Bits & Snippets

I haven't been up to much lately.  It's been hot and muggy and the energy level hovers around zero.  I'm not motivated to start anything that takes any thought, whatsoever.

I made two postcards yesterday:

And started a wee bitty "Art" quilt:

I intend to embellish it, but I kind of like it just the way it is, too.

Last night our neighbor came by.  He had a stray in his backyard and, as he said to my husband, "Well, you're a vet!  Of course I thought of you!"  Little did he know that I am the bird whisperer, not the vet.  Anyone missing one of these?

He/she hasn't eaten anything yet, but seems to be feeling okay.  Little bird is definitely better off than if Edgar had found him first!

***addendum.  Apparently Edgar, or somecat did find him first.  Later that day, he fluttered to the cage floor and passed away in my hands.  It was as he was gasping for breath that I noticed the puncture wound under his wing.  At least he knew someone had tried to help him.

Help Nancy!

One of our favorite vendors at Best of the Valley, Nancy Rink, has had a horrible week.  On July 19, she posted that someone broke into her studio and stole a quilt.  She blogged about it here.  You would think that they (the thief/ves) would be satisfied?  oh, no.  They weren't.  They went back over the weekend and stole SIXTEEN more of her quilts!!  Is this someone who loves her work?  Or someone trying to put her out of business?  Or what?

She's posted on Facebook, where you can see all of the quilts.  Please, keep your eyes and ears open.  Someone somewhere knows something, and with this many quilts?  It will be tricky to keep them ALL hidden from view.  Help Nancy!  Let's find her quilts!

Around here, things aren't nearly as "exciting."

Pixel has been de-squeaking Scruffy's toys.  Every time I get a pile of them, I put the stuffing back in and stitch them up.  My mantel was full, so these got stitched over the weekend:

And really, that's about it from around here for now. 

Quilt on...

Postcards!

As you likely know, if you've visited here often, I'm a member of Postmark'd Art.  We are in the throes of our 20th exchange.  I believe I joined them during Round 11.  It's been great fun, and this time, I signed up for THREE themes.  Usually I choose my favorite, or when I'm really feeling inspired, I choose two.

My first set went into yesterday's mail.  These are my "No Theme" cards, which means the sky's the limit.

As you can probably tell, I have trouble throwing anything away.  Especially pretty selvedges with fun writing.

I also sent off this independent card to one of the group.  I coveted her creations from Round 19's White on White, and we agreed to swap outside PMA.  I finally finished mine and mailed it off yesterday.  Can you tell I still have wedding on the brain?  One piece of silk was from my wedding dress, as was the lace.  Pretty.  I think I need to make another.

 The tail is actually a tail, that drops off the right side.  I didn't realize it had curled in on the card until it was in the hands of the USPS.  I think it's a pretty little thing, and it makes me smile.  For the first time ever, I've grouped buttons "randomly," and they don't look stiff or planned.  yay!  Can't wait to see what I sew up next!

A New Look

While we were out of town, the painters were busy.  For the past couple of years, I've been considering this color and that, trying to find just the right color for our house.  We live in the Central Valley, where houses are beige and grey and cream and maize and the colors of the land when shrouded by fog.  In the winter, when we do have fog, the view can be dreary and depressing.  Same thing during the summer, when the heat and the haze beat down the landscape.  Everything is drab and dusted in dirt, especially now, in the midst of this drought.

Our house looked like this:

When we bought it, it was shades of grey, with a bit of white on the lapboard.  When we painted it the first time, we thought it would be light blue, with medium blue trim.  Instead, it came out "white," with Disneyland blue trim.  Oh.  My.  It's been this color for at least 10 years, and I've never been happy with it.

It needed painting, and this time I told my husband to trust me.  oh my.  I barreled through, painting patches in the shade, in the sunlight, next to the brick, making sure that I liked the chosen color.  I did.  I liked it everywhere I painted it.  So I went with Acapulco Cliffs, expecting something happy and beachy.

The camera doesn't capture the color.  In real life?  In the brutal light of the sun?  It's the color of Gumby.  I wish I were joking.

The good news is that it looks crisp and clean, and that part of the assault on the eyes comes from all the shrubberies that were pulled out to access the walls to paint them.  I think a trip to the nursery is in order, despite the lack of water.  (Notice the lawn?) 

The color is growing on me, but it's definitely deeper than I expected.  I thought it would be more like the 6-foot section of a swimming pool, not 12-feet deep!

The other good news is that the neighbors are still speaking to me.  I've only seen one do a head-fake and scurry back into his house.  wow.  Paint is tricky.  Too back I couldn't have covered the house in fabric!!!

Growing Our Family

Perhaps you have missed me this past week?  I must admit, I did not think of you once.  Not once.  I'm sorry, I was quite distracted.  You see, my middle son took a wife, and I was off to St. Louis to attend the ceremony.  It.  Was.  Beautiful!!

We flew to St Louis on Wednesday, most of the family arrived on Thursday, we had practice and the rehearsal dinner on Friday, and the wedding was on Saturday.  whew!

At 2:30 Saturday afternoon, Gramma was still trying to shorten Penny's dress.  We'd been too busy with 1,000,000 other things for me to get to it in a timely manner.

 

 However, it was finished in time for her to practice walking the steps in a straight line.  By the time of the wedding, she was perfect.

 Come on, Stephen, no visiting!

 My son's expression takes my breath away.

 Have you ever seen such joy?  The bride was radiant, so was the groom!

Most of the photos were taken early, but some were taken after the ceremony.

 Keep smiling, and smile some more!

 Her colors were ivory and Victorian lilac.

 First dance,

Cutting the cake,

 Did you know that they allow SPARKLERS in Missouri?  I've never seen such a thing!  And no one burned themselves or caught their neighbor on fire or burned down the building.  Apparently I've had a deprived life, living in CA.  I thought sparklers were 8" long with 3" that "burn" for about 30 seconds.  Three foot rods with gobs of sparky burny stuff are SO much more fun!!!

 The getaway car.

It was beautiful.

groan

A long time ago, back in 2006, I made this quilt for the Hoffman Challenge.

Wow.  That WAS a long time ago!  (The picture was taken at BOTV in April 2007.)

I didn't know how large a quilt I wanted to make, I just started cutting bias strips and went with it.  Like most of my projects, I over cut.  I put the leftovers into a nice little box and put them away to "make something else someday."  Here was that box in 2009:

By that time, the green fabric with the swirls had been added, with the thought of turning those bias squares into stars and maybe a baby quilt.

And time passed by.

While watching the World Cup, I thought it would be a great idea to finish cutting those strips, piecing those squares, and putting the quilt top together.

I even got so far as to decide that the green didn't really work, and maybe I should go with purple.

And then it happened.

Today, as I cleared a spot to reach my suitcase (it was still full of fabric from Asilomar), I uncovered more strips.  I must have set them aside when I was pressing, then put something on top of them.

oops.  I found enough to make at least another 10 blocks.  groan.

Odds are that this will all go back into the box and remain unfinished for longer.  grrrr.  I REALLY need to get organized!

Hope you're making better progress than I am.  Happy Quilting!

Uninvited Guest

Someone's got the right idea for these hot summer days!!

Quiltlets

Over the weekend I had Grand Plans.  The menfolk were off to Pismo, and I was home alone, with the dogs and my Bernina.  Just think of the massive quantities of quilting I could accomplish!  Oh, goals are good!

But, instead of take on a REAL project, I started weaving scraps.  And when I wasn't sleeping, I was embroidering in front of the TV.  Have you watched Royal Pains?  It's on Netflix streaming, and I find it delightful.  That, and Chuck, which cracks me up in its corny-ness.  But I digress.

One slipped into the mail before I snapped its photo, doggone!  But I managed to capture the others, before they escape.  They are destined to those with long ago birthdays that passed by the wayside without my acknowledgement.

I am thinking bad thoughts at Blogger, as it flipped all of the images except for the one that I flipped myself.  I have no idea why it chooses to flip some and not others.  My apologies for the crick in your neck, if you actually tried to look at them.  arg.  And it's not like it's even consistent.  I think I'll flip this on 90 degrees to the right, and this one 90 degrees to the left.  What a bother!

Stay tuned.  I don't know what I'll have for you next, but perhaps it won't involve any contortionist activities.  Goals are good.  ;)

Hidden Gems

If I hunt carefully through my garden, I can still find little smidgens of color.  Floral treasures, that lift my heart.

 In contrast, my iris beds are dreadful.  I've been working my way around the yard, trimming and clearing dead leaves.  I remind myself that it's worth it, especially come March and April.

It's hot today.  And muggy.  I think I need to go sew.

Keeping Busy

We have a wedding coming up this month.  Young Penny needs a dress.  She's the Flower Girl.  Gramma was given this picture, and asked if it could be replicated in the proper colors.

It's not exactly the same.  I only bought one yard of silk, which yielded a 104" sash.  She'll be tying it in the back, rather than in front.

It's en route to Penny.  Fingers crossed that it fits!  The bow should look better and the skirt poofier with a Penny in it.

Killing Time

I'm housebound, waiting for the packageman.  I'm not sure if FedEx's heads up that "a package needing a signature" will arrive today is a good thing.  It's almost 2:30pm, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of him. Had I not known he was coming some time today, I would have been to JoAnn's first thing and purchased some interfacing.  Had that happened, I would be done with Penny's flower girl dress.  But no, I'm sitting home WAITING.  I don't do waiting well, believe you me. 

I need to do SOMETHING, so I finished another birthday card.  This one went out in today's mail.  The mailman also seems to be taking his sweet time.  Usually he has come and gone by 10am.  Not today.

I've had 4 of these bone fish buttons for several years.  I doubt I will ever make any kind of outfit that will utilize them as well as accenting this little quiltlet.

Lunch came and went, and still no packageman.  I just finished a pillowcase for Penny.  When I told her the sash for her dress will be purple, she pouted.  She likes pink.  We tried to explain that it's Monica's wedding, so Monica gets to pick the colors, but she still wasn't happy.  Maybe if I put this in the box with the dress it will satisfy her craving for pink.

I saw this yard of hand dye at Best of the Valley, and it called out to me.  I didn't buy it during the show, but when I found out it was still available, I jumped on it.  It looks even better than I'd imagined it would.

oh.  I just tested the link and realized that I haven't updated the home page in much too long.  The 2015 show is April 10-12.  Mark your calendars now.

And I guess I know what I should do next, while waiting for the packageman:  website updates.  No time like the present to get that one underway.  Perhaps the next time I check in the changes will be submitted.  Goals are good.

Or, as a friend said to me today, "Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooals! are good!"  (I think she might be watching some UniVision World Cup too, heh heh!) 

Gotta run.  Lots to do, never enough time.