Thursday, March 26, 2015

Really Random Thursday, 3/26/15

Apparently I'm still not quite back in the swing of Really Random Thursday posts. But Thursday isn't over so I guess it still counts.

I'm doing a DIY project. Right now it looks like this.
Hopefully it will look like this eventually.
Our grandson, Levi, had a birthday party at a local park the other day. It turns out that the local police department was also have something at the park, including bomb squad equipment. Charlotte and I got to side inside the big bomb squad hummer:
They were also giving free hamburger coupons to kids who sat on the police motorcycles.
"How do I turn this thing on?"
"I think I found the right button...."
A few years back I had surgery and couldn't raise my arms. Mark did my hair each morning for two weeks. I called him "Marco." I mentioned that to Charlotte one time, so the other night we were babysitting and after her shower she requested that Marco comb the tangles out of her hair. He hasn't lost his touch.
Mark's parents used to collect mugs from a pottery company called Frankoma. His mother had a complete set of dishes from them that she loved. Starting in 1968, they made collectible mugs, first only the GOP, and then about five years later added the Democrats. Every year they would use a different glaze. It was a colorful collection and I remember it being displayed on top of their china hutch. At some point, we became owners of the collection, but they were stored in our friends' barn in Minnesota. Until last week. 
There are about 45 of them. Not quite sure what we will do with them.

Following the fabulous tutorial by Crazy Mom Quilts, I did my first quilt binding by machine. I am pretty pleased with it.
This is how my design wall looks today.
When I was searching for pictures to put in this post, I came upon this one, written by Charlotte after our stay at a rented beach house in January. It makes me happy.
Anything random happening with you?



Thursday, March 19, 2015

Really Random Thursday, 3/19/15

I'm trying to observe once again the random things that are all around. For awhile, it seemed like there was nothing to write about so this weekly series came to a screeching halt. I think I just wasn't paying attention...

Three things to do with an old trombone:
 Seen in Austin--hung above a bar
Seen in my backyard--Mark turned a trombone into a water fountain
Seen in my sewing room--Mark's high school trombone

While part of the country is buried under snow, here in California we are undergoing a severe drought. So sometimes I just drive through the carwash and pretend I'm in a rainstorm.
Our granddaughter has been taking piano lessons from my mother. My mother will be 87 in May and still has at least ten students! She has been teaching for over fifty years and is an amazing teacher. I think it is a wonderful experience for my mother to be teaching two of her great-grandchildren, and something special they will always remember. Charlotte was in a yearly piano festival last week and earned an Excellent rating, just one run below the highest rating of Superior. We are all so proud of her. That's what happens when you have a great teacher.
I think 2015 is the year I'm going to actually finish stacks of quilts. In a way it kind of makes me nervous--like will my life come to an end in the event that I'm all caught up with quilt tops that have been languishing in stacks for years? Not taking any chances--so I just keep starting new projects. Just to be safe.
Just waiting for the binding to be stitched down

Sometimes on Wednesday I get the pleasure of spending the morning with this one. My daughter-in-law has been dropping him off at the church during the time the church quilting group is having snack time. He looks forward to it, and I think some of the ladies have a little crush on him. Really, how could you not fall in love with this face?
One of the next quilts on my "must finish" list is his animal quilt. He was giving it a test run on the floor of my sewing room.
Love the mis-matched socks...

 Do you ever feel like this?
After Bree from My Crafty Crap posted something on Instagram and there were some positive responses, I think the Name Game series will be resurrected (you can find all the archived posts in the tab above). I'll be sending email invites to those who have expressed interest in sharing.
And this just made me laugh.
Anything random happening in your life?



Thursday, March 5, 2015

Really Random Thursday, 3/5/15

Does anyone even remember when I used to post random stuff weekly? What happened to all that random stuff? Wish I knew. I also feel like I have forgotten how to even write a blog post.

It's been a long time since I have been on a plane with a propeller. But this is how my trip to Austin and QuiltCon began.
Doesn't everyone need a picture taken on a bucking sewing machine? It didn't actually do any bucking, but anyway--yee haw!!
 

There are lots of posts about QuiltCon--pictures of quilts, pictures of people.So I will just post a couple.

I had the best roommate--Anne from Springleaf Studios, standing in front of her quilt. I hope I can talk her into coming to QuiltCon Pasadena next February!
Sharing meals with friends was great, going from 2D (as Elizabeth likes to call them), in other words, people on the other side of a screen, to 3D status, friends with a real connection and shared experiences.

Why didn't I take a picture of corndog-style jumbo shrimp and grits? Yum. I sure didn't forget to document the desserts, though!
 I attended some interesting lectures and took a great class by Cristy Fincher--paperless paper piecing, a very interesting technique.

To see quilts close up rather than on a computer screen or iPhone was amazing. This got my vote for Viewer's Choice, The White Rainbow, by Shruti Dandekar


In keeping with the random nature of this post, here is a random sighting of the only quilt I submitted for the show, which was rejected. There were many fabulous quilts that were rejected so I really wasn't surprised or disappointed. It was part of the Michael Miller challenge, which involved a stack of cotton couture pastels. Pastels alone just don't excite me much, so Elizabeth graciously contributed some darker cotton couture colors for contrast.
 
It was quilted with white thread, with random lines of color here and there, so subtle that you have to look closely to even notice them.

To keep it edgy, raw edges of the pieced squares, which normally would have been the "wrong" side,  became the "right" side of the quilt. So I named it "Exposed."
And that's it for this week. I would love to start blogging more regularly. I clearly need to dust off my writing skills...