Have you seen the other half of my brain?

Geez, I'm just in one of those funny moods.  I decided to take the afternoon off and just do something for myself.

I have collected a bunch of Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons and the Striped Cottons and I just couldn't hold back - I had to get to them, play with them, and start cutting them up.  Picture below ... 

I just wrote a friend that I'm sometimes not sure what it is about 'quilting' that I like because:

          1.  Picking out fabric can be a real PITA, so a lot of times I just go for the cute fat quarter bundles.  And then again, once I find the zone, I can pick out fabrics with the best of you ...

          2.  Ironing the fabric and then cutting the fabric can be tedious.  It has taken me most of the afternoon to just complete one set of cutting directions for this beautiful quilt that I want to piece, just for me ... I'm tired ...

         3.  And reading directions can be a real downer ... do what?  Where?  How the heck do I get that piece to go with that piece?  Criminy ... sometimes I just want to skip over Steps 3 and 4 and get on with Step 5, which always looks more interesting than step 3 ... but I learned early on that the directions are there for a reason ... 

        4.  Making 280 flying geese, or 4-patches, or _______ (fill in the blank - you know what I'm sayng)  is not a challenge (are you listening, Bonnie K. Hunter???), it's a punishment!  I can make flying geese, I can count flying geese, but I guarantee you that at the end of the day I'LL BE SHORT 42 FLYING GEESE!  I've actually accused DH of taking my flying geese ... what the heck would he need 42 flying geese for?  

       5.  Not being Queen of Quilting can be liberating ... I can make up my own rules. 

So what is it about 'quilting' that I like ... the finished product, silly! I have to admit that the journey getting there means a lot to me, even as tedious and as nerve-wracking as that journey can be.   But once I finish the binding and hold that quilt up for inspection I am one pleased piecer!  

Quilting for others is wonderful - I totally love it - however, it means that I don't get to do the "piecing for myself" thing a lot.  And I guess I've been missing that the past couple of days.  

So here's part of my Kaffe Fassett collection ... love those soft pastels ... and the stripes are beautiful!  Can't wait to start putting this one together!  Don't hold your breath, though ... my piecing is SLOW!!!  

Airing of the Quilts from Franklin, North Carolina ... and Cyprus Food

Last year Mr. Dancing Bear surprised me by taking us on a weekend trip to Highlands and Franklin, NC ... two sweet towns right next to each other.  This was to celebrate both our anniversary and it just happened to be Mother's Day by the time he could get the reservations that he wanted ... 

We had such a great time last year that we decided to do it again!  Every Mother's Day Saturday is Airing of the Quilts in Franklin so we wanted to keep our visit on this particular weekend.  We stayed at a local B&B in Franklin this time and traveled over the most windy, twisty road in America to get to Highlands.  Why go over to Highlands, you may ask?  More on that later ...

It may be that I wasn't feeling 100%, but I was somewhat disappointed in the actual airing of the quilts this year.  Last year they had formally displayed some beautiful quilts in the Town Hall and I enjoyed roaming around down there.  There are also quilts all over town, on park benches, in store windows, and on stands placed around the gazebo area and down one street.  These were all very pretty but the ones that caught my eye and made me go closer to actually look were the hand-quilted ones!  So there are still people out there doing some beautiful hand-quilting.  We will definitely go again because I know this is just going to grow and grow and get better each year!  Maybe the addition of some street vendors, food/drink vendors, etc., would help.  

And I did visit both of the quilt stores in town, and came away with bags of goodies from each!  Wheeeee .... I love me a road trip!!!

So on to Highlands, the next town over from Franklin ...

Highlands is a small town just like Franklin, but they are so blessed to have one of the most spectacular restaurants ... Cyprus Restaurant.  The chef picks a theme and uses that theme for a week or a month, whatever ... we will introduced to Koi Phi Phi Cookout, a Thai Open Fire on the Beach.  And keep in mind that I'm not a Thai fan ...  When you walk into the restaurant you are looking right into part of the kitchen and they have displayed the food cooking ... a huge pork roast from which they cut the chops.  And mussels ... and the mango-spiced salad ...  So the first night we both had the rice wine braised pork chop with the mango spiced salad, jasmine rice, and other goodies.  It was absolutely delicious.  And Saturday night we changed it up .... I had the fish topped with finely shaved snow peas, fried garlic, jasmine rise, fresh coconut, and a slightly sweet red curry sauce.  I was afraid of the curry but the waitress assured me it was not the heavy hot curry associated with Thai food.  I sat there while eating, just marveling ... this was the best food I've ever eaten!  What a talent is Chef Nicolas!  We are not "foodies" ... but everything about this eating experience was wonderful.   The service was spot-on without the heavy "everything ok here" or trying to clear away your dish before you are through.  They are great!  The atmosphere is smart, without being smarty-pants, if you know what I mean.  A lot of couples were there, a lot of 4 people parties, and several larger parties, and we all went away with great smiles on our faces!

For dessert, we changed it up both evenings, having the lavender ice cream stuffed between two thin cookies and drizzled with honey ...... and jackfruit sorbet covered with shaved coconut and two small thin cookies.  Yummy!

And then we had company while eating ... look below ...

 This is the fish covered in thinly sliced snow peas, topped by fried garlic .... do you see the fresh coconut on top of the rice ... and that slightly yellowish/red sauce is oh-so-good!  All served on a large banana leaf ...





This is the jackfruit sorbet with the toasted coconut and crispy cookies and orange slices.  Yummy yummy yummy ...

 Yep, that's a black bear just loping along behind the restaurant.  And he is a big one, too!  No one rushed outside to invite him in ....

We think Spring has finally arrived ...

but then again, who knows?  

We have this lovely screened porch and we were able to have dinner on the porch for the first time this past week!  Wheeee ... Spring has Sprung!  And pollen has become the Georgia state irritant ... aaacchhhoooo !!!

I don't have fabulous pictures of the outside flowers and such ... I'm such a mole ... I spend 90% of my time in the studio quilting away, so instead of pictures of flowers I'll share some pictures of quilts!

So here goes ...

 This is Vintage Rouge.  Pieced to perfection, making my job easierl  This is hand-guided using templates and rulers.  Dare I say it?  It was fun!  Once I decided what to do where it went along nicely.  Good job, Debra!

I took full-length pics (see below)  but camera was not cooperating, so that picture is a bit blurry ... I call it my Robert Redford picture ... looks like camera-man smeared vasoline over the lens to 'soften' those old old lines!!!!  

I used Magna-Glide thread on top and a Delights bobbin and it went so smoothly.  Love that Magna-Glide thread!  

BLESSINGS OF SPRING ...

This one is Blessings of Spring, which is/was a BOM. Wanda does fabulous applique and I had a great time playing with this one.    Again, I used a Magna-Glide thread on top with Delights bobbin.  I get such great tension with my machine that I don't worry about having to match top and bottom thread.  I will use two different colors knowing that I'm not going to have tension issues with my machine.  Love my machine!!

This quilt is now hanging in Tiny Stitches - they are doing this as a BOM this year and didn't have the sample ready so Wanda agreed that they could hang this one (sans binding) for a while in order to show how beautiful this  BOM is going to be.  Congratulations, Wanda!  I love love this quilt!

Every so often you get a customer that just sews up the most adorable quilt tops and Cathy is one of those special people.  She did this Beach Theme quilt for a soon-to-be-here grandbaby!  It is adorable!  I played with it and just kept it simple and trying not to step on her beautiful appliques.

And this is a double-knit top that was pieced by someone's grandma ... and customer wanted it finished to actually put on a bed.  So I added the borders and then put that bad boy on the machine and Swirled it!  It's true, double-knit will grow and grow ... you have to corral that stuff so that you don't get those overly-friendly borders.  This one took a long time to do because of having to find cotton fabric that went with that 60's polyester.  And then all that cotton fabric had to be washed (including the backing) before sewing.  I'm glad she sent me the picture ... I love seeing pictures of where the quilts I've touched are finally resting ... 

 And this is a University of Georgia quilt that I'm donating to a local group for auction.  Benefits will go to benefit local Children's organizations.  I have put a reserve price on this quilt ... if it doesn't auction successfully, I know several people who will purchase. I'm in the middle of Dawg country, y'know!!!!

 So that's about it!  I've been busy!  There are other quilts done and gone but this is enough for now.  

Happy Spring, y'all!