May 2010 be filled with blessings of good health, much happiness and wonderful friends.

New Sample Coming

Robin and I bought this fabric a while ago and then needed to figure out what to make with it. The fabric (the pink fabrics that is) is "Daisy Chain" by Amy Butler. The green polka dot I found in my own stash and I think it will be a great backing. Two Wacky Women cut most of their fabrics into one-yard cuts and we have a freebie pattern called "Simple Rails" that takes 3 one-yard cuts. You can usually get a scrappy binding out of the leftovers. I have it all cut and ready to go. It is a very simple and quick pattern. Now to devote some time to sewing it. I think it is going to be a sweet quilt; don't you?

Wacko Christmas Party

I am finally finding time to talk about my Friendship Group's (Wednesday Wackos) Christmas party. Every year we get together for a great evening of merriment. And this year was no different. We each bring a small gift for each other. I made these Moda Sugar Cube Pincushions http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/04/sugar-cube-pincushion.html. Here is a photo of a few of them. I made 11 in all (that includes one for me).

And the gift table.

Here we are sampling the wonderful pot luck of appetizers and desserts.

And here is all my wonderful gifts from my wonderful friends. I feel so blessed to be part of such a wonderful group of ladies.

Look What I Won

And while I am at it, I never got around to showing everyone this wonderful book I won from Jan Prytz http://prytzfamily.blogspot.com/ . I won this right before I left for my First-Friday-in-December trip. Then a mess of stuff delayed me from showing everyone this great hardback book. I still have not had a moment to start it; but, I am hopeful that will happen very soon. Thank you so much Jan. I am thrilled with the book.

It has been a while since I have posted anything. The reason is that my mom fell and broke her hip. It has proven to be a trial for me. It happened while I was gone on my annual trip to meet my good friend for the first Friday of December. We have been meeting on the first Friday of December for over 30 years. So while reveling in the joy of our once-a-year getaway, I found out Mom, who just turned 90, had fallen and was alone for a couple of hours until help arrived. Needless to say, it has been a whirlwind ever since. Mom is safely in a rehabilitation facility at present. And, she seems to be in good spirits. I try to take her some little something every day. Even if it is only the daily newspaper. I had decided not to set out any decoration this year, since everything was getting away from me. So it was such a joy when, a few days ago, I received the perfect pick-me-up from a lovely on-line friend in Australia. This little star ornament brightens a little spot in my family room. Thank you so much Naomi for adding a bit of joy at this time.

The Stockings Are Hung . . . .

Here is Noelle, full of wonderment. You know, the Noelle who is getting the "Grandma Loves Noelle" quilt. She lives in Florida, that's why she is in shorts and barefoot in December. My daughter sent me this picture from her cell phone to my cell phone. As a side note, I knitted all six of those stocking that are hanging with care. My knitting hand probably wouldn't let me do that today. Sadly, I have ruined it over the years. Don't you just think this is the cutest picture? I do.

I WON!

Today I have been working on the "Grandma Loves Noelle" quilt. While busily making decisions on sizes, and fabrics, and what not, my doorbell rang and there was Beth with a darling wrapped gift.





You see she had a blog give away for her 100th post. And I was the winner. It is this great handmade pincushion. Don't you think it is adorable? And, remember I recently found out that I collect pincushions. I have already put this on my shelf among the others. It looks so happy there. Go take a peak at Beth's blog. She is one busy lady. She manages to get an amazing amount of things done in a day. http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/
Thank you Beth.

Noelle's Quilt

I found this great fabric while on the recent shop hop. It was all cut for a kit. I think my youngest granddaughter will love it. I may or may not use the pattern in the kit. I have extra of the heart girls. It can go into the quilt or be a pillow case. I hope to start this over the weekend. What do you think? Perfect for a three year old who loves the color pink?

At the Shop Hop

Robin and my day at the Hop was great. How could it not be touching and feeling all that new fabric. We managed to fit in all nine stores, hitting the first store at 10:00 AM and the last store near 4:00 PM.




Here we are looking a little worse for the wear at the last shop.

I set out with a plan to purchase fabric with words. That was not as easy as I thought it might be. I did find a few, but not much. So plan two was Kaffe Faccet. I found

some at a few stores. But, surprisingly, not as many as I thought.

Good thing I had a third plan: spots. Everyone has spots and dots.

Here are all the fat quarters the shops gave us just for coming. All Christmas themed. I have packed them away labeled Holiday Shop Hop, 2009. Maybe I will get that quilt made next year.

Holiday Shop Hop

Tomorrow Robin and I are going on a Shop Hop, or Quilter's Run, or in this case it is called "Holiday Hop". Usually I try to have a plan before I set out to visit nine quilt stores in one day. I'm thinking about making a quilt using fabric with words. However, it may prove to be a challenge so I think I need a back-up plan. So I'm thinking that back up will be Kaffe Fassett.


















Oh what the heck, I better have a third option. How about spots? You can always find that. I'll let you know what I come up with on my next post. Wish me luck.

Billie Lauder

I have been working a lot on Two Wacky Women stuff lately. Some mailings, and cleaning out files. The usual things for this time of year. We are having our annual yard sale this Saturday in my driveway and backyard patio. Robin and I are ready to go shopping for new fabric and it is time to thin out this year's fabric to make room for the new fabric and supplies we have yet to discover. In addition, Robin and I are hosting three retreats next year and facilitating one. Our first retreat is January 22 -24, 2010 and we are so excited that Billie Lauder (that's Billie in the photo) will be our guest instructor. She has over 30 years of teaching us quilters and still has joy in doing so. Do you remember Simply Quilts? She was on that wonderful quilting show 17 times. Yes, 17 times. You know she must have a lot to share. At the Two Wacky Women retreat, she is going to focus on 5" charms, 10" squares and 2 1/2" jelly rolls. You can be sure she will have a few tricks up her sleeve. We have more about Billie and our retreats at http://www.twowackywomen.com/ We have a lot of fun at these retreats. After all, we are wacky.

Mom is Ninety

My mom turned 90 last week. I know this is a dark, dark picture; but, it is all I have of her birthday dinner. We dined at her favorite restaurant "The Reef" in downtown Long Beach. The view is spectacular. Happy 90th Mom!

I Love Pincushions

I have never been a collector (except for fabric that is). And, I don't know when it happened; but, the other day I was looking around my sewing room and realized that I must collect pincushions. They seemed to be peeking out from everywhere. Most are handmade. I know I have more tucked here and there. Some exist in my back room, that gets less and less use these days, and some live in my travel sewing totes. And each and every one has a story. I have decided that it is OK after all to have a collection and now that I know it, I intend to gleefully add to it. Gee, I wonder if I have other collections of which I am not aware?

Halloween

Halloween is a big deal around here. My next door neighbors really do it up I tell you. Those life-sized ghouls are animated. And when the night comes on October 31, the black lights and dry ice come out and the little darlings run screaming half the time. It is hard to see, but the car (hearse) has a life-size skeleton as the driver. We get over 200 children each year on this block and it really is fun. I never seem to figure out the candy right. Last year I had too much, and this year not enough.

Here are my grandchildren in Florida in their Halloween costumes. So precious, don't you think?

On to November now.

Making Dog Food

I make my dogs their dog food. It started years ago, long before the big dog food scare. So when that happened (my brother actually lost a dog from that) I had nothing to worry about. I started cooking dog food because our miniature poodle had digestive problems and the only way to fix it seemed to be to cook for him. At any rate, it worked and I have been cooking dog food for about seven years. I have three dogs and while they are all small dogs, it seems like I am always running low on dog food. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually eat healtier than me. Here are the ingredients I gather to start. Ground meat (some weeks it costs less to grind my own) brown rice, oatmeal, eggs, a variety of vegetables, and a doggie supplement to include calcium and other nutrients. This, by the way, is approved of by my vet and all the dogs are very healthy.

Once I cook the vegetables, I puree them, because the miniature poodle (Charlie) needs to have them disguised. I'm just making a giant meatloaf really. Like here.

As you can see, they seem to enjoy the results. That is the newest member of the family, the miniature schnauzer, Trudy and Charlie who is over 16 now and still loves to eat.

Gracie the 6 1/2 year old Poochon eats in another area, because she is the Queen. Did I mention I have very spoiled dogs?

Christmas in July in October?

Yesterday my friendship group (The Wednesday Wackos) celebrated Christmas in July that was going to be in September but was cancelled until October 28. I guess you can see why we are called Wackos. The packages wrapped in red was for my Wacko Sister, Pat Barton. We met at Robin's house and everyone brought an appetizer. Yum! Then we each took turns opening our packages that spelled out CHRISTMAS. Each gift was to represent a letter. Did I mention that we are called Wackos? So you can see where I am going with this, right? Let's just say, we are a creative bunch.

My CHRISTMAS gifts had a theme. And a perfect theme for me: Doggies. It may be hard to see, but that little grey guy sitting in the basket is a schnauzer. And, I got schnauzer sock slippers that are soooo cute. All three of my doggies got halloween neckerchiefs. My Wacko Sister, made me two wonderful hotpads and a table topper with, you guessed it, doggies on them. Thank you Pat Morrison for drawing my name.

Here we all are. The Wednesday Wackos, a great friendship group who have been sewing, knitting, quilting, and playing together since 2002.

Tea and Auction

The Orange Grove Quilter's Guild held their Tea and Auction today. And, it was a wonderful event. They had 87 quilts to auction (Lyn Mann was the auctioneer and a very good one at that), numerous baskets for rafle (yours truly won one) and a very tasteful guild boutique (I think some of it may have found its way home with me). In addition to the fun of out bidding each other for your favorite quilt, the "Tea" part of it was very nice: great small sandwiches, scones, and many small bite-size desserts. I didn't get an opportunity to bid because I worked in the pick up room and helped collect payments for the quilts. It sure seemed like a successful day for the guild to me.

Raffle basket tables

Getting ready for the auction.

Thanks for visiting. Hope to see you soon.

Marilyn

Lunch Outings

I have been slack about posting mostly because what I am sewing I don't want to share at the moment. I need another week before I can put up some pictures. However, in between sewing and other quilty business, I have had a few nice outings.

One was with an internet friend. I got to meet Barbara (AKA B2) and her husband Mike. Barbara and Mike live in Oregon and were traveling the West with there cat Trooper. I didn't get a picture. I forgot my camera and I didn't even think about my phone having a camera. So, I probably should not even mention the great lunch we all had at Ester's Taco House in Placentia.
http://estherstacos.com/home.htm Trust me, it was nice meeting my internet pal, who is a lovely lady. Of course we also stopped in at Quilter's Garden that is across the drive from Esters. I think we helped the economy a little.

I did remember that I had my cell phone with me when my good friend and neighbor, Dee, and I celebrated her birthday yesterday. We went to Da Vinci's Restorante in Long Beach. http://www.davincilb.com/ Da Vinci's is located next to the Long Beach Airport and has a great view, especially at night. Take a look at our lunch. Let's see, Dee had a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich and I had a Portabella Mushroom Sandwich. So Yummy! We took half home so we could justify that great dessert.

Today I met another internet pal, Cynthia and her husband Raymond. They are here from Arkansas, visiting her family. They are travelling with their two dogs whose names escape me. Cyn and Raymond are leaving California tomorrow. That meant today was the only day left to fit in a lunch at a quaint, and busy, Chinese Restaurant. We also were managed a visit to Quilter's Garden and again added to the economy. Cyn and Raymond are a great couple and I felt I knew her forever. You can see why I hate to have my picture taken. I look like a deer in headlights.

The world is so much smaller these days with the internet and the groups you form on Yahoo. I have been able to meet several of my CRAFT friends from all over the world. Very special indeed.

Thanks for stopping in. See you here next week.

Marilyn

Quilter's By the Sea

Last night was our local quilt guild meeting in Long Beach http://www.quiltersbythesea.com/ . We were most fortunate to have Velda Newman http://www.veldanewman.com/gallery.html

as our guest speaker. And just look at these quilts. She is amazing. Her work, her art, is a combination of piecing, painting, bleaching, and quilting, some by hand and some by machine. She first shared her journey with a slide show. As you can see, her pieces are very large and the slide show worked very well in this instance. Then she shared four of her quilts so we could view them up close and personal. Special thanks go to Susan Contreras, our Programs Chair, for bringing Velda to our guild so we could all witness this exceptional talent.

Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of the quilt I am making. I put a dent in it today; but, still have a ways to go. Had to stop when the room got too hot. I am using 10 fat quarters and a solid green sashing. Usually, I am not fond of solid colors unless it is kona black. However, in this case, it is working for me.

By the way, never turn you back on a 14 week-old puppy. I have decided that is probably about the terrible two's in human years. How can a small puppy reach up and pull a drying blouse off the door and break the hanger? Not to mention pulling blocks off the design wall. And, doesn't she look innocent? Oh, what are a few Trudy bite marks in a quilt? After all it is going to family. Besides, she is somewhat forgiven today because she let me sleep until 7:00 AM. And that is a good thing.

Newest Project

This is my newest project. It's going to be a quilt. I'm still not sure which pattern I will use, or if I will even use all of these fabrics. Who knows, I might end up with couple more. I actually went back to the store and bought more of the bottom fabric, just in case. Good I went, I had to buy the rest of the bolt. Honestly, they didn't have that much. The fat quarters are Amy Butler. My daughter loves her fabrics. What do you think?

Healing Heart Quilt

I belong to a wonderful Yahoo Group called C-R-A-F-T. We have become a group of friends who happen to live, quite literally, all over the world. We have been through, birthdays, weddings, births, successes, sorrows,and funerals. And from time to time someone in the group just needs a hug. That is when a healing heart quilt is perfect. Recently one of our friends, Kath, has been going through a bit of a rough spell. She is on the mend right now; but, she needed some hugs. These hearts were collected and assembled into a quilt. Just look at all those hugs. Kath has it now and I understand she is wrapping herself with our great big group hug. We love you Kath.

Three Little Dresses

Remember that fabric for dresses I bought a while back? Here is the outcome: three little dresses. I thought I had broken my sewing machine for a bit. But, in the end it just needed a reset. I found that out by accident when I turned it back on after being off all night. They are finding their way to Florida at this very moment. I wonder if I'll get pictures of the dresses being modeled? I hope so.

I Won!

Can you believe it? I won a give away from Melissa at http://ardeasnest.blogspot.com/ She held a give away and Sharon in New Zealand and I both won. Thanks so much Melissa. This is very fun, and the very first time I have ever signed up for a give away. Guess I need to sign up for a few more don't you think? Just look at those cute socks. It is hard to see; but, there is some fun yarn back there. Some silk ribbon, beads, beaded ribbon, note pad and a cute lingerie bag. Go take a look at Melissa's great blog and see all the wonderful things she is up to. Enjoy, Marilyn

LLB Bag

Robin recently created this pattern and I volunteered to be a pattern tester. This way I get a really cute bag right away. It is a fun pattern to make. I only used three fat quarters and still had some leftovers. I am using this bag as a thank you gift. I guess I will need to work on another one right away. Stay tuned for the published pattern, which will be soon. Naturally it will be found at our web site: http://www.twowackywomen.com/ Happy sewing.