RINGING BELLS AND ALLOWING

Since life is sublime and I listen to the whispers (did you watch the last Oprah??) of my authentic self, I am off to take a five day class with Ruth McDowell in Kalispell, Montana.

Taking care of my needs so there will be a positive ripple effect (thanks Em) of good energy for my family is a new way of thinking for me.

Em posted a picture from her new favorite book http://mcelebrates.blogspot.com/ and mentioned bells.

bells...

My focus is that I'm moving toward something good

always from a place of love

no longer from a place of fear

Bells on a bag I made for my son to carry in Japan

with lots of bells he collected at shrines and stores.

We were told the noise of the bell wards off evil spirits.

no need for stories of impending doom

joining together with friends (the dinner bell my husband's beloved grandma used to call dinnertime)

Here's me - peaceFULLy ringing my bells.

I am here on this planet practicing

ALLOWING

allowing whatever happens to happen

because I am learning that no matter how hard I spin,

I cannot control life

I now have trust and faith that the universe wants to fill my days with good

new places

fabulous quilt classes

good friends

a family able to care for themselves for a week

a loveable me - RINGING MY BELLS in joyous celebration of ALLOWING

UTTERLY VERKLEMPT

The art of blogging has become quite an emotional journey for me.

As my quilting has become increasingly an outlet for focus on intention so has my blog.

As I wake up more and more in the moment my ideas of what to blog have provided a great outlet for reflection. 

An wonderfully delightful added bonus is the new friends I am starting to make! I am thriving on these new connections to like minded strong and free spirited creative souls! 

This last week, I received a surprise from Em over at  http://mcelebrates.blogspot.com/!

She is indescribably oozing with positive energy!!

It streams right out of her postings and into my heart!!

With her permission and LOTS of gratitude, here is her surprise...

I am UTTERLY VERKLEMPT! :)

MARY LOU CLASS PART 2

The fun with new sewing friends continued over three luxurious days!

Here we are in our tees for the second day. I made them and just so Mary Lou knows that all #1 fans are not created equal, at the bottom of my #1 is a little bead that says "A" and Sue's says "B". hee-hee

Here's Mary Lou sewing and Sue trying to earn brownie points by ironing for her. Hmmmm...

Mary Lou shared lots of spectacular quilts!

She had us cut free hand a picture she drew. A little intimidating, but it showed that sometimes cutting is easier than drawing. Interesting.

Here's Mary Lou's Flower Power extravaganza!

A container quilt

Her quilt that won a blue ribbon at APNQ!

Here's me and Sue on day three in yet another kiss-up-to-Mary-Lou tee!

A cheddar shirt, cheddar being Mary Lou's favorite color, with dancing crows and cherries, cherries are another Mary Lou favorite.

Lots of talk about "light giver" fabrics making quilts "pop". A light giver fabric has a light, medium, and dark value all in one print. This was one of my favorites. SO MUCH going on and GREAT EMBELLISHMENTS!

Hoochy Mama block piles were growing.

Here's sexy sophisticated Pat and one of her blocks. She had a fabulous collection of batiks.

Here was the newest and quietest quilter. She's just started quilting and was beaming pride and happiness with her too cute bird!!!

more blocks

I often get so caught up in the excitement of being with THE Mary Lou and the happiness of being with friends that I don't end up producing that much. However, I really like what I started and look forward to finishing, so I can embellish.

That's one of the joys of this type of quilt, the anticipation of the unknown yet to come!!!! Hmmm....an interesting correlation can be made to life too..looking forward to embellishing the moments.

MARY LOU CLASS PART 1

Bright happy story quilts are what Mary Lou is all about. "Every quilt should tell a story" is her motto. 

I took my first class ten years ago in Pullman, WA while my mom stayed/played with my two youngest boys at the hotel!!! (Turns out they had such a good time, they called Pullman their "special" place and returned for two more visits!)

At that time, my middle son and his dad loved to play the lego racers game on the computer. This quilt tells the story of one of their races in "Davisville" with our dog Winston holding the finishing flag as my son, The Red Racer, beats his dad for his millionth win.

The Red Racer has a punching arm and Dad has spilled some nails while we, in the stands, cheer wildly!

My husband loves to BBQ. In this portrait, inspired by Mary Lou's portrait quilts, my husband is depicted in some of his finer BBQ moments!

In Mary Lou's portrait class, I was able to depict my self - once a blender with life out of control, now a blender uniting various ingrediants into one delicious concoction!

Mary Lou did a fantastic quilt to remember her 50s and I did one to remember my 30s. That's a favorite shirt my girlfriend sewed for me when I gathered my courage and gumption to take care of one of my dreams to go to the Houston Quilt Festival.

And so begins a new story of Mary Lou's three day class.

Driving up to LaConnor is a treat in itself.

Bright sunshine on the way home!!!

   We were in a nice building across the street from the Gaches Mansion that houses the LaConnor Quilt museum. http://www.laconnerquilts.com/  The museum is fabulous!! A fellow classmate, Louise, has asked that I suggest you even enter a quilt in their upcoming festival.

Here is Mary Lou! She currently has a show of her quilts at the museum

She made the quilt on the right in a Ruth McDowell class. I'll be in a Ruth McDowell class in a few weeks!!!!!

Gorgeous!

Here's me and my dear friend Sue sewing and sewing

 (I'm the sewer in the back)

Here's my stash

                                                           Here's another quilter's stash

                                    Here's the stash of my fun and kind tablemates, Liz and Linda.

                    They ended up with two great similar flowers without realizing until they were finished!

And here's Sue and me brown-nosing Mary Lou in our matching tee shirts.  Sue made those cute signs we are holding. Notice that one says, "Mary Lou, I love you." and one says, "Mary Lou I love you best." Sue and I have a fun and friendly rivalry for Mary Lou's affection. Well, sort of friendly.

Stay tuned for more Mary Lou...



MARY LOU IS COMING!!! MARY LOU IS COMING!!!!!

Mary Lou is coming ( http://www.marylouquiltdesigns.com/) to teach a three day class at the LaConnor Quilt Museum and my dear friend Sue and I are soooooo excited to work with such a fabulously fun and creative teacher!!!!!

 Sue might work on a self portrait so...

I have packed a little surprise for her. Some "authentic inspiration" for a gal working hard to develop her true self.

"BLOOM" is the theme of my quilt. I am going to work on some Hoochy Mama/Mary Lou style flowers (liberated and without a pattern).

inspiration

Mother Nature at her finest

"The Earth laughs in flowers" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

                                                                        hahahahahaha



      To keep the fun and laughter going, I found a great tee shirt artist at http://www.uniqueairbrushing.com/ to make Sue and I tee shirts to wear professing our love for her! Stay tuned for more Mary Lounie adventures.

   I am pretty confident it's going to be a great three days, but if needed, I found some luck on the driveway this morning!