An epiphany happened to me about twenty years ago. There was a void in my life and I didn’t even know it was happening.

I think an inspiration is like a flash of light in your psyche just waiting for action, and I needed one.

On the wall in a fabric store hung a stunning Oregon Trail Jacket. I bought the pattern and soon realized, even though I had no quilting experience, it had to be very similar to making a quilt. There was piecing, thin batting, matching seams and so on. Whatever it was called, I was hooked.

Wearing the jacket was always a fun experience because strangers would stop me and ask about what I was wearing; there were always questions and compliments.

The jacket still looks as good as it did the day I completed it; wish I could say the same for myself.

First, I would only wear it on nice days. Second, I wore it into a shop and the lady was so enthralled with the jacket she couldn’t contain herself. She asked just about every question she could think of; how was it made, how much it cost to make, where I found the pattern and on and on. I finally completed the sale and was about the leave when she said, “Wait, Wait, I want Dorothy to come out and see your jacket, she just loves gaudy things like I do!”

The jacket was just the inspiration I needed to steer me into the quilting realm. I went on to make traditional quilts for each of my children and grandchildren; however, I soon branched out into portrait quilts. I find creating a realistic likeness of a loved one in patterned fabric to be very exciting and rewarding.

I create my own portrait/pictorial quilt patterns and the technique I use to complete the quilt is to simply zig zag the edges of each piece of fabric in a slightly non-traditional appliqué method.

After years of presenting lectures and workshops to guilds and being asked how I make the patterns, I developed an online class to help quilters enjoy the process. It really is quite easy and lots of fun to make patterns from favorite photos. Purchasing an appliqué pattern is nice, but creating your own is awesome! All you need is a computer, software (free software is available) and a photo. My next online class to learn how to make the patterns begins September 5, 2009.

I recently retired from my faculty position as coordinator of the graphic communication program at a college and I’m now spending my retirement enjoying the quilting world more fully. I design pantos and continuous line stitching patterns for blocks, appliqué patterns, kits, teach online classes, and share the “how to” of portrait and pictorial quilting to guilds through lectures and workshops.

My quilts, patterns, presentations, and information about online classes are available at www.chiseledincloth.com

According to Wikipedia, magazines for women began as early as 1827! I had no idea. Sarah Hale, the author of Mary Had a Little Lamb, was the first woman editor of one such magazine from 1837 until 1877. During that time frame the subscribers jumped from 10,000 to over 150,000. The magazine included articles by influential authors such as Edgar Alan Poe, illustrations, patterns, and poetry. They avoided political and controversial topics, but stuck to information to help the average woman. Hmmm…that sounds very much like the new ezine, Ruby.

Ruby, the new magazine for women is beginning July 1, 2009 with one subscriber, heading for 150,000! Karen Gass, editor of Cotton Spice Magazine, is the editor and the brains behind Ruby. Here’s a quote from Karen:

“This magazine will be filled with the things we are really interested in – our home, our friends, our family, hobbies, charity, cooking, music, art, stories, pictures of the important things in our life, and much more.”

“The name – Ruby because ‘…her worth is far above rubies.’ From Proverbs 31:10. While we will have a Christian viewpoint, not everything will be ‘Christian’. If you like interesting, clean things – then you’ll love this! Our lives revolve around our family, the charities we love, our hobbies, our home and this magazine covers all that. No guilt. Frugal, simple ways of doing everything.”

Karen has the foresight to invite a talented group of women to serve as editors in such areas as charities, friends, devotions, home, cooking, music, paper dolls, coloring pages, flat adventures, home schooling, gardening and so much more. Flat Adventures will be my contribution to Ruby. No, it’s not about the earth being flat and early explorers, but it’s …

To keep up with technology and keep costs low, this magazine is offered as an online experience. You may purchase a single copy for $2.75 or a six-issue yearly subscription for $13.75. Ahhh, just sit in front of your computer with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy each issue.

Not only can you read Ruby, you are encouraged to contribute articles, photos, etc. to Ruby.  Karen has thought of it all!

To find out more about Ruby, visit http://magazineruby.wordpress.com/ and, as the newspaper vendors of old shouted, “Extra, Extra, Read All About It”.

Having one’s kitchen and dining room about sixty feet from the primary residence isn’t as daunting as one might suppose. Well, it was a bit surprising when going to the kitchen for a midnight snack my husband encountered a skunk with the same idea.

It’s interesting how seemingly insignificant events in one’s life influence decisions years later; at least it was in my life. I had no idea that visiting the Jamestown Settlement, Colonial Williamsburg, and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, many years ago, would generate such an imprint within me.

As city folks, we purchased land in the country for our retirement. The property had only been leased for cattle and the first day we got the land we parked under a shade tree to wait for family members. Right away, a learning experience. We had parked in the cow’s feeding and pooping area. Nothing like spinning wheels and flying cow poops to get you off to a good start in country life.

To create the rustic look we felt represented our simplistic lifestyle, my husband built most of the furniture from old weathered wood. Completing the country atmosphere, we built a quilting studio on the second floor of our simple hand built cottage home. Most of my quilts are not the typical bedding items, but portrait art quilts which hang on walls; however, I put in so many windows there isn’t wall space to hang them! Instead, they are displayed on the gambrel roof ceiling. And so it goes.

We bought a refurbished nineteen forty something Ford 9N tractor to cut grass; we cleared brush, and cut down mesquite trees. Another learning experience. One should pick up ALL the thorny mesquite limbs to avoid driving the fifty mile round trip to get the tires replaced each day. And, about the brush hog, I can personally testify one should not put fingers under the thing while the blades are turning.

The water well issue was a totally different story. I had not given much thought to how water wells were dug, but when I asked the guy about the forked stick he laughed and told me to point to where I wanted it dug. I had no idea I had so much power in that index finger.

Ahh, buying the cows. I had never been to a livestock auction and all I knew was I wanted cows with pretty eyes. The auctioneer’s cadence was difficult to understand and they ran them in and out so fast it was tricky, but I bought two heifers. I didn’t even know what heifers were, but I was successful and, at the time, that was all that mattered. I really think I could have paid a little less for them, but I kept bidding against myself. Later they had calves, and I turned a bull into a steer with a single rubber band. Now, that’s a learning experience.

I wanted the cows to be more like pets so I was laughed out of the feed store when I asked for something to feed them that they loved so they would, in turn, love us. We let the cows have the run of the property until they began eating the window shutters and the grandchildren’s toys.

His wrap.

That brought on the next big adventure, learning to string a barbed wire fence. I have the utmost appreciation for someone with the knowledge of fencing a pasture. Having never examined the professional intricate wrapping of barbed wire around a post was mind boggling to say the least, and most humbling. Until I had to do it, I had never even thought of how to wrap the wire. Who would have ever thought there was an art to wrapping wire around a post, but there most certainly is, and, to this day, I haven’t mastered the beauty of it.

We did fence off eight thousand square feet for our garden. I didn’t mind sharing things with the cows, but they just kept walking all over the plants.

My wrap.

We planted extra for the jackrabbits, bunnies, deer, fox and other night visitors. The grasshoppers were another story.

We planted blackberries and blueberries, but I didn’t realize when I planted strawberries that the suggested planting in mounds didn’t mean two feet tall! It did make the fire ants happy though, they had a two-foot high mound in which to live, and all I had was ant bites.

I was quite excited to find a grove of wild plums on the property, which set me into learning to make jelly and canning vegetables from the garden. Since the plums were so tasty, I set off to find some wild mustang grapes. Educational opportunities abound in the country. Mustang grapes make excellent jelly, but I learned by experience that off the vine they are very bitter. The grape vines wrap around and around tree limbs and are particularly tough to remove from trees, that is, unless you grab one, put both feet together and pull with all your might. I tried it and, with one big snap I landed and broke my wrist. None of these learning opportunities are available in the city.

My kitchen.

Actually, I don’t think of our farm/ranch as a rural area, I believe remote is more applicable. The closest convenience store is about eight miles, fifteen miles to the nearest grocery store, and twenty-five miles to a town. The road was paved about three years ago, which increased traffic to about ten cars a day. Commuting to and from work was a three-hour daily experience.

Rural living does not include pizza delivery or running to the store for last minute items; neighbors are miles from you, not inches away from your privacy fence; however, one can see the stars at night in all their glory; wildlife is abundant and fascinating, and raking leaves is a thing of the past.

We are the makeup of our thoughts, environment, and experiences and I hope my pioneering spirit, like those of the early settlers, is reflected in my home and my choice to live in a rural setting, even if it does take an ambulance thirty minutes to arrive.  ©Margaret Bucklew 2009