Brrrr....

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but ours is definitely getting chilly...

and a free pair of long underwear for a kiddo would be welcome. Ohgeezorganic is doing just that -- giving away a pair of well-made, organically-produced cotton long johns. They come in some beautiful colors, including my favorite, Purple Sky.

Go to SageandSavvy here, and she'll tell you how to enter...

http://www.sageandsavvy.com/2008/09/giveaway-ohgeez-organic-clothing-co.html

And the OhGeeze site is here:

http://ohgeezorganic.com/

We've Got A Winner!

Seesawstar, you've won a dozen ribbon roses!! Congratulations!!

Stay tuned for more freebie drawings in the future...they're coming.

Good Work Well Done

TV show's done!

And I wasn't that terrified...

Didn't get much sleep the night before, though. Visions of demos, samples and Crazies whirled in my head, mixed in with the old inn I was staying in, bears (the inn warned they liked to wander around at night down the alley, and the sidewalk), ghosts (except there weren't any)...

The show, in spite of having an audience, was nearly as easy as just sitting down and talking to Ricky and Alex. ( I do like them very much -- Alex, I'd spent a wonderful day with while taping a 'Hanky Panky' segment on Simply Quilts.) Oh yes, and making a huge mess of fabrics and embellishments all over the demo table!

After picking up...and signing books...and stuffing everything in the poor Cherokee... I drove 2 1/2 hours to home -- to spend a few hours hauling shingles up on the roof. Nothing like roofing to put everything back into perspective.

The garage is tar-papered, drip edge hammered on, and ready for shingles.

Daughter #1 and I played Destructor on the first section of house roof last night -- more to come.

Af

Off to the Races...and the Quilt Show

we're still in tarpaper and shingle stage on the garage roof -- but it will have to wait for a few days. I'm off to tape a segment on Crazy Quilts for "The Quilt Show" in LaVeta -- about three hours drive down to southern Colorado

My part is September 6 (Saturday) in the morning -- wanna come keep me company? Meet Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims? See some great quilts and learna few techniques?

Visit http://www.thequiltshow.com/ for more information. Audience members will each get a goodie bag from Brickworks, and have a chance at several door prizes.

Would love to see you there!

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The new edition of CRAZY QUILTS is out...and going fast. Amazon just got a new shipment of books a few days ago -- and as of last night, only one copy was left. We still have a batch of books, though, and we're offering a better price than Amazon! Visit the Brickworks website to order a copy:

http://www.cindybrick.com/

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I'll be back sometime late Saturday, 'dead beat and plum tuckered out,' as Dave says. (He's staying here to continue The Saga of the Roof, along with Daughter #1.) This taping business is very freaky -- I always feel like a deer in front of the headlights.

Off to it...have a great weekend.

CRAZY QUILTS reviewed again --

This time, in PieceWork Magazine's "Book Marks" section, September/October 2008 issue:

This is what they had to say:

After reading about the history of crazy quilts from their probable origin in the costume of the commedia dell'artes Harlequin through their heyday in the Victorian era to the present, and after admiring page after page of brilliant, outrageous crazies, you will certainly want to create one of your own. Thankfully, Crazy Quilts also covers the basics of planning, constructing (three methods), finishing, and embellishing your own quilt. An appendix offers a selection of historic embroidery motifs. Irresistible.

Hooray!

Hellen Kelley: Another Quilting Spirit Passes On

This courtesy of Ricky Tims...
From her local newspaper:

I want to let you know about the death of one of our authors and a NE Minneapolis resident, Helen Kelley, who passed away on Sunday evening, Sept. 1, 2008. In August, Helen was inducted into the Quilting Hall of Fame as the 38th Honoree to receive this prestigious award.

Helen was known throughout the national quilting community through the column she wrote since 1983 for Quilters Newsletter Magazine, the oldest continuously published magazine dedicated to quilt-making and quilt history. In addition, she wrote seven books including three compilations of her columns, Every Quilt Tells a Story, Joy of Quilting and Loose Threads, all published by Voyageur Press, an imprint of the Quayside Publishing Group.

Helen started using a sewing machine when she was a child and taught herself to quilt as an about-to-be bride. In 1972, the Minneapolis Tribune featured a story about a family quilt she had made from quilt blocks garnered from friends around the world for her daughter's wedding. The unexpected news coverage brought Helen local interest and opportunities to teach quilting in the Minneapolis community.

In 1978 Helen was a founding member of the Minnesota Quilters and served as its founding president. Today, the Minnesota Quilters have over 1500 members. Helen taught quilting all over the world and was known not only for her skills as a teacher, artist and quilter, but as much for her warmth and humor and the joy she brought to the quilting community.

The list of honors that Helen has received throughout her career in quilting and service to her community are long and impressive:

1995 Artist of Distinction, Fiber/Metal Arts of Minnesota
1998 Minnesota Quilter of the Year
1999 Renaissance Quilt was selected by a prestigious national committee of quilt-makers and quilt historians organized by the International Quilt Association as one of the 100 best quilts of the 20th century
2000 Minnesota Textile Center's Spun Gold Award

Until her death, Helen continued to lecture, teach, and exhibit. A 30- year retrospective of her work was on exhibit in Marion, Indiana, at The Quilters Hall of Fame during her induction and her work was also on display at the Minnesota Quilters show in Rochester in June.

More information about Helen can be found on her website at:
http://www.helenkelley-patchworks.com

Stupidest Purchase You've Ever Made?

Two hawks were wheeling in this morning's cool breeze, one nearly motionless while the other divebombed..."for rabbits or kitties," Dave said, paused in mid-hammer. (Our current kitty, Big Boy, has managed to avoid coyotes, hawks and owls for more than a year now, though he no longer speaks to us. We're the food providers, of course, and the garage is mouse-free...but that's the extent of our worthiness to His Nibs.)

one more board tonight, then we put on the last round of tarpaper, the drip edge and start nailing on shingles. Finally. Yes, I sound like I know what I'm doing. But really, Dave just tells me the words and I do whatever he says. Works for me.

I had never realized that Little Brother had done four roofs in his time, including working on the house as a kid, when the folks demolished a rickety outside set of stairs that we loved to play on -- and were undoubtedly a death trap. Grandpa DeVries, a retired farmer from Corsica, SD, often came and played on our farm, combining, plowing and putting up hay. Mike said he re-did the roof after the stairs were gone.

Beats me -- I must have been helping Mom with canning, or playing with my Barbies. (Note to adult self: do not rebuke any future grandchildren with abusing their Barbies. Remember that you used to nibble your Barbies' toes off -- even the early ones, which would be worth big bucks now. If they had their toes, that is.)

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Gather Little by Little has an intriguing new post: What was your dumbest purchase?

http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2008/09/03/dumbest-thing-spent-money/

Ours is easy -- back in the early 1990s, we invested $7000 (or so we thought) in a partial share of a wireless license. A California company was doing radio shows about bidding for these, how they were limited, going to be worth big bucks, etc. etc. We did our research -- called the Better Business Bureau, checked references, and so on, before sending the check.

I had the strangest impulse to stop payment right after it went out in the mail...but I didn't.

We never heard from this company again. We never saw a cent of that money. My only comfort was that it was from an extra-large tax refund, and we didn't 'need' it -- and we hadn't purchased a full share!

Other lessons learned:

*listen to your gut. If something feels wrong, it is.
*never assume that because the BBB hasn't heard of the company, that it's fine. It isn't.
*don't trust everything a reference says. Even the saleswoman said she was investing her parents' money in this because it was a sure thing. Ha.

I should have bought Barbies, instead!