There have been some interesting birds, animals and insects around my house this summer.  And thank goodness they have all been outside!  This spring the vultures had their babies in the vacant barn behind our house.  These are some really big birds.  One Saturday morning Joe and I watched as the mother bird was attempting to get one of her babies to fly.  The mother and baby where on the roof of the garage, close to the edge.  The mother was very gently pushing the baby towards the edge in an attempt to get it to fly.  The baby would take a very tiny step over, then another very tiny step over towards the edge, look down and push the mother back to where they had started.  This continued for over an hour.  It was very entertaining.  We’d not seen the vultures much during the summer but all of a sudden they started coming into the birdbath to drink the water. My dogs, Sasha and Tillie, do not like these backyard visitors because they are bigger than my dogs!

We might have to think about a bigger bird bath!  It seems like the line of a joke could be forming here…How many vultures does it take the fill a bird bath?

Our next group of visitors moved in under our front porch.  There are a lot of people who advised that we kill them, but Joe and I think they are too cute and could never kill them.  As I work in my computer I see the little groundhogs out on the porch, almost every day.  They are so darn cute.  Just look at that cute face peaking over the edge of the porch.

And sometimes the family hangs out together.  Come on…really…I could never kill them.  They make me smile every day when I see them relaxing or playing on the porch.

Now, from Joe’s window he sees this.  Joe calls me from the kitchen when the hummingbirds come in and I walk very slowly over to the window and with the glass between us I am only inches away from the hummingbirds. Nature never ceases to amaze me.  We get some of the biggest and some of the smallest birds in our yard.

People always ask me what influences my work and where do I get my ideas.  It’s all around me.  I just need to see it.   I can honestly tell you that I don’t think the vultures or the groundhogs will end up in one of my quilts.  But, who knows….

My husband, Joe, just returned from what he described as an excellent week of fishing in Alaska.  They fished 15 hours a day because it was light all but 4 hours every day.  So, why waste time sleeping when you can fish!  I really wanted to share with you some of the photographs Joe took. The views are breathtaking.

This whale came right up beside the boat!

Check out the little baby bear.

And of course momma bear.

And the main reason for the trip.

The halibut and salmon that Joe brought home taste fantastic.

In Lisa Scottoline’s recent book, “Think Twice”, Bennie Rosato, who is a reoccurring character in Scottoline’s books, falls into some difficult times.  Bennie has her own law firm in Philadelphia, PA.  In this book Bennie’s identical twin sister, Alice, drugs her, buries her alive and then tires to take over her life.  Now that is what I call “Having a bad day”.  I enjoy reading Scottoline’s books with Bennie and several other reoccurring  characters to see what new challenges they face.

Another of my favorite authors is Lee Child.  He also has a reoccurring character, Jack Reacher.  I love Reacher.  Reacher is the kind of person you want as your friend.  Reacher is an ex-military cop and in my opinion he really takes care of the “wrong doers”.  In this book he ends up in South Dakota in the freezing cold protecting a retired librarian who is a witness in a major trial.  What I enjoy about Lee Child is that he knows how to keep me wanting more.  I always have a hard time putting his books down.  I can hardly wait to see what Reacher does next.  If he hits you, you are going to know it.  So, don’t make Reacher mad.  The world really needs more men like Reacher.

It had been many years since I read one of Pat Conroy’s books.  And then I read that this was his first book in 14 years.  Now I know why I had not read one of his books in awhile!  I enjoy Conroy’s use of the English language.  He has a way of describing things that is different, interesting and perfect.  In this book Charleston, S.C., gossip columnist Leopold Bloom King narrates his story about his hometown of Charleston, S.C.   Leopold learns a lot about himself, his family and friends through his journey.  This character had some very difficult issues to face.

David Baldacci is definitely one of my top 20 favorite writers.  This book is a sequel to “The Whole Truth” which Baldacci wrote in 2008.  Shaw, from the previous book, meets a new character, Reggie Campion as they are trying to rid the world of evil people.  I listened to this book and thought the reader, Ron McLarty was the perfect choice to read this book.  This book was cleverly written.  Once Baldacci had me pulled into these characters I had a hard time taking breaks from reading as I wanted to see who survived and who did not.  If you ever see me just sitting in my car it could be because I am waiting to find out what is happening or going to happen next.

Here goes…another of my favorite authors, seriously, is Harlan Coben.  Someone recommended his books to me many years ago.  He wrote a series of books with a reoccurring character named Myran Bolitar, who is a sports agent.  I like that character and enjoy reading that series but I have to admit I like Coben’s other books better.   He keeps my interest all the way through his books.  The title of his most recent book is “Caught”.  The main character in this book, Wendy Tynes is a TV reporter on a mission to identify sexual predators using sting operations.  As Wendy traps Dan Mercer, who she thinks is a sexual predator, things take a major turn.  This book kept me in suspense.  I like it when the author takes a turn that I was not expecting.  This is a book I really did not want to put down and when I arrived in Maine on my most recent trip I sat in my hotel room on the first night and finished reading this book which I had started in the airport.
One of the best gifts my husband ever gave me is my Sony Personal Reader.  It’s great because I can load tons of books on it and not add a lot of weight to my carry-on luggage.  And as the years go on I’m finding that I like the fact that I can enlarge the print size.  Great feature.  It also had a back light in case everyone else on the plane wants to sleep but I still want to keep reading to find out who done it!  I do find that using the back light uses the battery much faster than if I don’t use the light.  At first I thought I would miss the feel of the paper pages, but you know, I don’t miss it at all.

During preparation for the show and at the show most of my dealings were with the show coordinator, Nancy Zienkiewicz.  What a lovely woman.  I love people who are organized and Nancy is one of the most organized people ever.  She does a fantastic job.  While at the show I also worked with the president of the guild, Karen Keeler.  I never saw either Nancy or Karen without a smile on their face.  And I never saw them sitting down.  They were always on the move helping do a multitude of things.  Thanks to Karen and Nancy for all of their hard work and I’m sure they had tons of help from volunteers and their committees.

Below are some of my favorite quilts from the show.

This first quilt, made by Jo Bunker of Auburn, Maine, had some fabulous hand applique and it was hand quilted.  The most impressive piece of information I learned about this quilt is that it was quilted on a 14″ hoop!  Amazing.

“Star Bright, Make a Wish Upon a Star Tonight” was made by Diane Dixon of Palermo, Maine.  It is paper pieced and machine quilted.  I do love a black background.

“Robinson Point” was made by Bonita Ware from Delaware, Ohio.  It is hand appliqued and hand quilted.  Maine was the perfect show to exhibit this quilt, or any show really.

“Falling” was made by Janet-Lee Santeusanio of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.

The quilting is what really caught my eye.  Beautiful.

I take the month of August off from traveling so I can get some of my own sewing done.  Here’s hoping I get lots done.  I’m starting on a new quilt and also working on a new pattern.

Ann wanted to use her pillow in the room where her “Florida Quilt” is displayed.  The wall quilt was designed by Judy Hansen.

Thank you Ann for sharing your finished project.  I love to see finished projects.

Below you can see some of my favorite quilts exhibited in the show.  The first quilt is called “Pennsylvania Palette” and was made by Wendy Caton Reed from Bath, Maine.  It really did remind me of the antique Pennsylvania quilts and the circles were “perfect!”

This pictorial piece is called “Pass it On”.  The maker is Kathy McNeil from Washington.  The quilt you see on the bottom right warps around from the back. (The entire back of this pictorial project is this quilt design. Awesome idea!!!)  The depth perspective on this quilt is wonderful and it had many fun details. This quilt won the Best Pictorial by Machine award.

This next quilt, Heron Happiness, was also made by  Kathy McNeil.   Great fabric choices on this quilt and the workmanship was wonderful.  Maybe that is why it won 1st place in the Appliqued Wall Quilt category.

The background quilting on this wall quilt was incredible.

This quilt just made me smile.  It is called “Marblemania” and was made by Linda French from Centerville, Ohio.

All of the marbles had cute little faces.

This wall quilt was awarded my judges choice award.  The name of this quilt is “Aunt Hettie’s Doily” and the maker is Becky Weiland from King of Prussia, PA.   I loved the fabric choices and the designs.  Nicely done Becky.

If you are looking for a great seminar to attend next summer check out Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, PA.  While you are looking at amazing quilts, taking classes and shopping in the vendors mall your family can see the sites in Hershey.  Hershey Park can keep the kids occupied for days!  For more information about next year’s show go to www.quiltodyssey.com

The flora in California is very different from that which I see in Pennsylvania.

This is an amazingly intricate metal gate designed by a local artist.  It is so beautiful and located in the rear grounds of the Montage hotel.  You can see more amazing photos of the Montage at www.montagelagunabeach.com

And of course another thing you cannot see in Pennsylvania is the ocean and  I love the ocean.  I once had a lady ask me when I was in North Carolina at the beach why I did not go to the beach in Pennsylvania.  I guess she did not know her geography!

The two guilds I visited were the Flying Geese Quilters in Irvine www.flyinggeese.net and the Orange Grove Quilters Guild located in Garden Grove, California www.orangegrovequiltersguild.com

At my first workshop with the Flying Geese Quilters one of the students, Kathy Tamosaitis, came up to me and asked if she could show me a project she completed in a workshop she took with me when she lived in Delaware.  Of course I could hardly wait to see it.  We don’t need to mention how long ago because Kathy and I are not that old!  Thanks for sharing Kathy.  Very well done.

My visit with both guilds was wonderful.  I have not received so many fantastic compliments on the workshops and lectures ever.

One of my favorite stories is about some of the ladies from the Orange Grove guild.  When I was teaching last July for the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach five ladies from the guild took one of my workshops.  When these ladies came in to the classroom they moved one chair in the row of 4 seats so all 5 of them could sit together.  I did not realize they all knew each other and told them they did not need to squish together as there was plenty of room for just 2 people per table.  But they told me they all knew each other and wanted to sit together.  At the end of the class they came up to me and said we voted during class today.  And I said, “About what?’  They told me they were all on the board of the Orange Grove Quilters Guild and they voted to have me come to their guild!  Since I was already scheduled to teach and lecture for the Flying Geese Guild in Irvine they asked if I would also come to their guild. They told me the guild did not normally meet in July, but if I would agree to come they’d happily make an exception.  That made me feel really good.  It was a pleasure to work with everyone involved in this adventure.  I am already dreaming about my next trip to their little piece of heaven.

“I’ve attached a photo of my friend and I (Amy Gurghigian-pictured on the left) with 2 quilt tops we recently finished.  I thought you’d like to know that we NEVER would have attempted such a complicated applique as this had we not taken your class.  We started these tops in December-just a few weeks after taking your October Houston class and we both had so much fun doing this.  A whole new world of quilts are now open to us since we know how to applique.  Thank you!”

I wrote to Amy and asked her if I could include this great photo of  “Quilt Buddies” in my blog.  Aren’t quilting friends just the best?  Teresa told me that Amy had been quilting for some time before she taught Amy to quilt about 15 years ago.  They had done a little applique but were not happy with their results.  They have been attending the International Quilt Festival, www.quilts.com, for about ten years but had never taken any classes.  Last year they decided to take an applique class with me and as Teresa says “we both loved it.“  Shortly after the class the girls found a Kaffe Fasset book and were amazed by this quilt.  They bought the book and “a ton of Kaffe Fasset fabrics–and went to work“.  The pattern is called “Hearts and Flowers”.

Teresa said “We would never have attempted an applique pattern this intricate if we hadn’t taken your class.  Your methods produce great edges and it is so doable.  Plus we both have a set of your Perfect Circles too, which are great, because you can see there are tons of circles on this pattern!  We’re hooked.”

Amy and Teresa,  thanks so much for sharing.

This is why I love to teach.

This amazing quilt won a first place ribbon.  It was made by Kathryn Tennyson from Chestertown, NY.  Fantastic workmanship.  Loved the edge finish.  This border took my breath away.

“Liberty Sisters” won two awards.  It won 2nd place and a Judge’s Choice award.  It was made by Carolyn Hudson from Nova Scotia.  As I walked around the quilt show I did take notice that Canada was well represented.  Good job neighbors to the north.  I loved this combination of piecing and applique.  If you’ve read previous blogs you know this pieced block is one I teach and the combination with the applique works very, very well.

“To Everything There Is A Season” was made by Pat Delany of Abington, MA.  The border on this quilt works really well.  It adds a wonderful balance to the center part of the quilt by pulling the colors onto the border.  Funny, but as I walk through a show I tend to look at the quilts but not what prizes they won.  This quilt won two ribbons….1st place and it won an award for the Best Border!  Nice to know I think the same as the judges.  At least this time!

Here are some of my students hard at work.  My first two days at VQF were a two day workshop on my wall quilt called “Around the Garden”.  Even after working them to death at the end of the second day they were still smiling.

If you are looking for a really nice, intimate, loads of great vendors show to attend in the summer.  This is the show for you.  It is close to Burlington, Vermont.  I really like Burlington.  I think I could live there…but, I’ve never been there in the winter so I might need to rethink this!  Beautiful surrounding and a great show.  If you’ve not been there you should add this to your bucket list.

Vermont has over 50 covered bridges.  Some are still in use, some are not and some are privately owned.

As we were driving on Route 7 we came upon this visually beautiful sight.  This very large pond of blooming water lilies was right before our eyes.

These would be great colors for a quilt, don’t you think?

As I have traveled over the years I have never seen as many water falls as in Vermont.  One falls is just a beautiful as the next.

This weekend is our 29th wedding anniversary.  I’ve learned a lot of good things from Joe during our 32 years together but probably one of the most valuable lessons is to enjoy the ride.  It’s not just about getting there.  But, how you get there that matters.

In my next blog I’ll share some photos from the Vermont Quilt Festival.