Catching Up

 On the beach, in Atlantic City, this seagull posed for me!
I was there this past week for the I.B.E.W. 3rd District Progress Meeting. The president, Edwin Hill, spoke about the fight working Americans are facing right now. Unions need to increase their numbers. I grew up knowing about the union from my dad. My sister is a union steward. We are a working class family and proud of that.

Our mandala exhibit was a bust. It was the first time the owner had tried to have an art show. She wasn't prepared. Among other problems, we felt that the lack of security was also an issue, so we will find another venue for these awesome quilts. All the pieces are as varied as their makers and well worth a look-see.

Ace, Michael & Jenn's puppy has Parvovirus. For the last week he has been at his kennel being taken care of 24 hours a day. He has made some progress, eating a little bit on his own. After being able to see him play in videos and on Facetime, I feel like I know him. Hoping he will make a full recovery and be back home soon.

Mela is 2 months old now! She is such a pretty baby! My friend, Nicki, sent me a note that she has Mela's pic as her screen saver right now because it makes her smile when she looks at it.

I love wool. I have lots of wool. I have wanted to do a project with them for a while. Last week at guild, one of the show & tells quilts was this one....

I wish I had made time to get pics of more of the blocks up close. It is all wool. It won best in show somewhere...as it should. Awesome. I would love to make one similar to this one.

"Bulls Eye" is now in the hands of Cheryl Doodie, one of our guilds award winning hand quilters. The pennies were all hand stitched from repurposed wool clothing and sewn by machine to 5" squares. I purposely stacked the pennies wonky, felt more comfortable to me. (I actually took pics of symmetrical stacks and wonky stacks to decide) Cheryl will use red thread to form a secondary line design. It will be pricey, but worth it to me. This quilt could not be machine quilted. Just wouldn't have looked right.

I am currently working on 3 small pieces for a lapidary show in Rochester next month which will marry stone and fibers to show that gems, stones and fossils can be used in other ways, not just jewelry.
Also deciding what to show and/or create for a show with RAFA in Clifton Springs in November.
I machine quilted Mela's hexi quilt, just need to bind it.
So much I want to do, so little free time!

I have learned:

1. The Bills are winning against the Raven's as I write this. BUT, it's not over yet.
2. My Etsy shop is steady sale-ing. Mailed to Israel on Friday. 
3. I really don't like to gamble, at all. Didn't even play a slot game in Atlantic City. I prefer to waste my money, not lose it.
4. Sophia loves me like kitty poop! Wow. Sweet. 
5. Ollie's always has great book buyouts. I got Melanie Testa's Inspired to Quilt for $2.99! A Stephen King book of short-ish stories for $1.99. 
6. Salsarita's=yum.