Tornado, Earthquake, Hurricane...Time to Quilt

We had a tornado had a back in the spring that was life changing, on Tuesday the earth shook beneath our feet here in Raleigh from the earthquake in VA. Today, I am sitting here huddled on the couch with my hubby watching footage of the hurricane Irene battering our NC coast line. We too are seeing affects of the storm. Lots of debris on the road, bands of heavy rain and super gusts of wind. Overall a grey nasty day. We are not suffering here only the poor palm on the deck has been pushed over twice.  There has been many reports of flooding on the Pamlico Sound near New Bern. People are in their attics with 12 foot storm serge in their bottom floors. It is heart breaking to watch.  Sand and debris  is blowing in some places while it is being washed away in other areas.  It is really hard to think about all the clean-up that it will require. We are feeling very fragile, small and vulnerable. It is challenging for me to watch the world around me crumbling and changing. I want to think of things as static, but days like today remind me how little I can control on this earth and how ever changing they are. The one thing I can count on, is how much I enjoy making quilts and how calming it is to me. So, it is time to go quilt and turn off the TV.

I leave you with two  more lovely shots of  last weeks North Carolina State Flea Market. I Love NC!

Crochet for Babies

I have 3 friends/family members expecting babies in the next few months. I have been working on hats, booties and eventually a sweater. I was having a hard time deciding what colors to go for, because I don't know the sex of any of the babies. I finally settled on a pale green and white combination. I am happy with it, fairly gender neutral. I worked in a baby section of a department store at one point and I absolutely hate how baby clothes are super specific to a gender. It is very hard to find gender neutral clothing. I love making handmade items for babies. It takes much less supplies and time to create a one of a kind cherish-able gift.
I have had a hard time finding free patterns of things I like. I like a more simplistic modern style. Most free patterns I find are from the 60's/70's with crazy decoration on it.  I have made all the hats up as I go along and ripping out rows if I don't like it. I think this is why I am afraid of knitting because you cant rip out rows if want a different size.  I am a bit concerned about trying to do the sweater with out a pattern. I have looked at quite a bit of images and I know what I want. I am just not sure about making the shoulder join to the sleeve.  I will keep you updated on these projects.

Farmers Market Ya'll

Yummy grape tomatoes.

 These are funny little mini-eggplants "Kermit" they totally remind me of Kermie's eye balls. They were about the size of a ping pong. I wish I knew how to cook more vegetables like this one.

 These are gooood tomatoes.

Amazing Apples!

I am blown away that these apples are here, is it fall? They are very tasty evident of the summer sweet heat and rain we have had recently.

Oak City Treasures

Its become a thing to go to the flee market on my weekend off. I never really had weekends off since I was 16 and had my first job. Well, maybe not that long but, it has been awhile. I am enjoying, it makes me smile.
I have been looking for small home decorations that remind me of NC. I recently found this oak leaf shelf at the flea market. The guy wanted $3- sold! I love this little shelf it is awesome for the crystals and shells I have collected.

 

 I really liked the Indian bags that were made of leather and woven pieces. They wanted too much for the bags. I would have bought if they weren't $40, I am sure they are worth it but, I wasn't that loaded.

One guy had all of these large pieces of coral.  I am not sure what I would do with it but, they sure are pretty. I love organic forms. Yes, those are my green toes and hubby's abnormally long ones. Not pictured prizes are NC state glass with wolf. maybe 70's  for $2, and a Jersey for hubby, NC state Basketball- I think he paid $7.
We did rather well and had a bit left over for the farmers market. Pictures Tomorrow

Good Summer Eats!

 Have I ever mentioned that I live really close to the NC state farmers market... so close that it is dangerous. We have had fresh corn and peaches in our home for the last 2 months. I am not really sure what I am going to do with out it. I buy the peaches from Pee Dee Orchards stand at the farmers market, there are many other options but, theirs are the best, sweet and juicy. Their orchards are loacted in the Sandhills part of NC. We drove past the hwy road stand every time we went to my Mom's hometown when I was a kid. If we timed the drive right you could stop to get homemade peach ice cream. The Pee Dee Orchard family produces an amazing tasting freestone peach.

The lady who sells the corn out of the bed of her truck wears a shirt that says, "Born to Sell Corn". I love it, I love her sweet southern drawl too! You can get Silver Queen from other trucks, but my lady sells a variety of corn called Delirious. Oh my, it makes me feel really delirious, it has a crisp and creamy flavor. It makes me delirious happy to pay her $5 to get 20 ears of corn.
Hubby makes a mean meal and made an awesome piece of Sockeye with cool fresh herbs on top.  Don't you wish you could come eat dinner with me?
If you are really nice I might try to make a peach cobbler. It wont be as good as my grandmother's. I haven't actually made one of these this summer. I feel this is a dessert that requires vanilla ice cream. I quit eating dairy about 8 months ago and I haven't enjoyed any ice cream replacement since (or found one under $3).
Can say that I made the tabbouleh, I wish I could say that the tomatoes came from our garden. Ours just didn't make it in the heat. There are fabulous heirloom tomatoes that have an amazing flavor and texture at the farmers market. We are so fortunate to have the treasure of the farmers market so close, but sometimes we wish there was a CSA option at the farmers market that was affordable. We are not vegetarians and Hubby is a well versed cook, but we lack the time to prepare food. I wish I was a better planner with food. The corn and peaches are wonderful rather immediately. Brussels Sprouts and Eggplant are not and greens go bad too fast.  I think I am need to learn how to can peaches and freeze corn so I can have it in January.

Still a Kid

 I am close to being on this earth for ahem, 30 years. I still feel like a kid, with more responsibilities I don't really want. I am messy, sightly irresponsible and still trying to get a hang on what is going on out side of my brain. There are things that I have not lost, and do not plan on loosing. 1. Love of friendship bracelets. I made many back in the day. We started selling these at the store and I fell in love all over again. This falls right in lines with wearing stacks of colored bangles, I do this on the regular also. I have hardly taken off the colorful patterns of the friendship bracelets 2. Doodleing....I also have done more henna drawings. I have a blast doing it. I like doodles, free flow drawing. I am not very good at it but, something in my being wants me to do it. Henna is an awesome medium for me as is a thin tip prisma color. 3. Is swimming in a river/ lake.  I don't do this enough. I crave to swim in water the color of the earth and smell like rain. I love finding a cool spot and balancing on a float until I become like a prune. I am a water child. I need it, it needs me. Floating is something I must do more and hope to do this weekend with my Dad at the lake.

4. Swinging, 

high, 

working hard, 

and getting up there, 

pumping my legs and flying. 

Laying back, 

locked elbows, 

knees straight, 

toes pointed. 

Soaring through the air weightless,

careless.

Business Statement to Live By

Continue the traditional crafts skills by bringing them into today’s environment.

This is what I do and want to develop!

Handwriting and Books

I come from a long line of ancestry buffs on all sides of the family. I spent many childhood summer days with a family member in particular who wanted me to take an interest in my family history. Of course, I didn't really appreciate it at the time. I did fall in love with old handwriting, and would attempt to decipher it. Folks took their cursive seriously back in those days. They wrote captivating prose. You get a true sense of who the person is who wrote it. It is not a simple automatic response but with a narrative. I truly love seeing the original papers much more.
A cousin recently found a copy of a relative's old will in state archive.This lawyers hand writing is tight and precise. He uses a lot of legal rhetoric which is entertaining. I took pictures of the photocopy not for documentation of the content, but for the love of handwriting. I now enjoy looking into my ancestry lines and can get a super kick out of finding handwritten documents like that.

I also love books, especially really old books like these from the turn of the century. Such beautiful gilded binding. Oh, smell of the pages and the crack of the spine. I am in love! I don't dare open these.

All Complaints Aside

 I was recently complaining about how the nasty heat has killed my oasis of a backward. I failed to mention that my yard is full of blooms. We have a crape myrtle in the front yard that is going nuts.

 Along the fence in the back I still have sunflowers, the smaller ones now. The morning glories took over this sunflower stock. Oh I love that dark purple!

This is the real beauty. This is our potted Hibiscus that was headed for a dumpster. When my hubby brought it home it was two sticks off a nub of a trunk. It has been with us for years and only bloomed once before that I recall. Hubby put coffee grounds in it this summer and it went nuts. I counted 12 buds the other day. She is a real beauty now, so green and bushy too. The summer hasn't been so harsh on some things... they actually seem to love it. Just wish I did.

Shell Necklaces and Earrings

 This project comes from two friends who stayed at our house after a family trip to the beach and before their trip to Chile to visit an orphanage. The were returning and wanted to bring small items for gifts. They picked up shells with tiny holes at the top. I taught them how to tie slip knots so the necklaces could be adjusted short and long (Yeah Girl Scouts!). We made quite a few. I loved how this turned out and thought it would be a great project with a few knot tying skills with kids.

 The rocks were for the boys and our friends tried writing on them. I think we needed a better ink pen than a sharpie, but it wasnt bad.

 We also made earrings. The ladies had sets of shells, I always loved picking these up. They were thankful for my love of craftiness. I had a few materials to help them with. E6000 being one and earring backs being the other. They loved how these sets of earrings turned out.

 These gifts were almost free and super awesome. They are items from NC coast. My friends said they had a hard time thinking up gift ideas that weren't too showy or unusable. They were going to workers and children in the orphanage. I hope they really enjoyed giving these out.

Summer Kaffe Quilt

 Here is a sneak  shot of a project I have had in the works for awhile. I need to rap it up soon. If I get too comfortable with the mess a quilt creates, the project will never get finished. I have truly loved working with the Kaffe fabrics. The quilt is a play on the dark and lights. It has been a crazy last few weeks off with every moment off of work planned out. That has come to an end for awhile. It is also become so incredibly hot here in the south, all I want to do is be inside near an air condition vent. I had beautiful sunflowers, tomatoes and green grass that is now a crispy brown. Really wishing I had a swimming pool right now. Hope to be able to show you the finished product soon on the quilt.

Great Aunts House

 I have a great aunt that is 92, she lives off a finger of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. She is a staunch democrat and environmentalist and historian. She lives in a home that was built in part of a 1800's farm house. It was added on to a few times with close attention to detail. She has a wonderful eye for antiques and decorating. We picked a wonderful weekend to visit. There was a nice cool breeze the entire time we were there. She has no air condition.

 She lives on a few acres of land that consists of two fields split by this cedar lined driveway. The cedars were planted in the late 70's it is amazing how big they are.

 Part of the family sitting on the dock. We had a great time together visiting, laughing and educating.

I took many pictures but, this is my favorite. I couldnt help but feel that the rest of our family who is no longer on this earth was with us in heart and spirit. I found it very healing to be in her home and with my family on such a beautiful weekend.