A Relaxing Trip

It has been a while since I have been on my Blog. Maybe I got TOO rested on my recent trip to Cedar Hill, Texas (a Dallas suburb). A group of 6 quilters went on a littel retreat and it was one of the best times I have ever had. In fact my Dr. suggested maybe I should move there, but he knows I won't leave the family, especially the grandbabies. The place we went is the 1890's House (www.1890quilters.com). Oh how I hate to tell you that because I want it all to myself. You may take up to 8 people there to rest and to create. Our happy group of 6 did both. The first picture is the The Sewing Cottage and it is fully equipped except for your sewing machine and fabric, etc. By the way paper artist, mixed media artist, etc are welcome also. The house has been in the same family for 4 generations and is extremely well maintained and clean.

This is one of the 4 bedrooms. Each room has 2 twin beds. There are 3 bathrooms, two upstairs and one downstairs. One of the bathrooms has a clawfoot tub, but alas I didn't get that room. Maybe next time.

You can see that 3 of my friends are enjoying the parlor. We kept waiting for the farm family to come home and greet us it was that authentic. The dining room is next to this room and then there is a fully equipped kitchen. You bring your own food and can cook if you want to???? There are LOTS of places to eat within 5 miles, so we did breakfast there, one other meal and ate one big meal. And for you who have to have special coffee, I reccommend the White Rhino in Cedar Hill.

This is all 6 of the happy retreaters on the last day, standing on the wonderful back porch, where we had been visiting and talking about coming back on that last day. Don't we look rested and happy and having fun. I really can't wait until I can go again.

Blessings to you.

Flea Market Shopping Finds

Is this not the cutest little egg cup. I bought 3 of them on a recent trip from Springfield, MO back home to Little Rock. My sister Martha and I went to Springfield to meet our brother Eddie at an ABA meeting he was in charge of. We made the most of our trip and I picked up all the finds you see in this post.

I found 2 bundles of beautiful wool for less than $2.00 each for these rolls. The green swan salts I thought were delightful and they look really nice for sale in my showcase at Blue Suede Shoes.

The teacup has my favorite color flowers on it and it will end up in my china cupboard with my mother's Tea Rose dishes. These delicate tea cups just say elegance and the joy of sharing a cuppa tea with a friend.

These are small handmade doilies that spoke to me. Don't you think they will look pretty as little toppers on those pincushion candlesticks I plan on making.

Anyway I wanted to share my finds with ya'll. My sister and I had a wonderful time on this trip together.

New Computer and Memphis

Now that I am back with a new computer and my pictures have been downloaded I thought I would share with you a few of the pictures from a recent day trip that I took with Grand Escape Tours. We went to Memphis. No we didn't go to Graceland, but we hit some other places that surprised me in how interesting they turned out to be.

First we visited St. Jude's Hospital - not the actual hospital, but where Danny and his wife are buried is a building with history of Danny Thomas and how St. Jude's came to be. There are so many success stories there that is so uplifting. I know there are sad stories there too, but their efforts are working miracles in the fight for curing cancer.

After lunch we set off for the Memphis Botanical Gardens. A large complex of various type garden settings. One more beautiful than the other. There is an impressive rose garden with so many types of hyrbrid tea roses, even the Princess Diana Rose. The rose pictured here is not it - I don't know now which rose it was. The heat had reduced some of the beauty of the gardens, but one garden, the Japanese garden was a reflection of beauty. You can see one the elements, the red bridge with the swan floating in a Koi pond.

Now the one place you would think - yuck!, turned out to be the most interesting stop we made. Set on the Mississippi is a converted Civil War Hospital into the National Ornamental Metal museum. The strange bird on the right is an idea of what type of metal is done there. Various metal artist show their work there and there is an apprenticeship program for metal workers and blacksmiths. The gate where you entered was done with a rosette design that various metal artist were ask to design and make a rosette for each space. Of course I had to take pictures, the butterfly was one, a psychiatrist couch, various Texas symbols, a teacup with a hand, just to name a few of the designs.

I know I sound like a tour guide, but this was an interesting trip and I love to share my pictures.

This post could have either been my trip to Memphis or my weekend at the ballpark with Gianni . I promise I will get back to flea markets, art and beading when state tournaments are over, but I am still having fun.

Houston Trip Over

I am combining my Friday and Saturday time in Houston to one post because I don't want my readers to fall asleep and be totally bored.

This bag is my Friday half-day class taught by Jenny Rayment from the U.K. She is funny, fast paced and totally organized. This was a whole day class that she taught us in 3 hours and almost everyone got the bag done, even me!! It is a small elegant tote bag and is so fun to make.

Friday afternoon it was my time to begin shopping. Now with all the vendors there you can spend a bundle - unless you get organized and pace yourself. My object was to look for those things I could not buy locally at home and I would have to pay shipping to get them to Arkansas. This is a picture of some of the wonderful beads, threads and other things to work on in the upcoming year. Angelina fibers, Angelina film, Lutradur, TAP, beads and some variegated threads. My friends Jim and Tom encouraged me to be creative and get "out of the box". Tom recommended Sharon Schamber products (http://www.sharonschambernetwork.com/)

to help me get free with my machine quilting and to make it easier. She should know what works with her Best of Show win at Houston. Pictures DO NOT give the quilt true justice.

I purposely made a picture of the bowl of beads - actually "bead soup" The artist who create these ideas are so generous in sharing their ideas. Quilting Arts magazine had a "Make -It University", which I did not attend, but during the day they would have different artist from their magazine demonstrating their articles or books. During the week
I had the opportunity to meet a few of them. One of these artist Frances Holliday Alford shared her love of "bead soup" with me. You can find her Christmas wreaths Quilting Arts Gifts magazine Holiday 2008-09. Thank you Frances for you assistance.

I hope you have had fun on this trip with me to Houston. Maybe you will get to go someday too. But if not there is so much out there to play with and even in your own back yard. That is where these artist sometimes got their start. So "have fun" - you know it is never too late.

In October my son, daughter-in-law and grandson went with me on a trip the Eureka Springs. On the trip up there we stopped at The Natural Bridge, a local tourist attraction. The bridge is shown above. We had a pleasant quarter mile walk on a beautiful fall day. This is the first trip we have taken together since Will has been born, he is 4 1/2. Will was fascinated by the caves, but was very careful about bats - not that we saw any bats.
The leaves were not totally turned to their fall glory, but they were beginning to change just enough for it to be a beautiful drive up Hwy 65.

This picture is of Will and I on the trail.

Below is one of the big cats from the Turpentine Wildlife Refuge. They take in cats who have been abandoned or abused, as well as other wild animals. Some people get these animals and don't quite realize how large or "playful" they can become. The stories are really sad for some of the animals.

We went through the wildlife refuge on Sunday morning. We had time before we needed to head home to go to another zoo we heard about. This one is called the Promiseland Zoo and is located in the opposite direction as the refuge. You drive through this zoo and some of the animals will walk right up to your car. Caution is written all over the park to NOT roll your windows down more than 2 inches. That was not always the case with the brave boy and man in the car. We did not have any problems. We saw all kinds of animals. The bison and the emus were the most likely to come to your car, in fact we had to sit for awhile until a Mama Bison and her baby decided that we could proceed.

There is nothing like spending fun times with your family and this was definitely a fun trip. Will got to spend time with his MawMaw and Mommy and Daddy - off on an adventure - all on his own personal time.