SOOOO MANY YEARS!

A Found Piece of Paper

2013-06-18T15:06:00.000-04:00

These two sweet people are my mother an father-in-laws. Farrell and Thelma As I was going over some poetry that I was thinking about putting on my blog to share with you, I came across this half sheet of lined paper folded six ways. On the front was "about Daddy" written in a hand that was familiar to me. I opened it up and started to read it, by my mother-in-law Thelma. I was unaware that my mother-in-law wrote like this.

How long must my heart break?
How long must I cry?
How long must I call out "O' God, Why? Why?

The anguish, the agony no one knows, except a very few.
Only two whom I know have gone thru the same.
I turn to them in my thoughts when I feel I can no longer keep on.
Even though they know not, they help to me keep strong.

It I said that time will heal, but I have not found it so.
Day by day it seems more real, this I know!

Farrell passed away in 1989 and Thelma, now with him, since 2006 at 96.

Little house on Our Prarie

2013-06-07T15:39:00.001-04:00

I have posted this on Facebook for my facebook friends. Now I want my blogger buddies to see this little house we got delivered Yesterday. It is made by Amish people, which in itself has quality but I was amazed at the delivery part of it. Of course it was shipped via truck and trailer. I was amazed that only one person, the driver, arrived with it in tow. I took a couple of photos to share as it arrived. It was put on the trailer with the door facing the wrong way. No problem, he just turned it around on the trailer using a gizmo in his hand. Then he moved it on to our backyard (Prarie, I call it). He just used this "gizmo" to lift, straighten and slide it to exactly the spot we chose. A one man job. Unbelievable! So now dear husband has a cute cottage (I call it), he says "shed" for all his outside maintenance stuff. Seems a waste for that. Hum! Needs a curtain on that window.

Lines In The Sky

2013-05-30T14:24:00.000-04:00

You can certainly tell that summer is awakening our spirits. Not known as my favorite season, summer. There seem to be a lot of lines in the sky since Memorial Day. These lines caused by airplanes streaming across the skies heading for destinations. Destinations never before visited by some, families going to Disney, to visit friends, because of their jobs, even some going for serious family reasons. I am a "white knuckle" flyer. I do not fly if I do not have to type person,. I know, I probably miss out on lots of opportunities to see the world but then again I have the travel channel on TV. Smile, smile! I do live about 25 miles from Knoxville, Tennessee airport so I see streaking from the planes frequently. It sometimes looks like a criss-cross pattern which I hope those air traffic controllers are aware of. Then as the local weather improves and the sky is blue, almost cloudless with beautiful sun rays beaming down, the little planes are heard. I also live about 5 miles from a small airfield where bi-planes and small one man type are ready to soar into the sky. Heli-copters sometimes from the airfield. You might think I live in a noisey atmosphere but it isn't. In fact it is so quiet in our neighborhood I look forward to hearing a jumbo jet or bi-plane or helicopter in the distance. So, if you are ever leaving Knoxville or arriving here in a plane, look down over the mountains I will wave.

Camping in a State Park

2013-05-03T13:41:00.002-04:00

Always loved State Parks as the are reasonable, or at least they were years past. The parks are lovely, can be serene and spaces are usually big enough. However, ticks! Just got back from it and I had a tick on me, my Dh did too as well as my dog. It happens and be aware of it.

This past week or so we camped at Harrison State Park in Tennessee. Beautiful lake, nice spots to park, this time of year hardly anyone there, birds around to watch and the squirrels. I know that may be they are rodents but so cute with fluffy tails. However, they are very brave, coming right up to you for scraps if you let them. Can be a nuisance too.

It was amazing that we were parked where we could see a Marina through the trees. Amazing because of the larger boats, houseboats, sailing ships moored there. Thinking of the austerity of the owners in this slow economy and price of gas. WOW! We are not talking about pontoons or fishing boats, I mean yatchts, of course they were not moving, they were tied up.

Katie was not to thrilled about them!

Must Be Spring Now

2013-04-16T14:47:00.001-04:00

Got a little Spring story to tell. I was apprehensive about when Spring would arrive here in Tennessee
since our Walnut tree has not bloomed or budded out as yet. This was always a sign that Winter was not really over yet and no one would be planting just yet for fear of a freeze.

Okay, I can grasp that even though it seemed all the trees other than the Walnut are flowering or greening up.

Now, the story to tell is one of Spring besides the flowers or the greenness of the trees. It's the birds. I have a lot of birds and my husband can attest to that when he gets into his truck and sees these white spots that do not mean he needs glasses, if you know what I mean.

Sitting on my lower level deck I noticed two swallows perched on branches by our steps near my new
birdhouse, resembling a covered wagon I just put up. These two, husband and wife, kept peeking in the birdhouse, finally going inside and Lord only knows what they were up too. Over the weekend they started to protect that home of theirs they were making from other birds, like the house wren.

This tiny house wren apparently wanted to rent out space in the covered wagon but the swallows did not go along with that idea and kept on guarding their home to the extent of pecking like crazy at the poor little wren. So,we put up another birdhouse that was a little distance from the "wagon" for the wren.

The wren proceeded to check that one out too. Then Mrs. Swallow took look at this modern home across the way and flew to check it out. Mr.Swallow, who was sitting on the doorstep of the "wagon" was a little cross with her and immediately flew to that which Mrs. Swallow was checking out. In the meantime Mr. and Mrs. Wren saw was happening and a fight proceeded. It all ended quietly with me watching all this as the Swallows finally flew to their home and all is quiet now.

I thought there might be some parallel to this story or some meaningful virtue or something in it, but I just gave up that idea and went for it to just be a story, maybe for a grandchild of mine, but adding a little more interest for them.
Hope this didn't bore you but it is one of those things that you really had to be there to see it.

I have one more observance. A robin has decided to make a nest in a corn sheller that we have hanging under our deck. Now, we sit under there in a swing while she (Mrs. R) waits with branches in her beak for us to leave. Believe me, we do leave. For awhile at least.

Mr. & Mrs. Swallow at home.

Mrs.Robin builds her dream house.

Its Spring???

2013-03-27T14:14:00.001-04:00

I did notice this wonderful flowering out tree in my traveling to the post office yesterday.
Then the next day we had snow. The snow did not last long but came down like is was going to.

I do not understand Mother Nature, she must be very angry with us or just trying to frustrate
us because of all the other ways we destroy our earth.

Even in Florida, the Sunshine State is not very sunshinny lately. . My friends there have been
complaining about freezing weather, rain in buckets, low temperatures. Storms all over the United States.

Global WARMING give me a break!

A Friend of Mine

2013-03-22T13:47:00.002-04:00

A Friend for 65 years, starting as neighbors when we were 12. She, Joyce passed away the first day of Spring, yesterday. She found out just last month that she had cancer. She could live another three or four months on Chemo but if not was given a week or a month at most. She chose to go home and die. Brave woman. She lived a little over two weeks. I write about this on my blog because of the way it has affected me.

She lived in N.J. most of her life while I lived in either Florida or Tennessee. This prevented us from having any coffee on the front porch type relationship, but we always knew we could phone or email or write to each other. She had a stroke at one time too and it was hard for her to talk where I could understand her so we limited those calls. Knowing she was bed ridden now I phoned her daughter and was able to talk a little too her. So glad I did for a week later she passed away.

I am wondering why I have been feeling so sad at losing such a friend. Not the normal sadness one would feel but something else. There was a period in our lives that we didn't see each other for years as our children were growing up and we worked. Just too busy I guess. After we retired would meet every so often to renew our friendship and compare us aging together.

That friendship was there always. She was a year older than me, 78, so maybe I realize how fragile life is at this point in our lives. We would compare our aches and pains and medications as old people do, yet the end of life seemed still so far away.

Our young years as children were etched in both our minds as I would email letters to her reminiscing about those years. I was told how much she enjoyed them. Writing to her about school, boys we dated, the seashore we hung out at. A lot of old memories. I could picture everything we did in my mind. It seems that that part of my life was gone, with her.

Now, am I on the end of my life?, I kept thinking. Not to get so morose about life and death but one has to think of those things occasionally as this event has shown me. People pass away at this age but this was

so sudden for me to fathom. I will live with her loss as will her wonderful family other friends. I will start to share with my children, my childhood, my friend Joyce.

Photo taken in New York after graduation from High School . Joyce is on the far left and I am on the far right across from her. We were all either 17 or 18.

Alphabetically Speaking

2013-03-02T14:10:00.001-05:00

Most of you know by now that I love being in a creative mood. I love swapping on Swap-Bot, there are so many people doing so many creative things.

I decided to put a swap up where you look for letters of the alphabet around your world. I now drive down the street looking for letters. Rather, DH does as I look around.

Mine were easy as there were signs everywhere that lure people to come to our area because of Pigeon Forge, Dollywood and Gatlinberg.

My swap person sent me hers and they were great. She has a great artistic eye I believe because you really have to look to find these letters. Mine I think you may know and have seen. "M" for McDonalds and "F" for Food City, a local grocery store here.

But hers were just great as she saw letters in shadows, a fence line, and in Architecture, that made letters. Then you make a 2 letter word to send, hers was HI and mine was ME.(E and I not shown)

There is an M, an S, A and P - Tell me you see that, even upside down

Now here is an obvious H and an M and above this is an F and a C

I know some may say we have too much time on our hands, but I think being creative is a brainerism. I want my brain to stay alert while I don't care too much about this old body.
So enjoy.

Using his Noodle

2013-02-21T12:17:00.000-05:00

Building a nest for Spring.

I just happened to see this wren in the bird house out front in my Pear tree.

There was a 2 foot string hanging from the branches and I noticed this little head grabbing the string and tugging enough to get it off the branch. Hopefully you will see this little guy or gal doing what comes naturally, making a nest. This is the third time I watched it dragging in string and thought it so cute that I waited and caught the action. I hope you can see it too. Make sure you watch it to the end.

Red Top Farm - Sevierville, Tennesee

2013-02-14T18:49:00.000-05:00

When the sun is out on a cold day I like to ride around our area just to see what is going on.

I knew that Dolly Parton's family had a farm nearby and thought maybe those of you who just love Dolly would like to see it.

Dolly has several places she hangs her hat. One is an enclave in Pigeon Forge with the old homestead, redone inside of course, a small church and places for her security to live. Tall wooden fences surrounding it.

The other is an apartment inside of Dollywood above a small eatery there. But, I think maybe what she liked the most was to spend time at the Red Top Farm with her Mother and Father and Sisters and Brothers and the entire Clan.

Both her parents are gone now but I bet the home is used for getogether time when she is in town.
Dolly is from Sevierville and well loved by many Tennessean's as she has done a lot for this area and the locals. Yet, sometimes it can be over the top.

So........The Parton Farm - Red Top.

Getting Out of the Cold

2013-02-02T10:30:00.001-05:00

We begin with an RV trip to Florida, warm, sunny Florida. Wouldn't want to live there in the Summer, did so for 35 years and had enough. But, with two children residing there we just had to visit them and the grands.
This is my favorite thing to do when RVing, sketching. I am not really an Artist, but I love to sketch kind of like a journal of things I see and places I go. This is a photo that my DH took, unaware to me, of sketching outside of my camper in a State Park in Ormond Beach, Florida. This started out to be a very nice, warm sunny day for about 3 days.

Then we moved south to Palm Bay, Florida to visit a son, 3 days of semi-warmth but of course in Tennessee it was 25 and snowing. Then on to a campground next to a new Walmart (how great is that) in Lakeland, Florida.
Warmer weather for three days, on to Tampa, where it is getting a little more of a sweater theme.
Visiting daughter's delightful family for a week we stayed at night at this campground surrounded by major big motor homes while we were a 20 ft. rv tag-along.
Okay, on our way home now and ready to go after about 3 weeks we stopped at a campground run by a County in Trenton - Chiefland, Fla. area called Oliver Spring Creek and Florida RVing friends (4 other couples) join in our camping experience there. Easy for them as they only live 40 miles away.

This was a colder atmosphere but we had a nice big fire each night. Fun going to a wonderful quilt shop, then dinner at an old home restored as a lovely resturant, wine tasting at a local winery (bought a few bottleds) antiquing and enjoying our friendships

. On our way home we stopped at a little campground in Georgia and the next day that town had a tornado. Can you believe that?
Safe and sound now and back to my swapping on the Internet that I love to do, my crafts were awaiting.
Today we are home, temperature outside was 12 this morning but now after two hours it is way up there at 29 degrees. But I love Winter, its cuddle weather, fireplace roaring weather, and best of all soup weather. But, still looking for Spring.,

Always A Delight

2012-12-14T12:12:00.001-05:00

Love holidays! Always did when I worked in business world as it meant time off.
Now being retired, it is just fun to be able to drive around neighborhoods different times of the year just to see who decorates for a holiday being it Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas.

There is one particular home that I pass when going into town (Knoxville) to shop. Every holiday they decorate an old truck according to the holiday theme. Their property fronts on a rural road, not much traffic and it was easy for us (DH and I) to stop in the road to take a photo. Every time they change the look for the specific holiday. This of course being Christmas. With Santa sitting in an old truck, a tree in the back and "HO! HO! HO! Letters against their fence. It has lights of course but this was daytime. Notice he is carrying Rudolph in the back of the truck, nice touch.
I guess Valentines Day will be next.....to be continued.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Ho Ho Ho!

Creating Artistically Inclined

2012-12-03T17:25:00.001-05:00

I have recently started a new group on Swap-bot, which is a crafty swapping place to enjoy doing crafts etc. and sharing them with others. The name of this new group is called Artistically Inclined.
I call it that because I truly believe anyone can draw. It is a place where we are given a name of a swap, sign up for it and after a week or more the names are given out randomly for you to swap your craft and someone has your name and swaps it to you. So...

One swap I called "Famous Artists" for this theme swap you do not have to be a member of the group, just a swap-bot participant. So far, we have done Picasso, Van Gogh, Modigliani and Georgia O'Keeffe. Quite a collection we are getting.

Now we are doing Monet.- Next month maybe Miro or Dali.

The idea is this: You google the artist to see his/her painting gallery and pick a painting you think you could reproduce. Now it does not have to be a carbon copy, but similar. No one cares how you do it as long as you follow the instructions of the swap. I have received some amazing results from people trying their hand at art maybe for the first time or just love doing this. The size of the painting in any medium you wish is usually 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 or 4 x 6, or 5 x 7 and if you wish anything bigger that is okay.

This is my Monet. (I'm brave aren't I).

This is Claude Monet

I forgot to take a photo for my ownself of the ones I have done except for this one done for Monet.. I don't consider myself an artist but do love to paint or sketch. Hope you enjoy. I know I am no Claude Monet. I'm just a Diane Yates, novice.

Times Change

2012-11-27T13:45:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving has passed and now Christmas season the whole month of December.

What use to be a really exciting time at our house with five children years past, is now less exciting for me as I grow into my elder years.

This time of year can get very depressing for people. I understand that now with an empty nest feeling at home and just my dear husband and I. It does get depressing. All ou7r children are now grown adults with families of their own and are scattered throughout different States and not easy for them to travel.

Each one of them would love to have us come for Christmas but at our age we get settled in our own routines. Besides, it is about time while they are young and have children to have their own traditions for Christmas and holidays. Yes, it would be nice if all fifteen or more of us lived in the same city where it would be easier to get together. It is not like the days when I was young and we all lived in the same town and could visit with each other.

I do reminisce a lot, one of the priviledges of getting older. Remembering Christmases past when the Christmas Tree was put up on Christmas Eve and large scenes under the tree with a train blowing smoke circling cities and little people in miniataure on a platform of snow and icicles. This was all done by Dad on Christmas Eve but we were told that Santa not only brought toys and clothes but a tree. It truly was a scene from the Christmas cards you receive with almost the same scene on them. Times change don't they. My children say that to me a lot.

Even church services which were at 11PM on Christmas Eve and at 12 midnight we all surrounded the inside of the church holding candles that were lit to celebrate the reason for this season, all but a few do that anymore. People are too much in a hurry to wait until 11 PM to go to church service to celebrate the birth of Jesus. They would rather go at 6 or 7P.M. as they have last minute shopping to do, if they go at all. Not the same.

I don't mean to sound crabby, however I can be at this age.

Will the children now who are getting presents of cell phones, electronic games, IPAD's (my favorite), and seeing the tree up all two weeks before Christmas, remember anything about it when they reach the age of elderness. I like that word "elderness". I can't bring myself to say "old".

I remember the carols being song by a group of 5 or 6 strolling down the street and people inviting them in. No kidding, this is not a movie or a card it really happened during the 1900's for probably 60 years for those of you not of my age. Then the 70's came and a lot of celebrations changed.

So, what I wonder, will my adult children and their children have to look back on with nostalgia.
Traditions? Do they still string popcorn for the tree?

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greeting to you all. and "Ho Ho HO"

Okay! We're Ready

2012-11-13T11:28:00.001-05:00

The reindeer in Wears Valley, Tennessee are all ready for Christmas, but where is Santa!
Just looking at the faces on these, made of tree logs, brought that thought to my imaginative mind.

No, did not buy one but may have DH make me a couple. I just
thought they were so expressive. T'is the Season!

Hey! It's Haying time

2012-11-04T09:15:00.000-05:00

Autumn is my favorite time of year as many of you bloggers and friends already know.

As the weather finally cools down I am usually in warm clothes sitting on my back deck admiring the changing colors of the trees and sadly enough some of my plants.

This morning while sipping my hot coffee I can hear sounds of motors running. I looked towards my backyard and in the field the farmers were cutting or mowing down the fields. It is so interesting to me, as I am mostly a city girl, to watch this as there are three different machines they use and are done so fast. You farm girls who are familiar with this action might just bring back memories but us city type girls it may be the first.

The only part I missed is when they picked up the rolls of hay and put them on a flatbed type truck and they are stacked three rolls high. Just Amazing to me! Do you know what these three photos are showing.? Can't this be set to music as a ballet? I am so Americana.

Behind That Green Door

2012-10-28T11:23:00.002-04:00

To me when I see an old barn that has been seen its day, I am always wondering, who does it belong to now?. Did the relatives of the departed who did own the barn forget about it? They do cover our landscape and some day, in the future, a lot of them will just be laying flat on the ground covered with weeds and forgotten. I photographed this barn while traveling a highway. I had to go back to it as I passed by too fast to look closer.

The green door is what grabbed my attention and eye. Then I noticed the little door on the side and I wondered what that was for, the size so small. After taking the photo I noticed a red cardinal on a branch in front of the open door about to take wing. I can just imagine this old barn in the middle of a field that now has a fast highway in front of it. To a writer this may give an idea, a prompt for a story.

Never Saw This Before

2012-10-23T13:34:00.000-04:00

I guess I am a city girl from New Jersey. I consider myself much more a Southern girl these days as I have been in the South for a good portion of my life.

I have pictures of cows, horses and all of Gods Creatures but I have never seen this before and I thought I would share it.
Just around the corner from my home is this milk farm. All those wonderful black and white cows but I never saw any newborns. DH told me that this is where they keep the newborns until they are old enough to be out in the field because they are protected against any predators. I would also assume they didn't want them taking milk from their mothers all the time either. After all the farmer sells this milk. I just hate to see any four legged animal caged up but do understand.

I just thought this was interesting to see for those who did not grow up on a farm. Here is one of the Momma's, not to sure of me I think.

Another Type Art - Painting on Silk

2012-10-14T13:19:00.000-04:00

Sharing once again another art project that I did awhile back for the first time and it was painting on silk.

Because I live in Tennessee and the State flower is an Iris I made two window panels that are framed and sit on my two front bedroom windows. They are very pretty when the sun shines throw them that they look like stain glass. Silk paint (fabric ink, really) painted on silk, letting the paint (ink) flow as I wish and putting a clear resist to stop it at a certain point. The final thing to do after it dries is to iron it to make the ink permanent. The whole process is fun to do and you can get some amazing results.
Enjoy

Can You See This?

2012-10-02T12:31:00.002-04:00

While camping in Rutledge, Georgia over the past few days I spotted this on a tree where we just parked our camper in a State Park.
Now I know I have a great imagination and I checked to see if were enhanced by someone to look like a face, but I see a ghostly face on this tree. The white was not paint and the eyes were not burnt on, they were mold.
Can you see what I see?

Perfect for Halloween!

Tobacco Barns

2012-09-21T10:17:00.000-04:00

While coming home from a few days in North Carolina my photographic eye caught this barn and I just had to have a picture of it to share. I am sure most of you are familiar with it but sooner or later all will disappear and I just had to have a photo. So here it is:

I was reading an article in a magazine regarding the history of these tobacco barns, not regular animal barns or hay barns. The article written by Jim Murphy of North Carolina. Most of these farmers were married with three or four children and their wives usually either stay at home or worked in town. If the wife worked in town and the price of tobacco high it gave them a comfortable living back in the 1950's or 60's.

Not as comfortable to take expensive trips or buy expensive furniture, clothing etc. but living was good, tobacco selling for .69 a pound depending on the year with a yield of 2700 pounds an acre. Tobacco was the force behind local agriculture much of the last century until 1990's when a combination of the market declining, crop disease and end of government price supports. There are still these farmers though, a small part of the agriculture output.

Today a lot of these barns are empty and used only as a storage bin for everything from old cars, equipment not used and all now rusting away. There is a coalition of groups in Madison County, N.C. that hope to uncover stories about these barns, knowing families that worked the fields, children of farmers, livestock they may have had. Preservation of them and their history which amounts to about 7,000 so far with information from documents, here say, building material that withstood climate, farmers that built them by using hand tools, all interviews may interest enough to realize that our past should always be preserved. They are icons and should be enjoyed in decades to come. Next time you see one in your travels along roads travelled think about its history. Take a photo. The sun was shining on the tobacco leaves giving off an orange, yellow color, which my camera did not capture, drying on long poles of rows and rows of autumn's leaves of gold.

Never Forget

2012-09-11T11:23:00.001-04:00

This is how New York City skyline should look today, the top left and bottom right. It doesn't and we will never forget why. I had the opportunity back in the late 70's to visit and go up to the very top of the Twin Towers.

Over the years I had forgotten how marverlous that was to stand on the very top of the building with the wind making it almost impossible to stay any longer than a few minutes. However, in those few minutes the surrounds of this Twin Towers with all the building that seemed so much smaller than this one was brought back to me on September 11, 2001.

Hard to believe that it was eleven years ago that hateful people from another country destroyed thousands of lives. I have not been back to see the sacred area there or the new building going up. I want to remember it as it was and I will never forget then or now. We must protect our America, people have died for it.

Labour Day 2012

2012-09-03T17:08:00.002-04:00

or is it Labor? To all those mothers deliverying this day I say congratulations you are truly laboring while all the actual laborers or labourers are celebrating differently.
I must have had labor day on my mind last night as I took this photo of a Possum attacking the Cherrios DH put in a bird feeder that morning. My question is.......Notice this photo. I swear I see a baby under her tail. To me it looks as if she was delivering it but DH says I am imagining things that it is just her leg. If this photo can adjust to a larger scale when you click on, you tell me who is right..just a tail or a little baby possum being carried by his or her mother. After all it was labor day weekend. She ate all the Cherrios.

Tourist Haven - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

2012-08-22T12:06:00.000-04:00

It is always amazing to me to see what this town manages to build each year and it is always something different. I live about 15 miles (on the quiet side of the Smokies) from this town and try hard not to go near it during the summer as it is always bumper to bumper traffic.
Dollywood has been the main attraction here for many years and before her name got on it, it was Silver Dollar City. Dolly who lived in Sevierville, Tennesse came back and lent her name to this Entertainment Park.
When I lived in Sevierville back 10 yrs ago I worked for three seasons at Dollywood in their Old General Store, wearing costumes to befit the place. It was a lot of fun. You could pretty well tell them what dates you could work and whether it was 5, 6, or 3 days in aweek. Pretty fun meeting all kinds of people from all over the world. Then I retired completely from everything and went full time rving with my DH. That's enough about me.
I took a drive, as I do every once in awhile, mostly Fall and Winter, to the streets of Pigeon Forge. This time I was amazed at the following pictures I took. In one section of a block they put up a spooky castle as shown. As you are about a mile away, I saw this gorilla climbing a building. Let me tell you, it looked so real. It is for a building housing movie memorabilia, like a wax museum (remember the movie with Vincent Price? - scared me half to death.)

I am always interested in architecture. I can be something like this or some modern buildings or just plain art. I hope you enjoy seeing this too and come on down to see it yourself, we even have the Titanic. The artististic abilities, amazing. What will next year bring?

Gee's Bend Candle Mat

2012-08-10T10:46:00.000-04:00

That is the name of the swap I am on. Gee's Bend is a place in Alabama where the women there made some quilts out of any scrap material they could find and would make them for their family, for warmth etc. It began out of necessity years back and I believe they are still making them.

The idea of the craft for us was to make a "candle Mat" using the same idea as the ladies of Gee's Bend. You can google them to see some of their work in museums. I did mine of Christmas fabric scraps I had. They did their quilts with denim, wool scraps, anything they had on hand, even old clothes torn up.

I don't exactly know what a "candle Mat" is except to put a candle on it, I guess. A lot of craftors make mats like this and call them "coffee mats". Ah well, it was a challenge for me so I participated.
This being a Christmas motif, my swapper can use it as a "hot cider mat" :)