From Ellen Nadeau in Maine:  

“Friends and Needles Quilters Guild from Houlton, Maine, is holding its 25th annual quilt show this weekend (Aug. 21-23). As part of the special anniversary events, The Fabric Garden from Madison, Maine, donated 25 fabric kits containing 1/2 yd of a focus fabric and 1/4 yd each of 4 coordinating fabrics.

Participants could eliminate one fabric and/or add up to 3 of their own fabrics (I added the pale teal/white background for the rocket blocks and the pale lilac background for the compass corners and lone star diamonds). I worked on this 31-1/2 inch square wallhanging from July 2-August 19 every minute I could find outside of my paying job, even taking my sewing machine on vacation with me so I could finish on time!

The quilt show is called “Stitching Through Time: 25 Years of Quilting in ‘The County'” so I named my wallhanging “Stitching Through Time & Beyond”.
 
I’m sure there will be photos of the show very soon if you would like to check out all of the “challenge” quilts or this special silver anniversary show. The website is www.friendsandneedles.org. Also, the website for The Fabric Garden is www.fabricgarden.com.
 
Again, thanks so much for coming to Maine. You have inspired me twice so far! And I still want to make a spiral lone star…”    Ellen Nadeau

Today was really interesting! Don and I went to Balboa Park’s  Natural History Museum to see the exhibit “Body Works“. If you have not seen it in person, you will marvel at the inner workings of the human body – the muscles, organs, tendons, nerves and blood vessels are all real. Humans have donated their bodies upon death to the scientific plastification process so the rest of us may benefit from seeing the human body in a unique way.

In addition to the “Body Works” exhibition, we enjoyed viewing the water-wise exhibit educating Southern Calfornians about our water source (90% imported) and extreme water conditions (drought) ever seen on record. The Museum of Natural History has a wonderful prehistoric exhibit with dinosaurs, skeletal remains from archaelogical excavations and much more!

Find this museum at Balboa Park right near the big fountain. Weekends are a popular time for families and tourists alike to enjoy the many museums, gardens and sidewalk musicians at Balboa Park.

Date: Sunday, September 13, 2009, 7:19 PM