation one started earlier this year...yes it is from scraps too...another UFO project from a friend...which I cut into squares and did a small 50 in. or so tesselation quilt center out of. It is going to be my Demo /cutter for the tesselation class. But I digress.... I want to explain to those non quilters...that a UFO is an Unfinished Object...in United States Quilt speak....however, here in South Africa, they call them MIP's....Masterpiece In Progress! I love that, so will be teaching South african slang, when I return to the States. I am sharing a photo or two of the latest projects, a handquilted quilt I just got a few weeks ago from my handquilter. She is working on another one, which I think is far prettier. Can't wait to get it back. This large navy oversized queen quilt with leaf applique is called My African Vine, since I used the traditional geometric prints that most domestic/rural folks make their clothes out of. I asked all friends to donate scraps of their Schwe-schwe fabric, so it has many different patterns....but similar colors.It was a take along on trips,in car,while waiting to have my car washed...project. The lovely ladies holding up the quilt for me, are my some of my neighbors maids, Dorothy and Beauty. I need to start a new take along quilt soon...but at the moment am working on a hand appliqued Baltimore Quilt in Autumn shades.Many fabrics purchased at the fabulous Fabric mart in Taegu South Korea!Love that place, sure hope Jen is scoping out a box of replacement fabric for me! The other quilt is unfortunately the stolen one, the photo is of Noluthando, my hand quilter, quilting it before the stinking burglars took all my stuff. So if you ever spot this quilt, I look every time I'm driving to see if it is hanging on a clothes line or fence.... it is mine, and is labeled on the back! I loved that quilt. Had to share a photo of it. The reward wasn't enough to get it back unfortunately for me.