Saturday, March 31, 2012

Its All About The Dress



It’s been a crazy week here in EDH town. It started out with hunting down the perfect dress for my son’s wedding in June. You know, that something special dress that makes you look 20 pounds thinner and 20 years younger.  Why is it, when you were young and hot, you had no money or man or events to go to but now, with age, we have the means but, unfortunately, a body that we are sometimes not thrilled about sharing with the public?

Finding the right dress has been daunting. So I sat down one day and combed the Nordstrom and Macy’s web sites for any dress that I thought would work with my special needs: (1) can’t show the upper arms, (2) not too much of the girls spilling out and about, and (3) it can’t, in any way, make me look like my grandmother who, just happens to be dead.

So the dresses started to arrive, 5 from Nordstrom and 4 from Macy’s.  It was time to try them on but I needed to get rid of my husband first, who now works from home.  This working from home is cramping my beauty regimen.  His office is off the master bedroom and bath and closet with the good mirrors.  I wasn’t up for a fashion show but the funny thing was that HE was.  Great!  I guess if you just jacked up a $1,000 credit card bill the least you can do is toss the man a bone. 

But I would need some help so it was time to dig deep in my underwear drawer.  You know, down at the very bottom where you keep those thong panties for that special evening once a year.  And there she was, my heavy-duty full-body Spanx, a girl’s best friend.  So I hid in my closet and started to tug and pull my Spanx up over my curvy hips and the big girls.  I hear Joe say, Don’t let me see you until you are completely in the dress.  Great!  He knows. He must have heard me whimpering as I was battling with the spandex.

So the fashion show begins and, to my surprise, I have lost some weight and I did find one really cute dress in the bunch.   A lot of them made me lose faith in fashion designers but what’s new?  Joe even said I looked hot. Wow, I should stop hiding his glasses. Then he made the comment that you should get some stilettos for that.   I think he thought I was wearing the thongs panties under the dress.  I had to remind him that it was not that time of year yet.

So I have a dress. What a relief.  I packed all the rejects up and to the UPS store we went.  Now back to work on things the really matter like, oh yeah, that new flower quilt I am designing for my Australia trip.  That story will have to be for another day, because, right now, it’s all about the dress.



Wednesday, March 28, 2012

New Video on YouTube!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Quilting Adventures in Texas


Howdy!  That's how I talk now, since I have been spending so much time in Texas.  Let me take my boots  off and sit a while so I can tell you about the great time I had with my posse at the T&M Bar Ranch. 
The round up started after a BBQ in the chuck wagon dining hall. Then my posse and I had a meet and greet in our room called, of course,  the Bluebonnet. I could tell right away that this was a great group of woman as they circled there sewing machines around the room.  

I studied the room.  They all looked a little scared.  I saw big eyes and tight lips with nervous smiles.  That is a normal look for the first night and I promised them that I had their back and I would help them all along the way.  I don’t think they really believed me yet.

Then we went around the room introducing ourselves, sharing where we came from and what we would like to create in class this week.  There was a big silence as we met Kathy. She and her friend Lynn drove to Texas, from Ohio.  That's a 24 hours drive if you are keeping track.

Kathy kind of did a nervous little laugh, as she informed me and the class, that she is new to sewing. In fact, she just did her first stitches, ever (!), 2 days ago, on her new sewing machine, which she doesn’t really know how to use yet!   I heard a gasp from around the room. We have a true green horn here I said to myself as I swallowed hard. This is going to be tricky.







The next morning, after some delicious and hardy vittles, we all got started. The week seemed to fly by.  The most exciting part, to me, was to watch Kathy, the green horn. She may have been scared, and I know she was, but she pushed right through it.  She assembled her flower and now it was time for the free motion thread play. How were we going to do this? The only way I know is to practice, practice, practice. So we made a quilt sandwich for her to play on. The first stitches where about 4 inches long, then 3inches, then 1. By the end of that day she was able to write her name in cursive. She stayed up late that night practicing all kinds of shapes.  

In the morning she had made another sample and was now making the veins in flower petals and leaves.  She practiced for 2 days and then felt confident to start her flower.  On that day, she left the room for a while and I didn’t know where she went.  Later,  I found out she was in the lobby outside our classroom  having a tearful moment of joy.  She was proud of herself and so was I.  We all clapped and cheered for her and each other as each student made progress in battling their fears of trying something new.  I was the proud teacher of all my girls.  Each was trying something new and harder than they would normally do and all were having great success.



  
That night at dinner, I sat with a table of new people I hadn't been with before. I like to mix it up and meet new people.  At the head of the table was a lady pontificating about how you need to have some experience as a quilter to truly enjoy this kind of venue.  I politely stopped her and pointed to Kathy across the room and asked You see that girl over there smiling from ear to ear?  The whole table turned and looked at her. She had never sewn a stitch in her life until yesterday. She came to my class full of fear, not only of sewing but of life in general. I also know she has overcome some big and difficult things in her life and now she is free motion quilting her flower and having a ball.  I looked back at my table mates and saw 2 girls had tears rolling down their cheeks.  I then said I don’t think you need to know anything to be here. You only need an open heart to want to learn.  I never saw that lady again but I know that my girls in class learned a lot and so did I.  

Here is our new star's work! You go Kathy, the sewing world is at you feet.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

International Quilt Day

Dear Quilting Friend:

Big news here! In honor of International Quilt Day (March 17, 2012), The Quilt Show (www.thequiltshow.com), the web TV show hosted by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, will "open" all of its shows from the first nine series--that is, from show 100 through show 913--for the entire weekend of March 16 –18. This means that—for three special days—everyone will have the chance to view these 117 shows, featuring some of the quilting world’s leading artists, for FREE. 

As you may already know, I appeared as the featured artist on TQS in show 501. If you didn't have the opportunity to see this show first time around, now you'll have the chance to see it—and so many other terrific shows—at no cost in this unprecedented three-day offer.

I hope that you'll share this information with all of your quilting friends. It's a fantastic opportunity
to enjoy three days of learning and fun without leaving your home…all for free.

Enjoy the shows, and thanks for helping to spread the word!