IPhone-o-Gram!! Hello from Dallas!

THIS is how I know I am in the great Lone Star State of TEXAS!'

Howdy, Ma'am----yesssireeee!!!

:-). One more flight to go!

Bonnie

Ever have one of THOSE days?! ((Free Kindle Book!))

Yep! It’s one of those! I’m still sitting here in Little Rock, 3 hours after my flight was supposed to leave ----

But you know how things come with a silver lining?

My original flight to Charlotte was delayed and delayed and delayed to the point that even if I COULD get to Charlotte, I’d never get out of Charlotte to get to Los Angeles tonight, because I’d miss the last available flight. OH NO!

Some very sweet explaining ((Make that PLEADING!)) as calmly and collectively as I could to a very cute young guy at the ticket counter --- ((You know you are old when anyone under 45 is cute and young!)) had him searching for alternative routes for me.

Everything was coming up empty until a few clicks and key strokes had him calling over to AMERICAN AIRLINES to see if they could route me through Dallas. Only issue? That flight doesn’t leave Little Rock until 3:30pm.

But not to worry ---my flight gets into LAX at 8pm, only ONE HOUR later than originally planned. I’ve called the show folks --- and I even found out that my class tomorrow doesn’t start til NOON --- so I even get a bit of sleep in time after all this travel craziness. Sometimes, the sun just shines --- you know?

So here I am with an extra hunk of time to hang around the airport. I’ve only been here since 9am. It’s now just past 1pm. I’ve got 2.5 hours to go----

And I’ve found a goodie to share with you!

Creola's Moonbeam, by Milam McGraw Propst, is free in the Kindle store.

Book Description:

Honey Butler has hit middle-age and writer's block at the same time. Off she heads to a Florida beach house to get her mojo back.

Her journey to renewal takes her back to memories of Creola, the wise woman who helped raise her; at the same time Honey is befriended by an Aunti Mame-ish neighbor who turns out to have the same wise world view as Creola.

The book description was very very short, so I went deeper into the reviews and this one helped me decide that it was a book worth a try:

Writer Honey Newberry knows that her eight weeks of writing belongs in the trash, which is what she does to her manuscript. Besides writer's block, Honey suffers from middle age despondency as she wonders who stole her youthful body and left behind an overweight corpse. Needing to get way, she flees her Atlanta suburban home for the beaches of Florida after `talking" with her beloved deceased black nanny Creola, who encourages her "Moonbeam" to rediscover herself.

In Florida the runaway meets free spirited senior citizen Beatrice, who reminds the beleaguered Honey of her cherished Creola.

Beatrice, like Creola, encourages Honey to ignore what others think and remain true to your self. As Beatrice mentors her on life with one adventurous caper after another, Honey reflects on her relationships with her spouse Beau, her sister Mary, and especially her beloved "Crellie" as she called Creola when she was a little girl and begins to remember what the blessing of life truly is.

CREOLA'S MOONBEAM is a deep look at an individual suffering from a middle age woman believing she has nothing left to offer to herself, her loved ones, or anyone for that matter since she seemingly lost her ability to write. Honey is a terrific protagonist as her woes and her life lessons make for a powerful insightful look at aging. With the combined teachings of Beatrice and Crellie, Moonbeam begins to learn that life is to enjoy as you only have one shot at it. Milam McGraw Probst provides a strong inspirational character study.

It sounds like a good read! And quite apropos for me right now. I can see you nodding in agreement with me -- I’m ready to dig into it..and also have plenty of time to work on hexies ----and edit the photos down from yesterday’s My Blue Heaven workshop so those will be ready to share tomorrow too ---

But first..LUNCH! I think a visit to the “Whole Hog Café” here at the airport is in order ---can’t leave Arkansas without some BBQ under my belt, can I?

Carry on --

Take a Flying Fish!

I’m sitting here at the Little Rock airport – waiting for my flight to get me BACK to Charlotte so I can fly to LA. I asked at the counter --- is there a shorter way to LA? Not if you are flying US air! Oh well….more hexie time!

One of the fun things about traveling to different areas is the opportunity for fun food. Arkansas did not disappoint!

Monday after our workshop was over, several of us headed into the River Market district to catch a bite to eat at the Flying Fish. Such a fun place full of local flavor!

I loved the shrimp guy holding the menu with the daily specials on it –Look at that guy – how can you not giggle?! Shrimp are one thing I love, but only love fully cooked and completely naked --- as in…..please don’t make me pull their legs off and peel them! They can be unbreaded, and cooked---stir fried, fricaseed, baked, broiled or boiled…..I just don’t want my food to be wearing FEET!

I loved the industrial style shelving holding all the condiments..such an array of colors and flavors!

There is something for everyone on a large over head menu board ---and the smells coming from the kitchen were delicious indeed!

While we stood in line we occupied our time by looking at the “Liar’s Wall” of fishy photos. Other décor? Every spare inch of the place was covered with those fake mounted singing BUBBA fish! LOL!

Ours however were luckily NOT singing. They batteries had LONG given out ---and patrons had proceeded to fill their little fishy mouths with things like packs of saltine crackers, straws, spoons….how funny!

We enjoyed our meal along side this open window…And yes, you are not looking at a very CLEAN window pane – it's open to the fresh air which was wonderful!

The highlight of our night, long after our belies were full was watching a whole bus load of bus tourists…yes, a real bus load ---walk down the street in search of their own eats. Many stopped to chat at our open window saying “oh that looks good, how is the food!?” I of course recognized the accents immediately – discovering that this was a whole bus of tourists from North Dakota and Minnesota, spending 11 days on the road touring the south!

From that moment on it was like old home week, and we started offering them the extra hush-puppies out of the window! LOL! You see, for Minnesotans, HUSHPUPPIES are a pair of SHOES. Not FOOD! Oh such fun!

If you didn’t know, hushpuppies are fried corn-bread balls --- completely bad for you and completely delicious

!

Since my meal was already one color of fried golden brown --- I passed on the fried pies, but was sorely tempted when I saw it was served a la mode!

The outside of our open window….you won’t leave hungry, that’s a guarantee!

The next time you hear from me, I’ll be settling in in Southern California! Happy Wednesday everyone!

Come See Me in Glendale!

That’s Glendale, California ---- not Glendale, Arizona ----

This coming weekend is the Glendale Quilt Show! ((I'm saving my specially planned GREEN SHIRT for St Paddy's Day on Saturday!))

I got notice today that there are some last-minute openings in a couple of classes ---

If you’ve always wanted to take a class at a show ---but were afraid that classes required a certain skill level, or found the fact that a lot of classes ALSO require an expensive kit to participate --- never fear! These two classes do NOT require kits, can be made from scraps you have on hand, teach basic fun skills, and you get a LOT done during the class time with much to show for it.

I’d love to spend the day with you!

Click HERE to visit the guild show website! You can also download a show brochure HERE.

Thurs, March 15: Shirttails!

Three traditional blocks combine in this top to challenge any quilter! We will be making 1/2 square triangles in 3 different sizes, and combining blocks of different sizes to make a scrap quilt with a primitive feel. *Note* Though the pattern in the book is written with regular rotary cutting instructions, I love to use my easy angle ruler for half square triangles, and the companion angle combined with the easy angle ruler for flying geese units. I will be demonstrating these rulers during class, so if you have always wanted to know how these work, bring them with you!

Don't worry about pre-cutting for this class-- I know Thursday doesn't give much prep time -- just bring a good selection of fabrics you want to work with and we can cut during class.

• Shirttails Class Supply List

Sunday, March 18: Scrappy Mountain Majesties!

A great quilt for using larger pieces of leftover fabrics! All of those “WHAT WAS I THINKING!” fabrics can find a place to shine in this super easy, super visual quilt. Students will bring pre-cut 8.5" squares in pairs of light/dark. Many layouts provide lots of options for this fun quilt!

• Scrappy Mountain Majesties Class Supply List

I’d love to see this classes fill to full. What are you waiting for? If I can drag my carcass cross-country to come play --- you can come play too! You’ll be glad you did!

I’ve got to get a good night’s sleep tonight --- tomorrow is the crazy day I get to fly backwards from Little Rock Arkansas, to Charlotte, North Carolina – so I can catch a plane that flies me “Non-Stop” from Charlotte to Los Angeles ---Stupid way to route me, but hey, it’s hexie time again!

iPhone-o-gram! Live from Class!!

Shirley has just been awarded the de-stasher of the week award!!

With an honorable mention for artistic use of millennium fabric in the construction of her My Blue Heaven quilt!

Star Struck in Little Rock!

Yesterday’s workshop was a load of fun! The day started with the guild business meeting and my lecture ----and then we got BUSY. Tables were moved and chairs arranged and machines unloaded and everything plugged in --- and in between that and the start of class we managed to eat a bite of lunch for the energy we’d need to get us through the afternoon!

We met at a library, with a great conference room for our use. I love libraries! I need to remember today to get a picture of the beautiful fountain that is right outside our room...too much time, not enough for all the pictures I want to take!

I love organized preparedness! Doesn’t this just make you want to flip through and look at each individual strip?

This too! Cut and stored and all ready to go!

More strip and square readiness!

Take a look at all we got to – we had a great half day class, and don’t let the half day part fool ya – it was a 4 hours of pedal to the metal chain-piece-a-thon!

		Star Struck, Little Rock AR 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

And today we do it all over again with a My Blue Heaven Workshop!