Scarlett

I'm so glad to hear you had a good time, and experienced the "quiltmates" . A lot like Clay FANS, are they not??

Are you ready to kill us now for suggesting you go to the IQF in Houston? Or hug us?

Telling my fandom-initiation tale will have to wait until tomorrow night, by which point the conversation will probably have passed on...but I'm enjoying the ones so far! Carry on! Catch ya all on the flip side!

Yes, they are and they look like Clay fans, even!

I'm going to give you a huge {{{bearhug}}} about IQF the next time I see you (hopefully soon, and even better, at a concert), but aren't I going to a fiber craft event in TO with you and Bella in the Spring? (assuming that I'm in the country, since I have a new job that involves quite a bit of traveling)

Can't wait to read bout your fandom tale tomorrow!

Picture of quilting pals -- how easy would it be to Clayvert them? *g* (and that's the quilt shop in the house behind them. Isn't it pretty?)

I'll tell Solo's and PerusingOne's story first since neither of them wants to increase their post count beyond bodyguard... (and we'll need PerusingOne during the next hurricane).... heh! This way I get to tell the story MY way!!!... Solo and PerusingOne didn't know each other but both wanted to go to the Greensboro/Greenville/Charleston NAT so they posted on the boards that they were looking for roommates. They PM'ed a couple of times and then agreed to meet at Greensboro. PerusingOne arrived first, checked in, left all of her belongings in the room, nd then left a key to the room at the front desk for Solo, whom she'd never seen or even talked to on the phone.

A few minutes after this, PerusingOne thought over what she did and pictured in her mind some big German guy (if any of you know Solo's real name, or have seen the Ft. Myers clack -- eep! --- you'll understand why). Not surprisingly, this vision alarmed PerusingOne and so she called me to see what I thought. Meanwhile, I was about 1 hour south of Greenville, standing in line at the Borg Assimilator at Carowinds. When PerusingOne called me and told me her worries, I thought, "Oh, no! I'll have to give up my place in line!" but resigned myself to it since I didn't want to see her murdered in her sleep. Luckily, we figured out whom she was talking about and since I'd met Solo a couple of months before that, I reassured PerusingOne that she wasn't an axe murderer and that I could go back to my rollercoaster, and meet up with them later.

To save ourselves this type of trouble, we tried to travel together as much as possible thereafter. It didn't keep us from getting into trouble but at least we were all together in the same place when troubles came, or rather, when we brought trouble with us!

ETA: Thanks so much for the kind words, FromClaygary and annabear!!! I already received invitations to the next quilt retreat in April. I gave a tentative ok (because if there's a show at that time, sorry about quilting but ... You understand, don't you? LOL!)

Oh, and btw:

how did you become a part of the fandom and when did you realize it was special?

Oo i'll go first:

I went to a Pizza Hut parking lot and jumped in this total stranger's car and the rest is history! Best thing I ever did!

That stranger was 00lsee and we hit it off from the first word! We were heading to a dinner with Clay fans in Houston. It was so exciting that I had found others who loved him as much as I did and didn't laugh at me! That night the others turned out to be Kandre, Scarlett, Karen Eh!, Solo and a few others. I knew it was really special when, as I was leaving, I was desperately trying to figure out how I could go on a trip with them to see Clay! I decided that night I would go to Atlanta with these girls come hell or high water.

I never had proms. dances or a sorority growing up in England and this opened up a whole new world for me. I had never had a slumber party and staying in a hotel with them is one long giggly party!

I sincerely love them all and everyday I thank "whoever" that I found them. Clay can honestly have no idea how he has made a difference to our lives, especially mine.

Another time i'll have to tell you about my first trip with Kandre!

Lol, merrieeee! That was the party to welcome Kareneh!(tm:cute bway chat guy) to Houston and to say hello to kimiye who was visiting her sister in Sugarland. That night, I felt that I hit it off so well with Kareneh that when she PM'ed me a few days after to ask if I wanted to go to the Iowa and Kansas City JNT05's with her, I instantly said yes, brushing away the memory of those Paul McCartney tickets I was holding. Later on, when I related this story to keepingfaith she kept wishing that she'd already met us by then -- because she would have picked up the tickets to see Paul while Kareneh and I went off to see the cute guy!

Wanda, so it was Emmanuel that got you to the boards? LOL! And the original one too!

I'm going to post about how I met PerusingOne at a street corner close to midnight after she took a look at my shirt, liked it and then waved me over...

And how I ended up going on a roadtrip with KAndre and Solo just minutes after meeting them...

But first, I forgot to post pics for liney and FromClaygary,

Stash beginnings:

First project: (they liked how my pinwheel angles all came together -- aren't they supposed to?)

BTW, to the angel who recommended the Hand Applique book -- I love it!

So, I just want to ask everyone... how did you become a part of the fandom and when did you realize it was special?

I was going to write about my weekend quilting group but ended up thinking about something else. It was just reminded me too much of long ago... I went to this place knowing just one person, and not very well at that. It was just for the weekend and we were sharing 4 to a room. Just a bunch of strangers all doing the same thing.

I was late, as always, and was literally blown in because the the wind was so strong it pushed me right in the door. I probably looked like the messiest mess they ever saw. There was just one spot open, so I sat down there. We were 4 to a "table group". Turns out that I sat with a rather unique bunch. As we were working, people swung by to greet the person diagonally opposite me, teasing her about buying yet another sewing machine that afternoon. Apparently she liked multiples. And gadgets! She had a portable die-cutter! If you needed 4.5" squares and the matching small squares and triangles, she was your gal!

Those who swung by also said hi to me and when they found out I was a newbie, suddenly there were no strangers in the place. I got lots of tips and advice on what to do. I was literally starting out -- no project, no equipment, no nothing. So the next day, they took me to a quilt store that was going out of business, (Norma, the gal with the multiple sewing machines had a gps -- nothing like damien but I wasn't complaining). They got me all stocked up -- new cutting mat, new rulers, template plastic, lots of cloth for my first oh, 5-10 projects, etc. The things we couldn't find in the store, random people handed me that evening. I got a 1/4" presser foot (invaluable, apparently), a pair of very sharp scissors, pins, extra cutting mats, extra blades for my new cutter, various notions, some of which just appeared at my table with a note saying "from someone who cares".

The next day, even more people came by to ooh and aah because apparently, you're not supposed to do pinwheel patterns on the night you bring home your first sewing machine. So they were all very encouraging. And they were amazed that I stayed up all of Saturday night just doing and re-doing my project until I got it right.

ETA: merrieeee, nooooo!!!

By the time we had to leave (check-out was 3pm) I was so shmoopie, I didn't know what to do. It was so like another season past, with another group of people. I miss 2004 so much! And I love newbies -- can we adopt a whole gang of them? Bringing in new people is how we grow.

*hugs couchie right back!* :thbighug-1:

I just want to say I :heart: this place. Thanks! That's all.

ducky wins! :bier:

If you know where I can find a dragon for hire, let me know, mmmk bottle? Thx!

{{{Hugs to you}}} Annabear, in case you feel like driving here for the weekend, the ehP is like a Weyr of dragons and there could be lots to drink since as KF pointed out only 2 of us are regulars (I'm an occasional).

Oooh, clayzy brought Yoda-speak. :Heart: it I do!

ETA: And btw, anna, the temperature's 72 degrees. Don't mind the 30% predicted rain (our weather people just say that to cover themselves). They've been calling rain for 3 days and I haven't seen any.

ETAA: {{{merryclay & family}}}

During the SRHP or DCAT in Philadelphia, there was a separator low wall between the first 5,0r 6or 10 rows and the rest of the facility. Clay walked around it at least twice. Since we had 2nd row seats we had to turn 360 o to watch him sing. Some people reached up for him but poor Jerome was right there running around the place.

That's right! I forgot all about that one! So imagine that on a much larger scale... it was really cool. I mean we were 22 rows back - not bad seats at all but at various points, we felt like we were in the second/third row because the guys were so close! It was way cool and made the experience all that much more fun!

that was fabulous!! I was in the first row behind that catwalk when he walked around it. Wooooooooo Hooooooooo!!!

I was there, too, with good seats that became amazing seats for the period of time Clay was walking on that divider that wasn't meant to be a catwalk. What a treat that was! The whole concert was just great. After all, Clay became a man that night.

Re: bolded part - I'm pretty sure it was only 2 or 3 rows, because I think we were in the 3rd or 4th row.

Yes, it was the ledge that separated the pit from the rest of the audience, so there were only 3 or 4 rows. The amazing part was that he was just stepping over the aisle gaps and those were so wide -- I would have needed to take a running leap.

ETA: I just checked the vaults and I can't see any clack from LonelyNoMore44 and me from this show. That's not right; I know we had some.

Please do show us your quilting project when you get a chance, Scarlett! And I'd agree - spilling is better than fire!

Sweet dreams, annabear! Yes I will and while spilling is indeed better, it was interesting to finally know how it feels to use the fire extinguisher.

Not yet caught up except for this page and I want to pop over to the fund-raiser thread for a while, but just wanted to check in and say I'm back from the quilting weekend *waves to liney and FromClaygary* I did work on a project and will be posting about it. Thanks for the well wishes!

I remember the camera nazis cha cha. One was sitting a seat away from playbiller. I didn't take my camera out but I did act as a shield for Tangerine, I believe it was as she was sitting on one side of me and playbiller was on the other side of me. I kept leaning forward during the concert.

Ah memories! Thanks for bringing up that night, Fear. That was LonelyNoMore44. Tangerinee ws supposed to sit with us but because of the Clack police on 2 angles (one on your and left and another behind me, she stayed at her seat on the other side of the venue. I still have some of LonelyNoMore44's clack to render from that night (soon). Fun times!

May I bow down to all the parents. I knew what I was doing by not having any. I'm picking up the kids every day so my sister doesn't have to pay for the aftercare. They are driving me NUTS. And my new sofa got christened already. I hope the cleaning instructions are accurate. Geeze.

Hee, couchie. At least they didn't set fire to it! My DS did that to my couch one time, lol!

Page 1, no ifs, buts or maybe's.

ps. Boy, when people talk about coming down after a weekend, they haven't seen anything compared to a weekend that didn't incude a show...

<snip> but it looks like all the Clay parts are there.

Wow, AAIT was looking for Clay's parts. Do you need some help, AAIT?

Good morning everyone!

:nature-smiley-014:

Hee, thanks! I have most of everything I want (no pimpomercials or Jaded Journalist clips for me!) but I was actually looking for some of the other contestant's performances... plus, I thought it would be nice to have everything in actual episodes... Ah, well. I just don't understand why they don't release the series(es?) or at least the rewinds to DVD... I would think there would be other fans out there who'd like to have the full episodes.

If you'll settle for Rewind-level audio, there's someone who has tons to do clackwise but nevertheless has individual dvd's of entire rewind episodes & will make you copies after a bunch of stuff is uploaded to CU, the people who bought tbaf cd holders have been given stuff that was promised in 07 and after her first 2 quilt projects are done... Sounds impossible but send me a PM and we'll see if we can figure something out. Also, many thanks to a very kind angel (thank you!!), who fixed my Inbox problem

*waves to liney and fromclaygary -- I got my first sewing machine for $199 (retalil $400) because a quilt store 50 miles away is going out of business. Solo will be aghast but some quilters willingly got into my care & so that I could drive them there and back. We made it back in one piece, but now I have the beginnings of a stash and a couple of projects to do. Will take pictures tomorrow!*

Sooooo... Are there entire episodes of AI2 squirreled away anywhere for downloading or do I have to be clever and try piecing the episodes together? Might be fun!

I think the full version original files had better audio than rewind. I think they should be at CU.

<snip>a 3.5 hour drive to a "quilting retreat" -- basically a group of women drive out to the middle of a prairie in Texas, put 4 people to a room and stay up all night talking -- think of a Clay Aiken road trip but without a concert. I feel like Laura Ingalls Wilder. But the quilts they make are amazing!!! My contribution: finishing off the chips and dip and getting Wifi set up.

Cool!! Be sure to show us what you produced....

I'm here to learn, but the others produce will be interesting. It's literally a prairie.. so if I make something it'll look like Van Gogh's Cypress Trees:

ETA: To the experienced quilting folks here, I have a chance to get a simple Elna sewing machine at half price (legit!) -- should I be buying that brand?

I would say so! It's a well-known, solid brand. I had one for many years (a full size one) and it was very dependable. The only thing I didn't like about it was it sucked at machine quilting;the feed couldn't be dropped, and was extremely positive. That's likely not something that would concern you anyway, and when you get to that point you'll probably want a more advanced machine. I'd say go for it! My two top brand choices from my experience with them are Janome (I have 3 LOL) and Husqvarna (I wish I had one). Bernina, IMO, is the "Ipod" of quilting; overpriced, over-hyped, and under-featured.

Thanks! I'll go pick it up later. I plan to do hand-applique and hand-quilting so I'll only need to use a machine to put blocks together. Another reason why I won't be producing much this weekend -- maybe I'll have a few flowers done or so.

Scroll alert: Well, we went to see David Cassidy in concert last night at the Centre in the Square in Kitchener, ON.

That was very interesting. Glad you had a nice concert and thanks for sharing!

*pushes the door open just an inch and looks carefully around FCA to see if all the songs from yesterday are still making the rounds yet again* Whew! All clear, well almost...

*waves to Scarlett* Not quite clear. I love MacArthur Park. I have an amazing piano arrangement. It has a great interlude. For trivia buffs, here's a link to the meaning of the lyrics.

I was so desperate for better lyrics, Mandy Patinkin was even starting to sound great. Now that I know the story behind McAP though, the hokey lyrics are winning once again! *gives in and starts humming attempts to hum yesterday's mix*

Whenever we're in a period where Clay isn't singing any new songs, I try to imagine what it would be like to hear him sing a particular song or group of songs. "This Is The Moment" is special to me because right after the AI2 finale and before the singles were released, that was the song into which I kept trying to put Clay's voice. It was a joy to learn later that he had sung it and won a prize in high school and then much, much later... an even greater joy to finally be able to see and hear it live.

The GFI session, however, made me hungry for more of the "quiet but intense" songs from Clay and since he nicely got TITM checked on my wishlist, I now have a new entry. There's an album of quiet covers that I know will sound a thousand times better if sung by Clay, and in the off-chance that there will someday be a "stump the band" or "stump Jesse/Ben" portion of a concert, I will try to put in many requests. When I listen to these it's someone else I "hear" *g* The title is "Midnight Dreaming" and to quote a reviewer, "the album takes on the mood of a late night walk, with the cool night air softly blowing."

(why am I uploading some sample songs I'd like to hear from Clay instead of working on the HD caps of GFI? I'm In-the-middle-of-nowhere, TX but will be back home to work on them before the eHP party at merrieeee's)

ETA: To the experienced quilting folks here, I have a chance to get a simple Elna sewing machine at half price (legit!) -- should I be buying that brand?

*pushes the door open just an inch and looks carefully around FCA to see if all the songs from yesterday are still making the rounds yet again* Whew! All clear, well almost... I had to play Sondheim today just to balance things and so it got into my playlist for a 3.5 hour drive to a "quilting retreat" -- basically a group of women drive out to the middle of a prairie in Texas, put 4 people to a room and stay up all night talking -- think of a Clay Aiken road trip but without a concert. I feel like Laura Ingalls Wilder. But the quilts they make are amazing!!! My contribution: finishing off the chips and dip and getting Wifi set up.

Happy weekend everyone!!!

ETA: Hope we have a real concert sometime soon..

Awww, missed a nice discussion. When I saw the number of pages that had gone by I wondered what had happened!!!

Lol on all the choices... nothing to add

and

ETA: Except maybe "Devoted To You"

Darlin’ you can count on me

Till the sun dries up the sea

Until then I’ll always be devoted to you

I’ll be yours through endless time

I’ll adore your charms sublime

Guess by now you know that I’m devoted to you

I’ll never hurt you, I’ll never lie

I’ll never be untrue

I’ll never give you reason to cry

I’d be unhappy if you were blue

Through the years my love will grow

Like a river it will flow

It can’t die because I’m so devoted to you

I’ll never hurt you, I’ll never lie

I’ll never be untrue

I’ll never give you reason to cry

I’d be unhappy if you were blue

Through the years my love will grow

Like a river it will flow

It can’t die because I’m so devoted to you

*scans the page briefly*

So... is page 70 just like 69 and then one more?

Hmmm, I wonder if he needs to practice that move...

It's a great picture, people care about him, people are talking about him and I'm on page 69. All is well!!!

Oh, and

ETA: And btw, not all crabs are crustaceans. Horseshoe crabs are arachnids.

{{{jmh and jmhmom and family}}}

Beyonce's superbowl SSB was also lipsyching I do believe. I pretty much know who can sing for real and who can't. Are Brittany's concerts even live? LOL. Hell the fabulous instrumental at the inauguration was a recording but not because they couldn't do it live but it was too cold for their instruments.

Today's math problem -- now that I have left bottlecap in my dust I need 1274 posts to pass Ansa.

Let's see.. A*B+C/D*E if E=EEEEEEEEEEE

key:

A: postho

B: no job

c: number of posts per day

D. Clay taking an extended break

E and EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE: summer tour

If it's D -- by my birthday in June

If E =EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE - next week

Between yesterday and today math has become fun.

Hands couchie a steaming bowl of rice, "Here, maybe this'll help!"

I'll pay $75 for music -- soft music, loud music, but some kind of music . Lights and pyrotechnics I can get for free on the Fourth of July. Lip-synching I guess I can get a TV if I ever need to hear a sample.

Speaking of needing to hear, has it only been a week? Aaaaaargh!

Oh good Scarlett when we have our next eHP shindig I'll rely on you for all the good stuff!

So far Valentine's is looking good for an eHP get together. I'll know for sure this weekend.

This post has been brought to you by the word good!

Sound great! Let's have a theme of "The Letter 'C'" -- anything and every thing yummy that begins with 'C'!!!

I'm having my U-verse installation that day, though, so I might bring some stuff beforehand and just come back later.

Can't wait!!! If anyone wants to fly into Houston for that weekend, I can pick them up if they're going to the IAH airport.

ETA:

Anyone else wants to bring stuff, add or cross them off the list:

candies

chocolates

cheesecake

clack

Clay

creme brulee or creme caramel (depending on whether or not merrieeee has a torch)

...