A few months ago, I did a trunk show for the Assisted Living unit at Quarry Hill, the retirement community near me and where my mom now lives.  It went so well, they invited me back already!   Patty took pictures this time, so I have a few to share of me in action.

I began with my very first quilt (photo above), from Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! by McClun and Knownes, which is still one of my favorite beginners’ quilting books.   The quilt is a Wild Goose Chase variation…for those not familiar with traditional quilting, the triangles are thought to look like geese in flight.  This quilt was made TWENTY (shriek!) years ago, and is still in regular use in our living room.  It has a few rips and wear spots, some fabrics are more noticeably faded than others, but it’s still a good quilt.

I progressed through my journey as a quilter, sharing a 51×51 inch log  cabin I made for an exhibit (it didn’t get in!).  This quilt used four EXPENSIVE (but glorious) yards of Judy Robertson’s hand dyed fabrics (click here to visit her website, Just Imagination)

This fabric is why I decided to learn to dye my own fabric!  Tho, as Judy says, dyers are some of her best customers…they understand what it is that she does that is so special, and why it costs so much!

I also shared my two-sided quilt Koi:

The Coastal Quilters Chapter Banner, which I designed, our group made (I did the top border, a fair part of the center and the quilting), is a perennial favorite, with folks identifying various local landmarks…the person who spots Beech Hill preserve’s blueberry barrens wins brownie points!

Like my rudimentary PVC pipe quilt rack?  Very easy… two 90 degree elbows, three long pieces of pipe, two “T” Connectors and two more small bits of pipe (four would be better) for the feet….   It was fun to go and share…now, to get ready for Houston!!!! Festival starts next week!

One of the highlights of the trip was brief but memorable:

The Maid of the Mist first set float with tourists in 1846.  No, that is NOT a typo. Obviously it was a different boat, but there has been a boat taking folks into the mist of the falls for over 160 YEARS… amazing!  What else is totally cool is that the Ontario side park is ENTIRELY maintained (and beautifully, with wrought iron railings, gorgeous hanging baskets, etc) through proceeds from sales in the park and fees and whatnot…not a penny of tax money.  Cool.

And a warning….LOTS of water pics!

Waiting in line to board one of the boats you get a great glimpse:

Here’s the first view of the falls as you approach on the boat….and speaking of which, they give you mist ponchos…essentially garbage bags with hoods…good thing too as you get wet anyway!  It was a gas!

Here is a narrow section of the US falls–love how I got the bird in the photo:

And a closeup of the cascade hitting the rocks….

And a good wide shot of Niagara Falls:

Mist spraying out from the Horseshoe Falls:

I LOVED the power of the water as it plunges over the crest…this is as you have passed the American falls and approach Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian side), which is here it gets REALLY misty moisty wet.

And at the end of the half hour tour, happy and wet (we all gave up on the hoods I think….plus it was so hot that day the wetness felt good):

And the next morning, as we got into the car to leave, what should we see but one of the highlights of the trip for the boys (which Joshua had to take pics)…..a Ferrari and a Maserati.  No one should be this rich.  And they can’t even carry groceries in the trunk I’ll bet….yes, I know, that’s not the point.  But for the cost of those two cars you could buy a nice HOUSE……

Next on the trip:  Mt. Washington and finding inspiration wherever you are…..

We don’t usually do much in the way of vacations, as they are EXPENSIVE.  But we had promised Joshua, the wannabe rock star guitarist, to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  When I got a teaching offer for a five day workshop in West Virginia in August, that seemed the perfect opportunity to have the whole family come along, and travel home via Cleveland (for the R&Roll) and Niagara Falls (the requisite family visit).   Well…. as we all know the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.  Especially when the economy tanks and fuel prices skyrocket.   Not enough students signed up for the workshop, so they had to cancel.  Bummers.  But we went on an abbreviated trip anyway. This photo, a teaser to get you to read on, was taken from our   room overlooking Niagara Falls (on the  Canadian side):

Here’s what I did in the car (an aside:  Paul and I have been married for 25+ years; after year 1, I refused to drive with him in the car, so now he drives and I read and knit)–if I can find time later in the month, I’ll do a couple brief reviews of some of these….:

And here is Joshua (under the “E” in Help) in front of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Alas, you aren’t allowed to take pictures inside.  I can see why though…lots of documents on cheap paper that will deteriorate with light, costumes, etc…..and many items are on loan from the artists.   All sorts of cool stuff… envelopes with the lyrics of totally famous songs as they were being scratched down for the first time, outfits worn by Tina Turner, Elvis, Mick Jagger, Elton John, John Lennon (his Sgt Pepper outfit among other things), David Bowie, Madonna, Michael Jackson (pre-freak era…SIGH…I do feel sorry for him…), Janis Joplin’s Porsche, Jim Morrisey’s Report of Death Abroad (death cert issued by the US Embassy in Paris), all sorts of neat things.

In some ways, I think it was more interesting for me and Paul than for Joshua.  He is really into hard rock and heavy metal, and the metal bands were not really represented there (even tho some have been inducted, there were really no artifacts)…it is mostly  the older folks and the musicians and singers and behind-the-scenes people who were represented.

So after an afternoon there, we headed to Niagara Falls the next morning.   We booked a Friday night, and Paul splurged on a room overlooking the falls.  When we arrived (before noon), our type of room wasn’t vacant, so (yippee!) the hotel upgraded us for free to a suite on a higher floor, with two rooms and a palatial bathroom (you could open frosted shutters and sit in the jacuzzi and enjoy the view!).  Here are some shots (don’t know who took these as Eli, Joshua and I all took a bunch) from the room:

Sunset:

And probably sunset, too…..

The US side of the falls, as seen from our room:

Looking down on one of the Maid of the mist boats:

And Horseshoe falls, the Canadian side, with Goat Island in the middle:

I was so tired after that day that I didn’t try to set up for night photos, but they illuminate the falls (spotlights) at night, and at 10 pm on some summer nights they have some fireworks over the falls.  We managed to stay awake until 10 pm for the fireworks, then crashed.  Thanks to a roll-away bed for Eli and a fold-out sofa for Joshua, there were NO sibling squabbles at bedtime!   A ride on Maid of the Mist $12.50 per adult, a fancy dinner for four about $150 (OUCH but good), no fighting kids, PRICELESS….

We went on Maid of the Mist, and I walked around town.  I think I’ll save the bazillion falls photos for next post, but here is one of the downtown which, alas, doesn’t have much to recommend it.   Kinda generic North-American over-touristed boardwalk type of stuff.  Blech.  Plus it was hot, steamy and expensive.

Paul and the boys rode the shuttle back to the hotel while I enjoyed a few blissful moments of solitude and walked home (dripping!).   We had a splendid, major treat for dinner at the steakhouse on the 9th floor, again overlooking the falls.   I don’t think we’ve EVER gone out to a dinner that nice as a family.  YUM.

One year and one day ago, Joshua got hit by a car while riding his bike, and long-time readers will remember the saga of his getting evacuation by helicopter to the regional trauma hospital, six surgeries in three weeks, two transfusions, and lots of metal in and on his leg.  He had a seventh surgery in early November to remove the external fixator (the metal hardware on his shin).

Today, he is almost as good as new, with three truly wicked scars which will prompt story telling for the rest of his life.  When he is very tired and/or walks a very long way, he sometimes limps a bit, but he was able to wrestle with the 8th grade team!

We are so grateful he is alive, has both legs (without the excellent care he received, an accident like this even 10-15 years ago he would have lost the leg! shudder!), and that we are blessed and plagued by the usual joys of raising a teenage son in the 21st century!

I’d include a current photo, but the hard drive on my laptop committed suicide last week, and it will be a while before it is fixed.  I’ll try to keep up regular blogposts, but since I am currently working on a 6 1/2 year old dinosaur of a Dell, I may not be able to process photos… stay tuned!  And in my next post I’ll fill you in on the sad story of the laptop.  I think I’ll get the data back, but it’s gonna cost a fortune….more anon!

For now, we’re going to celebrate the fact that Joshua is alive and home for dinner with Chinese carry-out!

While working on some samples for my manuscript the other day, Eli–already bored with summer and having read a book a day for nearly a week–wandered in to my studio. Poking about he asked, “What’s this?”

Well known to a select few and a mystery to others… it is a cord winder! After a bit of internet surfing I found it here (please note, I have never ordered from this store… it’s just the first place that popped up on the google search) and it is, apparently, called “The Spinster” (yuk yuk…not!).

There are several approaches. If you want a cord of all the same color, make a loop of a yarn or, as Eli did in these samples, knot two equal lengths of two different yarns (or more!!!) . Slip one end around something stationary like a doorknob or bedpost–it has to be something you can pull against. Slip the other end of the loop over the hook (on the right in the photo below). Then, you just wind in the reel, like on a fishing rod. This action twists the cord. When it is as tight as you would like, stop. The cord shortens as you wind.

The next step is easiest if you have someone to help you, especially if the cord is LONG. Figure out the midpoint and have your helper hold it and move away from the doorknob (or whatever) as you take the hook end toward the knob. Hold the two ends together and have your helper release the midpoint. The cord will instantly twist up into a rope.

Eli’s lower sample was made from a thick purple chenille and a thin gold yarn (about as thick as string). The second string is made of a sport-weight cotton yarn (the turquoise skein pictured) and a decorative / fancy yarn, the green. Isn’t that awesome? As a matter of fact, it perfectly matches some fabrics I’ve sorted out to make a totebag and some other goodies. Doesn’t it look delectable?

And, in the process of trying to find a website with the Spinster, I came across this fascinating site about making reproduction 16th and 17th century garments… I can see getting lost on that site for more than a few hours… I just love learning that kind of stuff! Happy surfing!