Berta's Colorful Quilting World

Zazu

2010-04-05T19:06:00.001-07:00

This is what's on my design wall at the moment. I have to sew the pieced border strips on and then three more border strips after that. This is based on a design found on Judy's blog. The pattern is Peaches & Dreams. I've changed my version slightly. When you go to Judy's blog look on the right side of her page and you will find lots of free patterns.

For my quilt I have used fabric designed by Tina Givens. It is called Zazu. I just love it!

Haley's Hearts

2010-02-09T08:42:00.001-08:00

This is another decoration for little Haley's room. Just picture it in a cute little girl's room, not my dining room that has been taken over by other projects.

I used one piece of Therm O Web HeatnBond UltraHold in between two fabric hearts. You can't sew through this stuff so I didn't! I made a template that had tabs on top of the heart so I could sew the binding to. The tabs did not have HeatnBond so as to allow me to sew through them.

Really close up you can see I used a pink heart print for the binding and some white ric rac for trim. It was a quick project for a cute little girl.!

Little girl's room decoration

2010-02-01T16:14:00.000-08:00

My little friend Haley is having a birthday this month. She'll be seven years old. It seems like yesterday that I was giving her bouncy rides on my legs when she was 18 months old. I'm making some fun things for her to decorate her bedroom with.

First is this fabric wrapped clothesline that has her name in fabric letters attached with clothespins. The butterflies look like they're holding up the line.

Happy Birthday Miss Haley!

Tamales!

2010-02-01T15:30:00.000-08:00

I decided it was time to learn how to make tamales. My husband gave me a phone number of someone who had made tamales at Christmas and had her husband bring them to his work for a party. It must have been at one of my husband's supplier's businesses. My husband brought one home to me and I told him it was the best tamale I had ever had. The only problem with calling this woman to ask if she would teach me how to make these delicacies was that she spoke no English. I'm not fluent in Spanish. So, instead of calling this great tamale maker, I chose to go online to watch some videos on You Tube about how to make tamales. That was a great help.

I told my daughter I was going to make tamales on Sunday and she said she wanted to learn too. I then went about procuring all the supplies and ingredients we would need to make these tamales. I live in California and the ingredients are more than handy. You can even find the masa already prepared in some stores. I chose to make my own masa. I went online once again to look for recipes.

Our friend Bethany also came over and helped us make the tamales. We made pork tamales and vegetarian (cheese and Anaheim chiles) tamales. It took forever to get them all steamed. We played Cranium while we waited. One batch ran out of water and almost had to be trashed (Cranium got competitive) but I saved them.

I'm happy to say that our tamale making endeavor was a success! Bethany is pictured below showing you her delicious tamale!

Sophie Grace's Debut

2009-11-29T20:41:00.001-08:00

Sophie Grace made her debut into this world today! She weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 20" long! She is busy meeting her extended family. She is healthy and strong and appears to have lots of experience sucking her fingers.

Grandma and Grandpa are very proud of Sophie's Mommy! She did such a good job!!!

Run, Don't Walk!

2009-10-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Run, don't walk on over to Canton Village Quilt Works! Jackie is having a great giveaway. Some beautiful fabric will soon find a new home! Hope mine is the new home!!!

Bag Ladies

2009-10-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

At the aforementioned quilt retreat my friend Jeanne and I made some bags in between our other projects. Making bags is what I call productive procrastination. Sometimes you just need to make something that doesn't take very long and gives you almost instant gratification. The eye glasses are just for perspective.

These are cute tiny boxy bags. The thread is again just for perspective. We have collected lots of charm packs over recent years giving them to each other as gifts from trips we've been on and such. These bags are a great way to use these charm packs!

Jeanne is a very prolific bag lady! Aren't these bags cute!!!

Retreat, Part Two

2009-10-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

These are some more quilts that were worked on during our retreat last week. Above is a quilt that Janene was working on. It is the result of a block exchange. Click on it to see the beautiful dahlias.

Patti put these alphabet redwork blocks together. They are so cute! Her granddaughters helped to draw the owls and ice cream cones. It is further personalized by signatures in the appropriate lettered blocks. It really was precious.

JoAnn's quilt top finished! No matter that it was 16 years in the making, it's timeless.

Another quilt by Janene.

There were so many pictures that I took, it's hard to remember who did what. I believe this quilt top was made by Kate. Kate is our officially blind quilter. She has macular degeneration and is in fact legally blind. She is also a very prolific quilter.

This is another quilt by Kate. She used old phone book paper foundations for the strips.

Patti's friend Lou picked out the fabric and pattern for this sweet quilt top with the intentions of making a quilt for Patti. The two worked on a block together, sewing it the wrong way. Lou became ill with breast cancer and asked Patti to finish it for her when it became apparent that she would not be able to. Lou has since passed on but Patti will forever remember her through this quilt.

This is what happens when your fabric is so yummy, your machine just has to eat it!

You get a throat plate attached to your quilt top! Good job Katie!

Retreat, Part 1

2009-10-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

I organize retreats throughout the year for a group of quilting buddies that have been getting together for retreats for over ten years now. This past weekend we had such a great time sewing, talking, laughing, creating, and giving and receiving inspiration. These weekends are pure bliss for me. The following are some of the pictures of projects that were in various stages of progress.

Here's Jane with a couple of the quilt tops she assembled. I caught her on the downside of her smile (sorry Jane!). She really was happy : )

This was an old quilt top that Jill backed and had our friend Shari quilt on her long arm machine. Shari does a wonderful job!

This is another quilt by Jill.

You just can't help but smile when you're around this happy quilt. Pam sure knows how to work with color!

This is a challenge quilt that Pam started and completed with binding attached and all. The only thing left that needs to be done is the hand sewing of the binding to the back and possibly a label.
Did you notice the fun zebra border?

Stay tuned for Retreat, part 2!

Baby shower fun!

2009-09-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

First of all, I need to point out that I'm having problems with the way my pictures are uploaded. If I upload a picture after uploading one prior to it, then the second picture appears above the first when I want it below. I used to be able to move them around and put them where I want them, but blogger isn't letting me do this. As a result this post, containing lots of pictures, might seem a bit disjointed.

Last weekend we attended the Co-ed baby shower for our Son and Daughter in law. It was like no other baby shower I've ever attended! It was a Moroccan theme complete with belly dancer and henna tattoo artist! Bravo Autumn and Genna for a job well done!!!

Above is a picture of the pillows I made for the baby's room. The Baby's room decor is vintage. My DIL purchased an old fabric baby book at an antique fair and wanted to turn the pages into pillows. The middle of each pillow has a page from the baby book. The prairie points were done with a continuous piece of fabric. A new technique for me that I really enjoyed implementing.

This is one of two fabric garlands that I made for Sophie Grace's bedroom. Only one has her name on it. In the background you can see the large scarves that were hanging overhead. They were very appropriately decorative and gloriously shade providing at the same time.

This is a little dress I made for Sophie Grace. There also is a little matching headband.

This is a blanket (not quilt) that I crocheted the edges of. This is something my grandmother used to do and I thought someone in the family should still be doing this work so I taught myself how. I also made a burp cloth and a bib to match. The bib didn't get crocheted edging, I used ric rack for decoration instead. The flannel fabric has little kitties on it and the words 'daddy's girl' on it. The back is a yellow minkie type fabric with raised hearts.

Here is an example of the henna tattoo artist's work. She was busy working on everyone for four hours. She is an amazing artist!

The Los Gatos Creek runs right next to our host's home, AKA "The Creek House". It's just spectacularly beautiful. The perfect place for this special event.

So many in attendance not everyone fit in the shot. A good time was had by all! Sophie is a lucky girl. She already has a very large fan club!

Cute little ruffle butt baby clothes!

2009-09-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

These two pictures are of the same outfit. Neither picture is the true color of the fabric which is a soft peach color. Unfortunately I couldn't get the better pictures to upload correctly.

This outfit was one of the outfits I made to give to my DIL at the baby shower her grandmother gave her. My sewing machine thought this fabric tasted great, so much so that it tried to eat it several times. With all the headaches the fabric gave me I just love the outfit. The ruffle butt was so fun to make! In the bottom picture you can see a headband with a bow that I made out of the same fabric. I also made a bib to go with this outfit and another item you can't see until after the next baby shower!

I loved making this sweet nightgown with a little hat and bib.

These pictures uploaded in the wrong direction. They should have been horizontal instead of vertical. The item above is a portable diaper changing pad. Below is a coordinating bib and burp cloth.

The fun/sewing continues. More will come some time in October.

A Sewer (future quilter?) is born!

2009-09-06T09:16:00.001-07:00

Last Monday was my dear friend Jeanne's birthday (happy birthday Jeanne!). We celebrated the following Thursday by shopping at a couple of quilt shops near us and a lunch at ClaimJumper. I asked my daughter in law if she would like to accompany us and she said yes! Now, I couldn't ask for a better DIL. She is a sweetheart and truly loves my son deeply. She's also going to give me my first granddaughter!

After our fun shopping day we returned home and she wanted to make bibs from the strawberry fabric and the green pea fabric she purchased. After successfully making the strawberry bib she decided she had enough time to make the green pea bib.

I told her it would be cute to do peas on one side and carrots on the other side. She liked that idea but hadn't purchased any carrot fabric. I told her I would take a look in my stash upstairs and sure enough I found the perfect carrot fabric to go with the peas!

It was so fun to see her so excited about creating these cute bibs. She had such a great time that she was up early the next morning waiting for it to get a bit later so she could go to shopping for more fabric. She found some really fun fabrics for more cute bibs. She asked if she could go upstairs and look at my stash once again. She's seen all my fabric before and probably couldn't understand why I needed so much fabric. Now she's seeing it all with new eyes. I think she's caught the sewing bug!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2009-08-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

For the past three weekends in a row my hubby and I have gone to our teeny, tiny cabin in the Stanislaus Forest. We're making up for lost time. When I say this cabin is small, I really mean it. It consists of two rooms, one is a bedroom and the other is a living room/kitchen although there is no sink inside and no stove. The sink is located just outside the front door and instead of a stove we have a two burner electric hotplate. Oh, and the bathroom you ask? That is in the shed about 20-30 feet away from the cabin. There is running water and a flushing toilet along with an ancient shower. It still is a shed and houses the boat motor and tools and such. The benefit of our cabin being so small is that there is very little upkeep required. We get there and can just relax there or go to the lake or many reservoirs to fish and/or swim.

I told my hubby that this last weekend I needed to stay home and get some things done. Canning and sewing was on my list.

About halfway between our cabin and our home is a fruit/vegetable stand called Fisher Farm. I bought some delicious yellow freestone peaches and made some wonderful peach jam with them. It's my new favorite! I also made blueberry jam, which is yummy too, with blueberries from the grocery store that were a great price.

Our tomatoes are ripening and I've just finished canning my first batch of salsa. Last year I made a few batches of this salsa and I think it lasted until January. Now my husband grows our tomatoes just for this salsa. He calls it his salsa and tries to control his inventory by hiding it. He doesn't like it when I give it away. : )

I made a sweet little outfit for our granddaughter that will be born in November. Sorry, I can't show a picture on this blog because it's going to be part of a shower gift. The fabric was very stretchy and difficult to work with. For some reason, my sewing machine thought it was delicious and kept eating it! Just a bit frustrating!!! One thing that also was a bit frustrating was that the pattern for the little pants said to measure the waist of the baby and cut the elastic accordingly. That's a bit hard to due when she won't be here for three months!

I promise, after the showers, I will post pictures of everything I make for this little girl.

Now I think I'm going to see how that salsa came out with the help of a couple of tortilla chips!

Lovely Colorful Dishes

2009-08-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

About four years ago, we remodeled our kitchen. It's really beautiful. We have dark granite counters and Mission style cabinets custom made from quarter sawn (hope that's how it's spelled) oak wood that is stained a warm red wood tone. Our walls are as my husband calls it, Chevy's orange. I prefer to call them Pumpkin spice. I would post a picture, but it's a mess right now from canning peach jam and making peach muffins. Anyway, ever since the remodel, I've wanted to change our dishes to Fiestaware. I just love all the colors! The only problem was that I had perfectly good dishes in my cupboards already. They have served my family well for quite some time, probably the good part of 20 years. Here is a sample picture of the Pfaltzgraff, Tea Rose pattern dishes that we've used for so many years now.

They are very pretty dishes and I have loved them for a long time. They just aren't colorful enough for me now! Also, how can I justify spending money on dishes when I already have this set. It occurred to me a little while ago that I could have my family gift me a dish or two on my birthday and Christmas for the next 10 years or so along with a gift or two from myself from time to time. It's definitely not necessary for family to give me any gift let alone these dishes, however, if they would like to give me a gift on these occasions and can't think of anything to get me, now they know!

So, here is the start of my new collection of fiestaware! I hope to have lots of different colors so I can mix and match. Maybe not so much matching!
Color makes me so happy!!!

Think Rectangle

2009-07-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

I've been working on some blocks using Judy L's Peaches and Dreams Pattern with some changes here and there. I'm using the Tina Givens Zazu fabric line that my friend Beth carries in her new online store. Be sure to check out her blog where you can find links to her etsy and ebay stores as well as all things elinor peace bailey.

This is a fun design and I'm using crazy fabric so it should definitely be colorful! I think it will become a present for our nephew who married last year. Better late than never!!!

Another job well done!

2009-07-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I was searching for a specific flannel fabric online. I searched in all the conventional places to no avail. I think this fabric line has been around for awhile. I found it in a different color, but that wouldn't do. You see, it had to match an item I purchased while in Idaho. I bought a burp cloth with 'ready to finish' edges. It had the holes punched on it around the edges and all I had to do was to finish the edges with a crochet pattern of my choosing.
My Grandmother used to do this kind of handwork. She has been gone for a couple of decades now and I would love to carry on the tradition she has given us.
I finished the burp cloth but cannot picture it here until after the baby shower at the end of September being held in honor of the upcoming birth of our third grandchild! This is the fanciest 'burp' cloth I've ever seen and thought it would be nice to make a few other items to go along with it. Thus the search for the fabric ensued. Having been unsuccessful in my search, I turned to Etsy and did a search there. I found it in one of the Etsy stores called Tattletale Boutique. This is a link to the store not the item. She had sufficient quantity of this fabric and after sending her a message letting her know how much I needed, she set up a special order for me which I then purchased.
Now, I have purchased probably hundreds of yards of fabric either online or through mail order and never did I expect what I received in the mail a couple of days after ordering. This is what I found after opening the box!

A perfect bundle of fabric wrapped carefully in tissue paper, tied with a cute blue polka dot fabric ribbon, complete with swirly lollipop, red curling ribbon, and custom thank you card! I didn't want to unwrap it, it was just too pretty!!! Sherrie at Tattletale Boutique went above and beyond to make my order extra special. Thanks Sherrie! Oh yeah, the fabric was just what I needed.

My Favorite Quilting Tool

2009-07-21T11:15:00.001-07:00

There are a few quiltmaking tools that I just can't live without. One is my Roxanne Thimble. I've had my Roxanne Thimble for probably 15 years now. Mine is sterling silver, which they no longer sell because it was quite cost prohibitive, but they do have gold and silver plated bronze along with polished bronze thimbles.

Pictured above is by far my favorite rotary cutter. I cannot cut without this cutter. Oh, sure I have other rotary cutters, but none of them hold a candle to this design. It does take some getting used to. It took me a few months after I bought it to even take it out of it's packaging and try to use it. This was all psychological hindrance. Once I actually started using it I found that it was highly superior (in my opinion) to all the others I had tried. I took the above picture from Martelli's Website. It appears they are having a sale! This is the website that showcases all their products. They have an online store where they offer them for sale too.

I believe this is a family company and my personal experience is that they have excellent customer service.

What's your favorite quiltmaking tool?

Editor's Note: I sent an email to the Martelli Company to let them know I was posting about their product and give them the opportunity to correct anything I may have posted in error. The following was their gracious response:

[The Martelli family would like to thank you from the bottom of our heart for the support!!!!! We hope the cutter will help those who desperately need it. My Dad designed it for my grandmother who was in desperate need of an ergonomic cutter.Thanks again for the kind words]

Jackpot! The blog lives!!!

2009-07-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

I've been AWOL from this blog for quite some time now. It's been a busy time for the past few months. Above is a gratuitous shot of my grandson posing with his jackpot on our antique slot machine. This kid is a master at expressions. Even though we have a slot machine, we are not the type to gamble at all! I think this machine actually taught our kids that gambling doesn't pay. In the 15 years that we have owned this machine, I think that there have maybe been a handful of jackpot winners.
Brandon hasn't yet learned this lesson. He discovered the joys of the slot machine on his family's visit from Idaho on the occasion of his fourth birthday and during their stay he hit the jackpot.

Brandon is obsessed with "Emergency Men". Actually, he calls them emergency men, but he loves anyone that is in the armed services or is in public safety such as Firemen and Policemen and Sheriff Deputies. He can play for hours with his little plastic Emergency Men (Army guys). This is the cake we came up with for his fourth Birthday Party.

I've been away from posting for awhile mainly because I've been busy with my mother with Alzheimer's Disease. After having her live with us for over 7 months, I have placed her in a board and care home close by. She could theoretically live for another 15 years and I really do need to be able to have my own life. When she was here, I couldn't go anywhere without having someone here to watch her. She made it difficult because she didn't want anyone else here watching her. She would argue with me about this and it just became easier not to go anywhere. It was a bit depressing to say the least.

Now, I have my life back and my husband has his wife back. She still takes up a good portion of my time making sure she is okay in this new environment. She won't be getting the level of care I gave her, but she's not going to die if her clothes don't match. : ) It's terribly hard watching the slow deterioration and dealing with her realities that have no basis in actual reality. I just hope that the home she is in will be able to care for her for awhile. People with Alzheimer's don't do well at all with change.

Now that I can take a deep breath and feel somewhat free, I can concentrate on posting a bit more regularly and more importantly, enjoy some colorful creations!

Retreat projects

2009-04-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

It's taken me awhile to write about the retreat I returned from almost two weeks ago! Better late than never. We had such a wonderful time! Some of us arrive on Thursday afternoon and on Friday we rejoice that it's only Friday. Come Saturday evening I start getting sad that it's almost over. Sunday afternoon is so, so sad because we have to leave. : (

Above is a quilt I'm working on for my youngest grandson.

Adam will be two in July. The pattern I used called for the big fishies and I just had to add the baby fishies (as cornerstones) too. Because I'm a glutton for punishment that way. Most of the big fishies are swimming to the right except one because there's always one in the bunch that marches to his own drummer. Some of the babies are swimming to the right and some have turned around to give their mommies a kiss. The babies still need big french knots for eyes and the whole quilt still needs a border. Unfortunately the fabric I had in my stash isn't big enough so I won't be able to use it. Maybe it will find it's way on the back!

Above is a close-up of one of the babies (kissing it's momma) and the fabric for the border that I don't have enough of. Below is a picture of the actual border fabric that I just purchased online at fabric.com.

This tablerunner is another project that I worked on at Retreat. I started on Thursday evening and finished quilting and attached the binding to the front by Friday evening. I really need to thank Kate for the great shoulder massage she gave me! The stippling I did on this tablerunner is teeny tiny. I gave this tablerunner to my son and daughter in law. She loves the old fashioned reproduction fabrics. I never did get a totally completed photo.

These are some of the Easter treats we made today. I had plans to make sugar cookies and dye eggs but the kids (family friends) that I thought were coming over couldn't make it. I definitely don't want to make a bunch of sugary stuff and have no one around to eat it.

My grandkids live in Idaho and I live in California. The good news is, they will be visiting in 2 1/2 weeks!

New Sockies!

2009-03-08T14:50:00.001-07:00

I did it! I set out to learn how to knit socks and I did it!!! (Disregard the hairy legs. It's still winter and I need the extra insulation.)

I found this yummy hand dyed yarn at a local shop and went to one of their drop in classes which got me through turning the heal and then I figured it out from there following the pattern. I used two circular needles instead of four double pointed needles.

I've already purchased three more skeins of yarn which will make three more pairs of cool sockies.

The two that are still in hanks I found on etsy.com. What a great resource! Now I'm going to hunt for another pattern that's a different design.

Cute Jacket for Haley

2009-02-23T14:40:00.001-08:00

I just finished this cute little Jacket for my little friend Haley. She will be turning 6 years old on February 26th! It was wrapped and put in the mail this morning. I hope it fits her!

The pattern is from PJ Anderson of New Beginning Designs and Silver Thimble Quilt Shop. The pattern is called Playful Patches Jacket. Her and her hubby sell patterns and fabric at quilt shows. I bought this one at Pacific International Quilt Festival. They are such fun people. I really liked her booth! If you'd like info about her patterns and where they will be selling in the future you can visit her website at http://www.silverthimbleonline.com/

I'm currently making one for me in vibrant batiks. I absolutely love the prairie points!

Field Trip to San Francisco

2009-01-28T17:46:00.000-08:00

My quilting buddy Jeanne and I went on a field trip today. We live across the Bay from the city of San Francisco. My DIL gave me a gift certificate to Britex Fabrics at Christmas so Jeanne and I scheduled a trip into the city to check it out. It was so much fun! It's not geared so much toward quilters and the fabrics there are pretty overpriced, but this piece of 100% silk had my name on it! It is stunningly gorgeous!!!

I found it on the fourth floor where they have the remnants. The ladies on the fourth floor are very nice. The other floors' employees were a bit snobbish for my taste. We started on the fourth floor and worked our way down. After we visited all the floors we went back up to the fourth floor and this is when I found this beauty.

I think I'll either make a blouse or a jacket out of it. Now I'm in search of the perfect pattern. There's only about 1 1/2 yards of it so it'll probably have to be a short sleeved blouse.

After shopping at Britex we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Another first for me and it didn't dissapoint either! I had fish tacos. Yummy!!! Even though our lunch was more than filling we had to have cheesecake. It isn't called Cheesecake Factory for nothing! Jeanne and I shared a slice. There are so many kinds of cheesecake to choose from it made it difficult to pick one. We chose something with lemon and raspberry sauce. It was delicious!

On the way back to BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) we stopped in at the Ghirardelli shop. Such a fun day and perfect weather to boot. We'll have to schedule more field trips in the future!!!

Tagged again! Six random or quirky things about myself

2009-01-07T08:18:00.000-08:00

Ugh! Looks like my computer froze after I was almost finished with this post and I lost all of it so I have to do this over! Here it goes.

I was tagged by my friend Sharon. I'm supposed to list 6 random or quirky things about me. Following my list are the rules and the next innocent victims.

here goes:

1. Whenever I've wanted to learn how to do something in life such as sewing, quilting, or baking bread; I've read books and taught myself how to do it. Trial and error came into play as well which leads to number 2.

2. When I was a teenager trying to bake bread I baked an awful lot of bricks. I would use water that was too hot and killed the yeast. The dough wouldn't rise and I'd have baked bricks instead of bread. I'm happy to report that I now make bread regularly. Hardly ever have to buy it in the store anymore! Yay for me!!!

3. I'm not afraid of spiders or snakes. Just last September at our Son's rehearsal (BBQ) dinner we found a tarantula and I held it which freaked out a few people. It was so cool. I will often catch spiders in the house and release them outside. They are amazing artists!!!

4. We used to have ducks as pets. It started with Peety and then Fred & Wilma, then Bigfoot and Waddles, then Harold & Hannah.

5. I hate to shop unless it's for books or fabric. Even then I've slowed down quite a bit.

6. I'm like the Princess and the pea. My bed has to be soft and comfy. The sheets and quilts have to be just right or I can't sleep well. One time we stayed at a small Inn in Pismo Beach, the bed was so hard I woke up crying!

Done, Whew!
Now the following people have been tagged! (Sorry!)

Kim at The Mad House
Aleyta and Matt at The Wife Diaries
Carolyn and Jeanne (no blog yet but I'll try to get them to start one)

I know I don't have 6 people tagged which breaks rule number four, but rules were made to be broken!

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Put the rules on the blog.
3. Write 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment.
6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Alphabet Meme

2009-01-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

I was tagged once again by my DIL. Thanks Aleyta!!! Here goes...

A - Available or Taken: taken
B - Best Friend: besides my daughters (including DIL), Jeanne is my BFF
C -Cake or Pie: cake I guess
D - Drink of Choice: diet coke
E - Essential item you use everyday: quilts
F - Favorite Color: love ‘em all!
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: not a fan, chocolate please
H - Hometown: Hayward, Ca
I - Indulgence: pedicures
J - January or February: January.
K - Kids & ages: Kimberly 25, Matthew 23, Savana 21, Grandkids; Brandon 3 1/2 & Adam 18 months
L - Life is incomplete without: family
M - Marriage Date or Most Memorable Date (and why): marriage 07/25/81
N - Number of Siblings: 3 brothers
O - Oranges or Apples: a good juicy navel orange
P- Phobias or Fears: Probably heights if I had to choose something,
Q - Fave Quote: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. I try to live by it!
R - Reason to Smile: my crazy cute grandkids.
S - Season: Spring
T - Tag 3 or 4 People: If you'd like to do this, go right ahead!
U - Unknown fact about me: When I was in high school I took a needle arts class and went to school with my ‘super yarn mart’ bag along with my books. Got teased a bit about that but I didn’t care!
V - Vegetable you don't like: I don't like brussel sprouts or radishes. Yuck!
W - Worst Habit: procrastination - but I work better under pressure!
X - X-rays: yup, broken wrist, broken ankles, broken leg, broken toe, bad hip, arthritic thumbs, TMJD. Hurts just to mention ‘em.
Y - Your Fave Food: La Pinata Mexican food all the way baby!
Z - Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Charming Skirts!

2008-12-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

I've been busy making these cute little patchwork skirts made from 5" charm square packs. Each skirt takes one charm pack. The skirt above is made from the Smores line and I can't remember what the one below is made from. I got the pattern from this tutorial. I added a waistband and a cute little trim on the hem.
I wish I were five years old again and could wear one of these! I hope the cute little girls that will receive them like them as much as I had fun making them!!!

2008-12-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by my daughter in law and I'm supposed to turn the items I've eaten bold and have some friends do the same. So I'm now tagging Sharon and Pam! Have fun!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush (don't like it one bit)
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream ( my absolute favorite ice cream flavor!)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche (actually just the ice cream flavor)
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka + Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips (the real thing's much better)
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. ratatouille
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict (mine is the best!)
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100.Snake

Amaaaaazing Bread!

2008-12-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was reading one of my absolute favorite blogs here and started searching online for similar processes. I found a 10 minute no knead bread video here . I couldn't figure out how to put the video on my blog. I'll keep working on it but in the meantime go to the video link and check it out. I thought this was something I could do so I did it. Even though it says it's a 10 minute bread, that just describes the actual amount of work involved in making this bread. The whole process takes 18-24 hours. Let me tell you, it is well worth it! The bread is absolutely delicious! It's the best bread I've ever made!!!

It makes a perfect crust and crumb. It is amazingly simple and so good! Try it, you'll love it! I'll try to post a tutorial on it in the next couple of days.

Catch up time!

2008-12-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks after retreat I took a trip to visit these two guys! They live smack dab in the middle of potato country. Actually it's the southeastern portion of potato country. I sure wish they didn't live sooooo far away!

Adam is a big ham. He saw I was taking his picture and immediately started smiling. At the same time he's preparing for the flash.

Brandon is seen here posing with his I Spy Quilt that I made for him for his second birthday.

While I was visiting at my daughter's house we went to one of the craft stores in town and bought some place mats, purse handles, and fabric for lining. These little purses are really fun to make and I got the directions here. I made my daughter make one too. She didn't like the handles she chose. They were not the right size for the bag. Live and learn.

About a week after returning from Grandkid land I had to move my mother with Alzheimer's into our home. It will be a challenge and I don't know how long this arrangement will work. I'm just taking it a day at a time. All I can say is thank god for the Alzheimer's Day Care that she's been attending for about eight months now. The people that work there are so good at what they do. They are definitely angels on earth.

Thanksgiving was one of the best we've ever had. It would have been the best if our daughter Kimberly and her family were here. My new daughter in law made place cards and decorated/set our dining room table. I'm so glad she did too. It's my least favorite part of having guests over. I'm usually scrambling at the last minute trying to get it done. Now that she's showed us her talents, she's got the job as long as she wants it!

The last item to catch up on is the Advent quilt I made for my grandsons. It's all filled and on it's way to them. It will get there in a couple of days but they're too young to know what date it is anyway! I know they'll have fun looking inside the pockets for the treats. Next year I'll just have to send the treats and my daughter can put them inside the pockets.

Whew! That was a lot to catch up on. I'll be posting later on some cute little skirts I'm making. Till then happy sewing!

Quilt Retreat Projects

2008-10-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went on retreat with a group of women that have been retreating a couple times a year for over 10 years. It's the best bunch of women. We all seem to get along really well and just enjoy each other's company, ideas, and encouragement. Pam is in this group as well as Sharon, however Sharon didn't make it this time. She lives a bit far away now so she isn't able to make it twice a year. We missed you Sharon! : (

We stayed pretty close to home at a local hotel that caters to business travelers. They offered their conference room at a discount because we used it on the weekend (Friday through Sunday). They also gave us a group rate for anyone who wanted to stay there. It was so nice! My friend and I shared a two bedroom suite. We each had our own bedroom with a queen size bed and our own bathroom. There was also a livingroom and full kitchen. The hotel offers a full breakfast bar in the morning which was yummy! We all decided that we want to Retreat here three times a year instead of just two times.

I didn't know what I was going to work on prior to coming to the retreat so I made sure I packed enough projects to work on. I think I must have brought about 6 UFO's and another 6 yet to be started projects. In the end I worked on just two of the UFO's. I guess I was a bit more optimistic about what I would get done. I worked on putting these Garden Exchange blocks together in a quilt.

I wanted to give it a garden 'feel' so I chose to put random floral fabrics in with the blocks to unite them all. I really had fun creating this quilt although it took much longer than I thought it would.

I really like the way it turned out! I have the back just about pieced together so it will be ready to send to my friend Shari to do her magic with the longarm machine quilting!

Putting the binding on this quilt was the other project I worked on during retreat. It's kinda funny how these two quilts seem like companions. They have a lot of the same fabrics in them. It's very flowery and springlike. It'll make this winter seem like spring!

Tushy Cushion from a great Tutorial

2008-10-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

As I said in a previous post, I have been spending time reading lots of sewing and quilting blogs. I found this great blog http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/ This blog has lots of tutorials and I've been perusing them for awhile. I saw this great tutorial for a cushion here. http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=527 I thought, "I could do that"!

My close friends and family know that in my kitchen I have a built in desk area where I spend most of my day doing paperwork and playing, I mean working on the computer. I sit on a chair with two pillows under my tushy. I like to be sitting taller than the chair alone gets me. I thought it was time to make my own fancy tushy cushion. Here is what I came up with with the help of the tutorial mentioned above.

The tutorial explained everything very clearly. It made piping easy! The zipper was even easier!!!

It even has handles so I can take it to my quilt retreats. I'll definitely be bringing this to my next retreat which so happens to be on Friday!!! I can't wait.

PIQF and honest quilters!

2008-10-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I met my friend Jeanne at PIQF as we have done for several years. Every year it amazes me. There are so many talented and creative quilters out there. This story however is about the amazing honesty and goodness that quilters possess.

As you know, my son was married not too long ago and he and his bride honeymooned in Mexico for two weeks. Upon their return we had them over for a "non salsa, non tortilla, beanless " dinner on Tuesday. They brought me this lovely turquoise bracelet from Mexico.

I wore this bracelet to the quilt show and didn't realize it was no longer on my wrist until the next morning. I was just sick about it. I realized that it must have been lost at the quilt show. I dreaded the fact that I would have to explain to my son and brand new daughter in law that I had lost the bracelet they gave me.

That evening I was talking with my husband and commenting on how maybe someone had turned it in at the quilt show. He said that whomever, if anyone, had found it would just pocket it.

The next morning, Saturday, I searched online for a phone number for security at the convention center. I called and they said they didn't have it but they gave me the number for the quilt show registration desk. I called that number and told them about losing the bracelet. The nice lady on the phone asked me to describe it which I did. She said it was there! I couldn't believe it!!! I told her I was on my way.

When I got there I went directly to the registration desk and picked up the bracelet. I asked if anyone had left a name or an address so I could thank them but there was none. I hope that the person who turned my bracelet in had the best feeling inside when she did so and I sure hope that something amazing happens for her. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Whoever you are!

I wasn't planning on returning to the show but since I still had my entrance band on I thought I should take another look around in celebration of finding my bracelet.

Beautiful Wedding!

2008-10-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

There's a few reasons why I haven't posted for a couple of months. One of those reasons is that my son and his beautiful bride got married on September 29th. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding. Matt and Aleyta were married in San Juan Bautista which is about an hour and a half from our home. It is a quaint little town where chickens roam free and reminds my daughter in law of Mexico where she lived for a while. Yes she speaks fluent spanish! Pretty good for a gringa!!!

They held the wedding in the lush gardens of a mexican restaurant named Jardines de San Juan. Jardines translates to Gardens in english. We didn't have to go far for the reception!

I must say that when I first laid eyes on my daughter in law (to be-in moments) I was taken aback by how beautiful she was in her wedding gown. I immediately was overtaken with emotion and had to give her a big hug. She had been dreaming about this day since she was a little girl and she just glowed with beauty!

As she walked down the aisle and my son saw her for the first time in her wedding gown, he also was overtaken with emotion. He's a sweetheart and a great young man who has chosen a wonderful young woman to share his life with.

This is my grandson Brandon. He's 3 1/2 years old and he was the ring bearer/reception entertainment with his harmonica that he received from his Uncle Matt and Auntie Aleyta.

This is my husband Steve and I standing in front of the quilt I made for the bride and groom. I didn't get a picture of the bride and groom in front of the quilt because the wind picked up and kept knocking the quilt over so we took it down.

Now that the rehearsal dinner and wedding is behind us maybe I can start getting some quilt related projects going. I'm afraid I've been spending a lot of time reading other quilter's blogs when I should be sewing. Anyone else have that problem too?

Crazy Block Exchange

2008-08-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

I've taken a bit of a break from organizing fabric to work on some blocks for a block exchange that I'm in. There are 12 of us and we each chose which colorway we wanted our blocks done in and we will receive 24 blocks in the colorway of our choice. Actually we will receive 22 blocks. To make it 24 we have to make a couple of blocks for ourselves. A lot of us chose blue/green/purple colors, one chose just purple, one chose purple and orange, one chose purples, fushia, orange, rusts, and yellows, one chose just rusts, one chose just oranges and two chose off white/beige/tans.

Here's a closer view of the off white/beige/tan blocks. I sewed these last. They weren't my favorite to sew because they aren't colorful enough for me but I must say that they are very elegant and sophisticated!

Here are some pictures of the dreaded and neverending fabric organization. Above is the cupboard with florals, solids,and holiday fabrics.
This cupboard has the novelty fabrics in it. This cupboard and the one above are in the upstairs hallway fairly close to the quilt studio with no windows nearby so fading shouldn't be an issue.

I'd say I'm just about halfway done, well maybe one-third done, with this gi-normous job. It's going to take forever!!!

Chaos in the quilt studio!

2008-06-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

I decided that I would try to get my quilt studio organized. More accurately, my fabric stash. I got an ELFA drawer system from The Container Store. This is the view from behind. This is where I'm going to store all my fat quarters. I have built an ironing/cutting surface and placed it on top of the structure. When everything is put away you will be able to see the colorful cover I made for the ironing surface.This is a shot of my drawer system from the front with some of the drawers opened. I'm folding all my fat quarters in 60 degree triangles. I know, I'm crazy!

I have these cupboards that I've been storing all (well most) of my fabric. As you can see it was an unorganized mess!!!

Another shot of another cabinet a little closer up. It's really a mess. How can I find anything in here?
I've been folding fabric. It seems that it never ends. Once I fold it I store it in boxes and bags and it waits to be placed in the cupboards. The problem is that the cupboards are stuffed with fabric that still needs to be folded as well. I guess you need to make a bigger mess before you can get organized. This is a collection of fabric of which some has been folded and some is waiting to be folded.
These are all folded and waiting for room on the shelves. The red bag is full of solid fabrics and there's more of it somewhere!
This is a view of my quilt studio formerly known as a bedroom. I have one of those block butlers on the closet door. It's not my preferred design wall, but it'll do for now.
This is how I'm folding the fabric that is 1/2 yard cuts or more. The shelves are deep so I"m putting other items behind the fabric and will label the face of the shelf with what I can find behind the stacks of fabric. These two shelves will have pillowforms behind the stacks! I really like how it's going to look!!! I can see every piece of fabric I have here. It looks soooo neat!

Creativity is fun!!!

2008-04-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

This was the product of a weekend of fun sewing. I used my hand dyed fabric scraps and just started sewing. No measuring, no pattern. Just lots of colorful fun! I'm definitely going to make more and will probably do some kind of black and white possibly pieced sashing.

I just love the freedom and creativity that went into these blocks!

Matt & Aleyta's Wedding Quilt in Progress

2008-04-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

This is the quilt I'm working on for my son and his fiance. Hmmm, I don't know how to get the accent mark over the 'e' in fiance. Oh Well! It will have a small inner border of the same green as the snowball blocks, then a small pieced border in the background fabric with the lighter green fabric, then a larger border of the brown that is the center of the star blocks. Before borders this quilt measures 99"x117". This one's definitely going to be quilted by my friend Shari who has a longarm machine.

This is the happy couple. My son Matthew and his lovely bride to be, Aleyta!

They will be getting married this September.

Rabbit the frog

2008-04-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

I attended a retreat this last weekend. We have a great group of quilters that get together a couple of times a year for retreat. We all get along so well and have a blast doing what we love to do. I brought my son and future daughter in law's wedding quilt supplies with me to work on which I did. It is a Tennessee Waltz quilt that she picked the colors for. I will post pics of this quilt later. It will be a beautiful quilt but it's not a scrappy quilt so I got a bit bored with working on it so I decided I would make this cute little frog.

As I was working on the frog I kept referring to it as a rabbit. I guess because it was so close after Easter and it was in Easter colors. I decided to name the little guy rabbit. "rabbit, rabbit"

Easter cupcakes

2008-04-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to catch up with everything that happened while I didn't have time to blog them. Easter was way too early for me this year and we didn't have any young ones close enough to share it with. We still got into the spirit. My future daughter in law and I had fun dying eggs and everyone caught the decorating bug by decorating these Easter cupcakes. My husband decorated the one on the very top. At least he participated!

I ended up tossing the eggs and most of the cupcakes because we didn't eat them. The fun was in the decorating!

Vacations and Quilt Shops

2008-04-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

My husband and I go to Oregon once a year to visit his 93 year old Uncle around his birthday. We usually turn it into a mini vacation for the two of us. We have covered nearly all of the Oregon coast and part of Washington on our trips. We have traveled from Long Beach, Washington down to Florence, Oregon.

All along the way we visit quilt shops! My husband's only request is that I pose in front of the shop and let him take a picture. I comply with his request and then he tells me to take my time shopping. He is such a great guy! He knows I have fabric up the ying yang and never complains about my new purchases.

This trip we went from Newport down to Florence. We thought this sign directing us to how many miles it is to all the Florences in the world was too cool.

The small town of Florence has two quilt shops. They are very different from each other but both are great. My absolute favorite was the 'Joy of Quilting' shop. They were very welcoming and friendly. The decor is bright and cheery. The shop has most fabrics already cut in fat quarters and 1 yard cuts. I can't tell you how much I love that! I hate dragging bolts around while I shop. There was a comfy chair for my husband to sit in with a dish of chocolate for him to nibble and they also gave me a free seam ripper as a little gift and also one for my friend Jeanne back home.

Long time no see.

2008-03-31T10:34:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time since my last post.
Taxes are finally done. Thank God! Whew!!!

Earlier this month we received a visit from our oldest daugter and her family, the stars of which are our two grandsons Brandon and Adam. They live in Southeastern Idaho in the middle of Potato farm country. It's been a cold, snowy, never ending winter. I'm sure they enjoyed our California weather!

Brandon has his grandma's heart turned to mush! When I went to pick them up at the airport and he spotted me, he started yelling "Grandma, I lub you! Grandma, I lub you!" He ran to me and I picked him up. We hugged and he kept saying "Grandma, I lub you!" It was definitely priceless. Everybody around was smiling and we were happy as can be.

Here is a picture of Adam with his 'Papa'. He is just a happy little baby. Loves his big brother to pieces!

He is the spitting image of his grandpa. He's already had two haircuts at 8 months old! He was born needing a haircut!!!

Feeding the Eagles

2008-02-09T19:13:00.001-08:00

One of the things my husband and I love to do is to go to our tiny cabin in the mountains and fish in the lake nearby. We catch trout and feed them to the bald eagles and osprey. It's so thrilling to witness these great birds swoop down to get their lunch!

Done with my work for the day, now for some quilt pics!

2008-02-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

UGH! I've been working all day today doing paperwork to get ready for the tax guy next month. It's been a beautiful, finally warm Saturday but wouldn't you know it, I was stuck in the house which for some reason was colder inside than out. I've declared myself done for the day and thought I'd spend a little time posting some pictures of a couple of quilts that I've made.

This stained glass butterfly quilt is from a pattern. I used all of my hand-dyed fabrics except the black. Hand appliqued and machine quilted.

This Butterflyz quilt was made for Miss Haley. She is my little friend that used to come and spend Tuesdays with me while her mom went with her brother to a weekly appointment. We both enjoyed spending time together exploring nature, art, and the park! Haley's family moved about five hours away! : ( We keep in touch by phone and every once in a while Haley will come for a visit that's jam packed with all the things we used to do together. She is a sweet girl and she loves 'Butter'lies'. (That's how she used to say butterflies).

Here's Haley with her quilt! She loves pink!

Ricky Tims Seminar and The Quilt Police

2008-02-05T19:45:00.000-08:00

I have to tell you all about the Seminar I went to a couple of weeks ago. It was the Ricky Tims Super Seminar and if you get the opportunity to attend this seminar where you live, by all means do it. http://www.rickytims.com/seminars.html He is such an all around entertainer and has so much talent. He is a musician, a quilter extraordinaire, a teacher, a comedian, and a great storyteller. The information given at this seminar is worth twice the price of admission! Please check out his website and more importantly his quilts. Even if his style of quilts is not your thing, the information in his seminar can be used for all aspects of quilting.

This is a Stitch and Split Applique flower that a group of mine did an exchange with. I rarely do exchanges because I never seem to finish them. There usually are several different size blocks even when they're supposed to all be the same size. This was a good block to do for an exchange because it's made lager than needed and you are able to cut all to the same size.

Since the appliqued flowers and leaves are raw edge, I did my vine border raw edge as well. This quilt is for the wall. I love the happy colors! I machine quilted it in a variegated Superior Thread. Love the Superior Threads! I entered this quilt in the local county fair and they said that it should have been quilted in white to match the background. Silly, silly quilt police. If I wanted to quilt it in boring white, I would have! They just don't realize my love of color. I feel sorry that they just have tunnel vision. They strongly feel the rules should be obeyed. I do too when it comes to the law of the land. When it comes to quilts, it's whatever feels good to me!

Debut!

2008-02-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

Hello All!

I've been inspired by my friend Pam! http://www.pam-purplequilter.blogspot.com/ I decided to create a blog for myself. This probably isn't the best time of year for me to start this due to the fact that I really really need to get paperwork ready for the accountant for this years' tax preparation but I guess it's as good a time as any!

Right now I really have to get back to work and I'll work on this blog in the evenings along with getting some quilting done.

I'm excited!

Thanks Pam. Talk to you later.
Roberta