Looks Like Fun

I love Elizabeth's quilts and projects at Oh Frannson!. They are always so happy and upbeat with a little edge of funky yet sophistication attached. I'm curious about her quilt along. She's giving details on Tuesday.

Do you think you'll jump in?

Calendar Quilt Challenge - Feb.

What a fun project...very low pressure and it should turn out fairly well. I'm envisioning a nice picnic quilt out of this ... or at least a fun throw around quilt for the car and trips. By the way, every time you go on a trip...do you wish you'd brought a quilt with you? I always wish I had. When we went to Disney, I thought to myself...It's Florida...I will not need a quilt. Well, it was freezing down there and rainy one day...If I'd had one, I would have offered it to Cinderella!


I'm loving these little deer and hedgehogs....Hey maybe this could be my eye spy quilt?


Now that I'm looking at this...do you think it needed a little more brown?

Overall, February has been very, very good to me!
Enjoy!

Birthday Celebrations at Mom's Place

Yep, today is my 45th birthday. Feels pretty good actually, couldn't be happier. It's my first birthday since my mother passed away in May of last year. She lived with us for the last year and a half of her life and I loved having her here. Not always easy but a blessing none the less.

These are a few photos of her entry way/breakfast area on our "terrace level" (better known as the basement)where she lived. My Hero built a beautiful apartment there that's nicer than the rest of my house! This is a beautiful antique quilt in a log cabin variation...I believe it's called Courthouse Steps but I'm not sure...please correct me.



I brightened up the colors on this one and it's too strong but I wanted to show you the wide antique lace she attached to the bottom....just stuck on with pins....I'd never even seen them before.

She always had a knack for making something out of nothing and it always turned out beautiful....where did she do her shopping? ....antique shops, auctions and....the dollar store.


Here's the birthday girl, ....one that wishes it were her birthday ....and one....in the bed, sick. That yuk has gone through everyone in our family for the last 2 months. Nutcracker is the last one to get it.

And now...on my birthday...I'm going to do something I love to do....quilt....I'm working on my calendar challenge today and I'll post tomorrow my great success!
Enjoy your day like it was your last....
Love to you all!

Look What I Found in the Trash

It's a gift card holder with a little smidge of applique on it. Beautiful, I think and a off beat at the same time. Back to the trash or not? You decide.

Oh by the way...it's my birthday tomorrow - :) A whopping 45. WAHOO!

Guess Where I've Been.....

Can you guess? Could it be a magical place?




A place full of wonder?



A place to remind you of how small the world really is?



A place full of fantasy?



Where you travel in a teacup?



A place where you can be deliriously happy?



Where even the ugly is funny?



Where you dare to dream....



That your wishes will come true?



A place where the beautiful people....



are genuine and kind.


A place where you find your self shouting out loud with joy...


Where someone with plastic black ears can make you grin from ear to ear...


Have you guessed it yet....
it's a place....where ...."the dreams that you wish, will come true"....

Now tell the truth....are you smiling?

Beauty and the Beast

Is this looking like a nightmare to you? I'm sure Cici is feeling that way right about now.


This is what she looked like before the wash. Pretty cute but very stinky.


This is the harsh reality of ...."that nozzle and I are to be united, as one, in a matter of moments."



I thought she should have had a "spa" day attitude about the whole thing.


After the blow dry....preparing for her massage and facial.


Ready for a nap after that massage!

Here's her story...(don't we all have a story!) When my daughter was 3, my mother in law convinced her that she needed a Bichon Frise....I played along saying that when she was 10 she could have one. Of course, I thought that day would never come and it was here before you knew it. These little pups are expensive....so we went the "rescue" route which brings the price down about 1300.00 dollars. She cost us a whopping 80 bucks.

Have you heard that old saying...you get what you pay for? High maintenance is her middle name. She did come from an abusive situation of an old man living alone with 7 dogs, 2 birds and some sort of reptile. He fed them all out of a potato chip bag. Did I mention he was bed bound? Can you imagine the filth in that place...sorry to gross you out.

One funny...the birds could speak, ...but the only words they knew were profanity. Lovely.

She was completely shaved down when we got her due to fleas, sores, mattes, and other forms of neglect. We felt like such heros....coming to the rescue...now we're the ones that need rescuing!!!!

In all seriousness, we do love her, she's as loyal as the day is long. Wouldn't trade her for the world but just didn't know what we were getting into....she's a far cry from our black lab Noel, who is a former seeing eye dog...trained within an inch of his life...more on him later.

Cici is smelling like a bed of roses right about now and sleeping like a log ....ahhhh.

Superior Threads Giveaway

Superior Threads is having a giveaway on their blog. Gift certificates. There's a little bit of a funny thing on one of their pictures....can you "SPOT" it? That was your clue. I think we all need to become familiar with our cropping tool if we're to take pictures from the back of the room in a meeting!

A Bright Spot

I love this quick and easy quilt (scraps from the Rainbow Jane)...I'm using it for my improv...hope it meets the requirements! Anything where I don't have to use my "puzzler" too much is a good thing at this stage in life...

I call it "A Bright Spot". It's inspired by the events of this week when my son's friend got a pencil in the eye....had surgery and will likely need 2 more, including transplants. It will be a year before it's all over and done.

You say...where it the bright spot in all of this...well...it's his outlook (no pun intended...well maybe...ha ha) on the whole thing...and his mother's as well. She's a dear dear friend to me and has the best attitude about this whole thing...lots of eye jokes at their house right now! It's amazing....My Hero is thinking up a Halloween costume involving a pencil in the eye.



Most kids would be looking for a "hall pass" out of life, school work, ...looking for the sympathy vote, but not this fellow...with permission from the doctor, he performed in the high school play last night. Wow. Mind you, he is still in pain and on prescriptions for that. He decided he'd rather have the pain than forget his lines (those meds make you loopy) so he went on with 2 Tylenol.

So you see why this is quilt was born....there's always a bright spot in the darkest of circumstances. It's all seeing life through the eyes of the heart!

Pencil in the Eye

Where have I been, you say?

Here's the story. My son has 2 good friends...kind of like the Three Muskateers....One of those boys threw a pencil at the other boy and it stuck him in the eye. Yuk! It was serious...emergency surgery that night and will likely need a cornea transplant and a lens transplant. They both feel so bad for the other one....it's been a great thing to see both boys being so good to each other. What a witness.

The pencil went into all the way into the red part of that picture and leaked this gooey liquid called vitreous fluid. We went to see him tonight and he's got a super hero looking patch over it. It's see through...not like a pirate patch. Very high techy and plastic. Docs are saying it will be a year or so before he's back to his old self.

If you're a praying sort of person, that would be great.

By the way...we're still looking for the pencil!

Paper Pots

We're starting to plant our seeds indoors. Yesterday we made 50 or so of these little paper pots. Only 50 more to go. Really quite fun if you don't mind the inky hands. Apparently the ink is soy based so it's totally organic and safe to eat. Well, don't eat the paper for gracious sakes, I just mean it will decompose after it's planted in the ground. That's the nice thing about this method. No transplanting. Just stick it in and go. The roots will go right through the bottom and the paper will give a little extra protection from grubs...if you entertain that sort of thing in your garden!



Did I mention is this is a great loooonnnnggggg term activity for the little ones?

Here's the tutorial for these cute little pots. You'll perfect your own method depending on the size of glass you use. I've found that tighter is not always better and when you do the bottoms just be as messy as possible. If you're neat about it, you'll end up with a huge drain hole.
So get out there and get messy, watch what will happen with a little sunshine and water. Guaranteed to put a little love on your table (and in your tummy). Enjoy!

Funny Jane

Pretend this is Tony Robbins speaking (he's that motivational speaker on TV that's always trying to sell his CDs): I'm quickly finding out that making this Baby Jane is an adventure, ...a life experience. It forces you to explore the very depths of your being. (Please laugh, you'll see why). It's a moment to remember, personal growth in it's highest form. It's a picture of what is to come in life ahead. It teaches you something about how your brain works. (OK ,done with Tony).

By the way, it's not working too well today!

I'm fairly happy with this little gem above.....

but look how it all started:



The funny thing is that I didn't know I'd make it backwards until the very last seem was sewn. I was so taxed at that point that I just had to laugh. In my constant mode of home schooling, I brought it to my daughter (middle school). Her reaction, "OH MOM, that is so adorable...!!!" then she turned it over and said, "oh" We both died laughing!

Note to self...never undertake making a "Jane" while conversing with a 5 year old at the same time. It will never work. Baby Girl and I now have a code of silence and speak only in sign language while I'm quilting. Life is good!