Meet Marty Mason

On Thursday I finally got around to writing about our August meeting. In that post I teased everyone with a little about our special guest, Marty Mason, and promised more today. So here we are. Marty is a quilter from North Louisiana who blogs over at Marty's Fiber Musings. I contacted her a while ago and asked her to come to one of our meetings to give a trunk show. 

Wow, did she surprise! I knew she'd do a great job--she's given trunk shows and workshops before--but even though I'd attended one of her presentations, I am still in a little bit of show at how well-received she was.

Let me start at the beginning--which would be lunch. You know how eating is important to Louisianans. I should have been taking guild members who give presentations to lunch on their day to present. Well, I'm not good at entertaining, so you can imagine that I've been derelict in my duties. To make things right with those ladies I planned a nice lunch at one of our local restaurants and invited Marty to join us. Everything planned for the same day meant having to pull myself together only once. Doable in other words.

I couldn't choose a favorite, but it
would be a toss up between this gray...

and this white/neutral.

Lunch was a hit; everyone had a great time; getting to meet Marty early was a special treat. Yay! Redeemed! We left Bunkie and went to the museum in Cottonport for our meeting and got going right on time. 

Once the business part of the meeting was over, we settled down for Marty's presentation. She showed her quilts; told stories about some of them; described the inspiration for others; and entertained us with her humor. Every quilt is unique and interesting in its own way. I kept thinking "I like this one," "This is my favorite," "I have to try to make this." 

  

Now don't think I am one to gush and stutter and aw shucks over every quilt. I have my own tastes and I know what I like. Truthfully, there were a few that while I wouldn't necessarily want to make them, I still found interesting and unique. Surely the one with all the curved seams is more work than I am willing to give, but it's a stunner because of that. 

In the end I can say that bringing my bloggy friend in was a grand idea. But if every cloud has a silver lining, it also has a little rain--now I'm expected to continue my good work. As if I can entertain again next month. 

August Cotton Quilters' Guild Meeting

My version of the Row by Row
quilt on the design wall

On Monday the Cotton Quilters met at our usual place, usual time. But oh wow! did we have an unusual meeting. More on that in a minute. First, we held a meeting. You know, pledges, updates, minutes and reports: business matters.

And, as we have for the last five or six months, we shared our row quilt blocks. Then I gave out the final block. It's a Dresden fan that will round out our 70 x 84 quilt. 

As you can see from the picture on the left, I chose to put my quilt together but did not put the blocks in order. I wanted my guild sisters to see that it isn't necessary and also because when I put my blocks on the design wall, I didn't like the way they looked. Ha! What's new in my world, right?

Some months there are few show and share items, other months there are lots. You just never know. For August everyone seemed to have one or two. A pig and a flamingo from Pam.

An interesting log cabin. A huge flower.

 A beautiful Cathedral Windows and some quilts meant to use up scraps.

And this pretty green and white sampler. There was so much laughter and talking that I missed a couple of photos and faces. But it's all in fun and we had a great time oohing and ahhing at each others' quilts and quilt tops. 

Then we had a very special guest. Marty Mason from Marty's Fiber Musings came for a visit. She gave a trunk show and had a program in which she explained modern and improv quilts. She also talked about her inspiration and shared some of the books that she especially likes. 

Now this is the point when I tell you that this post is a tease. Yep, sure is. Marty deserves her own special post, so you'll have to come back on Saturday to see some of her other work. 

All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon. I wish you had been there, but you can be here Saturday for a little more Marty.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: F A R M

Farmhouse style seems to be one of the styles of 2018 so let's see how that may have inspired quilts.

Some quilts are farm quilts because they depict farms; others, no matter how modern, are inspired by the plain farm style of old. 

St. Therese of Lisieux

Know what I've been up to? Babysitting for the summer, quilting (yeah!), and a few projects for our church. This year marks the 90th Anniversary for the Church of the Little Flower. The Little Flower refers to St. Therese of Lisieux, who wrote about and practiced what she called "the little way."

She believed strongly that not everyone could become a great saint, one whose name will forever be remembered.


She practiced and wrote about how the small, everyday duties of life could be one way to achieve heaven. Rather than just wash dishes because the dishes are dirty, wash them because doing so is a way to serve the others in the family. Take on chores that no one wants to do, so that your love for others is manifested in your duties to them. By loving the ones around you, you are loving Christ Himself.

Many of our parishioners have spent the year learning about and trying to take on some of the teachings of St. Therese. Some of the ways we have done this include: 

• reading her autobiography
• studying and discussing her teachings
• reviewing her quotes, which are published in the weekly bulletin
• discussions of her life and the lives of her family
• giving her a more prominent role in the life of our church

So far it has made a difference in our lives here at the Marcotte lot. Richard and I have found opportunities to share St. Therese's life with our children and grandchildren. 

We've also found that by being mindful of the little ways we can show love to each other has allowed us to be less critical and disagreeable with each other. Hopefully our behavior will influence others in our lives who watch us. 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from St. Therese:

"Love proves itself by deeds....The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love."

Pin It Weekly #251

Celebration pins

More about this to come...