Wednesday, January 30, 2013

My New BFF, Ricky Tims

I finished the Feathered Star! Y seams and all!



















Why yes, that is me on stage with Ricky Tims. He, Libby Lehman and Alex Anderson held a seminar at Clayton State. He was asking me how he can improve his piecing skills, and called me up on stage to demonstrate.  LOL! What really happened was that on the first day of the seminar, he was talking about "Caveman Quilting" and how you do not have to have a perfect 1/4" seam allowance. Edith said, "You should cover your ears when he gets to that part." He didn't hear exactly what she said, but heard our murmuring, and like a good teacher, came right on down into the audience and we repeated the conversation to him. We joked about having to call the paramedics for the less than precise part. Later, he was making a point that we all only have so much time, and we shouldn't waste time on low value activities. So of course he calls Miss Perfect 1/4 inch seam allowance up on the stage to make his point. The lady standing there with me was to cut strips and I was to tear the fabric, which presumably is faster. But he set it up so that I finished first anyway. We all had a good laugh, he gave me a yard of fabric which I donated to the Guild for the auction next month. Just for the record, I do not like to tear fabric, because while it is on the straight of grain, the stress of tearing it distorts the edges of the fabric. His recommendation is that you press the fabric and the edges will be fine. I'm willing to try it...(she said skeptically and not at all set in her ways.)
 
He was very generous about signing books and taking photos:
 
We had a great time at the seminar and I learned a lot. I wanted to attend one of his retreats in Colorado this year, but couldn't make it fit into my schedule. I definitely will go next year. And I'm taking Libby Lehman's class at Asilomar in March. And Clayton State University is a beautiful campus.
 
I just threw a housewarming party for the people next door. Well, I called it a housewarming, the police called it arson.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Happy New Year!

Today is the last day to legally say "Happy New Year!" At some point, and the New Year Police have declared it to be today, the year is no longer new. Here are my resolutions:

This year I resolve to:
1. Try new things
2. Grab life by the bottle
3. Have more adventures
4. Laugh every day
5. Go big or go home
6. Eat more chocolate
7. Drink more wine
8. Shake my tail feathers
(Not necessarily in that order.)

I should add, 9. Master Y seams. Jesus, Mary and Oprah (as Jack on Will and Grace would say), I cannot do Y seams to save my life. There's a great video online on YouTube (btw - anything you want to do ever in life has a video on YouTube. Just Google whatever it is "invalid Sim Card on iPhone5" and you will get a link to the video.) that I have been studying so hard, and I thought I had it, but apparently not. I've been working on one block for the last four hours! That is just wrong! Time to take a lunch break, give my brain a rest, and take the wreaths down from the front door.

Love the people who treat you right...
Prey on the ones who don't...
Wait, no, it's pray FOR the ones who don't...
Yeah, that's it!