As I call it a day

this is what it looks like.  It needs a little more shading in some areas, but all in all I am happy with the look of the piece.  Of course the quilting will add to it and I am looking forward to getting started on that tomorrow first thing. 
Might not get back to you all until it is done.  If I don't...
have a good Thanksgiving.
Hope you will be spending it with loved ones and friends. 
 Rene', Lyn and I are not sure if we are going to share kitchen duty and cook in or  join the horde of tourist and find someplace to eat along the stretch of International Drive.   Josh the oldest grandson is still here convalescing is still on crutches and while he is motoring along quilt well, it still is a chore for him to go great distances.  If we do, it is  not very likely that we will find a place serving turkeywith all the trimmings.  Don't cry for me.
I got over equating Thanksgiving with food years ago. With a wheat allergy of the worst kind... no more mac and cheese, no more giblet gravy or stuffing, no more pumpkin pie or Parker House rolls slathered with butter.  Plain turkey some cranberries and plain mashed potatoes  and a few green beans just doesn't say HOLIDAY.  Picturing  just those thing  is somewhat reminiscent of a TV dinner. Nah! 

Painting yellow flowers

 I spent most of Friday trying to decide what to paint next and waiting for my daughter Rene to arrive, which she did.  She will be here until the Sunday after Thanksgiving day.
 When I discovered that  I was down to this last length of  broadcloth I put in an order for more. Order should arrive by this time next week.  There is no presser like the presser of knowing that if you flub up you have no fall back cloth to work with. 

As it is now stretched on my paint surface it  measures 44" long by 55-56" As pictured, you are seeing about 48 inches on the width of the piece with the other 8 inches wrapped to the back of the foam board.  More than likely I won't crop it by much. 

If nothing else comes up today, I should finish painting it today and begin quilting tomorrow. 

Will update you as I go along.

I so often have the hardest time coming up with a title

 for my art work.  This one was no different.  Often in the past I've sent out a please name this piece S. O. S. to my friend Marti.

 Not since I have been doing what I call quilted paintings have I gotten to that place of late mainly because what I am painting and quilting looks so much like what it is that naming my work has  been simplified.  "Morning Glory" , "Hibiscus", "Snow Drops",  etc.  Naming this one was going to be no different.  The flowers remind me of an old rose variety and the name was going to be that.  "An Old Rose".  However, my oldest grandson immediately upon seeing me working on this piece, said.  "Those flowers look like the ones on your dishes". And he was right. 

Now you are wondering why a young man would notice such a thing, but I didn't because his every meal while my three grandsons lived with me was served using my favorite dishes... Franciscan dessert rose pattern. 
Yes you can and I did have three boys in my house for years using these dishes for everything from their breakfast cereal to dinner.  Even when they were in charge of doing the dishes, there were no mishaps.  I on the other hand broke a few. 
So now the name for this piece will be "Franciscan Rose".  I will see if others make the connection.
The piece has been blocked I am showing you the piece as I plan to crop it.

here is what it looks like now.

I did a little shopping while at the quilt show

on Saturday.  Two items an iron and a vibrating pillow for my back is being shipped.  Both items sold out at the show.  I will give you a report on both of those items when I have them and have tried them out to see if the show hype hold true.  At the show, the back pillow had me sitting in the chair and signing... ahhhhh.  The iron on the other hand hand my mouth dropping open with amazement at the seeming ease at which wrinkles disappeared from every kind of cloth and garments.  Since I do very little ironing of what I wear day to day, the prospect of how easy wrinkles could be gone from my hand dyed cloth was just too good to pass up.  I just want to say, for the price it had better work here in apartment 434 as well as it did at the show.

In the mean time... here is a look at the stuff that did come home with me on the bus.  There was a vendor at the Jacksonville Show that was selling these basket said to be made in Africa I didn't buy one then mainly because I have promised myself that if something did not have a use I would not buy it.  Between the last show and this one I decided that I could corral the long rulers I use at this table and save myself the step it takes to return them to the other side of the room.  So with a purpose in mind I brought it.

I've been aware of this brand of rotary cutters for a while, but I couldn't resist buying one this time because I took the time to stop and try it.  The Soft Fuse was new to me. The product was developed by Stacy of Shades the fabric dyer out of Atlanta who I meet on the quilt show circuit way back in the late 80's.  I was really happy to see her. 

Having been in on the developing stage of Misty Fuse and not liking the initial offering, I was in love with the Soft Fuse immediately.  It has the softest hand of any sheet adhesive on the market that I have tried to date and best of all for me is that it comes 36 inches wide.  I have something in mind for it's use but will hold that thought until I have tested it and only then will I tell you.  That is if it works for the purpose I brought a 3 yard roll of the stuff.
You would be amazed at how fast I can get through a quilt show and this one was no exception, but since I was on a bus with people I was in charge of I had to wait for all the others so to pass the time I spent a lot of time stopping at vendor booths and listening to sales pitches.  So at one of two booths filled with yarn I stopped long enough to listen and be tempted to buy one skein of yarn that when pulled open and knitted by picking up a loop at the top edge produces a very frilly lightweight scarf that is suitable to wear on milder temperature day here in Florida.  To pass the time I was tempted to buy a pair of knitting needles, find a quiet spot and begin knitting while at the show, but I didn't.  You can not image how many circular needles of every size I already have and to buy more was just "stupid" I told myself so I found a quiet spot outside in the courtyard and read a book on my Nook that I brought along for the ride down and back instead.  My debit card thanked me.

My friend Marti in Louisville asked that I send her a picture of how I attach a shop/trouble light to the stitch panel on the back of my Janome 6600P for added lamination.  I am using a 60 watt Feit brand daylight bulb which I buy at Walgreen's.  My aging eyes love the added light.  This set-up provides a larger area of light than some of those stick on goose neck light marketed for stitchers.  Best of all the daylight bulb give me better color detection for selecting threads as I stitch.
As you can see I have been quilting.  I stopped to do this entry because I just put in the last stitches on this piece a few minutes ago.
Will give you a look at it as soon as I block, crop and true it up.

A lot of stuff caught my eye as I

walked through the World Quilt Show Florida III yesterday.  The bus trip started early with me rolling out of bed at 5:15.  I  was at the first bus pick-up point, a block and 1/2 from my front door less than an hour later.  After the last of two more stops for bus riders we were on our way down the Florida Turnpike transversing quite mundane landscape populated mostly with cows until we were back near the Atlanta ocean coast line were civilization returned in the form of people and buildings that I am now thinking of as typical Floridian architecture.
  I remembered to take my camera along and I took more pictures than I do as a rule and that might have been because there were so many quilts and enough of any one kind and style to suit most every quilter or lover of them. 

As I sat  here looking closer at the images of the quilts I thought were interesting when I took the time to stop and take a picture of them less than 24 hours ago I was surprised to discover that on looking closer they were not holding my interest this morning.  But I will share with you the ones that did.

This is the work of Lynne Quinn/United Kingdom

I know this is not a quilt but this doll among all the usual looking one stood out and made me smile.  Sorry the makers name is not easy to see. 

Susan Wessels/South Africa

Visually  interesting up close with all the laying down and couching of threads and beads. 

AND THEN THERE WAS MY PIECE. First runner-up to best of show.  YEAH!!!

I was very reserved in my purchases when I went to the Jacksonville Quilt show a month or so ago, but I can't say the same for yesterday.  I will give you a full accounting and report of what I thought I couldn't live without tomorrw.  But for today I need todo the bookkeeping and report to the guild treasurer  and then I am back to quiling for the rest of today.  I am hoping to get it done by the end of the day so I can give you a report of one of the products I brought yesterday.

I have a fondness for small towns

and the charm of Punta Gorda, Fl had me from the instant I crossed the bridge spanning Charlotte Harbour and made my way along the palm tree lined streets that were already dressed out for the Christmas season with white lights and big snowflakes.  I wished I had taken a picture of them.  Before moving to Florida, I thought a palm tree was a palm tree, but I am now noticing the differences in them.  In Punta Gorda, I saw some that were definitely different in appearance. 
This coming December will be my third winter in Florida and I am still amused  by all the images one can find of snow  here in Florida and how anyone can possibly think of snow when you are running around in shorts and sandals is beyond me. 
My drive over to the west side of the state on Tuesday evening was a pleasant one.  Music of the 70 on Satalite radio keep me humming along with the songs and at times singing off key outloud.  After about 70 miles I turned off of I -4 onto I -75 and  had to put myself into the mindset that so many retired Floridians have acquire.    Mainly, "what's the rush?" The posted speed limit means nothing in certain places .  On I-75 there were enough drivers driving "slow" that I had to keep reminding myself that I was in no hurry.  That I wasn't on deadline.  That I could be there when I got there.  Even when the speed limit was posted at 70 they were driving 55 and in the left hand lane to boot.  The slow down and back up in spots was caused in part by the large number of RV's pulling small cars and the so so many moving vans.  After a few miles it dawned on me that I was traveling along the annual south bound  snowbird migration route.
Despite that it was a straight uncomplicated trip from my door to the hotel and I really didn't need my GPS, to get there, however, when I did need it, it told me the address I was looking for was on the right.  But in fact it was on the left and when it said I had arrived I was on the ramp heading across another bridge and on my way to Port Charlotte on the other side of the harbour. A quick turn around on the other side, or as the GPS says, at the next opportunity make a legal "U" turn. Which I did.  And after a series of left turns I was at the hotel.

 This is some shots of my painting on silk class.  We were using one of the rooms at the Charlotte Cultural Arts center which was buzzing with people taking a variety of classes.  There was a cafeteria that serves three meal on site as well as a resale store that my quilt class angel took advantage of; purchasing a "t" shirt for $0.75 after she had gotten paint and water on the one she began the day wearing.
There were lost of creativity zinging around the room as you can see.  I selected only a few of the flowers painted by the the 21 students in the class.
Sorry I did not take any pictures of the second day class and their projects. The second day class was held in the social hall of a local Luthern church in Punta Gorda as was the talk and truck show I did for the group on Friday morning.

 Here is a collage of images from Fisherman's village.

 This is Audrey, my class angel for both workshop day and she was truly that.  We are in line for lunch.  They reserved a room off the main dining area "the English tea room" for our group.  I guess they thought we would be a rowdy bunch, but in an English "tea" room one must be a little more reserved and we did the room proud.

That evening I was treated to dinner at Fisherman's Village which was built on the site of a former municipal pier, it was designed to replicate a traditional fishing village with boat slips, shops, restaurants and  above the shop residences .  Several ladies from the class came along with Audrey and me, making us a party of six.   The restaurant on the wharf had a view of the harbour and I being the guest got the best seat by the window.  The food, the company and the view were wonderful.

Without having an excuse to do so I would return to Punta Gorda and I would most certainly accept an invitation to teach for this group if asked to do so again.  My hat if I wore one would be off for Kathy the education chairperson and to every member of the Peace River Quilter Guild.