Libby Lehman

I forgot to hit publish on this post, but that's OK, because I have more information than when I originally posted. Libby Lehman suffered a brain aneurysm after returning home to Houston from Paducah. Libby was a judge for the Paducah show, and apparently was having severe headaches while she was there. When she returned home, she went to the doctor, and the aneurysm burst while in the doctor's office. She later suffered a stroke. We've all been holding our breath since then, but I'm happy to report that Libby has been moved to a rehabilitation center and is making good progress. We don't know how long her recovery will be, but it will be a long road ahead. She has received over 400 cards, and her family says she has responses (blinking, etc.) when they read the cards to her. Life is so uncertain. When I ran into Libby in Paducah, she appeared as vibrant and full of energy as always. When I showed her my quilt, she noticed and praised the changes I made, and overlooked my atrocious quilting. No indication that a few days later, she would be fighting for her life. A Caring Bridge has been set up for Libby: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/libbylehman.

I sent Libby a humorous card because she has such a great sense of humor and I hoped that it would be OK. Since then, the family has said that humorous cards are especially appreciated.

A Little Get Well Poem From Me...

Work on getting well,
Don't you ever quit,
Or I'll be there in person
To give you lots of...
(Open the card)
Encouragement!
What? What did you think I was going to say?

The First Step is Admitting That You Have a Problem....

Hi, my name is Jeanette and I'm a hoarder. I joke about being a fabric-aholic, about being a yard of fabric away from being featured on Hoarders, about my stash being my 401k, but the truth is, I'm a hoarder.

For weeks I have been cleaning my sewing room. When I was working on teaching the class in North Carolina, I literally had to clear a path from the door to the sewing machine. What made me come to the realization that I have become more than a fabric-aholic is the number of books, patterns, fabrics, kits that I have more of one of the same thing!  Sew many books that are duplicates, sew many patterns that are duplicates...aaaaugh!  I just said to Al that I am a hoarder, and he said sympathetically, "I know, Honey." He then said, "Is it time to start selling some of that stuff?" and my heart stopped. That is the true sign that I am sick and need help. After I've had time to adjust to the thought of parting with some of my treasures, I think I will try to sell some of the duplicate books on Amazon. I'll let you know how it goes...

In other news, on Saturday we had our Judy Niemeyer Club meeting. I'm so proud of what we've accomplished! Mary completed her table runner, which was the beginning project to learn the way Judy paper pieces.

 

This is Cindy's table runner:



Once they complete the table runner, they had the choice of doing Three Ducks in a Row, Indian Summer, or Weeping Willow. Mary, our paper piecing Energizer Bunny, has completed all these blocks:

Aren't those pretty? So proud of Mary and the other students.

Back to cleaning....

Twelve step program for fabric-aholics...Never be more than 12 steps away from fabric!

This has been on my design wall since forever. When I needed a sample for the class in North Carolina, I had the brilliant inspiration of setting the blocks on point and calling it a day. Then I had another brilliant idea - Cultured Expressions is sponsoring an exhibit at the Dei Museum in Ghana, and since I adore Lisa, I wanted to submit something, but both the size restriction as well as the no commercial pattern restriction had me significantly stymied.  But ta-da! Here's a nice Afro-Centric piece. Two birds, one stone. The piece is called, New York Beauty Goes to Africa. Various New York Beauty blocks made with African prints, some of which were purchased in Ghana and South Africa.

When one door closes, another opens. Or you can open the closed door. That's how doors work.

Paris...Rome...Paducah!

Another item crossed off my non-existent bucket list. I have wanted to go to the Paducah Quilt Show for many years, but it is so dang hard to get to and the accommodations leave a bit to be desired, and it's hard to get a hotel room, because the tour companies snap them all up. So - seven hour drive and staying in a hotel away from the action - no, thank you. Last year I noticed that Stichin Heaven travel had a tour AND (most important), the rooms were in Metropolis, across the river, at Harrah's! Illinois is a quick 14 mile ride across from Paducah! Who knew? When the quilt show lists accommodations, they don't list Illinois hotels, so all you get is a list of the "Inns" in Paducah. If I were to go back, I would definitely stay in Metropolis at Harrah's. So all the folks on the tour (56 of us) all met up at the Nashville airport, and took a bus to Paducah ('cause you can't fly in to Paducah!)

First of all, Metropolis - you do know it is the home of Superman, right? Because it rained every day but one, I didn't get a chance to go to the giant Superman statue. But here is a not taken by me photo:

We did drive by the statue, but because it was raining, my photo wasn't a good one.

 

The quilt show was phenomenal...so many quilts and over 400 vendors. Of course I spent way more money than I intended to, but not on fabric. We started out by going to dinner with Eleanor Burns, she of Quilt in A Day fame. Not being a Quilt in a Day kind of girl, I have never made one of her quilts, but I sure did enjoy her. She greeted every single one of us personally, chatted and answered questions, cleaned up after us, and was just generally a delight. Despite fabrics that were on sale from $3-$5, I didn't buy any fabric.

 

Thursday was National Quilt Museum, Caryl Bryer Fallert (A-MA-Zing studio), and Ricky Tims photo shot. I wish I could show you the quilts at the National Quilt Museum because they are so incredible, but you are not allowed to take photos. Paducah had some kind of arts revival program years ago and Caryl bought her live/work studio for $2, in exchange for refurbishing the building. She took us on a tour of the building, which is very organized and beautiful. The Ricky Tims photo shoot will be on the cover of The Quilt Life in October. Thank goodness he did it on Thursday, because Friday, despite weather reports that the weather would be overcast, it poured. Went to Mecca Hancock's of Paducah (not the same as Hancock's).  How to describe it? First of all, it's HUGE and is in two buildings. How huge is it? Fabric is arranged by designer, not by color, that's how big it is. These pictures don't even begin to show how big it is. I only bought 2 yards of fabric at Hancock's, because how can you not? The ones I bought were current batiks which were $6/yd. 

 

Incredibly, one day I ran into Libby Lehman, and I got to show her my circle quilt! With 30 or 40 something thousand people, it really was amazing that I saw her.

 

And here's a picture of our tour group.

There were soooooo many people in Paducah, and the quilts are not laid out with as much room as they are in Houston, so I don't know that I would go back. I might, but I don't feel compelled to. PLUS - AQS is adding three new shows next year, one of which is in CHATTANOOGA! Not only does Chattanooga have nice hotels, it's actually a short two hour drive away! September, 2014, Baby! 

 

Live like there's no midnight

- Cinderella