September Lunch

SO fine a day, can there be any better than a breezy September afternoon?

And what better way to spend it than with your sister and a quilting friend enjoying a tasty lunch? The reason for this lunch was, of course, Jan's fabric finds from the auction house. The stacked bins in her garage, photo left, tell the story. Yards and yards and yards of all kinds of fabric. Four of which are now at my house.

Rose, a quilting friend and aquacise Mermaid, was my companion as we headed west on I-40+85 to explore Jan's house. Arriving just before noon, my sister had the back, screened-porch all set for lunch with festive cloths and a tasty salad, center photo. For the main course, a stir fry of turkey, wild rice, craisins and walnuts, with a side of steamed broccoli and carrots. And lastly, Jan's famous pound cake made with secret ingredients which I am forsworn NOT to reveal. Not today anyway. See Rose on the left, Jan right.

After a tour of her recently remolded house, a furniture-find update and lunch, next stop: the garage. Fabric bolts are heavy. Yes, I do a weight-resistance workout twice a week but this challenged my weight lifting. We selected fabrics for Jan's master bedroom (summer and winter schemes), fabric for the guest room and the bonus- room studio. Then started revealing our personal desires. Rose found a print with coordinating solid for a summery-y table cloth. I spotted a warp-dyed, irresistible fabric in just MY color. Using a black warp and a dark sienna weft, this fabric has an iridescence that changes color as it moves - very copper-y and very powerful fabric. PERFECT for a long dancing skirt with a black velvet top. And soon to be - the fabric awaits in my sewing studio now.

Should you be confused about warp and weft, here's an explanation you cannot forget. How does Donald Duck weave? First, as always, Donald strings the warp threads, top to bottom, on the loom. Next step: Donald weaves the weft threads from weft to wright. Best done with a lispy-duck accent, once you know weft=left, you will always know which thread is, or is not, weft.

Two more of my selections are red-printed crewel-patterned fabrics, both in reds. I brought them home to audition in the dining room. ONE of them will be my new holiday cloth for our seasonal entertaining. And I think the winner is:




There is just enough yardage to cover the table, needing at least a 4" solid banding around all sides. Will shop for that this coming week and the other bolt goes back to Jan. But FIRST I need to find and size the long-skirt pattern for the copper-y-shimmery fabric. This now supersedes ALL sewing projects [including scrappy jacket], as the skirt will be needed on the January dance cruise with the OLLI group. The ballroom class term is just super-fabulous, everyone picking up the steps in short-time and having fun doing it. Dancing news later. Back to our luncheon outing.

Once our chosen fabric bolts were in the car and the last of the photos snapped, we headed to Sheetz. West coast readers may know about SHEETZ, but few locations exist in North Carolina. I would know nothing about them were it not for my step-daughter-in-law, Jen. She first pointed them out to us two years ago in Charlottesville, VA.

The future of the gasoline-restaurant-convenience-car-wash business, all done with swipe card convenience. Just over the Alamance County line and built with state-of-the-art equipment [including re-cycled water for the car wash],SHEETZ has it all over the local gas retailers. AND they have clean rest-rooms, hot and cold foods plus my favorite: bins and bins of color-sorted m&ms! How bad is that? I make it a point when ever traveling to my sister's house to leave in time for a stop at Sheetz for gas and a car wash (my car needed it!).

Back home, recuperating before dinner and studying my fabrics I anticipate some heavy sewing days ahead. It was a very good day.
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Cool September Morning

Out the door at 7:15 and back an hour later after walking about the UNC Campus. The morning air was COOL, my first early morning walk since last spring. When the temperature hits 88 at dawn you know it is going to be a hot day. NC taxpayers will be glad to know their tax dollars have been spent - all over the campus. New walkways, new landscaping, street paving and mega construction continues. I try to make it under the Bell tower in time to hear the carillon ring. Just getting out is a major accomplishment and I hope to be out walking 2-3 times a week. My personal trainer says "get more cardio each day." I'm getting it.

The photo is from Hanks Chapel Greenhouses in Pittsboro. Taken with my former digital camera [before an upgrade to a more advanced model]. Four of my orchids are boarded at Hanks Chapel for a modest monthly fee. When they bloom I get a message to pick up and we enjoy the blossoms for weeks to come. Since I am garden-challenged, the orchid greenhouse is the best bet going.

Monday night was the Durham Orange Quilter's Guild [DOQ], the program presented by quilter and fiber artist, Ellen Guerrant. Ellen's presentation was about the Log Cabin quilt block and its various incantations and modern interpretations. Entitled "My Grandmother Made One of Those," she enthralled us with both quilts and slides of quilts that she has made, found in flea markets and yard sales and some have just come to her. Ellen is a naturally funny lady, disbelieving that there can be non-quilters in the world you do not understand the notion of cutting fabric into pieces and then sewing the pieces back together again. We get it!

Even better, Ellen shares her blog: http://ellenguerrant.blogspot.com. Seeing Ellen's blog gives me new inspiration; more quilts, fabrics, collectibles and family history. Why didn't I think of that? Well, I'm new at the game and just getting my input organized.

Rose was also at DOQ and we made a date for Thursday to drive west to visit my sister, Jan, in Elon, NC. The reason for this visit? Jan has outdone herself. Shopping for furniture and drapery fabrics, she and husband Rich have been attending auctions. Last weekend she hit a fabric clearance and ending up buying three RACKS of fabrics [nearly thirty bolts of fabric]. All to get the five or six fabrics she really wanted and the rest to sell, share, donate or otherwise find each bolt a good home. Any mention of fabric is enough to get me there. I remember finding a chintz print that I thought would make nice cushions and curtains for her back porch [this find for a mere $6]. I think Jan has outdone me this time. I swear, between my sister and I trying to downsize and prioritize the amount of goods we absolutely NEED, versus those things we can't refuse - a mountain of 'stuff' ends up in our garages.

So Thursday is the day I take a paint color fan-deck, my manual on e-Bay selling, the digital camera, and Rose, to investigate. See pictures here at a later date. Even if I do not find fabric I want, the trip home takes us to Sheetz. This is the closest gasoline/convenience Sheetz to Chapel Hill and because they recycle the water you can still get a carwash in the midst of a drought. And my car really NEEDS a carwash!

Got towel and bottle of water in hand. Off to the dance studio for Day 1 of dancerCIZE; created for ladies without dance partners who want a rhythmic-cardio workout. My second for the day. Plus I have to think of something for dinner.
Again.
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