Looking ahead and a happy story!

It's the third day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere -- in this spot, it's mild and sunny with a light breeze.  The crickets are singing constantly and the leaves have started to drift slowly down out of the white oak outside my office window.  It's time to review the summer gardening efforts and make notes for next year before cleaning up the beds for winter.

 

I've been traveling more than stitching the past couple weeks and one of the events I attended was the annual meeting of the Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association at Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio.  This group of outdoor enthusiasts (mostly botanists) are coming together all over Ohio working alongside the Ohio DNR to support and monitor the network of natural areas of which there are 125 or so.   

 

I donated this original wallhanging to the Saturday evening fund raising auction and happily it sold to a very happy couple.  But there is a happy story that will now travel with it.

Upon checking in at a local hotel, the desk clerk remarked that there was a Mary Elizabeth Huey in the building -- I assumed it was an employee and laughed with her that Elizabeth is also my middle name.  Now this is not the first time I've encountered another Mary Huey -- at one point, I determined through a quick internet search there are at least 57 of us.

 

An hour later, when I arrived at the banquet and picked up my nametag, Mary Huey, I noticed there was also a nametag for Mary Elizabeth Huey.  Now this is getting strange -- we are staying at the same hotel and now we belong to the same group?!?

 

Shortly, someone tapped me on the shoulder and we were face to face -- we are about the same age and live in opposite corners of Ohio.  Both of us acquired the Huey part of our names through marriage.  And we are both nature lovers.

 

The evening progressed and after the program, the names of auction winners were announced and everyone made their way to claim their treasures.  I heard Mary Elizabeth's name announced but didn't see her until we stepped into the elevator together back at the hotel.  I made some inane remark about our good fortunate in placing winning bids and asked what she bought.

"Your quilt!"

So now Mary Elizabeth Huey owns a quilt designed and made by Mary Huey.

Her friends will be having lots of fun with that I suspect.

 

Fall also brings a change in my stitching priorities.  Winter workshops move to the front of the line and I'm currently working on samples for the workshops I'll be offering during the 2016 Lake Farmpark Quilt show.  This is a link to the Farmparks webpage and eventually you'll be able to find information about the 2016 show under "events".  If you've taken one of my set-in piecing workshops or worked your way through my DVD, Set-In Piecing Simplified, you might be interested in joining one of these workshop.

 

On March 17, 2016, I'll be teaching GLITTER from Jen Kingwell's book, Quilt Lovely.  If you haven't discovered her fresh approach to mixing and matching fabrics, this book will pull you into her web!  We'll be learning how to adapt patterns with y-seams for chain-piecing without manufactured templates.  This skill will open up all sorts of new possibilities for you. 

The other workshop will be on February 20, 2016 and focuses on the star in the center of this quilt below -- I've dubbed it Karen's DRESDEN STAR.  Karen from The Little Red Quilt House near Medina, Ohio first brought the block to my attention and I found a clever use of one of Marti Michell's kite templates to cut the pieces.  There are lots of y-seams but they are effortless with the chain-piecing technique! 

It's the same block I used recently in my Kaffe Mini Quilt Swap.  Read more about that HERE.

You can't register for the workshops until early December, but if they tickle your fancy, pencil the dates onto your 2016 calendar and keep the dates free so you can join me to expand your mastery of Set-In Piecing Simplified.  Haven't tried it yet?  You can order the DVD using the link at the top right corner of the blog and be ready for these workshops!

 

I'm itching to stitch and hope the next few (nearly) empty days on my calendar present lots of opportunities!!

 

Mary Huey