Geodes

Last weekend I went to the Midland Gem and Mineral Society Show. I have been wanting to go for a few years, but other things had been happening at the same time and it always got pushed to the end of the list and I never got to attend. This year, I put it at the top of the list and it was the first thing I did Saturday morning. If you will recall from a previous post, I was out quite late at the sit and sew in Andrews with my friend Kathy and didn't get home until 1:30 a.m. or so. I just want to say that I love minerals and gems. I have always been fascinated by the colors and texture and just love the finished product, even though I don't wear much jewelry anymore. I love opening an oyster an pulling out the precious pearl. I have several I have collected when they used to have them at the South Plains Fair in Lubbock.

I took a jewelry making class in college and purchased some loose tourmalines in solid pink and solid green. I put one in a ring during that class and found out that I will never become a jeweler like I always wanted to be since I can't stand the sound of a file on metal. Nope, not going to do that again.

About 8 years ago, my mother and I went to Montana to dig for sapphires. I have a lot of loose - mostly un-cuttable - sapphires. I have a few that I need to get heat treated and cut, but will have to send them off back to Montana and I would rather spend my money, at this time, on fabric. But, one day . . .

As a young girl, we always had geodes in our house. When we would go to Colorado, my dad would pull over on the side of the road and we would pick them up and then take them to someone to cut them for us. I just loved waiting to see what beauty these ugly round rocks would reveal. Let me tell you, my dad almost always picked a winner. We had some of the most gorgeous geodes I have ever seen - even to this day, displayed on bookshelves around our house. Well, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to purchase some rocks and have them cut open for me while I waited that wonderful Saturday morning. I picked up a rock, set it down, picked up another, set it down. Then walked off. I didn't need to buy any rocks. I don't need to spend money on this. Remember, I like spending my money on fabric. Well, as you can see below. I not only bought one. I bought three! They are all different and unique in their own way. I plan on giving a few away as Christmas gifts so others can share in the beauty.


I knew this one would have something unique about it because on the outside of the rock, you could see where it may have shifted in it's formation. It is amethyst even though this picture doesn't show it's true beauty.


This one I kind of went, hmm. I wasn't really impressed with it at the show, but when I got it home and pulled it out. WOW! I really like it. It is a very dark smoky quartz and has some crystal shards that have stacked themselves to create a little mountain inside. Beautiful.



This one has crystal quartz, with shards of crystal laying on top. Small, but pretty. My least favorite, but still beautifully unique.