WIP Wednesday

This is the top that I started last weekend. It's for our company's Bid-n-Buy which will be held at our Studio Party (that I just sent 300 invitations for yesterday, lol).

I'm not thrilled, I see LOTS of room for improvement in color choices, but I refuse to waste the fabric since it is made entirely from my stash. It's meant to be a quicky, and it was. I really did enjoy the faux and easy piecing.

I've finally gotten around to the "it's OK" opinion, it's layered, pinned and ready to be quilted. I designed a holly and berry continuous quilting pattern that I will try, or otherwise I will just meander. I purchased a varigated green/cream combo to try and also a light golden to see if it might work.

I can't wait to see what you're working on, I am really loving this Ring!

Christmas MeMe

I found this on Maria's blog who got it from Dawn, etc...and thought it looked fun, thanks Maria!

Christmas MeMe

1. Hot Chocolate or apple cider?
- Definately ROUSTER'S Apple Cider
2. Turkey or Ham?
- Dark meat turkey
3. Do you get a fake or real-you-cut-it-yourself Christmas tree?
- Prefer real but will settle for artificial or none at all if we are gone.
4. Decorations on the outside of your house?
- I love to decorate the outside but rarely have the stamina! A few on the inside is good.
5. Snowball fights or sleddin'?
- Sledding, have always loved it since childhood.
6. Do you enjoy going downtown shopping?
- I love it. Used to enjoy going downtown in Flint, MI as a young adult...spending $.35 and rode the bus alone and would catch a movie.
7. Favorite Christmas song?
- Silent night, sung at Church on Christmas Eve.
8. How do you feel about Christmas movies?
- Love the moldy oldies...over and over and over.
9. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?
- Before Thanksgiving at least pul-lease!
10. Stockings before or after presents?
- Stockings while waiting for the rest of the family to gather.
11. Carolers, do you or do you not watch and listen to them?
- Maybe across the street at the neighbors? 8^)
12. Go to someone else's house or they come to you?
- They can come here, but I need help!!!
13. Do you read the Christmas Story? If so when?
No, never, just not my preference.
14. What do you do after presents and dinner?
- Just enjoy the moment!
15. What is your favorite holiday smell?
- Cinnamon and pine.
16. Ice skating or walking around the mall?
- Ice skating definately.
17. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas Day?
- Prefer Christmas Morning...but it's great to be flexible.
18. Favorite Christmas memory?
- Seeing an antenna with a blinking light and just KNOWING it was Rudolf.
19. Favorite Part about winter?
- The smell of an incoming snow.
20. Ever been kissed under mistletoe?
- No, but there's still time!

Thank you dd#2

Thank you for the switch over to Beta. You know I would have waited until "they" made me switch if you hadn't done it for me! I'm so chicken.

I was SO afraid to open my blog this morning! But HEY, it doesn't look any different, lol!

You are really good at this stuff, ya know?! I'm one proud Momma.

Thank you darlin', you are just THE BEST.

2 fer~ Random Acts of Kindness

I've been waiting for Dorothy to announce this! (Ok, why I waited...I have no excuse other than I've gotten procrastination down to a fine art!)

We went to Flames this morning for breakfast. We had the best waiter I think we've EVER had. Cesar is going to have a letter written to his manager today. We eat out probably at least 4 times a week, to have someone go the extra mile puts him at the top of my list.

What American Accent do YOU have?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
The South
Philadelphia
Boston
The Inland North
North Central
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Well I guess my results were predictable.

I lived in MI for 23, OH for 21, MO for 4, CA for the last 1.

Everyone outside of MI asks, "Where are YOU from?" so I must "talk funny", lol. But stubbornly, I don't see how I do, when I hear the MI accent they all sound like Canadians!

I'll be either sewing or knitting today, likely both. What I won't be doing is SHOPPING. I see many stores are opening at 5am, sheesh.

Have a great day today!

WIP Wednesday

OK, OK, the day isn't over yet. I just got home from work!


I'm not thrilled. I'm hoping more blocks will improve it. I'm hoping not displaying it against gosh-awful unflattering carpet will improve it. I'm hoping for a miracle I think!

I'll keep making the blocks, they take 5 minutes each and go ahead and finish the top. Everyone needs a picnic quilt, I don't think this will ever go to my bid-n-buy at the station! Yuck-poo.

How would you quilt this?? I will do MQ but haven't the foggiest of ideas. The strips are cut at 2.5", the longest is 10.5". It will be a great place to practice for sure.

Ever have one you just didn't love. (I'm talking about quilts!)

Thanksgiving "our way"

As Thanksgiving 2006 draws near, it's a time that enables one to have a few focused memories.

Our tradition in the 60's was to go to the Parade in downtown Detroit sponsored by J.L. Hudson. I guess it was my maternal mother's idea of how to get the men and kids out of the house so Grandma and mother could cook our Thanksgiving dinner. My father and brother would pack Grandpa's stepladder and we would go to the steps of the same church each year, on the side of Woodward Avenue. That way my younger sister would sit on the platform of the ladder's flippy-part and I would stand behind her on the rungs. We'd be heads above the rest of the crowd and Santa (who would of course be at the very end) was in plain site. I clearly remember seeing floats of the Green Hornet, I was totally impressed being the tomboy I was. I remember being totally frozen, Detroit has a way of being perfectly miserable on Thanksgiving Day!

Little did I know I would be one of the marching band members marching in that same parade a few years later. It was warmer marching rather than waiting for Santa in those younger years!!

I also remember marching in the Lions football game during half-time during a blizzard. Our game-time seats were right behind the team's bench...couldn't see a thing, lol.

I remember having dinner in my Grandmother's small dining room with the table leaves all spread. When I would finish before the rest of the family I was permitted to crawl under the table thru the sea of legs to free myself from table bondage.

My own children are all grown and miles away. They are having/creating memories of their own. My soldier is happy to have a day off of duty and training but is warned of a 12 mile "hike" on Saturday. Dd#2 will travel to her grandparent's home, and dd#1 will enjoy a few days off from college with her girlfriend.

I am very happy to have a 2:45pm reservation at a local restaurant on Thursday. No cooking, no clean-up, no leftovers to find places for in the tiny 'frig. I am absolutely thrilled. We will buy a turkey while still at a good price and tuck it in the freezer. We'll spend the rest of the weekend catching up with laundry and each other, I hope to get a bunch of sewing in, Dh may have time to finish his book, and maybe we can squeeze in a hike in the mountains.

...just have to get thru Wednesday...*sigh*

What memories does this holiday stir for you?

Cheddar & Greens

I'm doing the Happy Dance, it's DONE. A breeze blew just at the exact moment I snapped the shot and I had to cut the underwear hanging on the line outta the picture, but you get the idea, don't you?

This is a baby quilt began long ago and is being delivered late, dang. I have such good intentions, and very poor follow-thru, but I AM working on that!

As mentioned before, this was my first attempt at meadering machine quilting. I always do grid quilting using painters tape or stitch-in-the-ditch, I gravitate to what's easy to do "right".

When the Quilt Police come to arrest me regarding my binding,I'll cleverly distract their attention over to the fact that THE BACK binding corners show perfectly mitered corners. When I attached the binding this time I chose to do a 1/4" seam(I usually like it about 3/8", but when I turned it to the back, it was about 1/2-5/8" wide! I was going to resew the binding on with a deeper seam allowance, but once I turned the first corner and found the corners turning SO easily I was in heaven, lol. Guess I'll go back to my 2-1/4" binding strips like I used to do...or not.

After I finished this baby quilt I ran and started something NEW, oh yeah! I am trying Billie Lauder's Faux Log Cabin pattern. I needed something fast to donate to our Company's Bid-n-Buy at our Annual Christmas Party mid-December. If it turns out ok I'll donate it for that, if not, I'm sure it will find a good home.

Have a good week!

Beta Blahs & my soldier's birthday

So we..ok, #2dd tried to switch my blog to Beta. I was SNUBBED. It said all blogs are not able to switch at this time as the program is being rolled out s-l-o-w-l-y. Whatever. I'm trying to do my best by you all...so know I'm trying!! #2dd, I couldn't (make that wouldn't) attempt this without you, thank ya, thank ya, thank ya!

Today my #3dd who is in the Army Reserves is celebrating her 20th Birthday. Please think of her today, and what it means to be a soldier in today's military forces. She's in her AIT training down at Ft. Bragg until mid-December. She will be stationed in Columbus, OH and is a sophomore in college...*sigh*

I'm sewing during the UM vs OSU game half-time adding the binding to a recently blogged baby quilt. I will begin to handstitch it onto the back during the second half. GO BUCKEYES!
(that's really hard, I lived in Michigan 23 years & Ohio 20 years!)

WIP Wednesday

WOO-HOO my first NPO logo was published!


I have always enjoyed drawing with my good ol' #2. I am generally a copy artist, excelling at cartoon copies, but also can draw hands, feet and animals. Pul-lease, don't ask for a face!

Working as chief, cook, and bottlewasher for a Community Television has it's ups and downs. I was trying to have the Lonnie Anderson Receptionist job but I guess *ahem* I just wasn't blonde enough. My job encompasses all the accounting, payroll, and HR...reservation scheduling, marketing, cup washing, coffee making, carpet shampoo ordering...it's crazy, but I keep it afloat generally speaking.

Rather by accident I ended up designing the logo for a bay area food/soup pantry. I gave my scribbles to a producer and she digitized it and it was accepted in it's rawest form. That's what they wanted, simple and line drawn. Who woulda thunk. The top part is a section of the brochure, the bottom piece is one side of the fundraiser envelope.

I show this as my WIP today, work is my life, I love my job. My DH is included here at the station, where I go so does he(when he isn't doing his own job, 1/2 mile away)! He is floor director for one program, and has done a bit of narration. I'm scheduled to do camera work on something in December, should be fun. I think that composing your camera shot is definately an art-form! I rarely have the time to get into the studio, but the secret is out...I want to do it all!

2-fer today! ~ ~ Vacation Stories ~ ~

So thankfully, this is a very blurry picture. Pretend you "DON'T know what it is, and have NEVER seen one...yeah, right!

Whatever you do, don't encounter them ON VACATION!

11 days in Maui almost went in the dumper because of this...well...read on.

We'd been up since 4am and extremely tired as we checked into our condo at 4pm, via special lock-box key.

We've stayed at this condo the past 2 years, and have been completely satisfied. Ocean lanai, full efficiency, separate bedroom & bathroom. We went right to bed to take a nap after arriving. We awoke and began getting unpacked and getting the groceries put away, etc...and I always have to take the garbage can out from under the sink...I just hate it there. EW...EW...there's a bug. OK, I can hardly say it...A COCKROACH.

OK, I can handle ONE.

EW...EW...two, three....my my, he has lots of friends...EW...EW. That photo was one in the BATHTUB. (The next morning, they graced our feet on the carpet! Gives me shiver-bumps just rethinking it!)

DH starts opening drawers and cabinets, and they are EVERYWHERE. He starts throwing stuff into the dishwasher and arms himself with the RAID can as I stand on the sofa. Yeah, yeah, he is THE original domestic GOD and I'm a weenie, I admit it. We diddle and dink around trying to decide what to do, and at 7:45pm we call the Condo Office. The always-gruff, never pleasant lady says, "She's busy with a Marlin Tournament tomorrow and she'll deal with US Saturday (this was Thursday evening).

US? US? How about dealing with THE BUGS TOMORROW? She wouldn't give us a commitment for hotel reimbursement, wouldn't agree to switch our rooms...nadda.

Rooms on Maui can easily range $200+ for a one night stay. We toughed it out that night, but were wide awake at the smallest thing. My hair brushed DH and he jumped a mile...I drempt of roaches on the ceiling of the unit below us, etc.

First thing the next morning we were down at the coffee shop a block away while waiting for other places to open for the morning. We were EXTREMELY fortunate to spot a place right next door advertising for $45 cheaper per evening than we were paying...and had vacancy and would love to have us. The Hale Maui is not the Ritz, but it was cleaner than any place I've ever stayed, including any fancy Westin or better I've been in. It didn't have an ocean-front lanai, but if you sat sideways on this lanai, you could still stare at the ocean. Thankfully it is Mom & Pop run and I cried with joy at having this fall into our laps. We are two happy customers who will grace the Zimmerman's door again. Dumb luck.

I wrote the 1st place a stern note and turned in our keys to the substitute attendant that morning. I added in my note that, "I know you will do the right thing by returning our entire deposit." I never expected to see a dime of our $300. When we got home a few days ago, a letter was waiting with a full refund to our credit card.

We were moved in by 10am to the new place.

End of a beautiful day..finally!

This photo was taken from Honokowai Beach, just a few hundred yards from the condo. We spent a couple of afternoons under the trees enjoying the beautiful sand and warm water.

This is the famous Hana Highway. We couldn't get to the end because of road closure due to the recent earthquake. I did the drive in the rain...white knuckled it a bit, but there were few on the road so I could mostly have my own pace. It's our second journey to Hana, we'll get to those 7 Sacred Pools one of these days!

On one of our excursions, DH went to the sought after blow-hole. I stayed behind up on high ground, my tri-focals make rock climbing tenuous at best. I was perfectly content to view the scenery and do a little rock rearranging myself. This is the place where people stack rocks. It has no significance other than "just because", so that is OK by me!
Gosh! These were just about 24" from my grasp from the lanai. They weren't quite ready yet, this variety is the HUGE kind so they were only about 1/2 grown!

So I'm home, I missed my home. I missed my bed. I can't wait to go back next year, hahahaha.

Maui Socks

THIS is what I did on my vacation. I am TOTALLY head-over-heels IN LOVE with Emily's "Sophie's ToeSocks" lighweight yarn and her awesome colorations. This color is Iris Garden. (That was a link to her blog, her Etsy site can be accessed from there, it was down as I posted this!) I took this yarn with me to Maui because it reminds me of all the colors of the island. The ever-changing ocean colors, the lush vegitation, the blue sky, oh yum.

As I've expressed before, I'd been experiencing mucho angst because as a new knitter I couldn't get the yarn weight vs. needle size vs. project requirement all to work in my favor. Well NO more. This stuff rocks socks. Size 2 dpn. Knitted from the cuff down...and the reason the cuff is short is because I have "thunder calves", lol.



OK, so I chose something that would match my new favorite "Bean Crocs" (from LL Bean and are Croc knock-offs...AND WERE ONLY $20!).

Am I in "hog heaven" if my piggies are now finally comfy. I think so!

I'm back...physically at least!

I am home.
I am tired.
I am buried at the station.
My house is a wreck full of dirty clothes.

I promise pictures with a blog update over the weekend. Left my dang USB cord at home.

I promised to survive coming home from a wonderful vacation.

Come on girl, FOCUS!
Need more coffee.

*VBG*