Road to California - Day 1

The first class I attended at Road to California this year was on Needleturn Applique...Teacher was Cathy Van Bruggen and the pattern she was teaching from is called 'Sweet Magnolias' - a design with a mockingbird and several magnolia blossoms. I think I finally 'get' needleturn! It was a good class..I got finished with constructing my birdie except for the embroidery for his eye, beak and maybe some feathers, and the branch he will sit on.


This is the class sample that the teacher did:


















Here is what I got done:

The bird is all from one fabric - we cut out template pieces from freezer paper, then I picked out the areas on the fabric that were the right value for each piece..my poor piece of fabric now looks like swiss cheese! But since its all one fabric, the color goes together marvelously..greys are usually hard to match. The bird is built on a piece of interfacing as a unit - this is a great technique - once you get all your units ready, you can line them up with the pattern (or adjust if you want or need to) and no problems with a piece being just a smidge too short to match up.

After the class, my friends and I went out to eat at Red Lobster..I had stuffed mushrooms and asparagus..yummy! (and only ONE cheese biscuit! I had never tasted one...it was very good!)

Then we attended the preview show for class participants. It was marvelous seeing the spectacular quilts - check out the winners! One pretty cool thing that they did this year was have a wonderful harpist playing during the show...

Before the Stroke of Midnight...

This was the third quilt for the Finish 3 Quilts by 12/31/2008 Challenge - I made it with 22 minutes to spare!

In March of 2007, we started a HUGE project at work..with brutal hours..I worked sometimes 70-80 hours per week, week after week..my laptop was my constant companion! (I even had to bring it to the Arizona Retreat last year! I was running the daily jobs at our Christmas party last year and during our milestone celebration dinners)...I would roll out of bed, head for our project trailer, work til no one else was still there except my boss, head for home and sometimes even get back on the computer after I got home...It got so bad that I was even DREAMING about the work we were doing and the people on the project...could not even escape the project in my slumber!

One night...I remembered what my Mamma had told me when I was a small girl and having bad dreams...If you are dreaming about something you don't want to dream about, wake yourself up, turn over in bed and think about something pleasant...so..I did..and there was a cow! In a field! With the sun shining and a fluffy white cloud and trees and butterflies and flowers!

This quilt was started shortly after we implemented the project (on time and under budget!) in May 2008....and finished just before the stroke of midnight 12/31/20008!

It's quilted on wool batting which is why its so poofy! It's 22x26 inches - hand pieced, hand appliqued, hand quilted - even the binding was put on by hand!...I named it 'She's Out Standing In Her Field'...

100 Things Meme

Here's another meme that's making the rounds:

1. Started your own blog - well, yeah!
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland - and Disneyworld..want to go to EuroDisney and Disney Japan...
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo - I have an 'unreliable voice' - not something I would get to do - unless you count singing in the shower
11. Bungee jumped - not interested in bungee jumping..though DD said it was a blast
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child - had two..quite enough!
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - I may have..not sure though - I know we visited the island that the statue is on...I seem to remember lots of stairs...
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked - not interested in doing this either!
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - mental health days are very important!
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb - did hold a couple of geese (they are not really cuddly though)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon - used to run track in HS...
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run - don't remember hitting one...and not likely to at this age!
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - but..always could use more!
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing - but not with ropes
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke - at home.. not in public!
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted - well..it was a 'scherenschnitte' portrait - and I had a caricature done once
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - if you count snorkeling in a swimming pool...I did have the snorkel, face mask and flippers on!
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie - was an extra in 'Seabiscuit'
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen - did help prepare food baskets for Christmas
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies - was 'Cookie Mom' one year too
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving - not dreadfully interested in this either! Ballooning would be ok though...
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check - not something I would deliberately set out to do!
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt - a few!
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - and ONCE was quite enough, thankyouverymuch!
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book - did help edit several though
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car - and had to teach DH how to drive it as he'd never driven a stick shift..
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible - have read most of it...in bits and pieces..should read from cover to cover sometime...
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - went squirrel hunting with Daddy...(yummy) and have caught and cleaned fish
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury - yeah..and got named 'Foreman' because I was wearing a suit...Note to self...do not wear suit to courthouse if picked on jury again
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone - or is that be owned by a cell phone?? DH and I even call each other when we are in opposite ends of the house..better than yelling...
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day - many times!

The Annual Christmas Sirens...

..or 'I want to scream!'

Every year right before Christmas, they have a parade of sorts in our tract - I think its for Toys for Tots - where they have a fire engine and a cop car (at least I THINK that's what it is..they never have come down my street - its a teeny tiny street) BUT I hear the wailing of those sirens and the loudspeaker and the air horns blasting away as they wend their way thru the streets.. not quite sure WHAT the purpose is..except to annoy all the poor dogs in the tract...and it goes on for over an hour!!!

I am feeling a bit Scroogey I guess...but this seems to be a bit of a waste...and it's sooooo irritating...I'd rather they played carols...

Oh thank goodness...they've finally stopped...

Orchid Convergence

At the last Arizona quilting retreat, one of the activities was learning how to make a convergence quilt from Ricky Tims technique. Not knowing if I would like this technique - you never know till you are done with the piece if the fabrics you have picked 'work' for a convergence - I used some sample pieces that I had gotten in a Rosie's Quilt Cupboard run a few months earlier. The orchid fabric came in two sizes and I thought that might make the convergence look more coordinated...picked out a green and a black from the pile of sample fabric and made the convergence top at retreat. Its been sitting in a zip bag as a PIGZ (Project in a Gallon Zippy) with its backing and batting since I got home..kind of buried in the stuff on top of my cutting table..I was looking for a cable template that I wanted to use on the Butterfly Heart...and found the bag..but no cable template (I ended up free handing the cables..) Thursday afternoon, I was in the mood for a little machine quilting, and this was calling to me...so I added the borders, fused the scraps of the orchid material and trimmed out what orchids I could, arranged them on the borders, fused them in place and quilted the center of the quilt! The next day I added the viney leaf quilting to the border, and the binding..Went together very quickly! And..I like it!



















Here is a detail of the larger orchid in the corner:

Butterfly Heart

I renamed the Crazy Heart quilt to Butterfly Heart...its finished! I put the last stitches into it last night. I blocked it by spraying the non-embellished areas with sizing..and ironing..but that made the wool a bit flat, so after it dried, I went back and steamed the quilted areas so the wool would puff up again..

Here is the full quilt. I love how the wool batting makes the quilting seem to pop out. Wool is my favorite batting to hand quilt...needle goes thru like a hot knife thru butter! I did end up having to tack the heart down - it looked too strange without it being tacked..so I took hidden quilting stitches along all the seams and it looks much better. The center butterfly was not originally quilted or embellished..but it looked poofy too, so I quilted around it...because there are so many layers at that point, I ended up doing one stitch at a time - it has much better definition now..I don't think I have seen the technique of using both encrusted crazy quilting and sane (traditional) quilting in the same piece..but I like how mine turned out!


















Here is a detail of the upper quilting...I added an orange outline of the butterfly in between the outline quilting of the butterfly feathers to make it stand out a bit - hopefully you can see it..the picture is a little dark to keep the flash from washing the orange out...














Here is a detail of the corner feathers - the butterflies are made of feathers too:

Crazy Heart Progress

Here's the progress so far on the Crazy Heart..

I have it stabilized..now to put in the detail quilting around the heart and in the border.

The brown edge is just the back pinned to the front to keep the wool batting from shedding all over the piece..I think I don't like the brown on the outer edge so the binding will have to be something else..probably the orange fabric.

It looks kinda wrinkly in this picture, but I am pretty sure its just because its been stuffed in a project bag...I am going to press it before I mark it for the detail quilting...

Also..the heart may need some tacking down on the interior..it's pretty stiff and puffy..

Older post about this piece is in September 2006

Back in the Saddle...

Well hopefully I won't be as absent as I have been with blogging..I finally got a new battery for my camera, it's charged up and I can take photos again...

I joined the 'Finish 3 UFO's by 12/31/2008' Challenge on the quilting forum - I have at least 14 UFO's or WIPs... These are the three I am working on:

1. Valentine's Table Runner...this was hand pieced at Retreat 2007 in the Mystery Blocks Challenge that Lindahoo ran. I finished quilting it today and gave it a quick wash...it caused me sooooo much trouble! Once I got it sandwiched, I could not find the metallic red thread I wanted to use...then once I found it and started quilting..the red material stretched all over the place, even though it was pinned within an inch of its life and looked HORRIBLE...tore all of that out...got some regular Gutterman hand quilting thread...not much better luck with that (by this time I was considering throwing it in the trash!) ...so I popped my Big Foot on my machine and subdued this recalcitrant piece!!! It looked fine with just the machine quilting, but there were a couple of large open areas (the batting is fleece, so it did not HAVE to be quilted) so I added some hand quilted hearts there...now I like it! And its DONE!!!

This picture makes it look more pink than it is..the fabrics are really red and a cream color...














Here is a detail shot of the hand quilted hearts (sorry they are a little hard to see):















2. Crazy Heart Wall Hanging - which is in quilting now. UFO since 2006, when I did most of my crazy quilting. I am mounting the heart in a frame and quilting around it..it will probably get some braiding added to the border...

3. My Cow Quilt - it still is getting a bit more applique done, then will be quilted.
There is a story behind that one - when I was working on the 'Project from You Know Where' last year, I was working so hard and such long hours that I kept dreaming about the people from work...now..they are nice folks and all, and I like working with them (we had many hours of meetings every day) but I could NOT get away from them, even in my sleep! When I was a little girl, I remember my Mamma telling me if I was dreaming about something I did not want to dream about, I should wake my self up, turn over in bed and think of something pleasant..so I did..and there was a cow, out in a field, with a blue sky, and puffy white clouds, and some trees and some flowers...This quilt is a memory of that!!!

I will post pictures of the others later...

I've also done some amigurumi (crochet) too..a mouse and a cat..the mouse I gave to the Resident Quilt Inspectors..it's getting a wee bit ragged already!

AZ Retreat 2008

End of February, I attended the Arizona Valley of The Sun Quilter's Retreat...oh my, what a lovely time I had! It was wonderful seeing my quilting friends again...and meeting some new friends!

We had lots of great activities - the Hostesses outdo themselves each year, plotting and planning and creating a wonderful environment for our retreat...

Here are a few of the things I worked on:
Charm bag - this is the outside...if I do another one this size..I think the outside pocket would look better with 4 squares instead of 2...overall though..it's cuter than a bug's ear!



Charm bag inside...has a piece of plastic canvas in a slipcover to keep the bottom from getting too baggy looking. The inside pocket is a good size and has a magnetic snap. One of the ladies put her magnetic snap on the whole bag..this might have been a good idea too! This was an extremely easy bag to make..I will probably make more of them!



Here is the Hawaiian Wallhanging that I have been working on since our trip to Hawaii...I started the applique in Hawaii and finished it off to be a keepsake for my DH of the trip...Batting is wool - I love working with the wool batting..it's a dream to needle and I love how it springs up and creates a lot of definition...



This is a Whimsey Ball for my DGD for her first birthday...It was very easy to make also..had loads of fun putting it together...a few of the ladies wanted to take it home with them!


This is my convergence quilt top - I am planning on putting a black border around this and using some of the orchids from the smaller print to applique on the top corner...along with some ribbons...I really want to try one of the curved convergences...this kind has way too many fiddly seams to match and that is not my favorite part of piecing!!! It was amazing to see how different the result was for each person's fabric choices...


We also had classes on how to do paper piecing using the freezer paper method, how to applique using the basted method and how to draw feathers...I noticed I am doodling feathers all over the place now! Just have to get a test sandwich together and try them now on the machine...

One of the other fun activities was having a Secret Sister...you put stuff into your secret sister's bag when they were not in the room and someone else put stuff in your bag and on Saturday night we had the Big Reveal! The Secret Sister that was putting stuff in my bag gave me some really terrific things! I do a lot of hand piecing and did not have a sandpaper board..she made me a lovely one..in my most favorite green color! She also put in some great marking pencils, a needle grabber, some tailors chalk and made the cutest embroidered pin cushion out of a large bottle cap...She gave me a mother load of wonderful batiks for the reveal gift!




Inside the sandpaper board - sandpaper on one side to keep material from sliding around when you are using a pencil to mark the pieces and the other side has felt for arranging the block in the order you are going to sew it...


The gal who is my Secret Sister likes penguins...so I made her a penguin pin cushion - "Peircey, the 'Pin'quin"...unfortunately..ran out of time before retreat to take a picture of all of the things I gave her so I don't have a picture of it...but it turned out cute!

Walking in this World - Week 4 Checkin

I continue to be super busy at work..I spent over 70 hours at work...hopefully next week will be alot less....the data for the conversion is looking better, only a few wrinkles left!


This week was about discovering a sense of adventure...and boy howdy, did I have an adventure this week - this is my 'Artist Date' for the week! The finance manager took a small group of us out for dinner to thank us for our hard work. We went to a sushi bar! I have never been to one...and promised myself that I would at least TRY some of all of the items that they ordered...They were a little surprised I could use chopsticks since the group of them had never seen me eat oriental food..I learned a long time ago and actually am pretty good with the sticks! (I forgot to take my camera so these pictures are off the web and not actually of our dinner..but representative of the dishes we ate.)
Edamame - this is one of my favorite veggies!


We got most of our orders sashimi style - meaning no rice...
These are representative on some of the items ordered:


we had fatty tuna (ok), octopus(interesting), eel (smoked and tasty), shrimp (any shrimp I eat will be cooked from now on!)...the shrimp heads were deep fried tempura style...and tasted pretty good! They are very crunchy!

This is sea urchin...it was tasty too...I have heard you either really like sea urchin or you hate it...I would eat it again:

This was my favorite of the sashimi dishes - yellowtail! Yummy....

But my very favorite dish of the evening was the plate of sweet potato tempura that they ordered for me!


Morning Pages - did them each day..I did have to force myself to do them though this week.
Walk - went for several walks in the little park beside work...it does help to clear my head. SoCal was very pretty for most of the week (it's raining again today though!)
Exercises - did not find time to get a new little sketch pad..but did pull out the sketch book I already have and added a couple of sketches...wasn't really able to carry it around as the excercise asked..maybe will try that later...

Walking in this World - Check In 3

Whew...this was a very stressful week! I had to make a couple of last minute changes to the conversion programs and the first two tries were a total shambles...got it sorted out, but was so stressed!!!
Don't know if y'all will find this as hilarious as I did but here goes....
Came home after one of my super stressful days - everything that could go wrong, did it seems, and then I had an hour and a half commute in pouring rain...I was more than a wee bit 'cranky' shall we put it...Got into the kitchen, knowing I did NOT want to go back out in the rain to a take out..blech!!...and the garbage bag was full...asked DH if he could take the garbage out...he was kinda resisting (after all, its raining)...I said I was making 'chicken curry' for dinner..he asked 'How do you make it?' and I said..'First, you get your shoes on, then you take the garbage out...'...He (he's an actor, remember) puts on his Country Bumpkin look and starts drawling 'Yanno, I may not know an awful lot about this here cookin' and such and I am a bit gullible, but I am purty sure there is NOT a recipe that starts out "First ya get yer shoes on, then ya take the garbage out" '...by the time he got done pronouncing that, I was laughing so hard I could almost not stand up straight...
Laughing was just what I needed though!

Morning Pages - did them every day.
Exercises -
Here's my collage. At first I thought I would not be able to do this exercise because I don't get many magazine subscriptions and the ones I do, I would never cut up! I ended up using ADVERTISING!!! A couple of flyers, a couple of catalogues and ad for a local Chinese food restaurant later, and here is my collage...

I am exploring my issue with little free time...


Artist Date - did not get to doing one this week...and it made me sad...
Walk - it was rainy most of the week and really quite cold...thought about it a couple of times and opted to just use my excercyle instead...

Road To California Report

I did not have as much time at the show this year due to having to work...the Progect Manager is kind of a Nervous Nelly and wants everyone to be there every day...so I only got to take a couple of evening classes...but the ones I did take were facinating.

First class was a minature landscape done with curved piecing..the technique is very easy...and the results very lovely. I did mine with batiks..have wanted to do a batik landscape for several years and have been collecting the fabrics...just needed that kick in the rear to actually accomplish it!

Here is the one I did - it needs its borders and I want to figure out how to add a birch tree on the left side before I finish it off..I am planning on adding some beading and embroidery to it:


and here is the one that my friend did - before trimming:


The other class was on exploring the techniques to using Shiva Paintstiks. A couple of things surprised me - first, the paint has a very definate odor..which I did not notice in the classroom...but only after getting the pieces home...and secondly, the brightness of the paints seem to fade quite a bit as they are drying..you have to leave them for 3 days then stick them in a hot dryer for 30 minutes to set the paint.

Here is a sample of stenciling:

Here is a sample of rubbing:


Here is a sample of torn edge:

Walking in this World - Check In 2

Catching up on blogging - this was originally posted on About.com/Quilting:

Morning Pages...did 'em every day this week...
Artist Date..my annual excursion to the Road to California Quilt Show. Cruised around by myself for a while, looking at the vendor show...took two clases..one in curved piecing for landscapes...the other using the Shiva Paintstiks...loved both of them...too tired to download the pictures though...
Walk....did oddles of walking at the show...
Observations...Expand the universe of what you are comfortable with - and don't let those that see you as one thing discourage you from trying something different, if that's your goal.
Exercises.. was quite giddly with delight to find that the answers I had written down for Size Shifting the last time I was doing WITW for questions 1 & 2...I actually DID this week!
I was also able to cross off 5 of my 'I Wishes' because they are done...and added 5 new ones...

Walking in this World - Check In 1

Catching up with blogging...this was originally posted on About.com/Quilting:

Check In
Morning Pages..did em every day but one...some days it's just a Morning Page though!
Artist Date...wandering thru Henry's and getting something for dinner that I usually would not...hummus and low carb pitas...
Walk...DH and I walked one evening during the rain...we walked in a covered parking structure and listened to the pounding rain while we walked..One of my associates came with me one of the other days and we walked over to the local eateries for lunch..SoCal is looking REALLY pretty since we had that major rainstorm, so its really nice walking right now (well..today wouldn't be - its 40 mph winds!)
Tasks - For the "What the Hell, Might As Well" I reviewed what I listed the last time I started this process...and lo and behold a bunch of things I actually DID do! So I crossed them off the list and added more new ones to take their places...
Observations - for me, the gist of chapter 1 was to not get into thinking that you cannot DO something unless everything is just right...by just doing small steps towards the goal, more will follow...kinda reminds me of the old saying about how to eat an elephant...one bite at a time...I have to beware of this even with the walks..my tendency is not to want to go walking unless everything is 'just right'..it's not too cold, it's not too hot, my shoes are the right ones, it's not to late in the day..

Aloha!

We spent our vacation this year on the Big Island!
DH and I have wanted to get to Hawaii for a long time...this year we just said it's TIME and made the reservations! I desperately needed a bit of time off!

We drove down as close as you can get to the Kealakekua Bay that has Captain Cook's Monument -
DH wrote a children's book about Captain Cook so the subject fascinates him...we asked a bunch of the local folks if they had ever seen the actual plaque that's IN the water at where they think Captain Cook met his demise and they looked at us like we were nuts - but I have seen pictures of it on the Internet!!! The only way to get over there is by kayak...but we did not really realize that until it was too late to rent a set and paddle over there...there used to be a arduous trail, but it was not available - there was a landslide in that area after a recent earthquake that we think is why the trail is out of commission.

We watched a luau from our balcony at the hotel - it was a trip being able to wander in and out of the hotel room instead of having to sit there (captive) for several hours - we could see perfectly well!...the only thing we did NOT get out of that was tasting poi..which most people that have tasted say it tastes like you would imagine wallpaper paste tasting...not dreadfully high on my list of things I gotta do!! -
we did get to taste the kalua pig at a buffet though so we did not miss much as far as the food goes - it was interesting seeing the imu - I thought the room was on fire when they started the pit in the morning as the smoke wafted up to our windows - it wasn't until I saw the guys messing around in the dirt that I figured out what was going on!...We stayed at the Royal Kona
and since it was our anniversary, they upgraded the room and sent us a bottle of (alcohol free) bubbly..which we shared whilst watching the luau...the room was incredibly big...since it was on the corner, the balcony stretched around both sides...I brought some material and started a Hawaiian Applique block..it was pretty cool to work on that in Hawaii while listening to Hawaiian music!

We went on a flying tour of the Island...saw the 10 mile wide bubbling lava,
the macadamia groves, the eucalyptus groves, saw the waterfalls off the cliffs, and the ritzy resorts to the north of Kona...One is the Hilton at Waikaloa..the pilot pointed it out to us as we flew over it...we were so intrigued that after the flight, we drove up there and had one of the most wonderful buffet dinners (that's where we tasted the kalua pig)..
if you have never been there, it's a trip in itself - there are 5 huge hotel buildings connected by a monorail and a canal boat system!!!! Hammocks are strung between palm trees and the most incredible collection of oriental art...just sitting right out there to be enjoyed. There are waterfalls and lagoons - it's quite fascinating just to walk around there.

We drove out to the top of the Island to see if we could see Maui..and we could...then we drove thru Parker Ranch lands...zowsers is that awesomely gorgeous (if ever we moved to Hawaii, I think I would want to be up near Waimea...)...We made it all the way over to Hilo..but since it was already dark by then, there was not too much we could see - we did try hiking down the pathway to Akaka Falls..but the only flash lights we had were our cell phones!!

I got some 'interesting' flash shots of the vegetation! And the night sounds...pure heavenly music...I could listen to the frogs singing any day...

We went on a tour up Mauna Kea to see the observatories...they provide parkas since its below freezing (imagine that on a tropical isle!) We had dinner on the way up, watched the sun set on one side and the moon rise a few moments later on the other side...
saw the top of Mauna Loa in the clouds in the distance and on the way down we stopped to see the Space Station hurtle from one side of the sky to the other...then they put on a star show with telescopes so we could see some sights...that was the night of the total lunar eclipse so as soon as we got back down to Kona (it would have been even cooler if they had delayed bringing us back until AFTER the eclipse..but they have a 'schedule' to keep...) we hightailed it up the highway a bit so we could get away from the clouds and see the full show...it was pretty spectacular in itself!

We chartered a motor boat and tooled around in the ocean for a half a day...that was the only day I was out in the sun enough to get burned...just a scrap of the back of my arms where the sunscreen unfortunately got forgotten...but, owie!!! We did get a bit closer to the Captain Cook monument
..but you can't dock there, so it was not as satisfying as actually going there! It would have been better to have the boat for the whole day and to have another couple with us so that we could go snorkeling and exploring the lava tubes. We were a bit squeamish about tying down the boat and both of us being in the water without someone looking after the boat...

I bought a lava-lava (or sarong)...bright, bright green! I am finding its a rather effective wrap when we go to the movies and the AC gets to be a bit much...there I am, wrapped up in a bright green lava-lava....

We saw so many blooming trees and colorful bushes...and a gecko and oodles of myna birds, and a silversword plant, and coffee groves and spinner dolphins...the only things we didn't do that we thought we might have wanted to was to go on the helicopter tour that sets down in a meadow for lunch (mucho, mucho dinero!), see the Volcanoes monument, see more of the rainforest and I did not get to go into a Hawaiian quilt shop!!! I had some thought of bringing back some barkcloth...but I guess that's for the next trip...

I could have stayed there for a couple more weeks, but it was not to be. At the luau...the announcer asked how many were there for the first time..he had a name for them that he said translated to something like 'first time visitors'...then he asked how many had been there more than once...he had another name and said it translated to 'Rich People'...it sure is expensive doing the 'touristy' stuff!..but we did find there were two WalMarts and at least 1 K-Mart..and the prices seemed pretty much in line with the mainland prices, at least on the stuff we looked at...

I am still incredibly busy at work with our massive conversion of the accounting system - it's not scheduled to be done until April next year...so it was kinda traumatic to them to have me gone for even a week! I did drag my laptop with me so I could keep up on emails and do emergency fixes...fortunately they did not plague me too much! Even though my laptop is pretty tiny and weighs hardly anything, the bag they gave me for toting it around was tooooo heavy...so I made a quilted slipcover for it and stuffed that inside my sewing tote! Not only was it much lighter, no one could tell it was a laptop in there!

How I Spent My Lunch Hour...

...I spent it teaching Silk Ribbon Embroidery!

The craft club at work wanted a class on the ribbon embroidery and so about 10 gals from work got together in a conference room and I showed them the basics of ribbon embroidery. Like any group, there were those that 'got it' really easily and then there were the ones that had a harder time wrapping their minds around it, but in the end..I think every one was able to do most of the stitches..they left with a handout with stitch diagrams, a good sized chunk of wool to embroider on, a needle and some extra ribbon to do some more practicing. I had a white board available for this class since its a standard conference room and that seemed to make it easier to explain the stitches...what would be even better would be a video camera trained on my hands and projected up on the wall but that would have taken a bit more arranging (I think we probably could have come up with the stuff though! I have to remember that if we do another session.)

The gal that sits in the next cube over from me REALLY REALLY wants to be able to master that spiderweb rose...I may end up doing some private tutoring over the next few weeks!

Twinkle, Twinkle

I finally finished my 12 x 12 x 4 Challenge piece that was supposed to be done by April!!! (Better late than UFO, I say!)

This is a 12 inch circle. The pattern is 'Seven Sisters' - a variant of the 'Baby Blocks' or 'Tumbling Blocks' patterns. There are only two pieces of each of the colored fabrics..I used one in the stars, and one in the border.

Hand pieced with yummy wool batting and hand quilted with gold thread. Beaded with gold and iridescent beads.

This was a joyful quiltlet to work on..the colors are cheerful and just looking at it makes me happy. I was a bit surprised at how long it actually took me to finish it..but it looks just as I imagined so it was worth the effort.

It's Been A While...

but..I have been REALLY, REALLY busy at work...hopefully it will slow down in a few days and I can catch my breath!


Last weekend I went on the Southern California Quilter's Run...a pretty much annual event for the group of quilters I hang out with...Most of us either used to work together or still do, a one lady used to go square dancing with the lady that does the organizing and we were introduced to a friend of hers from church this year.

34 shops, 900 miles, 7 ladies, hundreds of dollars and all that in only 2 days!!!
It was kinda close for the last couple of stores...we short changed them a bit - we had to run in, get our passports stamped and boogie right back out...hopefully next year they won't be in the tail end of the second day and we can visit longer. There was one I want to go back to and probably will as its close to family.

I have a stack of 4 inch fabric charms - each store gave us a packet of at least 4 squares..sometimes more...and three neck chains full of real pewter charms...only one charm was repeated in amongst the offerings...pretty cool. I will probably separate out the ones that are obviously quilting related and make a necklace with them..the rest may find homes on crazy quilts... or I might just make the whole thing into a bracelet...

The reason we were dashing into the last few stores was the miserable traffic on the worst freeway in the US..and probably the world...the dreaded 405 South...by the time we got to the store off that freeway (Sewing Arts Center in Santa Monica), we were pretty frazzled...and were grousing about having to go there at all...We all said "THIS had better be a terrific store!" and to our utter delight, it was! The theme of the Run was Movies and each store picked a particular movie - the store named Cotton and Chocolate had, obviously, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (complete with Willie Wonka serving up chocolate bars!) The rest were not quite so obvious...but some of the stores really got into their themes...Sewing Arts Center picked 'Superstar' - all the employees dressed up in Catholic school outfits - even Russell...the totally crazy quilting guy that works there...He turned his skirt so the zipper was in front and said that made it a 'man skirt'..He had us laughing so hard..and it was just what we needed to revive us enough to finish the rest of the run!

We had a marvelous time!

And..least you think that was actually a couple of days off from work...nah...I had my laptop with me and remote-ed into work from the road during the drive times. They got me an AT&T phone card and it worked pretty well..there were only a few spots that did not get good reception...I got a lot done...

Cooking... Er...Make That Drying With Gas!

A brief pause for some home maintenance:

We replaced the belt on the dryer - Whoohoo! It only took about 45 minutes and a goodly chunk of that was trying to find enough chunks of wood to hold the dryer drum up so we could remove the front panel...The trickiest part was figuring out how the tensioner connected back to the bottom of the dryer - it fell off when the belt broke and the picture from the internet was not dreadfully detailed - thankfully it was not broken off! When I saw it was just laying there in the bottom, my heart kinda sank, thinking we would probably have to call the repairman after all... But...we have liftoff! Good thing too..the wind is whipping around today - way too windy to put clothes out to line dry - they would likely be found flying around in the next county if I tried!

Back to the o' grindstone...

Working on Overtime

Sorry to be mostly absent, but I am working on a massive project at work which is requiring oodles of overtime...I will probably not be posting much or even quilting much for the next couple of months until I get the coding for this project out of the way...

Update on the raccoons...my friend went to the rescue location last Sunday to get our two cages of raccoons only to find out that one of the yearlings gave birth to 4 babies the night before and a bunch of the remaining raccoons had mange...so they cancelled the release entirely as they did not want to disturb the new mamma plus they did not have the medication for the shot to cure the mange on hand. The next date for release is May 13th...I have no idea what possessed them to pick Mother's Day(!) for the release date, but both my friend and I cancelled...hopefully they have enough people that cancel and will reschedule for some other date...otherwise, we shall just have to try for next year's release.

But Wait..There May Be Hope For The Raccoons Yet..

The raccoon rescue organizer is looking for another spot for us...so the Second Annual Great Raccoon Release may still be on for tomorrow...will update tomorrow.

There are not enough releasers so we may end up with SIX of the fat and sassy critters...hopefully in two cages or its gonna be a bit of a stretch for two middle aged ladies getting the cage out of the back of the car...hopefully the new spot will have a place we can drive up to for releasing.

The Demise of the Second Annual Great Raccoon Release

Tomorrow was supposed to be the Second Annual Great Raccoon Release...but its been called off for our location...

The new dryer belt did not get here until today and DH is working today, so I tried out the new line that I strung up between the two swing sets... unfortunately, the swing sets are not really heavy enough for laundry so I had to improvise and find some concrete blocks to weight the seats down enough to keep the lines from pulling the swing sets over.... was putting out the third load of the day an hour ago - it's very hot here today - 95 and very low humidity... stuff was not taking very long to dry - I pinned the sheets up first and by the time I had the towels on the line, the sheets were bone dry (that's faster than the dryer!)... I happened to glance over towards the neighbors and AGGGGHHH... there were billows of smoke rising up and then I heard the sirens and the helicopters...the riverbed, 2 miles from me, is on fire!

I had a load of recycling to take down to the recycle center by the grocery store - I had already loaded the bags in the car - so I went to checked out where the fire is burning (after getting the important papers box and the the cat carrier and putting them by the front door, just in case, yanno) and...dagnabit..it's just where we wanted to release the coons...

sigh..

By the way..the pin bag worked out great...

And for anyone that is interested in having a wooden drying rack - you still can get them...here is one place and WalMart is supposed to have a chrome one (that would be good for drying hand-dyes as it wouldn't stain the bars).

Laundry Update

I am pretty sure it's just the belt on the dryer...I popped the top open per the instructions I found by Googling and sure enough, the belt is just hanging...Sears wants 18 bucks for the replacement...found one on eBay for 3! So..just have to wait for it to be delivered...and find a time when both of us will be home to try the repair. If it doesn't work, then I guess we get a new set...but boy, howdy..we looked at the prices and our eyes about popped right out of our heads!

Meanwhile, til the repair is effected, I hauled out my old wooden drying rack (In my panic last weekend, I did not remember I had it!) and we purchased a clothesline that we can string between the two bench swing sets on the patio for sunny days (which it hasn't been for the last few days - we actually got some rain!!!)...and a couple packages of clothes pins...I remembered my Granny used clothes pins and she had a cute little pin bag...so I made me one out of a fat quarter that I would never ever use in a quilt - I won it and its just NOT my style for quilting - old fashioned looking turquoise, red and pink umbrellas...but it made a cute pin bag (and I shall not care if it self destructs...though with my luck the thing will be around for the next 20 years).

Sideways, Just A Little Bit...

Well..I WAS doing laundry yesterday, as advertised - but when I went out to the garage to take the dry stuff out and put the last load into the dryer before heading to bed, I opened up the dryer door and ACKKKK...the contents were still SOAKING WET!!!...apparently the belt snapped (we have yet to actually look inside the machine, but we have pictures from the Internet on HOW to look) and the symptoms match a broken belt...

So...what do one DO with two large tubs of soaking wet laundry? DH bundled the stuff into the car and set out to see if there were any open laundromats...nothing doing...every one that we knew about, and a few from the phone book, were dark and locked up...so we thought about stringing up some rope in the kitchen...that didn't work either...so at 1 am, we gave up trying to figure it out and stuffed the laundry tubs back out in the cold garage and DH said he would take the clothes to the laundromat at 6 am...This did not leave much time for sleeping!

We haven't figured out if we want to try to fix the poor thing (a new belt is pretty cheap) or just get a new laundry pair...it's not like this pair are spring chickens - we bought them about a week after moving into this house 27 years ago and they have most definitely earned their keep...only one other time did we have to have a repair when the dryer thermostat broke. It would be nice to have a new set, but we are not sure we want to spend alot. We have to go shopping to see what the options are out there...any suggestions?