Flower Power and Hoochy FUN in Orofino in June

Here is the gang from Orofino and Clarkston that took my workshop. The country around orofino is just fabulously beautiful and it is no wonder that Lewis and Clark traveled through here. If you live close enough to drive there in a day, you should check out this historic part of our beautiful country. The place and the people are great. If you know someone who likes to fish or hunt or quilt, this is the place.

Here is a quilt that I did with the help of the flower power book.

I designed a buttefly fabric once and this quilt is full of the stuff...I loved how itlooked in easy piecing.

Hollyhocks anyone?

Look at the bug on the flower at the bootm with the bug eyes...isn't he cute?

I am just loving that lime green color lately!

We all had fun with fish before we ran out of time....

This is Kathleen's quilt and isn't the bird on the tree delightful? We discussed perspective and how we can break the rules in the name of creativity and she sure did a great job!

Here I am with Kathleen who took my class at Asilomar ten years ago....I can't believe I have taught for over 25 years!

Here is Sue White's story quilt...you may remember it from my retreat I held in Post Falls.Sue is an extrememly talented artist who does everything...glass, clay, colored pencils, painting..everything...and well. Sue was the one to get me to come there and to gather all of the nice people in one spot. It was a nice trip and I drove my husband's truck so I could take anything I wanted instead of worrying about airline charges on everything....

Here is lovely Lynelle who came from Clarkston. She was the lone Clarkston girl and we loved her! Don't you love her flower?

Everyone did well learning the techniques and the concepts and we all had alot of fun too!

Here I am packed and ready for the three hour ride home.... Check out Katie's blog! She took these fun photos....

Happy Quilts Make for Happy Girls in Tiaras visiting Belstrop

This is one of my older quilts. I had a fabric company give me a box of ugly fabric and then they asked me to do something wonderful for Market. I decided that since it sort of looked like the dresses my Grandmother wore, I would do my Grandmother's in siloutte with their real jewelry. I added a honking gem on the inger of my Grandmother who lived in South Dakota because she would have loved that. My Grandmother from Canada got her real earrlings and pin. I love this little quilt.... I ran into this painting done by Dali and I think it fits in well with the cows that everyone is doing from the Out of the Box with Easy Blocks book. I have been in Austin Texas this week with a group of 20 at Quilting Adventures making cows. What a great group of women! So fun and so creative! My camera kind of gave out and I am waiting for better photos from my friends in the class but I am sharing what I have which is not enough! This is the beginning of Doris's quilt...such detail and such fun! She used the bird pattern out of my Flower Power book and also got the worm pattern there...isn't this cute for a garden cow? This is Julie's quilt (she made two) and the theme is Dairy Queen, I am hoping someone else will send photos....There were two Dairy Queen's in the class and I have one going at my house too...hope to have photos later on.... The quilt above is Darlene's quilt and has Elvix in there...she is an Elvis FAN times 20...she was fun listening to and she reminds me so much of Freddy who is her other passion...she is a huge Freddy fan and she has a soft voice like freddy's and a passion for bracelets...any ideas of what to call the Elvis cow quilt would be appreciated! Here Darlene packs up to leave until the next time we meet... This is Sylvia's cow which is very creative and it is called T-bone and she dyed many of the pieces in the quilt- she lives in the gulf coast and she was somewhat worried about getting home in the midst of a downpour with the new storm coming that way.... This is Debby who owns Quilting Adventures of(of the Hill Country) bringing in the biggest watermelon I have ever ever seen...and it was wonderful! If you want to take a fabulous class in a fabulous place with the BEST food you will ever have, sign up for a Quilting Adventures class....everything is taken care of and TX is a great detination stop for anyone who hasn't been there before.... This is Sherry who did such a super job on her cow, and the lettering and her bird is so much fun on the cows. I think the colors are pretty and it is a quilt that makes you smile. She came with Sylvia and is going back through the storm home...hopefully they made it home and are somewhere safe now. I went home and dreamt of being in the storm all night. Here is Debby with her Texas cow...she is the one who owns Quilting Adventures along with her daughter Kim. I didn't get a whole photo of Kim for you but I did get a good part of her body.... Since I give out tiaras in my longer workshops I appreciated the tatoo on her ankle and knew I wanted to share it. :0) Kim is GREAT and her number one mission is to make everyone happy and to give everyone a lovely experience when you come to take classes at their venue. I am actually going to sign up when I can fit in a class I want to take. The photo here is of Patricia who had great style and wanted to do a chocolate quilt...isn't this fun and whimsical? She had the fabric in the center of the cow and wanted to do something fun with it. This is sure to bring alot of smiles. Here is Evelyn's cow which is called "Irish COWfee". Note the body of the cow which is a cup and her tail which is the handle. Isn't this cool? Evelyn is a sweetheart who has taken other classes from me in Texas. I love seeing her and her smile and kind manner. Here is Debby and Kim from Quilting Adventures in the Hill Country. I need a haircut I see from the photo....who likes photos of themselves anyhow? I guess if you are younger you can't get enough but I can, haha. Anyway if you meet these two girls, you will love them...they aim to please and they do...please. These are the lips from Debby's Texas cow....aren't they great? Here we are, the Princess group- beautiful girls in a beautiful place and content with the experience of getting our artist's out, making new wonderful friends and enjoying the beauty and the food...all homemade and great...such a nice experience. I love how each student has their own design wall and room and a comfy chair that moves...the students sleep here and the diningroom is in the next room and is darling...the girl who owns this cooks and cakes every day while we work.... This quilt shop that we visited had thousands and thousands of bolts! It was GREAT. Here is our adorable cook...she cooks wonderful food and all homemade from scratch....her husband came and barbqued the best brisket I have ever had! Stay tuned for more photos when I get them from the other girls.... I am ending with this for a little something to think about. YOU are in charge of your own happiness and no one else. If you dwell on the negative then you will be a negative person and people will avoid you because you can't add to the day. BUT if you read happy material and enjoy happy things and think upbeat, positve things then you will be happy and you will be a magnet for people who want to be happy too. So, be a magnet and exude happy smiles and the world will be a happy place for you and you will live longer and you will be happy with your years.....

Be Happy, Be Positive, Be Healthy!

Speaking of being happy I thought I would post this photo as it makes me smile...the cows always do and Tina who made this cow is positive and fun. That is what we all need in our lives isn't it? I posted this photo because I have an Uncle named Wayne and he had a district like the photo for his sales territory. I asked him once if he didn't get bored seeing nothing. He said "if you don't look, it does look like nothing but if you open your eyes, you see birds and colorful things here and there and animals and clouds that are pretty." Then he said "every time I drive the same road, I see new things and I am not bored and I like the places I travel." I think you would call this half full and not half empty. :0) I am posting this Norman Rockwell painting because it reminds me of my beautiful Aunt May who was as sweet as she was beautiful. She was married four times...one husband died and her first husband was also her last husband. His name was Harry and we WERE all wild about him. Anyway, Aunt May had this beautiful dresser set and on one of the pieces was lots of cool perfume bottles and jewelry and cool stuff that all of us girls used to look at and imagine our adulthood. One day my cousin Linda took my Aunt's powder and powdered the whole dresser. My Mother came into the room and my little cousin said "in't it cute?" Those are the kinds of things we love to remember....so dear and so good and so fun. I wanted to put some positive things in a post before I leave for Austin and a cow and posie class this week for Quilting Adventures. I have been going to a physical therapist for the past couple of months and she is a young girl about 30ish maybe a tad older but not much. She is beautiful and I appreciate her because above all she is positive. I am supposed to have surgery for my herniated disk in my back and I have a broken piece in there too. My two Drs. told me 6 weeks ago I needed surgery right away-they want to remove all of the bone that supports my spinal column and then fuse my spine together. I chose to do therapy and see what happens. My worst problem is I have what they call "drop foot." Buyt with the help of Val, I am thinking positive and thinking about healing in my back and positive beautiful things that all have to do with happy cells and healing. I did this with my son when he had cancer and thankfully he is fine today. I know that I can use positive energy to make a positive outcome. I read this week about a group of patients that they did a study on. Half of the patients had the same sore they gave to each one on their arm. They took stressed, negative people for group number one and the other group were positive and not stressed with the same sore they gave the first group. They did some kind of cut on their arms. The positive group minue the stress healed up two weeks faster than the other group. I think there is alot to that. I am trying to put stress out of my life thought it is hard. Enjoying the lovely quilters I meet and hearing their stories is very healing for me. The older I get the more I love there people and their journeys and they remind me often of mine. So friend if this week is a hard one for you, look around at people that cannot walk, that cannot go about doing what they want, that do not have your resources, that do not have someone to love them, that do not have family or friends, or have cancer or something serious they are battling. No matter how hard your walk is, you can always find someone worse off than you are. And by the way, the best way to quit feeling sorry for yourself is to do something for someone else. This is a truism that wise people know and now you do too! Keep quilting, keep laughing and being positive and I will see you right here in a week and a half after I teach in Austin and then Orefino Idaho. I am going to be happy and positive and hope that is your goal for YOU too! :0)