Retreat

Hooray! Off I go to an artist's retreat. I love getting away and emersing myself in art. Jewelry is the focus of this trip. I'm loading up all the tools, beads, treasures, etc. for four days of artistic adventure. I'll be doing some soldering, sawing, riveting, beading and having some fun! It seems the packing is never ending. I've been assembling and grouping various elements all night. I haven't even started packing clothes. Those I can sling in a suitcase, but forget a tool, and I'm stuck. I'm taking 2 classes so I hope to come home with several finished projects. I'll let you know how I do.

Sweet Baby

Who's Who?

For the past couple years, we have had an ongoing geneology search. My mother was a Vass from Elmont, Va, and I never knew her father and his family. Her mother had divorced when she and her sister and brother were toddlers back in the 1920's. I started with what little knowledge I had--a relative was on the Civil War Memorial at Hanover Courthouse. This proved to be Henry Jackson Clay Vass who survived the war all the way to Appomattox with Lee. Since then I have found my mother's half-sister who is a wonderful lady. And others, to boot! It's been a great journey although there is more work to be done. When I met Earline, it was at a restaurant. I could feel the gaze of her husband. Then he said, "She has a smile just like Luther!" Luther was my great grandfather. Here I'm almost 60 and I've wondered why I don't look like anyone I know. I guess that's because I never knew 25% of my family!

Another bonus was an aunt who had duplicate photos of my mother, her sister and her brother. She let me have one of my mother's baby photos and a studio portrait of her when she was about 3-1/2 years old. They have instantly become my favorites!

Life Flies By

Well, let's get caught up on today's news. Last Thursday I went to UVA and saw Dr. Padgett, a dermatologist. She removed the basal cell I had on the bridge of my nose. She said this and the freckles on my shoulders were the evidence of my youth in the Floriday sun. Getting older has its not-so-fun times! But she did a great job stitching me up and I doubt there will be much of a scar.

The end of February I went to the QuiltFest in Hampton, Va. It's an annual trek where I see old friends and look at all the exciting quilts. This year I took a "Snowball" class from Liza Prior Lucy, partner of Kaffe Fassett. The use of color was the emphasis in the class. I loved it. Hopefully the quilt I pieced in the class will upload so you can see my progress. To me color is everything and I love the bold reds. My mother would have loved it, too.

I'm going to try and post on at least a weekly basis. I had great intentions of blogging my trip through Europe this past fall, but access to the internet was not as free as I was led to believe. It was truly the trip of my lifetime. I'm still mesmerized by the photos that take me back to the beauty of the places I visited. Especially Venice! I'll give some highlights of those fabulous times.