Really Random Thursday, 3/14/19

The post this week will basically be a photo dump from my iPhone, in order of how they appeared in the photostream. Bear with me.

Mark is doing a presentation to the Primetimers group at our church tomorrow night. It will be all about his fused glass journey. He's been working very hard on the presentation and I'm proud that he gets to show his creative side.

A picture of my Aunt Rubena and my dad (in my dad's room). Don't they look excited?  The conversation is obviously very interesting.

Aaron returned from a medical missions trip to Jamaica a couple of weeks ago. My cousin, Cathy, had been the contact person who connected him with the leaders of the trip. Cathy received this picture of Aaron with her friend, along with a note that Aaron had really been a blessing. I'm so proud of the work he does and his willingness to provide eye exams to those without ready access to eye care.

Aaron has also taken on another interesting endeavor. He watched a documentary about a person in New York who decided to walk every street in every borough. So...he decided to do the same thing here in Fresno. You can follow his journey on instagram here: @walkeverystreetfresno.

I made a couple of cute house blocks for my friend, Elizabeth--her original pattern. It is going to be a super cute quilt.

It could happen...

This came in the mail the other day from my friend, Terri. The white chocolate bar didn't last long. I'm a Rifle Paper fan so the pen and notes are very appreciated, as is the cute gold zipper pouch and the love notes that were included. Thanks, Terri!

It's that time of year again. Play ball!

Photo by: Christa Wiens

Photo by: Christa Wiens

My friend, Diane, posted a picture of a bag she had made using Outside Oslo fabric by Jessica Jones. Which reminded me of the infamous Weekender bag by Amy Butler that I made quite a few years ago. Look at my cute model. She is now in 7th grade.

The bag turned out quite well, and I loved the fabric. But I had the worst time making it so the bag and I were never friends. So when Stacie asked if she could borrow it for a weekend, I told her to just keep it. Honestly, though, absence has made the heart grow a little fonder, and I think the bag and I could find a way back to friendship. But it's in a good home. Maybe I'll have to borrow it for a weekend...

I've been sporadically posting on #IGquiltfest through @amyscreative side. The other day the prompt was "favorite color." Any guesses?

Interesting...

If I ever approach you with this idea: "Hey, let's do a private swap," your immediate response should be "no!" Lucy (Charm About You) was suckered into doing one with me. I received the cutest needle book from her (you can find her Stitchy Pie pattern here), probably at least a year ago. I just put her pincushion in the mail on Tuesday, but there might be some extra goodies in the box, you know, to make her forget how long she has been waiting!

My favorite thing to do with selvages is customize. This "charming" pincushion makes me long for the days when I sold pincushions on Etsy. So I've spent the last couple of days customizing about ten other pincushions. So.Much.FUN!!! And it validates the whole reason I sort my selvages by theme. 

My sewing room is a mess and selvages are everywhere! So of course I need to eat a piece of Dove chocolate and remind myself of my new mantra:

 But it also means this:

Really Random Thursday, 3/7/19

Welcome to March! It's been a great week. Thursday morning, I headed up to Bass Lake, a little over an hour from Fresno, to spend the weekend sewing with friends. Since my diagnosis in November, I have done virtually zero sewing, so I was really looking forward to it, as well as spending time with friends in a beautiful place.

Mark got the car all loaded up for me.

Our friend, Marilyn, has an absolutely gorgeous cabin, with a perfect view of the lake. It could not have been a more perfect place for a retreat.

There were seven of us altogether. Marilyn, who generously let us use her cabin.

Dotty...

Dotty's sister, Nancy was there on Thursday and part of Friday, and sadly we neglected to get her picture.

Barb...

Vicki...

Jennifer...

and me...

I spent the weekend working on heart blocks (until I ran out of background fabric) and then switched over to these super cute friendly little ghost blocks (both patterns are by Then Came June/Pen and Paper). I have just started feeling back to having nearly normal energy, although by Saturday afternoon I kind of hit a wall and had to take a nap.

For some reason, Jennifer thought it would be fun to style my hair a couple of mornings. I need someone who shows up at my house every morning to do my hair--my least favorite part of getting ready in the morning.

Dotty finished this great t-shirt quilt.

And Marilyn finished this cute fish bowl quilt.

This was on the wrapper of a Dove chocolate. Very true.

Saturday was Marilyn's birthday, and of course we celebrated. Although she gave us a bad time as it took us till mid morning to realize it was her birthday. And we couldn't figure out why her phone kept pinging and pinging...and pinging.. All of her other friends and family wishing her happy birthday. She couldn't figure out what took US so long!!

We had SO much rain during the time we were there. Sunday morning, these men braved the rain to catch some fish.

I wish I could have stopped to get a better picture of all the water running in this stream.

There was a lovely bouquet of flowers greeting me when I returned home.

Haha, number 1.

Monday, we took the kids to the movies (the new LEGO movie), and then they stayed for dinner, made by Charlotte and Mark.

This Facebook memory popped up in my feed on Monday.

And this is what he looks like now. #theygrowtoofast

Monday was such a beautiful day. The snow-capped mountains were splendid, and the trees are blossoming.

 The Fresno version of "snow."

Mark's friend posted this on Facebook, and since I started out as a music major in college, I thought it was pretty clever.

The Micah project (a leadership program through our church) interns came over for dinner Tuesday night. It was fun getting to know this year's group.

My hairdresser gave me let me talk her into giving me this spray bottle. A fun addition to my ironing board, although I don't think I have ever had a sip of whiskey.

Charlotte's 7th grade basketball team finished their season nearly undefeated (they only lost one game).

I was so sorry to miss the game (dental appointment), but Mark was there to proudly capture the final win. So proud of this girl, who loves basketball.

And finally, a good reminder.

Hope your weekend is a good one.