At Long Last!

Well the day that I thought would NEVER arrive, finally did! Last Wednesday, in the midst of Chris and Molly's arrival from California, our Midtown Trader Joe's opened!! WooHoo!!! So, before going to the airport to meet their flight, we stopped in for a few provisions. Look how festive it was:

We had the best time just roaming the aisles and picking up little bits of this and that! I'll have to get out my shopping list from Gerrie when we go back the next time.

Now, as life would have it, we will be spending a lot of time at our real house 60 miles north of Atlanta, so we'll be forced to put off the impulse shopping at TJs.

We did drop back by there yesterday however and pick up dinner for tonight: Chimichurri Wild Pacific Salmon, which we will grill. YUMMM!

I hope to post a few more pics from both the Aquarium visit and our trip to the mountains in the upcoming days.

PEACE!

Doin' the Tourist Thang

Yesterday we headed to Atlanta with C's brother and sister-in-law. You really can't share Atlanta with tourists without a stop at the Varsity:

"What'll Ya Have? What'll Ya Have"...that's the chant of the Varsity counter folks taking orders. Chris and Molly had been coached in the drill, so they launched off on their own and ordered exactly what they wanted.

Here's our lunch:

two frosted oranges, two chili dogs, two slaw dogs, an order of fries, and an order or rings (or is it "rangs"?). Yumm, was it good!!

Kristin and Dave joined us for dinner at Einstein's. Sorry: no camera!

We were up bright and early this morning to walk Barker Baby, enjoy breakfast at the Flying Biscuit, and then off to the Georgia Aquarium. C and I had never been there, so it was great fun to be a tourist in our own city!!

I loved this part, where we walked through a tunnel with fish swimming all around us!

I'll post more pictures on my Flick'r site. If you are planning a visit to Atlanta or live near Atlanta and haven't had a chance to visit the Aquarium, now's the time! It's GREAT!!

PEACE!!

Family Time

Thanks to all who have emailed and asked where I've been! C's brother and sister-in-law have been here visiting with us from So Cal and we've been having a ball!!

Here are Molly and Barker displaying our lovely afternoon creation:

I had picked up this tablecloth at my favorite thrift shop. Since I was fairly certain its makeup was just about 100% synthetic, I decided that fabric painting was the safest bet for this baby. So this afternoon was warm, bright and sunny and we got out the paints and had a ball! I should have taken a couple of closeups so you could see Molly's lovely brush stokes, and the wonderful salting effects that we achieved. This will be our "picnic" tablecloth when C and I dine alfresco at the condo. I just love it!!!

While Molly and I were hard at work in the studio, the "boys" were out golfing up a storm in the backyard. Fore!!!

Last Thursday Chris, Molly, C and I headed for a few days of R&R at the Snowbird Mountain Lodge outside of Robbinsville, NC. There were 15 of us total in our group, and we had a great time, including an impromptu birthday party for our friend Bill.

Due to the recent cold snap,the wildflowers weren't quite as lovely and prolific as in Springs of old, but as you can plainly see, these Trilliem Grandiflora were pretty spectacular:


We also did our fair share of birding. The warblers are migrating through right now, and because the trees have not fully leafed out, they are easy to spot with the binocs. Here is a fabulous Scarlet Tanager, one of my favorite springtime migrants:

That's it for now............more photos of the wild weekend to follow at another time! Molly is cooking dinner and I'm sitting here blogging away like a real slug!!

PEACE!

Look Who Dropped In

C went out to feed the ducks this afternoon, and lo and behold, look what he found:

This is a Little Blue Heron, which we don't normally see here on our lake. She is migrating north, but probably got tired of battling the strong winds and has dropped by for a few days. Amazingly enough, she wasn't the least bit timid, and I was able to get pretty close to snap these pics.

On my way back up from the lake, I took this shot of the back of our house:

My sewing room is the bank of four windows on your left side. I feel so very lucky to have such an incredible view of the lake and the waterfowl.

In spite of the unseasonable cold weather we all are experiencing on the East Coast of the US, the clematis don't seem to mind one bit. I love this little guy:

It shares a trellis on our pool patio, along with a thriving Confederate Jasmine, which will bloom shortly.

And look what else has just popped up:

My Lily of the Valley!!! :-) My Swedish grandmother, Augusta, had droves of Lily of the Valley at her home in Massachusetts, and I used to love to visit her when they were blooming. My meagre few bring back such sweet memories of her and my grandfather Herman, and also memories of one Spring day when C bought me "Muguets de Bois" in Paris. "April in Paris"..................ahhhhhh love!!

PEACE!

This n That

We are having a lovely little break from reality, staying here at the condo for a few nights! Isn't it odd how a country girl can find such peace in the city!

Today we took in the Midtown Tour of Homes, and it was spectacular! Kristin joined us at about 11:00 and amazingly enough the weather behaved and the rain held off until about an hour after we had finished. There were some amazing residences on the tour, all of which we walked to, and we enjoyed seeing how owners had renovated their lovely old homes. There were six homes and 9 condos, at 8 locations all over Atlanta's Midtown, so a lot of walking and eye candy!! Just lovely!!! We really enjoyed seeing the new condos at 905 Juniper, which is very close to us. They are spectacular! The lofts in the old Social Security building on Peachtree St are really neat. I could move into most any of the above tomorrow. And the homes were truly magnificent. It's always fun, fun, fun to participate in this event!

We took a midafternoon lunch break and Dave joined us at Food 2 Order:

If there's an F2O near you, try it...you'll like it! Today I enjoyed their Club Salad with Chicken tenderloin. YUMM!!!

One thing I wanted to share with you who are quilters is the idea that Caron has for a quilt. You need to go to her blog to read about it. I found out about it while reading Gerrie's blog. I have signed up to participate and hope you will too!

PEACE!

Here, There and Everywhere

We've been in Atlanta for the past couple of days...having lotsa fun. On the 11th, we went to the Braves vs. Washington Nationals game. It was cold and threatening rain, but the heavens didn't open up until we were leaving the Ted...and then we got soaked. But that was fine, since the Braves won!

Yesterday was our Kristin's 28th birthday! No photos this year. :-( She and Dave are pretty private people and so I honored them by not snapping any pics when we dined out at Six Feet Under and the Carroll St. Cafe. What yummy desserts we enjoyed. It was warm enough to start the evening off on the deck of Six Feet Under, overlooking lovely Oakland Park Cemetery and the Atlanta skyline.

Today has been gorgeous, and a great start for the 71st annual Atlanta Dogwood Festival. We wanted to go early because it gets so crowded, and we love to stroll along through Piedmont Park, taking our time and enjoying all of the art. We began by walking to Las Palmeras, one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, which as you might be able to guess, serves Cuban food...and mighty good Cuban food at that! It was so lovely and warm that we grabbed a patio table.

In another month they'll have that canopy covering the patio to protect clientele from the sun and beastly heat...but not yet!

Here's the house next door. I love the color!!

And look who was dining along with us:
We shared a yummilicious Mango shake:
I had my all-time favorite Cuban sandwich:

C enjoyed half of a "Boccadillo" sandwich, black beans and yellow rice:

Then we were off to the Dogwood Festival. Isn't this colorful:

I liked this piece too:

This guy flew in and sat a spell on a lightpost above one of the displays:

forget this last one...I'm afraid to delete it since in the past when I've done so, I've lost all of my pictures. Just admire it once more!!

Tomorrow begins the Midtown Tour of Homes...another favorite for us. The weather forecast is for rain........booh! It may be a movie day with the home tours on Sunday.

PEACE!!

Sweet Fusion

I put the finishing touches on "Sweet Fusion" yesterday afternoon. I so appreciated all of your comments and suggestions. I ended up reinforcing the soy silk fusion under the "ribs" of the fan with tooth picks, and then tacked the fan down in several places along the reinforcements. Since there is already so much going on as far as inclusions go, you really don't notice the tacking stitches. The border is simply some ruched hand-dyed silk ribbon. I had picked up some silkworm cocoons at Jan Girod's fabulous shop Fiber On a Whim a month or so ago and had played around dyeing them when I was doing some other turquoise stuff (maybe even these ribbons), and I loved the way they came out, so I poked holes in the ends and threaded the fan ribbons through them, sort of like big, fat beads. I also tacked those ribbons down to the ortwork quilting.

Eva, I hope this now looks a bit more like a fan and less like a jellyfish!!!

"Sweet Fusion" goes on the auction block (silent, that is) this Saturday night to help raise funds for our church's youth group's summer pilgrimage. Wish her well!!

PEACE Y'ALL!

Weekend Warrior

We came home from Atlanta Saturday afternoon and I was eager to begin my afternoon of fun and games. As you can see, I was armed and dangerous:

While Kristin and I had clothes shopped on Friday, dear C had gone to Trader Joe's and gotten me the Dark Chocolate covered Ginger....oh my goodness! Did you know that ginger is good to counteract motion sickness? I figured I was going at such a full tilt that I needed all the ginger I could get, plus the dark chocolate is full of antioxidants, so it can't hurt either!

Surrounding the TJ delights are the silk ties that I picked up at the thrift store on our way out of town. Aren't they gorgeous!! Gerrie had talked about Martha Stewart's method of dyeing Easter eggs, where you wrap them in old silk, then muslin and then boil them in water with a bit of white vinegar. So of course I had to give it a try!

I just loved this tie, and obviously its owner had too...look how worn it is on the edges. It's a beauty and I will put the rest of it to good use in either a crazy quilt pillow, a Sowz Earz purse, or a wall hanging.


So here are my results:

The lightest colored ones are those where I used my own hand dyed silks....isn't that interesting! My silks lost less color than the manufactured ties!! I had hoped for some yummy chartreuses and turqs, but alas, sigh.......................

I was on a roll and feeling mighty good until I opened my mail and found this bummer:

Ya know, if I won the lottery half as many times as I got summoned for jury duty, I'd be one wealthy woman!!! We have lived in this house for 9 1/2 years and I have been awarded jury duty three times, once on Grand Jury (which was fun and I loved it) and twice on the regular. I'd be willing to share with some of my friends who have never enjoyed this honor! It just sort of rankles me (can ya tell?), and yet I know that if I was on trial, I would want me on my jury!!

I attended the sunrise service at our church yesterday morning, and then C and I prepared a yummy Easter feast for my Mom: Prime Rib, steamed fresh asparagus, roasted sweet potatoes, Spinach Pie and my grandmother's custard pie for dessert. YUMMMM!

After Mom went "home", I took a nice little nap and then got busy on this:

It's an Amy Butler purse. Wish I could say that I had batiked the delish outer fabric, but it was purchased. However, I did quilt it. I read a blurb about how the Chicago School of Fusing gals were making this purse by first quilting and washing the quilted fabric and then proceeding with the pattern. It takes only about a 1/2 yard of fabric for each the outer part and the lining. I did use my own hand dyes for the handles and the lining. I will make more of these, perhaps adding some inner and outer pockets.

Here's another view, showing my lining fabric:

It was a fun day, and now I'm back to working on Sweet Fusion.

Hope your Easter was swell too.

PEACE!

Calimari & Hot Cross Buns

C and I have taken on the grave responsibility of trying the Calimari at as many restaurants in Atlanta as possible. While we had long felt sure that Little Azio's had the corner market on this delicacy, we may be changing our collective opinion in favor of that served up at Murphy's in Virginia Highlands:

They had two dipping sauces for the little squid: the traditional marinara and then a yummy sweet and sour Granny Smith/red peppercorn delight. C went on to enjoy their "Cracklin Pork Shank" (which he knew and loved at Sweinhauxen in Mainz, Germany - sorry if I've butchered that spelling!) and I ventured out and had the chef's special fresh bay scallops over a bed of fresh veggies. They were both delish and I know we will be returning to Murphy's often!

Yesterday morning we met up with Kristin for breakfast at the Great Harvest Bread Company at the intersection of Briarcliff and LaVista. It being Passover/Easter week, they were featuring Hot Cross Buns and darling Bunny Bread:

C & K opted for the Hot Cross Buns, while I enjoyed a delicious scone. Then she and I were off for a day of girls' shopping and lunch. We had a great, great time. She was in need of some business suits for work plus a nice dress for a Black Tie wedding next weekend. I was along as a consultant, and truly was not in the buying mood, if you can imagine that!! We accomplished her goals, picking up three great suits and a very lovely little black dress and enjoyed a wonderful little lunch....sorry, no photos. It was a bit on the chilly side, but warm enough if you were in the sun. The sky was a lovely deep blue. This morning it is barely in the 30s with a brisk wind out of the northwest, but the sky is as blue as ever and the azalea and Dogwood blossoms are still brilliant. Ah Spring!!!!

PEACE and HAPPY EASTER

What's In a Name??

My friend Bobbi sent me this:

1. YOUR REAL NAME Judy Carpenter
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle): Judizzle
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (color and fav animal) Chartreuse Dog
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, and street): Hill Juniper
5.YOUR STAR WARS NAME(first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of moms maiden name) Carjupet
6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME (favorite color, favorite drink): Chartreuse Gin
7. YOUR IRAQI NAME (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name) Uri
8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (grandmother and grandfather's first name) Augusta Herman
9. YOUR GOTH NAME (black, and the name of one of your pets): Black Barker
10. YOUR PORN STAR NAME (Your first ever pets name, childhood street name) Scout Hillside

(oh, and Gerrie, lunch was a spinach salad with tuna....but today with Kristin was better: grilled veggies with Balsamic vinegar on Pita Bread and a glass of Pinot Grigio...YUMMM!)

PEACE!!!....if I keep writing this, maybe W will listen!!!

I'm on a roll

I've been busy this morning finishing up a few WIPs and thought I'd share them with you. My cutting table in my sewing room has been so cluttered with unfinished projects that it was getting ridiculous!

This is my Midtown Sowz Earz bag, which I actually finished a few weeks back and have been using at the condo. I find that it is just the right size for a pair of sunglasses, a small change purse, my keys and my camera.

It is also an "Ortwork" Quilted Bag a la Nellie Durand, being composed of many bits and pieces of my hand-dyed silks, all quilted together under a sheet of black tulle. I love this technique. The lining is a brilliant chartreuse with a little pocket in bright orange. It pretty much glows in the dark!! LOL

This is a little bag made of soy silk fusion:

I've quilted it, put two buttonholes at the fold at the top, and then threaded the gold cording through. There is a snap under the button. It is also lined in chartreuse silk, with gold dragonflies stamped on it.

Here's a journal covered with soy silk fusion with inclusions added:

I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with this lovely piece, so the only solution was to leave it intact and cover the journal. Here is the inside:


I've left those wonderful wispy edges of the fusion, and sewn a hand dyed silk ribbon at the spine as a marker.

This is the second journal cover that I made this morning:


I just loved the inclusions in this white piece...some rose petals from my Valentines bouquet and some dried money plant from my garden. I didn't quite have enough of the white left over to cover the journal, so I attached some purplish/blue fusion that remained from yesterday's lingerie bag. I also had some purple ribbon remaining from another project, so I added that as a marker. Here's the inside:

It's been a fun, fun morning.............and now I'm going to go have a bite of lunch. Want to join me?

PEACE!!!

Brand New Bag

Yesterday afternoon I was sewing away and suddenly looked up to see this beautiful view:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! A line of thunderstorms had rolled through about an hour earlier, and this was the remainder. As long as we don't have any tornadoes, I'm pretty ok with the thunderstorms, although they are really not my cup of tea either.

I've completed a wonderful class on Soy Silk Fusion with Sue Bleiweiss through Joggles and hope to teach some of it at Intown Quilters in July. This afternoon I made up this shop sample of a lingerie bag:

I wish I could take better closeups! GRRRR! Anyway, I stamped some gold fish (not goldfish, silly!) on the top flap and the lower part of the body and stitched around them in some gold shimmer thread. I lined the bag with a piece of cotton that I had dyed last summer, and then I found some wonderful old goldish scallop shell buttons that I had saved from a much-loved bathing suit from the past. I also had a bit of yarn remaining from another project that had just the right turquoise and grape hues, so I added that for a bit more closure.
Here is the back of the bag. Unfortunately I used my flash when taking this pic, so everything appears a bit more red. I stamped one more fish on the backside. The body of the bag was stitched using gold shimmer in the needle and some variegated purple/turquoise metallic thread in the bobbin. I like this bag!!!!

Peace

Batikers I have known and loved:

I really should include a picture of my batiking mentor here, but alas, I do not have one available on this new laptop, so please forgive me Rayna!

Intown Quilters, my all-time favorite Atlanta quilt shop, asked me to teach a batiking class, and so I fiddled around with different ideas and finally decided to advertise this one as "Batik Your Big Shirt", using cast-off men's shirts from thrift shops, since that is what I wear when I'm dyeing. Well, Sarah (the boss at IQ) suggested that I add sarongs to my repertoire. Interestingly enough, one of my first batik projects had been a silk sarong for my daughter Kristin, and she and her husband had just returned from a cruise where all of the ladies were shrowded in sarongs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. How 'bout that!!! So, today we batiked Big Shirts, Sarongs and some cotton yardage. I think everyone had a good time, and I know that I did! What a great group of ladies!!!

Several of the ladies batiked big shirts. I wish that I had had a chance to photograph them with thier work before they left. They did some smashing pieces!!!

Others did yardage in various and sundry colors....once again, all gorgeous!

And then there was "this group" who are heading out on a ladies-only beach trip and batiked silk sarongs to take along. They were having THE BEST TIME, which made it even more fun for the rest of us!! By the time they were waxing and dyeing, I had my camera out and ready to snap some pictures! (And Gerrie, you would be proud of me here, because my batteries died and I had fresh replacements in my bag!)

The ringleader of the group is Teresa, and she is pictured here on the right. She was the only quilter in the group...come on gals, get with it! Isn't that a pretty sarong!!!

Here's another of the silk sarongs:

Ewwww, and look at this one! I love the way it is practically all one color, but then there's the white-ish part at the bottom/top!

And here's the last one. They are all so gorgeous!!! I've made all of these ladies in my class promise to send me photos of their laundered and totally finished pieces (they went home in zip locked bags, to be laundered tomorrow). I definitely want photos of the beach vacation with sarongs!!!!

Tonight C and I are going to Nickiemottos for Dollar Sushi....these ladies have worn me out!