Things that make you go “MMMMMM…made in America…mmmmm”

I got an email from the Gainesville Handweavers Guild to be on the lookout for a new, made-in-America quilting cotton fabric. AMB’s web site said that the fabric could be found at a couple of shops in the NC – SC area where I happened to be for a few days, visiting while a family member attended Evolution2014 in Raleigh.

Quilt Shop in Cary, NC

I stopped by here and snagged some fat quarters of the American Made Brand fabric, which my email said is from cotton grown in Arkansas, milled in SC…and then apparently marketed out of Seattle.

While in the vicinity of Raleigh, I was by no means subject to any sort of sensory deprivation. The beautiful sights, flavors, and atmosphere had me swooning with summer joy!

View of our hotel from inside the Raleigh Convention Center

Convention Center artwork

For more art on display at the center, click here.

Raleigh Convention Center

One regret: the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo is coming to Raleigh, right here at the Convention Center, this weekend, and I will be long gone by then! If only…woulda, coulda, shoulda….sniffle…

We got take-out from The Pit, a famous North Carolina Barbecue place that has been featured on Man V. Food and Bobby Flay’s Throwdown. My favorite: the mashed potatoes with spicy gravy. Another: Soul Rolls, a deep-fried egg roll stuffed with smooth, piquant, mellow-seasoned chopped pork and collard greens and tender-crisp shredded carrots. We sampled a lot of delicious food in this town.

So what do you think about AMB: American-Made Brand fabric? Everyone I’ve spoken to about it is excited that there’s an American-made cotton quilting fabric on the market now. Is anyone up to their Farm-to-Fabric challenge? Hurry, there’s a deadline to register.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreshadowing a Tex-Mex Lunch

At La Margarita in El Mercado, San Antonio TX Saturday

Newest Recipient of the Versatile Blogger Award Up In Here

Woo hoo!

I read my email at 4 AM to discover I’ve been nominated for/won a Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you, Karine Berthine of The Sweaty Knitter, Weaver and Devotee of Other Fiber Arts for this special honor! I love her blog, and am not sure mine belongs in the same class with it. She said I have “a great, eclectic blog!”

One of the rules and conditions for accepting the award is to also nominate 15 other blogs I’ve read and liked recently. That’s a lot of great blogs to read! Many of the blogs I read have already been gifted with this award, but I will try! I’ve found some great blogs through the “lists of 15” on these rules of compliance posts. So thanks again, Karine, for considering me as one of your picks.

1. Burda Style –this is the mothership of all sewing blogs.
2. Diary of a Sewing Fanatic –sewing leadership with so much charisma
3. Sew Fun! Blog –Lena Kantis from Husqvarna Viking presents sewing innovations
4. Ginger Unzueta Photography –a talented portrait artist
5. Paintspots and Splinters –Vicky Weaver’s beautiful, beautiful arts and crafts
6. The Crafty Cauldron –delightful Harry Potter projects
7. The Creative Addiction Blog –awe-inspiring projects and artist and event spotlights
8. Streets of Salem –Dana Segar’s phenomenal history blog, one of my most addictive indulgences
9. Wednesday Night Knitting –the life and times of a small, eclectic group of knitters 🙂
10. Dream, Quilt, Create! — fabulous eye candy and great information from Cynthia Horst
11. Swell Sewing — great projects and tutorials
12. He Sowed She Sewed –a family blog with useful and fun tutorials
13. Princess Pin Curls –delightful vintage fashion extravaganza from Australia
14. Maggie’s Onebutt Kitchen –mouth-watering recipes and photos
15. Ten Thousand Dancing Stars –Jocelyn’s marvelous knitting and fiber blog

The other rule/condition for accepting the Versatile Blogger Award is to tell the nominator –that is, The Sweaty Knitter and I guess any one else who wants to read about it– seven things about myself.

1. As of tomorrow, June 4, I will have 18 grandchildren. I don’t remember ever thinking about this when I was asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” But that is what I do now, I grandmother.
2. I love Sweaty Knitter’s posts about arcane needlework processes and terms; don’t ever stop!
3. I once was a UAW shop steward and got to shake hands with Jesse Jackson at a labor rally in Miami
4. My aptitude test before entering college said my best jobs would be “occupational therapist” and “clown.”
5. I was named for my aunt, who died of acute leukemia the year before I was born.
6. You already know this, but I have 4 cats. That puts me at a high rating on the weirdiosity scale.
7. I think I accidentally ingested some Gorilla glue last night when I was trying to repair a broken tea cup.

So that’s it! Thank you, thank you!