Quilt Challenge Day 1

I'm a scroller. You know how people post food and silly pictures and challenges and every little detail of their lives on social media? Well, this is my form of social media. The (I don't know, maybe 7?) people who come by.... you're my social media. I mean I have Pinterest and Instagram and, of course, Facebook. But Instagram is for when I'm stuck waiting and there are no old magazines from three years ago. Facebook is my grape vine, but I read with dubious interest. Pinterest, well, that's my game. However, I can play only so much, you know?

So, the reason for this post. A quilt friend did this ten day challenge of posting one or two quilt pictures every day. Just for fun, I suppose. A sort of online quilt show, if you will. Anyway, she actually named me as the next challenger. Now, how do you go about ignoring something like that? She named me! Okay, okay. I'm in. Here's what I posted. 

And there we are, the beginning of something I may not be completely committed to. 

Quilt Challenge Day 1

Thank you, Mary Coco.

I'll start with a quilt in progress. These are the first six rows of the Bernina Sugaridoo quilt along. Over 6,000 people from around the world are participating, so it's in pretty good company. I'm using indigos I've collected for a while, off whites and a touch of mustard. (Yes, momma, mustard.)

 

 

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Sugaridoo Bernina QAL

Yesterday I told you that I've caught up with the Quilt-Along that Mettler Thread and Bernina sewing machines are sponsoring through the Sugaridoo blog. It's a fun QAL that you can join at any time. And it's also a beautiful way to be inspired. These are just a few of the thousands of photos on the QAL Facebook page.

International Peace Gardens [Marcottes go West pt 3]

Yesterday my sister Jeanne took us to the International Peace Gardens on the border of ND and Canada. The gardens (there are several) are stunning. Added to that fact is that the Dakotas are in a deep drought and it's amazing how much care the volunteers put into their mission of peace.

1. The two drives include lakes, native trees and wild flowers, and a variety of native fauna. The main gardens are simply breathtaking. Although I recognized many of the plants, the variety and color is well beyond my knowledge. One example of this is the cone flower. 

I'm calling all of these cone flower but they could easily be daisies or perhaps they are related. The point is that the colors are fascinatingly varied.

For more photos of the scenes and flowers at the International Peace Gardens, visit my Facebook page. 

#marcottesgowest    #fleurdelisquilts   #marymarcottequilts

Friendships and Initial Tees

I have a great friend.  One who is willing to haul around this tub of pretty Vera Bradley fabrics.  She happens to be a great artist able to create smart looking letters.  And she is especially generous.  By that I mean she shared her fabrics and created letters of my initials.  

Did I mention how generous she is?  Well, she also has a small side business designing and creating appliqued shirts for college sororities and for individuals.  So she ordered the shirts for me also.

It was lots of fun making the first one.  I have a couple more to go and will tweak the placement just a hair, but I'm really pleased with my first attempt.  Since I took the picture looking into the mirror, the letters are backwards but correct in real life.  This shirt is extra soft and perfect for a girl who can't handle much heat.  It's also a little big because tight clothing is an uncomfortable distraction.  

Having you in my life has been a blessing, Letabug.  I love you!

These are some of the shirts posted on Leta's FB page.  Aren't they impressive?  You can find her FB here.  Do me a favor and go like her page.  

Giveaway for Clothworks' AMB Farm to Fabric Challenge!

Clothworks Presents

Farm to Fabric Challenge

This post is a challenge and a giveaway! American Made Brand has a great challenge going on and some lucky designers will have their quilts in the Houston Quilt Show!  Now this is a challenge worth taking.  Plus, it's for everybody who creates quilts from their own designs!

AMB wants to get the word out about its challenge, so they've asked several bloggers to spread the word and are offering this great tote as a giveaway prize .

You can help spread the word and have a chance to win this useful tote (without the veggies, of course).  Because time is running short, I'm going to ask you to blitz the internet: use whatever social media you have--Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, your blog, Flickr, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, 3rdRevolution, etc. You have three days, so hurry!  Entries close on July 30 at 5 p.m. Wednesday evening  I'll choose a winner.

Get out there and blitz, buzz, and bark! Now I need to know what you do, so come back to this post and leave a note. Every, yes every, time you write about this challenge you can come back and enter!  So if you share on Twitter, FB, and Flickr, you have three opportunities!  It's that easy.

Info from the Clothworks website.

The Particulars [or the rules]

• Any techniques may be used – piecing, applique’, embroidery, photo transfer, whole cloth or manipulated fabric, etc.
• You may submit at most two quilts for our consideration.  Quilts must be a minimum of 25” x 25” and must have hanging sleeves attached.
• Quilts must be made specifically for the challenge and must not have been published in books, calendars, magazines, newsletters, websites, blogs or any other form of publication prior to November 2014.
• Completed submissions with visuals must be received no later than Friday, August 15, 2014. 
• You will be notified no later than Friday, September 5, 2014, regarding quilts chosen to be included in this exhibit along with shipping instructions. 
• If selected, quilts will need to arrive in Houston no later than Wednesday, October 1, 2014.
• Quilts will be returned by the end of December 2014 if quilt does not travel, or arrangements made to have a quilt picked up at the conclusion of the show.
• If you agree to allow your quilt to travel, your quilt will be returned by the end of August 2015.
• Open to US residents.

Timeline Overview

Announcement and preview – March 2014
Registration open – June 15 to August 15, 2014
Notification by – September 5, 2014
Accepted quilts arrive in Houston by – October 1, 2014
Quilts returned to owner – December 2014, or August 2015 if traveling.

How to Enter

Registration is now open. The last day to register is August 15, 2014 until midnight CDT.

To preview the registration forms, click here.

Please use a standard browser (i.e., Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox) for optimum performance. We recommend Firefox and Safari as the most reliable browsers. This site does not support IE 10.

To submit your entry on-line, click this button to start: 

When you have completed your registration, be sure to print a copy of the confirmation page for your records.

Who knows me so well?



A sister, for one.  She sent the card to me on Facebook.

A Surprise from 1978

Imagine my surprise this afternoon when I opened FaceBook to see this

 

Richard's cousin ran across this photograph and, thinking it was a picture of our oldest son, posted it to ask.  It is not Will, it's Richard and me, of course.  Richard's mom took this picture just before his graduation from Bunkie High in May of 1978.  How it ended up at Anna's house, I can only guess, but I'll assume that it was given to her mom and eventually passed to Anna.  

Anna is several years younger than we are, so while she probably was at the graduation party that was held over the weekend, she wouldn't remember much of it.  I think she was probably only about 10 or 11 when her cousin graduated and married....not very important events in her life.  

I was happy to answer her question and to "steal" the photo from Facebook.  It's now saved electronically on my computer.  I've gotten a few photos this way since FB came to be.  In fact, all the photos on this post were posted by someone else, but I now have a copy saved to my computer.
  

If you discover a picture you want to keep, you can do the same. First click on the photo: an enlarged version will popup. Right click on the popup photo, and then click on "save image as."  Next choose the folder where you want to save the picture. I rename my pictures before clicking save because it's easier to find pics with names than with a long string of numbers.  This method will work for Pinterest and Twitter, too.  This is one way of keeping copies of photos that you may want to revisit later or ensure that they are not lost.  You can also save a picture on a jump drive and take it to a photo center if you want hard copies. 

Beautiful, delicious Louisiana

Last summer my sister, Laura, came for a visit.  She lives in Tennessee and only gets to visit once or twice a year.  Because she considers her visits a vacation, we generally attempt something fun.  Last summer that fun came in the form of a swamp tour in South Louisiana.  Laura is a photographer, so she took some wonderful photos while we were in the boat.   This one, it turns out, she submitted to the Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries and they are using it as the cover photo on their Facebook page.  That's pretty exciting!  Her photos are pretty amazing. and I'm continually impressed with the depth and beauty of the shots she gets.

Tomorrow is our last day of school until after New Year's, so I agreed to host a celebration for my English III students.  I have two sections of class, for a total of 46 students.  We took end of course exams and all of my students passed this state exam except five.  The kids will each bring a snack to share, and I am bringing pralines and the paper/plastic dishware.  

The pralines look really delicious and taste wonderful, but they are sticky.  I should have cooked them just a little longer.  I have no doubt that the kids will enjoy them, but I did brag a bit, and I wanted them to be perfect.  Since it takes so much time to make this many (80+ pieces), I can't start over; we'll just have to enjoy sticky pralines.   

Did I do it again?  Last week I posted Pinterest Wednesday on Thursday.  Today is Thursday, and again, I haven't posted anything from my Pinterest boards.  Please accept my apologies.  And since we're on the subject of what to post when, please answer the poll in the upper right hand corner of this page.  I'd like to know what you'd like to see and read in the near future.  

Only five days left until Christmas.  I'm getting excited--what about you? 

International Quilt Festival

A few more pictures from the Houston festival.  These are some I took using my sister's camera.  She sent them to me via Facebook so that I could post them for you here.  

I apologize for not being able to include the title or quilter's name.  I just didn't have enough time.  

What do you think?  Aren't they stunning?  

Would you like more?

Facebook Fun

My sister Angie sitting on our maternal grandfather's lap,
then maternal grandmother and paternal grandmother. 

I had a great idea a few days ago after we ran across some really old family photos.  These photos are from my childhood and since we are eight sisters, it's easy to mix up the faces.  I found that I had to look on the back of the pictures to figure out who's who.  Thank goodness mom wrote the names there.

Me and Angie

It occurred to me that my sisters might want a few of the pictures, so I decided to post some on Facebook.  That gave me the idea to make it into a game.  Every night I post a few pics and everyone tries to guess who the people are.  I've posted pictures of our grandparents that had our children
discussing who they might be. 

Me (seventh grade)

Everyone seems to be enjoying the game, and I can say that I have never had so many comments  before!  If nothing else we're having fun, and the younger generation is learning about those in the family who have passed away, in some cases before they were even born.


If you have older children, you might try this game as a way of teaching them about your family.  One of the surprises is how many stories we've shared since we started playing.  Wasn't that a brilliant idea?  Do you think it would work so well for your children? 


Thank you to those who voted for my blog on Picket Fence.  It's gone up to 130 votes and moved to page 22!  I don't expect to move to page one....that takes about a 1000 votes, but it's fun to see the blog move up the ladder, albeit slowly.