It's a Small Bloggy World.

I had a nice day again. Frankie and I were out acquiring the last of the apartment furniture. Table, check. Chairs, check. Phew. The end. Well I think we all admit it's not really the end, but the end of what we're going to worry about for now. (so brain, turn off.)

In celebration, Frankie called Bret and suggested that he meet us at Buca di Beppo for dinner. He LOVES that place. With a passion. So, of course, he agreed. We high tailed it down to the mall where it's located and had some time to kill in spite of this traffic.

It just takes an afternoon in this to remind me how grateful I am he's willing to drive through this mess daily for us.

Anyhoo... we're in Borders looking at magazines and we strike up a conversation with a nice woman there. She's looking a bit familiar to me as we get to chatting it up about Somerset magazines. Look how cute she is with her Artful Blogging magazine showing.

Turns out I was looking at photos of her and her friends this morning! Sandy had sent me links to some wonderful party photos. Donna was absolutely the friendliest and Frankie and I couldn't stop talking about the coincidence of it all.

You really do meet the nicest people. Go say hi to Donna and see all the wonders that are her life and times, and tell her I sent you! Me, the ridiculous woman from Borders!

Monday Morning!

Good Morning my Peoples! How are you? I'm having a week off here in the get-read-to-move countdown. Remember last years chaos? Well this year, quadruple it, as there's furniture involved. And supplies, for an apartment. And they're everywhere here, bags and boxes and PILES of stuff. Next week though, the house will feel awfully empty. Good thing she's not too far away.

I haven't done much else really. We've got one more piece of furniture to pick up, a dining table. I've caught up on my sewing, the binding went on my little yellow quilt, and its so cute. Of course now I realize I still need to make the little tag for it. So more on that later.

And just because it's always nice to see a photo, I'm including this one from the shop. I love this quilt top, I made it a couple of years ago. I loved the border and I loved Terry Atkinson's pattern from her book My Red Sofa.

I still love it, but it just didn't do well as a kit, there are still 3 left. I thought it would make such a cute addition to a sewing room. I love the cute sewing border and the little basket block. Next time the ladder is out I think I'll reclaim it and work on machine quilting it. I have some pretty yellow binding just waiting.

Well that's all for today my sweets. I wish you all a happy Monday!

For Better or Worse

Twenty two years ago on a Sunday afternoon Bret and I were married here at Ravenswood. I couldn't be luckier.

Is it just me?

I can't believe it would be just me but maybe it is. Look at this pretty ironing board cover. I picked it up for a song at my beloved Home Goods. So many of you with your nicely organized sewing spaces have pretty ironing board covers. I have a heavy duty muslin colored cover that is heavily stained with water marks. I launder it but you know it just looks crappy. And half, maybe even more than half, is covered with stuff. You'd think after enjoying my cleared off sewing table so much I'd think about working on the ironing board. Sigh.

What if it gets ruined?

Orange Dream

Ok, here it is! Totally a departure for me, and I love it. Very fun and cheery. I have no idea what I'll do with it, so I've left it at the shop and they're going to hang it as a sample maybe. It is a big quilt, so there was really no place to get a decent full picture of it. Elizabeth's pattern was very easy to follow and this was certainly fast to make. You don' t need to use jelly rolls, you can use your own fabric selections. I think it would be fun to come up with something from your stash. When I make this again I will cut extra strips to make a kit for a friend. Wouldn't that be a fun gift? For those wondering about yardage instead of strips, I used (18) 1/6th cuts of fabric that yielded 2 strips of each piece of fabric.

Yesterday was a fun day at work. It was busy most of the time I was there. Best part, a visitor! Connie, of Monica's girl gang, and her husband Dave (gosh I hope that's right, I should have taken notes) came for a visit! She's super nice and my blurry picture doesn't capture her energy and charm. It was great to meet you Connie. Monica's busy working on her big move, but like many other's, I've missed her.
Ok, Crossing Jordan is now on twice a day, so I can really get some sewing done. I have started machine quilting my little yellow quilt and I could easily get that done if I applied myself.

See you later aligators.

More Crochet Genius

Check out my friend Tamara's pin cushion entry over at Mary Jane's Farm! Honorable mention for Farm Girl Frugal. If you look at the gallery, you'll see her ADORABLE entry on the third row, Tamara G. It's the cutest cupcake ever!

Congratulations Tamara! Can't wait to see you in the fall!

Off the map

Didn't mean to drop off the map like that.. but like some other people, I was reading Harry Potter. I didn't stay up all night, but I did stay up late, and Harry did consume most of the day, first the finishing, then the checking on facts from the last book and rereading the ending. It was good. Really good.

I did get some sewing in, and I'll show you soon, my orange quilt is done! I made myself finish it before I started the book. It's big though, and I need to find a cleaned up spot to take a photo of it. Which as you might guess, is not easy around here.

Oh, and we did finally make it to Room with a Past. Frankie and I found some goodies for her apartment and she's quite happy about it.

We'll take photos when we get moved in. Things are crammed around here and it will take the Jaws of Life to remove them.

Have a good Monday my sweet Muggles, and I'll see you soon!

Taking Auditions

Look at this. Not something you normally see in Northern California in the summer. I woke up yesterday at the crack of dawn and instead of laying in bed complaining to myself that I was up too early, then falling asleep right before I had to be up and feeling like crap all day, I just got up. And did stuff. I know people, it's a shocker to me too.

Not only did I sew some rows together on my latest project, I actually sat and had coffee on the swing enjoying some magazines and the birds. And still was ready for work on time!

Work was a lot of fun! Leslie brought me a birthday treat! Get a load of those glasses! Those will make me feel like a star out on the swing won' t they! Leslie's so thoughtful.

This rose is so lovely, I hope that I can keep it alive. It's a Palace Rose. It looks like old silk flowers doesn't it. A lot of people wondered if it was even real. I just can't get over how beautiful it is. Thank you so much Leslie.

So here's the start of my latest project. Totally shocking, not my kind of colors at all, but I was just moved to make something different. I really like the oranges in the Urban Chicks line Summer in the City. It's on of Elizabeth's patterns, At Home. It calls for Jelly Rolls but I just calculated how much to buy for the stack of fabrics I collected and made my own roll!

Here's what I ended up choosing for borders. It will also have a piano key border. Quite cute. Not what I was thinking I'd do, so I'm glad I waited to buy the borders till it was put together. My original plan was to use the Chez Moi floral but just didn't look good. I know when I first started quilting I always wanted to choose everything in advance but now I like to wait, see how the project goes before committing myself.

Today I'm off with Frankie and Elizabeth to this month's opening of Room with a Past. We're hoping to find some apartment goodies! Anne says that's where she's really scored lately, so we're going to try our luck. It's been a while. Should make for a fun day. I hope you have a fun day peoples.. thanks again for the birthday wishes. I appreciate you all so much.

Cruising

Now that Bret has his new car we find a lot of errands for the evening that require a ride out with the top down. Wow, you know you can see so much more when there's nothing obstructing your view! We rode all over downtown Livermore and just enjoyed the cool air. I LOVE COOL AIR. And another thing I love, seeing the fog creep in.

Thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes! I had a really nice day of doing nothing. Not really nothing you know, but just stuff I wanted to do . Bret even took the day off and we all had a family day around the house. I delivered my Celebrity Stunt Sewing project on Monday and that left me open for some of my own sewing. More on that tomorrow, I think I hear my coffee water boiling then its sewing time! Keep cool!

Lakehouse Surprise!

Over the weekend our mail carrier brought the most delicious treat. A box from Holly at Lakehouse DryGoods. I helped out out with some bloggy stuff and she sent this delightful thank you.

The packaging was just as wonderful as the gift, this came swaddled in some black and white tissue. I could barely bring myself to open it, but my friends you know how greedy I am, so I did.

A package filled with Japanese goodness, magazines and craft books. Two books on studio organization, which has been on my mind lately with all my Celebrity Stunt Quilting. I'm not sure I'll ever be really organized, but I bet I could do way better than I'm doing now. ( You may or may not believe my table is still cleared off. I know, shocker! I wouldn't have believed it. )

I have spent some time on the swing with my books and they're wonderful. The evenings have been cool and breezy, one of the many perks of living in this valley. Let's hope the breezes find you my friends. Happy Happy.

Lately

Lately it seems like things have been busy and boring, happy and sad all at once. You know how it is, it happens to everyone. I'll try not to dwell on the sad things, and look for tiny pleasures that can light up the day. Things you rarely see anymore. Like a quail. I know for certain I haven't seen a quail in a year. So this fat little quail is a blessing.

And another blessing, finding this in the morning. We had a tiny rain a few days ago and up popped more rain lilies. If that doesn't bring a smile, what will?
I hope you have a day full surprises my sweet little lilies.

Eating My Words

Good morning! It's nice and cool this morning how about where you are? I know it will warm up here inland, but again, we're headed to the coast to finalize the apartment situation. Woo hoo, Frankie has her first apartment. Well she will later on this summer.

But as usual, I just blather on. And speaking of blathering, I think I was saying at one point that I was having a hard time imagining using some of the new bold prints in more traditional blocks. I'm way too lazy to look back and link to the spot, but trust me, if I didn't blog it, I surely said it.

So when Sherry Hutchens came in last week with this amazing Pineapple Star quilt I was Blown Away!! She took a class from Valerie Yeaton and used this book.

Sherry, thanks for letting me take your picture for my blog.I can see why you have a big smile on your face! This foundation pieced star is amazing. I love your color selections, and particularly that you used some Amy Butler and some Jinny Beyer.Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum.
I can't believe how great this turned out. The kaleidoscope effect of the center is amazing.
I think we all agree Sherry, this one needs to be entered into PIQF!

All right my little pineapples I hope you all have fabulous weekends! Off to the coast!

Celebrity Lunching

Ohhh, today was Celebrity lunch day. Nothing better than that believe me! Elizabeth and I met Anne, Brenda and Anne's sidekick Nireko at the shop. They were shopping before we even got there. (Anne hardly owns any bunnies and she needed to stock up!) I wasn't totally on top of the photo situation, but I'm sure at least Anne got a couple of photos as well, so everyone is covered!

Here's Melissa, Anne and Brenda (from left to right)
And look at Nireko peeking out, she's a silly one! We went off for some Mexican food and some gabbing. After a long lunch catching up, we parted ways. Have a safe trip to Bend ladies! And show off all your finds when you get home, we want lots of pictures.

Frankie met up at the end of lunch showing off her new doo, which I totally do not have a picture of, and came with me and Elizabeth for an afternoons outing. Frankie's friend British Kelly joined us and hilarity ensued. It was a fun gals day and I had a wonderful time.

Thanks Anne, Brenda and Elizabeth for letting me be part of the Celebrity crowd. I had a blast!

Lazy Morning

I'm enjoying some swing time this morning while it's cool. Typical bay area weather with that foggy ocean air coming into the valley. Pretty soon it will be time to shut the windows for the day. Just have some sewing today, then for something fun and different, meeting up with some bloggy peeps for lunch. Anne and Brenda are coming over to the shop, to meet Elizabeth and I for lunch. (could I cram anymore links into one sentence? Doubtful!)
This was it for my fig tree this year. I need to settle on a spot and plant it. It doesn't enjoy pot living.
The very sweet Karen was in the shop yesterday. Last week she told me about a quilt she was finishing for her cats, so she brought it in to show. Isn't it cute? And of course I love that her cats will have their own quilt. Karen is so sweet. She wouldn't be in the photo because she hadn't done her hair. Karen, you are so beautiful and kind you don't need to do your hair to be on my blog. But I respect your wishes.

That's it today people, there are two Crossing Jordans on this morning so I can really get some of my stunt quilting done! It's going well and I can't wait to the point when I can show you what I've been working on. Have a lovely day people's, and keep cool.

In the Neighborhood

I suppose if I lived here I wouldn't appreciate the deer nibbling on my flowers but this is such a delightful surprise for someone driving by.

We took a drive to the coast today, time to start thinking about fall semester starting up and picking some new living arrangements for Frankie. It was wonderfully cool there. Fog, misty. Perfect. Some of the places we saw, lets just say less than perfect.

To the people who parked their puppy outside of Toasties while the had a leisurely breakfast, a pox on you. That is not cool. Poor little thing deserves better.

Holly has some nice photos of Addison Endpapers on her blog today. Its an illusive place and in all the times we've gone only once was it open. I think in the next few days she'll be showing more of Addison and maybe some Tail of the Yak.

Have a wonderful day my little flowers.

Good Sunday Morning!

This past week I was invited to a 4Th of July brunch at a friends house. Of course the company and the food was yumilicous, and the garden, OH! MY! GOSH! So many things to look at. I could have spent the day photographing things, but it was HOTHOT so I went back home to my air conditioned house. Don't you want to take a big ol' bite out of one of these? I don't supposed they're even ripe yet, but if it wasn't rude I'd have ripped one right off the tree to try.
And bees on flowers. A favorite. I'm not very patient but I'd wait for that. There were a lot of bees but they were minding their own business so we didn't have any problems.
The last two evenings have been deliciously cool out, so I've taken a magazine out back to the swing to read. I love that kind of cool crisp evening where it's just a degree or two away from being too cool. There's enough light still left for reading, no one in the neighborhood is blasting off fireworks so the dogs are quiet. All good.

Speaking of all good, Elizabeth has a kit for this quilt available, with the exact fabrics I used. I love all those fabrics. Her blog has the details.

We're off for a day trip today. Then more quilting when I get back. All I can say is, why the heck didn't I clear off that table before. OH! MY! GOSH! Its like a sewing miracle.

I Confess.

I will confess, but first I want to give you a little peek at something that made me deliriously happy today. Hard to do in temps in the hundreds. HUNDREDS PEOPLE. I know, many of you live in hot weather, far far hotter than it is here in the 7th Circle of --oops I mean Livermore Valley, but I believe I did warn you that I'd be complaining. This is a rain lily. Probably 15 years ago I read about them in a Southern Living magazine. You know, back in the olden days when getting a regional magazine was like a small miracle. I really moved heaven and earth to get some of these bulbs. They're easier to find now, but back in the day there was way less internet action. The article said that they'd bloom after summer rain. You know in North Carolina or wherever they were in the article. They used to bloom a lot for me, but this last year, not so much. Last night I noticed the flower, still a bud. This morning it was still in bud form, but when I returned from a nice holiday brunch, the flower was in full bloom. So sweet. Tomorrow, it will be toast.
And now for the confession. I've had my lovely Koala quilting table for several years. Nice huh?
This is the first time it's been cleared off. Ever, in the history of sewing tables at my house. I have some more Celebrity Stunt Sewing to do, and it requires the space. Don't even ask me what I did with all the stuff. There's a reason why only the table shows.

So my little sparklers, I hope you had a lovely day! Hugs all around!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you all have a wonderful day my friends. If you're playing with fireworks be safe!!

Sew Much Busy-ness

Yup, its hard to believe but I got this top done. I strayed from the original pattern by shortening the lower section of the background a bit since I didn't have a darling hanky to use. I like how it turned out and maybe I'll even get it quilted up. Until then it's on the swank design wall at the end of the hall (overlooking the sea of laundry Frankie has there.)

Of course the weekend seemed short with a bit of work in it. More pleasure really, seeing people in a festive mood. I've also had some Celebrity Stunt Sewing to do, so that kept me busy the rest of the weekend. This is a nice little week with a holiday in the center to break it up. That will be fun.

So my cheery peoples, what have you been up to? Tell me absolutely everything. It's a work day, so when I come back home I want lots of newsy bits to read.

The Exciting Book Signing!

The book signing went really well yesterday! I wish I'd taken more pictures around the shop, as the few I got didn't turn out all that great. I think my camera has seen better days, all the use it's gotten this year.

The shop was really perfect. Leslie and Melissa had really outdone themselves with the book's trunk show quilts. Garden Fresh is my favorite quilt. And look who was one of the first to come, Sandy!

Frankie dropped in on her way out to Santa Cruz for the day. Here's all my girls, right to left, Leslie, Elizabeth, Frankie and Sandy!

And of course Carol showed up. She is a great friend! A lot of other blog loving friends like Karen B. and Lynn W. showed up. I missed out on some people while cutting fabric behind the 'stage' there, so if I didn't get a chance to say hi, I am so sorry I missed you!

This is one little are that was darling. I love this little quilt.

And here's the quilt we made kits for last week. I noticed a few people buying them, phew, I always worry that as much fun as it to make them, they won't sell!!!


Melissa and Leslie did a wonderful job with the event, the store looked amazing and cake delish and just everything perfect!