Friday, February 9, 2018

Friday Finish: Alice's Swedish Ex (Part 2) and a Little Real Love

Alice's Swedish Ex likes the water. First she had a photo shoot at Huntington Lake, and this past weekend she went to the coast. Her "siblings" have already been there, so it was only fitting.

It was a little too sunny. So we came back later.
 My Swedish Ex was the first to be photographed here.
Next was My Bohemian Ex.
And finally, Alice's Swedish Ex.
Like any quilt mother, I can't choose a favorite.

And then sometimes it's really more about catching that perfect breaking wave in the background. Which always breaks immediately after you have given up...
 Look how clear the water is!
 You remember this sweet little note?
It had to be preserved, so I enlarged it, embroidered it and turned it into this pillow. I think Gabe's clever design needs to be copyrighted.

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict and TGIFF.TGIFF Happy weekend, everyone.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Really Random Thursday, 2/8/18

Mark and I went to Carmel, one of our favorite spots on the California coast. Last year, we chose Super Bowl weekend. It turned out to be a great time as the town was basically deserted. So we decided to do that again this year. It will all change this weekend, as the Pebble Beach golf tournament is in town.

We stayed at a charming hotel (because they were running a "stay two nights, get one night free" special). It had a European feel to it. This was the view from our room. There were appetizers and wine in the afternoon, and a very nice breakfast each morning.

Why are the W and E upside down?
Before the game on Sunday, we wandered around town. There is a very nice little park, and newlyweds had the tripod set up and were staging their own pictures.


Each day we had a meal at our favorite restaurant, A.W. Shucks. We always sit at the little bar, and now the cooks know us. Shucking those oysters is no easy job.
Something neither of us would ever try--the oyster shooter. Tequila, cocktail sauce, horseradish, oyster and salsa. Nope...
On Monday, we drove to Pacific Grove and I took some pictures of a quilt, "Alice's Swedish Ex." Come back tomorrow for lots more pictures. For once, Mark didn't have to hold up the quilt. So he took pictures of me instead.

Tuesday morning, we had coffee at our favorite local coffee house. Perfect blue sky.
And a funny mug.
We stopped for lunch on the way home. It was perfect weather for eating outside, especially with this view of the hills.
While we were gone, we had a tree in our backyard removed. The grandkids will miss climbing on that one. So the backyard went from this...
...to this. But we will undoubtedly have better luck growing things now that there will be more sun.
A random cute picture.
And a random funny sign.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Really Random Thursday, 2/1/18

I'm done...

...collecting, that is.

For over 20 years, I have been collecting Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts. I'm not sure how the collection really began. I guess I just noticed that there were several in my drawer and then the quest to collect as many as possible and make a quilt became a goal.

My collection parameters were simple--either I had to obtain the shirt myself, or some I knew got it for me. Ebay was not allowed. Also, I would pay for the cost of the shirt and document those that came from other people with their names and date.

I now have so many shirts. There had to be an end point. Boston was on my list for the longest time. I decided that when I finally got a shirt from Boston, collecting would come to an end.

That happened in November when Cathy and Terry were in the Boston area to visit their son and daughter-in-law.
I have more than enough for a two-sided quilt. A very LARGE quilt. Most of them are the classic style, and I will be trimming them tightly around the logo. It was such fun to go through the shirts I have. All 82 of them! I actually have a few more, but some are duplicates.
I have a shirt from the original Hard Rock--London. And the first in the U.S.--Los Angeles. Christa got several major European cites when she spent a semester in England. Jill got a couple from Spain. And Aaron picked up quite a few when he went on his baseball trip the summer after his sophomore year in college. Friends from social media have graciously added to the collection as well.

There are a couple of counterfeit shirts, such as this one.
A couple are from places that are no longer open, such as Vancouver.

My parents bought New Orleans days before it was destroyed by Katrina.
This shirt from Atlanta was purchased during the Olympics.
While in Hawaii on a cruise, Mark and I took a really long bus ride during rush hour to buy the shirt from Maui. We made it back to the ship with very little time to spare.
There are a couple of fancy ones to add some extra interest. Janice bought this orange shirt because she knows I love orange.
My sister-in-law sent this blingy one from Bucharest.
The father of a good friend occasionally goes to Cairo on business.
This shirt from Sydney is a fun one too--the logo looks like leather.
This is my very favorite, from Katy of The Littlest Thistle. She went with the "Live a Colorful Life" theme--perfect.
The complete list is pretty interesting:
Amsterdam, Anchorage, Aruba, Athens, Atlanta, Baltimore, Bangkok, Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Boston, Bucharest, Budapest, Cabo San Lucas, Cairo, Calgary, Cancun, Cartagena, Chicago, Cleveland, Cologne, Copenhagen, Cozumel, Dallas, Denver, Destin, Dublin, Edinburgh, Gatlinburg, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Hollywood, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Jamaica, Jerusalem, Key West, Kuala Lumpur, Lake Tahoe, La Jolla, Las Vegas, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Louisville, Madrid, Malta, Manchester, Maui, Melaka, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, Montreal, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Niagara Falls--NY, Orlando, Oslo, Panama, Paris, Penang, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Rome, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Sydney, Taipei, Tampa, Toronto, Tokyo, Vancouver, Venice, Washington, DC.

To all who have contributed to this collection, thank you! It's going to be such a fun quilt. And also...the most expensive quilt ever.

In other interesting news...my hairdresser's name is Lori. Her boyfriend, Ernie, is in a band (Body Count) that was nominated for a Grammy in the heavy metal genre. Here she is looking stunning--she is the one in the middle.
I've never known anyone on the red carpet. Another interesting fact--Ice T is in the band. So if you are a fan of Law and Order, and also a fan of the "six degrees of separation" phenomenon, I am actually only two degrees of separation from Ice T. Weird, huh?

I have done virtually nothing the entire month of January. Some minor decluttering--mostly to make me feel like I was doing something while at the same time avoiding more important things. I did get Ruby's tooth fairy pillow completed just under the deadline for the end of the month. She wanted a unicorn--it turned out pretty cute.
So these two 6-year-olds each have their pillow ready for the next tooth to fall out.
Honestly, "decline" pretty much sums things up sewing-wise for the month of January. I hope I'll actually accept calls starting this month.