At the end of our sleepover (see earlier posts), we all went to the Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens.  We had been there once before, and dream of someday getting enough work together that we can have a show, perhaps with the majority of the pieces done based on what there is to see in the gardens.  Warning:  TONS of photos!

The gardens opened maybe 2 years (?) ago, so are still settling in; there is a birch allee which we didn’t see this time but has about 25 different varieties of birch.  Maybe I’ll get there in early autumn next year and see all the golden leaves!  There are also beautiful outdoor sculptures throughout the garden.  This magnificent piece greets you as you arrive:

and a different view of the two:

There are some lovely kitchen gardens and ponds near the visitors’ center:

Aren’t the vertical walls of lettuce and herbs cool?

Here are another pond and a close-up of some lettuce of some sort…great visual texture for a quilting pattern, eh?

Then, the small bunny sculpture nestled amongst the kitchen garden, hoping there is no Farmer MacGregor nearby:

The pond was SO still you can scarcely see the glassy surface of the watery shallows; yes, the river rocks are under the water:

Then of course there is me taking a picture of Deborah taking (or checking?) a picture:

and another set-the-timer-and-dash-and-try-not-to-gasp-moment (L to R:  me, Kathy, Hannah, Kate and Deborah):

There was this cool sculpture where you stick your head inside a hole and make a sound and listen to the reverberations of the rock.  Deborah kindly demonstrates using the lower of the two holes:

and here is Hannah checking HER photos!

There were some cool dried leaves–Solomon’s Seal I think –that would also make a great quilting pattern or stencil / screen:

A porcupine sculpture:

and a view of the gardens:

Here are two views of the same plant—the yellow leaves in the shade, the read in the sun!

Then we have Kathy in the woods by the water:

and Deborah in the woods, not by the water, but by the glass ball sculpture–standing to be the bottom part of the “i” to the ball’s “dot” of the “i”:

I love the waving grasses…these too would make a lovely screen for printing:

And Deborah and Hannah in front of them:

We still look happy, I’ll note…tho a bit tired!  Kate…how the heck do I not have a photo of you?  You must have been climbing about!

Finally, it was time to lunch before we dispersed to various corners of the state and the States.  Kate had found a WONDERFUL spot (a small neighborhood “grocer”) with awesome lobster rolls (think tuna salad except with lobster instead, in a hotdog bun) and equally good (being thrifty I went for spending less) popcorn shrimp.

Ah, lunch, an outing with friends, tons of photos, art to be made!  Life is GOOD!

Wow…a week has evaporated.  At least I have the excuse that it was Thanksgiving!  Ours was small–just the four of us–but wonderful and tasty and there was lots of gravy!

Back to what now seems like a thousand years ago…the last Frayed Edges get together at Kathy’s house, when Deborah came from Texas to visit!  For some reason, I woke up even though I had the chance to sleep in.  Sunrise was about 7:00 am, so I woke to see this when I went downstairs:

and

WOW!

Kathy always decorates her home for the season, and this was no exception.  She changes the artwork (almost always hers!) over the fireplace.  Isn’t this just lovely–I adore bittersweet (the vine with the little red berries and orange husks)?

During breakfast we all looked happy, sorta sleepy, content, and busy.  From left to right:  Kate, Hannah and Deborah:

And here is Kathy:

Before we packed up, I took a picture of some of the ornaments we made:

Before we headed out to the Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens, Kathy wanted to walk down to China Lake, which is about a hundred yards or two through the woods you seen in that photo at the start of the post.

Talk about GLORIOUS!  Here are some more pics, some a bit tipsy thanks to using a rock as a tripod and the timer (and running like mad to get down the dock and seated before the shutter tripped!):

And here is a totally funky treetrunk–makes me think of the Ents in the Lord of the Rings:

Next:  I’ll share our visit to the Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens (talk about inspiration!), a bit about what I’ve been doing to keep busy (I’ve actually done some art quilting!), a postcard swap, and–drum roll–TWO giveaways to celebrate the holidays!

Hi all!  Just in time for the holidays (and adding to your wish list, giving, or–even better–taking off the list and into the “ordered” category), it is time to share a bit more about my book, ThreadWork Unraveled.

…

I’ve had many orders, for which I humbly thank every single one of you!  I know you could buy it for less from Amazon, or without shipping from your local quilt shop, so I am so happy to be able to autograph a copy just for each of you!  Some folks have asked for more info, so I thought I’d share the Table of Contents (above), Index (below), and a couple pages from inside, as well as hotlinks to two wonderful reviews.  To see these photos larger, please click (or –to get it to open in a separate window or tab– right click if on a PC  or Command-click if on a Mac) to open it up larger.

My dearest friend, Marie Z. Johansen, blogged about my book and shared some pics here, and Dawn Goldsmith of Subversive Stitchers gave me another rave review here.  I have to say, I was stunned and thrilled at BOTH.  I didn’t know Dawn before, but had surfed in to her blog.  I was quite happy when she asked me earlier this week to guest blog on her spot, so I will be doing that…next week I hope!   Last but not least, there are a number of nice reviews (including from both Marie and Dawn) at Amazon…and yes, I totally understand if you need to save a few pennies and order from Amazon instead of from me.  Personally, I LOVE shopping at Amazon, tho it is hazardous… my pile of to-read books is precariously tall!

The book has three major sections:  the Basics, Applique, and Quilting.  Here’s the start of the Basics:

And from that section, the discussion of Marking Tools:

Here’s the start of the Applique section:

And how I do a test stitch-out to see which thread will look best, plus the start of the Machine Quilting section:

There are a number of projects which help you learn about your machine (tension settings sampler), plus some fun and lovely ones like Mountain Seasons:

If you’d like to see more pictures from inside the book, you can visit the AQS website for a Look Inside at some of the “eye candy” with quilts from guest artists, or visit the blogs I mentioned above—those are hotlinks.

If you have any questions about what else is in the book, just write and ask!  I sure hope you like it, Cheers, Sarah

Sometimes, spam isn’t always bad…. from today’s “catch”

Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.

I’ll be back soon with a real post…..

The weekend after I returned from Houston, Deborah Boschert flew up from Texas for a glorious Frayed Edges reunion.  It is SO WONDERFUL that Deborah can manage to get up here…almost every year!…since she moved to Texas.  We miss her daily presence, so appreciate her visits so much!

Deborah visited various ones of us spending the night (tho Camden is too far flung for her to reach, alas!), but on Sunday we had a wonderful sleepover at Kathy’s house!  Thanks bazillions to her hubby, Bruce, for taking a night away with his family so we could run amok!

Kathy always decorates for the season, so it is lovely to visit.  Look how she used candy corn to anchor the bittersweet—lovely!

Since our sleepover was on a Sunday night, we had various family-kid obligations (well, Kate, Hannah and I did).  Hannah missed lunch, but here we are:

Then I had to decamp to Topsham, where Deborah used to live, for Eli’s last two soccer games of the season–and learned that her daughter used to play on the very same fields (directions:  go to the parking lot, then take the path through the woods to the fields… I kid you not, those were the actual instructions!)!  Here’s the goalie supreme (red shirt) in action:

By the time I got back to Kathy’s house, Hannah was there, and Kathy’s book group at the China Village library was over.   We had a blast making ornaments… I was the poop in the group and didn’t get kits made–just too much to do and too stressed after Houston and getting the pre-ordered books out, but the others came up with such wonderful projects….Here’s Deborah working on a felted wool rose-ball (from Hannah!)

and of course we indulged in some potent potables… I don’t even remember what this drink was (Kate brought it) except that it was tasty!  I am SO not a drinker of mixed drinks, so I don’t know what ANY of them are!

as we got up to go to dinner (we did potluck…I brought lunch, Kathy did dinner, Kate did breakfast, Hannah brought munchies) I loved this picture:  the chaos of friendship! Stuff and gifts and projects and crafts everywhere!!!!

and then two shots of us at dinner (which was delectable…but why am I the only one to have seconds????)

and then another of Kathy’s charming goodies…a little needle felted wool cozy, with embroidery and stitchery and beads and buttons…. sigh…. beauty on a daily basis wherever you turn in her house! 

It was my birthday not too long ago, so Deborah brough prezzies to celebrate assorted birthdays over the past year…. here we all are with our lovely pieces:

Don’t we all look so happy?!!!!  What a wonderful day… And that was just Sunday!   I decided I’d split the visit into two posts, then started processing the photos and realized I’d best make it three!  So I’ll share the rest of the visit over the next week or two.