Sister's Choice Quilts

Tuesday Sale

Slowly, I have been weeding through my stash closet and coming up with little bundles of fabric that I would like to sell.  If you are interested in any of the following, let me know. 

First, I have to tell you that when it comes to Kansas Troubles fabric by Moda, I have not kept my bundles together according to group.  Instead, since the colors are so consistent from line to line, I have grouped like colors together.  The Kansas Troubles lines that I have in these color ways are from Seasons, Scrapbook Gardens, Meadow Waltz, Shades of Autumn, Aunt Purdy's Parlor, Bound to the Prairie, Winter Rose, Seeds of Time and Strawberry Jam.  You can see for yourself how the fabrics all work together great.

The first bundle is 14 fat quarters of purpley/burgundies.  3.5 yds.  $25, plus postage.  SOLD

The next is 25 fat quarters in a rich cranberry red.  6.25 yds.  $45, plus postage SOLD

Next, 23 fatquarters in navy.  5.75 yds. $40, plus postage  SOLD

Then, 27 fatquarters in a golden tan. 6.75 yds,   $45, plus postage   SOLD

More tans, slightly different than those above, but coordinate well.  19 fatquarters.  4.75 yds.  $33, plus postage  SOLD

Here are the greens--29 fat quarters.  7.25 yds.   $50 plus postage   SOLD

A bundle of Hearts Aflutter by Sandy Gervais, plus a panel.  6 yds.  $42, plus postage  SOLD

And here is the best for last.  To tell you the truth, I have no idea what to ask for this.  I know some people would be dying to have it, even though it is an older group.  I paid $115 for the bundle a number of years ago.  Make me an offer.....?  SOLD

Complete bundle of Folk Art Christmas III by Robyn Pandolph.  40 fat quarters.   10 yds. FLANNEL.

In addition, I have some additional fat quarters of mostly Folk Art Christmas II, which of course goes perfectly with Folk Art Christmas III.  Some plaids even.   15 fatquarters, plus two one yard cuts 5.75 yds.  ALSO FLANNEL

Best offer will get two yards Folk Art Christmas II flannel thrown in.

Peace Has Been Restored

istockphoto

My husband is home from his trip and order has been restored at our house.  The dogs are on their best behavior in his presence.  I definitely am not anywhere on the alpha chain.  We have a call in to a professional dog trainer to see if she can help us with our canine discord.

Ozzie is totally back to normal and full of fun.   Wounds all healed, no sign of infection, no pain.  Sophie is calm and sweet and for the moment all is well.  We are keeping them apart for most of the time just in case. 

I spent most of yesterday at the mall enjoying some retail therapy to shake the experience of last week out of my mind.  One excellent thing that came of the Week From Hell was that I lost 6 pounds!!!  No kidding.  Got to stick with it so it stays off!  Sure had fun trying on clothes.

My DH and son had a super time on their trip to Palm Desert.  But they are not going back anytime soon and leaving me with these dogs.  No way.

I want to sincerely thank all of you who made such thoughtful and supportive comments during my crisis with the dogs.  You gave such good advice and just hearing your own stories helped me put my situation into perspective.  My goodness, blogging has provided me with some wonderful friends.

Tomorrow is Shopping Tuesday on my blog, and I have quite a bit that I plan to list.  I am finding that I am just scraping the tip of the iceberg in my stash closet!  My post is set to post at 8:00 AM tomorrow, Pacific Daylight Time.

Ozzie Update

I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your supportive and heart felt responses to my post yesterday.  You are all just the best friends anyone could ever wish for.  I plan to answer each and every one of your emails tomorrow.

Ozzie is doing much better today.  It is like day and night to spend time without Sophie.  He is his relaxed, goof ball, affectionate self.  His shoulder still hurts him, but the pain meds and the antibiotics seem to be doing their job.  We have just gotten back from a walk in the neighborhood and his enjoyment of it seemed almost normal.

My husband gets home tomorrow and we have some serious talking to do.

Again, you are the best.  Thank you all.

What A Week

 
I am having a very bad week.  I have something so upsetting going on that I need to share and get some support.  Forgive the long post.  I have a story.

My husband and son went on a well deserved vacation down to Palm Desert this week to do some hiking, cooking, relaxing and sight seeing.  Ahren is on Spring Break from Cal Poly and needs some kind of a reward for working his b... off all quarter.  So, they took off and left me with Ozzie and Sophie.

I haven't talked about it too much here, because I keep thinking things will change, but things haven't been going all that well since we added Sophie to our family.  She is a fabulous dog, and we love her to pieces.  95% of the time she is loving, affectionate, funny and obedient.  She can tug on my bathrobe ties and I tell her "no!" and she quits.  She will fetch, loves to play in the water, plays silly games of keep away, and is completely an adorable sweet little dog.  She loves to snuggle with me in the morning, as I have posted about recently.   The remaining 5% of the time she makes Ozzie's life (and the rest of the family's) Hell. 

Here is the problem in a nut shell.  Ozzie is an enthusiastic, excitable guy.  When he has a toy or sees another dog, he gets frisky and happy and kind of crazy.  When that happens, Sophie attacks him and tries to kill him.   If Ozzie gets stimulated, she tries to knock it out of him if it is the last thing she does.  We thought if we had her spayed it would change things.  It hasn't.

We have had some really terrible dog fights.  So many of us in the family have gotten bitten trying to break up their fights.  My nephew who has a heart condition, got bitten trying to break up a fight and had to go to the emergency room.  Of course the hospital had to report it and then both Ozzie and Sophie had to be under quarantine for 10 days.  This was at Christmas.  My daughter Sara's dog Remy was one of Sophie's victims, and she says they won't be back as long as we have Sophie.  My husband has gotten bitten really badly and I have gotten it twice, which was lesson enough for me to have "DO NOT TRY TO BREAK UP A DOG FIGHT" tattooed on my forehead.  I have one of those black spots on my thumb nail that will take a year to grow out.  A perfect Sophie tooth mark. Ozzie, my love, has gotten the worst of it all around.  He is her target.  She always wins, always gets the best of him, because he doesn't fight back at the same intensity she has.   The only reason he is alive is because she has seen fit to spare him for another day.

On my way home from work yesterday I got the misguided notion to stop at Target and pick up a couple of dog toys as a reward for my pups for being good guys while Daddy is away.   I chose a little rabbit and a little chipmunk that were made by the American Kennel Association.  I gave them to Ozzie and Sophie when I got home and we were all playing in the family room.  Out of nowhere, with no warning what so ever, Sophie lunged at Ozzie and they were in an all out brawl in a heartbeat.  I never saw anything coming.  I shouted, I pleaded, I offered treats (I know, I know), and then I whacked them with a broom to make them go outside. 

I called my husband, who was 500 miles away, in tears, asking what to do.  "Spray them with the hose!"  he said.  I sprayed them with the hose to try and make them stop fighting and they retreated to the rose garden which soon got very muddy.  When they moved back onto the lawn in their weird two footed dance of death, I sprayed them again, trying to break up the melee. 

Unbeknown-st to me, the back door was ajar, and they moved into the house.  Into my family room.  They got mud and water all over everything and knocked over a table before I could get them out again.  I had to just let them fight it out.  Stopping it was beyond me.  I was so afraid I would get bitten.  "Don't stick your hands into the midst of a dog fight" was the voice I kept hearing in my mind.

Finally, after trashing the family room and giving me a good case of hysterics, they seemed to be getting tired.  One of the bravest things I have ever done was to drop a towel over Sophie, grab her and pop her into her kennel.  It was over.  It had gone on for 30 minutes.  I am not exaggerating. 

Ozzie, as usual, got the worst of it.  He had at least two really horrible puncture wounds. and I mean like an eighth of an inch wide.  He was bleeding, in shock, and in pain.  I checked him over as best I could and applied antibiotic cream to his wounds and locked him in my bedroom  Then I gave Sophie a good going over.  Aside for her ears having some bite marks (not deep) and a scratch under her eye, she seemed ok.  I held her and wrapped her in a towel until she was dry and then put her out in the garage. 

Most of my attention went to Ozzie because he was really hurt.  He bled all over my husband's favorite pillow... Oh well.  We somehow got through the night, but he was trembling by my side the entire night through.

In the morning, I drove Sophie over to the Wild Things kennel where we have boarded them in the past.  My husband can deal with her when he gets home on Saturday.  I obviously am unable to manage her and Ozzie at the same time.

Ozzie had to go to the Animal Hospital for the day.  He was shaved, anointed with antibiotics, and given pain meds.  I brought him home and all he wants to do is lie on the couch in the family room, but he can't jump up on it because he is in too much pain.

What have we done to him?  He is the best dog in the world.  We had the thought that he needed a companion and it has worked out in the worst possible way. 

The problem is, now we love Sophie too.  The vet said we have two choices.  One, send Sophie back to the breeder, which my instincts tell me is the best course to take.  Or two, find a really professional dog trainer to come and work with us and the dogs and straighten out the situation.  And that is really really expensive.   Maybe it is fixable.  What a terrible dilemma.  I never thought I would have to be faced with "Sophie's Choice" in reality.  Ozzie was here first and we foisted his sister off on him, so she would be the one to go. 

I just don't know what to do.  I am so upset and miserable. Have any of you had success stories of having dogs that didn't' get along in your family who were able to work it out?  Is Sophie just mentally deranged?  What should we do?

The Real Deal

My mailbox was certainly full of treasures this week!  Remember my tantrum about a certain shop that sent me a collection of fat quarters that were supposed to be raspberry pink, but turned out to be purple, blue and everything but raspberry?  Well, Allyson in Alaska read my rant and sent me a collection of true raspberry batiks that are so beautiful I cannot wait to turn them into a quilt.

Honestly some people are so generous!  These fabrics are so unbelievably yummy, my photo doesn't really do them justice.  Look how she folded and tied them!  Isn't that appealing?  So much better than the wadded up presentation the shop sent.  These are almost too pretty to unwrap.  Almost.....

Another generous friend, Lisa, sent me a collection of raspberry batiks she had leftover from a recent project, so as far as fabric goes, I think I am all set.  All I need to do now is to choose a pattern.  Any suggestions?

Five Pounds Makes a Difference

My husband and son are off on vacation together this week in Palm Desert.  Since I have no one to cook for,  I am making the most of the week by going on a diet.  Five pounds is all I ask.  Yes, ten would be better, and fifteen a complete miracle.  But I will settle for five. 

Five pounds makes a difference in how one's clothes fit.  Truly.  Waist bands that ride comfortably start to pinch and little rolls of flesh appear out of nowhere.  And what on earth is happening on my back?  Those rolls of flab above and below the bra band cannot have been there five pounds ago. 

So the five pounds must go.  It is my Spring Gift to myself.  After I eat my way though all the Weight Watchers frozen food this week, I will go back to my normal Weight Watchers Point counting regime.  That program isn't quick, but it works.  As a major bonus, if you learn any good habits on the program, which you SHOULD, the weight does not come back.  Except for that five pounds when you aren't paying attention.

I lost 30 pounds on Weight Watchers three years ago, and have kept off 25.  The thing is, I stopped the program when I was about 10 pounds short of my goal.  So, I figure now, I need to lose fifteen pounds.  That isn't such a big number.  Not nearly as scary as 30 was!  I know I can do it.  I will take it in five pound increments.  This week is my start.

Wish me luck!

Buggy Barn BOM SALE

The photo above is of a BOM called Hopscotch that is offered by the Buggy Barn quilt shop.  You can spend $12 per month on this BOM, which they still have going on, or buy it from me for way less.  $144 at the shop or $100 from me.  And I'll pay the postage.  Make me an offer, I will consider anything.  How about half price?  $72?  SOLD

The BOM kit consists of nine sampler blocks and fabric, a tenth block which is 36 Goose Track units, and a finishing kit of everything else you need.  The quilt finishes at 60 x 60" and is made up of rich dark prints and plaids.  The light fabrics are very scrappy and give the top a lot of interest and movement. 

Here is a look at what you get:

Blocks One through Five

Blocks Six through Nine, and Block Ten, which is actually 36 Goose Track units.

Here is the back side of the ten patterns so you can see the fabric packed in the little plastic envelopes.  Very scrappy, very rich color palette.

Finishing Kit, which provides a lot of fabric to finish it all up.

Focus On What You Love

Those are 6 1/2 inch star blocks for a quilt I am making out of some Allspice Tapestry fabric by Fig Tree for Moda.  I started this project months ago and it has been sitting in a box all this time.  It's a shame too, because I really like this fabric and the pattern.  It makes me happy and deserves to be finished.  Why did I set it aside?  Because I got distracted by the latest new fabric groups and buying a gazillion jelly rolls and layer cakes.  Because I can't seem to concentrate on finishing something I have started, and set it aside to start three new projects.  The number of quilts in progress in my possession is frightening.  Lately they have been multiplying exponentially.

I have decided to focus more on the patterns and fabrics that really move me.  No more purchases made on a whim, no more trying to use fabric and patterns up just because they are sitting around.  I want to spend my money and my time on things that make me full of joy.  My buying is going to be a lot more circumspect and thoughtful from now on.  Impulse buying is a thing of the past.   I can hear my sister Kate laughing right now.  "Sure Nicki, I'll believe that when I see it".  But seriously, I am going to try.

This weekend, I organized my sewing room, partly because it was a total mess, and partly because I wanted to get a sense of what all is IN there taking up shelf space.  The main inspiration for this major tidying is because I am going to embark on a piecing project for a well known Quilting Diva, but I can't tell you too much about that just yet.  I had to clear the clutter, stow the books, box up the unfinished projects and fabric being auditioned for even more projects, and get ready to Concentrate.  This is a big deal to me and I want no distractions interfering with my stunt sewing.

After a number of hours poking around in the closet, drawers and bins, my discovery was that I own an awful lot of very nice fabric, bundles, BOMs, and kits that I won't be able to use if I do nothing but sew for the next 50 years.  Some of it I have lost the love for, but other things I just know in my heart that I won't get to. 

So here's the thing.  Every Tuesday for the next little while is going to be Shopping Day at Sister's Choice Quilts.   I will be offering kits, bundles, jelly rolls, fat quarter collections and more.  I will give good prices and hope that some of you friends out there may find something you love or that you can't find in the stores any more.  

I'm looking forward to providing some things that may stir your heart, and simplifying my quilting life at the same time. 

Excess Stuff Giveaway Winners

Happy Friday everyone!  I am delighted to announce the winners of my Excess Stuff Giveaway today.  Rachel (Southern Knit Wit) won the layer cake pictured above.  Wildflower Serenade by Kansas Troubles.

I just checked out your blog Girlfriend, and you are one lucky gal.  It looks like you win stuff all the time!  Or else you must enter every giveaway out there!  Anyway sincere congratulations to you on your win.  Please send me your address and this layer cake will be on its way to you!

The next winner is Kathy J, who gets the jelly roll.  This pretty collection is called Winter by Minick and Simpson.  It looks Christmassy, but due to the large number of light strips I think you could make something very interesting out of it!  Here is a picture of the lights on the other side of the roll-

Thanks for letting me know your address Kathy!  I will pop this in the mail today.

And lastly, Allyson in Alaska won two charm packs! 

This is 1974 by a pizzazzy designer called Urban Chicks.  Thanks for providing me your address Allyson-  this will go out to you today.

How were the winners selected?  Well, I'll tell you.  I didn't want to do the doggie selection method, and my aim with darts is pretty bad, so I checked out something called Random Number Generator.  Go ahead and Google it, it is very cool.  I put in the number of comments to the post and had it generate three random numbers.  Up came three numbers reflecting the order of commenting for Kathy J, Allyson and Rachel!  Easy way to go for sure.  Try it next time you do a giveaway, you'll like it.

I loved doing this giveaway, and I think I need to do more of them.  I have way too much stuff and if I live to be 125 years old, I will never be able to use it all up.  So friends, look here for more giveaways in the near future.

I also plan to offer for sale some kits and bundles that I don't think I will get to, so if you are interested, check back next week.

Have a fabulous and "pieceful" weekend all of you! 

Extreme Clutter

 

Is anyone watching the Oprah series on Uncluttering Your Home?  She has put together a squad of people who travel all over in Volkswagen Bugs knocking on the doors of unsuspecting slobs, barge in and shame them in front of the entire world about how cluttered and messy their homes are.  It is either your worst nightmare or your salvation.  The point is that clutter costs you money, distracts your mind and is often unhygienic. 

Like watching a train wreck, I am unable to turn my eyes away from this program.  Yesterday the Squad turned up at a fraternity house at a university in Georgia, barged into the three room mates dorm room at 6:00 AM *with the boys MOTHERS*.  Talk about embarrassing.  Luckily they were caught just sleeping, not doing anything illegal or immoral.  The squalor those three boys lived in was pretty unbelievable. With the help of the Clutter Squad and some items from the Container Store these fellows were sorted out quite nicely in a day or so.  At the end they even had desk space to do their studies.  Their mothers approved, and the guys vowed they were going to keep things neat and tidy from now on.

Then unbeknownst to a woman in her audience, Oprah had the woman's van towed all the way to Chicago so everyone could see right on the stage what a pig sty the woman drove around in.  Now this really was pretty impressive.  In the entire van, there was only room for two of her three kids because of all the crap packed into the vehicle.  The back storage area was like an archaeological dig, with items packed as tight as possible from the floor up to the ceiling.  She could not possibly been able to see out of that car.  Oprah gave her an hour to go work with the Clutter Bugs and clean up that messy van.  You would not believe what they found in there.  Gifts she had planned to give to her children or her nephews from over three years back.  Clothing that no longer fit the intended recipients.  Shoes, lots of trash, sports equipment, old food (really old food), baby bottles from her children who were now 3, 5 and 6.  The pile of debris was incredible.  How anyone could live like that is beyond me.

The show did make me look around my own house though.  Things have gotten a bit out of hand around here.  I wanted to give you an example of the mess things are in my house, but could not bear to shame myself to that degree.  I chose a not so bad spot to begin with.  That is my cluttered bedside stand you see above.  Well, you can guess I am an avid reader with a sinus problem. 

The premise of the Chief Clutter Bug is that you must start by uncluttering your surfaces.  Make piles of like objects to put away.  Makes piles of things to keep, to throw away or to donate.  Get rid of stuff.  Every time you get something new, get rid of something old.  Get containers to hold like things together.  Keep ever vigilant or the clutter will come right back.  There were testimonials from people who claimed that de-cluttering changed their lives for the better.  One woman was uncluttering her office and discovered a refund check for $1400 that was due to expire in a week.

I don't know about you, but I am up for a bit of de-cluttering!  Let's see what changes I can make around here.

Not Feeling the Love

I have been procrastinating a lot lately.  There are several potentially really beautiful projects I have started, and then left off working on.  What is my problem?  I think it is that I have so many unquilted tops sitting around my house that it seems a shame to start another one.  There is quite a pile accumulating.  How will I ever afford to have them all quilted?  At this moment I have a quilt in hock at my favorite quilters, that I can't afford to pay for.

I feel like a cat that should have been spayed.  I keep giving birth to these quilt tops I can't take care of.

My thought process has been that I need to work on smaller projects, like table toppers, wall hangings and baby quilts, that I can machine quilt myself.  I did that this past weekend, and managed to complete two table runners.  Respectable looking even.

I have turned to layer cakes and jelly rolls in order to save the money I would have normally spent on an entire bundle of fabric.  That has turned out to be a false economy for sure.  Instead of buying the one fabric bundle that I truly LOVE and can't live with out, I will buy three layer cakes of fabric groups that I have varying levels of passion for.  Bundle of Love= $100;  Three Layer Cakes= $115.  See what I mean?

The project I started last Friday you see pictured above.  It is a Schnibbles pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company called Four Corners.  Fun easy little block.  The problem is, I used a layer cake called Portugal that I cannot even believe that I bought, just because I had it laying around and felt I needed to use up.  Do I love it?  Absolutely not.  Does it go with anything in my house?  Not at all.  Do I feel any amount of love for this fabric collection?  Sorry, no.

My time would have been much better used if I had picked up one of the projects I already have going and have posted on lately.  Flowers for Clara, Moor is Moor, my purple batik.  They are all there, staring at me reproachfully, wondering why they have been abandoned for these quick weekend flings.

You heard it here first----From now on I am only going to work on projects that excite me.  Projects I will see through to the finish.  Using fabrics that mean something to me.  I have been promiscuous in my fabric buying friends, and I am turning over a new leaf.

So what will I do with the layer cakes and jelly rolls I have sitting around that I know I will never use?  I am going to have a little give away!  Comment on this post and there will be three winners this Friday.  One winner will receive a layer cake, one will receive a jelly roll, and one will receive two charm packs.

Weekend Table Runners

Did you have a good weekend?  Get any sewing done?  The weather was damp and dreary here, and it seemed like a much better idea to stay inside and sew rather than clean up the yard.  Spending time organizing my closets and tossing out some old clothes would have probably been more productive, but I am procrastinating on that particular chore.  My husband will be delighted when I finish that, because our bedroom is strewn with clothing that I can't decide to keep or set free.  It is such a good feeling when the seasons change to sort through things and eliminate the stuff you don't really need anymore.

And that goes for fabric too!

I had a jelly roll of Northern Sanctuary by Holly Taylor for Moda sitting around gathering dust, so I thought I would take action and make something out of it.  The fabric strips were brown, burgundy, green, blue, yellow, pink and cream.  I probably had enough to make three table runners, but I contented myself with two.  I used the yellow in one and the cream in the other.  Never did use the pink. 

The activity was productive in one sense--I got to practice my machine quilting.  I am so lousy at it.  I never do progress beyond "stitch in the ditch" and even that is clumsy looking.  With my income drastically reduced such as it is, I have to sharpen my machine quilting skills in order to economize somehow.  I used invisible thread on top and thread that matched the backing underneath.  My friend Lisa told me about a thread called King Tut, that she likes for machine quilting, but I don't know about it.  What do you all use?

I plan to give one runner to my dad and the other to a family friend to whom I owe a belated birthday gift.  The pattern is Heather Mulder Petersen's "Box Lunch" from her book, On A Roll Again. 

Maybe the closets didn't get sorted out, but I found a use for this fabric!

Slug A-bed

This little Princess and the Pea would be my Sophie, posing delicately while she catches a few zzzz's.

She has taken to climbing into bed with me after her morning walk with my husband and Ozzie.  After leaping onto me and licking my face thoroughly, she curls up against my tummy and we make like spoons for an hour or so before I have to get up and get ready for work.  I love these precious moments that give my every day a loving beginning.

Wondering about the quilt she is lolling on?  That would be Stella Blue, one of my all time favorite Miss Rosie's Quilt Company patterns.  This was a shameless copy of hers, right down to the same fabric she used.  She gave hers to her brother though, according to the pattern.  I kept mine for myself!

 

Trust me, you will be an expert at making Flying Geese if you tackle this pattern!

Pineapple Carrot Bread

There is an awesome little coffee shop right near where I work.  It is called the Carmel Coffee Roasting Company, and they do indeed have wonderful coffee.  What I like best about the place is that it is the kind of place you WANT to go to every morning.  The staff is friendly and if you are a regular, they soon learn your name and remember what your favorite items are to order.  "Hey Nicole, want a mocha this morning?"  Besides loving the warm greeting that gets my day off to a perfect start, what I really have become addicted to are the varieties of hot nut breads that the owner provides each day.  She makes them herself, and each one is delicious.  You never know what she might have on hand.  Sometimes it is blueberry, sometimes banana.  My favorite so far has been an orange cranberry concoction that I dreamed about the rest of the day.

So, I got a notion.  Why not make a "Bread of the Week" to have on hand at my own house?  For those days that I am too rushed to make a proper breakfast (um, that would be every day), it would be the greatest thing to take with me to work.  I have been doing some research on Allrecipes.com and have come up with a selection of a dozen or so bread recipes I am going to try.

My first quick bread was Pineapple Carrot Bread, and I am happy to share the recipe.

Pineapple Carrot Bread

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 cup finely shredded carrots

1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, undrained

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.  In another bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, & oil.  Add the carrots and pineapple and vanilla.  Stir into dry ingredients until everything is just moistened.  Fold in walnuts.

Pour into two greased 8 x 4 x 2 inch pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes in pan before removing to racks.

So, here's the thing.  I could not find my 8 x 4 inch baking pans.  Where they went, I have no clue.  How does anyone lose their bread pans?  So, I used ONE 9 x 5 inch bread pan and baked the loaf for over an hour.  Maybe 65 minutes.  You have to check it to be sure it is done in the middle.  I only ended up with one loaf, which is a tragedy, but I will get some of those smaller pans to have on hand for next time.

Oh, and don't worry---I will still be going to my favorite coffee shop every day.  It turns out the owner makes a different crock pot soup every day too!  Perfect for my lunch.  That will be my next experiment!

My Favorite Spring Quilt

This is a quilt I made years ago.  Six or seven years ago at least.  It remains one of my very favorite little quilts to put out during the Springtime.  The quilt was very simple in its construction.  You sew various sized strips together in long rows, and them randomly connect all the rows.  The idea is that no seams have to match up (I'm all for that).  I love the way this quilt turned out when I used all the florals I had in my stash.  A friend of mine made this same pattern using all Fall themed fabrics, and hers turned out just sensational.  I think this pattern would work with any themed fabrics. Wouldn't it be adorable all in cherry prints?  You can find the pattern in a book called Super Simple Strips by Nancy Smith and Linda Milligan.

The most fun thing about this pattern, is that you stitch the strips together using a diagonal seam, like you do when you are making binding.  You have to trim off the little triangles and there are a LOT of them.  Now, you may not think this sounds like fun right off the bat, but look:

The triangles are not wasted and thrown away!  You trim them off carefully, using your quarter inch marker on your cutting ruler, and them piece them together into little half square triangles!  They all come out perfectly uniform in size.  How cute is that?  No waste, and you end up with a very fun border.

Speaking of borders, I could not believe my good luck when I found this large floral fabric that had all my colors in it.  That was just serendipity, if I ever knew it.  I loved it so much I used it for the backing too.

Spring Decorations

I know it is probably too soon to put the umbrellas away, but I sure have been excited about getting some fresh Spring colors into my decor.  Have you decorated yet?  Easter will be here on April 12, just a month from now.  Even if you don't celebrate Easter, do you change out any of your decorations for Spring?  Do you have any Spring themed quilts?

This past weekend I got out some of my favorite Easter decorations and put them out.  Bunnies, colored eggs, nests, chicks--it all works together this time of the year.

I love the Vernal Equinox.  It is thought to be rather out of favor to refer to it as such however.  It is perhaps a bit arrogant to refer to it as a Spring event, when it is only so in the Northern Hemisphere.  Our friends in the Southern Hemisphere are far from getting in the mood for Spring--for them, March 20 signifies the Autumnal Equinox.  Wikipedia says we should say March Equinox and September Equinox in order to be politically correct.  So all my dear Aussie & South American friends, do forgive me for going on about Spring!  You are invited to email me and tell me all about how you are decorating for Autumn--I would love to hear about it!! 

The wreath in the picture above I bought on a vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia a couple of years ago.  You should have seen me carrying this treasure home on the airplane.  I would have been willing to buy it its own seat I was so excited to have it.

No room is exempt from my Easter decorating touches.  Not even the kitchen!  Excuse me while I dash out for some daffodils.  They are just the finishing touch I need....

Now I'm Annoyed

I wasn't even going to post on this subject, because I thought it had been resolved very nicely.  I recently ordered a batik fat quarter selection from a very well known online fabric company that specializes in batik and Asian fabrics.  The color selection was to be raspberry.  Eight beautiful fat quarters all in shades of yummy magenta-dark pink-raspberry colors.  There was a little disclaimer saying that the fabrics I got may not be exactly as shown.  So I phoned up the shop and asked about that.  I was told that the fabrics I received may vary slightly from those shown on the website, but definitely would all be raspberry pink.

This is what I got.  By no stretch of the imagination are at least six of those fabrics raspberry pink. 

 

So, I was bummed.  My disposable income for fabric has been greatly reduced of late, and when I do spend the money, I darn well want to get what I paid for.  Also, the fabrics were not folded nicely and were jammed into a mailing envelope with no tissue, plastic baggie or anything.  Not great.  Especially compared to other companies I have raved about on this blog.  Companies who bend over backwards to provide amazing service and who package their mailings as if they were a birthday present.

I decided to politely express my disappointment to the management.  I emailed the shop saying that the fabric I ordered was not as described and had been packaged carelessly.  I immediately got a response back saying that they were so sorry, they would make good on my complaint immediately  and send me as many new replacement fat quarters as I would like.  So I said I would like seven new fabrics and would send the seven purpley ones back to them when I received my replacements.

This was going really well I was thinking.  How awesome that a shop would care enough to provide such excellent customer service.  I was so excited to receive my package today in the mail!  When I opened it, there was a nice note saying they hoped I wouldn't give up on them and would shop with them in the future.  The fat quarters were stacked and tied with a little bow of fabric.  Now, that is what I am talking about.  Those fabrics are what I call raspberry pink.  Very pretty, gorgeous in fact.  Now this is a shop that sincerely cares.  And what pretty fabrics!  I was so pleased.  At first.

  Hello?  What is this?

 

They sent me three identical fat quarters of one fabric and two identical fat quarters of another fabric.  When you order a selection of fat quarters aren't you pretty sure that means that all of the fat quarters will be different?  Do they think I was born yesterday?  That I fell off the turnip truck?  Did they not even notice the duplications?????

Either they don't care, or there is a huge disconnect between sales management and the cutting/shipping department.

Well sorry.  I WILL be giving up on them and I will NOT be shopping there in the future.  Come on people, where is your pride?  It is a competitive world out there if you didn't know.  I don't usually bash merchants, but they have exhausted my patience.  In case you are wondering what the shop was, I will give you a hint.  B... B.....

Added later:  I just want to make clear that the merchant I am so unhappy with is NOT Bonnie Blue quilts!

Easter Batiks

Now that Daylight Savings time has begun again, the Vernal Equinox is just a couple of weeks away, don't you just want to ditch the turtlenecks and boots and get out your cropped pants and tee shirts?  Wear bright springy colors?  Change into that cute straw summer hand bag?  Use some self tanner and get out your high heeled sandals?  Decorate for Easter?  Me too!

I managed to get back into my extremely untidy sewing room this past weekend and finish a couple of table runners.  I ignored the chaos and surrounded myself with some of those cheerful Eastery colors.  My work office has three shabby file cabinets that would benefit greatly by being covered up.  I took advantage of the Batik Love Phase that I seem to be going through, to use up some of those fabrics for the office runners.  The one above is all yummy pinks with a touch of blue and green thrown in.  That one will go under my windows and the African Violet might actually do well there in the northern exposure.  The runner was dead easy.  I sewed two and a half inch strips onto a base of muslin, flipping and pressing each one as I progressed, and in no time, the runner was done.  Heather Mulder Petersen has the pattern in her book On A Roll Again--the pattern is called Picketty Sticks.

Isn't this color combination dreamy?  Lavenders, greens and pinks.  It soothes me just to look at it.  This pattern is one of Heather's as well--Keyholes I think it is called.

I did not even bother to quilt these two runners.  I backed them with coordinating batik fabric, turned them inside out and stitched up the opening. Not sure what my colleagues will think about my unconventional office color scheme, but something tells me it will be ok!

Looking Ahead to Halloween

You all know what a nut I am for Halloween.  I just have to share the idea I got in Disneyland for my next family party.  Now what a fabulous costume this would be!  I think the trickiest thing would be to find the coat.  Black dress- check.  Shoes-check.  Gloves- check.  Cigarette holder-check.  I even have the wig on hand, believe it or not.  I have the wig leftover from the year I was a chef at the Ghoulinary Academy.

Besides, wouldn't it be fun to get into the character of someone who was so Nasty?  I love the look on Cruella's face.  She looks like she is giving some poor schmuck a royal tongue lashing.  Notice that no one in the crowd seems to want to get up close to her to have their picture taken? 

I have no idea who these people are with Minnie.  My husband has a habit of taking photos of total strangers.  I was going through my vacation pictures and found this.  If you know them, let me know, I will send them the pic.  They are pretty cute.

We Are Home

Bye Bye Disneyland.  We had a lovely time.  You are never too old to enjoy the Magic in the Kingdom.

The dogs were jumping-out-of-their-skin happy to see us.  Eee gads they were dirty though!  Is that a part of kenneling?  First thing home, they hopped in the shower and were blow dried to perfection, and are now snoozing on their favorite chairs.  It must have been exhausting for them.  The kennel keepers told us that Ozzie in particular was "very vocal".  He made friends with someone named Gizmo, but doesn't seem keen to maintain the relationship by returning any time soon.  Sophie hasn't said much, but went straight to her own little dog bed in gratitude to be home.

I am glad to be home too.  I feel so grubby when I am traveling, and I don't know why.  I shower every day and wear fresh clothes, but just don't feel bathtime fresh.  Does anyone else feel that way?  I did experience some hair issues while vacationing, which are obvious in the photo above.  I always blame humidity when that happens.  The only thing to do is bundle it up into an untidy knot and wear my shades and hope I don't meet my high school boyfriend.

California Adventureland was all torn up.  For criminney sakes, they just built the place and they are redoing it already.  Look at what they did to the water lagoon, which was the central thing the entire park was built around:

Now that wasn't pretty.  They have major plans to change the entire thing believe it or not.  See the big orange thing in the background?  That is a ride that consists of swings that raise you high up and buzz you all around the inside of the orange.  It actually is pretty fun.  Well, they are going to turn the orange into a big old fashioned bandstand and have Mickey the Conductor on the top orchestrating music while the swings whirl people around.  Not sure I get it, but that's Disneyland.  Always improving things.  The Ferris wheel to the left of the orange was all turned off and under construction too.  Don't know what the plan is for that, but I hope they keep it a Ferris wheel.  It was so nice on a warm afternoon to take a break, rest your feet,  ride the Ferris wheel, see the pretty water feature below and watch the park activities from way high up.

The weather was icky on Monday (we got sprinkled on), but gorgeous on Tuesday.  The temperature was around 70 all the time.  The flowers and landscaping were spectacular.

My husband is a total nut for all the extreme rides.  Tuesday was a perfect day for me because no one made me go on any roller coasters or water rides.  Here is my usually well dressed, reserved husband after some kind of raft ride I was SO glad I skipped.  We had to walk around with him for hours with that wet bottom.