Bouncing,
or bumping, the bothersome beebees are buggin' the buggers outta me...

Been running a bit this past couple of weeks and when I'm not home much, I start to make mental lists... Lists of things that I'm gonna do when I'm home for more than 2 consecutive hours. Things like laundry and baking and blogging and quilting- and not necessarily in that order. But then, the problem arises when I'm finally home and I'm too pooped to tackle the list. Told my Mom I was having a difficult time focusing... she asked if I were bouncing from one thing to another and I said, "Nope, more like a dull bump." I haven't the energy to bounce.

Eva has made radio and television commercials over the past week. For those of you who may think that I'm some kinda crazy Hollywood mom, just let me say that this is a once in a lifetime- mine- occurrence, and it is mainly as a favor for any other children who have concerns about getting MRI's or CAT scans. It doesn't hurt a bit and that's what Evabeth wanted to let others know. Eva had a blast. This is a picture of her when we returned home after the last day of shooting. She wanted Grandmother to see her "butterflies." None in her tummy. Boo went with us for the radio and photo shoot. When they decided to take a break, and offered the girls some chocolate milk, Eva says that Mom can't have any, "because she's on a diet." I get the look-over, you know what I mean, and I'm sure they're thinking, "Yep, some crazy Hollywood mom trying to look like a teeny-bopper." And I roll my eyes and consider explaining... when Boo pipes up, loud and clear, "Mom has beebees 'cause her pancakes don't work." It was a painful moment of silence as they stood there looking at me in complete confusion...to which all I could do was start rolling laughing, and making them even more certain that I'm a crazed Hollywood mom.

The Kansas troubles are put together for my Aunt Eva who has been asking for a quilt for a number of years. This is the second one I've started. Seems to be a cursed project. I ran out of the soft turquoise fabric when I really needed two more blocks. Bummer. Decided to put it together anyway. Do you think it'll be alright even if it isn't balanced? It measures 50"x65" as it is, now. I have a little bolder turquoise and brown which I plan on piecing into another 5" border of triangles. I can't even tell you how many triangle points I whacked off in this little project... might be easier to figure out how many triangles are actually left! Technically, if a triangle has more than 3 sides... it isn't a triangle any longer, eh? The alternate blocks are made of a Japanese fabric that is regrettably striped, but that's what I do- stripes, paisley, waves and plaids all in the same quilt top. But I think the scale is ok, so it doesn't bother me. Wonder if Aunt Eva will feel the same.

Oh, and I didn't explain about the beebees to the TV guys. But I will to you. I have diabetes because my pancreas doesn't work. I do NOT have beebees because my pancakes don't work. There are some things a 5 year old really just cannot understand, eh Benjamin?

Happy Birthday, Joe!!
Joseph is sweet 16, today. He's a great guy. He was born almost 7 weeks early and started off as a tiny little thing. Now, he is bigger than his father and it seems hard to believe how fast 16 years can pass you by! You all would like him- everyone likes Joe. He isn't loud or obnoxious, but he hasn't a shy bone in his body- a rare thing I've decided in a guy his age. He quietly goes about meeting people and doing his work. Smiling. If he sees someone he doesn't know, "Yo! My name's Joe. Come on over and join the rest of us." Easy as that. He has a great sense of humor and loves little kids- gets a kick out of them. He can get the baby to do what he should with just a frown, but Abe still wants to be held by Joe when it's movie night. My favorite thing about Joe is his ability to always keep things in perspective. He's very cool. No teenage tirades about the injustices of life. Being the oldest of 8 children, I guess he just figures that life ain't always fair. And that seems to be ok with him. Life is usually fun. His mama is real proud.

The 'flu is finally letting go...

I've been down and out with the 'flu. Not a lot of fun. Of course, it would coincide with the extra days I had to work! Oh well, I lived through it and, for that, I am most grateful. My knees are still a little wobbly and my nose is peeling- a real good look for me, but otherwise I feel pretty great.

My nephew, Jonathan, was here for a visit and I didn't even get a picture of him! Bummer. There's a picture on my mom's site, if your interested. He is close to the same age as my oldest, and they get on very well. Actually, he got on great with all of my kids- my daughters' idolized him the entire time he was here! He was a great sport and ate everything I sat in front of him and I'm pretty sure that 99% of it was completely unfamiliar. The guy with the maniacal look in his eyes is my brother, David. He's Jonathan's dad. (Doesn't he remind you of that Fiennes brother in Luther? You haven't seen that movie? Well, maybe you should.) At anyrate, David is explaining to the children how redeye occurs. "Coooool," they say when they find out it has something to do with your blood veins. He is very good at explaining things. He was picking up his son after he had stayed with us a week. Ever wonder how to move a plane? In the back of a Penske moving van, apparently. Even the kids recognized the parts.

I have been playing around with Kansas Troubles blocks. I saw this idea in a book called, amazingly, Kansas Troubles. (I had some leftover yellows from my GFG.) When I realized that it included "prairie flowers," I thought I had to try it. It is a table runner- just in case it isn't recognizable. The flowers are appliqued on and I decided that I would try it their way. Maybe they've made improvements in heat-n-bond since I last tried it, 15 years ago.... nope, it's still not a great way to applique. Maybe it's me. I just have a real hard time ironing the flowers on and then stitching them down with the sewing machine. Does anyone else think this looks really bad? It's probably me. (I once had to try on 46 bras before I finally quit railing against bra designers everywhere and settled onto the thought, it's me. An epiphany moment. The amazing thing isn't that I tried on that many bras, but that I took 46 bras off those ridiculous little hangers and replaced all 46 bras to those same ridiculous hangers. Sheesh!) My point is, I just have a hard time doing some things that everyone else seems to handle just fine. It takes me a lot of time and effort to applique with the sewing machine and the results... well, pathetic. And I am left feeling really defeated. Where, if I had just done it my way- by hand, yes, it would have taken a lot of time and effort, but the end result would have looked decent. Oh well, I have a vague impression of someone who likes yellow... she won't mind if the applique looks lame. I'll try to quilt something pretty on it to make up for the applique efforts gone awry.

Selma Lou strikes again...
Well you know it's bad when that other person keeps sneakin' into your quilting room and making a mess of things and you decide she really needs a name if she is going to take the blame for her actions. Despite the fact that I have a hard and fast rule about never shelfing anything without leaving proper documentation, she is always stashing stuff without so much as a whisper of where she was going with it. But to be fair, I doubt I'd be happy with her explanations as I just cannot see how she intended that conglomeration of roses to go together in anything that resembles something I might like. ahh... lightbulb moment... maybe that's why it's on the shelf. It's all becoming clear to me now. I hated it...I mean, Selma Lou hated it and so she stuffed it on the back shelf where she thought that, after a time, we might morph into 90 year old grannies and actually like it... Selma Lou's a strange duck. I tried to lay it out in some fashion, but alas, I'm as hopeless at this as she is. I bet Bonnie could pick up those little blocks and BAM! a work of art would be born. sigh. Maybe Selma Lou was on to something... there's a little room on that back shelf.

Multiple personalities...
Wouldn't it be strange if weird projects kept popping up in your quilting room? Things that you know, without a shadow of a doubt, you would never, ever have started. I'm tellin' ya, this happens to me. Ok, true, I have some foggy recollection of having had something to do with it. I faintly recall starting these baskets because... oh, yes, that's right, I like to applique. Good a reason as any. What I don't recall, is that I got all of the handles done. And I suppose they have been sitting on the shelf for... 3, 4 years? Yeah. But homespun? I'm feeling a bit nauseous. And I didn't remember that each basket is supposed to be surrounded by itty, bitty little half square triangles. That would compensate for the rather dull, plain basket, eh? Uhuh. It ain't happenin' in my lifetime. What to do? I spent 30 minutes and pieced all the baskets together, which my other personality was kind enough to have already cut out for me. Then I thought, since we seemed to be having a moment of open communication, "WHY?" She just shrugged her shoulders and said that she wanted cherries on the baskets because she wanted to applique cherries in the borders and she looked and looked and never could find any she liked- had her heart set on something Asian-looking and so she finally settled for thimbleberries- which looks more like currants, I said. She shrugs her shoulders and says that's why it ended up in homespuns. See what happens when you settle? It's a slippery slope my friends.

Just because I can....
DH walks in on me this morning, as he is leaving for work. He stops in his tracks and starts laughing, "Are you starting another project?" I don't know how he guessed as I was only sitting in the middle of the floor with three of my stash bins opened. Yes, I'm starting a new project. Why? Just because I can. Just piddling, really. Or as my Aunt Isobel would say, noodling. Sometimes I just start things that I know I won't like, just because... I guess... because I can. They have no purpose. No destination. And no sense of color co-ordination. I just want to sew on something new that has no expectations. Do you ever do that? Sometimes I realize that it's the orneriness in me coming out. Like this little piece. I don't much care for doing borders and I said, "I'm going to do this thing." You'll notice, it's almost all borders- with 6 more to go. Why, why, why? There's already four borders and the silly thing is only 30 1/2." Which is now a major problem as the pattern says it should measure 29 1/2." So the next border isn't going to fit properly. And that leaves me annoyed. No, I had no expectations it would work out, but still, the mystery of how it all went wrong is ... perturbing. Is that a word? I think so.

Midnight on Mars...
involves a really cool bed. This bed was made by one of my brothers, Craig. He cut down the trees and dried them and peeled the bark off, and tada- after many hours, produced a very fine bed for my sweet SIL. Now that wasn't a bed, I mean bad, anniversary present! Craig has always like carpentry, I think. This the point in the blog that, if you are squeamish, you ought to slide down to the next paragraph. One day, about 15 years ago, I was paying my parents a visit, since my other brother David and his family were in town. We arrived at the house together and I didn't notice how quiet David had become when we started walking towards the door. David is a carpenter and he immediately noticed some things amiss. Like the garage door still open and the blood on the deck. A friend was home to greet us with the news that Craig had cut his thumb and another finger off. Beccie and I burst into tears and David quietly got up to clean the deck off before my mom got home from work. I think that was the most thoughtful thing I can remember David ever doing- not that he isn't very thoughtful, but I know he was just as upset as we were, maybe more, and that he was thinking of how upset my mom would be and was doing what he could to make it easier for her. Craig came home, minus one thumb and a whole lot of stitches in another finger, looking pale and stunned. My dad looked absolutely grey. It's hard to see your children hurting. I think Craig was 20 and he was making a new pulpit for the church. He is quite recovered, now, and when little children ask him what happened to his thumb, he just says, "Didn't you know? This is what happens when you pick your nose with your thumb." And he demonstrates.

The blue and white quilt was made by a dear family friend, Miss Darla, but it has served as the main quilt in the house for 15 years, and the binding has been replaced. It's time to put it into semi-retirement. The "twisted sister" quilt above, was made by my mom and is called Midnight on Mars. You see, she had all this fabric that she had been collecting for a quilt called Picnic on Mars... but in the end, I suppose she changed her mind. I'm glad I never do that. ahem. She added some of the blacks and darker colors and said that it looked more like Midnight on Mars. She picks very good names for quilts. (Judy, you should ask her for ideas for your quilt names.) I keep getting these pictures from my SIL, Lisa, of the finished bed- think they are hinting that they would like the quilt to be finished, too. As the weather doesn't allow me to get out and about, today, I'll be working on it and seeing if I can't finish it before my mom comes to visit- so she can do the binding! Can you believe it is snowing after all that sunshine? I have started doing one of Darcie's topography meanders in the two outer borders. Only mine looks more like burled wood- I obviously need to spend more time studying Darcie's fine examples. It always amazes me how each quilter's work has characteristics unique to the quilter. A meander is one of those simple designs that looks very different depending on who did it. Some have very short waves, some look like puzzle pieces(mine to tend to be this way), some have long lines in them. So Darcie's Maps look more like wood when done under the Nines interpretation- but I still think I could get closer to the look of hers- if I got a closer look at it- hint hint. But since the burled wood look is already in, I'll just finish with it. It looks nice, anyway.