Paducah ~ Day 2

Art & History

I started out my day

by having breakfast with

a local painter who filled

me in on the local art scene

in this beautiful little town.

And this is his beautiful

dog with the kind eyes.

I shopped for some fabric.

I looked at some quilts.

But my favorite part of

the day was

wandering through the

Lower Town Arts District,

looking at all the

fabulous old homes.

I almost moved to

Paducah 20 years ago.

I wanted to buy a

sweet little Victorian

in Lower Town.

The artist I had breakfast with

told me that would have been

a wise move financially.

Who knows?  Maybe in the future...

Paducah, Kentucky

On the Road Again...

I'm in Paducah Kentucky for

the American Quilter's Society

Extravaganza.

I'm thrilled to say my

quilts are safe and were not

destroyed by flood waters.

(It was a real concern

earlier in the week.)



The flood gates are up, the

Ohio River is high,

but so far so good.

A little, er... well, a lot

of water will not stop

quilters from gathering.

It is a beautiful day here

in Paducah and everyone

is out on the main drag

enjoying the sun and

some music.

The cafes are filling up.

I'll be in one later this evening.

I took advantage of this lovely

weather and strolled around

town to take some photos.

I love old towns, they

have so much character.

And history of the

 lives lived here.

If anyone is going to be

in Paducah this weekend

stop by Dawn's booth at

104 Broadway and say hi.

My quilts and new pattern

line are there.

Sapphire & Diamonds

Knowing What You Want

Ever since I was a little girl,

I have loved color.  Somewhere

in my teen years I decided if I

were to ever get engaged, I wanted

a ring that was going to be about me.

It would be a sapphire surrounded

by diamonds.  The typical diamond

engagement ring was not for me.

Then somewhere at the end of my teen

years Charles & Diana got engaged.

Hey, that's my ring!

Diana and I were born within the same

year and I remember thinking at the time

that I would never be prepared to get

married yet.  I didn't know what I

wanted or even who I was yet.

Sadly, we know what happened to that

marriage...

And now that ring is on another

girl's finger.  I look at this couple

and I see happiness.  And I see

similarities to my life.  They met at

college, had a life together through

their 20's and now in their later 20's

are getting married.

I did get the ring I wanted.  Perhaps

not as large as Diana and Kate's, but

it is me.

Rob and I were together for 8 years

before we got married.  People would

ask us, "when, when, when?"  Honestly,

I had a list, THE LIST, of things I wanted

to do and be before I got married.  I was lucky

enough to have lived a rather grand New York

life and it was wonderful but I didn't want

that for the rest of my life.  I also didn't want to

go into my quieter life with any regret.  So , I

lived and did the things I wanted.

I won't be able to see the Royal Wedding

tomorrow.  I have to drive 6 hours all by

myself to be in Paducah, Kentucky for

the weekend.  But I will be thinking

about them, I have high hopes for them

because I think they may also know

what they want.

My Dream Garden

One Can Dream...

From my studio, I have

great views of our back gardens,

 this is a little pond garden.

The pond & perennial borders.

The gazebo & evergreen borders.

The butterfly garden looking

towards My Farm.  My Farm is

just a little grouping of raising beds

where I grow my veggies.  It serves

its purpose, it's nice, but it is not

my dream...

This is.

It is the Kitchen Garden of

the Governor's Palace in

Williamsburg, Virginia.

And it want it to be mine...

I want to walk through

a gate like this and

collect my veggies for dinner.

It is quite a steep hill that

is terraced for the planting areas.

I would like to walk

out of my kitchen to

a brick paved terrace

covered by a pergola

planted with a flowering

vine that would attract

hummingbirds.  I'd sit

out there and look at what

was at the peak of perfection

and plan my menus.

And I wouldn't mind

having this pantry either.



Elle's Kitchen: Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

I Dream About These Potatoes!

Ingredients:

1 tabl. unsalted butter

1 pound new potatoes, quartered

2 tabl. water

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teas. fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 teas. salt

1/4 teas. black pepper

Melt butter in a heavy skillet

(I used cast iron) over medium

heat.  Add potatoes and 1 tabl.

of the water and stir to coat. 

Reduce heat to low and cook,

covered for 15 minutes, stirring

occasionally. 

 Add remaining

1 tabl. of water and cook, until

potatoes are tender and well

browned, about 15 minutes longer.

Sprinkle potatoes with garlic,

rosemary, salt & pepper.  Cook,

stirring, 2 minutes longer.

It is the perfect time of year

to buy a rosemary plant. 

The flavor from the fresh

plant is vibrant & delicious.

When They're 64?

How Long?

Even though my kids are

17 & 18, they still insist on

the holiday traditions.

They decorated eggs...

had Easter baskets

& an egg hunt, (money

was involved in that).

And at Sunday dinner

at Grammie's we had

toasts and laughter

&

Bunny Cake.

But this year the kids

decorated it, that can

be a new tradition!

I hope everyone had

a lovely holiday weekend.

Civil War Remembered ~ Block 17

Comfort Quilt

We are quilting along

with the Barbara Brackman

Civil War Quilt for 2011.

www.civilwarquilts.blogspot.com

Cutting Requirements:

Fabric A: Dark

8 - 2 1/4" squares

I made mine 4 - red, 4 - blue

Fabric B:  Light

4 - 2 1/4" x 5" rectangles

Fabric C:  Light

4 - 2 1/4" x 1 1/2" rectangles

Fabric D:  Dark

1 - 1 1/2" square

Make center 9 patch first.

Layout Fabrics A,C, & D

as shown and sew together

in 3 rows.  Press rows 1 & 3

to the inside and row 2 to the outside.

Sew rows together.

Square to 5".

Sew Fabric A squares to

the ends of 2 Fabric B

rectangles. 

Sew Fabric B rectangles

to each side of center

9 patch as shown.

Layout as shown.

Sew rows together and

square to 8 1/2".

Here is another one I did.

And another.

And another.

I liked Ann's idea of

swapping placement so

I made this piece this morning.

I like it.  I think it would be

better as a large quilt, something

to think of in the future.

I'm including some photos

of coverlets that Barbara

talked about on her blog.

I toured the home of

a Civil War General in

New Castle, Indiana

this week.

While I was there a person

was cataloguing the coverlet

collection and she opened

up a few and let me

photograph them.

I love this one!

This house is now the Henry

County Historical Society Museum.

If you are ever in the area

stop by and see this beautiful

museum.  If you would like

to see more of the museum

checkout my blog post

from April 23rd.

Checkout everyone's block

on Dustin's Flickr site:

www.flickr.com/groups/civilwarquilts2011/