Geez.........Sam, a Dinner Party and a Machine Problem

When I sat down to do my "very inspiring post" the other day, the one that disappeared itself, I meant for the post to be about Sam Gilliam, not my rusty things!  They were just in there for highlights.

I was driving somewhere and heard the NPR show on Sam Gilliam (click on his name to see the NPR episode written out and with pictures!

I thought it was very interesting to have someone at 84 doing things I considered more Contemporary and Modern.  He has a love for color and for fabric, which he uses to drape indifferent ways at every time he exhibits.  You know that when you need to return something fabric, once taken out of a package, never goes back in the same way again!

Remember Matt from the Cousin's Party?  Home from the first year of the Naval Academy?

Well he sang at John McCain's funeral!  That is him in the center cadet section on the end of the second row from the top.

In all his handsome uniformed glory!  Proud momma Karen and I texted back and forth the whole time catching glimpses of him on the three networks carrying the funeral.

I still need to bind the Doily quilt.  I was telling Julie that since I started machine binding these quilts they finish so quickly.  Although sometimes I miss the tedium of hand sewing the binding down when I am watching TV.  I need to train myself to pick up my wool embroidery from Katie Prescott's class.

Last night I had a small dinner party for Michael and Renee.  We shared stories about the kids and grandkids, drank several bottles of wine and ate Crawfish Etouffe, Frank's wonderful salad and an Apple Pie to die for.

I had to go to three stores to find a small container of vanilla ice cream!  The ice creams are so exotic now that plain vanilla is difficult to find.

I will share the recipe for the pie with you.  This wasn't my original, that book was lost in the flood, but this is close.  I added some spices in the apples like cinnamon and a tiny bit of nutmeg.  Nutmeg tends to overwhelm tastes, so next time I think I will leave that out totally.  Tiny wasn't tiny enough for me.  Although Michael and Frank had two pieces and Frank went back before he went to bed.

Oh and I used brown sugar in place of the regular sugar.

The crust was wonderful.  My favorite part, I think.

I still have to do the post on Modern Quilting, what makes a quilt modern or not.

And I still have to put the Joseph Albers quilt together.  I think I am going to Walking Foot Quilt it on my Viking.  Diane told me she would give  me her mother's Janome and

I think I am going to take her up on it.

This Viking does some stupid skip stitch that only happens with me, never with the mechanic.  It will randomly grab the thread and twist up in a knot under the fabric.

Anybody have that happen?

Here is Sawyer's latest evolution.  Flat and stiff!  Strange little boy he is!

He definitely takes after me!