And the Weather Today... Snow, What Else???

Snow - nothing new!

There's also been some melting these past few days. Below are photos of the brick flower-box out front of the house last night:



Close-ups of the fascinating ice forms:

Rural Winter Snow Scenes + Buggies

The Hearse
Yesterday we took one of my sewing machines to the "local" Bernina dealer (50 miles away in Mifflinburg, PA!) for routine servicing. We stopped for lunch at The Carriage House (at least I think that is the name of the restaurant...) where many 19th c antiques decorate the entire site. Mifflinburg was THE place from which to order a buggy in the 1800's and the town is still known as "the Buggy Town." There is a buggy museum dedicated to preserving the town history and the city codes require that the 19th c appeal of the town be maintained.

This was our destination:

Here are some photos from the restaurant's collection of buggies and sleighs.




The wonderful stairway outside the restaurant:

Much of central PA is home to both the Mennonites and the Amish, as well as many other religious communities. Buggies and carts are still wide-spread, as you can see below.

The following photos were taken from the car as my husband did the driving back home.







The region is dotted with old log homes, some have obvious additions, others are less conspicuous insofar as additions go.







A wall mural in the town of Milheim, PA depicting life there:



The round barn north of Boalsburg:



And Spunky was waiting for us as we drove in the driveway.

RUST-TEX COLLECTION & My Rust Dyeing Fabrics & Projects

Above + below: details from WOODLAND WALK - (c)2006 Pat Dolan
Woodland Walk was one of 24 pieces accepted in the Rust-Tex Collection, will premier at Spring International Quilt Festival in Chicago April 16-18, 2010. It will also be displayed at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England August 20-23, 2010. Other venues to be announced as arranged.

The RUST-TEX COLLECTION is sponsored by Lois Jarvis, founder of RUST-TEX.com.

The photos below show show some of my rusting fabrics in the process of rusting and after being rust-dyed.










A project in process:
WATER + RUST - (c)2010 Pat Dolan
rusted fabric, painted & partially quilted

Rust-dyed gauze is used below in a small sampler piece (the color in this photo is overly bright!)

Here's the completed piece:
TEXTURAL ODYSSEY - (c)2007 Pat Dolan - the finished piece framed

Other finished pieces below:
RUSTY KEY - (c)2009 Pat Dolan sold
Done on stretched canvas, this is a mixed media collage

EMMA - (c)2008 Pat Dolan
A small, mixed media collage, 5x7 mounted on 8x10 canvas board.

WEDDING LACE - (c)2010 Pat Dolan
16x16" on unprimed linen stretched canvas
The spiral in the center of this piece was created with torn strips of rusted fabric and a commercial blue cotton batik twisted together and thread-wrapped.