Growing up in a very small town in New Zealand in the 50's and taking on the era of rock 'n' roll and Elvis Presley, I would never have dreamed that I would one day sit on the seat in the front of the house that Elvis Presley called home.

Linda and I enjoyed Elvis so much in those early years (not to mention our mother) and collected records, books and went to see as many of his movies as we could.

Initially we thought that the tours for Graceland had been booked out for the day we were going to be in Memphis, Tennessee but we decided to turn up before the booking office opened that day. We were second in the queue and we able to go through the building as members of the first tour of the day.

It was very satisfying to move on in our travels knowing that we had achieved what was a milestone to us.

The last few days have been very pleasant as we have worked our way east from Dallas and head towards Maryland.

Today we discovered a delightful little town called Parrottsville, Tennessee, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains and one of the earliest settlements in that area.

Although Halloween is still some weeks away we have noticed shops selling product already and some homes along the way have been decorated to varying degrees with halloween theme items.

The house in the above image is a bed and breakfast and had scarecrows and pumpkins out the front.

Just up the road from the house there was a general store totalled decked out with Halloween theme items and two benchs covered with all sorts of pumpkin and squash.

Babies are special and Moms are special too.

Feeding time between them is extra special and it has been our privilege to watch the bonding process between Lisa and Jackson at these times.

Lisa and David have taken time out to take us to a lot of eateries during our time in Dallas and this was one such occasion in an Ihop restaurant on a Saturday afternoon.

Jackson's needs are simple - at this stage he only needs his bottle and nothing off the menu.

We were told before Jackson was born that his nursery was to have a cowboy theme so appropriate fabric had to be found.

Down Under, in New Zealand, cowboy fabric is scarce and so we had to resort to sending to the United States for fabric to be sent to New Zealand so we could make up the quilt to bring it back to the States with us.

Linda was the brains behind the design of the quilt. I was happy to assist with cutting and pressing but Linda gets all the credit for putting this together and for quilting it so nicely.

The quilt looks great in his room and Mom and Dad were happy to receive this extra accessory for Jackson's room.

Of course we had to get the little man to try it out for us and we thought he looked pretty good lying on it.

QUILT SHOP HOP - DALLAS, TEXAS

A trip to the United States just had to include matters of quilting interest.

At first we looked for quilt shows but they were either before or after our scheduled visit dates.

Linda, however, spotted a Dallas Quilters Shop Hop for the time that we were going to be in Dallas and so we made enquiries about the possibility of joining a bus tour, resulting in us being able to join a lovely group of ladies for 2 days to visit quilt shops in north and south Dallas.

This proved to be an ideal way for us to meet some lovely people, get a great snapshot of the Dallas metroplex, as well as enabling us to see 13 different quilt shops.

You might think that to see one quilt shop you have seen them all but we found they each maintained individuality sufficient to keep our interest sharpened right to the end.

Our group photo was taken at the end of the second day outside Quilters' Dream the shop which hosted the bus tours and includes our delightful bus driver, Prentis.

QUILT-A-LOO

Never let it be said that this quilt shop would like to miss an opportunity to promote for retail.

Not the only one we saw like this on our Quilt Shop Hop around Dallas.

Even the cutting room where staff were working behind the scenes preparing kits, etc., was not off limit to customers - might as well make the most of every little bit of bit of space available.

Our Claim to Fame

Some people say that everybody knows somebody who is famous.



Linda (left), Peggy (middle) and Royce (right).

We were participating in a quilt shop hop in Dallas and in one of the first stores there were fabric postcards, one with an image of Elvis Presley's face.

One of the ladies from our group looked at the postcard and said, "I know Elvis, I am from Memphis and I went to school with Elvis."

I immediately went over and stood next to her as my claim to fame that I have met somebody who knows somebody famous.

We got to talk some more with Royce during the day and she said that Elvis was very popular at school and regularly participated in the monthly school talent shows. She remembers Elvis being blonde and seemed disappointed that his publicists 'got to him' to change his hair colour.

It has been so nice for us to observe David's involvement in all facets of fatherhood, bathing Jackson as per image, babysitting, preparing baby's bottle, changing nappies and clothes and taking him out with us to shopping centres and restaurants.

Note - this lovely little baby's bath has legs, a mattress for baby to lie on, as well as an attachment at the bottom of the bath that allows you to shower the soap off baby after you have finished washing.

A trip to Dallas would not be complete without an update on our border collie, Ivey.

True to his nature, the excitement of our arrival caused young Ivey to make a little puddle on the floor.

He was so pleased to see us and there was no doubting that he remembered who we were.

The Texas summer has been so hot and so Ivey has had the shortest hair cut ever to help him to cope.

As lovable as ever, he seems to have come to terms with his lot in life here and he and Monet (the other family dog) are good companions.

Linda made a lovely meat pie last night for our dinner and Monet and Ivey just about had a fight over who might be recipient of the left overs, if there were going to be any!

David and I took the two of them for a walk in the neighbourhood last night after dark. They both still put great ghusto into their walking efforts as they both like to strain to take the lead. Ivey still manages to be the leader for the best part of journey.

We have arrived in Dallas and David was there at the airport to meet us with Jackson in tow.

Our journeying went well, in spite of conflicting and misinformation about what we were and weren't allowed to take on board our flights as carry on luggage.

We were both impressed with the refurbished Air New Zealand planes and enjoyed some of the best airline food in many a year.

Our brief sojourn in Los Angeles went well - going through customs was relatively easy and we had time to spare while we waited for our connecting flight to Dallas.

Linda commented that she felt that spending time at LA Airport showed just how much we have become a global village with so many similarities in the way people dressed. She did begin to wonder why there were so many coloured people around and then she reminded herself that she actually was in the United States of America and perhaps this may be the norm here.

Whilst I am enjoying revisiting memories of last December, it is lovely to see Linda's reaction as she makes observations on the American way of life for the first time.

Already we have had the opportunity to visit a couple of SUPERSIZE stores - Hobby Lobby and Walmart - and had a lovely lunch out at a local Thai restaurant.

Tonight Linda is introducing Lisa to the delights of a meat pie, down under style. We hope it will become another favourite, like the meat loaf from last visit.

From time to time I receive commissions to create crazy quilt cushions with a memory theme that incorporate photos of significanceto the owner.

This past week three of them have been on display at Legacy, 215 Chadwick Road, Greerton, Tauranga, New Zealand.

Milestones at the beginning of a child's life are so special.

Seeing Jackson's face come to life with the first smiles that follow those first 6 weeks is just one of those precious moments.

I look forward to seeing lots more.

On Friday 30th May a group of ladies gathered at Tau Tau Lodge, on the outskirts of Tauranga for a day of teaching with well known crazy quilting tutor, Judith Baker Montano.

This was Judith's 3rd visit to New Zealand but her first to Tauranga.

As always, Judith was very generous and kind with her sharing of her knowledge of this craft.

At the beginning of the day, Judith spent considerable time talking about the use of colour in crazy quilting and this was reflected in excellent results by the ladies who participated.

Judith always brings a selection of her own completed and works in progress and these are always a source of inspiration on the day.

The images from this Blog entry:-

1) Judith demonstrating the 'how to' for making a crazy quilt block'
2) A heart block completed by Judith and used to demonstrate the use of colour;
3) Demonstrations over, it was time for the ladies to get on with their individual projects;
4) Two of Judiths wallhangings - the one on the left features original cigarette silks - the one on the right is family heirloom piece and reveals many images of Judith's family;
5) The work of the day over, the pupils gathered in the lovely gardens at the front of Tau Tau Lodge to have a group photo taken. Judith is sitting on the ground in front and yours truly is seated at the left end of the photo.

Thanks to friend, Julie, for taking the photos.

If you are looking for a lovely, peaceful haven for rest and recreation, Tau Tau Lodge, hosted by Barry and Lorraine Langford provides that as a bed and breakfast retreat - lovely craft shop attached.

For more information:-

Barry and Lorraine Langford
1133 Pyes Pa Rd, RD 3, Tauranga
Ph + 064 7 543 1600
Email: tautaulodge@ihug.co.nz

www.tautaulodge.co.nz

What we have been waiting for - the arrival of my first grandson - Jackson Tate.

In the words of his mother, Lisa:-

Our son, Jackson Tate White has been born, on Thursday April 27, at 3:15pm.

Jackson weighs seven pounds, six ounces, and is nineteen inches long.

Jackson was delivered by Caesarian Section; his umbilical cord was wrapped around his head, impeding a natural birth. And we thought he was just stubborn when he wouldn't come out. :)

Crazy quilters (and other sundry crafters) seem to love using the fabric from men's ties.

Often they can be found in op shops searching out these treasures and if they are lucky they might even find some beautiful silk ones along the way.

My friend, Julie, approached some tie manufacturers and scored a whole box of tie off cuts in an array of beautiful colours.

Knowing my love of all things autumn she shared some of her wonderful stash with me.

I made the block in the image with intention of embellishing the seams with my stash of rayon threads while on holiday with my sons in Sydney - so far the block remains naked - oh dear. Still I have a few days left, so you just never know.

Last night I actually got it out but ended up stitching on another block instead. Maybe tonight...............

A short walk up the road from Liberty Grove is a shopping mall.

Looking out from the front of the mall you can see the entrance to Bi-Centennial Park and beyond to the stadium and other facilities used for the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Apartments across from where Rick and James live at Liberty Grove.

Rick, standing in front of the apartment where he and James live at Liberty Grove.

James' bedroom with double bed and dressing table from Jannali Avenue.

The mirrors conceal floor to ceiling wardrobe along the whole wall.

Looking towards the kitchen area from the living area at James and Rick's apartment.

The morning after the night before.

I arrived at James and Rick's flat on the Saturday night but they had prior commitments to go out to dinner to celebrate James' birthday so Aaron and I stayed at their place for the evening and I got to see more of James and Rick on the Sunday.

James was at the computer, of course, when I got up in the morning. And he has the cheek to tell me :-} that I spend more time on the computer than he does!

Rick emerged a bit later and I cooked scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and pide bread toasted for breakfast. He was so overcome he had to go back to bed to sleep it off! Not sure if that was a compliment or not!

Garage sales can be a lot of fun and I was very much looking forward to going to a selection of them in inner Sydney during my few days stay there.

I was being very conservative about my purchases until I saw this whole cloth quilt, hand stitched and appliqued in a maple leaf style pattern. The maple leaves have additional embroidery on them to add highlighted relief.

Pre loved and aged, this quilt is made of lovely soft white cotton. It has no binding and has been overlocked around the edges. There's few marks that need attention and a couple of places in need of fabric repair. The batting is thin and almost non existent in some places. In spite of these drawbacks, I felt it was something worth having and certainly worth finding a spot in my suitcase for to take back home wtih me for my sister, Linda, to have and to hold.

My thanks to my friends for taking me on this adventure. Without their kindness and efforts, I would never have found this lovely treasure.

I recently stayed for a few days with my niece, Jenny.

She has just moved into a new home and it was lovely for me to able to be there as she settles in and gets herself established.

The dwelling is well elevated and looks over the rooftops of surrounding properties.

In the kitchen there is a feature window and Jenny has strategically placed there a number of cat ornaments to keep watch for her.

Last year (2005) my sister Linda made a wall hanging for brother Alan's 60th birthday.

It was made up from remnants of another quilt made with the same theme.

Being a cat lover, as we are, the quilt looks very appropriate in his home hanging above the staircase.

One of my recent favourite crazy quilt projects.