June 26, 2011

Claude Wilemon - aka The Rag Man!

 I went home to Alabama this past week with my friend Marie in tow... I promised her that I would take her to a special quilt shop not far from the Alabama state line down in Boonville, MS!  The Quilt Gallery is really an interesting quilt shop  and if you have never had the opportunity to experience seeing it in person, then you are missing out on a day of fun!  Claude Wilemon is the owner and has a great sense of humor!  You will thoroughly enjoy your visit and leave with a smile on your face as well as several yards of fabric!!  He sells his fabrics for 4.00 per yard and less!!  100% cotton / top quality fabrics!!  If his suppliers send him "junk" fabric, he will tell you right up front that he wouldn't buy it if he were you.  He wants your return business so he treats you fair and square!  He also gives generous cuts!  He uses a yard stick to measure your fabric and uses Gingher shears to cut it!  You won't find any rotary cutting equipment in his shop!  He told us that he has cut out 1,000's of quilts during his lifetime and he has cut them all with his Ginghers!

Claude has been making quilts for years and has a showcase of finished "ready for sale" quilts in his shop as well as patterns, kits and fabrics to make your own! He has quilts hanging on the walls, laying on beds, in cubby holes on the wall... they are everywhere!!! You have to see this place to believe it!

He also has a very nice old glass collection!  I saw some sale prices on some of the pieces but I am not sure if that is what he paid for it, or if he sells his collection!

I asked Claude if I could make some photos to show all of you and he obliged!  he doesn't have an online store so you have to go for a visit to experience the fun!!  Please find time in your future to go pay Claude a visit!  He loves company!!



























The Quilt Gallery a/k/a The Ragman
1114 Hwy 30 E
Boonville, MS 38829-7972
Phone: 662-728-3302
E-mail: wilemonc@bellsouth.net
Owner: Claude Wilemon
Hours: Monday through Saturday: 8:00am - 5:00pm
Closed Sunday

June 20, 2011

Birthday's, Chocolate Fudge Icing, Pickles, and Granny's Vintage Blocks!

There is nothing better than being able to spend the biggest part of the day with your husband on his birthday!  My sweet hubby turned 57 today!  I baked him his favorite cake, gave him a McDonald's Big Mac (another favorite) for lunch and made him short ribs for dinner! Mid- afternoon we took a trip around some of the tobacco farms to see how everyone's crops were faring since we have had no rain, and we stopped at the Frosty Maid for a chocolate ice cream cone!  I don't think his day could have been any better!

His favorite cake is yellow cake with chocolate frosting!  My mom turned him on to a homemade old timey fudge icing and he absolutely LOVES it!  So, I went through her recipes and finally found it! It was my first time to actually make it myself but I did really good!  When I brought his cake out for him at lunch, I started crying because I know this was one of her favorite icings to make! We both shared a piece of cake for dessert after lunch and it was delicious!  As you can see, we made pigs of ourselves!


 I don't think mother would mind if I shared the recipe....

2 cups sugar  - 1/2 cup cocoa - 1/2 cup milk - 1/2 cup butter

Combine everything in a saucepan and bring to a rumbling boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and let boil for 1 1/2 minutes, continuing to stir constantly. Remove from heat and beat with beaters for 5 minutes.  Pour over cake using your spatula to make it drip over the sides. Enjoy!!

I went into town earlier today by myself and picked him up this hat for his birthday.  I had already given him his gift but I had to go to the local Ace Hardware to get some buckets for starting my 14 day pickles and I happened to spy this hat!  He needs one to wear when he is in the tobacco fields.  I think he looks pretty cute in it!


After lunch I washed the cucumbers that my mother-in-law sent to me and got them ready to begin the 2 1/2 week leg of making my granny's 14 day pickles.  Granny made these every year and I really like them so I make them in honor of her every year!  My husband can take a jar to the recliner and just eat pickle while watching a movie. I have always wondered why she calls them a 14 day pickle though, when it actually takes 2 1/2 weeks for them to be ready to go in the jars???  It doesn't matter though...all that matters is that they are delicious!!  :)


For the past 2 days in between quilting, I have been working on some more of the vintage quilt blocks that my mother-in-law found in her attic!  Her mother made these 9 patch blocks but no-one had ever put them into a quilt!  There are 24 blocks in this pattern so I have decided to make 2 quilts! I have the first 12 blocks ready to be sewn together.  I wanted to show you my progress up until now.  I won't be able to sew these together until after July 1st but maybe by then I can show you both quilts!


I am linking this post up to Monday Funday!


June 17, 2011

More Customer Quilting!

Well, since you have to wait for more photos of the previous quilts, how about some more eye candy!  These left the shop over the last 3 months!

A customer's father made the first 2 quilts shown! Excellent work!














My friend Jennifer always makes the cutest quilts for me to work on for her!