In Memory, Cindy Wall

I cannot believe I am posting such a sad message. I was shocked Wednesday to learn that my friend Cindy Wall had died suddenly. She was such a wonderful person and I still simply cannot believe it. She was a quilter and one of the most loved members of our guild, Cotton Boll Quilt Guild. Cindy had a long arm quilting machine and quilted many, many quilts for charity. She raised money for various charities all the time. Here is a photo of Cindy presenting something at the guild. I am standing on the left.

Cindy was baptised last Friday. Isn't the timing for that amazing? You just never know what is going to happen, never know when someone that you think will always be there will be gone. Cindy was at work and didn't feel well. Her boss was concerned and called an ambulance. She died from an aortic aneurysm at East Alabama Medical Center.





Cindy was an athletic trainer for Auburn University. She was much-loved there and the eagle flyover at Saturday's football game will be dedicated to Cindy. She really had the Auburn spirit and will be thrilled to watch this from where she is now. Tomorrow a memorial service is scheduled for her at her church in Auburn. I will be there to say goodbye. Cindy, I miss you already. The world will not be the same without you in it, but there is a new bright light in heaven.

Julie

Some Finishes!

I have some finishes to show you - it is about time! I finished these wool pincushions over the weekend. They are filled with sand and have a nice, heavy feel to them. The two sheep were purchased from Brenda at Pumpkin Patch Primitives. She sent me a kit in wool felt and 100% felted wool so that I would be able to see the difference. The 100% wool is so much nicer to work with but more expensive. The wool felt looks nice and is less expensive so I can make more of those! LOL. The rabbit is from a Fons and Porter magazine project. I found some old scraps of wool that I had forgotten about in my stash. I bought them years ago for a project that I never did. I put some beads on the rabbit and I think it looks very cute!

The next photos are from my garden. My angel trumpets, brugmansia, are glorious this year! These come back every year and bloom in late summer. I only wish they would bloom earlier. Why do they have to wait until school starts and I don't get to enjoy them as much? The same for my fig trees. They only have ripe figs after school starts! I don't feel like making fig preserves after school has started and so they end up being bird food.

We are still missing Claws. I thank you all for your kind comments on his untimely passing.

Julie

A Sad Farewell to Claws

I can't believe it. I think I jinxed him by blogging about him. Claws died yesterday. He wandered out into the road and was hit by a car. He was killed instantly and I hope felt no pain. He was such a sweetie and will be missed. Rest in peace Claws.

SNEEZE!

Here is our little kitty, Claws. He is the sweetest thing and slips into the house sometimes. I sneeze and sneeze and my eyes water and itch but he is just so darned cute that I can't put him out immediately. He is sitting on top of my newspaper mess on the table by my chair here. Please know that everything in my house is usually in perfect order and not messy like this. (Ha ha ha - maybe if I weren't a quilter.) I need to take some photos of Claws playing with Cabalito, the chihuahua. They roll around together and have such fun. Until next time, Julie

Hawaiian Vacation

My daughter, Joy, went on a two week trip to Hawaii back in June. I know, it took me long enough to blog about it. There are just so many photos that it is overwhelming. I finally decided to just show a few at a time. There are so many beautiful photos. Joy is the one on the right, in the pink shirt.In Hawaii, hibiscus plants are hibiscus TREES! I usually spend about $25 or $30 every spring for a new hibiscus plant which dies over the winter. In Hawaii they just keep growing! This was some sort of ceremony at the Polynesian Cultural Center and was one of the first things she did. I don't know much about it other than that one of the guys fell off the boat. She didn't get a shot of that!
This is cute!

This guy looks friendly! I would love to have that statue in my garden. :-) I already have a cast aluminum devil's head by my front door to keep away certain religious door-to-door people who like to wake you up at 8 A.M. on a Saturday morning. LOL. This would surely scare them away. They just kept coming back even though I would tell them - politely but firmly - that I was a Methodist and a happy member of the local United Methodist Church. They don't come back now - they are scared of my devil. I will have to post a picture of him later.
I don't know what this plant is but it is so pretty.
The people they met were so friendly and good to the kids. This is another shot from the Polynesian Cultural Center.

I hope you enjoyed this little photo essay of part of her trip. I wanted to put some pretty pictures up after the 9-11 shots from Thursday.

Julie

9-11

I could not let the day end without posting about the cowardly attack on our country on September 11, 2001. I have been watching a documentary and cannot believe how the feelings from that terrible day come back.

As we remember that terrible day, we face some panicky situations here in my town. These are minor in comparison to the terrorist attack. Today the gas stations were all packed with cars trying to get gas. Word is that it goes up $1.25 per gallon overnight. I got in a line that was relatively short - I was only the third car back. By the time I left the line of cars was out into the highway. It looks like Ike may be a really bad hurricane and they think it will wipe out many of those oil refineries in Texas. I hope it turns out to not be as bad as they say.

I WON Karol-Ann's Giveaway!

Karol Ann had a giveaway for her box of African fabric scraps and I was one of the two lucky winners. I was so excited to see this package in the mail. I've never gotten ROYAL mail before!! Isn't this beautiful? I love it. I am still thinking of what to do with it. It will be used together in something. What? Maybe a crumb quilt?
This is the card she sent. It has a painting on it. I thought it looked like a child's painting but I thought - what if it is something Karol Ann did? I wouldn't want to assume it was from a child. I had seen a picture of one of her paintings and it is FANTASTIC but I still didn't know for sure. So I thanked her for the original artwork and she told me that it WAS her sons!! LOL. Sorry, Karol Ann. You are very talented and I am very ignorant.
Here is my daughter, Joy. She got her braces off last week!! She has such a beautiful smile now! I just had to show it off since I paid so dearly for it. :-D
I wanted to include this September block from my Sunbonnet Sue quilt. Isn't she cute? And it is my birthday month! Monday is my birthday and I can't wait!! I will be only 43!! Getting younger every day. Take care,

Julie

Blog Award, Pattymelon, Tasmanian Devil

I finally won an award! I am so excited that Katie from And Sometimes I Quilt gave me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thank you so much for thinking of me, Katie. For my part I am to bestow the award on five other bloggers. I am excited to do this! I have seen so many awards given to bloggers who already had been given the same award, and I am going to try to not do this.Here are the rules of the Award:



1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.



2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.



3. Nominate 5 blogs



4. Put links to the blogs.



5. Leave a message for your nominees.







The following are my nominees:







1. Roseanne at Razzy's Special Place. Razzy makes beautiful quilts and has so much fun with her handsome little grandsons. She also taught me what a Patty Melon is and showed me what a REAL Tasmanian Devil looks like!!



2. Catherine at Highland Quilter. Catherine is an educator - like me!! and has many, many UFO's - like me!!! She does beautiful work and I enjoy seeing photos of her projects.



3. Brenda at Pumpkin Patch Primitives. Brenda is a great inspiration for me. Like me, she LOVES Halloween and doesn't call it a "Fall Celebration." Unlike me, she is a very prolific quilter. I admire her and love her "Halloweenie" quilts.


4. Jo at Jo in Tas. Jo is a great quilter who lives in Tasmania. I love the embroidery projects she does. She got me hooked on Tim Tam Balls. Now to find a way to get some more....


5. Rhonda at Doxies on my Quilt. Rhonda made one of the most beautiful Boxy Stars quilts I have ever seen. I just love the colors on it. She also does some awesome crazy quilting stitchery.


Thank you Katie. And I am glad to have "met" you in Blogland.


Here are pictures of the Pattymelon and Tasmanian Devil - permission of Roseanne granted to use on my blog (thanks.)



Isn't this just the cutest little thing? Roseanne raised it herself. It is a Pattymelon (small kangaroo or wallabee I think) and is named Bongroo.

This last photo is a Tasmania Devil. It doesn't look anything like the cartoon one, does it? Roseanne says they call it a Tessie Devil. I wonder what it is eating? Roseanne also sent me several kangaroo photos. I love them. Thanks, Roseanne!

Julie