Kate's Famous!

Kate's that *darn*kat pattern was picked as a favorite children's pattern on Sew, Mama, Sew! The model is her darling daughter.

Congratulations!

A Wonderful Weekend

I'm a southern girl at heart, so when the weather turns nasty I do what generations of strong women have done over the centuries: I stayed in my pajamas all day sewing and refusing to leave the house.

It was worth it, though, don't you think? I got the top of Orange Crush pieced. It is still busy, but beautiful. My daughter loves it, which is a good thing since it is going on her bed! Now I am auditioning borders, and I think I'm going to go with one of these:


I think I prefer the one on the right. What do you think? Let me know!

On a patriotic note, there are some great ideas for commemorating the Inauguration tomorrow with kids at The Crafty Crow.

Enjoy the rest of your 3-day weekend. I hope everyone is staying warm.

Step 5 Crushed!

From Step 5 Blocks

The temperature's dive turned out to be a winning situation for everyone in my family: my husband went off to his poker game without a twinge of guilt, the kids wrapped in blankets and watched a movie on the couch by the fire, and I fired up my sewing machine for a marathon of Orange Crush.

Thursday the Wanna Bees helped me choose which greens to use for the center of my album blocks, and Lene even added a perfect piece from her own stash (see the center of the block on the bottom right, the swirly lime green? Thanks Lene!) After getting the Step 5 pieces cut out at bee, I was ready to sew these last blocks.

So I tuned in to my boyfriend, Chris (Meloni...Law & Order: SVU...are you paying attention?). My friend, TiVo, had taped a marathon, so I was good for a few hours. Not only did I get all of Step 5 done, including those &%^$ half and quarter album blocks (I had to go back and rip out 4 of those half split four patches AGAIN!!!), but I also got a nice bit of sewing the blocks together done. I cannot wait to post the pictures of that and show you when I'm done.

It does look a bit...busy. To put it gently. It is starting to calm down now that the blocks are going together, but when I first laid out the whole quilt I almost cried. It was so loud. I really wondered if Gracie would ever be able to sleep under it. Hopefully some solid borders will give the eye a place to rest, because right now it looks like it could be used in a double blind study on epilepsy. Seriously, MarioKart for the Wii poses less danger to people with seizure disorders than this quilt! I am VERY concerned.

I am starting to think of names. I'm not sure I want to just call it Orange Crush, partly because my orange isn't really reading that way. I'd like to incorporate some of the mystery and/or something significant to my daughter in the title. The orange is reading very much like flames and she was actually due on July 4, so I had considered something like "Firecracker". Let me know if you come up with any brilliant ideas.

Please consider spending at least some of your time on Monday working on those charity projects as part of the National Day of Service. I thought this was a great suggestion by Cheri Sullivan. And if you have a blog, help spread the word!

So I'm going to get back to sewing, but I hope you all have a great long weekend and stay warm.

Friday Fill-Ins

Friday Fill-In for January 16, 2009 ~ My answers are in bold.

1. Enough with the cold weather!

2. Parenting causes me to be conflicted.

3. I've been craving chocolate cake.

4. The Big Bang Theory makes me laugh.

5. I wish I could go to Quilt Retreat next week.

6. My friend, Lisa, who is thisclose to finishing chemo, has been on my mind lately.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to working on Orange Crush, tomorrow my plans include the Gladiators game and Sunday, I want to see snow!

Have a great weekend!

Thank you, thank you very much!

I am very belatedly posting this award, given by the divine Miss M,(my quilt guild and birthday buddy) Melissa. I probably don't deserve it after going MONTHS without posting, but since it is my first ever award I am keeping it. So there.

Here are the rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you’ve nominated.
6. Write an acceptance speech in the style of the Academy Awards, thanking everybody’s mother, father, sister, brother, aunties and uncles and the kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant!
7. Melissa's addition to the rules: List seven random facts about yourself. (she added this one, 'cause she thought there should be seven rules since you nominate seven bloggers and everyone knows seven is a great number, right?)
   

I'd like to thank Kate, whom I would nominate if Melissa hadn't already, for piquing my curiosity about this whole blogging thing when she started making her own laundry detergent. I mean, who wouldn't want to read about that, right? (Don't laugh! You all did!) And of course Melissa and all of my quilty friends at guild. My kids and my goldfish and my parents and my sweet beagle boy, Divot, may he rest in peace. Am I forgetting anyone???

Oh, sorry, Honey! I didn't mean to leave out my wonderful husband, who patiently funds my quilting (and pays for high speed wi-fi) without too much grumbling, lovingly nods when I ask him if he prefers cornerstones or an on point layout, and didn't divorce me when I got myself nominated guild president. I love you so much!

Seven random, but true, Jenny facts:

1. I went to eight different schools growing up - not counting Lollyboppers for preschool or FSU for college. (Go 'Noles!)
2. I was Mrs. Santa in my kindergarten play, and I knew everyone's lines.
3. I did my student teaching at The Queens School in Kew, England.
4. I cannot eat veal or lamb ever since my high school ethics class. It isn't a moral or dietary thing, but I can't get the images out of my head after 20 years when I even contemplate eating them. Oddly, reading grisly true crime books and blogs does not bother me.
5. I am a mystery/true crime junkie. When Scott Peterson was on trial for killing Laci and Conner, I was getting text updates pushed to my cell phone from CourtTV so I wouldn't miss a thing. I blame this on being born the same month that the Manson Family killed Sharon Tate and so many others.
6. I make an awesome White Chocolate Cheesecake.
7. I take down as many of my Christmas decorations as possible on 12/26 so that my oldest child's birthday pictures on 12/27 don't look Christmas-y.
   

I would like to nominate:

1. Faster Than Kudzu, Joshilyn Jackson's blog, which makes me laugh til I cry, and also wish I could write like that.
2. No Fear Entertaining, which makes me believe I can cook for other people and has never steered me wrong. Beautiful, delicious food.
3. In Cold Blog. My true crime fix for the day. Not for the squeamish.
4. Seth Godin's Blog. Marketing Genius. If you work for a living, bookmark this page.
5. Angry Chicken. A little dash of creative living in every post.
6. A Year of Crock Potting. I'm not sure this one counts since the year is over, but the recipes are still there. The crock pot is your magic friend that ensures a healthy dinner even when lacrosse practice and quilt guild overlap, or you spend too much time on the computer to bother with one of those recipes from No Fear Entertaining!
7. Soule Mama. One of the most beautifully written and photographed blogs I visit. I especially enjoy when Papa takes over and posts his own thoughts and images. It's breathtaking.

As you can see, I'm an eclectic girl. It really isn't all about the quilts. Some of these blogs are so popular that I'm certain they've been nominated before, but these are the ones I count on daily. I hope you take the time to visit some of them and maybe expand your own interests a bit.

This is my favorite....OCD/New Year's THING

Does everyone have this or is it just me? I mean that one thing you just HAVE to do at the first of the year.

I know my mother goes through her Christmas cards and address book, updating addresses and phone numbers and crossing off the names of people who have died. I had a friend whose favorite day every year was when calendars hit 50% off. She'd go buy one for every family member and room of the house, and then spend hours filling in all of the birthdays and school vacations on every single one. Both of these habits baffle me since I am one of those poor souls who is hooked up to a machine for survival - that is, my computer and the sync-to-phone feature.

But the one thing I absolutely MUST do every New Year's Day or shortly after is a major cleaning of the refrigerator. It started with this post on the Organized Home website. It wraps all of my guilty resolutions - weight loss, money management, spending time together as a family, and organization and cleaning - into one big chore that feels like a major accomplishment when it is finished. Plus, unlike much housework, it really SHOWS when it is done right. People actually notice that you've been slaving away all day.

On top of the usual cleaning, I also go through all of my holiday cards and update the pictures on my fridge. If you send me a picture, you make the fridge. If you don't, you don't. I'm just sayin'.

So I'm trying to revive Melissa's meme of favorite things with this. What's your favorite thing that MUST be done every New Year? Please share!

Sorry I don't have photos. By the time I thought of this, the fridge isn't all that clean anymore and just doesn't do the post justice. You should have seen it last week, though. *~*SPARKLY*~*

Back to Work

From Last Import

I dusted off my sewing machine today and got back to work, thanks to the urging of my bee group, the Wanna Bees. Almost the whole crowd was able to make it today, and it was good to see what everyone was working on. The bad news is that, while everyone else has moved on, I am STILL plugging away at these Orange Crush blocks. The good news is that I was able to find all of the pieces I had assembled for Orange Crush to bring to the bee, and that I finally finished all 30 blocks of step 4. Wahoo!

I thought I had lost a piece, and finally realized that I was just being thick and was miscounting. I guess that's what happens when you take a months-long break and have to get back into the swing of things.

Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying some sewing time as well. Send me a link to what you're working on, even if it's the same old, same old like me. That just means we are persistent!

Return

Happy New Year!

I know, I know. Kate and Melissa have already given me all kinds of grief so just skip it.

Plus, I got the most depressing email about my blog being "de-listed" from one of the rings I had joined due to inactivity. Nothing like a computer calling you lazy to brighten your day.

So I went to guild last night and saw Kate's blingy-bling-bling and Melissa made me laugh again like always and they both said, "Are you EVER going to post on your blog again?" so here I am.

Hopefully by the next post I'll have something interesting and quilty to tell you, but for now it will just have to do that I'm still alive and my computer is plugged in.

Anyone who cares...thank you!