Extended Lunch - taking advantage of the sunshine

If you've been following my blog then you know how much I love going to Galveston. Since Hurricane Ike those visits have been few and far between, at least the day time visits when I have time to walk on the seawall - as I do go to the Island Quilters Guild evening meetings as much as possible.

Well, today was just too nice of a day to stay inside - I was tempted by the offer of an "extended lunch" and I was most eager to head south.

It's always fun to see the positive changes each time I visit the island post Ike. Today was no exception. After a wonderful lunch at The Spot it was time to walk the seawall.

The building behind me was totally washed away with Ike, I blogged about it a month after Ike, you can click here if you want to read about it. Hope. Today was the first time we've been to the Island since the gift shop has reopened. How do you like my new hat?


The Flagship Hotel, above, is still in a state of ruin. But even that couldn't put a damper on the beautiful day and how much I enjoyed being outside. So many memories in Galveston, it's a great escape and I love anytime I get to go there.

Now for those of you who think I play too much and don't get enough work in those "work hours" I'll have you know that I "doodled" some designs on my paper towel (The Spot's version of a napkin) while waiting for my lunch!



Who knows, might make some nice background fill in the next quilt. Hum....aren't most brilliant ideas first sketched out on napkins? (grin)

All too soon my extended lunch break was over and it was time to head back to the studio....I noticed that my thread catching cup was overflowing and figured that was a good excuse to go outside again for a minute....


See, I like to put my threads out for the birds. I somehow dream of them eagerly picking out their favorite color to line their nests. Alas, I've never seen any threads in nests, haven't even seen the nests...


But my offering is out there spread out on the burn pile so as not to clog up the lawn mower like I sometimes clog up my vacuum cleaner. Whether the wind blows it or the birds indeed find a treasure I may never know...

Back to work...have a beautiful colorful quilt on my frame that is as bright as the mood I'm today.

Gotta love what I do! Freedom to work, play, enjoy - who could ask for more!

The First Week of the Rest of My Life

I love the opportunity for new beginnings. Sundays are my all time favorite day of the week because that is my time for refreshing and worship. I count Mondays as good too because even though technically they are the second day of the week I think of them as the first day of my work week and I'm always eager to see where the week will lead me. The first of a month is fun because I get to turn to a new page on my calendar, there's a whole clean slate and days waiting to be filled - an opportunity to write my own history. New years are the epitome of newness. All of these are opportunities to start over, to put off the past both the joys and the failures, and to look with anticipation of the new day/week/month/year. The first day of the rest of my life awaits me fresh each morning. A day full of choices. My goal is to chose JOY!

I also like starting a new quilt. And what fun when I can start a new one on Monday and watch it's progress during the week. It amazes me how a pieced top can change so much while it's on the quilt frame. Little by little, row by row, stitches are added in an effort to complete the quilt. The hard part is being patient - I want to see how it's going to turn out! But that takes diligence, focus, and just plain hard work to put all those stitches in so I can "visualize" the finished quilt. (Sad thing, unless I'm doing the binding I really don't get to see the final quilt, as the binding adds another finishing design element to the quilt, but that's another rambler story!)

It's a new year and I'm ready for new things. Can't imagine what the future holds, but I know Who holds my future! It's a trust thing for me. Faith.

I also like new design elements and fresh ideas for my quilting. It's good to review things of the past and then see how to improve upon them, to grow with my passion. That happened this week with a new little design I like to call "Feather Puffs"



The design is a spin off of one of Irena Bluhm's designs. I have to admit, it's also a spin off from a scene in the movie Avatar. A small disclaimer here, while I enjoyed the movie for it's creativity and special effects I didn't like all the hidden messages including the pantheism - that of nature and God being equivalent. Tree hugger I'm not. But! With discernment I really enjoyed the visual sites in this movie including a beautiful seed pod that floated through the air, pretty much like blowing of a dandelion seed pod as a child and watching it take flight, with the added grace of jellyfish/sea anomee like movements.

It was with these thoughts that I decided to play around with adding "feather puffs" on the quilt gracing my frame this week. The one above became the design element in the chain blocks and little minature 'puffs' were sprinkled in along the border. The movement in these elements was very joyful and freeing this week. I was quilting in my element and enjoying the process.



I also wanted to take some photos of how I do feathers. The other day I mentioned in My Garden Grows Feathers how much I enjoy feathers and have worked really hard to learn many different types. So here's a little taste of how a formal feather plume grows under my hand guided longarm.

Basic stitched stem/vine/spine

I start in the middle and work my way towards the curl.
These are formal feathers sometimes called over the top
or hump and bump because every other one has
to be back tracked over the hump to form the following plume.

I like to work both sides of the stem instead of going down one side
and then back up the other. I think it's faster and funner (grin)

Once I've reached the curl I retrace or back track over the spine back
to the center and do the other side

Once the feather design element is complete I then add background filler
so it's not just floating out there (grin)

This is the completed quilt.

and close ups

The customer picked up her quilt today and expressed her pleasure, which of course completed my pleasure. Happy ending (grin). Actually, it's just the beginning for this quilt, it now needs to be bound and prepared to hang in a local quilt show next month, which I hope to attend!


So going back to the thought of improving with time...what do you think? Here's my feather of 2010 and..

here's my feathers of 2006 from a quilt called Purple Passions Unleashed

I'd like to think that I've improved with age (big grin)
and the best is yet to be!
After all, it's the first day of the rest of my life!

A Ray of Sunshine

I think I've mentioned before that I don't do cold (give me a tropical vacation any day!) nor do I handle dark depressing days very well. Seems we've had a lot of that lately. Sometimes it seems like it's been years...

Then out of the blue there was a ray of sunshine, and I took it as a time of rejoicing.

After running my errands I decided to drive through the local Mickey D's to get a coke and then knew I needed to go to the bay to unwind, reflect, pray.

I've gotten in the habit of bringing my camera where ever I go - never know when I'll see something inspiring (grin). Well, I realize that the Bacliff pier isn't that inspiring, but the calmness of the water and the brightness of the day was what I wanted to capture and record.

I can do a lot of thinking watching the water. Pondering really. Soul cleansing perhaps. Reflecting on the interesting twists in life. Sometimes life can throw some mean curve balls, other times there's so much joy that that too can be overwhelming or even confusing.

A new year, a renewed hope, a reminder that I'm not who I was, but that I'm still becoming who I am to be. A refreshing new knowledge that I'm loved for who I was, who I am, and who I will be. That I am truly blessed....

Deep thoughts for this shallow mind (grin). And all that from a ray of sunshine that just popped into my life today and distracted me for a little while from my work.

Tomorrow I'll post progress photos of the current quilt on the frame - it's a real beauty with fall leaves. I'm enjoying working on it. I hope that my customer is pleased with my efforts.

Time will tell. About a lot of things.

My Garden Grows Feathers

I'm not a gardener, by any means, not even of the 'fake' version - my silk plants grow way too much dust to even pretend to look real. I've known folks who truly enjoy working the soil, perhaps growing beautiful roses or even veggies that they share with those around them, or just enjoying a beautiful yard. Me, I grow quilts.

I don't particularly grow the floral ones very often, I tend to lean towards bright, bold and sometimes juvenile fabrics in my creations. One thing I do like, and that's a lot of color! Especially if there's a hint of purple...

The fabric from my newest quilted quilt is leftover from a project I started several years ago, a Stack 'N Whack butterfly quilt (did I mention that I like butterflies?). I really like pansies (too), in fact I have this same line of fabric in purple in other quilts from my 'early days' as a quilter. I found myself drawn to this print in my stash a year or so ago when I needed to make a Square in a Square class sample called Garden Party. Fitting. So, the piece was pieced, the class taught, and the quilt top went into the "quilts in waiting" pile and forgotten about.

Until this week. My "personal quilting vacation" that I try to schedule annually between Christmas and New Years. Yep. It was time to quilt this quilt. Interestingly enough, beginning my One Year Bible again yesterday I thought about the Garden of Eden as the reading was in Genesis (the book of beginnings!)...I had my own garden on the frame...invoking thoughts of warmer days (I don't do winter very well, give me endless summer, walks in the park, sitting by the shore watching the waves, keyword WARM!!)...the beginning of a new year, a fresh start...happily I quilted along!

Did I mention that I love to quilt feathers? I don't know what it is about them, but I've been drawn to feathers since before I had a longarm. I've struggled with feathers, believe me, I've struggled. Some of my first ones looked more like sad half hearts instead of the long slender plumes I envisioned. But as they say, it takes practice...so whenever I have the opportunity, I practice!


I couldn't decide if I wanted to do 'longarm' feathers (above) or 'formal' feathers (below) So I did both! Practice, practice, practice!



Then to finish it off I wrapped small formal feathers around the narrow border and flowing formal feathers in the wide border. It's always hard to decide what to do in a busy printed border as the quilting usually doesn't show up, but that's okay. I know it's there... that and my little "KEO" in the corner marking this quilt as my creation, the work of my hands. Sometimes I hide my initials, but I know they are there, the final signature of the love put into the quilt.


Interestingly enough, I neglected to put the year. Sometimes I do that so I'll remember when, but for some reason I didn't today. Perhaps because this little quilt crossed several years (my how quickly the years pass)...one in the piecing and two in the quilting - New Year's Eve and today! Too bad I didn't realize that today is one of those once in a lifetime days when it's the same both backward and forward... 01.02.2010 now that would have been cool to quilt...

Time. God created it for us. Genesis 1:14 tells us how He put lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night and to serve as signs to mark seasons, days and years.....

Father, we surrender this past year and give it up to You. We give You our failures, our regrets, and our disappointments, for we have no more use for them. Make us now a new people, forgetting what lies behind and pressing on toward that which lies ahead of us.

We give You all our hopes and dreams for the future. Purify them by Your Spirit so that our wills shall truly reflect Your will for us.

As we stand on the threshold of another year, encourage us by our successes of the past, challenge us by the power of Your Word, and guide us by the presence of Your Holy Spirit. --copied--

They say friends are like the garden of life, that when God wants to bless you He puts a person in your life.

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Today my quilt garden grew feathers...

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:31

....and I'm trusting Him to grow my spiritual garden to reflect His love, forgiveness, mercy, restoration, joy, and peace.

My Garden Grows Feathers
41 x 41
Pieced and Quilted by
Karen E Overton

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, think on these things.
Philippians 4:8

Happy New Year!

I was hoping to complete a little quilt today and post it as my New Year's greeting (it went on the frame yesterday and only needs borders to be finished)...but alas, cleaning out the closet, bookcase, and kitchen pantry got the best of my day (grin). Seems January has always been a time to clean and re-organize and I truly look forward to it.

Typically I also like to work on a UFO list for the year and pledge to do better than the previous year in knocking some projects off my list...problem is, I'm always adding more! I think I must enjoy the challenge of picking out the pattern, fabrics and planning stage more than I do the completion stage. One reason why I have tried my hand at wholeclothes, a chance to quilt without piecing! There's just not enough hours in my day - sound familiar!

Well, I found a UFO challenge in blogville... Checkout Patchwork Penguin's UFO challenge...I like her idea and her style and encourage you to participate if you too have UFO's, but I'm going to have to do mine a little differently. Being a quilter for hire (as well as an A-1 quilting machine dealer) I never really know how my month is going to turn out, will I have a few hours in the evening after work to devote to my own quilting? How many Sunday afternoons will be taken up with family instead of 'my day off' to quilt? My thinking is to work on my projects as much as I can and in the order of the ones that are nearest completion first! I like the prospect of some-what instant gradification (grin) so picking my own order instead of a random number with a group is going to work best for me.

I've made a list of all the projects that are started already and in those nice little project boxes on my shelf. I'm sure I'll add a few as we go. I'm hoping to learn how to do the html code to be able to draw a line through the ones I've completed cuz knowing me they WON'T be done in the order listed. Anyone that knows how to do this can enlighten me! please!!

As an encouragement I'm going to post photos of completed items - and right now I've got the 2009 album up to remind myself that I did accomplish something last year!



2009 Personal Quilts & Projects

So that's my plan....to reduce my UFO pile, and to quilt up those tops that are "quilts in waiting"....oh, and did I mention going back and putting labels on all the quilts all over the house while I can still remember the names of them and perhaps the dates they were made.

Lots to look forward to in 2010 - and not just quilts! But that's all I want to talk about for now....

The Quilt Rambler,
Karen O in TX

A Child of the King

Do you ever feel discouraged, disillusioned, feeling down but don't really have a good reason cuz in the scope of things there's really nothing wrong that should be causing these feelings?

Maybe it's the weather, ya'know, dark days do tend to be gloomy if we let them.

Maybe it's the let down from a
mountain top experience.

Maybe it's missing someone that has passed from this life.

Maybe it's the empty feeling when everyone else has returned to their normal after a wonderful time together and you're the one left at home. Alone, with only your thoughts.

Ever feel like giving up, lost your hope? Thinking that there's nothing you can do, have done, or will do that has even the potential of greatness? Uninspired? Feeling useless?

You're not alone.

It's been my experience that when these dark days come that I have several choices that not only affect my attitude and therefore my day, but also my outlook for my future. It's a fight between giving into darkness or looking for light.



Seems I've been having a lot of these goofy thoughts lately....that's when God gently reminds me that I'm His kid, and that I need to look for His glory and not my own wants, needs, or aspirations of greatness. I am nothing. He is everything.


It's during these times that I need to refocus, be still, and get my mind off myself and ask to be shown the big picture, to know where He wants me. My place in this world....


I'm reminded of a wonderful passage of scripture assuring me that God is the source of my salvation and my light.

Micah 7:7-8
But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation, My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is light for me.

He is the lifter of my head. I am a Child of the King! Sometimes I need a tangible reminder that this life is just a journey to my real home! Greater things are yet to come! Greater things are still to be done!

"Lift Up Your Head, You Are a Child of the King"
28 x 38
Hand Dyed Fabric
Quilted by Karen E Overton
Christmas 2009

Stash Builders Final Report

Words cannot describe nor photos do justice of the abundant blessings received tonight by members of the Island Quilters Guild, Galveston Texas.

Several months ago on an online forum with fellow longarm quilters nationwide and worldwide, I posted a comment in reply to several ladies describing how they were 'taming their stash' or 'organizing their stash' (for non-quilters, a stash is in reality a collection of fabric that may or may not get used in future projects, sometimes it's just eye candy and comfort, but generally it is used for the making of quilts...) Anyway...I casually replied that if anyone needed to find a good home for their way-ward stash or their overflow stash that I knew several ladies in my guild who lost ALL their stash to Hurricane Ike last year and that I'd be more than willing to be a facilitator to collect and distribute...




Immediately I was contacted by several of the gals who asked for my address and over the past several months boxes have arrived at my humble abode. (if you want more details please check my archives to the right).

,

The response was indeed an overflow. Not only did several of my longarm buddies respond with boxes of fabulous fabric - fat quarters, yardage, pre-cut squares, notions, thread, patterns - but we were also recipients of generous gifts from area guilds.

The ladies who lost their homes which included their quilting room items were asked to arrive at 4 PM this evening prior to our annual Christmas party.


We told them not to be shy or to think they were taking too much - and to use the boxes that had just been emptied and placed under the table for their treasure hunt. Our only "rule" was to put your name on the outside of the box so we knew that it wasn't one that we'd forgotten to unpack (grin)


Our goal was for all of the fabric to find a good home! The members of the board who had assisted me in storing the boxes these past few months agreed that none of it was coming back to our houses!


One of the 'touching moments' that I'll share was overhearing one of the ladies gently sigh as she picked up this piece of black fabric with little teapots on it..."Oh, I had this....it's almost like it's been given back to me." She later shared that loosing her fabric was one of the hardest things to let go of in the overwhelming reality of loosing so much of her possessions due to the hurricane.

Those of you who donated I can't tell you thank you enough for your generosity. Thank you for your trust in me to receive your unselfish donations and to facilitate it to such a loving group of giving ladies. We have a small guild, about 60 women, who on an average make over 200 charity quilts a year. The stash that you contributed to the Stash Builders project will undoubtedly continue to be unselfishly given away once again, but this time as part of a quilt that will cuddle someone in need. The blessings just continue! And that's the way it's suppose to be!

So, you ask, how did the rest of our evening go? Well, we tried something new this year....typically our tradition has been to play Quilt-O, which is a quilter's version of Bingo...couldn't tell ya' if it's because of the great door prizes that used to be given by our local quilt shop, Quilts By the Bay (which we lost due to Ike) or the fact that we always used Hershey Kisses for our markers, or should I say the wrappers from the kisses and the contents tended to disappear rapidly...Well, this year we decided we needed to do something fresh...something different...and something that sounded a little bold...



Strip Poker! Quilter's Version (grin) We antied up with 2.5 inch holiday fabric strips with the high card taking the first draw, then descending order having their pick...with a final game at each table with 'winner take all' . Oh and yes, we still had our kisses! After all, doesn't quilting and chocolate go hand in hand?!?!

Yep, it was a good night in Galveston.
Bless you my dear online friends who shared with us, and bless each of you for reading this Quilt Rambler's tale.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Play Day

Today was a play day. My "day off".

I've been wanting to test out Fil-Tec's Glisten Metallic thread as well as a new Soy Blend Batting...and since I'm been trying to do some UFO's but not having much time I thought...well...why not do a little bitty quilt...

I dug through my orphan blocks and found a really nice block that I made several years ago in a class at Houston Festival with Nancy Johnson-Srebro called Stars By Magic. I loved her technique and actually made a wall hanging with her designs but my little class sample was still just a block...

Hum, I'm sure I have some fabric that will make a 'border' and backing...yep...P&B's Wild Things to the rescue!



So this is my little quilt, approx 14" once I put a binding on it. I used Glisten Silver Metallic on the top and Glide on the bottom. The batting is Soy Blend and the combination was wonderful.



My plans are to bind it and then wash it to see how the batting as well as the thread hold up.

Since it was a small quilt and I had some backing leftover (grin) I cut another piece of fabric that would help me not waste the already loaded backing. It ended up being about 20 x 15 and I found a couple of Bamboo Blend batting scraps that I puzzle pieced together and decided to continue quilting with the metallic. The photo at the top is my fiddle faddle from this project. I figured one day I'll use this pre-quilted fabric for a little zippered back or something. Who knows.

Now that I think about it, I finished one UFO (orphan block) and created another (prequilted fabric). Don't think that helped the stash/unfinished project pile much, but I certainly had fun!

And that's what Days Off are suppose to be! Fun!

Quilter's Snow

My Professional Quilt Model sometimes has hard assignments, but Pixxie's always willing to accommodate!

Look what came on the freight truck today! Quilter's Snow -- more commonly known as Batting, unless you are from the UK and there it's Wadding...

Okay, okay, bad joke...but all around the Houston area there has been flurry sightings and it hasn't made it all the way south to Galveston County today so I just had to have my own snow story...

So here it is!

Last month we were able to take a tour of a batting manufacturer and up until now I haven't had time to share my story....



This is actually called Snow. It's Hollywood's version of snow, as in snow used for movies. Remember Tim Allen in The Santa Clause -- well, the snow for that movie came from this manufacturer and produced on this machine! How cool is that! Not only does Hollywood use this snow but large corporations such as malls who use indoor snow in their displays. Yep, it's simply made out of the same fibers our quilt batting is made from. And it can be made in different versions such as snow flakes falling, snow drifts or layers of snow on the ground (think thick batting!)

From the Snow Machine we made our way through the working warehouse on our quest to see how batting is made...


The fibers come in large bales such as this. Cotton, Soy, even Bamboo. I was able to hold some bamboo fibers in my hand and oh my goodness is it ever soft!!


Speaking of bamboo - did you know how renewable this stuff is! Take for example those cotton plants I shared yesterday...each year the farmer must plant the cotton seeds, pray for a good crop, harvest, and start over again the next year with new plants. Whereas bamboo keeps growing...the same plant is harvested approx. every 6 to 8 weeks by cutting off about 18 inches from the top growth. The plants remain useful for years, no waiting for it to mature like the full season needed for cotton. This particular manufacture has certified documentation that the plantation where this bamboo is grown has used no chemicals in the ground or pesticides in the growth of the product. In other words, it's good stuff!

Not only that, but I learned that bamboo is naturally anti-bacterial...seems there isn't a bacteria that feeds on this fiber. For example, if cotton gets wet and stays wet then mold and mildew can grow...not so on bamboo! Bamboo breathes and drys well. This manufacturer mixes ultra clean long stable cotton to the bamboo to make a very soft batting that is wonderful to quilt with. I used it in my Dangling Carrot quilt and its been washed several times. I love how it feels. This is my new personal favorite batting!

Okay, back to the story..

This company prides themselves in purchasing quality fibers, extra clean and chemical free. But they give it a good fluffing up and cleaning any way... This gentleman pictured below is actually mixing fibers as they enter the cleaning/fluffy machine (sorry I don't have techie terms, I'm just a former homeschool mom who loved field trips and I get so excited in what I'm seeing that sometimes my listening skills aren't the best, nor my memory!).

On one side he has a bale of bamboo fibers, on the other cotton fibers and they all get mixed up together in this particular machine.


I just loved how fluffy the fibers got as they went through this process. This machine also made sure that there wasn't any seeds or other items in the fibers. Indeed it reminded me of snow! Especially the few fibers that seemed to escape and float around the room. To me, this place was a wonderland.


Next the fibers traveled to another machine. I can't remember what this stage is called but it reminded me of 'carding' - I know my grandmother said they used to card the cotton between boards that had what looked like nails or needles on it. If I'm not mistaken the 'old timey' way was to not only clean out the seeds and any debris but also to elongate the fibers. I was blessed to take home a little wad of the bamboo fibers pictured above and a 'puff' of bamboo fibers from this machine pictured below. It is so soft, like what I imagine touching a cloud would be like. Have I mentioned that I love bamboo?!?!?!

From there the fibers travel through a maze of machinery. How I wish I'd of taken notes, it was sooooo fascinating!

Part of the process of course is to make the batting into rolls that many of us are familiar with. I didn't get a clear picture of the machine rolling it up on the tubing as it added a layer of scrim, but I did question about the ends that were cut off...what did they do with the discard? I was pleased to learn that everything is recycled. The discards are chopped up again and used as stuffing in the upholstery and mattress industry. Pretty cool, huh!


Once the battings are rolled off the presses (or whatever the machinery is called) the large rolls are then taken to quality control where every batch is hand inspected, counted (measured) and packaged, or cut into specialty sizes like crib, twin, queen, or king and packaged.


I so enjoyed the tour. Next I'd love to find a Cotton Gin that would give me a tour - wouldn't it be great to see the total process from field to finished! Come to think of it, I guess you could say I'm a part of that process as I take the batting and use my longarm to actually finish the quilt. Cool. Have to admit I always loved those from this to that (finished) books for kids or the shows on the Discovery channel about how things are made...

Oh, and all the batting that arrived by freight today? Well, that's for distribution as I am now a Longarm Distributor for Legacy by Pellon....so my fellow quilters, if you'd like more details on this fabulous line of batting please send use the contact form on my website and I'll be happy to accommodate.

Hope you enjoyed this little field trip with me...

still holding out for the real snow....which reminds me of a story....if you can indulge me for one more ramble...

When we lived in Tennessee we'd sometimes take the boys to Gatlinburg. There they had a ski slope...well Gatlinburg isn't in the Rockey's but the Smokey's so there's no guarantee of snow..to adjust for this they have machine that will make snow or "man made snow" as we explained to our young sons who were observing this process of snow blowing out of a machine.. A little later in our day nice big flakes starting falling from the sky and my son said "look mom, some God Snow not Man Snow!"

So here I wait, enjoying all the Quilter's Snow in the living room and looking out the window wondering if there's going to be any God Snow south of Houston tonight....

Texas Snow

In Texas, Cotton is king....and cattle, and oil, and... and.... and....

Okay, so we are a proud bunch, what can I say...

Hubby and I were traveling home from an A-1 Quilting Machine set up in San Angelo Texas this morning and instead of 'frost on the pumpkin' we saw frost on the cotton!

Burr, 33 degrees! Too cold for this gulf coast gal...but I couldn't resist a photo opt as we drove through miles and miles of cotton fields, many already picked... I guess as a quilter I just am naturally drawn to cotton...or could it be that my grandmother always shared stories of her 'cotton pickin' days'....in her later years she even grew cotton in her flower bed she loved it so much ..


Like I said, I'm a gulf coast gal and this beautiful field of cotton is about as close as I really want to get to Texas Snow....HOWEVER, it IS in the forecast tomorrow for Houston as well as Galveston county so stay tuned!