Sister's Choice Quilts

Let's Get Back in the Sewing Room, Shall We?

It's been a minute since I have done in sewing, but after a few days without power, I thought I should be more grateful for my electricity and actually use it.  I got up to the sewing room yesterday and brought out an unlabeled project that I started back in May.  Five months ago.

When I opened the box, I literally thought "What on earth was I making?"  I had to look up my blog posts to refresh my memory.  Honestly, if that isn't a good reason to have a blog, I can't think of another one.  It turns out, this is the Temecula Quilt Company's Sew Along that they did on "One Block Wednesdays".  The instructions can be found here.

I have been so lacking any quilting mojo for months, mainly due to the fact that I have way way way too many bed sized quilts.  I think in the future, I need to make more smaller projects, and maybe work on one or two large quilts per year.  This will be a big one, but I have to say it is fun and kind of mindless stitching.  I listened to some book podcasts while I sewed and spent a nice couple of hours.  

Happy Halloween!

Quick, Before the Power Goes Out Again...

I have to post this quickly, as our power has been shut off since Saturday night, and just came back on (it's Monday around 11:00 PM).  They tell us they are shutting us down again tomorrow until Thursday or Friday, so I need to get this up or I will miss my chance.  I cannot even begin to tell you what a pain it has been to have no electrical power for all these days.  Every Costco, Home Depot, Lowes is sold out of generators.  We have one on order but it won't come until later in the week.  California is a total disaster right now between the areas that are on fire or are without power. I have my milk in an ice cooler, haven't had a shower, cannot flush my toilets or run any water, and will kill for a coffee.  It is harsh my friends, and I am not exaggerating.  I am about ready to move to Canada, I tell you.

Anyway, we managed to have our annual family Halloween Party and I wanted to share some photos of the costumes.

Our family came as a circus group this year.  My husband was the ringmaster, I was a clown, Sara was a tiger and Eva was a little acrobat girl.  We actually tied this year with our arch-nemesis group, my niece's family.  They came as the Adamm's family.  The baby was supposed to be Uncle Fester, but he refused to wear the bald head wig.  I am sure they would have won, otherwise.

Here is a close up of Sara and me.  She won big time:  Best Effort and Best of Show!  Her makeup was amazing, and she stayed in snarly character all night long.  She didn't go to art school for nothin', right?

Here are some other highlights:

Lady Liberty

The Donald, in the suit many say he belongs in.  I wonder how hard it was to wash that fake tan makeup off.

I am blanking on who my nephew is supposed to be, but he was passing out real McDonald's Cheeseburgers all night long.  If you know who is he is, please tell me.

My hippie cousin and his pirate wench wife.  He actually looked exactly like my brother in law's brother from Washington State, and people kept saying "Oh is that David, down for a visit?".  It was pretty funny.

Pirates were a popular theme.

This is Slash from Gun's n Roses.

And this gunslinger and his gal are pretty funny.

And here's my dad, living proof that at 94, you are never too old to get into a costume and enjoy the Halloween fun.

There were plenty more fabulous costumes, but I either didn't get a good shot or missed the photo completely.  Apologies to those I missed. Darn.

Have a happy Halloween everyone.  Wish us luck out here in California where pretty much nothing is working right at the moment.

 

What a Difference a Few Days Makes

Have I told you about the crazy tree we have in our backyard?  I think it is a Liquidamber tree, but could be mistaken.  It is very quirky in that it changes color overnight, then two days later, drops all its leaves.

We were so excited to see all the fall colors last week when we went to the mountains.  When we left for the trip, our tree was all green, except for one or two red leaves at the very tip top.  When we came home last Friday, the tree looked as red/orange as could be, as you see in the photo above.  

Then, on Tuesday-

Can you believe that?  

In other garden news, check these out.  Pomegranates!  Aren't they pretty?  The birds have discovered them too.

Look at all those juicy seeds.

I apologize for the lack of posts this week.  First part of the week, I was so busy with lunch dates, pedicure appointments, yoga class, walking dates with friends.  Then on Wednesday I had a house guest.  Today I was so exhausted I did absolutely nothing except read and nap.  I am feeling a touch under the weather, but must rally because....

My family Halloween Party is this weekend!!!

This is my sister Andrea's handmade invitation.  And this is what is inside:

You'd be ghoulish not to join us.  Wear a costume or else.

 

Organizing for Real People

My closet is a mess.  I have too many things and a closet purge was way overdue.  I started the process yesterday and made some pretty good progress.  I am not the person they are thinking of when they want someone to demonstrate a capsule wardrobe or heaven help us, a 10 item wardrobe.  More is more as far as I am concerned.  I want options.  But it was getting out of control.

I pared things down to my fall/winter favorites and packed away the spring-summer items.  I have a couple of bags to donate, and a couple of bins to store away for a while.  If I miss the contents after a year or so then maybe they can come back to my closet.  Typically, however, Out of Sight, Out of Mind rules and I completely forget I ever owned these items, which means they can go.

I used to work in a fairly formal setting, which meant that I needed nice shoes and work-appropriate clothing.  I have finally admitted, after a couple of years of being retired, that those clothes no longer have a place in my life.  Someone, somewhere could use them and look very work appropriate.  The shoes are another story.  I have dozens of pairs of shoes, at least two-thirds of which are heels.  No one wears heels where I live.  I live in a "flip flops in summer/boots in winter" place.  It is casual.  You never see anyone in heels, and if you do, you wonder what on earth is wrong with them and where they are from.  But I have had such a hard time parting with those shoes.  One, they were expensive, two, they are lovely, and three, they represent a time when I felt I dressed in a much more chic fashion.  But you know what?  After eight years of not wearing heels, and aging normally during that time period (as one does), I can no longer walk in heels.  I put them on and feel off balance and awkward.  And they hurt my feet.

 

I managed to cull two garbage bags of clothing to donate, but I still have not tackled the shoe situation.  Maybe one day soon...

Meanwhile, I am enjoying not having my clothes crammed tightly together in the closet, and being able to see what I have at a glance.

My goals this week are to tackle projets one baby step at a time.  Number one is to go through my coats.  I have so many coats that have not been worn for years.  That is a crime, when there are many people who need something warm to wear in the colder seasons of the year, who could truly benefit from these items that I am not using.   Plus, we need room in the hall closet.  Anyone who visits me who wants to hang up their coat has to lay it over a chair at the moment.  Next, I want to spend an hour or so to go through my scarves and cull out the ones that realistically I will never use.  And the pajama drawer is ridiculous.  Do you throw out your old pjs every year or so?  What is the point of hanging on to those things? 

Ok, wish me luck.  I may even attempt to part with some shoes I can no longer wear.

Great Get Away

This little trip up to the mountains has been the best getaway.  We have had some wonderful weather, some great hikes, and some really lovely time together.  It was such a good idea to bring Ozzie along with us, as his enjoyment of the outings has given us a lot of joy as well.

It has been a lot more exercise than he apparently is used to, and he is spending a good deal of time recovering from the activity.

On the last day of our trip, we relaxed.  I did some hand sewing, my husband did some computer work, and as you can see, Ozzie continued his nap.

I attached the binding to a couple of small table quilts, and have finished two books and started a third.  The fall color has been so enjoyable.  Did you know ferns change color with the seasons as well as trees do?  Isn't that a pretty sight?

I hope you will all have a good weekend.  Looking forward to sharing some book reviews with you next week.

 

The Adventure Continues

Ozzie is, if anything, more excited than ever to have been included in this fun road trip up to Lake Tahoe.  He can't believe his good luck in experiencing all the wonderful smells and seeing all the new sights.

I can't even believe I took this picture, it turned out so well.  We were walking around at Sugar Pine Park and discovered this little lake that feeds into Lake Tahoe (you can see the big lake in the background).  It was such a beautiful sight, framed by the large pine trees.  Look at the reflection of those trees...

We hiked around Taylor Creek, which is a dog-friendly place, and were mesmerized by the quiet beauty of the marshlands.  The salmon were running, which was a pretty amazing sight as well.  Can you see them swarming away under the water?  Now that was a sight.

The fall color is so pretty.  This is definitely the best time of year to be in Lake Tahoe, in my opinion.  You skiers will disagree with me, but I love the cool weather, the gorgeous color, the ease of driving around and the lack of crowds!

Ozzie had to be dragged down to the Lake.  He saw all that water and wasn't having anything to do with it.  I carried him down to the water's edge to show him it was all good, but he was pretty reluctant.  He finally explored it a bit, but whenever a teensy little wave came up onto the sand he was done.  Right now he is asleep on the couch and looks down for the count.  A good measure of the day.

 

 

On the Road Again

We managed to survive the massive power outage, which did not last the predicted five days.  Only 24 hours (for my town at least) as it turned out.  It was extremely inconvenient--I had to throw out two refrigerator/freezers full of food and my kitchen fridge leaked and damaged my hardwood floors.  A lot of people are up in arms with Pacific Gas and Electric, claiming they exaggerated the danger to a few by shutting off power to 800,000 citizens.  At least no fires started during the period of the outages.  I don't know if the decision to cut off the power was right or wrong, but I have seen the devastation that huge fires cause and my inconvenience is a small matter by comparison.

And for those of you who read my blog who do not live in the US, Pacific Gas & Electric is a State agency, not a Federal one, and hence has no oversight over arms control or immigration policy.

My husband and I have hit the road and are up in the mountains at beautiful Lake Tahoe.  To his complete and utter amazement, we brought Ozzie with us.  He looked out the window the two and a half hours it took us to drive up there and has been deliriously happy smelling all the alpine scents since we arrived.

This is the view from our balcony.  The weather is quite chilly (50s during the day and high 20s at night), so we warmed up this morning with Honey Orange Lavender Lattes and Avocado Toast.

I'll keep you posted this week as to our activities.  I brought along three books and some hand sewing and hope to keep busy in between making crockpot meals and taking long walks.

 

Power Shutdown

Oh goodness, I think we may be in for a tough few days.  Our California electrical power company, Pacific Gas & Electric, says they are planning a probable power shutdown for most of the Bay Area.  We are out in the country, where fire danger is high, so the chances our area will be targeted is high.  This is a safety precaution they are taking to try to prevent devastating fires such as the ones in Santa Rosa and Paradise in 2017 and 2018.

They have notified all customers that effective Wednesday, October 9 we are likely to be without electricity for an unknown number of days.  I am writing this on the 7th, so there are still many unknowns.  When you read this on the 10th, I may be incommunicado due to having no computer access.

We have been advised to stock up on non-perishable food, bottled water, flashlights, batteries, and other supplies.  We should get cash since ATMs won't work and credit card machines will be inoperable.  We need to gas up our cars.  And those of us with electronic garage door openers may want to leave our cars out so we can access them.  Now that is good thinking.  Last time our power went out I was unable to get my car out and was really stuck for the duration of the outage.

 i think I am good, except for the cash.  Oh well, I will just hunker down and stay put until it comes back on.  It is kind of boring not to have electricity, but I have my Kindle charged up so there will be some entertainment.  I am sure to get sick of granola bars and peanut butter and jelly, but my son in law is a whiz at the bbq grill, so there is always that to fall back on as well.

Wish me luck!

Impromptu Tea Party

I had an impromptu tea party yesterday.  I was inspired to call a couple of lady friends and invite them over to sit on the porch with me and visit.  The weather was so nice, and it just seemed a shame to sit alone.  They both were game to pop over on a moment's notice, and we did indeed have a nice visit.

The fountain was burbling and even though I didn't have much to offer for refreshments (grapes and cookies from the grocery store), my guests seemed to enjoy themselves.  When I was a newlywed, I used to invite neighbors and friends over for tea all the time.  I'm not sure how I got out of the habit, but I think it might be a good idea to resurrect the practice.

I have lots of festive fall decor out on the porch, and it was fun to sit out there and enjoy it with friends.

 

Let's Talk Embroidery

I wish I could say this was my work, but it isn't.  Just an image I found on the Internet.  However, I have been doing a lot of thinking about embroidery lately.  I am reading the best book, "A Single Thread" by Tracy Chevalier, which is about a single  English woman in the 1930s who lives a lonely life and takes up with an embroidery group who is making prayer kneelers for Winchester cathedral.  There is plenty more going on plot-wise, but right now I am focusing on stitching.  The plethora of discussion on stitches and embroidery designs has gotten me thinking about rekindling my stitching project that has gone into a UFO box.

So, all you embroiderers out there, tell me about your stitchery methods.  What sort of needles do you prefer?  How about thread?  And most important, what stitch do you use for lettering?  The backstitch or the stem stitch or the running stitch?  Do you use a hoop?  What is the best advice you pros can give a newbie?