Fall Festivals

Yesterday, Fall blow in with a light frost and a beautiful day for a festival.

 My daughter, Sally, and I set up at the annual Harvest Festival held at the beautiful Grinder's Switch Winery and have a wonderful day of meeting other local artists and lots of neighbors and visitors to our area.  In our booth, I believe you could find something for just about everyone on your shopping list and lots of things for yourself.  Lots of customers left wearing their new purchases from Sally's collection of handmade silver jewelry.  Check out her items at Spring Creek Jewelry. 

 

 My repurposed journals were the hit for the day and I'm so glad that I talked with so many young people wanting to do art and write.  My canvas art did well also and I got to share about bible art journaling while explaining how I did the art on vintage bible pages.

Sally and I both had our quilted items out and Sally makes the cutest aprons! 

Our next show will be before Thanksgiving and you can always contact us through our Etsy shops.  Piney's Needle and Spring Creek Jewelry.

Art & Ag Tour 2015

We are participating with the annual Art & Ag Tour through my hometown, Hickman County, TN.  Check out the blog and guide information HERE.  Last year we opened our home up to hundreds of visitors and they ate BBQ and pie in our yard, viewed a quilt display and browsed hand-made items on my porch.  You can read about last year's tour HERE. 

This year we are set up at our neighbor's place, the brand new Pinewood Store & Kitchen.  Oh, the store's not new, it's been a fixture in the Pinewood community for decades, but the inside is brand new with some wonderful things happening.  It is literally a "farm to table" restaurant with the Pinewood Farm (across the road) providing all the meats and veggies for a healthy take on your favorites.   Lee & Mee McCormick are trying hard to teach us how to make healthy choices.  So to bring attention to the soft opening of the kitchen, we are in the back corner of the store.  It looks great with all wood and brick used from the Pinewood area, from old buildings and houses.  And the food is wonderful!

 I really want to spotlight Sally at this tour and while we both have are quilts, and I have my journals and mixed media, on the corner of this table is the newly formed Spring Creek Jewelry.

 Sally learned silversmithing and has created some beautiful and unique pieces of art that you can wear!  I love this one.

Some of her rings are made with Piney River rocks, collected and polished by my family when I was a kid.  She won't have the rings listed in her Etsy shop until after the show, but check out her shop HERE.

Come on out and see us today, 11:00 -6:00, Exit 163 off I-40, HWY 48 South, about 6 miles.  From HWY 100, take HWY 48 North about 15 miles (honestly don't know about that one, just come until you see the store!)

End of the Tour

You know that mad dash to finish all your Christmas projects 2 days before Christmas and then the melt-down after all the gifts are opened and you are left with a house full of empty boxes and wrapping paper?

Yeah, that's me today.

The 2-day self guided tour through our community is over and we had about 200 people come through our place.  My husband's BBQ and my daughter's pies were the hit of the show and brought in the most money for us. 

And the quilt display!   I loved opening the door and inviting people into our house to view our family quilts.  If there was a way to put a dollar amount on the expressions of awe on people's faces, I would be rolling in cash this morning.  But quilters and crafters know that when you work in this type of art, there truly is no way to measure the success of our work financially.  I think at the heart of every artist is the simple desire to share something beautiful and if we can make some income in the process, that's an added bonus.

Thought I would share an overview of the weekend in pictures.

My grandmother's quilt frame, my grandfather made.  It sit up just like this all year long in her house.  It only came down at Christmas so that the family could all fit in their little house.  I gave folks the opportunity of sitting down and "quilting a reach", but no one took me up on it.  I gave demonstrations on how to load the frame.  Sally gave a demonstration on how to mend ripped blue-jeans and my son actually sewed a button on his pants!

 

I've created a slideshow of our stop and I'll let you that couldn't visit in person,

browse to your hearts content.

 

 

Arts & Ag Tour 2014, Piney's Needle

Quilting is Relaxing

With every stitch, I feel tension release.

Some people might not understand that.

That's not to say the push to get everything finished for this weekend hasn't been stressful, but normally, the simple act of doing something creative is enough to center my mind and thoughts on positive things.

The fact that I'm going to pick up my quilting/sewing machine from the shop and finish up the 4 quilts in 2 days helps too!

I have renewed some passions while getting ready for the show.  I remembered how much I loved embroidery and combining it with patchwork.  Now I'm playing around with combining it with the printed fabric.  I love enhancing my mother's art with stitches.  I truly believe this is something that I'll continue to play around with. 

I also foresee some other things coming from this adventure this weekend.  But those are still dreams floating around waiting for us to put wings to them and fly. 

I'll try to post pictures of the show this weekend.  Everyone have a wonderful Memorial Weekend.  Don't forget that it's not about the picnics and BBQ.  Set aside some time to truly think about what it is we are remembering this weekend.  Those men and women that served our country.  Let's always thank them, remember and honor their (and their families) sacrifice.  Hug a solider this weekend!

Happenings on the Piney

I know that I've mentioned it several times, but the Arts & Ag Tour of Hickman County, TN takes place this Friday and Saturday, May 23-24, 10-6 both days.  I mention it again, because, well, I'm super excited about being involved in the tour!

This is a self-guided tour through the private homes and back-woods of Hickman County to folks and families that are doing some unique arts and farming through-out our county.  There are over 30 stops and that's why it takes two days to see everything.  If you look at the map (on the link) you'll notice that most stops are along the main road through the county, however, if you zoom in on stops 25, 26, & 27 we are located in the Pinewood community going out HWY 48.  It's only about a 20 minute drive and it's a beautiful drive.

Stop #25 - Pinewood Farms

My neighbors further down the Piney River are working hard to provide healthy food to the local market.  Our family has been connected with this farm for many years and now my niece, Crystal Lewis, has taken on the job of managing the garden production and it's a huge project!  Their gardens provide food for participants in a CSA (community supported agriculture) program, where once a week locals residents receive a bag full of whatever the garden is producing at the time.

During the tour they will have cooking and canning demonstrations, along with some music on the porch.  We went last year and stayed most of the day!  These folks not only know how to grow food good for you, but how to prepare it so that it is something your family will eat.  Their goal is to have a healthier society through the food we are eating. 

Check them out on Facebook.

Stop #26 - Piney's Needle

That's me!!!!  You can browse through the last few posts and see some of the stuff we are up to.

Stop #27 - Piney River Enterprises

Literally next door are my brother and his wife, James & Anita Lewis.  Both of them are so talented and they will be showcasing Anita's pottery and James' hand made guns and knives.  They've also been highly influenced by the Pinewood Farms and have started their own gardens, including a shiitake mushroom garden!

 Here's Anita working hard getting her pottery ready, they are firing it today.  Every one of her pieces is something I wish I could have.

 James and I both will have prints from our mother's paintings for sale.  They came in the mail yesterday and are beautiful.  There are various sizes and all the sales go to the Frances Lewis Art Scholarship.

 

James and Anita also have a campground, Piney River Escape and at 6:00 on Saturday, we'll be rocking the Piney with music from the Lugnuts

So download the map and plan your day, making sure to include everything that is happening on the Piney!

What are Altered Books?

If you are visiting today from the Arts & Ag Tour of Hickman County, TN....

Welcome!!!!

Please browse through the past posts and see some of the beautiful artwork using various mediums, that we will be showcasing and having for sale at stop #26.

My daughter, Sally, and I have so much fun creating and we love all kinds of art.  The article mentions that Sally will be demonstrating some of her altered book art. In case you weren't sure what that was, I thought I would share just a sample of what she does.

These are large wall hangings and she puts hours of work into these.  They will look beautiful on any wall and with any decorations.  I have a couple of her altered books in my office at work and I'm always getting compliments on them.

Sally just started quilting and I'm just amazed at her talent and how she visualizes her work and then brings it to life.  She started playing with some yellow fabric with red shoes printed on it and has made a beautiful baby blanket.  Then she went all out and made a Wizard of Oz quilt, complete with the twisting yellow brick road and Dorothy's blue dress.  And she quilted it in rainbows!

 I'm so proud of her and I can't wait for you to see her work.  She definitely uses all the colors in the crayon box to create and she loves painting outside the lines!

The Count-Down is On!

10 Days and counting.

10 Days until the Art & Ag Tour of Hickman County of which we are stop number #26.  Click here to get more information and a map of the county for a two-day self-guided tour through, what I consider, to be the prettiest county in Tennessee.

10 Days until May 23 & 24.

10 Days of late nights, finishing projects, labeling, cleaning, and sitting up.

And we are still thinking of things we would like to make for the show!  Once we get started, it's hard to stop the creative juices.

We...it's a family thing.  Sally, my daughter and I are doing all the sewing, arts, and demonstrations.  Ken, my husband, is cooking BBQ.  Courtney, my niece, is serving as our bouncer, serving as the guide for the in-house quilt display.  Adam, my son, has been told he must be there, at least Saturday to help us out with the hundreds of people we are hoping turns up.

And next door, my brother and his wife are doing the same thing.

The needles have been busy around here...until tonight!

After Sally spent the day getting several of her projects finished, the main sewing/quilting machine gave out.  So it's off to the repair shop for a little oil and cleaning.  We've been making it work so hard.  But it has to hurry back, because we only have 10 days!!!!

Here's a sampling of some of the things we've been working on.

Cards.

Needlework.

 Memory Quilts

 Wallhangings

And quilts.

I'll be giving quilting demonstrations using my grandmother's quilting frame, so I still have to get a quilt ready to go in the frame.  Plus I'll have some of my legacy of quilts on display.  Oh, I've got to get busy labeling them!

As a final project, I'm making bags.  The logo was Sally's idea to incorporate all that we will be doing, not just at our stop on the tour, but my brother's too.

Hope to see you in about 10 days!!!



Our First Street Fair

For the past couple of months, Sally and I have been busy preparing for our first arts and craft street fair.  Sally had set up a small booth at a fashion show earlier in the summer and while she didn't sale anything there, she liked the idea and decided to give one of the local fairs a shot.

She bought some vintage, unfinished quilt blocks and quilt tops and we went to town making things with them.

Here she is at the Grinder's Switch Arts & Music Festival held in downtown Centerville, TN.  It started out to be rainy day, but it cleared up quickly.

I think this was her top seller, but ones with birds painted on them.  The younger crowd went straight for these.

My favorite was a vintage quilt top she found, made from all kinds of fabrics...their scraps I'm sure.  I didn't like it at first, but when I started quilting it, it became special.  I could just see all their lives in this quilt.  And I loved the pattern.

 She only sold one quilt, one that we didn't even have to do anything to and Grannie always said if you sell one quilt, the show was a success.  So...we are headed to our next show in November.  We need to add more Christmas themed items...but we have a good start already.

Trying to Put the Pieces Together

Over a month since I've chronicled any sewing projects and that doesn't mean I haven't been busy, but I honestly don't fill like I've been busy in the way of stitching..

But then again...in that past month I've visited a prescriptive college with my son..which he didn't like.  He did like the class rooms and it was the only place where I truly could not pick out my son from all the other boys.  Every one of them looked like they just stepped off the farm...not a baggy pants in the entire gathering.  Lots of camouflage though!

Then I went with my daughter who had her first official "outside of college" runway show.  The proceeds were to benefit human trafficking and she did great.  She wasn't sure what to expect and she was the only designer there that had made her entire line herself.  Most of the other designers had boutiques and the outfits were being commercially made.  But she had the models arguing over which dress they wanted to wear and has since sold some pieces and made some good contacts.  The MC for the night really gave her some high comments about her clothes being for every age group and body size.

 Se also set up a booth to sale some of her smaller items.  She got so excited that we are now planning on doing a street fair this fall.  Yes, those are necklaces made from T-shirts.  I can hook you up if you are interested!

I'm still working on the commissioned memory quilt.  I'll be honest...I'm not sure I like sewing for others...or maybe its just not being free to do what I want.  But I was glad to get the main part of the quilt finished up, just need to add the border now.  And yes...there is a mistake that I didn't see until it was put together...so it stays!

 I tried making me a blouse a few weeks ago with material in my stash.  Unfortunately, once it was finished, I looked like a clown in a striped blouse.  So it got stashed away to be cut up for another project.  I found some orange material I bought last year and decided to play with it a bit. I made an apron of sorts on the front of the skirt.  It makes one huge pocket.  I added the flower pot just for fun. I thought that big pocket would come in handy at the street fair for holding my phone and stuff.

In the midst of all this fun...my son graduated from high school.  I was planning on making him a quilt, but just like when his sister graduated, I did not get it finished.  I'll keep working on it and maybe by this fall have it finished.  I'm hand piecing the Drunkard Path and then I'll hand quilt it.  I want at least one all by hand for my kids.

 I know...he looks really excited doesn't he!  I'm so proud of him!

Now...I need to really get busy.

Threads and Tears

I found a community of woman, connected with treads and tears.

Read about it here!

The Pink was Hanging

The quilt show is this weekend.  I've shared about it here before and I shared a little more at my other blog, Holy Camp.  I added some more pictures there and also more quilts.  There will be 5 genreations now represented from 3 family lines.  It was a bit emotional for me to see some of the quilts hanging...especially The Pink.  Please visit the highlighted links for the rest of the story.