Friday, March 31, 2023

Catch-Up Friday

 I have not felt like sitting down at the computer since the beginning of the month, but wanted to catch up on the month of March.

Our friend, newscaster Gia Vang, who is now an anchor in Oakland, went back to Minneapolis where she did the morning about three years, for an event. She saw this and thought of me, which made me super happy. :)

We went to Charlotte's play for a second time and it was even better than the first time. So much fun.

Haha. Just when I was thinking of  thoroughly cleaning the house...
We had planned on spending a weekend in Pismo Beach. But then there was so much rain and we knew we would just be stuck in the room. The view would have been lovely but no walking on the beach. So we canceled. 

Instead, we opted for a staycation. And just because we were feeling clever, we ate dinner at Pismo's Bar and Grill one evening. We sat next to this photo of the Pismo Pier from the 1940s.

One afternoon we drove in the foothills. Beautiful, lush green. Soon they will be dry and brown.

Mark's cousin Ione, her husband Doug and daughter Karen are on a five-week road trip and were close enough to have lunch with us. So good to see them. Ione used to do all the long arm quilting for my MCC quilt donations and did such a beautiful job. I miss tag-teaming with her.
My friend, Janice, and I drove to Reedley to see the new MCC Global Center, which used to be the home of a really great quilt store. A quilt I designed and made, Valley Star, is hanging on one of the walls. 
There is a really comfortable seating area. If we had had more time, we would have relaxed with a cup of coffee here.
I love these little daisies, seen on one of my walks. The underside of the petals is purple. 
We were able to attend a concert at the new Warkentine Culture and Arts Center at Fresno Pacific University. The featured musician was Eugene Friesen, a four-time Grammy award winning cellist and brother of a good friend of ours. 
Two nights later, the choir from Tabor College (Hillsboro, Kansas), where Mark and I met, had a concert at our church. We had volunteered to house two choir members overnight, and one of them turned out to come from the small town in western Kansas where we lived for the first five years of our marriage. It was fun chatting about people we knew in common.

My good friend, Marilyn, has just turned 80 and her daughters held a lovely birthday brunch in her honor. She does not look her age, that's for sure. She is such a fun friend to have, as well as sharing a common love of quilting.
Our yard is so pretty this time of year. 

And finally, yesterday I had to say goodbye to Ruth Ann. She and her husband have been here from Ohio since January, visiting their son and family. We have tried to walk together twice a week, although we were often thwarted by rain. We always took time for coffee too. I'm sure going to miss her. 
And that's it for March. For those of you who come here to read about quilting and/or reading, I've done quite a bit of both in March, but that's a post for another day. Stay tuned.

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Really Random Thursday, 3/9/23

 On Thursday night, Mark and I went to a venue downtown because several Fresno Unified art classes had an art display, including fifth grade classes from the elementary school that Gabe and Ruby attend. 

The art was very well displayed. We just missed Gabe and the family, but we were able to talk to the art teacher as well and learn a little more about the technique. 


Ruby's art work:

On Friday night, we attended the high school musical that Charlotte has spent countless hours working on since Christmas. This time, instead of having one of the acting parts, she worked behind the scenes as assistant stage manager, and said she loved that position.
The musical was Something Rotten, set during the Renaissance. It was a really funny play and the singing and acting was really very good. I plan on seeing it one more time.

This was out in the lobby. Haha...


Being a huge Pickles fan, these are too funny and need to be shared.

And that's about it...

Thursday, March 2, 2023

Firm Foundation

 Quite a few years ago, I found an Etsy seller, Fancy That Designs, who had designed tea towels with words from old familiar hymns as the design. I always meant to start collecting them with the goal of making a quilt. But it never happened. 

Then she was signed by a fabric company for a new fabric line, and Songbook was created. I bought a fat quarter bundle of the entire line and a panel that including the hymn designs, similar to the tea towels. 

I came across the pattern called Firm Foundation by Anna of My Wandering Path, which used the panels and fabric from the line. You can see more great photos and read the story behind the quilt design here.

While I didn't take any photos during the construction phase, we took the quilt out for some photos. It was Mark's idea to go to First Congregational Church, or Big Red Church as it is lovingly called. It was the perfect rusty red for the background. And I had forgotten about the beautiful green arch over the front door--also the perfect sage green.




The backing fabric is from the second Songbook fabric line, Songbook: A New Page, which has snippets of lines from many different hymns. 

I chose a Baptist fan design for the quilting.
It has been donated for charity auction in April to benefit MCC  Third World relief.

Name: Firm Foundation
Design by: Anna of My Wandering Path
Made by: Cindy Wiens
Quilted by: Darby Myers
Size: 68" x 89"
Completed: February 2023

Really Random Thursday, 3/2/23

 

It seems like February just flew by, but then I also realize that half of the month was consumed with my father passing away. 

So...here we are in March, and although there isn't much, I will catch up with the second half of February.

One evening in February, Christa went to a painting party at church. Aaron and the boys were spending the weekend in Joshua Tree, and Charlotte had other plans. So Ella and I had our own painting party. I got out a watercolor set and we had a good time. I really like her improv painting. 

My neighbor brought over some daffodils, as she does every year. 
As it was just the two of us, Mark and I decided to get our Superbowl Party food from KFC. We completed the feast with potato chips and Girl Scout cookies. Who even attempts to be healthy on Superbowl Sunday??
I just don't feel like this is a very good idea...
Pretty flower from friends, in honor of my dad.

Books I read/listened to in February. I was much happier with February's selections than most of January's books. I really enjoyed The Bodyguard, a fun and easy read about a female bodyguard in charge of guarding a famous actor. Louise Penny books never disappoint, and A World of Curiosities was so good. I'm often tempted to start the series from the beginning and read all of her books again. Bleeding Heart Yard is third in a fairly new series by Elly Griffiths, and I'm enjoying this series nearly as much as her Ruth Galloway series.  My two favorites for the month were Maame and Small Great Things, and I highly recommend each of them. 


I'm trying to remember this advice (although I kinda do still care about wrinkles and gray hair...).