Memories from South Korea and ..... What a way to sew????

First it was only two years ago...when the Professor and I had the opportunity to visit South Korea, during Cherry blossom time, to see our wonderful son, the Major, and his spouse...the Designer and all of our grandchildren at that time. What a treat. I had to share a photo of us taken at the Cultural Village in Seoul. You can see the tower, Wubang tower in the hazy background. What a lovely city to visit. I couldn't get over everything to see while we were there. And aren't those the cutest kids, trying to read the map...so that they could tell us the way to go???? Now it was all in Korean...but there were some very cool pictures to see on that map. We had a great time riding the bullet train... to Seoul. Fast and clean and smooth. I so wish we had a train like that to ride on here in the US. It was fabulous. On to other things, It got really cold here the other night...and I decided rather than turn the heat way up.... I would just snuggle under the cover.... and do a little sewing... what better way than to sew ...UNDER... a QUILT!!!The quilt is not complete...but it is my When oh When as per Tonya, I am hand quilting it in my spare time... the center is almost complete....finally. So when I get tired of sewing on the little featherweight... I can pick up the hoop...and hand quilt on that one. Well the Professor caught me like this when he got home from his evening class... and snapped the photo. What a guy!!!! I don't know if you can see it or not...but my DD .... first large block is in the lower left corner of the "Bed sewing". I still need to finish all the pink 9 patches... I am about halfway through with those... before I can finish the DD mystery from Bonnie at Quiltville.com. Had to post this photo of a fungly quilt a friend asked me to quilt for her. It is very old, looks like late 30's and 40's fabrics to me.... not sure who pieced it, but the fabric was very thin...and the backing fabric was actually pieced from old flour sacks! Some had even been mended... er darned. I wanted to try feathers as I am still learning them... and she was cool with whatever I wanted to try. And they turned out pretty well. I had to leave a photo of the back as well. Hope you enjoy seeing them.

Africa memories, Cape of Good Hope, Cricket... quilts and a gun toter too!!!

One of my favorite memories from a little over two years ago.... all part of a fabulous trip to Cape Town.... we had to go to the Cape of Good Hope with our dear friends, Frank and Jayne. And another photo of one of the wonderfully natural mountainous regions in the area we lived in for 4 years. This was taken from the veranda on the game reserve... it was a lovely place. This was Winter but so much fun to be there with friends. Then the beautiful giraffes we saw up close at the Kruger Park over the Christmas break..... Some very good times. Of course there has to be at least one humorous photo of the Professor in his Sport gear.... he wore this at the cricket match between Australia and South AFrica.... SA won huge..... at the Newlands Cricket grounds... What a match!!!!

The shanties I saw every time I delivered a box of books to the township Library in Ezebeleni as they were across the street from the library.

The man holding the machine gun...crouching in the parking lot of the mall... very scary the first time we saw this..but after a while.... you just get used to this ... kind of a "funny/crazy" thing!

I can not believe the crazy weather. we are experiencing here... yesterday.... we were cuddled under quilts... as in multiples of quilts in order to keep warm, then today.... it was shorts and 77 degrees...with another cold front coming in tonight...so back to coats and sweaters tomorrow. I wish we could have 8 months of todays weather...then some really hot...and some cold weather. Just not changing every other day. I shared some scrapbooking tips at our bi monthly quilt guild this week.... and what fun. Loved watching the ladies stamp on their pages...to enhance some of the quilt journal pages they are saving. They also shared some lovely quilts as well. I missed a few of the especially wonderful hand quilted ones that were there. The president of the guild is an award winning hand quilter. The quilt was pieced by someone else..but it hung at the Houston quilt show. It is stunning. I have never quilted a quilt like that one...so gorgeous. It was just published in a book.I can't remember the name...but think the quilt was called midnight in the garden. I really liked the Notre Dame T shirt quilt... It is really cool. ANd I adore hex quilts...this one is in progress... She does beautiful work.

I also had to include this navy,red and gold quilt that I had the privilege of quilting. And this super bright quilt that a friend made and permitted me to quilt for her. It is so vibrant... I don't think the photo does it justice. She also made this adorable table topper.... and I quilted it for her as well.

She also made this adorable table topper .... and I quilted it for her. I completed a UFO.... but it is already hanging at the fabric store...so will have to post a photo after I get a photo. I have one loaded on the frame now for a friend...Hope to finish it off tomorrow evening. I seem to be behind on all my projects at the moment. Just sewing step 3 on the DD mystery...but here is the stack of completed part 1 and 2's. I am doing a smaller wall hanging...Only committed to doing 1/2 of the blocks. So will be a throw for me. I am hoping to finish a new pattern of my DD in law. She is launching on March 1st. I am lucky to be a tester. I have only committed to 4 new projects this year...still determined to finish some from last year...and or past years. The professor has asked if my sitting under a quilt...with a sewing machine perched on a lap tray...sewing while sitting in bed has become the norm for me in the evenings. It has been some nights! On really cold nights I am hand quilting my "When oh When" quilt..... those pictures will be coming soon. Maybe when I finish the when oh when.... showing the progress I am making.

Snow, surprise parties, and Amish!!

I couldn't reveal where I was off to last week, but flew up to surprise my mother for her birthday. I wish I could have had a photo of her much surprised face when I walked into the dining room carrying birthday cake. I am so glad no one spilled the beans that I was coming. I flew through Chicago..which kind of prepared me for all the snow on the ground still in Pennsylvania.I had to get a photo.... or two since I haven't seen any up close this winter.... yet.

A sweet photo of Mom and one of the many great grandchildren who were at her party. There were over 50 of us therefor the party. What a time we had. It is always such a joy for me to see and visit with my many brothers and sisters and their families. I just can't believe that I didn't get photos of any of them, guess too much fun for photos. I was able to deliver my blue and white quilt to my brother. I had owed it to him for quite some time, as he sent many boxes of books to my South african library. He loved it. But who doesnt' love quilts??? I now have requests from several other members of the family....they will be completed in time, remember I do have 14 brothers and sisters! I have to admit that this quilt has been in progress for over a year...so a UFO finished and delivered. Now...many of you are avid fans of quiltville.com, I do love Bonnie's quilts. .... and she suggests shopping thrift stores for men's shirts to do scrappy quilts, but whilst visiting the local goodwill....what did I spy...something many of you may not have found at your Goodwill???? An Amish buggy!!!!! I had to get this photo.... always fun seeing them around. Guess they were looking for some bargains too! Last but not least my adorable neice, the lovely Miss M, who wasn't feeling well...and I played cards with her and did a puzzle or two just to pass the time. I think I enjoyed it more than she did. She loves crafts, I think she could become a quilter very easily!!!What a sweety pie.

UFO's and completed things....Men in kilts and babboons in South Africa

I had to put a photo of the Professor in his kilt at a friends wedding. Our friend was a Scot, whose mum said the Professor had the legs for a kilt. I agree. He looked pretty grand that day.

Thought you might enjoy seeing the lovely little babboons in the trees...I do miss seeing these guys hanging out literally, they were more common close to the coast, not sure why, but we did see them often, when driving about. And I have to admit...that I did succomb to a few fabric "spends" this week. Shame on me, nothing major, but I did buy 4 yds of fabric to complete my 2009 BOM at the fabric store. I also quilted 3 quilts this past week and finished this flimsy, which will be loaded tomorrow on "Rosie" the longarm. I have to get it quilted ready to deliver to a family member. I have owed it to him for a long time. The first was a UFO quilt

of a friend, I have never made a lonestar quilt, but always wanted one, this one turned out so well, wish it was mine. This lovely green quilt is

a first quilt of one of our new guild members, I quilted it using the terry twist method.Man I do love her little stencils.They worked so well. I forgot to take a photo of quilt No. 3, will have to post that after I get a photo of it at show and tell next week. I would like to add that I purchased some silicon lubricant for thread...as I had thread issues on my longarm. It so helped me, the site is called Time and Again quilters. It was simple to use, and worked wonders for my thread. So if you have thread issues check out the site and give it a try. It was fairly inexpensive and clear, no residue on the quilt. Seems like it will last a long time too, so economical as well. On a totally other vane, I am so missing cricket .... it is the season in South Africa but we don't seem to get any coverage here. I loved it on TV and in person. I find myself watching BBC news so I can get a glimpse of the English cricket ...just to satisfy my itch! Hope you all have fun sewing.