The Week in Review

Hi peoples! How's the week going for you? It's been busy here, lots of Law and Order Criminal Intent marathon action this week, and marathons mean time in the sewing room! I did a little sewing for Elizabeth, we traded some garment sewing for some applique help. My part of the bargain involved some of this.. The ruffler foot looks scary but it's one of my favorite accessories as you well know! My serger came out even..
... and I'm afraid I spent some time working on it, the blurry thread there is a little bunch that got caught up on the throatplate.. there was some bad language involved I'm afraid. And possibly some threats. But in the end we made up and we're back in business.

Elizabeth prepped my applique. I wish I could say I hand sewed it all down but I didn't. I blanket stitched it. You'll see that in the final Flight of Fancy block, Elizabeth had to do some more work before it's ready for the flowers. More on that in the coming weeks. I want to get that quilt done, I love it so much and want to see it to completion.

Tomorrow we head up to Sutter Creek for the Golden Threads Quilt Show. I hope some of you local peeps can make it up to the show. It's at 18 Main Street in the Sutter Creek Auditorium and Community Center. I miss seeing all the quilty people so I'm really excited about this trip.

Ok, peeps, have a good weekend !!!! xo

OH HEY P.S. Thanks for all the sewing compliments this week! You guys are the greatest!

Fun sewing

I like sewing. A lot. And I really like making stuff for other people. I made this purse for my sister's birthday. I know you've seen a lot of this kind of bag around, the Japanese craft magazines are crammed with them, and Indygo Junction has a pattern as well. I've made several, trying out different interfacings and making them bigger or small, tucks, no tucks. All fun. To me though, the bag just seems boring without some embellishment. That's when I hit on my fun button pin. I designed a bag for spring market that also needed a little something to dress it up. And you all know my love affair with my ruffler foot.
I love the pin so much I could just.. just what? Hmm, maybe make some more!

Doing my own thing

I know I'm not alone in being tempted by those wonderful Anthropologie linens.. I've seen them on other blogs quite a bit. I just don't know that I could actually use an $18 dishtowel, but that's just me I'm sure!! Anyway, like a lot of you, I have some cute patterns laying around that I might never actually make and they're chock full of wonderful applique designs.

A few years ago when I first had my embroidery machine I bought some Martha Stewart towels to do embroidery designs on. I did one or two and then crammed the rest in a drawer 'to save'. I'm so in love with Elizabeth's little English Posies block I thought it would look darling on one of the towels.
I really like how it turned out. Of course probably not practical with buttons on the flowers but it looks cute. And because I had all the stuff on hand, it was basically free.
Anthropologie has a cute cake towel right now.. wouldn't something done with Sandy's cute cupcake pattern be twice as cute because you could choose your own fabrics. And doesn't Anne have a cute dessert pattern? Maybe we'll never make all the quilts but we could put those applique designs to work, right?

Friday Fun

Bret took another Friday off this week so we could go have some weekday fun. This time we took a ride up to Twain Harte in the the Sierra Foothills. It's hot and dry, and not as picturesque as in the winter, but the drive is still nice and on a weekday not so chock full of traffic. I don't know that we've been up there in a couple of years, so we enjoyed making note of all the changes along the way.

We had lunch at the Rock, Bret's favorite spot there. It was pretty packed when we got there but it cleared out. Then we made a trip to the famous pharmacy that's like an old fashioned dime store (geez, how old am I?) They have a wonderful fabric department and it was chock full of Moda goodness at $6.99 a yard.

For a lot of years we'd come to Twain Harte at Thanksgiving and spend the weekend, getting a cabin at Gables Cedar Creek. We could bring the dogs and the moms and sometimes a niece and still have plenty of room. We always got the Creekside home, it was perfect. Bret has always wanted a cabin up there, he imagines a big huge log cabiny affair that could hold the family for Christmas. I always imagine that small cozy sort of cabin... or summer house.
Either way, it was a hot ride home. I'm not exaggerating either. I have proof! Frankie taunted us with her 77 degrees when we called her. Kids.

The rest of the weekend was lazy and hot. What's up with you peeps?

Link'n Love

Phew. Take a peek over at my links, they're all updated as of this past weekend. I'm sure you've noticed by now, but just in case.. there's lots of good blogs added! Check them out! I'm sorry it's taking so long to get them updated. I use old skool blogger, so I have to update HTML to do it.. not my favorite thing.

Had a fun surprise, a nice visit from Frankie! Of course she brought Binzer. She's a funny little rabbit. We plopped her out into her garden. She was unimpressed with my plant selections.

And it was wayyyyy too hot here. She bounced around a bit but then pooped out in the shade. She looks a little flat here. She is soo long!

We brought her back out in the evening when it was cooler and she just bounced all over. Her little white tail just pops up and you have to crack up at her shenanigans around the yard.

Hope they come back soon!

The Misadventures of Me

So I totally forgot to tell you my little adventure the other day. It was all in the name of keeping my peeps up-to-date. Well first, let me say we have some new locks on the door. This new lock has a "feature" that leaves the door knob locked even after you unlock it with the key. I've been very good about checking the knob before I leave the house.

Anyhoo.. early one morning the PG&E trucks came into the neighborhood and sent workers to all the houses to inform us of a 2 hour power outage we'd soon be having. You know, having before I had showered. And more importantly before I'd used my hair dryer!! 15 minute warning. Anyway, I got my hair done in time, thank goodness!

the culprit, a leaky transformer!

So I felt I should document the scene. Packed my phone in one pocket and the camera in the other and went out to check it out. I checked the door and it was locked. As I unlocked and pulled it behind me, my little inner dialogue said "gee, it would not be cool to get locked out." Then I went about my merry way taking photos.

I walked around, watered my pots, pulled a couple of weeds, FOUND OUT I WAS LOCKED OUT! First time ever! EVER !!

Yeah. I know. Thank goodness I had my phone on me. Bret was already almost to work so no making him turn back to let me in. I just couldn't believe I'd locked the sliders at that time of the morning, since usually they're all open for the fresh air. Anyway, I called my mom and like a mom, she came to my rescue! While I waited I sat on my swing and read some good blogs on my phone. And laughed at myself.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

So did you hear the news? Elizabeth is the featured artist at a quilt show coming up.. go on over to this post and read about it. We'd love to see you there! I'm looking forward to another fun weekend out and about, and Sutter Creek is such a great town. Our friend Sandy talks about a day out there here.

I'll be bringing these along. You might remember I cut them with my cool Olfa circle cutter recently, to take to quilt market. Uh, never cracked the bag open. So maybe this trip. No promises though.

The Weekend.

So hey peeps, did you have a good weekend? We had a 3 day weekend around here. Bret took Friday off and we had a good time doing stuff. I love going places during the week, way less crowded although there is the commute traffic factor.

Friday anyway, we went to Garafalo's. It's a fun shop in Campbell that Tammy Gilley posted about here.

Its a great shop in a darling neighborhood and wouldn't you know it.. it's closing. So if you're going, they're having a sale!

They told me about a nice magazine about the central coast, go here to read all about it, you can download the first issue.

After checking out Historic Downtown Campbell we headed over to Panera's for lunch. YUM. I love salad and this one was so fresh and crisp, sweet-tangy tart.

After all that we went to the movies to see Indiana Jones. I thought it was just ok but I could be way jaded by the fact that the movie theater WAS HOT. Sorry, but that's just WRONG.

I don't even remember what all we did on Saturday, how bad is that? Got dog food, ate at Chevy's (which is boring without tomatoes)

Sunday we had breakfast out at Emil Villa's for Father's Day. Then we took a ride up Mt. Diablo. Turns out Bret has never been, so we went! Saw this fellow along the way.

A view of the valley I grew up in ... I can see my neighborhood from here, but that's about all I can identify. Here's a panoramic shot from the visitors center. The far left is around Benecia and Crocket, far right is towards Pittsburg and Antioch. I was amazed how far you could see. It brought back a lot of fun childhood memories for me, growing up at the foot of Mt. Diablo. It was always our landmark, and coming home from vacation it was a race to be "first one to see Mt. Diablo."

After a nice BBQ we went out for a ride to watch the sunset. It was a really nice weekend. Hope you all had a great weekend too! xo

Happy Father's Day Mr. B!

You're a great guy and a great dad!

A little help from my friend!

One of the results of the trip to Elizabeth's the other day.. she's going to turn this spidery mess into the center urn of the Flight of Fancy quilt for me. Because it turns out that while I might know how to do somethings, I really can't sew bias strips. I have only made them once and they were much fatter than these 1/8th inch dudes.

But I can't wait too see that quilt done, the blocks are so cute and I want to see it hanging in my house. I might even get right on quilting it. After I finish this block, and of course embroider the bird legs.
Anne is showing off her little bags on her blog today.. they're completely cute. She's also showing off a darling pattern of Elizabeth's made completely out of her most recent fabric, Flowers for Emma. I love this little quilt so much.. I'm using the block on a small project myself, this is the pile of goods we came up with during our little visit! Yum, after I left Elizabeth's I went over to PW market, I needed something good and they have it. Tiny little cream puffs. Yum. Just really a bite or two.
And just because there's been no Binzer on the blog for a few minutes, a gratuitous photo taken by my phone. Had an impromptu visit with Frankie, forgot my real camera so this grainy phone photo will have to do.

Happy weekend my peeps, keep cool!

Nanette

Before I left for Quilt Market Nanette emailed and asked if she could send me a little something for when I got home. That something was a pack of her coveted Sarah Smith Cleaning Cloths.

Uh, would I??? You bet! She sent away for some and you can read about it here. Why don't we have pretty things like this to clean up with here? I might even clean up more often if it was pretty!
Nanette certainly knows my taste. Look how well the cloths go with my latest goodies from Quilter's Inn!
And they're a great addition to my Thimblecreek purchases. Now, if only I can get up the nerve to open the package and use them!

If you're not a reader of Nanette's blog, head on over. She's full of good stories and quilty inspiration. Thanks Nanette, for thinking of me!

A little trip

Last week Elizabeth and I took a little trip up to deliver a quilt to Thimblecreek. She's teaching a class there this summer. Here are some of the sites we saw.

Check out this wonderful quilt! It's the quilt from their current ad, and it's stitchy goodness. Stitched by Sandy Newman, its a delight. It's a block of the month.

Here's a sneaky peek at something new and soon to be available in a kit!

I love this quilt by Sandy! It's a kit!

Thimblecreek really showcases their designers. Here's the Anne Sutton Corner!

They also have tons of stitchery items. I love this pillow.

Here's a little Joe Wood's corner, owner and Moda fabric designer!

Ahh one of my favorite parts of shopping at Thimblecreek, CHICKIE!!! She's the sweetest ever.

There's so much to look at it's quite distracting. I try to chat but then something catches my eye and I can't even keep my train of thought.

Here's the goods. This little stack is for a bag for a friend. I hope she likes it! I love that Urban Chiks diagonal plaid... did I tell you, I know the Urban Chiks? (sorry, I can't help myself)

Look how scrumptious my whole pile looks. And I even got a quilty mystery book. This is the most recent in the series, you can find the first one here. I'm not saying its Pulitzer prize worthy, but I am saying its a good read. I love mystery series and I get all caught up in what's happening with my book peeps.

Alrighty then, there you have it. I'm off to Elizabeth's today to work on some interesting projects. Not only are we working on something TOP SECRET together, we're helping each other out on some projects, so stay tuned, all shall be revealed...

Dudsville

Not a lot going on here to blog about really. I'm a dud since I'm back home from market. Do you get that sometimes? It's like nothing seems interesting. I went to Target, I went to the market, and I went home. The end. Boring. I sat in my sewing room several times, but that's about all I did. And I feel like I want to sew, I just can't get in the groove. Mostly because the groove is covered with piles of stuff that needs sorting and putting away. So in the meantime, some scenes around the garden will have to tide you over. Look quick, it's in the 90's today so I'm sure this will all crisp up real soon. The a/c has already come on twice!

The Rabbity Garden, but not a rabbit in sight.

A cool vintage chandelier.. gotta change out those bulbs though, man its way to bright.
Finally a lamp in the entry using that new outlet Bret put in. Very soft and nice.

See you soon peoples.