Friday, August 31, 2012

Top Ten!

 Well, this has never happened to me before. I submitted my Texting While Sewing block, and it made the Top Ten!
There is a lot of stiff competition but I'm thrilled to have made it this far!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Really Random Thursday, 8/30/12


Last Thursday was Mark's birthday. Levi and I had a "Levi and Grandma date" in the morning. The first thing we did was stop at the grocery store to buy a balloon to take to Grandpa's office. The assortment of balloons all ready to buy was quite sparse. We asked for help. We wanted a balloon that said "happy birthday," not "I'm sorry.."or  "first birthday," etc. The clerk told us they had no helium as there was a "helium shortage." Huh?

We looked at all the available balloons, and we ended up with this one. Go Dodgers!

Incidentally, these two quilts are on the wall in Mark's office. They have been there forever. I think he needs to redecorate. I wonder if he knows anyone who could help him out with that...

(really bad picture--taken on the run as the 4-year-old was ready to leave...)

This picture was taken by my good friend, an excellent photographer. I just love the contrast of the flower on the worn gardening glove. 
Our son, Aaron, is an optometrist.  He also loves sports. The eye group where he works is now the official vision care provider for Fresno State University athletes. So last week he was testing the vision of the football players. Someone snapped this pic, so many thanks to that person. We are so proud of him.
 And I feel like I can safely brag about him here because he doesn't usually read my blog anyway. If this were a blog about, oh, the obsessive study of athletics aesthetics or something like that, I'm sure he would be an avid follower. Oh wait. There is a blog about that. And he reads it every day--and has even been quoted in it.

Speaking of quotes, last week after we left Grandpa's office, Levi and I made a stop at Barnes and Noble for a little snack.
After a few bites, he stopped and said, "Grandma, if you drink water through your nose, does it taste like boogers?"

I have no answer for that.

Had any random questions in the last week? Seen any funny signs? Please share!






Monday, August 27, 2012

Texting While Sewing

 Amy from During Quiet Time is one of my favorite blogging friends. She is uber-creative! So when she came up with this contest called "Texting While Sewing," I really wanted to enter. It just involved a 12-inch block. How hard could it be?

I thought and thought, waiting for inspiration to strike. Nothing.

I drummed my fingers on my cutting table. Nothing. And then I had a lightbulb moment when I looked at my bags (and bags....) of selvages. Texting. I was inspired to make a little texting conversation between "me and my sister." Here is their conversation on the iPad. Feel free to do a little eavesdropping.
The entries have starting coming in, and will continue through Wednesday. There are lots of fun and creative entries.

Whatever the outcome, I had the best time making this block. It would make a great cover for my iPad, don't you think?

The Name Game: The Girl Who Quilts

Today I'm so happy to have Nikki here, from The Girl Who Quilts. I have been a fan of Nikki's for quite a while. When I first started following her, she was living in Seattle. Now she lives all the way across the country, in upstate New York. When I sent her the questions for The Name Game, I told her to choose 8 to 10 pictures. Then she apologized because she had sent me 11. No problem, I said, the more pictures the better. So while I was grabbing her blog header, I chose a few more pictures to add to this post. Hope that's okay, Nikki, but that's just big a fan I am! So you have been warned--this is a picture-heavy post. And you will not be sorry!

How did you choose the name for your blog? 
When I first started my blog I wanted to name my blog QuiltyGirl, which is my email address. Unfortunately the name was already taken! I started to brainstorm other ideas that would go well with QuiltyGirl, which led me to "The Girl Who Quilts". I started quilting right after college, when I was just 22. That used to be considered quite young in the quilting world, so using the term "girl" seemed to fit!
Were there other names you considered, and can you share any of them with us?
I honestly don't remember if I came up with any other options! I've always struggled with coming up with creative names, so when I thought of "The Girl Who Quilts" I ran with it.
Isn't the orange zipper the absolute best detail?!
Now that you are recognized by The Girl Who Quilts, are you happy with it, or do you wish you could change it to something else?
Now that I've been blogging for awhile (and, ahem, getting older!), I do sometimes wish I had chosen a different name. I've also been thinking more about selling my quilts, and I think a sleeker name might work better.
 Here is that dreamy orange color again...
 I may decide to just change the name of my etsy shop, rather than a complete overhaul. But first I have to think up something new that I like!
Be sure to head over to Nikki's blog to say hi. Plan on spending LOTS of time looking around. I could have kept adding pictures here but you really need to go check her out for yourself.

Thanks, Nikki, for playing The Name Game this week!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Really Random Thursday, 8/23/12

Mark and I spent the weekend on the central coast of California, at our favorite spot. Unbeatable view of the ocean. When it is unbearably hot in the valley, having cool temperatures and overcast skies is simply heaven.
Mark is trying to get in shape for his upcoming season as a football ref, so we walked on the beach quite a bit. Our hotel has beach access, by way of 109 steps. Easy going down, not as easy coming back up. There were shark warnings, and all the surfers moved pretty close to the shore. But even so, we were able to see a group of four to six sharks on both Saturday and Sunday morning.
Remember when our neighbor's lawn guy used a riding lawnmower on her postage stamp-sized yard?
It would have been more appropriate for these guys to have a riding lawnmower...
We went to one of our favorite restaurants and just as we sat down, our waitress hesitantly said, "Mark???...." Turns out she used to work at a little lunch place across the street from Mark's office, where he used to have lunch quite often. Even though she has been away from Fresno for about seven years, she still recognized him.
Down the street the Pismo Brewery was having a boobie-que to raise money.
We drove into San Luis Obispo and decided to visit the famous Bubblegum Alley. It's gross.
And all that chewed gum smells funny.
Yet it is a famous, or infamous, landmark.

While I was playing Words with Friends, I had the letters to spell our last name. Words with Friends was not amused.
Today is Mark's birthday. And nothing makes him happier than spending time with his family. Happy birthday! And there's nothing random about that!
(year-old picture--these two have sure changed in the last year...)
What's been going on with you? Do tell.








Tuesday, August 21, 2012

WIP Wednesday


First of all, I just want to thank Lee for hosting WIP Wednesday each week and say that she has had a well-deserved break during the summer. After guest hosting last week, I realized what an amazing amount of time she puts into being the host here every week. I tried to comment on as many links as I could, and I saw some incredible work and gained much inspiration. Thank to everyone who linked up. I had a great time visiting so many wonderful artists.

Not much to report this week. We were at the coast for the weekend and I had intended to get a lot of sewing done. But got kind of distracted by the view.
I finished one more Kaffe'-O-Lait block.
And started a wedding quilt for this adorable couple.

I'm using "Indie" by Art Gallery Fabrics. It is just beautiful fabric and I'm hoping this quilt has kind of an Anthropologie feel for these very hip newlyweds.
The time-consuming part is done. I'm just waiting for fabric to arrive for the sashing and border.

And the mail brought surprises. When I sent some extra Denyse Schmidt fabric to Hadley, I wasn't expecting to get this in the mail! Isn't it awesome? She knows how much I love orange...
And I did a fabric exchange with Petra. Well, actually she put out a call on Flickr for some Heather Bailey fabric and I happened to have a little of the whole line she was looking for. When she asked what I wanted to swap in return, I told her "nothing." I mean, I'm trying to lessen the amount of fabric I have, not add more to it! But when she said that didn't seem quite right, I said, "Okay, how about some of Amy Butler's first lines?"

Wow!
I didn't have any of these. Thanks, Petra!! I'll put it to good use in a future WIP!

I'm off to see what everyone has been working on in the past week.