A Narragansett Afternoon!

Yesterday after our Basket-Weave Strings workshop in Westerly, I was hijacked by Tina and headed first to Wakefield for MORE Rhode Island Retail Enrichment!

Our first stop? Folk Art Quilts!

The building is really fun --- it used to be a large department store “back in the day” and now the inside is divided up into individual shops…….and I felt right at home in Folk Art Quilts – because they have as much fabric available in a cozy spot as you can possibly fit! And the variety is really great – everything from civil war type repros to batiks to modern lovelies such as Kaffe!

The owner was just delightful and we had a good visit.

That pile right there—yep! “Honey, remember those business deductions you told me I needed more of? I’m taking care of it!” LOL!

Me and Mary, the owner! I think she is a bit numb at my purchases….hehe

Oh Yeah, don’t I look happy?? OOOOOOOHhhh Fabric!

I experienced some other Rhode Island firsts --- I have now officially had a DEL’s! It’s a lemon slush, and oh, is it delicious! We were joined by Tina’s daughter Julia, and off we headed for the sea wall to take an afternoon walk!

The few rain drops that fell were gone by the time we parked the car, and it was a great afternoon for stretching our legs and getting some fresh air. It’s a bit chilly down by the water, so I was glad to have that sweater! Here the tide is out…do you see that building in the background with the “drive through” beneath it? The one that looks like a castle? That’s called “The Tower”. We walked that direction! ((Don’t we look like Mutt & Jeff?))

The tide was out – of course….but we found a spot to take a pic with “The Tower” in the backdrop…

Closer still….it was farther away than it looked! Isn’t this cool?

Even a stroller full of doggies are out enjoying the sights and the beautiful spring afternoon! ((This cracks me up when people push dogs in a stroller!))

Big blue ocean, rocky shore..and our shadows --- can you see mine? :cD

Yep, the tide is WAAAAAAAY low! looks like the birds are waiting for it to come in again –and though it looks stormy, not a drop fell while we were walking --- good thing! I didn’t have an umbrella!

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Of course a long beach walk means we were soon to be hungry! And of course when in Rhode Island, one must NOT miss a stop at Iggy’s where I indulged myself in much fried golden brown goodness --- Doughboys! Clam Cakes! A yummy bowl of clam chowder ((Which was creamy white and thick enough to stand a spoon in it ---)) and a shared basket of onion rings ---

I have a feeling I’m going to need lots more walks to work OFF all this goodness!

Thanks Tina, for suggesting this outting in between the workshop and the evening meeting – it’s been so great to spend this time with you in person!

iPhone-o-Gram!! Let the show begin!!!

First glimpses of MQX as we enter the doors!!!

Oh this is is going to be an awesome show!!!

Stringing Up A Storm!

First off....the "What's On YOUR Bed?!" Linky Party now has over 75 fantabulous quilters showing just what is on their bed quilt-wise --- you have to go check it out!

Man, this turned out more fun than I expected!

Wanna share what's on your bed?

Write your post, upload those pics to your blog, and come link up ---What a great way to spring clean and change the quilt on the bed and share and show it of with all of us! Thank you to all those who have played along with me...they are ALL so gorgeous!

Yesterday started off with an explosion of strings for the Ninigret Quilters in Westerly, Rhode Island! And they were anxiously awaiting our arrival when we showed up about 8:20am –the doors of the church building were still locked, but that didn’t stop anyone from piling all their stuff ((And you know we quilters are ALL ABOUT OUR STUFF!!)) in the courtyard just waiting to get in and set up and get sewing! We were ready for a Basket-weave Strings workshop!

It is so NICE to have an extended spring ---because what is just blooming here with wild abandon has already FINISHED in North Carolina --- so here I am in Rhode Island enjoying HUGE hedges of forsythia just bursting to overflowing with radiant masses of yellow everywhere you turn. The daffodils and jonquils and even hyacinths are so happy with the spring weather and are blooming brightly showing off their colors --- oh I love the smell of hyacinths! And blooming trees are everywhere, much to the dismay of my allergy afflicted sticky itchy eyeballs.

See these buckets and bins of fabric? How fun is this? Oh, the possibilities ----the sheer variety of fabrics that were brought --- dug up from DEEP STASH ((The term I love for the “golden oldies” who have not seen the light of day since 1970-1980-1990-something!))

Along with DEEP STASH STRINGS, came boxes full of the ends of left over “strata-panels” from previous quilting projects --- what to DO with this stuff? USE IT of course!

Laundry baskets are great for an assortment of strippy strings –room to dig and shuffle, and walls to contain! This basket holds a variety of purples, neutrals, greys and a bit of yellowy green --- it’s going to be yummy!

How about a container full of the tail ends of a long-ago Thimbleberries Phase? Absolutely!

We had quilts of many flavors going on and we all had a great time --- you should hear the stories these ladies tell!

This is Barbara ---her wit and sense of humor had me rolling all day! She is working with blacks and a variety of novelties to make a donation snuggle quilt ----

Her side-kick Rose ((Or would that be partner in quilt-crime?!)) also kept us entertained – what talented ladies! I love the fashion statement with the wearing-of-the-strings! Lord knows they didn’t need to take this class, they could quilt circles around me ---but you know what? Sometimes taking the class is more about spending the time with each other and the other ladies in the group, and what we learn one from another in the course of just BEING THERE --- than what the class is actually about!

But let me tell you, it’s a good thing these ladies were off at a table by themselves or no one else would have gotten ANYTHING done – LOL! ((Just teasing, ladies! What a fun day!))

I hope you get the feel for how our day went by the photos below! I took MORE photos than this, but when I went to upload, I got error on several of them? What’s that about?

As always, I love the variety, and the stories that come with each remembered piece of fabric ---but get this---there was NO Millennium fabric to be found today! Maybe that’s a GOOD thing??

		Basket-Weave Strings, Westerly, RI 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Did you catch the leader/ender bowties that are being worked in in between string blocks? Those belong to Elvia --- aren’t they great?!

Thank you so much Ninigret Quilters! It’s been a very memorable trip and I hope to visit with you again some day!

Today is our big day to head to MQX in Providence and see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into ---then this evening I’m giving a lecture for the Quilters by the Sea in Portsmouth – another new place for me to discover – I can hardly wait to soak it all in!

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

iPhone-o-Gram! Sew Many Strings!

Louise brought her Orca Bay to share this morning! Lovely!!!

We are string piecing up a storm and lovin it!!

A whole bucket of strings??? Move over, Louise! I'm diving in!

Bonnie

Sight-Seeing, Just a Bit!

Fran picked me up at the airport yesterday in Rhode Island, and drove me right into Massachusetts for some retail therapy!

I had told her about my quest to put together a kit of sewing things that would travel with me and NEVER LEAVE THE SUITCASE---

Because, you see – I did it AGAIN!

I have a small box that has scissors, seam ripper, thread, bobbins, thread snips, glue stick needles, pins ---etc----for machine-sewing on the road, and about half way to the airport it dawned on me that my box was still sitting right next to Barbie in the basement. UGH!

We hit a couple quilt shops, we hit Joanns, I even made a ditch into the dollar store for a pencil box to keep it all in. We went to Staples ---and now my box is just about full of what I need in there for it to just LIVE in the LUGGAGE.

The only thing I didn’t buy was “ANOTHER” rotary cutter because I have a couple spares at home that I can easily stick in here……so any Wild & Goosey piecing I do this week will just have to keep their rough edges and wait until I get home to be trimmed up.

The pic you see above is the beautiful sunrise that I witnessed from the air between Greensboro and Washington, DC! It was the loveliest sunrise, only made spotty by a not so very crystal clear plane window. OH, I love seeing things from the air!

One of the first places we drove by after we loaded up all the luggage into Fran's car was the Rhode Island state capital in Providence:

I jumped out at the red light to catch this one from the sidewalk…I love capital buildings too!

This one is fun too, it’s from the car window as we continued our driving tour up and around the capital building. Where were we headed?

To catch a glimpse of the famous Brown University, of course! ((Through the windshield!))I am told they only open these gates at graduation time. Such a beautiful campus! Do you see that the trees here haven’t leafed out yet? It’s getting close though! I think the NE is only about 3 weeks behind where we are with our North Carolina spring.

Of course I had to jump out and take a picture of the bay on the bay side!

And the Atlantic ocean on the ocean side Do you see that gull on the biggest rock toward the center? He just sat there, strong winds and all ---hard to see, I know, but he’s there!

Of course I had to get a pic of the lighthouse ---- this one isn’t open to the public, it’s a functional light house and manned by the US Coast Guard.

There he is --- still sitting there! Crazy Bird!

Further up the road is the Ocean House hotel. What a majestic place! Supposedly there are suites here that are rented for $10,000 a NIGHT. No thanks, that cuts into my fabric budget!

Here is farther to the back –wish I could have seen inside this place, it was gorgeous!

There were many many mansion houses we drove by – unbelieveable!

Houses like this just sitting there with the most magnificent view! And these were small potatoes compared to some ---

How would you like THIS as your front yard? WOW! I love rocky beaches. I’d love to be sewing in an upstairs room overlooking this kind of view --- doesn’t it take your breath away?

Dinner was at Matunuck Oyster Bar ---- you should watch this guy at work just shucking away! As for me? I had the grilled bluefish stuffed with crab, and sautéed snow peas --- YUMMMMM!

That brings me to this morning. Although I set up the machine last night, by the time I got this post written and ready to go for this morning, I was too tired to do anything else but crawl into bed.

Today is a busy full day. We are doing a Basket-weave Strings workshop til 3pm and then dinner, and then a lecture tonight – ((MINUS ONE CASE OF BOOKS THAT IS STUCK SOMEWHERE IN INDIANA!!))

Thursday morning I head out for MQX and the Quilters by the Sea in Portsmouth ---will I even get time to sew?

It’s all set up, just in case I can catch 20 minutes here and there!

Oh, and before I forget..GO NOW! Go back to see the "What's On YOUR Bed" Post! There are over 50 beds shown, it's a regular bed turning --- it is so fun to see what quilts are on people's beds and actually in use! The linky is open for a few more days yet, so feel free to add your blog post to the list too!

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!