A little furrball and a duck

Posted on June 19, 2010 by Barb

Oh, my.  I’m smitten with this little baby.  What a cutie she is!
 

Isn’t she just the cutest thing?  I want her.  Wonder how Boo feels about that statement.  Probably not good.  Boo has been near a little kitten a couple of times in his life and both times he turned into a crazy cat.  Then he hissed at me for 5 days.  OK, maybe it was only a couple of hours, but it felt like 5 days.  I even have the video of him to prove it.  Did I mention he turned into a crazy cat?  I don’t think he wants a new little sister.  Good thing he didn’t see me today.  Dolly was all over me.  He might not be happy if he knew that.  And it’s important to keep Boo happy at our house.  Boo rules.

Dear Hubby liked her too.  I think if I had tried real hard, I might have been able to convince him that we needed her.  Boo would have to adjust.  It would be good for him.  But alas….

Dolly belongs to Dear Hubby’s Aunt Willadene.  And I don’t think there is any way she is giving her up.

Even if she has to give her a talking to every once in awhile.  They have bonded.  And you’d have to pry Dolly out of Aunt Willadene’s hands.  But…..

Dolly enjoyed playing with Dear Hubby.

Action shot!  And even though it doesn’t look like it, Dolly made it to the chair and Dear Hubby’s lap.

Dear Hubby teaches kitties bad habits.  Like biting and scratching and, for all intents and purposes, ripping your arm off.  Maybe we don’t need one of these after all.  I kind of like the skin on my arms.  I’ve become very attached to it.  And I don’t particularly like it bloodied.

But isn’t she cute?  Don’t you just want to give her a big hug?  I do.  And I did.  And kisses.  She bit my nose.

That cute, innocent little thing bit my nose.  At least she didn’t draw blood.  And I kissed her again anyway.

And she can play all day all by herself!

“What’s that little snakey thing back there?”

“OOOOOO I got it!”

“Wait!  It got away!  How did it get over there?”

“I can get it, I’m sure I can!”
 

In exactly 3 minutes and 29 seconds Dolly wore herself out and had to take a nap.  You could play with her feet and tail and she didn’t even wake up.  When a kitten falls asleep, it falls asleep!

Isn’t she just the cutest?  Did I menton I want one?  She’s a bit hard to resist.  Especially when she’s sleeping and not ripping the skin off your arm.

Look at that little pink nose.  Don’t you just want to kiss it?  I do.  Dear Hubby would not.  He doesn’t care for kissing cats.  But that nose is very tempting to me.  Dolly is just too cute for her own britches.

And after we left Aunt Willadene’s last night, we went here for dinner…….

Dinner in a gas station.  But what a dinner it was!!!!!  You can check out their website for more information.  Be sure to watch the video.  It tells a lot about the place.  You have to go there.  It’s a must see restaurant.  Wanna meet me for lunch?  Just call and I’m there.

It is not your typical gas station.  The shirts that the wait staff wear tell the truth…..

Five Star Food, cooked by an unbelievable chef.  It was so good!

Dear Hubby and I shared this Duck a l’Orange.  Well, actually this is just my plate.  They split it for us before they brought it to the table.  That sauce was unbelievable.  I wanted to lick my plate.  I guess in a gas station that just might have been acceptable.  After all, it was OK at Susan’s house.

Dear Hubby was really focused on that duck.  And I really just wanted you to see the atmosphere of the place.  How many times have you eaten Duck a l’Orange at a place where you can grab a Coke out of the cooler on the wall too?  Interesting place.  And you can fill up with gas before you head home.

But this is really why we shared dinner.  I wanted to have room for dessert.  Bread pudding with cognac sauce.  Oh, my.  We picked up our spoons and chowed down so fast I forgot to take a picture until it was almost gone.  And I really, I mean really, wanted to lick this plate.  So call me any time you want to share a bowl of bread pudding.  I’m there.

The people at the table next to us had a mean bread bowl of lobster bisque.  I think I’ll try that next time.  Then you can not only lick the bowl, you can eat it!  YUM!

Happy duck hunting,
Barb

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First Annual Barb’s Bloggie Awards!

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Barb

Yesterday was the JSS Bee’s “It’s OK Sampler” class with Beverly at Quilter’s Dream Quilt Shop.  A fun day was had by all!  Even the teacher.  At least I think she had a good time too.  When she wasn’t running out of the room screaming and hiding in the bathroom from the crazy women in her class today.  This group sometimes has that affect on people.  And it also was a very busy day at the Shop.

So I thought I’d take this opportunity for some Bloggie Awards of my own making.  And don’t think that because the word “annual” is in the title that this will actually be a yearly event.  It might end up being a weekly event or perhaps a monthly event.  Or you may never see it again.  I was just looking for a catchy title.  Hopefully you’ll get a kick out of a few of these……

Best Shirt with a Flower on It goes to…………………

 

……….. SALLY!  I’m so jealous – I WANT one of these!  You’ll remember that when Sally, Suz and I went to a Quilt Show recently we were stopped by hundreds of people (OK – two) who wanted to admire Sally’s cat shirt.  So she made another so she can make us squirm and wish we had one all over again.

Best Leaning Tower of Pony/Giraffe/Llama/Donkey goes to…………..

………. PAM!  Not sure why he was leaning so much, but he sure is cute leaning on her sewing machine.  Next time we will all bring our pony/giraffe/llama/donkey so they can have a party together.

Best Rapt Attention Trying to Win the Affection of the Teacher goes to……..

……………….PAM!  Look at her over there in the right corner.  She’s just dripping with rapt attention.

Best Red Faced Laughter goes to…………………..

………………..KAREN!  She was being very conservative with using her stash fabric.

See?  She was pulling the batting off the last pieces of that green fabric.  Leftover backing from a previous quilt.  Now that ought to get an award for Best Use of Stash Fabric!  Or maybe even Best at Using Every Inch of Leftover Fabric – what do ya think?

Best Mischievous Grin or I am About to Get into Big Trouble Face goes to…….

……… CINDY!

………. and CINDY!

……. and CINDY!  She really looks like she’s about to get into trouble, doesn’t she?

Best I Can Hide Behind My Quilt Top goes to………

……………JUDY!  What a cute Peeping Tom she is!

Best I Can Hide Behind My Quilt Block goes to……….

………………….SUE O!  Look at those cute eyes.  She was so proud of her block.  And we were proud of it too!

Best Serious Concentration Sewing goes to………………..

…………………. PAM!  Doesn’t she look serious about that sewing?  “It’s only a quilt block, Pam!  You can do it!”

Best Party Crasher goes to…………………….

……………….MADELYN!  She didn’t take the class, but she couldn’t stand to miss out on any of the fun.  Or be talked about.  So she showed up to cheer us on!

Best Foster Grant Moment goes to……………………..

………………CINDY!  As she left for the day, she gave her fans friends one last big happy smile.  “We love you, Cindy!”

And finally……… Best Double Irish Chain Quilt Blocks goes to………………….

 

………..Karen, Sue, Patti, Pam, Cindy and Sally.  We were all winners!

 And for the record.  I made blocks too.  But the picture of me was oh, so not flattering.  And I reserve the right to not post pics of myself that are oh, so not flattering on my blog.  In fact I reserve the right for just about anything I decide.

This class will meet again in two weeks to put these blocks together and move on to the next step.  I promise, once again, to show you the completed quilts!  Just as soon as these gals complete them.  And if they don’t start hiding from the camera……

Stay Tuned!
Barb

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Pam learns three things….wait! Four things!

Posted on June 17, 2010 by Barb

Yesterday was sewing/computing day at Pam’s house.  I should explain.  Pam is my sister-in-law and she is the computer/gadget geek of our JSS Bee.  Ladies come from far and wide to take advantage of her computer expertise.  And she loves her computer toys!  You actually met Pam way, way, way, WAY back on Day One of this blog (that would be on April 29.)  But here she is again to refresh your memory.
 

She was chopping lettuce for a fabulous Pistachio Crusted Chicken Salad – it was VERY yummy!  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  I was telling you about her learning three four things!  But I think I’ll have to tell you about them as she learned them – so I’ll intersperse them throughout the blog today.  And I learned some things too!  So I’ll throw those in now and then.  A big learning day for all – and now you get to learn some things too.  What fun!  Learn, learn, learn.  It’s always good to learn new things.

The first thing I learned is that Jack really, really gets excited when I come to visit.  So excited that he flipped all the rugs in the kitchen trying to get to me when I came in the door.  He makes me feel very special!  And in case you haven’t guessed, Jack is the dog.

See how fast he was moving?  His tail was wagging and he was moving ninety to nothing (not sure what that saying means, but it seemed to fit here.)  See how he flipped the rug up?  And I’m going to have to learn what the “fast dog moving” setting is on my camera to get a better picture next time.  Seems I still had the camera on “slow quilter showing quilts” setting.  Quite different from “fast dog moving.”  But I think you get it.

Pam was busy in the kitchen when I arrived, preparing lunch for us.  Which is, of course, why I was there.  I’m all about being where the food is.  I think you learned that about me from the day at Suz’, the day at Susan’s, the Bee days, etc.  So when she called and said she was making lunch, I was all over being there.  Couldn’t keep me away.  Well, the food and the fact that I could gather more blogging material to share with all of you.  Because I’m all about the blog…. and the food…. and the blog… and the food.  So if you’d like to appear in my blog, just invite me over for food.  And I’m really pretty easy to please.  Just in case you were thinking you had to cook like Susan did.  Although carrot cake, for sure, will get me there every time.  Even if it’s on the nightstand.

See how fast Pam was moving while she chopped the veggies for the salad?  Once again, camera set on “quilt blocks holding still” and not on “fast moving cook in kitchen.”  I still have much to learn about photography, it appears.

“Close your eyes quick, Sally!”  Pam chopped up loads of these for the salad too, so it was a very good thing that Sally wasn’t there.

And this yummy Pistachio Crusted Chicken got sliced up and put on the top of the salad too – YUM!  And healthy!  Thank you, Pam!

And the making of lunch brought us to…….. wait for it……. wait for it…………

Pam’s Learning Experience #1
I learned this first from Rachael Ray.  And then again from The Pioneer Woman.  Pam had some fresh basil from her garden that she was going to tear up and throw in the salad.  What?  Tear up the basil?  Didn’t she know how to make basil chiffonade?  Horrors!  So I showed her.  You can see a really good demonstration of how to do it here.  Just in case you need to know how to make basil chiffonade too.  And you do need to know how.  It’s an important thing to learn!

This is Pam making the basil chiffonade.  And may I just add right here that it is waaaaayyyyy easier to take pictures of someone else chopping something with a knife than it is to take pics of yourself.  Even if the person chopping is doing it lightning fast and the camera is still on the “slow, blurry” setting.

….. and Pam tossing the basil chiffonade onto the salad.  Can you tell I like that word?  Chiffonade, chiffonade, chiffonade.  Say it three times and it’s yours.

The salad.  Ready to eat.  Topped with yummy Asian-style dressing.  Homemade.  The dressing, I mean.  Pam said, “Why would you want to buy dressing when you can make yummy dressing from scratch?”  Indeed.

And then……

This.  I drank it so fast that it was half gone before I remembered I needed a picture.  It was prettier when it was first set in front of me, but I couldn’t control myself.  And truth be told, this was the real reason I went to Pam’s.  She bribed me with a Cinnamon Dulce Latte.  My favorite.  She makes them special just for me.  Well, Madelyn got one yesterday too.  And you could get one if you went to Pam’s too.  She’s all about the fancy coffee.  Well, that and geek toys.  She really knows how to make a great latte.

This is the top of Pam’s fridge.  And a huge hint for why she makes a great latte.  She works at Starbucks!  (Not sure what the funny yellow bird/crown thing is in the frappuccino cup.  I’m sure there must be a story.  Maybe Pam will share it with us?)

I just realized I’ve only shared one thing Pam learned.  If we want to get through this posting before the cows come home, I’d better move it along!

Madelyn came to Pam’s to pick Pam’s computer-geek brain.  She has a new iPad and wanted some help with it!  And that brings me to Pam’s Learning Experience #2.  Surprise!  Madelyn actually taught Pam something she didn’t know about the iPad…… how to lock the screen so you could turn it and the image would not turn!  Pam was very impressed.  And Madelyn was overjoyed with how smart she was.  It isn’t every day you get to teach a computer geek something about a computer.  Unless you’re a computer geek yourself.  Madelyn might be a fabulous quilter, but I don’t think she would ever describe herself as a computer geek.  Just sayin’.

Karen was at Pam’s today too.  She was there for help from Pam on a quilt. 

She was also there to use this.  Pam’s serger.  Now one might think that would mean that Karen does not have a serger of her own.  One would be wrong if one thought that.  The real reason that she went over to use Pam’s serger is because it is easier to haul everything over to Pam’s than it is to learn how to thread your own serger.  Have you ever threaded a serger?  I’m with Karen.  Pam apparently never UNthreads hers.  So it is in a perpetual state of readiness.  Heaven help us when the thread runs out.  We’ll have to buy a new serger and hope that it comes pre-threaded.

Karen has been busy making projects for her daughter who just graduated from high school and has a new laptop.  So Karen made her a new quilt.  Sorry.  I don’t have a picture of that one.

But I do have a pic of this fabulous laptop bag that Karen made her!  With fabric that matches the quilt.

And this cool pillowcase!  Again…..matching.  Her daughter is going to be very color-coordinated with that fabulous purple.

Karen used Pam’s fancy, schmancy sewing machine while she was there too.  Pam is all about sharing all her great electronic gadgets when you visit her.  Including sewing machines and sergers.

She was working on the setting blocks for these fabulous sampler blocks with Pam’s help!  Pam has the same blocks so no, Karen’s quilt is not going to be jumbo-king sized.

And somewhere in the midst of the day, the phone rang and brought us to Pam’s Learning Experience #3…..

Karen – “Your caller ID doesn’t come up on your TV?”
Pam – “I can have the caller ID on my TV?”
Karen & Barb – “Of course you can!”

So Pam immediately stopped everything to check out the settings on her TV.  And hopefully tomorrow morning if her phone rings (let’s all call her to test it!), the ID will show on the TV screen.  Karen said it has to percolate overnight before it will work.  Makes perfect sense to me.

By the way, Pioneer Woman would be quite proud of Pam’s kitchen and I’m jealous.

Pam has two, count them, two cast iron skillets on her stove.  I only have one.  I love to cook in a cast iron skillet!

Madelyn had to leave early and received a big hug from Pam.  Actually she received several big hugs, because we had to keep doing it over and over because the picture was blurry.  After today we might be hiring a new photographer for the blog.  Or perhaps Madelyn and Pam just needed extra hugs.

We all picked out fabrics for the class we’re taking together at Quilter’s Dream tomorrow (oooo – another blogging opportunity!)  We are all about getting together for stitching as much as possible in this group.  Works for me!

And I learned that apparently it is also a dog’s job to hold down fabric to keep it from blowing away under the ceiling fan.  And I thought that job was reserved exclusively for cats.  Silly me!

Pam’s Learning Experience #4 (phew! we made it!) was all about picture taking!  I learned about Exposure Compensation from The Pioneer Woman last week.  So I shared that learning experience with Pam.  Now if I can just learn a little bit about shutter speed and blurry pictures…….. maybe next week, PW?

And these beautiful roses were sitting in Pam’s kitchen today.  But you’ll have to ask Pam what Learning Experience they provided for her.  You can ask her about them when you call her to test out her Caller ID on the TV in the morning.

Hugs,
Barb

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Susan’s New Obsession

Posted on June 16, 2010 by Barb

Hang on to your cotton.  Susan has a new obsession.  Remember my friend Susan and her latest obsession with wool that I told you about awhile back?  Well, forget the wool.  She’s throwing that out the window now.  She has a brand new obsession……. Cotton Theory quilting.  Double-sided quilts.  Placemats.  Trivets.  Quilting all her own things now.  Forget the high price of longarm quilting.  She’s obsessed. 
 

Look at her stitching away.  She couldn’t even glance over and smile for the camera.  She was head down, pedal to the metal all day long.  (What does that mean anyway – “pedal to the metal?”  Who invented that saying?  One of you is in charge of googling that and getting back to me on where it originated and what it means.)  And she thought she didn’t even want to take this class.  She actually decided at the last possible minute that she wanted to learn this technique.  And she got into the class by the skin of her teeth.  (And why do we say that one?  Do teeth have skin?  I think not.)

But I digress…….

I should tell you that my Cotton Theory class was a huge success!  15 ladies took the class yesterday and it was all great fun.  Lots of different fabrics used and I think all were pleased with the technique.  I can’t wait to see all the quilts they make!  I’m a bit obsessed with this one myself and will definitely make another quilt using this technique!  In fact I plan to use this same technique for putting together Janna’s T-shirt quilt.  Now that this class is behind me, I’ll have more time to work on Janna’s quilt.  She’ll be glad.   And you’ll get to see more pics of the progress on that one.

So check out some of the great fabric combinations that these girls put together.

Pretty!

Stunning!

This gal had a totally different plan in mind and it was going to be fabulous!

Pretty bluebonnets and Texas wildflowers!

Look at that organization!  Way to go, Sandi!

These gals put together some great fabrics!

Aren’t the teapots cute?

Very cool fabrics.

Won’t these make some fancy summer placemats?

Fun prints!

Two gals worked together on this cool baseball quilt.  My friend, Suz, is a huge baseball fan.  She’s gonna wish she’d have thought of this one and been there for class to get a good start on it.  Maybe for a price she can get this gal to give up hers.

And here’s the back side.  Blue on the front, red on the back.  Make her an offer she can’t refuse, Suz!

 

Aren’t these colors wonderful?  These gals really did a great job in the class.  I hope they stick with it and complete those quilts, so that I can see them eventually!

But in the meantime, hide the cotton.  Susan has a new obsession.

Love you, Susan!
Barb

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My Helper

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Barb

Such a helper I had in the sewing room last night.  Helper or hindrance?  Hard to tell the difference?  He wants to be a helper, but he mostly gets in the way.  But I let him.  ‘Cause he’s just too cute to shoo away.  But a picture is always worth a thousand words……

“Hi Mom!  Oh, were you using the cutting table?  I won’t be in the way.  I’ll just stay over here on the side.”  By the way, have I told you that Boo weighs about 16 pounds?  He’s a very big cat.  He takes up quite a bit of room on the cutting table.

“I’ll just be waaaaaay over here.  Holding down this batting for ya.”

“Oh, man, this stuff is soft.  Maybe I’ll just take a little nap.”  Well, that was just fine until he started to eat the batting.  I missed that for the pictures because I was too busy pulling it out of his teeth.  Maybe we better move the batting…..

“I can help, Mom.  Here.  Let me just smooooooth out the fabric for ya so’s you can cut it.”

“Or maybe it’s just more fun to crumple it all up!  OOOO, there’s a little string right there.  I got it!”

And then the lightning fast paw comes out to grab the next piece……

“Aw, shucks, Mom.  I was just trying to help.”

“Right there.  Didn’t you say 8 inches?  Line the ruler up right there, Mom.”

“Oh, just give me the rotary cutter.  I can do it!”

“On second thought, I think I’ll just lay on top of the mat and the ruler.  These things need to be held down and it’s about time for another nap.”  It’s a wonder I got anything at all done. 

But I did get a little bit done!  Remember this quilt that I made for a class sample recently?

The class for this one is on Tuesday of this week.  So I needed to prepare some things to help with class.  To show the steps involved in making this quilt and all.  Remember also how reversible this quilt is?  And that you get two quilts for the price of one?  (You can go back to the posting entitled “Boo Reporting” on May 17 to see the back side of this quilt and the one entitled “Progress” on May 16 shows a lot of the detail of the making of the quilt.)  I told you then that I thought a good application for this technique might be placemats.  Fall on one side to use for Thanksgiving and then flip them over and have Christmas on the other side.  The minute you’re done with Thanksgiving dinner do the flip thing and voila!  Instant Christmas decorations.  (That idea really came from my friend Linda.  I think she made placemats that did that exact thing one year.)

So I decided to make some placemats to show the steps.

Here are the big center pieces of the placemats as they are quilted with parallel lines of stitching.

And here they are in progress!  To show the steps to the class.  Good thing I didn’t need to actually finish these for something this week.  With all the extra help I was getting from Boo, that would have been impossible.  They will get another round of scrappy Christmas fabric before they are finished and bound.

And here’s the Thanksgiving back side!  Or maybe this is the front?  Can’t decide which side I like better.  There will be four of these when they are all finished.  But I need to show all the steps to the class on Tuesday.  Various levels of completion is a good thing when you have a helper like Boo. 

Who now, I might add, has decided to sleep in the chair.  After all, it’s no fun to sleep on the cutting mat and ruler when Mom doesn’t need them any more.  With all the help around here, it’s a good thing I have a few months until Thanksgiving and Christmas.

‘Night, Boo!
Mom

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