More Paducah - The Wall

 A huge wall runs along the river to keep the flood waters out of Paducah - when the waters begin to rise the metal flood gates are put into place. 

The problem here is that the Convention Center, where they hold the quilt show, is OUTSIDE OF THE WALL!!!!  So AQS had to scramble to change and move all the venues for the show. They were moved to a local church, a vacant Comp USA, a vacant Office Max building & the rest was in the Bubble, a huge white tentlike structure
 See what it looks like outside the wall now http://207.162.164.52/default.asp?num=5/
My heart goes out to all the people who are affected in so many ways by the forces of mother nature.

PADUCAH ( title to be read outloud in the "Oprah Favorite things voice" PAHHHH DOOO CAHHHHH !!!

 Wow what a crazy whirlwind week I've had - It's hard to believe that last Sat. I was still in Paducah. This was NH when I left & since then I have seen every weather condition you can think of -

                                                                                                                                                              

from the warmth of Atlanta - to the wild weather that is wreaking havoc across the south right now. While in Paducah KY, we had lots of rain & flooding, high winds, lightning, thunder and tornadoes raging all around us. And through it all the amazing people from AQS & the city of Paducah pulled off the most incredible quilt show I have ever experienced.

I stayed on a houseboat at The Kentucky Dam with my sister & a fun bunch of her quilting friends ( Hi Laurie, Jess, Jeanette, Karen, Lois & Ellen - who made us laugh til we cried - can't tell you THE story - we've been sworn to secrecy!)  

The Lap Of Luxury

Notice the dock on the day we arrived - now on the day we left  



Fishing on the playground- that's the swing set in the background

   


And on the tennis court.

to be continued....... the computer is moving incredibly slow & I have tons of stuff to do today.

Northern Lights Quilt Show

This past weekend I was a vendor at the Northern Lights quilt show. It was amazing - I had so much fun. I saw lots of old friends & met so many great people.

 

 A few pics of some of my fabrics - they look so much brighter in person.

My hand printed leaves are always a big seller so I've been replenishing my stash this week.

I also did a demo of my stamping & printing techniques. I use lots of recycled and repurposed objects in my stamping. As I was printing these leaves I stopped for a break & discovered a new repurposed stamp - my yogurt container.

Call the Hoarders show now & stop me from SAVING EVERYTHING.

I also bought a few Shiva paint sticks & embossing plates from my vending neighbor at the show. I've been wanting to play with them for a while. Very cool  - but very messy - need to do more experimenting.

Happy Birthmonth

Yes MONTH - one day is just not enough.

 And what better way to celebrate than to treat myself to a big juicy order of dyes from Dharma. Lots of yummy colors - can't wait to dive in.

I ordered this on Monday & it arrived yesterday. 2 days from California to New Hampshire !!! I love these guys, they are so great to do business with. They are very accomodating & they have the best info on techniques & product use - good prices too. They have the best catalog - it's like a tutorial for all kinds of fun fiberart and surface design stuff. Check them out at  www.dharmatrading.com - very cool website.

I have some quilts waiting to be machine quilted then I can get into the dye studio 

(A.K.A. the basement) and play a little.

Enjoy your day - finally feeling a bit like spring - heading into the 50's today, oh to be warm again.

A Little Quilt Music

When I'm machine quilting I love to crank up the music & dance with the quilts. (Come on quilters, don't you do this too!) This nice freehand feather was done to the sounds of Van Morrison with a little spicy Carlos Santana thrown in for inspiration.

When I first started machine quilting I was so tense I couldn't loosen up and get those nice curves - that's where Norah Jones came in. I would play the same Norah song over & over, " come away with me in the night ...", that would get me into a smooth rhythm  and the quilting would flow. Sometimes I  get into a little mesmerizing Zen thing and I listen to an album called Cho with chanting by Tibetan nuns - very in-the-zone stuff. 

(This is the raffle quilt for my guild - batiks - very pretty -

we should sell lots of tickets for this beauty )

Springtime in NH

Well, on the bright side, more time for snow dyeing.

Keep thinking of warm days ahead

and

REMEMBER

to

Renewal -Yup I'm Back

Spring is here (well almost) - time for some fresh new fabrics. I love getting back in my dye studio again. I'm going to be vending at the Northern Lights Quilt Show in April  www.nlqg.org so I've been adding to my already huge stash. Today is a perfect day to whip up a batch of  bright yummy colors. Maybe I'll do some snow dyeing too before it's all melted.