Busy FUN week!

This was one of those weeks that is almost too busy! Wednesday started with drawing class and an afternoon of dominos! I'm telling you, retirement isn't for sissies! :>

Thursday was "Projects Anonymous" which is an all day 'work on an UFO' day. P and K run it and we have such fun. They actually make a wonderful pin cushion every month for a door prize! Everyone's happy to give you praise or an opinion as needed!! I worked on more and more plaid bear paws. Even I am getting tired of half-square triangles. This UFO started at a fall retreat back in Nebraska. The pattern was in a "Quilt it for Christmas" magazine. So cute - 9 blocks but I wanted it bigger [of course] ... 16 might be good, but then decided to make it bed size - yep, 25 blocks. Well, if only I had finished it before - because when we moved here we got a new bed - one of those really high king-size sets so now the count is 36!!! If I don't finish it soon it will be big enough to cover the house!!


Friday was quilting day at Bayshore. Again a full day of quilting and conversation.


But Saturday ... what a beautiful day! Corvallis had a "Quilts in the Garden" house tour. They have it every other year and they couldn't have ordered a more perfect day. Seven gardens, each different with gorgeous quilts hanging about everywhere! S, J and I took off from the coast - visited, took alot of pictures and thoroughly enjoyed the day. When we got back to the coast it was foggy, windy and cold - so there wasn't even any guilt over missing the day at home!


We saw beautiful flowers, figs, all sorts of veggies, plums, apples, pears and these peaches. We had to remind ourselves that it wasn't 'u pick'. We were nervous that we wouldn't get to all the houses - after we spent an hour at the first one! So we didn't eat lunch until 4:30 when we were done with the tour.

Sunday - off to Portland to babysit today and tomorrow. I did sneak out to a quilt store this afternoon during nap and bought Jo Morton's latest book "Vintage Journey" and I bought a few fabrics to go with it!

What a great book!!!

Has everyone else read this wonderful book? I've read reviews and thought, okay, I'll get that one someday. Well, today was the day. The library got it from another library for me. I picked it up at 1 pm. I opened it at 3:45 pm and I finished it at 8!!! I was spellbound - I never put it down. Do you know how long it's been since a book gripped me like that??? Forever!!!



So - tell me what you think/thought of it. It's okay - you don't have to love it - we can still be friends!!! Just let me know!

And J? I certainly highly recommend it for the book club!!!

Oops - time flies!!!

It took me longer to get my energy back after that bout with the flu than I expected. We also went up to babysit for FIVE days for the kids - and that took alot out of us! But mainly - I have no excuse! Just bumming around and not blogging about it! Sad, but true.




I'm running a 'Back to School Block Exchange' at our guild - here's my newsletter writeup to attract participants:

Celebrate the return to school with an “I SPY” alphabet block exchange. Each letter is ‘fusible appliquéd’ in fabric that has pictures of something that starts with that letter – think ‘A is for apple.’ Make 26 of one letter, fuse each to a 7” beige background square – no sewing involved! Everyone can finish their complete alphabet how they choose. Hand or machine stitched. And then the fun is just beginning – because you can use them anyway you want to! Any design with a 6 inch square in it will work. Churn Dash; Ohio Star; Square in a Square; Snowball … or just add sashing … the choice is yours.

Hope it encourages people to join up! The board thought I'd have enough participants for TWO alphabets ... we'll see.

It was funny - I knew I had to present the idea to the board ... so I wrote up the 7 handouts, supplies needed, suggested motifs for each letter; and a complete alphabet scaled to the correct size. I made an entire alphabet of fused fabrics; brought stacks of fabrics that were good examples of both the beige backgrounds and the featured fabrics ... made a block and cut out the square of fabric ... I was so nervous about doing the presentation! I was a wreck!

But that's what I thought I needed to have done ... in the same meeting 3 ideas for a challenge project were brought up. They just discussed how it would run - no samples or anything! By the time I got everything set up - I'd made my alphabet - so if they didn't accept it - well, I was well on my way to my own quilt!!! But they accepted it and it starts in 3 weeks!!! Good thing I was totally ready - mostly!

If anyone has any tips for running exchanges ... all suggestions will be welcome.

On a sad note: My birth sister MV died this week. She was the kindest, most down to earth woman I have ever known. Although she'd been sick for many years she was still connected to life. Always interested in what you and your kids and your grandchildren were up to. Loved stories about the everyday stuff, delighted in pictures, never one to complain about her lot in life. She will be missed. Rest in Peace, Dear Heart.

Glad that's over!!!

Not a wonderful birthday this year ... I was recovering from stomache flu / food poisoning(?) Don't know which one - just glad it's over! We've been here for over a year isn't it time for 'kindergarten syndrome' to be over?? Poor DD got it too - hard to be sick with 2 kids under 3! At least here DH and I could moan in relative peace!! Enuf said!


I did get to breeze thru the quilt show Saturday afternoon - it looked marvelous! One gal takes pictures of all the entries, puts them on a disk and then sells it to us - I'm relying on her this year - didn't even take my camera! I entered two of my favorite quilts: 'All around the town - Boydville that is!' and 'That kaliedoscope thing you've been working on for years'


'All around the town ...' was a BOM that 3 friends and I worked on. M was making it for a shop sample. At first I was jealous that she was getting 'paid' for making it, but as I personalized mine with 'not in the pattern' details I was glad I was just doing it for myself. Details include our dear dog Pepper on a corner with her red collar on and Thunder, the horse I owned during high school. I love the whale weather vane looming over everything like the cloudy days do out here on the coast! A forewarning that we didn't heed!


'That kaliedoscope thing ...' was a project for a decade! Yep, you heard me right! Scrappy wasn't as accepted back then, but I persevered! Yes, we saw scrappy in antique quilts - but those weren't highly regarded then either. At least not by us ordinary folk. Thank you Gerald Roy!!!

Jinny Beyer was hot and everything was overmatched and perfect. [Kind of like the complete fabric collection quilts now. Is it just me or do they look a little 'inbred'!?!]

I machine pieced halves of the blocks and then hand pieced that center seam - determined to make the pattern spin after all this work. So I would have a blue block, a red block and a brown block [for example] in my bag and I would lovingly pat them and explain they were all going into the same quilt and friends would pat me on the shoulder and say, basically, "okay, I'm sure??? it will be fine." Eye-rolling behind my back.

But I love it and they did all blend. Ahem ... I told you so!!!! Oh, my - that felt good! LOL!

Where does the time go??

Here it is the very end of July ... of 2009 even!!! I turn 57 years old next week - how is that possible? There's some dreams I still need to accomplish! Being thin is one of them! Okay, I'm not really willing to work hard at it - just not willing to give up the dream! My son has set his wedding date for next July. [Hip, hip, hooray!!] How's that for a goal to aim for? I'd like to be at a normal weight by his and J2's wedding. Let the life-plan begin!

Those of you that know me KNOW that I cannot draw a straight line even with a ruler! I have several 'artsy' friends and have always - not so secretly - wanted to be able to draw. Even doodle!!!

Last month I read in "Oregon Coast Today" - ironically, a weekly paper! I know - why not "Oregon Coast Weekly????" We'll never know! Anyway, they announced that there were free art lessons at the Visual Art Center. Lots of different mediums offered, but you know I have a busy schedule here [smile] One class that fit for me was "Colored Pencils". Hey, that's cool! I even have some of those and a drawing pad I got free at Nebraska Book! ... and I DON'T need another expensive hobby!

It didn't start out so well. I didn't have enough pencils and Teacher would prefer a different drawing pad. There was an apple that certainly didn't look like an apple in my drawing! I was encouraged to take it home and keep drawing. Then there was a mishap! One morning R grabbed it as he left to go golfing. It wasn't until after he'd eaten it that it dawned on him 'this apple wasn't in the fridge! In fact, it may have been sitting with doni's art supplies! Oh, oh!' I took the core back to class but it wasn't as funny to them as it was to us!


4 weeks into class this project started with taking a graphite pencil and darkening the entire sheet of paper! Then drawing life-size a stack of things on the table. I got the ball and the middle tube done fairly well. I hate ribbons!!! But ran out of time before working out the kinks in the bottom cubes! It's only a 2 1/2 hour class, after all! LOL! But I was so proud of my progress! I even ran home with it to show R!! And he was just as impressed!



A little known fact: colored pencils are $1.60+ EACH! But I'm sticking with it - although I'm not the most dedicated student. I tend not to do my homework - remember we do babysit every other week ... no one can accomplish anything after taking care of those dynamos! Last week I was feeling guilty; told 'Teacher' that I almost didn't come to class because I wasn't doing the homework. She said, "I used to teach Special Ed, I can deal with no homework ..." Not as reassuring as she could be!!! LOL!


After just 6 weeks I have advanced enough that a pear looks like a pear! It's getting exciting! I'm still not too fond of ribbons but I'm not tempted to rip them to shreds any more! And I even did some homework this week!






The reason that led me to study drawing was free-motion quilting! They say to get good at FM quilting you need to draw your design on white board/large paper/whatever! Well, I couldn't! Seeing it all pitiful on paper was bad enough - but when I imagined all the ripping-out that was going to happen ... I wanted to go to bed with a novel!!

So my growth opportunities this year are: lose weight - once and for all! [again!?] and drawing. Both are quite the stretch. My expanded list includes making one of my all-time favorite quilts too - log cabin!

So-o when friends talk about their quilting 'stretching' goals this year I quietly think to myself ... learn to draw. I'm sure it will improve my quilting too! Doesn't everything??

New look?

Well, I ended up loading a different template ... better luck next time.



Two weeks to the Newport Quilt Show! I helped proof-read the show catalog and I'm pumped to see the quilts I've been reading about. If your show or a show you're visiting has a catalog - be sure to read the quilt entries before you leave or the end of the show. There are always descriptions so interesting that you want to find that quilt and study it.

Dennis McGregor, of Sisters Quilt Show posters, designed our new show logo - isn't it gorgeous??!?! He'll be at our show to autograph any of his designs.

The excitement is building!!!

Under construction!

Pardon the dust! I made the main area bigger - now just have to figure out how to get the sidebar back up there!!! It's at the bottom right now!

More later! doni