Old & New Friends

As the familiar Girl Scout song goes:

Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other is gold.

A ring is round, it has no end. That's how long I want to be your friend.

That song kept spinning in my head all weekend as I met new people, and re-connected with old friends.

I started at The Pennsylvania Quilt Extravaganza in Oaks, PA. For the first time I can remember I was not 'wowed' by any one singular quilt. Not one took my breath away. Don't get me wrong, there were many extraordinary quilts by many incredibly talented people... but I wasn't bowled over. Maybe it was the sour mood I was in. Or maybe it was the rainy weather. Maybe it was the fact that I went late in the afternoon and didn't have the excitement of a large crowd to sway me. I don't know what it was... but that didn't stop me from chatting with fellow quilters.

As I wandered the exhibits, the colors in this quilt caught my attention.

As I looked closer... I realized the color was actually made possible by hand dyed cotton string that was then machine zig-zagged on to heavy black fabric and THEN stitched together to make the quilt. The color of the thread used to zig-zag added another color dimension. Fascinating! Here's a closer look:

As I stood there soaking in the detail and saturated colors... another quilter stood by my side... we started talking... we exchanged contact information... I think we can be friends (Hi Shelia!)

Saturday a friend of mine since I was 5 years old (Hi Beth) called and invited me to join her and a group of people (Hi Jim, Dawn, & Bill) at Monmouth Park... our local horse racing park. This is not something I normally would have thought to do... but I threw caution to the wind and went. It was such a lovely day. Before the horse park I went to PADDLE DAY on the Navesink river in Red Bank, NJ... and had a delightful conversation with a member of Monmouth Boat Club (Hi Carol) and devoured a hamburger off the grill (Thanks Les!). Sprinkle in a few internet chats and phone calls from people I haven't heard from in AGES (Hi Andrea & Brian)... and it was a pretty good day.

A trip to Swedesboro, NJ on Sunday to visit my husband's gravesite (and a few others) and to attend the Wagonhouse Winery Harvest Party to listen to another friend's (and kind of relative) band (Hi Dean) ended up being another opportunity to talk with more people I haven't connected with in YEARS! (Hi Kay & Susan). On a whim I drove by another friend's that I lost contact with over the years. As luck would have it... she and her kids were on their way out to dinner... so I joined them!!! (Hi Rennie, Erin Stevie, Brian... and Gabe). Another phone call brightened my day from a friend I thought I had lost forever (You know who you are... HI). The weekend was topped off by e-conversations with an 'internet friend' I made by joining a yahoo group making BITTYs (3 1/2" quilt squares). BTW... That group is TOTALLY AWESOME!!! (Hi Sooz!)

The friends and family I have mentioned today are just a grain of sand compared to all the others I still have to re-connect with. So 'keep the light on'... I'll be headed your way. I love and appreciate every single one of you. You have all shaped my life in one way or another... and I hope I have done the same for you.

I leave you with another close up of this technicolor quilt. Notice how the purple thread over the blue looks totally different than the red thread? It's mind boggling in person.

My Hero!

My Front Porch

It is officially 3 days since the blizzard and my road is STILL not plowed! Around 8:30pm I caught a glimpse of the amber flashing light of the plow and got sooooooooo excited, but alas my road was not on his list. Shucks! I wonder if they will return? 2 blocks in each direction is plowed, but for some inexplicable reason they skipped my little corner of the world.

My Hero! Hoo-Ray!!!

Late afternoon my knight in shining armor... OK, actually... my hero in jeans... arrived via snowblower to help dig out at least one car. Come to think of it... it is actually his car. Hmmmm. No seriously, he's letting me drive it until I get insurance on mine again (another story for another time, I promise). He carved a deep path from his house to mine... on the road. I can't even begin to tell you how appreciative the neighbors were. They could FINALLY leave their houses and walk around. Dogs could 'do their business', everyone without a lake view could come down and see the snow... and lament the road isn't plowed yet.

Sooooooo... what have I been doing for the past 2 days??? I napped a little, cleaned a little, did some paperwork, found places for some boxes that were thrown in my bedroom during the move, threw out a bunch of old papers, and.... made some paper beads.

I joined a YAHOO GROUP called ART CHARMS. Once a month they host a swap with a theme... all have to be homemade mixed media art charms. January 25th is the deadline to have 30 charms shipped to the hostess for a Valentine's themed swap. I haven't designed my charm yet... but have decided to start by making these paper beads. There are thousands of tutorials on YOU TUBE on how to make them, however I felt compelled to take pictures of the process in case you were interested.

Step 1: Tear out a magazine page with colors you like. Mark the page along one edge in 1/2" increments. Mark the opposite edge in 1/2" increments also, but start 1/4" in. Connect the markings to draw long triangles and cut. I use a paper cutter to make it easier, but scissors work well too.

Step 2: Using a toothpick (or a piece of spaghetti) begin wrapping the strip, starting with the wide end. To start, roll the top edge around the toothpick and gently tuck the edge in using your thumb nail. Keep the tension steady as you roll. Roll up to the last inch or so.

Step 3: Place glue on the last inch and finish rolling. I use a product called Mod Podge as glue, just because that is all I could find. A glue stick, Elmer's, or any craft glue that dries clear would work just as well.

Step 4: Gently slide finished bead off of toothpick.








Step 5: Pick bead up with a pin (or another toothpick), brush on a glossy sealer, like Diamond Glaze (found at Michael's and Jo-Ann's) then stick in a piece of styrofoam to dry.

Use these as you would any other bead. The narrower and longer you cut your triangle, the rounder the bead will be.

Don't worry... I'll post a photo of the finished charms before I send them out. I'm thinking of using an old page of sheet music to paper-mache a small heart to dangle from the paper bead, but you never know... these things have a way of designing themselves and maybe the charm doesn't want to go in that direction :-)

I'll leave you with a few pictures of my first Christmas in my new home.

Tin Man from Wizard of Oz

Peanut Stone Fireplace