Blog of the week - Cheaper Than Therapy Quilting

Some of my friends told me recently (as they were off-loading) that I am "cheaper than a therapist" so the title of this blog appealed to my sense of humor.
Meet Mary Lou Casada who lives not too far from me. If you call "passing the Glasgow/London road signs on the way to visit my mother-in-law" close :) I enjoy her sense of humor and color palette.

"Oh no I picked out my own brown bag. how embarrasing"

I want her stash of neutrals and love her reasoning behind having that much. You'll have to read her blog to find out why.

Her ever loving and patient husband, when it comes to her quilting addiction, 'fessed up  that he reads her blog. He is currently stationed in Afghanistan. They recently celebrated their 23 wedding anniversary.
If you click on her scripture links they will take you to some of her other blog posts. Enjoy :) I liked Titus 2 and Esther 4:14 and Jeremiah 29:11 and .........
One of these days we will take a little detour to London, Kentucky instead of driving by and talking about it. Mmmmmmm The Mountain Laurel Quilters are having their quilt show in London on 15th-16th October. Hot diggity dog that's this week-end !!!!!!!
addendum - silly me I forgot to give the link to the blog http://cheaperthantherapyquilting.blogspot.com/

Project update - Christmas wall hanging

I'm playing with some applique letters and doves (my main festive theme for this year). The middle section is not stitched down yet because I want to think about the positioning for a few days. Baby dove is sitting on top of a package and I kind of  like how the ribbon creates another fun feature at the top of her head. I might take that further. I have some other letters cut out that will either go on the back or be made into another project.

My "maybe" quilt now has a name - "Columbines" - the embroidery is moving along and you can see updates about that at http://stitchacrosstheborder.blogspot.com/
My sewing machine is having issues..... again... Started making clunking noises when I was putting the baby doves together. I spent a while taking it apart and cleaning it but it looks like there is some thread stuck down in a section that I cannot reach or take apart. I guess it's time to find someone who can repair my type of machine. Himself is contemplating a new machine for my birthday.
DD #3 has been looking through all my sewing patterns (yes I do have some) for something to make for prom (me making with a little assistance from her). She wants sparkly fabric and is currently contemplating a 3/4 length dress and jacket. We had a good time at Jo-Anne Fabrics recently playing with fabric and she is looking forward to me taking her to a prom dress shop so we can look at neck-lines on her.

Beautiful Britain - Stowe House

Himself was in England for most of September on a business trip. He was able to do some sightseeing and took lots of photos, some of which I plan on sharing over the next few weeks.

Stowe House is a Grade I listed country house with gorgeous gardens. Stowe School (established 1922/23) is located within the building so access can be limited on occasion, however the grounds are open all year round. The grounds, follies and monuments were acquired by the National Trust in 1989.
The house was the county seat for the Temple family, later known as the Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos. Like many of the great families things progressed well then went into a decline through overspending. Thankfully the Stowe House Preservation Trust was created to take on the mammoth task of preserving this gorgeous house and its surroundings. Renovations are ongoing so expect to see scaffolding.

South Side of Stowe which looks out onto the beautiful gardens, follies and monuments.

Temple of British Worthies.

Inside the domed roof of the Pebble Alcove

Gothic Temple.

If you want to learn more about the architectural history of the house go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_-DFSyxBdc

John did not have enough time to go inside when he was there but if you go to http://www.stowe.co.uk/house/ you can see some gorgeous photographs.
http://www.wmf.org.uk/projects/view/stowe/history for a potted history of the Temple family.
http://faculty.bsc.edu/jtatter/monutour.html for map, photographs and potted histories of the monuments and follies.

The National Trust is really good about publishing informative guide books about their properties. John came home with "Stowe Landscape Guide. A Comprehensive Guide." Very interesting.

Quilt patterns (freebies)

It's that time of year when thoughts turn to upcoming holiday festivities. A site I like to go to fairly regularly for applique ideas (you can use them for other things too) is http://www.fourtwinsisters.com/

Meet Annette Truong, Margaret Huynh, Marilyn Wanner and Penny Harder. Beats me who they are but there's some good stuff in their site courtesy of willing donors :) I'm currently trying out some of the alphabets for raw edge applique. So far so good. 

Given how popular their site seems to be it's actually proving difficult to find out more about these ladies. Two sets of twins - Annette& Margaret who are 9 years older than Marilyn & Penny.

Blog of the week - Jennie Rayment

A while back I mentioned that I want to learn more about 3D quilting. I got started then life intervened (doesn't it always). Having said that I found a really interesting project on the internet which led me to this lady. Meet Jennie Rayment aka "The Muslin Mistress" or "Queen of Calico". (Yes I know she is famous but I live under a rock.) She specializes in "nipping and tucking" and her work is amazing.
http://www.jennierayment.com/

Jennie hails from England and is unique in her realm. She creates amazing items with calico/muslin and has fun to boot.  Don't let the above photograph fool you.... she sheds her "naughty nightie" during her demonstrations and lectures ...... and with a legal purpose.

Her current book "Creative Tucks and Textures for Quilts and Embroidery" is on my ever expanding list of books to buy. The cover project was created out of one square and one circle of fabric !!!!

She has also authored "Tucks, Textures and Pleats", "Tucks and Textures Two", "Tucked Up in Bed", "Tinkering With Texture" and "Serging For Softies".

One of her wall hangings is titled "Magnolia Dusk". She also creates clothing and 3 dimensional art.

My favorite at the moment is this one "Sudoku Quilt" from her book "Tucked Up in Bed."
Hop on over to http://www.justhands-on.tv/ to meet Jennie as she introduces Just Hands On TV. If you sign on there is a wonderful interview with her.

Project update - Mrs. Moen ugly fabric challenge #2

Just a reminder of the fabric I was sent. I'm still working on ugly fabric #1 but need to get a couple pieces of fabric to finish it up.
I started on ugly fabric #2 .... the cats .... which I happened to like as is but decided to do something with.

So I cut everything apart then sewed some of the triangles back together again in a different configuration. The cats are currently fused to their background fabric (from my collection) and awaiting some embroidery. The starry fabric will be the border and the whimsical sewing cats fabric is for the back.

A number of us were working on a secret memory quilt project for a friend that was dying. It was delivered on Monday evening. She died on Tuesday morning. The quilt was displayed at her viewing yesterday. The funeral is today and hopefully at some point over the next few days I'll be able to get a good photograph of it.

Beautiful Britain - "Britain From The Air"

I'm expanding my horizons - as in leaving Scots Corner for Beautiful Britain :)
Thanks go to Angela Huddard for telling some of us about this free exhibition that is on display in the streets surrounding Bath Abbey until the end of February 2011. (Started yesterday.)

The photographs are stunning and not your usual "mainly beautiful scenery" either. Take some time to listen to the on-line commentary by Dr. Rita Gardner, Director of The Royal Geographical Society. You'll definitely come away with a different perspective on a variety of subjects.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11427007
then go to
http://www.britainfromtheair.com/
and
http://wecommunic8.com/exhibitions/britain-from-the-air.html
and
http://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Engaging+with+wider+audiences/Britain+from+the+Air/Home

One of the photographs featured in the exhibition is Hawthorn Heart, Oare, Wiltshire. Photographers for this one were Adrian Warren and Dae Sasitorn.

Just to give you a sense of scale here's a street scene found at http://visitbath.co.uk/site/whats-on/britain-from-the-air-p1125813

The abbey itself is gorgeous, IMHO. I've been there a few times and enjoyed each visit. I wish I could say I took this gorgeous sunset photo but alas I did not and I'm not sure who did.

But the next one was taken by Adrian Pingstone and shows the fan vaulting over the nave.