TAQG Rally Day

The Texas Association of Quilt Guilds' Rally Day was held yesterday in Mesquite. It's a one day event (with classes held in the days leading up to Rally Day).


Thirty-two guilds belong to TAQG. If you are a member of any of the member guilds, you can attend Rally Day for free. As you arrive, you receive a goody bag little gifties from all the guilds.




I arrived as the event was beginning and the guilds were setting up their raffle quilts. Two long halls had raffle quilts displaced on both sides. It was the next best thing to a quilt show.





I really liked this sampler quilt from the Allen Quilter's Guild.





And this one, called Home Tweet Home, from the Cotton Patch Guild.





Here's a detail photo from Home Tweet Home. Yes, there was definitely no shortage of eye candy , nor opportunities to buy chances to win beautiful quilts of every style and colorway.

Sharon Schamber, the speaker of the day, also brought patterns and instructional DVDs to sell, so there was also ample opportunity to shop.


Another part of the event was a miniature quilt silent auction. There were some great miniature quilts.




(click any of the photos for larger versions)

The main event were the presentations by Sharon Schamber before and after lunch and the hundreds of door prizes–I came home with a couple of books and some Halloween-themed FQs.


Despite some forgotten cables and some technical difficulties, Sharon and her husband, Gene, did a great job of sharing quilts and stories and information about color and quilting. My photos were taken quite far from the stage and mostly serve to trigger my memories of the event–there certainly are better photos to be found elsewhere of most of these well known quilts.

The quiltholders in yellow shirts were from the Irving Guild. The quilters from Fort Worth were in red T-shirts. Another guild had great turquoise embroidered shirts. It was fun to see everyone wearing their colors. The Dallas Guild doesn't have shirts. "It's too big," I was told. I think we need to fix that, or make yoyo pins or wear bandanas or *something* for next year.

Signs of Progress at the Urban Café

A couple months ago, the cafe on the ground floor of my building abruptly closed. Before long, signs went up saying that it would be opening "soon," under new management. Tonight, the bar was open . . . it was a definite sign of progress.



It was all smiles behind the bar at the Urban Cafe . . . and all the residents and others from the neighborhood that stopped by for a drink were pretty happy about it, too.

I'm looking forward to breakfasts in the building soon.

Texas Weather

Earlier tonight, in a matter of moments, the sky went dark, then light, this rainbow appeared, and then we were pelted with hail and when I looked out window to see what all the racket was about–Gracie the scaredy cat had already run for cover–it looked like nothing to me as much as a SNOW STORM.



You would have thought it would have cooled off our 100-plus temperatures but . . . no such luck.

You definitely need to add new and interesting weather patterns to the list of things you learn when you move to a new part of the world.

Popsicle Quilt Blocks

Last week at their meeting, the Quilter's Guild of Dallas had a "make it but don't take it" event. Instead of the usual speaker, after the business part of the meeting, we worked on blocks for Covers for Kids charity quilts.


There were large tables set up around the room, each with a designated project. I had been having a frazzled day and showed up without my machine and no tools in hand. I came planning to volunteer to cut fabric or iron or sew bindings.


But while chatting with people before the meeting, someone mentioned they had brought along a spare featherweight and offered to let me use it. They were sitting at the table that would be making a paper-pieced block. I could do that, I thought, and took them up on the offer.



Marie (on the left) organized an adorable quilt for us, based on an easy block to learn paper foundation piecing. After a quick how-to-do it demonstration, we were off and running. Marie was also juggling her duties as an organizer for the upcoming TAQG Rally Day and selling lunches and pins–she's an organizational wonder.






Here are some of our first blocks–aren't they charming? At the end of the evening, we'd made about a dozen.

If you'd like the pattern for the blocks (and the quilt), it's called Lotsa Pops and is available on the Quiltmaker site, here: Lotsa Pops

I knew Marie wanted to make a larger quilt than the pattern, so at the end of the night, I offered to take some of the double pop foundations home and make more and bring them to her on Rally Day. Here are my blocks.




I can't wait to see the finished quilt.

Fanfare for the Fourth of July

I love a parade . . . but the opportunity to check out the Dallas Wind Symphony's Star Spangled Spectacular at the Myerson Symphony Center on a very hot Fourth of July seemed like a great alternative to being outside on a very, very hot day.

I confess that I walked across downtown at noon–about a mile–to the concert. I arrived wondering . . . what was I thinking ? ? ?

I found my seat early and a nice gentlemen sitting nearby told me about a Dallas Wind Symphony tradition, an original fanfare played in the lobby . . . so I headed back out to enjoy.






I could see people gathering in the open spaces in the lobby and on the stairwell, even behind the music stands. Before long musicians began to appear. I would learn later that each Fanfare is an original composed by one of the Symphony musicians.









I wasn't the only one taking photos. This drummer was taking photos of the crowd with his cellphone. He's one of the Hellcats from the US Military Academy at West Point. Before long all the musicians arrived and were in place.











And the Fanfare began. It was a very cool way to begin a concert experience. The Dallas Wind Symphony has a fun energy–they even have an official tamale. And they put together a wonderful program.










After the fanfare, the crowd went inside and the "spectacular" officially began with the National Anthem. Imagine a large symphony hall filled with people singing the national anthem: it was incredibly moving. The rest of the program was chock full of military tributes, summer references and a dash of Texas. There was audience participation and the closest thing to fireworks you can imagine inside a concert hall.



The Hellcats marched onto the stage and provided the next best thing to a parade. Later, they returned and performed with the Wind Symphony.



Afterward the concert, yes , I walked the mile across downtown back home again. I confess that I took my time, staying in the shade as much as possible and I stopped on the way and bought ice cream.

Most of the people attending the concert were dressed like these patrons. The sea of red, white and blue in the audience just added to that 4th of July feeling, like the hot dogs they were serving in the lobby. I think this event could easily become a Dallas Independence Day tradition for me.

Fireworks

And for fun ... here's a Blogthings test to find out if you're Red, White or Blue. My result:

You Are Blue

You are a highly tolerant and peaceful person. You have a lot of compassion and respect for people. You love that the USA is a country with many different people. You may not agree with what everyone believes, but you agree with their right to believe it. You look for the common bonds that Americans share. You rather unite than divide people. You'd like to see more understanding and less fighting. You find it hard to stomach politics.

Are You Red, White, or Blue?

Simple Pleasures

Early this morning, my friend, Terri, sent email with some sage advice for my recent defeated state of mind:

Treat yourself to something nice, even if it's just a good cup of coffee or a drive in the country.

So, I made myself an iced latté and, since I knew Terri was awake (and had also mentioned in her email that she had no real plans for the day), I decided to have a cup of coffee with her, and picked up the phone and called her. And what a coincidence, she had just made herself a cup. I talked too long–I was procrastinating my day ahead–but it was thoroughly delightful.

She was sitting outside on her balcony . . . I was inside with windows shut and air conditioning on. I am currently trying to teach the cats, Johnny Be Good and Grace Hopper, the meaning of the phrase "It's too hot." They sit in front of the French Doors and look longingly in my direction, no doubt wondering why we no longer leave the doors wide open for hours so they can enjoy the fresh air and chase the occasional fly at their leisure. This morning it was 85 degrees at 5:30 AM. It really was "too hot" to entertain the idea of turning off the AC and opening wide the French doors for them . . . but, they continue to make me feel like a bad cat-mom, as they stretch out in front of the doors, roll over on their back and call me over to scratch their bellies and flirt with me. I'm pretty sure that cats have a very different idea of how hot is "too hot" since they seem to love to lie on the bare, hot concrete floors in front of the sunny windows, but I haven't given up on the idea of communicating the concept of "too hot" (for me) to them.

I have been waiting a few weeks for another "cold front" and another "cooler" 90-degree day or two, so I could move the things I have in storage in Irving to my newly acquired storage in the building, but the cooling thing wasn't happening so I've spent the last two days driving back and forth and moving just about everything anyway, despite the triple digit high temperatures, despite the Orange Alert, bad air quality conditions. I'll make one more trip tomorrow morning to pick up my bike and everything that I can move myself will be moved.

After my second trip today, Brenda, the manager of the storage facility had another great suggestion for me, that I go to the fountain in Millennium Park and just

Enjoy the spray

She said the fountain had been turned up full force. She thought I should wait until the sun wasn't so high in the sky so I didn't fry my pale self . . . so at the end of my long day, I decided to go check it out.




I thought a picnic dinner sounded good (and meant no cooking when I got home), so I picked up a torta at a restaurant near the pet-friendly motel where I lived with my two cats when we first arrived in Texas. I am showing you a small photo because that yummy torta really was almost as big as my head . . . but it was so tasty, even if I could only finish about one third of it.







Here was my "table-side" view . . . OK, there weren't any tables, but that didn't matter. Did I mention that as I drove to the restaurant, I saw a sign that said at 8PM the temperature was 100 degrees? But the sun was just beginning to set; there was a slight breeze and it was actually very pleasant by the fountain. I confess that I dined on the side of the fountain that was away from the spray, but walked around the fountain afterward to enjoy the full effect. It was heavenly.



The people-watching was also great. You might notice in these photos that some of the people in the park were enjoying a bit more than just the "spray" from the fountain.



The kids were having a blast. Though I wondered how the parents of a couple of them were able to compel their offspring to come out of the water before the sun had completely set, their joy was so obvious. I saw so many great photographic opportunities, I really regretted not having my camera. I think these iPhone photos hint at the energy and beauty there.

Today was so much work and so hot, and at this moment, my back is killing me–I am sure it will feel much worse tomorrow–but I am thinking about the simple pleasures that marked its beginning and end and my thoughtful friends who made a tedious day really pretty wonderful with their advice and suggestions for me. How incredibly lucky and grateful I am to have people like Brenda and Terri in my life.

Oklahoma Boomer Quilt Block Pattern

The Ladies Art Company first published the Oklahoma Boomer block in 1898. I have always loved this block and couldn't resist including it for the block lotto in our year of traditional blocks . . . it's just a happy coincidence that I saw a production of The Wizard of Oz a couple weekends ago and keep seeing the Tin Man, an alternate name you might see used, as in Judy Hopkins & Nancy Martin’s 101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts.

For those who happen to have a copy of Judy Hopkins & Nancy Martin’s 101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts, I will reference the same Alpha characters for each piece, so you can reference your book, it is helpful to you. Their version of the block is the same size (6 inches, finished size) but is made from three fabrics, instead of our two color blocks.

The main challenge in making this block is careful measuring and cutting and sewing that 1/4-inch seam. You also have an opportunity to make and work with a template.

Fabrics

For the July Block Lotto, we'll be making this block in two colors, a cream tone-on-tone (TOT) print BACKGROUND fabric and your choice of RED or BLUE TOT main (BOOMER) fabric.

Make a template

If you were making multiple blocks from the same fabric (or don’t mind wasting some fabric), you would cut the large triangle head (A) by cutting a 3 1/4 inch square and cutting it twice diagonally. But since I’m going to tell you that you cannot repeat your BOOMER fabric in more than one block . . . the easiest thing to do is to make a template for that triangle. If you have card stock or template plastic, you can make a template by cutting a 3 1/4 inch square and cutting it twice diagonally and using one of the triangles for your template for the head (A). If you don’t, grab a standard size business card.


Most standard sized business cards are 2” x 3.5”





It will probably be easier to work with from the back, so flip it over.



Trim it so that it’s 3 1/4 inches wide.



Align the 45-degree line on your ruler along the bottom edge and cut an angle from the bottom right corner.



Flip over your card and repeat. Your template is ready to use.

Cutting

Use the template to cut the Head (A) piece from your BOOMER fabric by aligning the longest edge on grain on your fabric.

Again, if you don't mind wasted fabric, you can also cut a 3-1/4 inch square and cut it diagonally twice and use ONLY one of the resulting triangles.


For the rest of the BOOMER pieces, you'll need:
One 1” square for neck (B)
Two rectangles, 1” x 2-1/2” for arms (C)
One rectangle, 2-1/4”x 2-1/2” for body (D)
Two rectangles 1” x 3-1/4” for legs (E)


From the BACKGROUND fabric, cut:
Two rectangles, 2” x 2-1/2” for above arms (F)
Two rectangles 2-1/2” x 4-1/2” for below arms (G)
One 1-7/8” square cut once diagonally into two triangles, for sides of head (H)
Two 1” x 1-1/4” rectangles for sides of neck (I)
One 1-1/2 x 3-1/4” rectangle for between legs (J)

Sewing the Block

1. Sew the center sections together first. If your block is going to come up short . . . best to find out right away, right?

As you are sewing the background to the head, the neck and the legs, press toward the dark. You don’t have to worry about any matching seams in any of this part of the block, so you can focus ENTIRELY on those 1/4 inch seams.

After all the backgrounds are attached, sew the sections together and . . . moment of truth time, measure the center section. From top to bottom, it should measure 6-1/2 inches.

Then sew the background pieces to the arms. I pressed the seams on those UP, which means the top seam is pressed toward the BACKGROUND, so I would have opposing seams at the shoulders–the ONLY matching seams you have in this block.



2. After putting the center together, adding the arms is easily done . . . and so are you ;-)

Be a "Smover" (one who smiles & moves)

It's a short 3 minute video.

Apply it to work. Apply it to life.

Are you ready? Let's smove ;-)

It Was a Dark and Stormy Midday

A major storm passed through the Dallas Fort Worth area last night and it's still raining outside . . . and inside my loft. After a restless night of waking to thunder and lightning, I thought I'd sleep a little later than usual, but my cats had other ideas and were quite vocal in their desire that I get out of bed and attend to them this morning.

I imagined it was because their food bowls were empty. I never imagined it was because their food bowls were filled with water . . . and that there was a large puddle of water at the other end of my itty bitty loft and that the rain, still pouring down quite hard and blowing sideways, was also raining inside . . . and that my dining table and chairs were sitting in water and rugs were wet.

I quickly moved furniture and picked up watere-soaked rugs, grabbed towels to mop up the water and tried to keep up with the water pouring in as best as I could. It continued to pour in Not from just under and around the French doors, as I imagined, but from the top of the door frame, above the windows as well, from where the raindrops would bounce and propel themselves quite far into the room. I put down a dry, folded towel at the point the rain was falling inside, to soak it up and prevent it's spread. My cat, Johnny, promptly decided to play . . . because, as we all know, to a cat, everything is a toy, even a dry bath towel.



Eventually, he abandoned his toy and I was able to use it as intended. Later, he would begrudgingly perched on top of it as is and watch the weather through the glass. The rain slowed a bit temporarily–and stopped blowing sideways–and I was able to take this photo of the skies above City Hall at 11AM. It's quite a contrast to the hot, bright sunny days of the past few weeks.



Since starting this blog post, the skies have opened up again and the lightning and thunder have been non-stop. I think Johnny has even joined his scaredy cat sister, Grace Hopper, deep inside a cabinet as away from the excitement as possible and I'm going to turn off the computer as soon as I finish this post. I won't be surprised if we lose power–this is pretty spectacular . . . and the water is pouring in again. Gotta run and grab some dry towels.