Day 1 -- Classes Start!

Today was the first day of classes. I took a class on needleturn applique. My teacher was really awesome. She taught us how to do curves, points, straight lines, and circles. I didn't take any progress shots, but below are some shots of the work I did today. PS Curves take forever! Once I got back to straight lines, I was going much faster.

Also my thread was not great. It's good there are some vendors around so I can buy some better supplies. So because of not great thread, my stitch would sometimes be more invisible than others, but that was also because of my learning.

But I am really excited. I have decided I need to start another tree for my North Dakota trip so I won't have to just be hand quilting all the way there, but I can hand applique as well!




So I thought I didn't really take many pictures at the quilt show today, but I guess I still did take pictures. So, yah.

This quilt below had over 20,000 jewels on it. It was gorgeous.

I probably should have put my finger or something in this picture, but this quilt was mini! Those little little pieces were 1/8" pieces. Tiny!

Yep, so that is it! Day 1 was great. Ready for day 2!b

NQA Quilt Show -- Preview Night!!

Today was the preview night for the quilt show. My pictures aren't great. I might double some up if I get pictures off of Mom's camera, which takes much better pictures. But for now, I'll just put up a ton of pictures.

So after going through a small portion of the show, I have decided I really like bright colors, and that color is the aspect of quilts that draws me in the most. Like, use of color has the most impact to me. Regular old quilt patterns done in bright and good colors are much more exciting to me.

Sometimes the Internet Amazes Me

So here I am, trying to get to bed early, and so I put on some music on my ipod. I just brought a bunch of CDs back from Maryland, so it is some old time music. I start listening to the Book of Mormon soundtrack - seems like it should be soothing enough to fall asleep to. And as I am listening to it, I am reminded of the person who introduced me to it - Elder Constantine. Another thing I brought back with me was the beginning of a book about him, not to finish - I think I've passed the 5th grade mode where I was writing it, but just to have to remember. And so I am thinking about him, and wondering what he is up to. And of course, I want to know, and know now! So I abandon sleep and get on the internet. Nothing comes up on facebook - he apparently isn't there. But a simple google search leads me to a random pirate blog he keeps, and as I dig through it I find videos, and there I am seeing a person that I have not seen in over 10+ years.

Which reminds me...while I was in Maryland, I became astounded by the fact that I ever thought I wasn't going to be a writer. Littered throughout my room are notebooks full of pieces of stories, and especially pieces of the story that I'll be writing the book I will hopefully start working on soon. I can't go without writing, and now that I realize this, I wonder that I ever thought I could.

I try to fall asleep and as soon as my sleep timer on my ipod goes off and the music/book stops, my mind starts circling with ideas, thoughts, contemplations, all about these stories, about how to write something, about new places to discover -- today I was thinking about trees that grew naturally to be houses. Well, I don't really feel like working out the description of how to get the real idea across, but that's the basic idea. Like I will go through the day, and think - I am not really working much on writing, because I haven't put the pen to the page. But then I look in the recesses in my mind, and progress has been made in stories, new ideas are being explored. It will all come in time.

I Love Balsamic Vinegar

Last week while I was in Maryland, I mentioned to my dad that I love Balsamic vinegar, and that anything is better with balsamic vinegar on it. And he said, "What about ice cream?" I considered, and confirmed, that yes, I thought it would be good even on ice cream.

So today I was making a balsamic sauce to put on some roasted potatoes and carrots, and had some leftover sauce. I thought I should try it out on ice cream, and see if I really did like it.

And I did. It was very good. It was kind of odd, though. At times it tasted like chocolate sauce rather than balsamic vinegar. I only put a small amount on, like the same amount I do with chocolate syrup. I think to appreciate the true flavor of the vinegar, you would need to have more, but I could still taste it and it was yummy. Odd, but delicious.

Power Outage

I'm in Maryland now, visiting Stefanie, and yesterday the power went out when it was really stormy. There was a tornado warning, so we packed up a little camp in the bathroom with no windows, and prepared should a tornado come our way. The storminess went away pretty soon, but the power stayed out for a while. It was nice. It reminded me of a simpler time. Now I don't have any false romanticism. I know that most of the time people were working really hard just trying to survive, and sometimes they didn't, but it was a moment that is so rare in our lives nowadays that I imagine came, though rarely then, more often. Just to sit in the quiet -- real quiet -- to sit in the dark, and spend time with people you love.

I enjoyed the time while it lasted, though I was also anxious, hoping the electricity would return by morning, because days on end without electricity was not my idea of fun. But those many hours, they were good.