Dyeing with Friends

This past weekend I got together with three friends to dye fabric. Arlene has all the dyes, fabric and equipment so we do it in her driveway. If you had seen me Saturday night, you would wonder if any dye got on the fabric. I was certainly colorful!

Here's Nysha squishing dye around. This is before he just gave up on gloves and used his bare hands. He was pretty colorful too by the end of the day!


This is the neat contraption Arlene's husband built to rinse the fabrics. It beats rinsing in a bucket, and uses less water too. That's Marge rinsing fabric, and you can see the tshirts hanging on the fence that I dyed. Also on the left that splotchy fabric - we decided to use fabric to mop up the spills on the table and then activate the dye. We got some pretty cool pieces of fabric that way!


Here are my fabrics and Marge's fabrics marinating. We used procion dyes. What we do is called "color by accident", which means you will never be able to reproduce a color exactly. We measure about 2 tablespoons of dye powder to about one cup of urea water. And then we pour that onto about one yard of fabric. And leave it about 15 minutes, then add activator and leave that about one hour. You get the idea we aren't being real precise here.


See the gorgeous fabrics on the fence? Nysha fan folded, then scrunched, then wrapped the fabric around a piece of PVC pipe and tied it and then drizzled different color dyes on it. How cool!


More dye marinating in pans. Nysha did something called parfaits - you put a yard of fabric in the bottom of the bucket and pour a color on. Then put another yard on top and pour a different color on. Then a third yard and a third color, and then activate the whole thing. He got some really neat fabrics. I can't wait to see them washed and ironed. Washing them usually lightens the colors some.


Here's more fabric being rinsed. Do you think we like intense colors? I was trying to do gradations from yellow to red. They looked great in the buckets but when I rinsed them, they turned pink. So I overdyed them and got orange with pink overtones.


Here's our "supervisor", Arlene's husband Bill. He was nice to go get us pizza for lunch.


And here's Arlene and Marge showing off Arlene's gradations of purple.

Our Back Yard

I'm not the only talented one in the family. This spring Armando decided to give our back yard a facelift. First he rebuilt the stairs that go to the top of the hill behind our house. Actually he did that after I pitched a fit because the old stairs were rotting and dangerous.



Then he decided to stain the decks. His first attempt at color was a real bright orange. I told him it would have to be changed, so he came back with this redwood color. I like it better.


He decided to build a top for one of our old round tables (in the background) but after it was built he realized it was too heavy for the skinny legs so he built a base for it. And put ceramic tile on top.



Then put tile on our existing table so they match.



That big table will stay permanently where it is - it already was heavy, now with cement board and tile it would take at least three people to move it! I'm not sure how well it will winter. I guess we'll find out.



Then the pool was leaking and I couldn't clean it.



Finally the pool is fixed and clean and sparkling so I took these photos today - the back yard probably won't look this good the rest of the summer!

Ghost Birds Too

My brother David wrote a book about saving cranes and swans. See my March 13 post for more details. I made him a quilt for his office, and he said it was too nice for his office, it would go in the living room. So I said I'd make another for his office.



He received it the other day, and called to tell me it's too nice to hang in the office, so it will go in the dining room.



I told him then I guess his office wall will be bare, because he has had his quota of quilts for awhile, and if I did make another one, it would not have cranes. I'm over cranes and oriental fabrics.



My soon-to-be famous brother has been invited to do a book signing and lecture at the Smithsonian this summer. He'll also be doing book signings and lectures in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Maryland. He's going to take the quilt along as a prop.

Italian Festivals and Italian Weddings

Jan and Curt, friends from Texas, stopped in last weekend. We headed down to the Italian Festival on Friday.



We actually knew someone who had a booth who invited us to eat and drink with them. Here's Brian and Bill:



And Glen:









The next day we headed to Graceland. They have added the stables as a new attraction, but it costs an extra $15 for the tour. We passed. I've been to Graceland so many times I think I could recite the taped tour by memory. Armando said he is never going again.



After that, Jan, Curt and Armando headed to Tunica and Beale Street. But I passed, since Whitt and Kristle's wedding reception was that night. They were married in Jamaica two weeks ago. She looked like a little Hawaiian princess.



The mother of the bride, Barb...



and the parents of the groom, Suzanne and Dave.

World Championship Barbeque Cooking Contest

Every year Memphis throws a big party - Memphis in May. The first weekend is the three day Beale Street Music Festival (or should I say Mud Festival, since it ALWAYS rains that weekend). The fourth weekend is the Sunset Symphony where they play on a stage at the river and people come with their picnics to listen to the music and enjoy the fireworks. But by far the craziest weekend is Barbeque Weekend.



Some of the team names:
Greaseland Porkers * Notorious P.I.G. * Pork Illustrated *
Wasted "n" Basted * Three Pigs to the Wind * Four Pork Harmony *
Adribbers * Aporkalyps Now * Barefoot in the Pork *




When we first went years ago, we walked around and saw the crazy booths and smelled the good smells, and watched everyone having a party, but since each party is private we could only watch. This year we knew 4 people who had booths and were invited to stop by each. So we got to party and eat great barbeque. Here's Tim, Armando and Margie at the Rebel Roaster Revue booth - they came in 6th in the shoulder contest. They have winners in three categories: ribs, shoulder and whole hog. From those three winners they select the grand champion.





Oinking on the River * Pork Fiction * Rib Ticklers * Serial Grillers *
South Pork * Swine-o-mite * Swinebucks *



It's billed as the World Championship Contest - 240 teams competing for big prize money and bragging rights - there were teams from Denmark and Norway to make it truly international. But most of the teams are from Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas with a few from Georgia, Alabama, N.Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Indiana. Texas thinks real barbeque is beef, and Kansas City seems to think they are the #1 Barbeque capital in the US but we know better.

This booth belongs to Sow Luau. Every year they add a new head.



Any Pork in a Storm * The Hogfather * Holy Sow *
Not Ready for Swine Time Porkers * Parrothead Porkers of Hogaritaville *
Pit and the Pigulum * The Ques Brothers *










On Thursday at 5:30 they have the "Official Lighting of the Grill" - sort of like the Olympic Torch I suppose, but more like NASCAR -"Ladies and Gentlemen, light your fires!" They have the Miss Piggie Idol Contest - mostly guys dressed in pig noses and tutus. Friday night on the stage we watcged Ralph Stanley & Clinch Mountain perform - an OLD bluegrass band. If you saw "O Brother Where Art Thou?" it was that kind of bluegrass - in fact Ralph Stanley is featured singing in that movie.



Every year Memphis in May picks a country to honor. This year was Chile. We saw lots of Easter Island heads at booths. Some of them had pig noses.



We got invited to one party where they had a three story space. We went up to the top and got some great photos.



See the houses in the background up on the bluff? Cybill Shepperd has a house up there overlooking the river. What a view, but I'll bet they get no sleep during Music Festival or Barbeque Weekends.







Armando's cousin Magda and her husband Pepe are here visiting from Peru and they got to enjoy the 'Que experience with us. Pepe is the photographer for this blog entry.



Great food, great fun, great silliness.

Flocked!

A few days ago I woke up to discover that a flock of flamingos had landed in my yard! And not just any flamingos, but dressed up ones! Wearing leis and Mardi Gras beads!



Don't you think they go well with my azaleas? I thought they looked pretty cool, but couldn't really think who would put them there or why. And then I read the note. It seems that a woman named Millie McAllister is going to participate in the three day Walking for a Cure in San Francisco in the fall, and is trying to raise money. So she sent this flock of flamingos flying away, they land in your yard and stay two days, and then you get to decide where they fly off to next. What a great fund raising idea! I might not have donated if she had just asked for money, but the flamingos were so much fun, and then I got to send them to someone else, so I just had to send a donation.

The Girlfriends

Every year I get together with four crazy friends from high school. This spring it was my turn to be the hostess. Sue couldn't come so they brought a rabbit as a stand-in. Since it was Easter week, our craft was coloring Easter eggs. They turned out pretty neat, even though Mary complained the whole time that she hates coloring eggs.

Here we are at the theater with our bunny ears. Except Mary, she had to be different and wear lamb's ears. Notice the tasteful necklace I am wearing! Not only was it beautiful, the eggs flashed!


Not only did they bring me a special necklace though, they brought me this:


Here we are antiquing....


On Beale Street....



In front of the National Civil Rights Museum...



Since it was Easter Week, our craft was coloring Easter eggs, and I thought they turned out beautiful, even though Mary complained the whole time about how much she hated to color eggs.


Here we are trying on silly hats at A.Schwab's General Store on Beale Street.



And we decided to try some Asian Bubble Tea - we all decided after trying it that it was pretty silly.