Quilt Camp and More Leaves

Hi Mary and Jeni,

I was at quilt camp Thursday through Sunday this week. We had a great time. It was put on by Faye's Henhouse and hosted at the Cooperstown Bible Camp. The ride out was sort of scary as it had rained for over 24 hours and the gravel roads to the camp were, what we North Dakotan's call, 'greasy'. That means it is sort of soapy in texture and it is really easy to slide off into the ditch.

This is the quilt top I made this weekend. It is stitched into rows, but the rows are not stitched together yet. Luckily the Bible Camp has these convenient valances for you to pin your quilting up onto.

Another thing the Bible Camp has in abundance are oak leaves.

Here is a closeup of the pile I was standing in.

They also have lovely hiking trails. I went out and walked for 1.86 miles with my friends Deb and Karen. You are probably surprised that I walked that far. So am I. However, now that I am off of the cholestorol drug Lipitor, my muscles have stopped aching all the time. Even much of my foot soreness was part of the Lipitor problem. I have been off of Lipitor for about 3 months now and I feel as if I went back in time to when I was 5o. Heck, maybe 40. So we walked.

Above, Deb and Karen are waiting patiently for me to take a picture.

Below is a shrub, about 7 to 8 feet high. With these red berries. Anyone have a guess as to what it is? I certainly don't know. We saw many of these on our walk.

We crossed over the 'mighty' Sheyenne River on a floating bridge near camp and then started to walk back.

And walk back. Notice the lovely Oak Tree in the left foreground.

And walk back some more.

When we dropped into the woods for a while we saw this beautiful moss.

Eventually I tired of the woods and it's uneven footing and followed a deer track up onto the road. We saw this huge fir/pine/spruce tree and none of us knew what kind of tree it is. We hope someone will tell us.

Naturalists we are not.

However you might note that Karen is another leaf collector! Well, maybe you can't tell but she is holding up a handful of oak leaves.

How did they get that far ahead of me....?

Well it might be because I kept stopping to photograph leaves in the mud.

We are easily amused here in North Dakota

I think that is the last one.

Soon after all the leaves in mud we made it back to our sweatshop in the main lodge at the camp. It is a wonderful room and we all sewed merrily into the night. Some of us (not me) stayed up until 1 a.m.

I went upstairs early and read in bed for a while. (The first Jesse Stone novel by Robert B Parker) Then, since last night was the time change, I actually saw the sunrise this morning.

Beautiful.

Here is a closeup of my quilt pretending to be a stained glass window. It is all florals from my 'watercolor' stash. It will be queen size (86 x 108) when I finish it.

Love,

Nancy

Happy May Day

Dear Mary,
Happy May Day. When I was younger May Day was when you went around to the neighbors and hung a basket of flowers on their doorknob, rang the doorbell and ran and hid and watched them get flowers.
Even when I was young that was becoming rare. I doubt anyone does it anymore. However here are some flowers for your doorknob.
Eastern Swallowtail. I get one or two a year and always run out to photograph it.
This one was pure luck. I was waiting in the garden for a sphinx moth to come and land on my flower. I was being very still, and the hummer came instead. I actually had the presence of mind to take the photo.
Here is the moth I was waiting for. Cute eh?
Love,
Nancy

Quilt in a book

Yes I am so excited. Maxine Rosenthal, the quilter who wrote the popular "One Block Wonder" quilt pattern/book is doing a second one showing variations and she asked me if she could use my black and white crane quilt in it. (This quilt book is a cult classic already, people are traveling across the country to have one block wonder meetings).

I said yes of course.

So I had to send the quilt off to California to the offices of C&T Publishing and they are having the quilt professionally photographed. Then they send it back to me and I donate it to Operation Migration for their raffle quilt. Maxine and her co-author, Joy, also asked me to write a blurb for the back of the book cover. They admitted to using my name. I admitted to using it too so we were all happy.

I suppose the book will be out this fall. If things go well it should be out by the International Quilt Market in November but I don't really know when it will be published. I get a signed copy.