June 22, 2009

Kiln Opening In Western NC

Saturday was my hubbys birthday and he asked to go to Kim Ellington's kiln opening. A kiln opening is when a potter has turned many vessels out of clay and has fired them in his kiln. he takes them out and sits them around on the ground and on tables and invites customers to come for a half day of fun. Each person gets to draw a number and #1 gets their choice piece to purchase. #2 goes next and so on until everyone has had a turn at choosing a piece to buy. The remaining pieces are free for all. You can buy as many pieces as you would like and can get your hands on. We always like to get to a kiln opening about an hour before it starts so we can walk around and decide on at least 5 pieces. If you get a really low number, you have a greater chance at getting one of the pieces you want.

If you are like my hubby and pull #57, you might not get so lucky. LOL.. I drew #22 so with it being his birthday, I changed numbers with him. This was our second choice piece and he was very lucky to get it. The potter told me that there was only one other one like this and it was inside his house, he owns it. This makes this a really awesome piece to own! Hubby was really pleased with his birthday present!


This was our first choice. We have 3 other pieces similar to this but hubby always loves to purchase the largest first quality piece that the potter has for sale. We figured it would go first but it didnt walk off for about 10-12 numbers. But, the piece we brought home is actually more valuable than this one anyway since we learned its history of being the 2nd one of its kind.


These photos show the pottery before the kiln opening starts. Customers are walking around deciding on pieces they would love to have the chance to own.














These pieces were considered seconds as they came out of the kiln with firing cracks in them. What a shame for the potter to have to reduce his prices on these beauties! I do know the largest one sold but for only half what he should have gotten for it had it been first quality.


Meet the potter, Kim Ellington. He is holding the small piece of pottery which holds the lottery tickets. Everyone is anxious to see if they draw out the famous #1....





This is Mr. Ellington's kiln. Hubby took these shots for you so you could actually see what the pieces are fired in. He fires his kiln with wood...while some potters fire those with gas. Hubby likes to collect mostly from the wood fired kilns. They make the nicest pieces.




The last photos are of Mr. Ellingtons flower gardens. When he has pieces that come out with firing cracks in them and they do not sell, he incorporates them into his landscaping. They really dress up a flower garden!






June 14, 2009

A Quilt For My Daughter

My oldest turned 30 this past Friday and she told me that she wanted a quilt for her birthday. I have never made her a quilt before so I thought I had better remedy that right quick! She is a die hard Auburn fan and she requested an Auburn Tiger quilt!

I thread painted the tiger face. My hubby told me that I forgot his lower incisors. :) I said "oh well, he is snaggle toothed". LOL





A Quilt For My Mother





As I have said in several post on my blog, I am a member of the HGTV Quilting and Needlework Forum. I have made many friends in the 6 years I have been a member and these ladies are all so awesome! When we found out 2 years ago that my mother had cancer, many of these women prepared my mother a Sunbonnet Sue or Overall Bill block to applique while she was recovering from her cancer surgery.

Well, the quilt has finally been finished and was presented to my mother this weekend. It is beautiful!

I quilted the words to the poem "What Cancer Cannot Do" in the inner black border.

It cannot cripple love
It cannot shatter hope
It cannot erode faith
It cannot destroy peace
It cannot kill friendship
It cannot destroy memories
It cannot silence courage
It cannot invade the soul
It cannot steal eternal life
It cannot conquer the spirit

Mother calls it her "Quilt of Hope". She told me this morning that she slept under it last night and it was like sleeping under one huge prayer! It was very comforting!

Here are the photos of this awesome quilt!

Thank you ladies for making my mother feel so very loved!

Edited to update: Mother passed on to the sweeter side on September 1, 2009. I covered her with her quilt before they closed the casket. She is wrapped in love for eternity!






June 10, 2009

For A Friend

This worked up really quick and was a lot of fun to do!




June 1, 2009

Gift from a friend!

My good friend Karen from Oklahoma (the one who took the trip to NH with me) sent me these beautiful embrodiered pig blocks! I was tickled pink when I opened the envelope from her!! Now to turn them into a wall hanging!

By the way, meet my friend Karen!



Crazy Quilt Block from a friend!

My good friend Nickilee, from Massachusetts sent me and my hubby this beautiful CQ block as a gift. She had asked for a photo of us and she incorporated it into the center. I absolutely love this piece! She is one of the greatest CQ'ers! I am having it framed and then it will hang on the wall in our master bedroom!