Really Random Thursday, 6/16/22

 Our first dahlias started opening. I'm not sure what the intense heat will do to them. We put a shelter of shade cloth over them this year so fingers crossed that we will have many more blooms.

I picked Charlotte up from school last week and we had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Jack's Urban Eats.

Their garlic fries are my favorite.

I love spending time with this girl so much.

You can tell she has an Instagram account--she likes to document her food choices. :)

Yum...

Regarding meals...

Grace, the daughter of one of our good friends, Jason and Jane, had her graduation party last week. We have known her since she was little. In fall, she is off to Berkeley. I know there are big things in store for her future.

I'm pretty sure I have posted this word before. Some days there seems to be a lot of spuddling going on around here.

My dear friend, Elizabeth ,knows I'm a word nerd. I love all the quotes she uses in her inspiring blog posts. So imagine my surprise when this book showed up in the mail the other day. I hope to make good use of it, although I already know it will be hard to match her level of expertise when it comes to quotations. 

Mark and I visited my father the other day. It was good to spend some time with him.

If you are a quilter, photos of a quilt in use can just make your day. Thanks, Stacie!

This gave me a much-needed chuckle.

That's it for this week. 

WIP Wednesday, 6/15/22

Not much to show this week. Although I did sew the bindings on four quilts, so that is a bit of an accomplishment.

Charlotte wanted to learn to crochet and has mastered the basics. So of  course that called for a cute bag to carry her supplies and crochet hook.

Berene of Happy Sew Lucky just designed a series of blocks called Yarn Junkie, which include balls and skeins of yarn, knitting needles and crochet hooks. I had some scraps of Essex linen and some canvas from the Purl line by Ruby Star Society that were definitely destined to be together. For the balls of yarn I used solids and some cross stitch fabric by Alison Glass. Berene had posted a bag she made so I basically copied it--she was kind enough to give me the rough dimensions.

A "live a colorful life" label (of course) and "worth the effort" by Kylie and the Machine.

An inside pocket for crochet hooks. I sewed a selvage in the pocket that says "Purl" and "I love yarn" but you can't really see it very well. 

And the cutest zipper pull, also by Ruby Star Society.

It was a fun project and I hope she keeps going with crochet.

I just finished Block 13 of Moda Blockheads 4, Evening Delight, posted by Debbie Maddy of  Tiori Designs. If it looks familiar, that's because it is an Ohio Star block, one of my favorites.

That's it for this week.

Really Random Thursday, 6/9/22

 Yesterday was our 49th anniversary. We were married on a beautiful day in Seattle. No rain. Beautiful light streaming through the stained glass window in the front of the sanctuary. It's hard to believe we are one year away from celebrating our golden anniversary!

We celebrated at Quail State, a trendy place downtown.

We shared chile verde tacos and grilled cheese. I'm usually a merlot type person, but I decided to branch out. I ordered a Vesper. I had never heard of it before, but if you are a fan of This is Us, you will recognize it as the drink Rebecca ordered on the train in the next to the last episode. 

It was a fun and relaxed evening. That decision 49 years ago to marry Mark was one of my best.

We don't go to the movies very often, but Mark knows how much I enjoyed the Downton Abbey series, and bought tickets for the new movie. We both enjoyed it.  During the pandemic, the theater did a lot of remodeling. They now even have a bar. Just for the sheer novelty, after the movie we bought a very overpriced glass of wine and some popcorn, and watched people for awhile. 

Awhile back, we had gotten tickets for Beyond Van Gogh, an immersive show that is traveling around the country. We got two extra tickets, so Gabe and Charlotte joined us. 

It begins with Van Gogh's history and a lot of quotes from letters he wrote to his brother, Theo.

Then you move into a big room that has an ever-changing display of his paintings, both on the walls and the floor. 

They had several really great settings for photo ops.

Interesting...

Yes. Same.

True?

That's about it for this week. 

WIP Wednesday, 6/8/22

 After many starts and stops, this quilt top is finally completed! I'm super happy with it, and never would have thought I would be making such a bright yellow quilt. I'm waffling between two names: Mischief Managed--thanks for that suggestion, Paula (since the center blocks are from a pattern called Mischief), and Sunny Disposition, an idea from my friend, Bruce.

I'm caught up on my Moda Blockheads blocks.

Block 11, Moda Block-berry designed by Jackie MacDonald for Sweetfire Road.

Bonus block 5, Wheat Field.

Block 12, Friendship Star, a traditional block.

This is often true. But I'm trying to get better about actually finishing. 

Last week the setting suggestion for the Riley Blake Challenge quilt was released. It was a combination of plain blocks and Irish chain blocks. I liked the setting, although I didn't give much thought to how large the quilt would be--70" x 90". It's been a long time since I have finished a quilt that large.

The Irish chain blocks were surprisingly satisfying to complete. I worked in batches while listening to a good Audible book. For two reasons, I used a very pale pink combined with Kona snow. 1) I'm trying to sew only from my stash and I had a lot of pale pink (for reasons unknown to me) and 2) I didn't want the chain blocks overpowering the very pretty pieced blocks. I just wanted them to kind of whisper in the background.

I'm actually quite pleased with how it turned out. Mark's first comment was that it didn't look at all like my usual style, and I think I would agree with that. But I thoroughly enjoyed working with the Rosa collection by Crystal Manning and hope to find a good home for the finished quilt.

Until next week...

Really Random Thursday, 6/2/22

 Hello, June!

Another slow week, at the same time it seems like weeks are flying by.

I achieved a milestone finally had to take a COVID test. Unbelievably, since the beginning of the pandemic, I have never had to get tested. The result of being at home a lot, I suppose. One of the grandkids tested positive last week and I had spent a few hours together, so I waited five days and did the test on Sunday. And fortunately, said grandchild has felt relatively well.

I have done more reading in the month of May than I ever have in a single month.

I'm very sad to be caught up on the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths--I think the next volume drops at the end of this month. I have enjoyed it immensely and am now looking for another series to take its place. 

The Marriage Lie was very good, as is most anything by Lisa Jewell. Linda of @flourishingpalms recommended The Girl in the Mirror and I recommend it as well. Felicity of @felicityquilts recommended Twice Shy and it is a very easy to read book with an interesting story line. My two favorites of the month without a doubt were The Maid and Rock Paper Scissors, both mysteries. Rock Paper Scissors has a great twist toward the end and I would kind of like to re-read it. The two books that disappointed me were by authors of some of my favorite books--Jojo Moyes and Anne Rivers Siddons. I think these are each worth reading but they are not my favorites by these authors.

Speaking of books. One of my favorite activities is a trip to the bookstore with this one.

I saw these flowers the other day on my walk around the neighborhood. The scorching temperatures are right around the corner, but the one thing I love about Fresno is that something is always in bloom.

This mimosa tree is huge!

African daisy "whirligig"

Bougainvillea

Gladiolas are one of my favorite flowers.

Hibiscus

Iris dietes

And that is it for this week.