TV Dinner of a Different Sort

One of Collin’s friends loves to bake.  She was suffering with a serious case of boredom yesterday, so she bought a book on making unusual cupcakes.  She brought these over last night.  I was so impressed, that I had to take pictures! She used a variety of candies and baked items to create this unusual t.v. dinner! I’ve seen t.v. dinners created out of fiber, but never out of cupcakes. Anyone for a chicken drumstick,  cob of corn, peas and carrots, or mashed potatoes topped with butter and gravy?  Yum!

Rose Hughes Workshop

Last Thursday, our guild, Cotton Patch Quilt Guild, hosted art quilter Rose Hughes. Some friends and I took her workshop on Friday.  I love taking classes and learning new techniques, and my friends make it all that much more fun!  Christiane and I wanted to use Dupioni silks in our pieces, and our table looked like a silk explosion had taken place!  We had 3 bags of fabric  in the most glorious colors! We were like kids in a candy store. As is usual, the project had to be finished at home, so here’s a picture of what I was working on.

This technique is explained in the book Dream Landscapes, Artful Quilts with Fast-Piece Applique.  If you use silk, you’ll have to fuse stabilizer to it before cutting into it.  That makes this technique no so fast, but it was still fun to watch it all come together.  Rose’s book is full of funky projects, and I’ll do more of them.  I’ve also been drawing out some pieces of my own design and diving into my batik stash. I still have a lot of embellishing to do on the poppy piece, so it’ll take time to finish. I haven’t gotten to play in my beads and yarn bucket for a long time! Now, to come up with some interesting quilting designs!

Garden Update:

We planted a small space with some veggies this year, just to see how well things would grow.  I’m quite proud of the way it’s going, and I’m eating lots of fresh zucchini and crook-necked squash!  I also had sugar snap peas, but they are almost finished for the season.  I’m finally getting some tomatoes, the carrots are almost ready, and I should have all kinds of brussels sprouts by the fall.  I’m loving it!  We’ll probably expand our garden next year.

This was just a shot of an odd group of mushrooms growing against our block wall.  For some reason, I found it interesting.

I have 5 of these tubs planted with succulents, herbs, and peppers. See the tale of the photography assistant?

I have a customer coming to pick up a quilt and another quilt to get loaded for quilting. I’d better get to work!

A Special Customer and Her Quilts

I’ve now been longarm quilting for 5 years.  One of my regular customers is a little Cuban lady.  I fell in love with her the first time we met in the quilt shop where I worked for a bit.  She reminded me of my mom, although my mom wasn’t Cuban. It was something about her friendly personality and words of wisdom about life that attracted me.  I don’t usually pick up and deliver quilts, but since Berta has had some health issues, I do this for her.  I always allow a little extra time to visit, and I always leave her house feeling better for having spent time with such a lovely woman.  She gave me these two quilts at the same time and told me to quilt them however I wanted to. I always love her quilt tops, but the floral one really appealed to my girly side, and I said as much to her.  She gave me the floral quilt right then and there!  I was totally shocked!  What a beautiful gift!  I quilted it as if it were a trellis, and it has flowers, leaves, and curly cues that wind throughout the quilt.

The second quilt was from a Thimbleberries pattern, but she was tired of doing the applique that was to be on the quilt.  I spent many, many hours on this quilt to make it extra special for her.  When I delivered them, I refused to take payment. After a bit of fussing about it, she agreed to accept my gift of the quilting, as I had of the quilt.  I think it was a great deal for both of us! Gifts of the heart are the best!

p.s.  I thought I had pictures of the second quilt, but I can’t find them at the moment.  If I find them later, I’ll come back and insert them.

Peggy Martin Pieced Stars Quilt

I finished the quilting on Thursday night, after spending several days on this quilt. The pattern comes from Peggy Martin’s book, Quick-Strip Paper Piecing for Blocks, Borders & Quilts.  The customer loved how I quilted it, which is always a plus! I used several colors of variegated Superior Rainbows thread on the top, Superior Sew Fine in my bobbin, and I also used a Sulky 30 wt. cotton variegated thread on a couple of blocks.  Each star is done a little differently from the others.  In the alternate blocks, I used a feather variation that I learned in Jamie Wallen’s machine quilting class.  I stitched ferns in the outside border, and a swirl and feather variation on the inner border.  It was a lot of work, but it was well worth it!

Happy Birthday, Collin!

I’ll be up early in the morning and gone most of the day, so I’m posting this just a little bit early.  Collin was born at 8:05 on May the 21st, 1990.  Collin, was born with the sun shining in his eyes. My dad used to say that his eyes sparkled with amusement.  He seemed to always have a smile on his face, a song in his heart, and a dance in his step.  Although he can be very serious and very hard on himself, he’s also spontaneous and a lot of fun to hang out with.  He’s a true and loyal friend, hard headed and stubborn, determined and driven, and he loves with all his heart.  He’s a good kid, and I’m danged proud of him! How did he grow up so fast?  I think I must have blinked or something! Sheesh!

Happy birthday, my baby boy.

To Post or Not to Post, That is the Question

I haven’t been posting much for a couple of reasons.  First, is that I’ve just been really busy!  I have a lovely customer who is moving out of state, and I did 4 quilts for her in 3 days.  I worked my tookus off!  I have a fairly good sized custom job going, and I’d like to finish one more before our guild meeting on Thursday.

The second reason I haven’t posted much, is that I just haven’t had much to say.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately, mostly about the economy and state of our country.  Every time I turn on the t.v., I get depressed.  Living anywhere in the country is scary right now, but living in California adds its own charm to things.  My husband’s salary has been cut, and could be cut again next month.  Machine sales are down, and I have two kids in college. Fortunately, I’ve had a steady stream of quilts to do, though not too many.  More would be good!  At any rate, I’ve struggled with worry and general feelings of what my mamma would call, “the mully grubs”.  Here’s what I’m doing about it:  I wake up each morning, thinking about what I’m thankful for, and making a conscious decision to be joyful.  Yes, it’s really hard sometimes, but I’m working on it. I still have a home.  Although our income has been drastically reduced and our financial obligations have climbed, we both still have work. I have two healthy sons, and Penny (my old dog) didn’t die last week. For a week, I tried to get the nerve to put her down. Every single day for a week, I cried my heart out, knowing that I needed to be brave. On Friday morning, she turned around. She’s back to her old self.  I don’t know if she picked up some poison somewhere, or if something else went wrong, but if I’d have been brave, she wouldn’t be here right now. I’m really glad I wasn’t so brave.I have Penny’s two boys, and a persnickety cat that really does love me from time to time. I won’t claim to have all my mental facilities in tact, and that doesn’t bother me.  I’ve been through menopause and raised two boys, for crying out loud!  I’ll take being a little scattered.  LOL. So, for today…….

Today, I’ll enjoy the quilt I’m working on, knowing that the customer will be happy to get it back.  Today, I’ll clip some roses and enjoy their beauty and fragrance.  Today, I’ll take a dip in the pool and enjoy the sensation of being weightless.  Today, I’ll snuggle with my dogs and know that their love is unconditional. Today, I’ll be thankful for good friends that I can count on, and that know they can count on me. Today, I will hug my big son who lives at home, and I’ll mark off another day until my younger son comes home for the summer.  Today, I’ll greet my husband at the door with a hug and a smile, and let him know that I appreciate how hard he works. Today, I’ll choose to be joyful.

Lovely Trip to Nothern California

I’m totally pooped!  I took my friend, Nancy, on a quick road trip to Northern California to take care of an A-1 customer of mine. We left at 8:00 on Friday morning to make the trip up to Pollock Pines.  We met my customer at her quilt shop, High Sierra Quilters, in Cameron Park.  She’s recently moved into a new location, and the shop is stuffed to the gills with wonderful fabrics!  If you’re looking for batiks, you’ll feel like you’ve hit a gold mine in Linda’s shop! By the time we got out of the store to head to Linda’s house, the rain had begun to fall.  In the 30 minutes or so that it took us to get to her house, the rain was coming down by huge buckets!  All went well with Linda’s machine, and we were off to spend the night with Nancy’s friend, Holly.

Holly lives in El Dorado, in a gorgeous victorian home atop a hill. We arrived soaked to the bone, tired, and hungry! After drying out and freshening up a bit, we went to dinner at the new casino in the area. It was gorgeous!  The food was great, and we all played a little (lost a little) on the slot machines, then returned to Holly’s house to spend the night. 

The next morning, I awoke to look out the window and see a wild turkey perched and preening in the back of my pickup! My camera was in the truck, so I couldn’t get a picture of him right away. I finally ventured outside, got my camera, and found the fella running around in the horse corral.  For some reason, I found it amusing to see him running around there, rather than the horses. Maybe I’m just too easily amused.

We went to downtown Placerville to eat breakfast at a historic hot spot, the Buttercup Pantry.  The atmosphere was cozy, the conversation fun, and the food was delicious!   With our bellies full, we took a lovely walk through downtown.  I loved the old buildings with great architecture and a feeling of history! 

We got back on the road to head home around noon, with the goal of visiting all the quilt shops in the Sacramento area, and a pit stop at an adorable yarn shop called Sierra Knitting Company.  With a few misses at map reading by my co-pilot, Nancy, we had quite the adventure!  We finally arrived back home around midnight last night.  I’m pooped today, but thankful for a good friend who loves to do spontaneous road trips, and for my new friend, Holly, who was such a wonderful hostess!

Another Shop Sample

I finished another shop sample for Strawberry Patches today. It took a lot more time than I’d expected, but I really liked the way it turned out! It’s an adorable quilt, and it would be a perfect way to spruce up a kitchen wall!  Thank you, Suzanne, for giving me the opportunity to play on your quilts!

Dadgum Mother Nature!

Just a few days ago, our temps hit just under 100!  Today, I have the fireplace going!  Sheesh!  At least gas is cheaper than electricity, and it makes for good quilting weather.  The dogs are all huddled in their beds, I have a customer coming to pick up a quilt, and I’m almost done with a shop sample. Outside border to go, and I can get it delivered this afternoon.  I have 2 quilts to get done before I leave town on Friday morning, so I’m going to have another cup of coffee and get moving!

She’s Home Again

I’m happy to report that I just picked Penny up from the vet, and she seems to be back to her old self.  She is on meds for an intestinal infection, but she was able to walk out and is even a bit perky! I had to carry her in yesterday, because she was terribly dehydrated and too weak to walk on her own. 

Thank you for all of the warm wishes, and for letting me cry on your shoulders!