June Finishes

The good thing about sitting home all weekend with a sore jaw is in between naps, I got a lot of binding done. At retreat, I started two brick quilts for my nephews. My mom has a room set up for them and no quilts on the twin beds. Well, we can have that, can we?





Then, I got the binding on this Yellow Brick Road quilt made from fabrics I got at Plain & Simple a hundred years ago. There's Shelby getting ready to test out my work.



Then, when I felt I could operate machinery again (vicodin doesn't knock me out but it does make me a bit loopy), I quilted and bound a preemie quilt.


Last week, Laura and I took Gina's Gum Drop Pillow class at Karen Gray Designs. It was great fun and a lot easier than I thought. I'm giving Gina all the credit for that. We got our pillows together in class and I got mine stuffed that night and promptly put my feet up.


I like it so much, I made another one tonight. I like it even better.


Finally, I got my donkey framed so it's finally finished. I splurged on museum glass because this will be my one and only pictorial rug. If teacher Karen hadn't been there to hold my hand, this would have been one funny looking donkey.

Am I Too Old for the Tooth Fairy to Visit?

This morning started off with me at the oral surgeon's office having a tooth extracted and an implant put in its place. Yes, fun times indeed!

All is well. I've spent a wonderful day on the couch with Shelby watching NCIS reruns in a vicodin-induced stupor - bag of frozen peas strapped to my jaw. (Go ahead - sing it - "I feel pretty! Oh so pretty!")

I think you should never be too old for the tooth fairy to visit. Instead of a quarter (which was the going rate last time she paid me a visit), I think she should bring me a fat quarter or two, don't you?

Happy Father's Day

I am still the luckiest little girl in the world.

Adventures in Ohio

For the second year, LauraQuilts and I served as judge's aides at the NQA Annual Quilt Show in Columbus, Ohio this past week. We worked like rented mules (as Laura likes to say) but we had a blast too. We got to catch up with folks we met last year and meet new friends.

We took off up the road last Saturday, stopping at The Woolen Willow in Williamston, West Virginia on the way. Sunday morning we were in the judging room at 7:30 a.m. and helped out by doing such wonderful jobs as scribe's aide, fanner, reader, runner, and holding room aide. Here's what the holding room looks like...kind of like a morgue actually.



It's amazing how they get through 400 quilts in two and a half days. Judging finished up Tuesday afternoon and then we helped with photography. This part is brutal work but we have a blast. Every one's more relaxed because the judging is over and the show is about to begin.

After the photography was done, a group of us treated ourselves to dinner and a beer together at Barley's Pub. My sides hurt from laughing by the time we heading back our hotels.

Wednesday morning, we helped hang ribbons and then Laura and Rosemary, a CJ Candidate from Maryland, and I went on a road trip to Marion, Ohio to visit Good Wives Company. Afterwards, we had lunch at The Warehouse in Marion. Yummy.


Rosemary knew of another little quilt shop along the way back called Serindipity. It was very sweet and I found some cool novelty prints there.


THEN, heading back into Columbus, I saw a sign from Graeter's Ice Cream and the car just served right off the highway and into the parking lot. (Our long distance bee member, OhQuilter, introduced us to Graeter's a couple of weeks ago and we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to corrupt Rosemary.)


Wednesday evening was the Preview Party, which starts out with a banquet then they open the doors to the show so we can see the quilts and shop. Here's me and Scott Murkin actually behaving ourselves at the banquet.


Here is one of the Best of Show quilts. They were all incredible.


Here's the highlight of the week though. I entered a quilt in the show...the first really national show I've entered. There were 40 quilts in the Duets category (Theresa DeWalt, the quilting goddess quilted this quilt for me). My quilt won an Honorable Mention.



No, I have not stopped grinning yet.