40th Anniversary!

Not mine, but my sisters. She and her hubby celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary on June 20th. They thought they would just take this one as they have so many others and just go to dinnner. But on the weekend, there was a **SURPRISE**. Their friends have a beautiful beach house so their boys (and a daughter-in-law) planned a surprise party. Look at this gorgeous entry....

The kids and the homeowner, Catherine, did a wonderful job planning the party. We were pretty sneaky in getting some wedding pictures too. It took a little bit of lying but we got them for the tables. Ashley, the daughter-in-law hit the nail on the head when she said, "It's fun being so sneaky." :o)

The food was catered from Wood Ranch, yum. They had salad and tri-tip, chicken, mac 'n cheese (eww) and several wine choices.

So, here's to my sissy Isabel and her best friend Jim. I hope I don't do anything embarassing so I get invited to the 50th!!!

Pity Quilting

My daughter made this quilt top for a co-worker using the Yellow Brick Road pattern. But....she's been working a lot and the baby was born so she asked her mama if she could quilt it for her. I didn't want to go borrow the longarm so I did it on my Juki and boy, was that a challenge. I can stitch in the ditch on that machine but doing a meander and moving the quilt around, well, I'm just not used to it. There are some interesting shapes that instead of puzzle pieces look more like horse heads, barrels and hammers. LOL

I found one decent spot to take a picture of the quilting. The mother-to-be didn't want to know what she was having so Stephanie tried to pick fabrics that would be appropriate for either a girl or boy. The entire time she was picking them out, she kept saying how much easier it would be if the girl would just find out what she's having! How inconsiderate, huh? :o)

I needed to do something on the borders but didn't really want to take the time to pin on paper borders so I just chalked on a half feather kind of design. But....that didn't work because I didn't realize that I needed to draw them a certain direction so the quilt bulk would be on the outer edge of the machine. So I rubbed the chalk off and did them free motion. I cringed when I looked at it but Stephanie was happy so I guess that's all that matters.

So with that behind me, I guess I'll go see what's next on the list of things to do. Hmmmm.........

UFO #4

I realized I forgot to post about my finished quilt. I decided to call it "Take Me Out to the Ballgame aka, Sasquatch Quilt for Richard". :o) I don't remember if I told the story about that Sasquatch name but I put it on the label (below).

This is Sasquatch holding his quilt sideways.

I asked him to turn it longways and look at this. My husband is 6'1" and his arms are up in the air holding this quilt up. Look how much is lying on the floor. I think I could sit on the couch and he could be in his recliner and we could both cover up with it! LOL Maybe I thought he 7'1". :o)

I like the design created in this mystery pattern. And I like how the red ended up in a place that it sort of looks like hearts. Just perfect for a quilt from a wife to her hubby. And here's the label to explain to the generations why this quilt was so long.

Don't you love that baseball flannel?

So. California Quilt Run 2010

Well, this is one long post but I have a lot to say. How unusual eh? :o)

On Saturday, my buddy Neena and I went driving all over Southern California visiting shops on the Southern California Quilt Run, seeing what was new out there. Well, we didn't really drive all over Southern California, mostly just Orange County and some of Riverside County but at the end of the day, it sure felt like all of Southern Cal! :o) We went to 12 shops from Area 2 on the map, approximately 10:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m., ate two meals and went through one tank of gas and for me, about $80.00.

If you've never been on a quilt run or if you're not a quilter, here's the deal for the Southern Cal Run. You can read about all the prizes, the shops, see the map.... This year, the shops were giving away a jewelry charm that matched the block they created, plus we got the pattern for the block they designed. I took some pictures of the shop quilts but didn't get them all. I guess at some shops, my eyes glazed over and I forgot to take one. I'm serious! lol

The first shop we went to was Timeless Quilts in Anaheim. Timeless has downsized from a renovated house to a detached garage on the property. It's not very big but the owner Arlene does a nice job of having cute stuff in there and unless you look at the doors, you don't feel like you're in a garage either.

This is the shop quilt they made with the quilt run blocks. I love basket blocks so I might actually try to make a quilt using the free patterns. Neena and I found a cute fabric and it seemed like there wasn't much on the bolt so we asked if they have an "empty the bolt" discount, which they did. We split the fabric, which was about two yards so we each got one. The first of many purchases. And you have to love a store that has cherry curtains, right? :o)

From Timeless, we took a loooooong drive to A Time to Sew in Laguna Hills. The map said 22 miles. Seemed like forever to get to it. I didn't get a picture of their quilt sample but Neena really liked this quilt stand in the back of the store. I think we ought to get her husband to start mass producing them for all of her friends. :o) Oh, and did you notice that cherry quilt? Yeah, me too!

The next store was Flying Geese Fabrics in Tustin. Boy, I love that Lakehouse fabric. Yummmmy!! They had a kit for this quilt but I was afraid to look at the price. lol I couldn't resists buying a fat quarter pack of the pink and white fabrics though. So pretty!

From there, we went to Bear's Quilt Shop in Garden Grove but that store, unfortunately, does nothing for us. They weren't included in the last run because of the comments people left on their survey.... a dog in the shop that scared the beegeebees out of you when you walked in, dirty warehouse, old fabrics, etc. The "powers that be" gave them a chance to clean up their act and participate again and the store was cleaner but they have no wow factor. In my opinion they need more help than a broom. It's owned by two men. Maybe they need the female touch. I don't know but Neena nailed it as we walked to the car....."I never want to go to this store again."

From there we went to another Garden Grove store, The Quilt Cupboard. It was pretty busy and this 30's quilt was the shop quilt. Pretty cute but I REALLY liked the cherry one in ME fabrics next to it. Ohhhhh, where could I put that quilt???? What, you can't see it? I'll fix that!

Here it is. Ooooooh, don't you love those colors. Red and yellow. I must be going through a phase....another one....again! lol

At this point our stomachs were panging and begging for something to eat. Hard to believe since we downed cookies at just about every shop we hit so far. hehe We did a drive-thru so we wouldn't have to waiver from our shopping adventure. No one should hold a little food stain on our t-shirt against us, right? :o)

From Garden Grove, we drove to Brea to Cozy Cottage Fabrics. There was some cute stuff in the shop and Kris, the owner was working so I got to chat with her a bit. Must be why I didn't get one stinkin' picture of the shop or their shop quilt! I'm so easily distracted. They had the cutest dang line of Halloween fabrics by the door that I was oogling over. They have an Accucut so they create their own charm packs and I had to have some. Two as a matter of fact. Just in case one charm pack wouldn't do it. Do "what", I don't know but I'm sure I needed two. LOL I showed two of my daughters and they both said it was a good decision. We're kind of enablers that way. ;o)

Off to The Calico House who moved to a new location just down the path from their old spot. A nice big store with an awesome classroom with the most comfortable chairs you've ever put your backside in!!! We all tried them and decided we might have to go back just to sit in those chairs again.

We were started to feel the long day here and were getting tuckered out but had to keep going. I'm thinking those chairs ruined us. From here we went to Quilter's Garden, also in a new location. They were so cramped before and the new store is very open and roomy. It was a little hard to find but once you've been there, you would know they are around back of the shopping center.

To try and wrap up this post, the next four shops we hit were Stars & Scraps Quilt Shop in Corona, Quilter's Cocoon in Riverside, The Fabric Patch in Montclair and Ginger's Quilt Shop in Upland.

I love Stars & Scraps. They have lots of really cute kits, they carry a lot of Moda and some really nice stained muslin for that 'primitive' quilting and the staff and owner are very nice. It's worth making the drive out there once in a while. I'm supposed to go out again on Sunday, again with Neena and with Susan. Since the shops are only open until 5:00, we'll have to make the most of our time. And we want to hit some shops in Area 1 but that section is surrounded by big city traffic so we'll see how we do. And don't you worry, I'll tell you all about it.....whether you want to hear it or not! LOL

Giveaway at Quilt Hollow

Do you have yourself a little quilt for 4th of July? If not, go over to Quilt Hollow and sign up to win this little cutie.

If you do sign up to win, will you please say you saw the contest from BusyLiz so I can qualify to win a prize? Thanks bunches and good luck to us all!

Argh......you know 4th of July is going to be (and those warm temperatures) before we know it. Where is this year going!!!

Size does matter!

Did I get your attention? I'm a little punchy lately so that should explain this post. :o) I've been dragging since I went to help with my mom last weekend. I slept in her room and she gets up a lot during the night so I didn't get much sleep. And then that drive home kind of wiped me out. I haven't done much sewing since I got home so I thought I would chat about the size of things. (And I'm not talking about me!!)

Do you love mini things? Little things like miniature sewing machines, or like those Tupperware magnets that look like the real size bowls but they're itty bitty and oh so cute? I can't help myself. The other day I was at the dollar spot at Joann's and found little silver pots and pans, like for a child to play make believe but they were so stinkin' cute because they look just like the big ones mommy uses? Well, I like all of that kind of stuff. And that's why my house is a cluttery mess!! Too much stuff but I can't help myself.

I know a couple of people who are big USC fans. The other day I was in a paper store and saw these adorable napkins. They are about 4" tall and you can obviously use them to clean your hands or face but you can also stand them up to use as table decor. I bought a pack for my friend and now I need to go back and get another couple of packages for other peeps who asked for them.


And how about over sized things like my big buttons from Joann's last year? I saw they have them out again along with some other cute sewing room accents. Run to your nearest Joann's and get some cuteness of your own.

Are you in to recycling? Look at this. This is the lid to my boss's soup bowl she was heating up for lunch one day.

Do you think the designer was a quilter? Why four holes for steam and not 3 or 5? I don't know but it makes me wonder....... I probably make people wonder too while I'm digging around the trash!!! LOL I showed the Splenda packet for size comparison.

Well, I hope I'm back to my old self again tonight. I have lots of stuff to do. I found a fabric in my stash for the Sasquatch quilt. I can't wait to get that one off my to-do list!

Have a good day and if you find big stuff or little stuff in your house, let me know so I know I'm not the only nut in the world.

Sasquatch Quilt

This quilt is from my UFO list. I finished the top at a quilt retreat in Ventura several years ago, the same beach house retreat I posted about a few days ago here. There was a mystery project planned so I picked a baseball themed fabric to make a quilt for my husband. I started quilting in 2000 and thought by 2006, when I made this top, he had waited long enough for a quilt. Well, I guess I thought he needed to wait a little longer because four years later, I'm finally getting to it. :o) After working on my daughter's quilt, this one was a breeze to do. It was even, ironed and had 1/4" seams. Ahhhh, what a pleasure to quilt! I guess I can't compare one I made to one my "art major" made but it was easier to quilt because of the extra steps, like ironing!!

I just did loopty-loops all over it. As I was quilting it I thought I could say it was quilting with a "screwball" pattern. Get it? hehe I used a red, cream and navy variegated thread and it looks pretty good.

I found this cute flannel for the back.

Now, I need to square it up and cut some binding. I don't think I bought enough fabric to make binding for this one but being four years ago, I wouldn't remember even if I did! lol I did find a red striped fabric in my stash that worked pretty well. My sister called me and asked if I could go stay with my mom tomorrow (in San Diego) while she is at work and I was going to try and take the quilt with me to stitch the binding while sitting with my mom but I haven't even squared it up yet or cut the binding yet. I might leave this for when I get home and just take my embroidery. It's smaller to tote and I'm behind on it anyway. Story of my life!!!

Birthday Pennant

Last night, my youngest daughter Ashley and her co-worker Jenny came over. Jenny wanted to make a birthday pennant for her one year old daughter's birthday so they came over to have a work party and we got to work. Jenny picked the cutest fabrics from Joann's. Very sweet and girly and something she can use for years as her little one grows up. It went pretty smoothly except I forgot to have her get bias tape to sew onto the top edge to attach to the pennant pieces but it worked out okay. The girls ran over to Michael's and picked up red ribbon. I actually think the ribbon looked better than bias tape would have.

We used my Sizzix machine and I borrowed my friend Neena's pennant die cut template from Stampin' Up! Jenny started ironing the Heat n Bond to the fabric and then passed the torch to Ashley so she could start cutting the pennant pieces. Look at these cute colors!

They are double sided and the scalloped edge just adds to the fun of this project. I pinned the pieces to the red ribbon by sandwiching the fabric between two pieces of ribbon and leaving about 20" of ribbon on each end.

Originally Jenny wanted to put letters on each triangle but my letter set was too small. We even tried to cut the fabric with my Cricut but I think my blade was too old and it was just shredding the fabric. I'll have to try that again some day. It would sure come in handy for some crafting. The die shape that we used cuts one big pennant shape, one small one and a couple of little round scalloped circles. Jenny used all the scraps from the pennants to cut as many circles as she could and came up with this to spell out "Happy Birthday Kylie". Isn's she clever? These letters were the ones that were too small for the pennant triangles but they fit perfectly on these little circles. She just has to iron the letters and then she'll glue them down to some ribbon.

I think I'm going to go through my fabric. I'm feeling the need to have a banner of my own now. Yes, I'm jealous. :o)

Little Blooms

I'm trying to get one more UFO done before the June 30th deadline for the Yahoo group challenge over on Backporch Friends. I had this little floral nine patch/snowball top done. It measures 41" square and the floral fabrics were a kit I got at last years Quilter's Run so not bad, to have the top finished THIS year! :o)
I sandwiched the top at Lake Arrowhead a couple of weekends ago. I marked the flowers before sandwiching it. I stitched in the ditch with my Juki while at the condo and only got one flower stitched. So yesterday I spent some time cleaning up my sewing room and then dove into stitching the little blossoms.

At about 10:30 I thought about quitting but then I counted the flowers and thought, "Oh, you can do a few more." Well, a few more and a few more and before I knew it, I was done. Yay!!! Of course, I couldn't stand the suspense so I sprayed the quilt with water to get a feel for what it would look like without the blue ink. I'm lovin' it!

Now to try and figure out what to do on the borders. I have a couple of small templates with leaves and a small blossom but they're not quite the right size so I'll have to work it out on paper first. Stay tuned.... I'm hoping to have this one done by the weekend. I have someone coming over tonight to help her make a pennant for her daughters birthday so I think sewing tonight will be out. Oh well, that will give me a day or two to think about the borders.

Busy weekend

I have had the pattern for this tidy tote for a long time and it seems I have made one for each of my sewing buddies. I started this one up at the condo in Lake Arrowhead but didn't remember the lace, velcro or glue gun. So I finished it last night. It's for my friend Susan who went with us up there. I should be done making them unless I make some new sewing friends. :o)

And on Saturday, I went to my friend Sherrie's house and quilted this quilt for my daughter Kelley. The main part of the quilt was made out of all scraps from my scrap basket and some fat quarters she had. The piano key border adn two outer borders were purchased.

I just did a simple meander all over it. It's for her queen size bed. Man, what a beast it was. I'm so used to little lap quilts. Whew, it felt good to get it done though.

And Sherrie left this little gift for me in her sewing room. She was out of town when I was there quilting. Isn't it adorable! I already put it in my spatula pitcher and it looks so cute!!!

Off to work on my nine patch/snowball quilt. It's coming along. I'm doing little flowers in the snowball blocks. It's looking pretty cute, if I do say so myself. :o) Hope you had a great weekend.

Join us for a beach house retreat in Sunny Cal!

How would you like to come and play at this lovely beach house in October? Look at this gorgeous place! It's right on the beach and you get an ocean view from your sewing space. Bedrooms galore and two full kitchens.

The retreat is October 29-31, 2010 at the Saylor's Sandcastle in Ventura, CA and the cost is $295.00. You'll get home in plenty of time for the trick-or-treaters (in case you were worried!!). :o)

It's a perfect location and centrally located. There are several quilt shops within driving distance: Quilt Ventura and Treasure Hunt to name a few. Both awesome shops.

This photo is from several years ago. We did a mystery project and most everyone finished their top by the end of the retreat. (This is the balcony of the second floor of the house.)

As with most retreats, there is a lot of sewing, visiting, eating, and most definitely shopping!!

Oh, and don't forget about show-n-tell. There are some gorgeous quilts that are shared.

If you are interested, you need to go to the Quilt Ventura website and click on "What's New" for information or call the shop and speak to Joey - (805) 658-9800. She is an awesome lady, shop owner and retreat organizer.

A quilt retreat in your own backyard! Oh, yes, I AM going. lol This is my annual retreat with my sis. Come on, you know you wanna!!!!

FINALLY!!!!!!

Geesh, I have got to be the slowest quilter known to woman-kind. :o) But it's done, finished, fini! And it only took me five years. LOL I pictured the quilting on this quilt to be some gorgeous feathers and swirly vines and leaves. Well, those visions were only in my head and since I'm too cheap to pay a longarm quilter, that's where those visions stayed. So this quilt was done with plastic stencils, stitch in the ditch and a little free hand drawing (in the sashing).

As I was trying to find out when I started this project for the label, I saw in my webshots album that it was 4/7/05! Five years ago. Man, I REALLY had to think about the quilting on this one. LOL I talked about this top and then showed the quilting in a couple of other posts, here (scroll down) and here. I never added any fabric to make it bigger. I'm not sure if I'll use it on my bed or not. If I do, I need to buy something to cover the "drop" that this won't cover.

As my husband held it up for me to take a picture, I told him that it's not big enough. He said, "Well, why didn't you make it bigger?" I told him when I started it, it was a class and I just wanted to try using templates. Then, by the time I decided I wanted to make it bigger, I couldn't find any more fabric. Guess I'll have to make another quilt and make it a driveway quilt like Peggy does, a few examples here and here! :o)
I have til the end of the month for this UFO Challenge I'm in. I started quilting another quilt while in Lake Arrowhead. I wonder if I could get it done? I'm a pokey little puppy so who knows. Guess it's worth a try........

Antique Mall and Swap Meet Shopping

Before and after making cards this past weekend, I did a little shopping. First, on Saturday, Isabel, Kelley and I went downtown Fullerton to a favorite little antique mall called The Brick Basement. The prices are decent compared to antique shops and sometimes, depending on the vendor, they will negotiate or offer deals and sales. Sometimes, things might be priced a little higher than I'd like to pay and then "sometimes" an item calls to me and I've gotta have it!! Such is the case of this little chicken cookie jar. I should probably name her but as of right now, she adorns my table.....and she looks quite at home on my table topper!!

I doubt she is very old and perhaps there is no value, except for to me. I walked past her twice and while on another aisle, I told Isabel, "I think I need to buy that chicken." Being a supportive sister she agreed I needed to have it. hehe I thought I would put it on my kitchen counter but I need to clean up and put some things away first. Until then, she can keep an eye on things from the table. :o)
***Insert card making here, from yesterdays post some sleep and then onto Sunday.***

Sunday, Kelley, Richard and I went to Long Beach Veteran's Antique Swap Meet. Kind of some good stuff and kind of some junk. I guess you get that with any antique swap meet. Kelley and I laughed when we saw a set of horns that must've measured 6' across. I don't know what animal they were from but what's funnier is we saw a man loading them into his pick-up truck when we were leaving. It just tickled us that there's somebody out there to buy just about anything!

Looking at some of the painted furniture made us think that some of the old pieces we have and are ready to pitch out because maybe they are stained an old fashioned maple color or not our taste, look pretty darn good with a coat of paint!! I couldn't believe all the old consoles they had there from the 50's and 60's. I guess there is a new generation loving that retro look.

Some booths had pretty good displays. This woman had little groupings that were very cute. She had a red, white and blue section for the Memorial holiday or 4th of July that will be here before we know it. I couldn't get a picture of it though because there were people just standing there blocking my shot. The nerve!

I loved this little ironing board and iron but it was way overpriced. I don't have any place to put it anyway. Thank goodness or I might of lost my senses and bought it!

Kelley found this little cabinet. She's not sure what she wants to do with it and really doesn't have room for it right now. It was marked $30 but we asked if she would take $20. We thought that was decent for a display piece.

These are the pieces I got. The crocheted flowers aren't antique but I'm going to tea stain some and leave some white and use them for crafts and cards. The spoon had a handle in great shape compared to some that I've gotten. I paid $2. You can tell the little bowl was painted on the inside so I'm not sure I can use it for food but I might use it in my sewing room. I haven't decided yet.

I think we might be hooked and will try and go again. It's the 3rd Sunday of the month, rain or shine.