Ohio Amish

A ride through Ohio Amish country brings serenity and peace. Clean cut fields, white clapboard houses, horse and buggy, limited hassle -- the softer side of life.
Dairy farms dot the landscape, resulting in lots of cheese production. Lines of tourist pack a local cheese shop for tastings. Many tasted. Few bought. We, however, bought cheese and more cheese.
Even restaurants display artful quilts.

Cleveland Rocks

On the annual mother-daughter trip, we journeyed to Cleveland, which was the blonde-headed daughter's choice. Here is Westside Market where we enjoyed lunch. It is an indoor market filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and breads.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum took longer than planned to view. Lots of guitars, album covers, and hand-written lyrics to see, along with an exhibit on influences of rock and roll artists.

My constant travel companion, little piggy, found some lost souls in the Southwest customer service baggage area.

The fall colors are vivid here in Cleveland, even in the rain.

Weekend Treats

Some weekends bring special treats and feasts to the sight and senses. This weekend brought just that. The weather was perfectly fall! Activities abounded in the neighborhood. Everywhere you looked there was a special event happening. After a long walk along the green belt area, we ended up at the town center to meet our son for coffee. The plaza was filled with costumed dogs of all breeds for the 'Howl-a-ween' dog walk--what fun! There was Sleeping Beauty, a lobster, a squirrel and TX University supporter and this was just a few of the canines dressed in their finest.




Later in the day we attended one of the local high school's pumpkin patch parties--lots of small, medium, large pumpkins to choose; homemade root beer, lemonade, grilled hamburgers & hot dogs along with muffin walk, games galore, a pumpkin catapult (which was a hoot!) and since this was a fund raiser for the orchestra, a string ensemble was playing (one of their songs was Autumn Leaves!)
What a grand way to spend the afternoon!
The rest of the evening was filled with football and some knitting on mystery sock. This is a wonderful pattern!

Tapestry

Today we feature one of our fellow fiber artists, who has found her calling. She loves to design and weave tapestries. These are not the large over sized pieces of art but small intricate, delicate works that measure 4"x4" or 5"x5". She works her wonders on her regular loom instead of typically using a vertical loom. Last night we attended a reception for local gallery and several of Gerry's pieces were on display. She has found some humor in one of her pieces, a pizza with a slice missing!. Her other pieces are woven homage to historical sites: Goliad, TX
There was also the earth on display in miniature. Yes, Gerry has truly created some wonderful weavings.

Spinning Day

Okay, so National Spinning and Weaving Week has come and gone. Doesn't really matter to spinners or weavers. We can celebrate our craft any day of the week! Tuesday was such a day when our group of spinners gathered to spin our tales and our fibers. We had a variety of wheels in operation.
There was also a presentation of fibers and yarns created in the past few months. The basket contains dyed fibers, some with kool-aide, some with natural dyes. The other plastic bags contain BFL (Blue Faced Leicester breed) dyed with natural dyes (purchased in Michigan). The red and blue skeins are 60% wool/40% linen. The other skeins are WINNERS! Yes, the spinner won first place on these skeins at a local spinning fair and exhibit.


As usual, any day spinning is a good day!

Fiber Garden

On a visit last week to view Texas Federation of Fiber Artists Gallery Show at Contemporary Crafts Center we enjoyed not only the Fiber Artists juried show but also an exhibit by Omar Angel Perez featuring his fabulous stilett”O”s! What fun! Not walking shoes though! We also visited with Laurie Brainerd , who was in town for the quilt festival. She had three fabric pieces on display (Prisons, Dance, Be). Of course, there are many wonderful pieces in this exhibit. In the nature garden were hanging the felted pieces designed for national felt day. Every garden should have some fiber!

Quilt Festival Weekend!

Attendance to quilt festival is what is on one's mind this weekend. So much to see! So many aisles to walk down, so many vendors to shop, so many quilts to view--what a variety--large, small, tiny, thin, chunky, textures everywhere. And that's just on the lower floor. Upstairs there are classrooms filled with anxious learners. Here are some winners:





But, every quilt that is hanging in this giant exhibit hall is a winner!

Autumn Leaves

Just imagine soft music playing in the background "The falling leaves drift by my window. The falling leaves all red and gold". Well, a sock pattern by the same name appeared in Ravelry database and yes, everyone needs autumn leaves socks to wear in the fall. Then magically, as if destiny ruled, there appeared in the fiber closet this lovely fall merino/seacell roving. Alas, the two clash and now the spinning wheel has a purpose!
Here is the latest progress on the October mystery socksThere was a small concern that the pattern would not show with this colorful handspun, but it's looking good!

Pink Ribbon Month

October is a special month and a great time to wear pink. In our expatchers group we have several breast cancer survivors and we cherish them each and every day. Everyone knows someone who has been down that long road and come out victorious on the other end. At our yearly gathering dinner, before the begin of International Quilt Festival, the gals from near and far bring food to share and also bring along 'show and tell'. This year's gathering was Sunday night and one of our members showed her remarkable tribute to Pink Ribbon Month and those who have been along the same journey as she.
In September she completed the 39 mile Avon Walk in California with her daughter. And to assist those who are unable to walk or can not collect the required funds to participate, Judy has made this quilt, which will hang in Avon Headquarters and will encourage all who see the quilt to contribute. Anyone can participate in this worthwhile campaign through their local Susan G Korman Breast Cancer Research location.
Quilters are not the only ones who offer their talents in support of breast cancer research. A group of knitters have designed a wonderful Calendar of Hope. This is their second year to create this calendar of knitted dishcloths. You can see their 2010 calendar at Knit Pink

W. I. P

If you aren't a fiber person, you are wondering what does W.I.P mean? It stands for Works In Progress. There isn't room here to post photos of all those projects that are in progress! But, this month two new mystery knitting pieces were begun--yes, mysteries are enjoyable. Another mystery sock pattern from Ravelry group Through The Loops by designer Kirsten Kapur. The freebie pattern can also be found at her blog Through the Loops along with other good stuff she creates. So far, this week there is a photo of cuff.
Of course, you are saying to yourself, that pair of socks will not match--natch! The handspun yarn was from an marvelous blend of colors on merino/seacell roving. Spinning was a dream and so much fun! No rhyme or reason to color placement. Soon, there will be progress to show on the body of the sock as clue #2 was posted last Wednesday but was not downloaded till Thursday or Friday.
Next W. I. P. is mystery bag designed by She-knits, Sharon Dreifuss. Sorry, but this mystery KAL is closed. It was not a freebie but the cost for the pattern was $6 and will be available to everyone after the mystery bag is completed. Here is the first clue production: Sure, it doesn't look like much now but you just wait!

Birth Day!

Yes, it has arrived again! Another birthday and celebration to a year past and a year to look forward. We have such a wonderful group of stitchers who gather each month (or most months) to sing each other's praises and marvel over the works in progress or those projects that have been completed. This past Tuesday was the October month's birthday celebration--good food, good fellowship and the day comes to a close too quickly. For many years we had given quirky, lovely, cheerful birthday cards but this year a suggestion was made to give fat quarters. Now, who wouldn't want a nice fat quarter? and the recipient could give colors they would like to add to their stash. This birthday, my request was for 'whatever'! and here is the great fabrics received (with a couple of IOU's). Thanks Ex-patchers!!