Hello from Hendersonville

Whew – what a whirlwind the past few weeks have been! We chose a realtor and signed a contract with her on Saturday the 27th of April. The unpredictable Chicagoland weather decided to cooperate and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were in the 80′s and so the front door and porch area were finally painted! By midweek, as she spread the word about our house coming on the market, we started having showings. The sign went up on Friday and we were officially On The Market!

On Saturday we started the drive to Hendersonville. We had chatted about getting away after the house was listed and Peter decided he’d like to see Hendersonville and start his part of the where-to-live-next work. So I quickly found this fun cabin in the mountains. And here we are! It’s what people call a staycation for Peter because he is only taking a few vacation days off. But we are away and not having to polish the sinks or vacuum or close the cats up in a closet!

Hendersonville has has a cool, wet Spring too, but there’s lots blooming. We have been enjoying the azaleas – they are few and far between in Chicagoland.

Peter was working hard yesterday, so I decided to amuse myself by heading to an antique mall that I discovered on my last trip here. I found this funhouse mirror that I thought would be great in our new bedroom!

And this life sized pair of carved lions made me laugh out loud! I am sure that this is what Peter and I looked like about two weeks ago! We were exhausted and so stressed out about getting the house ready. I most certainly am the one snarling at him and he is trying to be polite and turning his face away as he snarls too. ;-D

I discovered several quilts tucked away in the booths but I pulled this one out for a closer look. The workmanship is exquisite!!! And what an unusual pattern and pretty fabrics. There are pieced 8 pointed stars and some appliqued heart shaped flowers. Teeny, tiny grandmother’s flower garden shapes are also appliqued on the backing fabric with such teeny, tiny stitches.I wish the photograph was better. I don’t let myself buy old quilts but I was sorely tempted by this beauty. Sadly for me, the dealer knew what an amazing quilt this is and priced it accordingly….

There’s lots more news to share with you, but for now, we are enjoying the lovely mountains of North Carolina.

P.S. as usual, I am having trouble with WordPress on my iPad! I thought I published this yesterday ….. I’m trying again.

A Wild Weekend!

I was in beautiful Bucks County Pennsylvania for most of last week, though it wasn’t as lovely as usual. Because of the approaching storm, it was gray and cloudy and dismal. When I am visiting where I grew up, I am always crazy-busy, visiting friends and relatives. It was fun to have Peter arrive later in the week as he rarely comes. We stayed with my cousin and enjoyed catching up with her. I was also pleased to photograph the quilt and sham I designed for her some years ago.

The big event of the weekend was my niece’s wedding. It seemed like the outdoor wedding was doomed, but the weather held and it even lightened up – a bit. She had it at a fancy special event place in New Hope and it was an amazing venue. This is the front door of the inn – aren’t these colors yummy?

Holly Hedge is on an estate in New Hope. If you know the area, you drive up River Road and turn left at Dilly’s Corner. It has an inn, a large barn and several small buildings…

…and such serene grounds. I am sure that my niece got lots of great photos taken.

Her flowers were in vibrant Fall colors, which really glowed in the gloomy light. This is a fountain in the patio where the ceremony was held.

We also had drinks and appetizers there and in a little barn nearby. My favorite were these tiny cups of tomato soup with a grilled cheese point on the top!

In looking through my photos, I see that I have no pictures of Kim & Lester together, but here are some other folks you might like to admire… ;-D

During the fun evening, Peter got an e-mail saying that his flight out of Philadelphia on Monday had been cancelled, and obviously mine heading a different direction was as well. After having just one more drink at the after party, we went back to our room to figure out what to do. I had booked a hotel at the airport Sunday night because of our early flights, so we had that, but could we extend the reservation? Peter was trying to get through to United to book something for Saturday, to no avail. I then stared checking on Travelocity. I had the bright idea that if we drove to Pittsburgh, we might fly out of there. Huh. Turns out that there are no direct flights to Chicago and the connections are in Phillie or DC! Suddenly Peter said “We should rent a car and drive!”. To which I immediately said “It will be an adventure!”. Amazingly enough he got a one way price of $100 – I assumed that a one way rental would be terribly expensive. It was late by then and we decided to get going at 6. It wasn’t to be. The walls of the inn were paper-thin and the couple next door was being loud…I won’t go into details…for a really long time. Then they both started snoring with the TV on!!!!!!!!!! That sort of rudeness makes me very angry but we could not reach the innkeepers to complain and Peter is never keen on knocking on doors at night. Around 4 AM, Peter asked if I was asleep (the TV was making me nuts, so no!) and we got up, threw our things in our bags and headed off to Phillie to exchange the rental cars. The airport was a madhouse at 6, swarming with all the lucky souls who did get flights out.

If you were watching the weather yesterday, you know that the big deal is that two storms were headed towards each other. We hit the western one around Pittsburgh, and Peter drove through that. It was heavy rain and fog and lots of trucks. About Toledo, it cleared up and I took over as Peter napped. And then I started to see it – 6 ambulances streaming Eastbound – 6 more – then 12 more. Then I saw 5 orange Asplundh trucks go by – 5 more – 5 more – followed by 5 bucket trucks. It was astounding! We stopped counting the bucket variety of truck about 350! Because of the medians in the middle of the turnpikes we couldn’t see the licences, but it felt like crews in many states had left around 8 and were headed to some pre arranged spot to set up and aid in the messy aftermath of Sandy. We saw a lot of smaller rental trucks, which I assume had other equipment, as well as trucks with portable generators stacked on the back. I have to say it was impressive and heartening to see how well people are planning to deal with this massive storm.

So, thanks to Peter, I am happily sipping on coffee and writing to you – - – and the sun is out! And I am laughing as none of us will ever forget Kim & Lester’s wedding weekend.

And now I must get packing for my next trip – - – Houston Texas here I come!

Prairie Treasures Quilt Show: part two

Here are some more great quilts! I am a big fan of star quilts and this one is a stunner! It’s called Stars with Flair, made by Sandra Bils and machine quilted by Edith Hubbard. She says in the description that there are 6 colorways in the quilt that she chose to go with the border fabric, which I seem to have cut off!  The design source is The Big Book of Scrap Quilts. I just love the curved bias pieces around the sharp, sharp points.

And here is another stunning paper pieced star design by the Niemeyers. Judy Martin made Amazon Star and it was machine quilted by Nancy Gambrel. The colors are muted but there is good contrast so that the star really shines.

I studied this quilt for a long time. It is an original design (!) and it’s such an interesting one. It’s called Drunkard’s Ladder and was pieced and quilted by Kari Grece. She says that it’s a combination of Jacob’s Ladder and a Drunkard’s Path pattern. The curved pieces are machine appliquéd and she did a quilt as you go technique on each square. The color story is unusual - the bright squares offset by the duller ones.

There were many quilts made with 30′s fabric in quite traditional patterns but this one caught my eye. I liked it so much. When I looked at the photo as I edited it, I realized why – it looks like a handwoven coverlet pattern! So often at a show it is hard to step away to see the larger picture. All the squares and rectangles look so clean and crisp on the white background. It is called Materialize and was made and quilted by Sue Pawlowski. The tag says that it is a pattern by Jack Squares Studio. (Turns out that Sue P is a local designer and long arm quilter!) There are some containers of scraps in my studio that are calling me….

This was the last quilt that I looked at and what a sweet design it is! Nancy Merlak made this for her 6 year old granddaughter! It’s called Let’s Dress Up and the pattern is by Arcadia. Edith Hubbard machine quilted it. When I was little, I was quite the Tomboy, but I would have adored this bed topper. What I so disliked about wearing dresses back in the Dark Ages was the crinoline! It was so scratchy and uncomfortable around my middle and I was always itching it.

Here is one of the squares so you can see all the detail. I had several pinafores that I liked very much (no crinoline!). My mother usually put some little surprise in the pockets and so I looked forward to wearing them. Do you see the tiny flower button like a minute corsage? Each square is full of details.

Hope you enjoyed this quilt show. I certainly did!

Prairie Treasures Quilt Show: part one

Saturday was the monthly meeting for Foxy Ladies Rug Hooking Guild. We discussed how much we enjoyed the day at The Grove Festival, and most of us were working on the same projects. After the business meeting, I drove north to check out the Prairie Treasures Quilt Show. The advertisement said that there would be 300 quilts to see plus vendors! Sounded fun.

It was a very nice show with lots to look at. I forgot my good camera, so I am sharing iPhone pics with you. They aren’t the best! I did try to adjust the colors but the lighting made that impossible! This quilt bowled me over and it’s a pattern that I love, Aunt Millie’s Garden by Piece O’Cake. The colors are astoundingly bright! It was pieced by Leanne Hurley and machine quilted by Elvira Illig.

Folk Art Garden is a wool applique pattern by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings. The quilt was appliqued and quilted by Kathy Elvin. The colors are so mellow.

I spent a lot of time admiring this quilt. It’s called Bloomin’ Flowers by Barbara Burdette, machine quilted by Lisa Klingbiel. The tag says that it was a Bernina block of the month.

In trying to examine the squares in the awful county fair building lighting (!), I could see that each one had a theme and I guess this one is August. (Poor August has no holidays!) The work seems to be machine applique as well as some machine work – whether it’s freehand stitching or programmed, I can’t say. It’s a very fun quilt with great coloring.

Midwestern quilts tend to be low in contrast and primitive in feeling, so this bright beauty caught my eye. It’s one square in a quilt called Fireworks by Ingrid Nelson, machine quilted by Abigail Elliot. I really liked the asymmetric piecing of the square.

I think I’ll end today’s posting with this cute Santa quilt by Marty Jacobson. I can’t quite read who quilted it. The design source is a greeting card. It is very well done and has a lot of cute embellishments. I wonder if she has a series of “cards” that she hangs each year.

More coming tomorrow; I don’t like to overwhelm you with images! Too much stimulation might be a bad thing. ;-D

Re-visiting a “ville”

If you follow along with me, you know that on my last trip to the Asheville/Hendersonville area, my realtor dumped me! I have always liked Asheville and wanted to know more about Hendersonville, so I made a date with a new realtor. But on Sunday I enjoyed a craft fair at The Southern Highland Craft Guild’s venue on the Blue Ridge Parkway with my friend Molly. There were folks demonstrating traditional crafts and music and dance and a beautiful black & white show. I did not realize that photography was not allowed until I was yelled at. Here are some illegal pictures of the lovely work! Isn’t this sgraffito ceramic piece amazing?

Photography is not allowed in the gallery area either, but oh well, here is another illegal shot! There are lots of items for sale.

Once again, it rained! When I was in the area in June, it rained off and on and was misty and humid. This time there was torrential rain. Buckets and buckets of it. Consequently, I don’t have a lot of pictures and it was nasty to be in and out of the car all day.

But house hunting is house hunting! This realtor took me to many houses over a two-day period and I liked so many of them. There’s a mountain – Craftsman – bungalow style to so many houses that appeals to me. The properties are perched on both sides of the mountains, meaning that even if a house looks ordinary on the front, it likely has a drop dead gorgeous view in the back. I saw several little ponds with koi. I would love that!

Our Colorado house had enormous windows full of sky and mountain views, so here is a Flat Rock place that I liked.

And another in Hendersonville. I love how the builders built the fireplace into the window. I imagine sitting there on a cool winter day, enjoying the warmth and the view. The poor realtor was really distressed about the weather and the lack of views in all the places she took me to. But I have a good imagination and I like rainy, foggy days.

This bathroom was super! Though I am not a fan of tubs, I like the shape of this one. And showering ”in the open” – I haven’t seen that since a trip to Bali. Might be a tad cold in the winter months…

On my time off, I looked for quilt stores and indoor things to do. It was just too dismal to drive around and try to look at houses with all the trees, rain and fog. I found an enormous antique mall and enjoyed poking around. There were huge statues all over the place – I really was curious about where they’d been in their previous life. Of course I liked the antler chandelier as well. We had one in Colorado which I sold before we moved. Huh. Who knew I might need it again?!?

And I found a treasure for myself! I love old tins and sewing related items and I discovered this Putnam dye holder. It was a lot less expensive than any I’d seen elsewhere and even with shipping, it was a deal. The post office really squashed the box so I’ll ask Peter to try to straighten it a bit. And I know…I should be getting rid of things, not acquiring them…{sigh}

It was a great visit and I saw so may wonderful places. There’s a lot to think about.

More About Greenville

My Greenville realtor was amazing!!! We have moved many times over the years and she was absolutely The Best. She did show me some houses in several different areas, but what Peter pointed out to me as I was talking with him on the phone, was that she was selling Greenville to me……and on a where-to-live-next trip that’s key. If we like an area then we will find a home we like. If I find houses I like but am uncertain about the area, well, that’s tricky. What most impressed me was that she tuned in on the part where I said I was arty. I included that in all the e-mails to the realtors when they asked more about us. First she took me to see the studio of the Metroplpolitan Arts Council. There I was able to chat with them about what was going on in the area and collect lots of information. Another stop was to check out a new gallery , Art & Light Gallery, that had opened and talk to Teresa Roche, the owner. I was immediately taken by a great series of sheep paintings. I used to do a lot of spinning and worked on a sheep farm, so they are dear to my heart.

Should we move to Greenville, I will want to buy one of these!

We also stopped by a place called The Art Bomb, where artists have studios. Coincidentally, the man who showed us around paints the sheep and I was able to see a work in progress as well as look into some very interesting studios. His name is Paul Flint.

Here are a few houses that I saw. I loved the view from this place on nearby Paris Mountain. Should we live there, our neighbor would be George Hincapie!

I did want to peek at some of the older places in the downtown area. This is a bedroom in a grand old brick home with matching pergolas on each side. It was filled with lovely antiques and was quite a time capsule. I had the feeling that it would be a money pit as well as needing a good airing out!

This was over a doorway in another lovely old home. Usually stuffed birds stand regally over the fireplace but this turkey was flying over a doorway. It startled me so much that I shrieked!

Greenville is a lot hotter than I’d like, but I saw some pools tucked into secret backyards.

If you’ve spent any time with realtors, you know that they are an incredible source of information and seem to know everyone and what’s happening locally, so it’s both exhilarating and exhausting spending a day or two with them. My realtor showed me that there’s a lot to like about Greenville and it’s pretty close to other interesting places!

A Room Full of Hookers!

;-D

This was the scene on Saturday at the Woolkeeper’s Hook-In in Camby Indiana!

The photo above is of the hooking area, but what struck me funny, was that it was pretty empty all day! There was so much to do – classes to take, the show to admire,

and most importantly, lots of vendors -

and more vendors! This was my first hook-in, but they are fairly common events. They are organized by rug hooking groups or shop owners and rug hookers from miles around attend. Groups set up at a table and spend the day talking and sharing rugs and hooking away. And shopping.

Rug hooking stores are few and far between. Because of the need to order on the Internet, we all get pretty excited to see wool and patterns and supplies in person. This vendor had some wonderful rug patterns. I saw the washer woman several years ago at another rug show and really admired it. The colors are lovely and it’s quite realistic for a rug done with wider cut wool strips.

Most of the booths featured dull colored primitive wools and designs, and of course lots of fun Fall pumpkins and witches, but this lady was into brights! I thought this was a fine-looking rooster.

Bev Stewart is the show organizer (on the right), pictured with her niece. She has a business called Whispering Pines Designs, but has no website. This is definitely a show to remember for next year if you’re within driving distance of Indianapolis. There were more rug hooking vendors there than I have ever seen and I got into a good bit of trouble…

More photos coming…

The Henry Ford (Museum)

I ran away with the circus last week! ;-D

No, not really, but I did run away with Peter. He had work near Detroit and I invited myself along. Being the good guy he is, he agreed. My plan was for us to go to see the Henry Ford Museum after he was done with his work. We’ve been talking about it since we moved to the Midwest. Turns out that it is not The Henry Ford Museum but simply The Henry Ford! O.K. There is a lot to see there, including the (not) museum, an IMAX theatre and Greenfield Village. Amazingly enough it was raining so an outdoor venue was not a good idea and we wanted to see the indoor collections anyway. THF has lots of collections and after seeing what was on display, all I could wonder was what we weren’t seeing. I took random photos of things that interested me, and I hope they will interest you! (And please let me say that I took these with poor lighting, through glass displays and with my iPhone.)

What struck me most about the display of the US Industrial Revolution is that up until that point of time, the most complicated machine in the World was the watch…… How about that? A lot of the exhibits talked about how the Industrial Revolution in the US made Americans want more “things”. Things that were cheaper and more readily available than before. This ad for a sewing machine tickled me, though a sewing machine is a necessity for many of us…..

Here are two sewing machines that were designed to be displayed and used in the livingroom. This first one dates from 1860-1865. It’s a lovely design but looks very difficult to actually use….

I don’t recall what year this one was from, but it has the look of the 1930′s or 1940′s. Notice the lovely design and how the stool fits perfectly under the table!

From a distance I thought this was a loom, but talk about A Cool Tool ! This machine draws lines on paper. Before the invention of this machine, people put a sort of comb down on the paper and had to be careful with their (leaky, difficult) ink pens as they traced  the lines. Wow! Hard to imagine that lined paper was a new invention, but that’s why museums like THF are so valuable. The machine in front is a small printing press for flyers and small runs.

No looms were on display but there was a case with some lovely coverlets woven with Jacquard looms. (They were the first sort of computer - and I’m not joking.) This pattern caught my eye.

I see that I did not take any photos of cars….funny! There was an amazing collection which we thoroughly enjoyed looking at. There were lots of trains to admire as well. Look at this early train – can you see that it is a collection of carriages or stages pulled by an engine? Very fun.

And here – is – Cinderella’s carriage! Isn’t it charming? I don’t know if you can see how very small the door is for a large, elaborate Cinderella type dress to get through. And the carriage is very tall. There must have been quite a high set of stairs to get the riders safely inside of it.

Look at this amazing stage coach with what must be the owner’s faithful dog painted under the seat.

This item comes under The Twilight Zone heading! (Are you hearing the theme music?) It is a Philco Predicta Television Receiver!!!! The notation said it was from 1958-1960. I can say I never saw one of these growing up but I am sure that I would have loved it! With this in your livingroom, the aliens would surely be on their way. ;-D

And this comes under the heading of simply random… We woke up on Saturday morning to an odd sound. We looked out the window and could see a crowd milling about. The night before we’d seen lots of Indian people gathering in the lobby with incredibly lovely saris on and so here was the actual wedding. Out in the parking lot we found the groom (not Indian but enjoying himself) with his family and friends on a horse! Peter realized that they were reenacting the groom going to his bride’s home to collect her for the wedding! There were drums and more beautifully clad guests having a wonderful time. Peter and I still have our outfits from a trip to India and were sorry that we’d not been invited to the ceremony. That’s what makes vacation so much fun; not knowing what might happen next!

The Third “Ville” – Nashville

I broke the “ville” streak with Nashville. I did not house hunt in Nashville and all of the towns I looked at were non “villes”. Laugh if you want but when I was in Asheville, I saw Hendersonville and Weaverville and in Knoxville I saw Maryville and Friendsville!

I happened upon an online  review of the different Nashville downtown neighborhoods as well as the suburban areas, which was incredibly helpful. (Every city should do something like this for relocation people!) Franklin and Brentwood seemed like good areas, close to the airport, and fairly close to Nashville and so I picked a realtor in those areas. The week before I arrived, she started sending me real estate reports with houses that fit my criteria and I told her which ones were of interest to me. And – we actually went to see them! She had printed out a packet of information on each house including a map on the top which showed where they all were in the county. Very helpful!

Franklin Tennessee was founded in 1799 and has done a great job of preserving the many beautiful buildings and keeping the downtown vibrant and “the place to go”. (Evidently many of the big deal country singers live there!) It must have a huge number of houses on the historic register.

Not every home is a Southern mansion; there are charming cottages as well.

Here are two storefronts on the main drag, the two styles look so interesting next to one another.

We looked at 9 properties, which was wonderful. I was really able to get the feel for the area and what it might be like to live there. I did choose two homes from the 1900′s. This one was so charming and could be beautifully fixed up, but I do think it would be a money pit. And it was by a busy road on a small lot.

This cutie was on a quiet residential street, on a small property across from some very unattractive apartment buildings. It was beautifully re-done but would need some landscaping to hide the ugly buildings.

Here is the mantlepiece – such an unusual design – and it was double-sided. Both of these homes reminded me of our first house, also built at the turn of the century.

Where ever we choose to live, it sounds like we will be buying an older home. All the realtors agreed that if we do not want to live in a development, then the homes have to be pre-1990′s. Most of the houses I saw in Williamson County were in developments, but I did want to see what sort of houses they built in the Nashville area. The west side of Franklin seems more promising as it is filled with huge horse farms, so that might be a place to really look for a stand alone place. The house that I liked the best was the last one we saw. After winding though several neighborhoods, we came out on a little road and pulled into a driveway in a Brentwood location. I got out of the car, looked at the property and sighed – it was a “stand alone house”! It was so much fun to look through as the woman is an interior designer and I loved what she had done to the house. Her husband is in the music industry; there were photos of Dolly and other famous country Western singers and he had a gold record. (And I was reminded why realtors want you to de-personalize your home….) I adored this purple dining room, which was probably the plainest room in the house.

And here is a real recommendation for living near Franklin. It is filled with great antique stores and there is a large stove factory that has been redone with shops and restaurants. I found this “unique” lamp there, with a price tag of $1500….. What more could a Country girl want???

More About Asheville

I’m home, safe and sound after visiting many “villes” and putting 1200 miles on the rental car! It was a very interesting trip and I enjoyed everything, but it is so good to be home. I woke up this morning and was so happy to be in my own bed with Gizmo and Jasmine trying to get me up to feed them. Peter is away, but I pick him up at the airport tomorrow and we’ll have a dinner reunion.

Asheville is one of those places that was built at the right time. The turn of the (last) century was a marvelous era for architecture and Asheville is full of beautiful homes and spectacular mansions. Craftsman bungalows and what I would call “fairy tale” houses, for lack of a better term, are everywhere. I was mostly in the car, driving down windy lanes and could not photograph many places…. I went out for a run one day and ended up walking – there were so many houses I wanted to look at and the sidewalk was uneven and it’s hard to run and gawk at the same time. This place was near the pretty green house from the last post. It was a wreck but I thought Peter and I should re-do it! Talk about good bones.

It makes such a difference when someone takes the time to choose paint colors to highlight their house trim. Isn’t this a wonderful place???

Molly and Joe took me to the Grove Park Inn and on the way out, mentioned that their crafts store was great. The next day, I found my way back there and they weren’t kidding!!!!! If you are at all interested in crafts, and I mean crafts not “crafting”, done by serious and devoted people, then you must stop here.

Photographs are not allowed inside, so I can’t share all the amazing work that I saw. As you can see from the sign, the Furniture Society has work here and I cannot remember when I have seen such an array of stunning work- I wanted to completely re-furnish our house. A show of sculpture for the outdoors had just opened and this was the piece that I wanted…..It would make quite the statement in our front garden.

Before I drove on to Knoxville, I stopped in Biltmore Village. It was built by the Vanderbilts for the people working at the mansion and is full of well-preserved arts and crafts style homes, which are now stores and restaurants. At the center of the village is this church, which was built by the Vanderbilts and then donated to the Episcopalians. It is a beauty.

I had a wonderful lady luncheon at a tea house and enjoyed all the stores there. I will leave you with a view. It was cloudy and rainy the whole time I was in Asheville, but it’s a beautiful spot and would be a great place to live.