Spring in Atlanta

I had a ball last week with my sister-in-law in Atlanta.

It seems like spring came to Atlanta early and I'm so glad I was there to see it.

The dogwoods were in full bloom along with the azaleas and wisteria. Now can't you just smell it? I just love the smell of wisteria.

Lucy and I tried to rival the color of the flowers with our multi-colored tresses. Okay, maybe we got a little carried a way, but it was fun.

We joined Jae for a junk jaunt, and then off to the Greater Atlanta Shop Hop! We hit every shop, had our passports stamped, and are still waiting to be called and told of our good fortune. We may be waiting for quite a while......

Folk School and Quilt Shop Hop

John C. Campbell Folk School is a wonderful place! If you ever get the opportunity you should go and take one of the over 800 different classes they offer. The hardest part about it is choosing just which class to take. If you can think of a skill or art form, they offer a class in it.

I had an amazing time, and met so many wonderful people.

Besides the class, and the wonderful food we were served at each meal, there was all sorts of different opportunities for learning folklore, folk songs, and the interesting history of the school and the Appalachian people.

There were demonstrations given almost every evening by local artist as well as some of the instructors. I particularly enjoyed the ones on pottery and marbling (I'm including pictures taken during the marbling demonstration).

The storytelling class entertained us one evening with stories that I may have to try out on my grandchildren.

The thing that fascinated me most though was the Morris Dancing. I had never seen anything like this and would love to try to learn, but I have a great fear of knocking someone's head off. I had never heard of Morris dancing before, and incase you are in the same boat this is the description of it from the school's website:

The earliest record of Morris dancing dates from the aftermath of the crusades. It was a seasonal, ritual dance done by men in disguise, often at Christmas or May Day, with vaguely symbolic meanings. The “Border” version is mock sword fighting and bluff, and came from the English side of the Welsh border, and was intended to show those Welsh what they would get if they dared come over that border. Dancers perform with painted blue faces, colorful rag coats, loud leg bells, and plenty of attitude. They beat sticks together and shout rude taunts; even more cruel, sometimes they sing

The class I took was great! It was a class on Still Life Painting in Oils in the Style of the Old Masters. Melody Boggs was the instructor and we all learned so much. The class was just the right size to facilitate individual instruction, and the people in the class were so encouraging and kind. I will be sharing some of the pictures of my paintings later.

My camera went crazy on me while I was away, and it's still acting crazy. All of my pictures have a fuzzy element. I'm sorry. I didn't take many because I could tell they weren't turning out that great.

Stitching Little Red

As a girl who loves the color red, I can't help but be partial to a fairy tale that sports the color in the title. I guess I'll go ahead and confess that I always wanted a red hooded cape, and of course, a basket full of goodies wouldn't get turned down around here either. I'd even share them with Grandma...... oh wait, I am Grandma! Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is I liked the story of Little Red, it has just enough scary in it to be fun, and it's so outlandish even a child couldn't really be scared for long. I mean who would really believe that an old hairy wolf was Grandma? Grandpa maybe, but surely not Grandma!

I've been working on a piece of embroidery from the story. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it when I finish it. I might put it on an apron, or maybe make a pocket for a book bag, or use it for the focal piece of a quilt. Either way, I'd love to pair it with some of Aneela Hoey's A Walk in the Woods fabric.

I'm afraid my Little Red looks a little older than the character from the story, but I still kind of like it. Do you think this may be some sort of Freudian slip that has to do with me still wanting that cape?

More Vintage Pretties

Sorry to have disappeared for so long again. Sometimes it is just that I really don't have that much to share, and other times I have plenty to share but simply lack the time to share it. This time it has been a little of both. There are a few projects I'm working on that I am aching to share, but they are gifts, and I don't want to spoil any secrets. In addition to gifts in the making I have a hundred projects going on in my head, but I seriously doubt I'll live long enough to finish them all.

So, instead of sharing my secrets, I thought I'd share some sweet vintage lovelies that have come my way. Each was a gift and I adore them all!

First of all, this is a little planter my sister-in-law gave me for my birthday. As I've mentioned many times I love vintage planters. They line practically every window sill, they sit on each of my stairs, every open cupboard or shelf is graced by at least one, and any piece of furniture with a place to set something is also garnished by a little planter. Isn't this one just darling? Look at that sweet thing blowing kisses. Don't you just love it? I do! And it will make a darling vase at baby showers too.

Next is an adorable little

jadeite juicer. It is about the size of a teacup. I've never seen one like it, and since I collect glass juicers and jadeite it is perfect! Someone thought they were being sly during a recent visit when they snuck this

little cutie onto my tea cart with my other juicers. They thought I wouldn't notice it until they were gone. WRONG! I was chattering away and froze mid-sentence when my eye caught this little pretty. Busted! I love it! I need to run to the store and get some limes and lemons. I see freshly squeezed juices and aides in my immediate future!

Now, this is something I've never seen before. It's the sweetest little vintage children's paper-doll activity book. The book has a pocket behind the picket fence the dolls and other props can be stored behind it. The book has lovely scenes from various nursery rhymes, and you can dress the dolls to play the part of the character and walk them right through the scene in the book. How clever is that? The illustrations are so whimsically

charming and the outfits are stored in a trunk on the very last page. Now just try to tell me you wouldn't want to play with this yourself! This is going to be a very special toy for the grandchildren that only comes out when each

one is here alone. I have to be honest and say I'm looking forward to that play time as much as they will!