LATE MORNING DARKNESS

These are photos I have wanted to display for weeks but other inconveniences kept getting in my way. At the end of summer I managed to make a wedding present for my niece, Meghan, and the new bridegroom, Blake. Married in September they planned a family reception for September 28. Unfortunately, I could not attend but Jan & Rich were there for the bride. Making the deadline just a day earlier, I shipped a pieced-and-quilted table runner embroidered with their names, one at each end and a tea cozy.

The inspiration - synchronicity arrived in the nick of time. Late in August we received a mail-order catalog from Pendleton with their home furnishings collection. The rustic, western apparel and native American motifs pared perfectly with Meghan's desired red Fiesta ware dishes, so I used that as a starting point. A touch of homesteader, some cowboy and a bit of quilt-scrappy combined to make what you see.


The Oklahoma wedding was planned without much formality because Meghan's dad, my youngest brother Ken, died over a decade ago. Without her father present I believe she wanted the simplicity that would just get-it-done and over with. My wish is that the table linens and newly acquired dishes are used for years and years to come.

To augment Meghan's new kitchen I perused my cookbook collection and sent off a number of 'classic,' but great for simple supper cookbooks. Both are working professionals (she is an elementary school principal, he a banker), I sense a lot of micro-wave cooking happening. Maybe they will, in time, get beyond the pizza-phase of newlyweds.

The 2008 Durham Orange Quilters' Show is over and I can post some simple picture that show only a tiny portion of what mounting such a show really is. Over 3oo quilts were entered in 14 different judging categories. The American Tobacco Campus in Durham never looked so good.

Neither of my quilts were distinguished by awards but their purpose is much more important. The Queen-sized "Ragtime Dreams" is now on our bed and keeping us warm at night. The second,"Red and Blue make Purple," is for Jennifer and Doug and will soon be shipped to them. I say soon because I do not as of yet have a full-frame, straight on photograph.

Our plan for yesterday was photography but rain foiled that idea. I need to mount a rod over the garage doors, about nine-feet above the ground and shoot the photos from the twelve-foot ladder. Getting a decent photograph will be almost as much work as making the quilt. Then the next problem will be a box. To ship UPS I need a sturdy box big enough for this over sized quilt. What will that cost?

NEXT UP: that's a good question. I have the fabric for a rooster tea cozy in hand but need a push of motivation. Also on the schedule is a cozy-table runner set for cousin Ron, in blue and white to enhance his mother's (Aunt Inez), Blue Willow Ware. Maybe before Christmas and maybe not. AND we have just learned that my nephew, Jordan Zale, is married and about to become a father. More baby bibs in the making but I have a few months before they are due. No need to put the machine away, besides the 2010 quilt show is only two years away.

Before any of those projects are to happen I must first substitute teach ballroom to the Duke UG PE class on Tuesday (3rd of three dates), line up a new play-list for AFTERNOON BALLROOM on Mondays, and set another trial run for the projection of the dance films for my dance lectures. DANCE IN AMERICAN FILM has just been scheduled for Tuesdays beginning January 20 for six weeks. Stay tuned, more info about that later.

According to the U.S. Navel Observatory, Eastern Daylight Savings time ends at 2:00 a.m., Sunday November 2. That's a week away and the mornings here are dark until nearly 7:30! Who decides these things? Thanks to a German Kaiser (WWI), we mope about in darkness until the morning is nearly past and think we are winning (?). Get back to the natural time, quickly.
Tea getting cold, time for a warm-up, bbf