Debi Mae Starnes, Atlanta Tumblr Blog

For more than 20 years, Dr. Debi Mae Starnes has owned Sugar Magnolia Bed and Breakfast in Atlanta, Georgia. She works with Sugar Magnolia’s innkeeper to operate a restored Victorian home that provides guest lodgings within the Inman Park neighborhood.

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Creating a Homemade Quilt

Debi Starnes is known as the longtime president of EMSTAR Research, Inc, an Atlanta, Georgia, company created to design program evaluation plans. Debi Starnes is also the owner of a bed and breakfast in Atlanta named Sugar Magnolia Bed and Breakfast, established in 1993. Among her personal hobbies is quilting, a fun and relaxing pastime that produces beautiful and unique results. Debi made a beautiful quilt out of her late Father's shirts, a t-shirt quilt with her daughter's college sorority t-shirts and a fun crazy quilt out of the family's old blue jeans. To start quilting, one needs to acquire a fair amount of supplies. The basic supplies include thread, basting safety pins, straight pins, a needle, some kind of batting (bamboo or 100% cotton are recommended), fabric for the quilt’s squares, and fabric for the border, binding, backing, and last but not least, a sewing machine. Picking the fabric for the quilt is one of the most fun parts of the process; you can choose one multi-colored print along with solid prints to complement its colors, or create a quilt using a variety of fun prints. Once all the supplies are together, the first step in quilting is cutting the squares. This is done by using an acrylic ruler to measure identical squares from each desired fabric, then using a proper tool like a rotary cutter to make straight cuts. Then, you can assemble the quilt in whatever layout you’d like. After a layout is chosen, you should use straight pins to pin the rows of squares together, then use the sewing machine to sew a straight stitch where each square is pinned. After sewing together each row and pressing all the seams flat with an iron, the border can be added to the edges with the sewing machine. The first few steps complete the quilt top; the next step is layering. This is done by laying down the backing fabric, placing the batting on top, laying the quilt top on top of the batting, and finally, basting the quilt, which means placing safety pins between each block to secure everything in place. Finally, each square of the quilt can be fully bound together – and bound to the backing – using the sewing machine. The result, if done carefully, is a beautiful homemade quilt.

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The Great Loop - Travelling the Waterways of Eastern North America

Debi Starnes holds a PhD in psychology from Georgia State University in Atlanta. She is the President of EMSTAR Research, a community psychology-based Atlanta business with a 28-year history assisting government and non-profit organizations in program evaluation and development. Also a boating enthusiast, Debi Starnes completed the Great Loop in 2014, a continuous route of lakes and rivers encircling 6000 miles of eastern North America. The Great Loop takes boaters up the east coast from the southern tip of Florida to Trenton, Ontario, Canada, and inland through the US. The Loop is made up of ten segments; travelers may choose to complete the entire route at once or, as Dr. Starnes did, finish individual sections one at a time over the course of a few years. Below are three of the Loop’s ten segments, as outlined by America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association (AGLCA): 1. The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway is more than 1200 miles, from St. Lucie Inlet in Florida, to Norfolk, Virginia. This stretch caters to boaters with waterfront restaurants, and incorporates the famous Key Largo. 2. The Great Lakes leg of the Loop is almost 900 miles long, and takes travelers from Buffalo, New York to Chicago, Illinois. This segment takes in the two dozen islands of Lake Erie, and the Leelanau Peninsula on Lake Michigan. 3. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway runs 218 miles, taking boaters from New Orleans, Louisiana to Carrabelle, Florida. Sandy beaches run alongside some of this stretch, and one small town offers what the AGLCA calls one of the best oyster bars in the country.                            

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EMSTAR Research

Debi Starnes operates Sugar Magnolia, a bed and breakfast in a beautifully restored Victorian home in Atlanta’s historic Inman Park neighborhood. Long an active member of the city’s political and cultural life, she served as an advisor to Mayor Shirley Franklin, as well as several terms on the Atlanta City Council. Debi Starnes serves as president of EMSTAR Research, Inc., which she established in 1988, shortly after she earned her Ph.D. in community and organizational psychology from Georgia State University. EMSTAR works with a broad range of organizations including government agencies, community-based organizations, and institutions. The firm evaluates programs involving mental health, homelessness, education, physical health, juvenile justice, substance abuse, and several other issues of concern to modern urban communities. It can evaluate an organization’s development in terms of its own critical needs as well as those of the community it serves. Once those needs are determined, EMSTAR further works with clients to structure their resources to best meet them. Beyond organizational development, EMSTAR also evaluates the various programs these organizations offer, both in terms of process and outcome evaluation and economic evaluation. EMSTAR's user-friendly reports document success and provide recommendations for improvement. The firm can help organizations with a diverse range of research needs, including data collection and management, quality assurance, and data analysis (both quantitative and qualitative). It also assists with logic model development, grant writing, literature reviews, and workshop development and presentation. A certified woman-owned small business, EMSTAR follows the principles of community psychology. This ensures ecologically valid and empowerment-focused work, as well as a product that is action-oriented, strengths-based, and culturally competent. A more thorough discussion of EMSTAR’s work is available on the company’s website at www.EMSTARResearch.com.

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Sugar Magnolia in Atlanta’s Inman Park

Debi Starnes co-founded EMSTAR Research in 1988, shortly after she earned her Ph.D. in organizational psychology from Georgia State University in Atlanta. The firm works with a broad range of clients on such issues as organizational development, program evaluation, and data analysis and management. In addition to her duties as EMSTAR’s president, Debi Starnes operates Sugar Magnolia, a bed-and-breakfast located in Atlanta’s Inman Park neighborhood. Two miles east of downtown Atlanta, Inman Park was built in the late 1880s as the city’s first planned residential suburb, with transportation to the heart of the city provided by new electric trolley car lines. Built on the rubble of Atlanta’s Civil War battlefield, it was an instant success, and became home to many of Atlanta’s social and industrial elite, who built homes designed by top architects. They built them in many styles, including Colonial Revival, Jacobean Revival, Shingle Style, and the fanciful Queen Anne. As Atlanta expanded, Inman Park’s popularity declined, and its housing stock deteriorated until the latter half of the 20th century, when residents began a program of revitalization and invited gentrification. Today, Inman Park is once again a highly desirable residential neighborhood, although now it’s in-town rather than suburban, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Located near Inman Park’s western tip, Sugar Magnolia occupies a beautifully restored Queen Anne Victorian home at 804 Edgewood Avenue NE. Built in 1892, the home’s dominant gable, octagonal tower, and multiple porches combine as a delightful throwback to an earlier, more genteel era. Interior features, which include oval beveled windows, six fireplaces, hand-painted plasterwork, grand staircase and the crystal chandelier in the front hall all outdo each other in clamoring for the visitor’s attention. Sugar Magnolia’s guests enjoy easy access to a host of Atlanta’s many attractions, including the Georgia Aquarium, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site, the Carter Presidential Center, the World of Coca-Cola, and Centennial Olympic Park. Sports fans will enjoy the Georgia Dome, Turner Field, and Philips Arena, and there are countless golf courses and tennis courts within a short drive.

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Avoiding Cars While Cycling

As owner of the Sugar Magnolia Bed and Breakfast in Atlanta, Georgia, Debi Starnes has spearheaded all aspects of operation at the location for more than two decades. Debi Starnes has also served as president of EMSTAR Research, Inc., in Atlanta since 1988. When she is not overseeing her various business ventures she likes to stay in shape through cycling. One of the most important lessons all cyclists must learn is how to safely coexist with automobiles on the road. One of the most common types of collisions between bicycles and cars occurs at intersections or when a car enters a main road from a side street. While a headlight can help make a bike's presence known to the car's driver, riders will need to draw more attention to themselves during the day through brightly colored clothing or arm gestures. Other options include slowing down, if possible, and moving toward a more visible, central area of the lane. Sometimes accidents are a result of cyclists violating rules of the road. Riding against traffic, for example, can greatly reduce the time riders and drivers have when meeting at intersections or side streets. For this reason, cyclists should always ride with traffic. Similarly, accidents often occur when a cyclist uses sidewalks and crosswalks reserved for pedestrians. Bikes move faster than pedestrians and can surprise cars, while bikes on sidewalks might not be visible to drivers prior to merging with the road. Cyclists should use bikes lanes whenever possible. In the absence of special lanes, cyclists should behave as vehicles on the road rather than pedestrians.                            

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Gateway Center Prepares for Third Annual Human Clay Benefit

EMSTAR Research president Debi Starnes serves as a member of the board for the Gateway Center, an agency for homeless services in Atlanta, Georgia. Debi Starnes and her fellow board members work to build the center’s resources and support it by backing events such as the Human Clay: Gateway Center 10th Anniversary Celebration in November. Commemorating the center’s 10th year in operation, the third annual Human Clay benefit consists of a fun evening of food and music as attendees explore the center’s history and efforts over the last year. Planned events include a live bluegrass band, a photo booth, and a silent auction comprised of local goodies, beautiful art, and Atlanta experiences. In addition, the benefit serves as a networking forum for connecting with old friends and making new ones. The Gateway Center’s Human Clay benefit will take place on November 17, 2015, at the White Oak Kitchen and Cocktails. Ticket purchases are tax deductible, minus a $25 goods and services fee. For more information on event, visit the Gateway Center’s website at gatewayctr.org/events.