in & out

I haven't actually dropped off the face of the earth -- it's just that work has been really busy and I haven't been doing a lot of sewing... although I did finish up the 4 Seasons quilt for Spring and mailed it off to a faraway place yesterday afternoon!

Today I spent working on a Rebuilding Together project in East Oakland. RT is an organization with branches all over the country that does repairs and renovations at the homes of low-income elderly and/or disabled people in order that they can continue to live in their homes comfortably and safely. Each home has a corporate sponsor for the work that needs to be done -- ours had a new roof put on last week; we painted several rooms inside, painted outside trim, replaced all the locks, landscaped in the front yard, and cleaned out an entire dumpster's worth of "stuff" from the house and garage. I'm one of 30 who worked there, and I'm exhausted!

Tomorrow morning I fly off to San Diego. I have a bunch of business meetings on Monday and Tuesday, but tomorrow I'm meeting up with a quilting friend and she's taking me to Rosie's! I've been hearing about the place for years but haven't ever been there -- good thing there's plenty of room in my suitcase.

My friend is Mona, and it's sort of a funny story... she saw my name on a list somewhere and sent me an e-mail -- because she recognized my name from elementary school! This was a few years ago, and she was living closer, so we got together a couple of times and did some shop-hopping and lunch. And she brought the class photo from 2nd grade to show me. Wow. So I haven't seen her since she moved south and I'm looking forward to catching up!

I will take my camera along just in case I run into some fabric or something...

this and that

Kim at Trueup was talking about buying fabric on EBay, so I thought I'd show a picture of the one piece of "vintage" fabric I bought there a few years ago. The strawberries are about 5 inches across and almost 7 inches high -- I can't imagine what I'll make out of this, but it was too cute to pass up. (apron, tote bag, cafe' curtains...)I haven't quilted the 4 Seasons top yet, but in the meantime I put the second border on my current project for the Spring Fling Round Robin -- now it gets mailed off to someone else to finish. I love braided borders because they can easily take on that country look, and they give you the opportunity to pull a few more colors and a little "pop" into the quilt. I had a really hard time coming up with fabrics to use in this one; the stores around here just don't do country and it's something I rarely look for myself. I left a little extra around the border and stay-stitched it to stabilize the stretchiness until it gets quilts and bound -- that's why the edges look funny!

The tomato plants have been in the ground for a week, and this afternoon I planted seeds for carrots, beets, chard, yellow beans, lettuce, lemon cucumbers, zucchini and basil. I've never really had luck with carrots, but I'm determined to make them grow one of these times! We've been eating snap peas off the vines for a while, and the pole beans will go in when the peas are done. It feels so virtuous to "grow your own" these days but the real thing is that it all tastes so much better. I can't wait for tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil... yum!

now spring is really here!

I received a surprise package today -- from Finland! It contained my next part of the Spring Fling Round Robin... and my Spring quilt from the 4 Seasons Quilt Swap! Isn't this lovely? It came from Jeanette, and includes some really nice hand stitching that might be hard to see in the photos. Thanks, Jeanette!
The second project is the round robin, started by Laila in Norway and continued by Jeanette. Sunbonnet Sue really isn't my "thing" but I will endeavor to continue down this country road with a second border and send it off into the blogosphere to be finished.Gotta love these swaps where you receive a finished project!

Whackie Spring!

This might be my 4 Seasons Spring quilt... I just haven't decided whether it's right for the person I'm making it for. It started with a pattern called Whackie Girl that Nancy has made several times -- after her last one I had to write and order the pattern from the designer! I've appliqued a few of the poppies from that terrific spring-y fabric on top... I don't think it could be any more cheerful!

The Guild show this weekend was pretty good -- some real stand-out quilts among the "oh that's nice" and the "what on earth was she thinking?". I posted a bunch of photos on my Flickr site. (look for the EBHQ 2008 album)

it's just another meme...

this one came from Average Jane:



1. If you were to attend a costume party tonight, as what or whom would you go?

My only "costume" is a red t-shirt with little black plastic spiders sewn all over it, and a white thread spiderweb on the back. I made it about 20 years ago... I do have a blond wig I can wear, too!

2. What are your choice of toppings on a hamburger? And do you prefer gas or charcoal grilling? The standard is lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard and pickles. One of the local diners makes one with pesto and that's pretty yummy, too! I'm not sure I can tell the difference between charcoal and gas...

3. You are chosen to have lunch with the President. The condition is you only get to ask one question. What do you ask?

What on earth have you been thinking for the last 7 years?

4. It’s your first day of vacation, what are you doing?

Lying around and reading, with occasional bursts of energy at the sewing machine.

5. What is your concession stand must-have at the movies?

Popcorn

6. How long was it from ‘the first date’ until the proposal of marriage? How long until the wedding?

We bought a house together after 9 months; proposal was about 6 months after that, and wedding was 4 months later. (17-1/2 years ago!)

7. What is one quality that you really appreciate in a person?

Sense of humor

8. Everyone hears discussions that they consider boring. What topic can put you to sleep quicker than any other?

Discussions about other peoples' work situations/office politics, etc.

9. If you had to have the same topping on your vanilla ice cream for the rest of your life, what topping would you choose?

Hot fudge

10. What food item would need to be removed from the market altogether in order for you to live a healthier, longer life?

Anything you might find at a bakery...


Feel free to tag yourself for this meme if you need something to write about today. If you do, leave a comment and let me know.

quilt show!

I promise some progress on quilt stuff soon, but here's just a note about a great quilt show next weekend -- it's "Voices in Cloth" sponsored by the East Bay Heritage Quilters. The show happens every other year at the Oakland (California) Convention Center and it is usually just terrific! The guild is very large and has some extremely talented members, including some "big names" like Mary Mashuta, Sandi Cummings and Roberta Horton.

If you're thinking about going, let me know and we can meet at the water fountain! It's on Saturday and Sunday the 12th & 13th of April.