Return of the Wild . . .

The Wild Child, that is. Did I tell you? I think I did, but I can't remember for sure. The Wild Child decided New York wasn't the place for her, so tonight she arrived back in Sacramento.

It's really nice to have her home again. As you can imagine, the Drooling Dog is pretty happy too. He picked her up at the airport and it was all Hubby could do to hold onto him to keep him from diving out the car window to get to her.

And although she's back in California to stay . . . at least for now . . . we don't think she'll be here in Sacramento with us for long. She'll be starting school at Humboldt State up on the north coast of California in the fall, and she'll probably head up there in a couple weeks to look into a job and a place to live. If she's lucky, she'll be able to fill a job that was previously occupied by someone graduating from college this month.

After her years of living in Tahoe, we know Humboldt will be the perfect fit for her, and she'll be able to take the Drooling Dog with her--he was sure bored and lonely while she was in New York! The only drawback is that it will be about a six hour drive for us to visit her--not much different than it would have been for us to fly to visit her in New York. But we expect it will be a little more comforting to us to know she's living in the same state.

Welcome home, Wild Child!

I.S.T.H. Again

Remember I pinned four quilts a couple weeks ago, all Schnibbles? Well, I finished quilting a second one, I.S.T.H.

I.S.T.H. is one of those patterns I changed a bit. Here's the original pattern cover picture so you can compare:

I made mine using Blueberry Crumb Cake (Blackbird Designs) charms, and I think it will look perfect on my kitchen table around August--after I've grown weary of red, white, and blue but not yet ready for orange, gold, and dark green. The brown shades of wet and dry beach sand and the blue shades of the August sky and the ocean--that's what it reminds me of.

My version is similar to the original but I wanted mine square (I like square quilts best) and so I thought I wouldn't break it up into three columns as in the original, and I also left off the checkerboard borders on the two ends.

Here's the funny thing, though. You know how I'm always talking about my dislike of marking quilts for quilting? I'll do just about anything to avoid it. Well, this time I gave in and marked the quilt for quilting--sometimes you just gotta do it. I used a stencil I had of a five-pointed star with scallops around the star--kind of like flower petals. That all went fine, although it was a bit time consuming for my taste, but then when I got to the border, I was stumped. I didn't have a border stencil of the right size and with the right design feel to it, so instead of quilting the border right then, I started on the binding and finished that while I pondered the border. In the end, I decided to repeat the same star stencil in the border, but I varied the positioning a bit and used the border space to complete the design I'd stenciled part of in the setting triangles.

The quilting's not perfect, but for the way I plan to use it, it doesn't have to be. All in all, I think it turned out pretty okay.

The Voice: Who's Going to Win?

Have you been watching The Voice? This year is the first time I've watched, and I've really enjoyed it.

In case you haven't watched it, from left to right: Jermaine Paul (Blake Shelton's guy), Chris Mann (Christina Aquilera's guy), Juliet Simms (Cee Lo Green's gal), and Tony Lucca (Adam Levine's guy). These are the four finalists.

I've pretty much been pulling for Juliet Simms most of the season. Her voice, reminiscent of Janis Joplin, is different from most, and she has the looks to stand out. I think she'll win. But I've noticed lately that she really has to have the right song to stand out; when the song isn't right, she's pretty mediocre.

Of course, at this level, all four of the finalists are excellent. I found myself, though, really liking Tony Lucca. Why? Of course, I like his voice. But I also like his personality and his stage presence. I like Adam Levine. And maybe much of why I like Tony Lucca is because Christina is so rude to him and as far as I can tell, he doesn't deserve it. They were both Disney Mouseketeers together, along with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake so they have history. Tonight, when Lucca had an opportunity to thank Levine for mentoring him through the process, he took the opportunity to thank all four coaches for what they've done for the contestants, and as the camera panned to the coaches, Christina appeared to be texting instead of listening. Did you catch that?

So I've voted for Tony tonight, but I think Juliet will win. We'll find out Tuesday night. How about you? Who do you think/hope will win?

Harrington and Hannah--April Showers

Over the weekend, I finished the Harrington and Hannah block for April.

Can you believe I forgot to give them eyes?! I soon remedied that little oversight (Ha!) but I didn't take another photo since I'd already uploaded this one to the computer. You'll have to imagine them with little black eyes.

Speaking of rabbits, when I was driving back through the countryside from spa day, I thought I spotted a few up ahead in the road. Nope, not rabbits!

Ducks! Or are they geese?! Whatever type of bird they are, it was a momma and her three babies out for a Saturday afternoon stroll. As soon as I got close, she led them off the road to safety.

I hope you had a lovely weekend!

P.S.: Did you see the new Country Cottages block is posted over at Shabby Fabrics? Check it out HERE!

Spa Day

At my office, our managing partner is a woman, and she invited the staff up to her home for a spa day--and today was the day. Back about ten years ago, when she was a fairly new partner, she started spa day, and invited us up to her home two years in a row, but then she started on a long course of remodeling, so spa day went by the wayside. Now the remodeling is done--or nearly so. The last little bit that needs to be done is to add a railing on one section of deck--you can see the unfinished edge in this photo.

She lives in the foothills and the view is spectacular. On a clear day, you can see the downtown Sacramento skyline. I thought the view would be great today because it was fairly windy, but I think there was so much pollen and other "stuff" in the air, the city was barely visible.

We spent much of the time in this great room--with window walls on two sides and awesome views. Our hostess brought in a massage therapist and had also arranged for someone to do pedicures, but the pedicurist sprained her ankle a couple days before and wasn't able to make it. It didn't matter, really--we had a wonderful time anyway.

In the photo above, you can see the massage chair over in the upper corner, and the massage therapist is giving one of the ladies a foot massage while we all chatted . . .

. . . and drank and ate.

The hostess's significant other was kind enough to cook up some treats for us before he left for a bike ride.

Check out the media room. Someone suggested the next "spa day" be a chick flick/pajama party. Wouldn't that be fantastic?! There was cool original artwork in every room--see the ceramic horse? And the painting on the back wall? This room also looks out over that expansive view in the other photos.

Speaking of which, I'll leave you with one more outdoor view--of the pool and beyond. I know if I lived here, I'd have a hard time leaving home to go into the office!

A Little Bit Surprised

About a week ago, Sherri of A Quilting Life hostessed a giveaway of a small fat quarter bundle sponsored by Ft. Worth Fabric Studio. The fabric was really cute, so I clicked on over to Ft. Worth Fabric Studio to see what else they carried.

I'm not sure I've ever met a fabric shop that I didn't like--there's always SOMETHING to be found, isn't there? I really liked this shop though. One of the things I thought was pretty fun was that they put together their own fat quarter bundles of fabric they match up, not necessarily all from the same fabric line. They have Pocket Packs, which are themed collections consisting of four fat quarters, and they have larger fat quarter bundles. I know there have been times when I wanted an assortment of fat quarters that went well together but didn't want to invest $120 in a large bundle--Ft. Worth Fabric Studio has smaller bundles that fit that need perfectly.

Anyway, I ordered a bundle of 12 Kona Cotton solids in a color/shade range they called Caribbean Escape and some of the new Ghastlies fabric line. For good measure, I clicked to add a panel of Michael Miller Pixie Christmas novelty fabric to my cart.

Today my order arrived, and the darned coolest thing was the Pixie Christmas panel. I was sort of surprised!

The panel has four pixies and four more traditional Christmas motifs (below), all sprinkled with little dots of what looks like silver glitter--it reminds me of being a little kid again!

I had to go back and order a bit more--another couple panels and some coordinating fabric as well as two different shades of green Grunge (Basic Grey) to (hopefully!) go with the greens in the panel. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to make with this fabric, but I know I can make something fun!

I searched Quiltshops.com for the Pixie line and found it at a few more shops--one even had coordinating fabric printed with Pixie shoes! But I'll stop for now. Considering that I'm trying to not buy any Christmas fabric (because I have too much already!), I think I've done enough damage--it's only MAY!

Have you been surprised and excited about discovering any great quilt shops or excellent fabrics lately?

Guilty Food Pleasures

Why is it that bad things are so darn GOOOOOOD sometimes? At our Autumn House gathering earlier this week, my friend Sandy brought along these:

Who would have even thought they'd be good? They're clearly out-and-out junk food of the purest kind. In fact, a nutrition site on the internet gave both of them a D grade. And I'm kind of embarrassed to confess I like them, but darn are they GOOOOOOOD together! You just put a handful (or two) of corn chips in a bowl, heat up some cheese dip, and spoon it over the corn chips. I'm naming the resultant dish People of Walmart Nachos. Of course, this treat is about as Mexican as my former roommate's Velveeta cheese and Spam lasagna was Italian. But at least it tastes better. A LOT better! I can tell I'm going to have to smuggle this Fritos/Tostitos cheese dip combo home from the grocery store sometime soon.

When you go to the grocery store and buy "bad" things, do you ever hide them in your grocery cart under the veggies? Do you even buy MORE "good" stuff so the checker won't think poorly of you and your nutritional choices? Or have you battled temptation for so long, it's second nature and you're never tempted?

What's your favorite food indulgence? You know; it's that thing you go for when you've decided to give in and give up temporarily. Or what you might chose as a food reward; or perhaps you allow yourself to eat it only on holidays and other special occasions?

I suspect most of us would say "chocolate," but do you have a favorite variety or brand? Do you have any "rituals" for indulging in your special treats? Close your eyes for a moment and imagine the perfect, completely satisfying food experience. Now go ahead: tell us about it.

Some Applique Stuff and MM Snowmen

Tonight I finished prepping the next Merry, Merry Snowmen block, and I'm ready to move onto the applique--hand applique.

And it occurred to me that when I say I "prepped" the block, some of you might not know what I'm talking about. With the freezer paper/starch applique method, that means I've traced the patterns onto the freezer paper and ironed the paper onto the fabric. Then I've cut around the paper, leaving a 1/8" to 1/4" seam allowance. I brush starch onto the seam allowance and iron it to the back side of the freezer paper--the starch allows it to hold a good edge. After everything dries, I remove the paper and dot a bit of applique glue along the edges of the pieces and position everything in place. Now I can take it with me to work or wherever I go and stitch away. But not while I'm working--they don't really like to pay me to applique. Sad but true. Lunch hours are good for stitching though.

So the prepping part takes about half the time, and that means I'm about half done; the stitching part will go fairly quickly now and then I'll need to add some embroidery to the block.

I mentioned in a prior post that Tina, who was interested in information about the type of applique I do, was "no-reply"--and she's not the only commenter who is no-reply. I know I've visited a few blogs that have instructions posted in their sidebars on how to "fix" the no-reply problem, but I sure can't remember which ones. Do any of you know? I'd like to post a link for anyone who wants to change that so they can get responses to their comment questions.

Finally, if you're working on Merry, Merry Snowmen, don't forget to join us on Flickr--just click on the snowman in my sidebar to see what we've been up to. I love the French General Rouenneries Deux fabric, but I can't help thinking this pattern would look really great done in other "Christmas" fabrics too. If you're working on the pattern on your own and are using other fabrics, please join us--we'd really love to see some different blocks.

Spring is in the Air . . .

A-choooo! Oh, heck! I didn't mean to sneeze on you! Hold on a minute while I go get something to dry you off. Gosh I'm sorry!

I hate springtime allergies. The weather is so pretty but it's deceptive. All those plants out there are having sex . . . or whatever it is they do. Terrible!

The Autumn House Gang came over tonight to "kit" up the fabric for the next block (we're on block five--the largest center block), and once we finished the serious business of fabric cutting, we headed out to the patio where Hubby barbecued up some hot dogs with all the fixings.

Gosh it was good! The food and the company were outstanding! But between the pollen and the mosquitos . . . well, I just think spring is overrated. Happy freakin' May!

I need to go get another box of tissue. Excuse me, won't you?

Sidetracked

Can you believe May is here? The year is flying by, isn't it? Tuesday night, my Autumn House bunch are coming over to divide up fabric for the fifth block of this project, so I spent much of the evening tonight sorting out which of my fabrics are called for in this next block.

Since I didn't have anything new to show you, I thought I'd post a few miscellaneous things and answer a couple questions. When I went back to re-read some of the recent comments, I got sidetracked over to Nicole's blog (Sister's Choice). Since one of the things I thought I'd talk about was quilting, I was interested to read Nicole's post asking for opinions about spray basting--there were a lot of comments from people who spray baste and love it. Are there any nay-sayers out there? Because when I tried it, I thought it was okay, but I wasn't completely sold, and here are a couple reasons why I wasn't.

Nicole tried three products and had good results with all of them. I tried two--and I can't remember off hand which ones without going off to the Sweat Shop to dig out the cans, but I think the two I used are two of the three Nicole tried. One seemed to accumulate gunk on my needle a little more than the other. Not a terribly large amount of gunk, but after quilting a bit, it would build up some. I don't think I oversprayed although I'm not certain. But that gunk on the needle made me wonder about the rest of the machine's workings and the quilt itself.

The thing that bugged me the most, though, was that quilting left an adhesive residue on my sewing machine--little black streaks, although I couldn't figure out where the black was coming from. The quilt wasn't black, it was made with good quality fabric, and it didn't seem to be bleeding. It was a mystery. But the slight "texture" and adhesive being transferred to the machine meant the quilt didn't glide around on free motion quilting quite as much as I like.

So, I wouldn't say I hate spray basting, and I'm sure I'll do it again, but I'm still waiting for someone to invent the perfect method of basting, and I don't think this is it. Have any of you had issues similar to mine? Or other problems? Or do you absolutely love it?

So what did I plan to talk about before I got sidetracked by spray baste? Lately I've seen several photos out in Blogland of quilts that have a minimal amount of quilting. Part of me says, "Hey, at least you tried! Good for you!" But the other part of me says, "Stick that sucker back under the needle and add a little more quilting!"

I don't, by any means, think I'm an authority on quilting, but I do know there are some good reference books out there that talk about the types of batting, what they're best used for, and how much quilting the different battings require to stay in place in a quilt. Harriet Hargrave, for instance, has a book called Heirloom Machine Quilting that starts with all the basics. She also has a blog, HERE. There are other books out there with good information. If you haven't quilted before and are ready to give it a try, check out a good book with all the basic information--or, even better, take a class. If you have quilted before and aren't sure how much quilting your quilt needs, check the recommendations on the batting you use--most will have the recommendation printed on their packaging, and quilting lines spaced no more than 3" apart is pretty common. And this means that in a 3" wide border, it's not enough to stitch along one side and then bind it--there should also be quilting all the way down the border, at least every 3". I hate to see a beautiful quilt end up looking wonky because the quilter didn't know any better--knowledge is powerful stuff and can make all the difference.

Tina asked in her comment about the Country Cottages blocks what applique method I use, but she's "no-reply" so I couldn't email her back. I hand applique and I've been using the freezer paper and starch method since my friend Imelda taught me several months ago. Some of you wanted me to do a tutorial a little while back, and I plan to do that. I've even talked to Imelda about doing the demonstration while I take photos, because she's really the expert. She's willing to do it for you, but I haven't scheduled that with her yet. I'll do something soon, though.

For now, I think that's about all the loose nuts I had rattling around in my brain. Did I forget anyone's questions? If so, let me know.

Oh, and don't forget to visit Sherri and Sinta for the Schnibbles May Parade! They should have photos posted sometime today. I think there will be some excellent quilts to admire!

Happy May Day!