The Quilter's Apprentice: How I was like Sarah McClure

If you have read Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek books, then you will know what I mean by the title of this post when I write about Sarah McClure. Funny enough, she was from PA too, and moved to a new location, as I did to Ireland. When Sarah went to her first Tangled Web Quilter's Meeting, I knew exactly how she felt...I had done the same. I remember reading how Sarah was welcomed by Bonnie and that is what happened to me. I was throughly accepted into the bee. I went to the Wednesday meeting and felt the usual apprehension of being new. I really have never done that well with groups or large parties, etc. However, they were so welcoming, and I couldn't but help to feel accepted. The bee was held in Pauline's Quilt Shop. I had brought some blocks with me to sew for a quilt that I was making, and I found out that I was not going to get too much sewing done, as we chit chatted most of the three hours that we were there. We stopped for cake and coffee, and I was told by Attracta that I had fallen into the best quilting bee at Sheephaven Guild. Oh, there were one or two later who were not so friendly, but that is the same anywhere. Now, I have my featherweight, so Joe and I walk the 5 minutes it takes from our house to the quilt shop with my featherweight on Joe's shoulder, and me carrying the bag with my supplies. There are bees a few times a week, but I chose to attend on Wednesday afternoons from 2-5 PM. There are also classes every day except for Sundays and Mondays , and I am scheduled this summer to take a wonderful course on making fancy patchwork bags. As you can see by the pics, we are all a happy bunch of ladies with varied ages and backgrounds, but who all love quilting and enjoying a bit of craic(fun).

Irish Food

Well, I am going to talk about one of my favorite topics...good food. Irish food is so tasty! When we were camping around the Wicklow Mountains, we stayed at a B&B where I had a wonderful Irish breakfast. It was huge! Usually, you get eggs, bacon, sausages, beans, mushroom,and my favorite pudding. Pudding comes in the white or black variety. The black type is actually made from pig's blood, and I won't go into all of its ingredients, but you can look at the breakfast that I am talking about at www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mostof_blackpudding.shtml . I have also learned to love shepherd's pie and especially love steak and kidney pie. I usually eat only fish and vegetables and fruit, and usually order chicken when I am out, but every once in a while, I will order a good Irish meal, and then even though I thoroughly enjoy it, my body rebels later.It is used to getting healthy food. Then of course, there is Irish Dublin Coddle...very delicious. Here is a good recipe for it at the following site, and on a winter's day, it is perfect. Here it is at
www.foodireland.com/recipes/meat/Dublin_Coddle.htm There is nothing like sitting comfortably in an Irish pub and having a good Irish meal. Generally, the pubs will give you at least 5 choices for dinner. Anyway, I have loved discovering Irish food...Now, as far as Guinness, that is an acquired taste...You will either love it or hate it. LOL

Life in the Small Town in Ireland

Small town life is so different! When I came here to Ireland, we mostly lived in small towns, and I had to get used to that for sure. Having grown up in Philadelphia, I am used to not being noticed. I could go in a supermarket, and no one would say a word to me. They basically wouldn't know me. You surely had your anonymity, and in a way that is good. Here, people know everything about you....I mean everything. They will stop Joe and me, and say that they saw us doing whatever, and it amazes me. One woman who was jogging stopped and said, "You two always walk everywhere, don't you?" Well, who was she? I never saw her, but they all know that we walk everywhere, as we decided to not get a car when we came back to Ireland.Then someone saw us walking together and said,"You two always hold hands. That's so sweet. We have all noticed that." I again looked at her, and thought, "Do I know her?"Joe says that the locals notice everything and everybody. They think that they know everything about us. I still haven't gotten used to that. As Joe and I are always together, that is noticed too. When Joe goes into the local store and I happen to not be with him, they will ask, "Where is your wife?" Joe always says that you really couldn't do anything wrong in this town and laughs.Then there is the gossip...oh my gosh! It is amazing how much of that there is. The good side to it, is that if you got sick and did not show up at the local shop, someone would come to your house and see if you were alright. That is very nice. What is also amazing is that the bus driver will stop and pick you up or let you off where you want, even though the stop is not part of his designated route. I find that amazing! If we say to stop at our house, he will do it. When we have loads of bags after shopping, that makes it so easy. Living in a small town has been good, as we have taken many more walks than we ever did, as the scenery here is incredible. Well, we are both considered blow-ins....Joe because he is from Dublin, which is worlds apart from Dunfanaghy, and me because I am the Yank from the States. Even if we are here 30 years, we will still be blow-ins, but the locals are still very friendly indeed, and will tell you that you are a blow-in a very humourous, amiable way. Funny enough, I wouldn't live in a big town or city anymore. I really have turned into a country girl.

My 1953 221 Featherweight

I think one of the most exciting days happened when I got my featherweight from Graham Forsdyke in England. It is so cute, and boy does it sew nicely!...even better straight stitching than my Pfaff 2048 with IDT. All the gals at the quilting bee loved it, and it sews so quietly. It is perfect for quilting, patchwork, and machine piecing. I love it, love it!

Teddy Bears

Well, I have been collecting teddy bears all of my life, and l love them.I have tons of them! My favorite one is a pink bear . As you can see, the bear, whose name is Pinky, is sitting next to one of my favorite machines, the Janome 350E, which is an embroidery machine. I have a huge Pooh bear which I found at a thrift store in Letterkenny, and had to get it. He is sitting in my old fashioned rocking chair in the computer room. Also, I won a FAO Schrwartz bear once in a radio contest in addition to a trip to NY. Well, the pink bear was adopted by me at Build A Bear...I enjoyed making the bear, as I never have completely grown up, I am afraid. I just love bears!

Postcard Gallery

I have received some wonderful fabric postcards from friends. From the Postcard Pizzazz Group, I have so far gotten one beautiful card from KR, which is the one with the fruits, and it is called
"Tropical Punch". Then, I received two from Kath : One was the boy and the dog...It's so cute! Well, Kath, you are a dog lover too. The second one was of the dragonflies and Kath hand painted the fabric with watercolour paints and stencilled it with gel pens and glitter glue. The others are from Ann, who sent me one of Sir Len Hutton, and Annette, who did famous names for the year 1980.

Today, on August 5th, I received a wonderful card from Pam who is a member of the Postcard Pizazz Group. The Silk Ribbon Flowers are gorgeous! It was such a beautiful card.

International Siggy Swap

It is so much fun to get a block in the mail from someone who lives in a country far away. It reminds me of exchanging QSL cards as a radio operator. This , however, is a block that was made with a lot of love and time, and it is beautiful. I joined the International Siggy Swap, which is run by Annelies . She is a lovely woman from Holland, and she was gracious enough to take me into the group. To get into the group, I had to send her a block that was made from the pattern of block D13 from the Dear Jane Quilt. In the center, most people use a stamp that says something about them, but even though I ordered my stamp from Inkspirations, I hadn't gotten it yet, so I decided to machine embroider a daffodil for the center of her block. Annelies also sent me one, and it was exciting to get it. It had three monkeys on it, and it was so cute! Well, when she got mine in a couple of days, she put me on the International Siggy List...There were so many people on the list, and soon , I was getting contacted and told that siggies were on the way. I have twenty siggy blocks so far, and that is a good beginning. I will definitelymake a quilt out of all the blocks. Most of the people send blocks with a hand written letter telling about themselves. It is wonderful to read the letters and to get to know the people, and I have stayed in contact with some of them, and formed some wonderful friendships. What a nice way to make friends! The blocks are beautiful, and I love looking at the fabric that the person chose, the stamp that is always so colorful and lovely, and most of all love reading the letters. I just recently got my stamps from Inkspirations, and there are actually two stamps that I have to use. One is a stamp that shows the country of Ireland and has a shamrock that shows where Dunfanaghy is on the map. Isn't that cute? The second stamp gets stamped over the first one, and it has a harp( which is on all of our coins), Dunfanaghy, Ireland written on it, and my signature. It really turned out nicely. I had to practice how to use them and get them aligned just right, but now I am a whiz at it.
I love being part of the International Siggy Swap!

Radio Operator

Wow! Yesterday was the first day of my new blog, and I have been having so much fun writing in my blog. Anyway, I realized that I forgot to mention that I am a radio operator. It all started when I was a young girl. I started listening to the Shortwave radios, as my dad got me a Grundig, and it was wonderful. I began to exchange QSL cards from all over the world, and had a collection of over 200 in a year's time. I listened to music and news shows from all over the world, and learned so much! Later, when I was living in Texas, I decided to get my license as a radio operator. There are many levels of licenses. The first one is the novice license and that required that I pass Morse Code, and boy was that hard to learn. I remember the day that I was tested. I was sitting in a room with three instructors...that was making me nervous. I had to put on head phones and translate onto paper all of the Morse Code that I was hearing. Well, needless to say I passed and my call sign became KD5TMN. I then went back to get my Technician's license...I had to learn a huge manual, and then finally I got my General Class License which gave me the capability to contact people from all over the world with my transceiver. That was back in 2002. Then when I came to Ireland after marrying Joe, we lived in Fintown, which was a lovely village located on Lough Finn. Our home was idyllic. I set up a radio station there. The wire was hooked up from the radio and led all the way to a pole on the property, and boy could I get great reception with that antenna. My Irish call sign was EI5JU, and that was exciting when I got that one. There is nothing as wonderful as talking to someone who lives in another country and making friends from all over the world. There is a whole radio language to learn and it is so much fun using all the terminology.I decided when we came back to Ireland to retire that I would not continue my radio hobby. There are so many storms and high winds in Donegal County, and of course that causes problems with the antenna. I will never forget my times on the radio though, and I am very proud that I became a General Class radio operator.

Walking the Hills of Donegal

The pastime that Joe and I love the most is walking the hills of Donegal together. We always take long walks , and we walk at least 4-5 miles a day. Sometimes, we get really adventurous, and take much longer walks. Our two favortie walks that we took on two such adventurous days were to Tramore Beach and to Horn Head. To get to Tramore Beach, we had to walk over Tramore Bridge, climb down the style and up another one to get to the sand dunes. Then we climbed and climbed the sand dunes for miles. The scenery was breathtaking....with New Lake and Muckish Mountain in the distance to the left. The climb over the dunes was well worth it, because as we were standing on the last and tallest dune, we saw Tramore Beach. It was spectacular, and we had the whole beach to ourselves. We walked the length of the beach and Tory Island was way in the distance .and we had the whole spectacular view to ourselves. It was wonderful! The total distance of this walk was 8 miles round trip, but it was well worth the effort. Our next difficult walk was 12 miles. We walked around Horn Head. We crosed Horn Head Bridge again, but this time turned right and made the long loop around Horn Head. It was an extremely difficult hike, but again the scenery was beautiful. The ocean was wild and breathtaking and we had never seen such lovely scenery. By the time we got to the end of the loop, we barely were able to walk...one of the wonderful advantages to getting older, I guess. Well, I said to Joe, " We did it, and that is quite an accomplishment." Joe agreed with that but said, "Never again." I agreed with him ,but my oh my it was lovely!

Jeri in Fla.

Jeri is a friend of mine who lives in Florida. She is a wonderful machine embroiderer extroadinaire. We are kindred spirits in many ways, and I just had to write about how much she means to me. She has become a baby sis to me, and we are so close. She is a teacher like I was, but whereas I was an English teacher, she is a music teacher and is very dedicated to her music and her teaching. Music is basically her life, but her family is very important to her. I used to live in Florida, and boy is it hot there, and as I am frequently told by my friend, it is still boiling hot there. I don't think that I could hack living there anymore, as here in Dunfanaghy, we think that when it gets up to the 70's, it is very hot. It is all relative, I guess. She calls me Mickilene, and she is the only person in the world who calls me that. My parents called me Annie, as my first name is Anne. Ok, I will have to say that I started to use Micki when I was 16 years old, as I loved Mickey Mouse...part of it was to be a bit rebellious, I have to admit, and the name has stuck with me. Jeri, you are very special, and so gator, I had to write about you, as this is the first day of my new blog.

Fantasy Books and Writers

I love the Terry Brooks Shannara Series...I have read through it twice, which is quite a feat, as the series is a huge one. I always love becoming lost in the fantasy world of elves, dwarves, and other fantasy creatures. I would love to one day create my own doll which is a very unique elf, or digitize some designs revolving around the world of fantasy. I also adore Tokien's Lord of the Rings Series, and of course enjoyed watching all the movies directed by Peter Jackson. In addition, I have admired Terry Pratchett for many years, and especially loved the Disworld Series. Recently, he got Alzheimers Disease, and on his website is the inspiring speech he gave to the Alzheimer's Research Trust Conference. He is truly an inspiration and a great writer.

Charlie and Rufus

We have rescued both of our dogs named Charlie and Rufus. Charlie is a corgi/heeler mix, and Rufus is a border collie. Charlie was abandoned on the street and was there for a few weeks, but Rufus was horribly abused . Charlie is very laid back, and he loves to sleep...that he does very well indeed. He finds a sunny spot and then he is off to dreamland. Rufus, on the other hand, is a watchdog supreme. He spends all day watching our home and he really does not like people too much, but he is extremely loyal and loving to us. They are both loved and spoiled rotten, but we enjoy doing that. They have been with us for many years and have given us so much love. They are both very funny dogs, each in their own way. They sleep on feather duvets and don't know a minute of stress, and don't they deserve it. Rufus is now in a contest in Ireland for the "Best Loved Dog in Ireland", and of course, I think he should win.

Sylvia Bridal Sampler and the Friendship Group

I read many of the Elm Creek novels, and I decided one day to do The Sylvia Bridal Sampler. The quilt has 140 blocks and each block had a different technique and challenge. I worked on the quilt for four months, and not a day went by when I wasn't doing at least one block. I shared all of my blocks with Marie, and the ladies at the guild watched me do the blocks each week when I went to the quilting bee. It was quite a learning journey for me, and then at last I was done. I have the quilt pictured on the site, and it does mean a lot to me. My husband Joe was so supportive of me throughout my endeavour, and I am so appreciative of all of his help. I can remember one day Joe climbing on a ladder and hanging the quilt on a fence near our home so he could take a pic of it. You can see how big the quilt is. I don't think that I would do a sampler again, but I am glad that I did this quilt. It was a once in lifetime experience. I will cherish the quilt forever, but the best part of doing the quilt was sharing the completed quilt with family and friends, as they were as proud of my achievement as I was.

Also, as a result having done the quilt, I joined the Sylvia Bridal Sampler Yahoo Group, and then as an offshoot to this original group, I became a member of the Friendship Group. This has been so much fun. We all write each other, and now we are all involved in many swaps together. I am leading two of them: One is a FQ swap, where we are swapping FQ's (5 each) and the other is a Christmas Swap, where we are swapping Christmas blocks, which are stars of our choosing. We have formed some very nice friendships there, and even though I am finished the group, I would miss them all if I left, so I have decided to stay.I even have a baby sister who I have adopted fromthe group, named Elaine , and it is always nice to get an email from her. I am also in the Siggy Swap, and love getting the blocks signed with everyone's name, country, and date on the block....what fun! Also finally, I am in the Birthday Swap, and there we are sending a birthday block, picking a block from the Sylvia Bridal Sampler , to wish the person a Happy Birthday. I have decided to make a Christmas quilt out of the blocks that I receive for the Christmas Swap, a table runner out of the Birthday blocks and another quilt from the Siggy blocks. They will all be wonderful memories for me. I am in the process of finishing all of my blocks and mailing them out, and had a ball buying the fabric for them. I just am lucky to be a member of that group.

Canadian Friends

This year, I have made some wonderful friends from British Colombia, Canada: Marie and "Snowie" ...They have become dear friends of mine, whom I am so lucky to share my life with. Marie has helped me with so many things, with everything including my sewing. I call her "Professor" and she calls me with a great deal of love "Monkey". Even though distance seperates us, we care a lot about each other. There is not a day goes by that we don't write each other, and each morning, I look forward to her email that greets me to another day and all the other emails that arrive throughout the day. I share everything with her, and she is my best friend. Snowie, I have gotten to know more recently, but what a dear lady she is. I am so lucky to have her as a friend. We are becoming good friends and I do value her friendship. Recently, she and her husband Bryan adopted a wonderful dog named Buck, and what a lucky dog he is to have found them and his new home. Well, friendships like these two don't come too often. I hope to one day go to Canada and nothing would make me happier than to go on the walk to the lake with Marie, or sit at Snowie and Bryan's table overlooking the lake and having a pint with them.

Postcard Pizzazz Yahoo Group

I have become very involved with the Postcard Pizzazz Yahoo Group. I met some great people there like Kath, Janet, and KR, and many others. We are swapping fabric postcards, and it really is a blast. It is so much fun receiving the postcards in the mail. My first one came from Kath Lordan, and it was so cute. It had a dog theme, and it was so cleverly done. I sent her the first postcard that I ever made...a postcard with heather on it, which of course is very common here in Ireland. I machine embroidered the heather, and I was so pleased with it, as it was the very first card that I made. Now, I have a few under my belt. I have made one for Susan for a 1 to 1 swap, which was an embroiderd daffodil, and I have just finished another postcard for Kath, which was for a dragonfly theme. I fussy cut some flowers and satin stitched them and then did a hand applique of the dragonfly. I am making a dragonfly card for Janet too. Oh yes, Janet Mcelroy is the one who introduced me to making a blog, and she and I are becoming friends. I have made a fish postcard which I called "Fishy Sea" and sent it to a very good friend in British Colombia called Snowie, and I machine embroidered the fish using several colours of thread but predominantly a fluorescent yellow embroidery thread which made the fish pop. I machine quilted the sea, and it looked like waves were moving, and she should be getting that one next week. I ordered a Post Card stamp from Inkspirations, and love using all kinds of embellishment on the cards. I ordered some plastic sleeves for the cards and an album for the cards. Boy, I can see that I am really getting myself into all of this.

The Sheephaven Guild

I have already said how I found the Sheephaven Guild. There are wonderful classes that you can take at Pauline's Quilt Shop right in Dunfanaghy town. I attend the quilting bee on Wednesdays, and it is a lovely group of ladies. We chit chat and sew, but mostly chit chat. I love to quilt, and it is ever so much more fun when you do it with friends. I love the idea of a bee, and first heard of them in the Pa. Dutch Country. I read about them in the Elm Creek novels, and always loved the idea of sharing a hobby with a group of friends. It is a time to share, discuss ideas, learn new techniques, and just have lots of fun.

Meeting My Soulmate

I had to tell the story about how I met my soulmate Joe. I was teaching in Camden, NJ at Morgan Village Middle School. It was near the end of the school year, and the students were getting antsy to say the least. I was an English teacher, and well, kids generally didn't like English, but especially did not like writing assignments. I came up with a creative idea....writing pen pals. I found an international organization that allowed the students to choose the country that they wanted to write to. They insisted that I do it too, and I said that I would. Well, that night, I picked Ireland. I told my best girlfriend that I would write the person once and once only, as I had promised my students. Well, Joe by coincidence had applied to that pen pal agency a long time ago and happened to go to the site after not being there for years. He then saw my letter and decided to write me. Well, we wrote thousands of emails to each other, and then one day, just before New Year's Day, Joe called me, and I heard his voice for the first time. I was falling in love, as hard as it may be to believe that. Then Joe came to Philadelphia, and soon afterwards we were married. I left my job, and everyone at my school thought it a fairy tale story. That was 12 years ago. It was destiny that we met.

A Friend in Australia

This is dedicated to Mary who lives in Australia. Mary lives in the bush area and is married also to her soulmate, Geoff. She is an avid machine embroiderer, and is wonderful at her craft. She has a wonderful sense of humour, and I have learned so much from her about machine embroidery. I love to receive an email from Mary every morning, although when she is writing to me, it is evening her time. She is also in another season...how strange! I am so glad that we are friends, and it is wonderful to share our lives together. I just started into machine embroidery, but Mary always makes such a fuss over my work....she is so sweet to do that! I aspire to one day create the wonderful cloths and lacework that she does, but we can always wish. Her friendship means a lot to me, and it is nice to know such a nice Aussie.

Irish Muses

I live in Dunfanaghy, Ireland. How did I land up here? I am originally from Philadephia, PA, and thus, I am a Philly girl. I fell in love with a Dub and landed up in the beautiful country of Ireland, in what they call the Northwest Passage or the northern part of County Donegal. When I came to Ireland, I have to admit it was a culture shock. Hey, I was used to the big city, and stores being opened on Sunday. We were living in the midlands then and it was dead as a doornail there and not very attractive at all. Then one day, we decided to go camping and found Donegal County. We both fell in love with it, and on a sudden whim, we decided to move up here and we landed up in Letterkenny. We then returned to the states for several years so I could finish my teaching, and finally returned to our beloved Donegal. We brought our two dogs Rufus and Charlie with us. That is a story and a half. I had an injured leg, and I drove to Chicago all the way from Austin, Tx, where we were living at the time, so that we could put the dogs on one plane to Dublin. As you can see, we wanted to come home. We lived in Letterkenny again first, then moved to Glenties, but we still did not find our niche, as they say. One day, I found out about a quilting guild, and heard of a quilt shop in Dunfanaghy owned by a native of Holland named Pauline Openneer. I absolutely loved the town. Well, why not? It was located right by the sea, was surrounded by hills, and had an active guild in town. Well, luckily, Joe loved it too, and now we have been here almost a year in September. It is a piece of heaven for sure, and we thoroughly enjoy retirement and especially our walks together . We are finally home.