Oh the joys of the almost-two-year old--this, via email from Mr. B's mommy this morning. She said he was hating his costume for some reason, even though he loves Batman.
She finally got him into the costume, but not happily as you can see. Hopefully, tonight when he sees Dad dressed up as Robin and Mom as Catwoman, he'll chill out, but maybe not.
Me, I'm considering calling Child Protective Services on my daughter for abusing this sweet child.
Now here's a meme I can get into!
Thanks to Nancy, NP for sharing this one.
I've been quilting for 32 years and now I have a "to do" list before I'm done.
Have You Ever?
1. Taken a quilting class
2. Paper pieced
3. Hand quilted
4. Hand pieced
5. Created your own pattern
6. Published a pattern in a magazine or book
7. Gone on a quilting retreat
8. Gone to a quilting convention
9. Met someone who wrote a quilting book
10. Combined your quilting with some other craft
11. Done any three dimensional quilting - like fabric origami?
12. Made something using Thimbleberries fabric
13. Made something using batiks
14. Dyed your own fabric
15. Made a landscape hanging
16. Made a New York Beauty quilt
17. Made a baby quilt
18. Made a wall hanging
19. Made a journal quilt
20. Submitted your journal quilt for viewing
21. Made a fabric postcard
22. Made a artistic trading card (ATC)
23. Exchanged artistic trading cards
24. Mailed our your postcard?
25. Made a lap quilt
26. Made a twin size quilt
27. Made a full size quilt
28. Made a queen size quilt
29. Made a king size quilt
30. Donated a quilt to charity
31. Sent a quilt out to a quilter
32. Thrown away a UFO
33. Given away a UFO
34. Cut up a UFO and made something else with it
35. Ripped fabric instead of cutting it
36. Made a quilt exactly like the pattern, with no changes whatsoever
37. Done any Sashiko
38. Quilted your own quilt
39. Did free motion quilting
40. Put any embroidery or beads on your quilt
41. Given away your quilt to a stranger
42. Swapped fabric
43. swapped blocks
44. participated in a round robin
45. participated in an ostritch round robin (a WHAT?)
46. kept a journal about your quilting
47. written a letter to someone who made an antique quilt
(Hey, Shelina, where's #48?)
49. kept a blog about your quilting
50. participated in a gift exchange
51. sent a quilting random act of kindness
52. joined a newsgroup about quilting
53. made a quilt using a pattern from [ http://www.quilterscache.com ]quilterscache
54. joined an online block of the month
55. made a block of the month quilt
56. subscribed to a fabric of the month club
57. bought fabric at an online store
58. bought fabric from ebay
59. own more than one sewing machine (what a silly question!)
60. have a room dedicated solely to sewing
61. hide a fabric purchase
62. finished making a holiday gift before July
63. made a landscape quilt
64. made a quilt using a book from the library
65. worked with someone else to make a quilt
66. joined a quilt guild
67. become president of a quilt guild
68. taught a quilting class
69. helped someone else get the quilting bug
70. taught a child to sew
71. made a Dear Jane block
72. Made a miniature quilt
73. watch QNN - quilters news network
73. subscribe to a quilting magazine from your own country (aha! It's #48 dressed up to look like #73!)
74. subscribe to a quilting magazine from another country
75. buy fabric from another country
76. swapped completed quilts with someone else
77. asked for quilting help online
78. gone to a quilt shop to ask for quilting help
79. bought fabric at a local quilt shop
80. travelled more than 100 miles to go to a quilt shop
81. used nontraditional fabric for a quilt - something other than cotton or flannel 82. made a quilt using instructions given to you on a blog
83. make comments on someone's quilting blog
84. meet a quilter in person after only having talked online
85. had a quilting retreat in your home
86. own quilting software
87. made a quilt you designed on your quilting software
88. done any quilt research - history, interviewing quilters, etc.
89. had any quilt related subject published anywhere
90. donated a quilt to a museum
91. bought a quilt from a thrift store
92. made a quilt using fabric from a thrift store
93. made a quilt using photos
94. made a pastel quilt
95. made a quilt using brights
96. made a quilt using ethnic fabric from another country - African, Asian, etc.
97. made a quilt using leftover blocks from other quilts
98. had your quilt in a magazine, newspaper, newsletter, TV, etc.
99. submitted your quilt to a quilt show?
100. won any ribbons with your quilts?
101. had more finished quilts than UFOs
102. made a quilt using reproduction fabrics
103. took a break from quilting that was longer than a year
104. made money with your quilting
105. had a job in the fabric / quilting industry
Desertsky Quilting: American Hero tops needed
Go check out Desertsky's blog and get with it! Why not designate Veterans Day Weekend as a sew Red White and Blue day and donate your finished top to this worthy cause.
My hubby Greyhair says it so well, better than I ever could because I'd cry if I tried. Karen was a new member of the Santa Rosa Quilt Guild when I joined in 2003, but didn't rejoin after 2004. I figured it just wasn't her gig. So sad.
I just got home from a visit with my favorite 20 month old, my grandson 
Mr. B (aka Benjamin). I took Amtrak to Fresno on Amtrak last Tuesday. Our plan was to make his Halloween costume as we did last year, but his Mommy, who is 14 weeks pregnant with his sibling, decided that she'd rather have Nana helping with the B-Boy than tied to a sewing machine, so that is what we did.
Mr. B, at right, is one very busy guy, and like the picture on the right, is seldom seen with a clean face.
On Wednesday, the weather was gorgeous so he and I spent a couple of hours out in the backyard while Mommy napped. As you can see, he worked
on many important things like digging in the flowerbeds, chasing the kitty, Dinah, also known as "D," stripping flowers from the lantana, and just hanging out. Of course, all that activity made him very, veryhungry so Mommy fixed a noodle cup for him and I laughed myself silly watching them see who could eat them faster. (I think he won! ) His Mom wanted to make sure that he didn't wake up at 03:30 a.m. asking for cereal again that night!
On Thursday, we did pumpkin carving, or at least tried to do it. Mr. B. wasn't quite sure what to do with the pumpkin innards, but he was also pretty sure he didn't 
want to be the one to touch the ooey gooey punkin guts, so he decided to
let
nana
do it!
P.I.Q.F. is always like old home week.
When we got our first PC, back in 1994, I searched out online quilting groups because I worked full time and the local guild was a day group (Visalia-Tulare, CA). I found a group called InterQuilt, based out of New York and promptly joined. Through this group, I discovered a number of Californians and a year or so later, we had a get together called a SNIQGT for Sierra Nevada InterQuilt Get Together. I met a bunch of great gals, some who have become friends for life.
The first picture is my pal Becky, the only one you'll see today that I met in real life first. Becky and I joined the Santa Rosa guild at the same time and became instant pals. She's pictured above in green. I'm next to h
er. In front is my Sistah (as opposed to Sister) Kathy B. from Woodland who I met at that first get together and Molly from Sacto, also at the first GT. We didn't expect to see Molly at PIQF, it was just a lucky accident that she happened to be having coffee and we walked by. Lucky day!
Once inside the show, we were taking our first break and who should we see but Marilyn K. from Novato and her hubby Ralph! We last saw Marilyn five years ago in a rather uncomfortable situation caused by a former mutual friend, one of those kind of people who leaves dead bodies behind in their relationships. Kathy and I made amends to Ma
rilyn, something that had been on our minds for a very long time and Marilyn graciously accepted our apologies. We look forward to more get togethers with she and her sister Christine in the future!
For lunch that day, we hooked up with Susan (aka Desert Sky), our favorite former long arm quilter who now travels the U.S. with her hubby Paul in their 5th wheel trailer. Susan is on the left and pictured with Fran from Chatsworth, her very bestest friend. Kathy and I have been having mini-GT's with them since our first trip to Sisters in 2000. It is always good to see them!
Finally, that evening (was this a busy day, or what?), we met Ray and Donna for dinner. At left, from left to right, Donna, Becky, Kathy, Ray and Jan. We've known Ray for years through IQ and then Fat Quarters and Donna is Ray's buddy and now ours.
I am so lucky to have met so many wonderful women through a hobby that is my (almost) lifelong passion. Does it get any better than this? I almost forgot, PIQF had tons of great vendors and beautiful quilts. Lots of artsy quilts, and while I am more of a traditionalist myself, I always love eye candy!
I just got back and was checking out the blogs and Nancy, Near Philadelphia had this post up and it made me laugh because while I'm a "winter" on the Color Me Beautiful plan (advice I also follow 20 plus years later), I am definitely a Fall person and Wine Country autumns are wonderful!
| You Belong in Fall |
 Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you |
I just finished adding a row to this one courtesy of Phyllis. She brought it to a fifth Thursday sewing retreat (whenver there is a 5th Thursday in a month, we get together and make items to sell in the boutique as a fund-raiser), homeless and needing a fifth row.
She implored someone to take it, looking straight at me, knowing I'm a sucker. So, I took it and thanks to the previous seamstresses, all I had to do was put together the precut rows of squares and add them on.
If only they were all that easy!
None of the applique has been stitched down, so this one will only work as a wallhanging and is not my style. A virtual guarantee that I'll win when the drawing comes along in December.
Meanwhile, tommorw is P.I.Q.F. day!!!
I'll meet up with Sistah Kathy B. at 3-ish and toddle down to Sunnyvale where we will hook up with our Sistah Becky from Lompoc. For 2 days and nights we will sew, dish, shop, nosh and ogle the beautiful quilts to our hearts' content. We are hoping to hook up with some of our online friends from Fat Quarters (to non quilters: not a body part) like Susan, Fran, Ray, Donna, Karrin, Molly and whoever else is around. Can't wait!!!!
My old pal Susan aka DesertSky, formerly a long-arm quilter living in Arizona, now a full time traveller tagged me to list 5 wierd things about myself. My first reaction was "only five?", but after thinking about it, I seem, well, just so darned normal....maybe that should be #1.
1. I have 5 piercings in my left ear. There is no particular reason why; I just felt like it. My daughter Kate treated me to one of them as a Mother's Day gift. My long time friend Chris and I did 2 when she came to visit one time because we had to buy the earrings in pairs, so why waste one?
2. I like Halloween better than Christmas. Some would say it is because I'm a witch,--with a B.
3. I sleep with the windows open and a fan running almost all year. Hubby breaks the wind, OOPS, I mean *is my wind break* and the dogs snuggle up too, so its all good. Minimizes hot flashes, too.
4. I'm not fond of large groups of people and even small groups wear me out after a while. I've always been a bit of a loner and need a break from the constant stimulation of being around other people (other than Hubby).
5. I've never watched any of the Star Wars movies, or Desperate Housewives or American Idol and I don't care. I'm a geek. Give me PBS or something decent on the History Channel or better yet a good book.
See, that isn't so wierd.
Never hurts.
Thanks to Lynne at Bending the Third Rail for sharing this.
Not sure whether to feel more grateful or guilty.
