Garage Sailing as I Call it!

This is what I found today:

I was going into a Dollar General store when out of the corner of my eye I spotted this.
It was sitting on a table in front of a Scrapbook Store along with other old items.
Apparently the woman who owns this shop has a mother that wanted to sell a few things, so
she let her use the front of her store.

DH and I opened it up and was amazed that is was huge.....king size as you can see on my
king sized bed.  No price on it and as we checked it over and found no stains on it, DH remarked
that were were three tears in three different triangles.  He was reluctant to buy it but I knew I
could fix those mishaps easily.  Besides, I have never seen a quilt that had the same piece work on the front and the back.  Not just fabric backing.

I asked him to find out how much it was.  He did and I was amazed to say the least.  $15.00,
she said she had $25 on it but it was a slow day and late in the afternoon and I could have it for the $15.00.  I know she did not make this quilt and I failed to ask her if she knew who did.

So now, I will fix what needs to be fixed.  There are hand stitches around each triangle along with machine stitching.

 This is the edge of back.

I will now get busy and fix those imperfections in it, have it cleaned (not washed) and it will adorn my bed as it is a perfect summer weight. 

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A Gift To Myself

Several or many years ago as my DH and I were traveling via an RV, we stopped in Savannah, Georgia. A wonderful old town, gets a little touristy, but believe it or not I love going to their cemetery.  There are some beautiful works of art in the tombstones and grave sites there.  I am sure many who have gone to Savannah have been to Bonaventure Cemetery.
In the cemetery at the time I went was a lovely statue of the Bird lady.  She was photographed for a cover of the book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".  After the book was published and a movie made, this statue became very popular and little by little people would chip off pieces as mementos. (Not a classy thing to do).  So, the people of Savannah decided to send this statue to a safer place and is now in their museum.    The lady is holding out her hands and in each is suppose to be water in one and seeds in the other for the birds.  Thus being named Bird Lady.
I should have bought one when I was in Savannah but then I was traveling light.

So, today I happen to be in a stone yard and I saw a glimpse of a BirdGirl.  She is younger looking and a little different but she reminds me of the BirdLady so I bought her to my home. Reminds me now of Savannah, a lovely victorian  place, with architecture and finery in abundance.
By the way, I did not care for the book or the movie but sure love the cover on the book.

   Photo taken at the Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia

For The Birds - Art Quilt Theme

Once again doing things I like to do and making small art quilties are my favorite.  This time with my internet friends on swapping the theme was For The Birds.  Here is my take on that theme.

All art quilts are finished the same as if  you would for a large quilt, that is with batting inside and fabric backing.To give it dimension I stuffed each square with batting also. I do not generally like to bind things but I do try, so I hope the swapper who gets this one will understand there is no perfection in my quilting, just love doing it my way.

Memorial Day 2012 - May God Bless America

There are a lot of movies on TV this weekend to commemorate Memorial Day and all the troops that gave their lives.  There is one thing that bothers me sometimes that I don't quite understand.  Most of the time speeches are made and they will always say something about the troops that died for our freedom.  I can understand if they were in the United States protecting us and our freedom and our borders.  That would be protecting our freedom.  Tell me why we are always at war in some far off land, giving up our troops lives for someone elses freedom?  Am I being to cynical about this?  Is it to protect us from invasion? Our troops that have not come home we salute you all be it World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, Iraq, Afganistan.  Now is the time for those that are still there, in other lands to come home.  Thank God we still have Freedom of Speech.

Choices - A Poem

I haven't written a poem lately and then a swap came up and I decided to join in.
Here is my poem:

In a dimly lit room where only a light
from a side table glows
an elderly woman sits, alone.

The silence in the room brings her
to reminisce of past choices she has made
and those which she just let pass by.

Were they the right choices she asks herself?
Marriage verses a career,
loving the right one or regrets?
She rocks back and forth.

Her mind now wondering,
too late to cry for what could have been
Better to have lived and loved than
not at all.

A knock on her bedroom door,
He enters, she remembers,
Smiling she turns and looks at him.

It was the right choice.

by Ladydy

Iris - State Flower of Tennessee

You will see these flowers on all the roads in Tennessee.  I doubt if there is really any road that somehow hasn't produced one or several of these plants.  They seem to grow fervently throughout our cities and that must be why Tennessee adopted them as our State Flower.

They come in all colors, pink, white and shades of purple.  Some look almost blue while others are so deep a purple they look maroon in color.  I have the purple/blue ones that I inherited from a friend two years ago and only one small bunch.  Within two years they have grown and we have separated them to form rows and rows of them.  So, I wanted you to share in them with me and my State Flower of Tennessee.
I hope that you can click on the photo to get a really closeup look.

Fabric Art Block: Underwater Theme

This is for another swap exchange with the theme being "Underwater".
I usually like to do landscapes but when I saw this fabric I thought it was
really cute.
I appliqued a mermaid on it that I printed off the internet on to some plain fabric.
I add some shells around her.
I then sewed around a couple of the large fish in a gold metallic thread, which
I had break several times while sewing and my patience grew thin.  I find that
since I have taken up sewing though, my patience for things is better. My way of
coping with things that get me rattled is to stop, get up out of the chair, walk away,
get a cup of tea (or glass of wine), wait a half hour or so and go back and finish.
It does work for me.
I hope the woman that I am sending this to will like it also.
Can't wait for the next theme which I think is About Birds.

To be continued.......