Sunday, September 04, 2011

Falling into Friendship

I didn't buy a thing at the grand re-opening of the quilt shop. I would have had to stand in line for an hour just to get the fabric cut and then another hour to pay for it. The turnout was so great that there was no room in the parking lot, so I had to park across the street. I met my friends Mary and Margo and we headed off to a great great Mexican restaurant that I am sure to frequent often in the future, even if it is all the way into Georgia.
But later....I confess, I went online and gathered up just a few items. Eeek!

The great thing about Mary is that she 'comes with' another friend Margo, who is also hilarious and we all are having so much fun together. At lunch we laughed and laughed, and ate a marvelous meal. I feel so lucky and relieved to have landed into friendship with these gals. We are all women of a certain age and have similar outlooks on creativity, quilting, and the rest of it. And yet our quilting styles are all so different. And we all have closets really full of quilts. Nevertheless the desire to make more lives on.

Ringscycle #3    2001
Hand dyed cottons and silks, fused, machine quilted, 62.5" x 48.5"
$3400

Here's a quilt I made ten years ago. Where does the time go? Anyway, at the time just about everyone was trying out split circles and I had to make my version. I cannot imagine doing this now. Back then I was so driven, and now I am so relaxed. In a healthy way.



Notice the change in the quilting? Whoa. I am kinda thinking the fancy stitching stuff looks dated. Anyway, I will be doing a lot of the straight line stitching this holiday weekend, since I have 8 more blocks to quilt, and more lovely rain is expected. I hope your picnic plans are still on and that you enjoy your days off.

And now for some dawggie cheezecake....



Get your gargantuan self outta my bed!




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10 comments:

  1. Friendships are wonderful, but quilting friendships are the best. Thank you for your order too! It will be in the mail to you on Tuesday since no mail delivery tomorrow. By the way, I have been meaning to send you an e-mail, I just love the article in Art Quilting Studio! Fantastic! But then again, I have always admired your work and am a regular reader of your blog. Your quilts are always so bright and happy, they just put a smile on my face!

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  2. Judy from Northport1:05 PM

    Hi Mel ~

    I don't really think that your fancy style of quilting is dated in any way, but I do like the crisp look of straight lines.

    I am assuming from the fabric descriptions that this is all Kaffe fabric. Curious as to where it's being sold for $7.85...

    Have a wonderful weekend.

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  3. Zieknits1:38 PM

    Hmm...I'm trying to think of an 'everyday' situation in which being relaxed could be considered unhealthy! ;)

    LOVE the straight-line quilting...and the dawgs, of course!

    Like-minded friends are the best.

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  4. Love to hear that someone's newly opened business is doing so well. Love your old and new quilts and love the bit of dwoggie time.
    Hugs,

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  5. Genny Frazer3:44 PM

    Where do you buy Kaffe Fasset for $7.85 per meter? I am in Australia and I really NEED to get some at that price. Could you give me the online address of that shop please? Pretty Please!
    genevievefrazer@bigpond.com

    thank you

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  6. Melody, I too am a lover of straight line quilting. It's clean, neat, crisp and sopisticated to me. jehjireh

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  7. I am still learning about what quilting style I like but given I have to do it all on the machine, it tends to be easy. LOL Plus I am very pleased with the modern quilting movement cos I am practically incapable of doing fancy piecing and having corners match up!
    Sounds like you have been a very busy bee recently. And I love your sister's quilts (and I think she must be about my age... sigh...)

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  8. Oh thank goodness you have got me off the hook trying to learn that swirly wirly quilting - I keep meaning to set some serious practice time aside to learn it, but now that it is officially 'dated', I needn't bother - whoo hoo - straight lines I can do. cheers
    Hilary

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  9. The "fancy" quilting doesn't look out-dated to me, particularly not your style (or Frieda's). They're both fresh and interesting and I love the look! :-)

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  10. Anonymous3:03 PM

    Melody - Like you, I've been quilting forever and I've seen it all come and go. I agree, the straight line quilting looks fresher to my eye. We'll probably want swirly lines again sometime. 8:) claudia w

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Hello,
So nice of you to drop by. I love your comments, and if you would really like a reply, please email me at fibermania at g mail dot com