Where Have I Been?

 

 

OMG!
It’s been a YEAR!

Can’t believe I got so busy with “life” I forgot about my blog!
Jeez it’s not like there have not been many changes since I last posted.

First there was a job change. No longer teaching at Jo-Ann’s Fabrics in The Woodlands, Texas.
But there are a couple new adventures in which I’ve  managed to find myself

I’m currently making samples for Cupcake Fabrics & Quilts for the Houston International Quilt Festival 1014 & you can find us in Booth #260. Lots of fun fabric, patterns, books, & more. If you’re going to be in Houston any time during October 30-November 2, 2014 stop by our booth and say “Hello”.

I’m also doing piece work & teaching classes locally at a new quilt store. Quilts and Creations in Kingwood, Texas.
Love working there! Sarah, owner, also rents & sells long-arm machines. SO, if you’re in the area and have a mind to quilt your own tops…come on in. We will love to see you. Quilts and Creations will also be in the Gammel booth at festival.

Tomorrow is sewing at Wilma’s as usual.
Work on Wednesday & Thursday.
Teaching my pillowcase dress class (one of the beginning classes on the roster at Quilts and Creations) on Friday.
Then it will be the weekend again!

Love weekends. Don’t you?

Hubs & I are going to catch a couple of movies…Annabelle  and Girl Gone! We would not normally see one (1) movie two weeks in a row…but…this IS an exceptional weekend.

Hope your week is full of FUN, LAUGHTER, & all that brings you happiness.

In and Because of HIM,
Susan

GrandmasSupplyAttic

Found Some “Stuff” Y’all Might Like :D

 

Here are a few things I thought you sewer/quilters out there might like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lfaSmDxVZQ  – The Blind Quilter

http://intrepidthread.blogspot.com/2013/11/leaf-feather-quilt-block-tutorial-and.html – Tutorial for “Leaf Feather” from The Intrepid Thread blog

and last but not least…

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sewcalgal/319046298197853  – SewCal Gal on Face Book

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas.
susan

What Inspires You?

No matter your craft whether it be drawing, quilting/sewing, painting, or you’re an avid chef, someone or something has inspired you to begin your craft or has caused you to reach to higher aspirations.  I would imagine that Picasso,

• • Pablo Picasso Painter

  • Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, known as Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer who spent most of his adult life in France. Wikipedia

Rembrandt,

• • The Storm on the Sea of Galilee

    Painting

  • The Storm on the Sea of Galilee is a painting from 1633 by the Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt van Rijn that was in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, prior to being stolen on March 18, 1990. Wikipedia

Shakespeare,

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” William Shakespeare

• William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon”. Wikipedia

and other great artists conceived many ideas from the same things that inspire and motivate us to create our own works of art.

I’m an eclectic crafter. My first love is  quilting & sewing. But, I also enjoy many other crafts such as crochet, rug hooking, and many  others.  I would also aspire to be a knitter, a painter, a jewelry maker (although I have had my hand in a bit of that), a textile designer, etc. You get the message. I only have one lifetime here on earth. So, I’ll just have to keep my focus on what I do best; sewing & quilting. Too many ovens in the fire or too many pots on the stove can ruin the soup.
I find ideas for creation from so many things in my world! So whether it be springtime flowers, autumn foliage, mosaic tiles on restroom walls (yes, I do), books, stories, or just something you’ve seen in your dreams. You can be inspired. Since I see “so much” inspiration around it’s hard to stay focused and on task. But then, I’ve talked about that before and truly is another subject altogether.

I would like to share one more thing that inspires me and that is music … I love it so much. Doesn’t matter if it’s Jazz, Country Music or the Zydeco music from my Cajun roots & my grandmother Picard. I love it all. Here is a taste of my roots, hope you enjoy it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXId-5dYJjE

Much of my inspiration obviously comes from other quilters/sewers as well. Whether they have bought a new stash of fabric, a new pattern to try out, a new “tool” to attempt to master, or simply sitting and discussing similar interests (you never know what someone might say that sparks a small flame of creativity).

Ergo: the social aspect of crafting and inspiration. So now the question is out there.  Where do YOU get your inspiration?

susan jane griggs-peterman
aka: Susie Jane thanks to my mother

A Day Trip to San Antonio & The River Walk

Our Day Trip!

I love San Antonio, Texas and all the fun it brings. Walking the river, the sights, sounds and smells are so unique.
Our day was filled with errands and family Rick (hubby), son (Patrick), his wife (Andrea), our daughter Ashley and I.

We’ve been to The River Walk many times over the years and thought we had seen it all. That is not true…our venture  started this time near the Art Museum. (Next trip we will go inside.)  Walked just a few yards to the entrance and we were off!

Very soon we began to see sights that were not only new to us but also intriguing, enjoyable, and entertaining. Not many photos were taken because we were too busy enjoying one another.

Hope you enjoy our day as I share it in pictures.

Our first look at the dams and locks that keep the RIVER out of the WALK when it floods.

The next thing we saw were concrete stalactites. Who would have thought? But there they were right under this bridge. See ’em hanging there?

See that short building there in the distance on the left. Here is a picture of it (on the right) closer up. Wish I would have taken the time to explore it. Perhaps next time.

And last but certainly not least was the plaza in front of a bank on the our walk.

We saw the most random things on our walk this time . Perhaps one of our best visits of all because it was not a planned day……it was just a day. I say “just a day” but truly it was far from ordinary.
Thank you for taking the time to read my posts…surely hope you enjoy them.

susan jane griggs-peterman
aka: Susie Jane thanks to my mother

Veteran’s Day 2013

From the Houston International Quilt Festival 2013 – A Tribute to the Men & Women who have served our country.

Thank you seems like such  trivial words when you consider all the men and women who gave so unselfishly to keep our country free….but THANK YOU to all the past, present and future military forces of the United Stares of America. So  whether you and your family serve in the Navy, Army, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast  Guard…THANK YOU!

As promised here are some of the other quilts from the show a week ago. Enjoy the eye candy!

Just HAD to take the picture of this quilt….reminds me of my free spirited first grand-daughter, Hannah Grace.

A place mat “quilt”. Tribute to a 2 year old. 😉

The American Indian

Information about the Indian Portrait Quilt.

Another tribute to our troops past and present!

 A beautiful Crazy Quilt

 Two close ups of the crazy quilt above.

There were just so many beautiful quilts again this year. Where would we be without our Veteran’s and our quilts.

Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing just a bit of what we saw!

susan jane griggs-peterman
aka: Susie Jane thanks to my mother

Just So You Know

I am forever forgetting the sizes needed to have a good drape for the bed sizes. So, thought I’d share what I found the other day on Face Book. (Isn’t that a wonderful site?)

There are many groups on FB for any craft or interest you might want to join. And if you don’t find what your looking for….start your own group! What a great world FB is. What did we ever do before Social Media? I’ve met many people who were once strangers and have now become dear friends in real life. 😀

Hubs, son, daughter-in-law, and I are going to San Antonio, Texas in the morning. I love the river walk there. It’s been one of my most favorite places in the world to visit. Our day will be filled with lots of “errands” but we’re planning on cramming as much fun in between those errands as possible.

Perhaps I’ll take some pics and share them with you all next week.

Until then…have a great weekend.

susan jane griggs-peterman
aka: Susie Jane thanks to my mother

I Sure had a Good Time at Houston International Quilt Festival 2013

This is Handi Quilter Best of Show Award winner!
Chihuly’s Gondola by MELISSA SOBOTKA of RICHARDSON, TEXAS won $10,000

I’ve been “missing”!

Spent the last few days “recovering” from 2 days at the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas admiring all the entries. This is the most beautiful quilt I believe I’ve ever seen and my picture does not begin to do it justice.  Click here  to see all the other winners & runners up. If you couldn’t attend you sure missed a fun time. Perhaps you can join me next year.

Not only did we see many beautiful quilts but we (I) shopped ’til we almost dropped. 😀 Picked up a couple patterns from Black Cat Creations, a few  fat quarters (found a great close out deal $1.00 each), and a new product that will help my beginning students sew an accurate seam allowance…seams from 1/8″, scant 1/4″ and up to 1 1/2″. I’ll be introducing those products very soon here and in my Etsy Shop – Grandmas Supply Attic.

Crochet 101 class this afternoon from 1 – 3:30 will be a blast. Teaching is so much fun. Bringing others into the craft world is one of the things I love the most.

In the next day or so I’ll be listing some new items in both my Etsy stores so be sure and check those out. Christmas IS just around the corner.

Feel free to share in comments your favorite craft/crafts.

Have a great and wonderful Wednesday y’all.

In and Because of HIM,
susan jane griggs-peterman
aka: Susie Jane thanks to my mother

So, It’s Halloween

I would say Happy Halloween but we really don’t celebrate the day. However, I do love the decorations and costumes (some are so inventive and unique). I remember one year we took our kids to a church “Hal-lo-Him” festival…we dressed them as robots…went to the hardware store and bought dryer vent ducts…you know that silver flexible stuff….anyway…got cardboard boxes for bodies…cut the arms and legs from the duct work and painted their faces up…that was a blast.

That year one of the boys played the cake walk so many times (can’t believe they kept letting him play) that we ended up with 6 cakes…what’s to do about that???? We gave all but one away…that’s what’s a do about that. No way was I gonna let that many cakes come home with me for 4 little munchkins (uh excuse me) robots, come home with that many sweets. They already come home with enough candy to fill a candy STORE. 😉

Whatever you do this day and evening…make it a fun one and be safe.

susan jane griggs-peterman
aka: Susie Jane thanks to my mother

Prize Winner at Houston International Quilt Festival

Photo By Spike Johnson/Freelance

2013 winners announced at International Quilt Festival Houston

By Alyson Ward | October 29, 2013 | Updated: October 30, 2013 12:01am

The winner of the Handi Quilter Best of Show Award, and $10,000, with her quilt.

I can hardly wait until Saturday when I get to view this beautiful Prize Winner at the #Houston International Quilt Show!

WOW is all I can say!

The Houston Chronicle reports as follows:

Melissa Sobotka didn’t start quilting until six years ago, but this relative newcomer walked away with the top prize Tuesday night at the International Quilt Festival Houston.

Sobotka, a Dallas native who lives in Richardson, won the Handi Quilter Best of Show award – a $10,000 prize – for a quilt she named “Chihuly’s Gondola.” She’s the first Texan to win Best of Show in more than a decade.

“I am in total shock,” said Sobotka, whose entry is a contemporary art quilt saturated with rich color.”

susan jane griggs-peterman
aka: Susie Jane by my mother

Check Out This Blog!

Check this out y’all….A little “bird” told me that there’s gonna be a SALE on Friday! You may want to scope out the offerings here for sure. Hypernoodle is my friend and has THE best taste in fabrics….

You can also find here here on Etsy for fabrics and here for Handmade stuff. 😉

Be sure to tell her Susan sent ya.

susan jane griggs-peterman
aka: Susie Jane by my mom.