My First Quilt

So ... the powers that be over at Carrie's and Camille's have suggested to the rest of us that it would be fun to show off our first quilt and our latest quilt. Having perused the offerings so far, I was a tad hesitant to show off my first quilt. Just keep in mind that I made this sometime in the early to mid 90's. Also keep in mind that this was the first quilt I made after having actually taken some classes. There were some others but I no longer have them.

Please ... be kind.

My favorite thing about this quilt is that I hand quilted it and I didn't do a half bad job for a first-timer. Okay, so the very first quilt (which is basically one block and one of my daughters has it to hang as a vintage oddity) was hand quilted also and those stitches were basically hand basting.

My least favorite part (other than the fading, which occurred because I let it hang with some serious sun on it for several years) is the binding. I didn't know how to do mitered corners so I just ... avoided them. The tacking down of the binding on the other side is done with huge, slanted stitches. I purposely chose not to post a picture of them. I did have a huge grin on my face yesterday when I got the quilt down off the closet shelf and studied it. This was just after I returned my bag to the closet which contained my supplies/samples/handouts for the class I taught yesterday morning, here, called ... Better Bindings.

You may have already seen this, my latest quilt. I've called it "sum, sum, summertime". I'm thinking that I have learned a few things in 15 years. Good to know.

Thanks Carrie and Camille. Now I'll go and continute salivating over all the others.

more red, white and blue

So ... I'm having one of those birthdays that just keeps on giving. The kind of birthday that I really ... really ... like. Just yesterday a friend of mine gave me the dishtowel pictured above. I am pretty certain it will never actually meet up with a wet dish because it's way too precious for that. But just in case you are marveling at the delicate hand stitching, think again. My friend digitized this and sewed it out on her Bernina (730). Believe me ... that takes some marveling of its own. Very impressive. Thank you, my friend.

Our celebratory weekend was definitely on the low-key side. Ms. Gee was here along with temperatures approaching 110 degrees. Spending much time outside seemed to be unwise, so we took a trip to Blockbuster instead. We only intended to get two movies until they convinced us that the third one was free. Here is my professional opinion. You must keep in mind that I'm very easily entertained.

* Confessions of a Shopaholic: Better than I expected. Isla Fisher was quite charming although I found Hugh Dancy to be ummm .... blah. The most impressive thing about this movie, however, was that the following day Ms. Gee and I went to Nordstrom's Rack and came out empty handed. We both agreed that the movie's message was definitely an influence. Interesting, very interesting.

* Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Definitely fun in an Indiana Jones kind of way. Hard to get past the extraterrestrial angle and the enormous amounts of ants and the fact that Indy is getting too old for the job, but still ... fun.

* Swing Vote. You probably don't even remember this coming to a theatre near you and there is probably a good reason for that. However ... if you stick it out to the very end you might get a little teary as I did. The message comes across with the delicacy of a sledge hammer ... but it's a good message, no doubt about that.

There you have it. Sewing advice and movie reviews in one fell swoop. So do tell ... do you digitize? Did you see any of these movies?

Dish. Just don't expect to use my dishtowel.

Stars. Stripes. Streamers.

So ... Happy Fourth.

I hope your day involves bright lights in the sky and a lot of greasy food.

I hope you enjoy these flags from my very first block-exchange quilt from 2002. It was during the construction of this quilt (after poring over every single square and salivating on a few because these women were "real" quilters) that I decided to become a "real" quilter.

Unfortunately, when I got this out of the closet this morning and photographed the squares, I came to the sad realization that styles and fabrics have really dated themselves over the past seven years. Please excuse me while I momentarily panic over the shelf-life of my Stash. Anyone out there want to join me?

Our Fourth will involve a visit from Daughter #1. I'm thinking that we'll get out an old bike and make her put crepe paper streamers through the spokes and find ourselves a parade.

How about you? What's on your agenda? And more importantly ... what's on your menu?

The Frosting on the Cake

So ... I'm older ... but just by a year. Saturday was the official jumping off point, but let's just say it was a week of celebration and smiley faces. On Monday, several friends got together to inagurate the occasion. A lunch at Wildflower Bread Company full of fun, food and festive cards and gifts. The lovely piece of cake, pictured above was part of the surprise, but just in case you are tempted to taste it (and I was ... and I did) it now masquerades as a handy-dandy pin cushion, thanks to my friend and a boffo pattern by this gal.

The Gees had been with us only a week before, but they retraced their 6 hour steps to be with me for the big day. They also came to go to the D-Backs/Angels game and rubbed it in only slightly when their beloved Angels creamed/humiliated our beloved D-Backs.

Oh, who cares!? (Sorry, PDaddy ... I know you care and I do too.) We had 3 days full of this begoggled little guy who scares the bejeebers out of us because he thinks he can swim anywhere.

So ... there you have it. I'm older. I'm okay with it. I still have more blessings than candles.

HAH.

Note to Self:

So ... the quilt (top)s are done. Except for the sandwiching, quilting and binding, but seriously ... after all this time ... who is even counting. I am very pleased with both of them and I really had fun making them.

But ...

I would not recommend doing two quilts at the same time. Just one quilt at a time.

One.

If you beg to differ with me ... please don't beg ... just state your case.

And tell me which one is your favorite.

Sunny & Bright

So ... what to do in the summertime when the heat starts to fry your brain??

Let's start with a fun, fun summertime read. Gravity vs. the Girl by Riley Noehren is a fabulous (funny and touching) pick and not just because that pink cover is enough fun all by itself. If you have read this, or when you do ... let me know.

Next on the agenda: plant a summer garden, keeping in mind that there is more than one way to acquire a green thumb. Here we have the June block from Miss Sunshine herself ... Anne at Bunny Hill. For free. Yowza.

Last but not least, you could jump in a body of water like a pool or the ocean or a lake. Please take no offense at my suggestion to go jump in a lake ... I mean that in the kindest way, really I do. If no larger body of water is accessible at the moment, simply create some puddles with a water fight. L'il Gee thought that was the best alternative of all during his Father's Day visit.

I have found I am quite adept at creating some puddles by sweating a lot. Wow ... I am just full of practical summer fun suggestions.

Do tell. What are some of your sunny ideas?

Separated at Birth

So ... I bought a new tablecloth a couple of days ago. I have a round table in my kitchen and ... it requires a 70" round cloth and those are not always easy to come by, so ... I snatched it up at my TJMaxx because ... it was the very stunning blue that I love so much. In fact, you could honestly say that I was in love with it the minute I laid eyes on it.

Ummm, it turns out there was a very good reason for that.

It turns out that this was not the first time I had purchased this very same fabric.

It turns out that the pillow I purchased some time ago for my bed was sporting the same lovely blue in the same lovely paisley pattern.

Naturally I felt it my duty to bring them together in the same room ... or on opposite ends of the same space. It was that or cut up the tablecloth to make other throw pillows for the bed and this was clearly the easier choice.

So there you have it: Rationalization, Laziness and Memory Loss. A trifecta of weakness in one swift decorating move.

Just please tell me you have done the same thing ... sometime??

une petite excuse

So ... here's the deal. I am still working on the 2 "Hot Cross" quilts. Deal with it. I spent a week in the Big Apple and a week with The Cold from Heck. Very, very little sewing got done during that time which means no sewing/fabric/colorful blogposts.

However ... I do have the following story and accompanying pics:

Over Memorial Day weekend, Sonny Boy & the Mrs. went to the City of Lights, aka Paris, France. They brought back souvenirs only for the family favorites Li'l Gee and Miss Dub. Those souvenirs were books and berets. Their gifts came with a set of instructions ... pictures must be taken of them reading the books, wearing the berets ... and ... sporting the obligatory parisian mustache. (If you hadn't figured it out by now ... we are not what you would call a normal family.)

It's pretty obvious why these two are the favorites and why no one else is offended. Please ... they are such an obvious choice ... non?

Oh, oui, oui.

Promises Kept

So ... I promised you I rose garden and I will not disappoint! These were taken at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens last Saturday morning. I am just so grateful that last Saturday morning, I could stop and smell the roses. This Saturday morning my head is on the brink of total explosion, and smelling roses ... or anything else for that matter ... is quite out of the question. So today I will just enjoy the sweet memories.

And pray that my head will eventually clear and/or explode.

So ... in uncharacteristic fashion ... I offer you a picture of ... moi ... as proof that our lovely trip was not just a lovely dream. Try to focus on the Empire State Building.

Here we are at the NBC studios. I actually peeked into the famous "window" but alas, Matt and Meredith had long since left.

This picture is of a cemetery that lies directly across from Ground Zero. The headstones have dates from the 18th & 19th centuries. So ... not only did it withstand the wear of over 200 years, but it withstood the blasts and the fallout from the buildings. The church ... St. Paul's Chapel ... served as a place of refuge for the firefighters and other volunteers. We were very, very touched to be there.

This is a picture of my baby boy, Sonny Boy. When he was even smaller (before he exceeded 6 feet) he loved, loved, loved dinosaurs. It was quite a thrill to see him enjoy this exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. Right after this, I asked him if he would like me to send him his dinosaur sheets ... which I still have in my possession. He politely told me it was all right to keep them at my house. Isn't he sweet?

Sonny Boy and the Mrs. live in Brooklyn so we spent some time there. Yep, we ate hot dogs at Nathans on Coney Island. Probably the most delicious hot dog I have ever consumed. The ambience was superb.

Now this ... this ... was a highlight for sure. We were priviledged to land some 12th row seats at the Gershwin Theatre to see Wicked. I am not entirely certain that I breathed more than once or twice during the entire show. Fab. U. Lous.

But I honestly have to say that this picture depicts what was most awe-inspiring to me about the Big City. The Big-ness. The Crowded-ness. The Thrilling Feelings that those inspire.

Tomorrow (or next time ... I brought home a wicked cold as a souvenir and must be cut some slack) I will bring you some flowers. I will promise you a Rose Garden.

Till then ...

A really big bite from a really big apple

So ... here's a trick question for you: Is the ever-so-lovely picture above ... (a) our home, now that the summer folliage is in bloom, (b) a cottage where small creatures speak in squeaky voices and clean stuff without being asked or (c) Tavern on the Green in Central Park? The answer of course is (c), although we didn't go inside so (b) may still be an option.

Yep, we spent the last 6 days in the Big City. Wow ... is it BIG! What a thrill to see so many things I had read about (and seen on Law & Order) for so many years. (This was my first trip, PDaddy hadn't been there in 30 years.) I am black and blue from the constant pinching. The picture above was taken at the "Top of the Rock" at Rockefeller Center.

This picture of Radio City Music Hall ... not far from our hotel ... was the scene of the Tony Awards just two days later.

This picture is of our lovely and oh-so-serious tour guides, Sonny and Mrs. Boy. It was taken after a most delicious dinner at Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown ... home of the soup dumplings that are so delicious you want to cry.

And just in case you are wondering ... there are blog posts up the ying-yang with just some of the hundreds of pictures we took. Did I mention that we also walked miles and miles and ... miles?

Excuse me while I put my feet up and bask in the memories.

June's Official Ambassador

So ... June has busted out all over and I'm just tickled pink. A whole summer ahead to absorb some vitamin D, fry some eggs on the sidewalk and take a few side trips. Which shall it be first? A little sand between our toes?

A little wind in our sails?

Or this one. And just what could this one be?

Do tell.

Welcome to June. What are your June destinations?