Lauren Visits

Yikes! It has been almost a month since I posted!  Is anyone still out there?!?  LOL   I have actually been thinking about you all as I bustle about my summer.  It has been a busy one and a hot one, and from my blog reading, I can tell it has been the same for many of you.

I have taken pictures here and there, so I hope to get caught up a bit with blogging this week.  And I still need to take pictures of my CQ Journal Project blocks and to-date progress, and promise to do that this week.

Last week I had my granddaughter Lauren here to spend the day with me last week before school started. She’s 8 and going into 3rd grade.  Actually, my son Ryan and her mom Kim are getting married next June, but have been together for over 5 years and we have known and loved Lauren and her brother Easton since they were little.

The plan was to have sewing lesson #2.  The first one was about a month ago, when we made her a tote bag (visible in blue in the background of the second picture, below). She learns quickly and did 90% of the sewing. I only did enough to show her, plus I attached the handles.  No good pictures of that.

Anyway, our plan went awry as soon as Lauren saw the gold Victorian pincushion that my friend Gerry K had made for me some time ago.  Lauren fell in love with it and wanted to know if she could make one like it.

Well, luckily, I have been saving candlestick bases for just that, so, she selected her favorite (the biggest and heaviest one!) and we got to work.   There were plenty of crafty lessons along the way, but the only sewing was making the red velvet square into a round yo-yo; so I taught her about gathering stitches, yo-yos, and stuffing things.

We also had fun glueing the components together, and it was quite a challenge since both of my tubes of E6000 were dried up. We ended up using the silicone that I used to glue together my recent garden ornaments.

Another lesson was a color one. As a typical young girl, she loves anything flashy and bright. She wanted red, pink, purple, silver, gold, jewels, flowers, strawberries, butterflies, etc. on it.  So first we selected the color red, based on what I had in the way of trims that matched fancy fabrics she liked.

After that, I had her bring out everything she thought was a possibility, and once the stuffed yo-yo and trims were glued to the base, we began auditioning things.  To her credit, Lauren realized quickly that some things did not look good and others would have to be saved for another project later. It did not all have to go onto this one.

One thing she really liked was the dangly things, so even I made concessions to let her design and put on as many as she liked; a key, jewels, a tiny locket, fancy pins, vintage jewelry, etc.  I had previously made the organdy rose, and she wanted to add the gold vintage leaf brooch to it.

Lauren also fell in love with rhinestones (that’s my girl!!) and so to satisfy her Deep Need for More Bling, we included a vintage rhinestone clip-on earring on the back side.   It turned out really cute and she wants to come back as soon as she can to make another one!!

Here is a picture of some of garden produce, taken about a month ago. Our corn is gone now, so we are picking it from the Community Garden we participate in (that is also where the peppers and onions come from).

Over the last couple weeks I have made a lot of strawberry-rhubarb compote, frozen green beans, peppers, and tomatoes. And then there is the jam: strawberry was early summer, but jumbleberry peach was this past weekend (peach, red and black raspberries and strawberries).   Later this week I will freeze more peaches and make some peach jam.   And the tomatoes, peppers and squash (zucchini and yellow crookneck) keep coming.  We are eating soooooo healthily!

Talk to you soon!

California Dreamin'

Last week, Susie Wolfe invited Gerry K and I to spend the week with her at her home in Southern California.  We had been planning this for awhile, and we all agreed that it was better than Christmas!! To add to my excitement, SoCal is where I was born and raised, so it was doubly delightful to see some of my old “haunts”.

As Gerry K related in her post we had ABSOLUTELY the best time. Susie was the most gracious hostess, providing us yummy soups for dinner, all the breakfast fixins, chauffeur service (LOL), and her lovely, generous self. Oh, and she had the cutest dog named Smoky, who kindly put up with us, too.

Susie and Smoky

Susie kept her pink Christmas tree up so that we could see it. She is making a pink, cream and mint green tree skirt (with silver accents) for her CQJournal Project for 2012, so the hunt for those colors were her Shopping Mission.

Gerry’s Shopping Mission was Anything Gold, and she was also on the lookout for velvet ribbons and any special treasure, of course.  :-)

Our first full day, Saturday, was spent in the Los Angeles Fabric District. In six hours, we barely scratched the surface of the shops and their offerings, yet were able to find fantastic deals on beautiful things. We spent some serious coin.  :-)

Susie and Gerry loved Berger Beads (as do many other people I know), but not being a major bead person myself, I found their dusty boxes and lackluster displays boring.  Blasphemy!  I know, I know. But I am the lace person. And fabrics. And linens. But I digress...

Gerry generously shared her pushcart with us, and we managed to fill it up every day with our purchases. (Imagine that!)

At the Rose Bowl Flea Market on Sunday, Susie knew all THE places we would love, and guided us there. The first stop was the linens lady. The pile on the tarp in front of me was $1 per piece.  Other prices were more (and some less). It was a blast digging through it.

But by far my favorite place was the Lace Lady, where we were all so busy that we didn’t get a picture. It was delightful to meet Dawn, and I am thrilled to have a wonderful new contact and supplier. And I am sure she was thrilled to exchange her lace for all the green stuff ($$) I left behind, LOL.

It was 80 degrees that day, and we stopped for some liquid refreshment. Here is Susie with some lovely gardens in the background.

And here the red flowers in the background accent Gerry’s red outfit.  We were all smiles!

On Monday Susie took us to M&L Fabrics.  Gerry showed some pictures of the main room on her blog. There were rows and rows of “regular” fabrics. But I wanted to show you one of the nearly dozen walls (or aisles) of fancy fabrics. A Crazy Quilter’s dream!

And the trim shop nearby yielded both Susie and Gerry lots of gold. And silver, too.

Again, it was another bright, clear, warm and sunny day in Southern California. I had forgotten how much I love (and miss) palm trees.

Tuesday was our day for the San Fernando Flea Market.  Again, Susie knew all the right vendors. This fabulous fabric and trim booth was one of our very favorites.  Between this shop, M&L fabrics, and all my lace acquisitions, I had to mail two large boxes of goodies home (in addition to stuffing my suitcase and carry-on).  You will eventually be seeing some of these lovely fabrics in my Etsy shop.

This booth (below) was a highlight. We dug through tables full of appliques.  Gerry mentioned on her blog that they were $1 each, but that is incorrect.  They were 50c each (2/$1).  When I was done there, my arms were overflowing, and I paid $15.00.  Talk about gold in California . . .

Below, Susie is wearing a hat that she found at this fantastic booth at the Rose Bowl.  The owner of the booth made mostly girls dresses, with little hats, purses and headbands to coordinate. But she also had some delightful women’s hats, and while I was buying spring outfits for my granddaughters, Susie was being practical and bought this darling hat!

We spent Wednesday visiting Thrift shops and scoring some great deals on half-price silk garments, other fancy fabrics and trims.  Susie also found a cute cup and saucer to make a pincushion in.  Here we are, below, butting up and sharing our thrifting finds.

The most hilarious find was this belt buckle that Susie found and bestowed upon Gerry:

It was such a great week, and the three of us had a marvelous time.  It meant so much to spend such a perfect week with dear friends.  I love you, Susie and Gerry!!

Hugs,

A Creative Whirlwind

My week at Gerry’s beautiful homestead was way too short!  Gerry (Olderrose) is not just a creative stitcher and crazy quilter, as you probably know.  She is a painter, artist extraordinaire, and a fantastic chef as well.  We had her delicious lamb stew almost every day for lunch, and I told her that if there was a way to take it on the plane, I would have!!   :-)

Gerry’s artwork in her kitchen

She had me serve as her sous chef, and as such I learned how to make a couple tasty dishes that I will be treating Bruce with this week.  And Ron (Gerry’s DH) was generous with his wines and Stilton cheese, so the dining was fit for a king!  My only regret is that I didn’t photograph the tasty dishes she prepared with such flair!

But I did get lots of photos of Morris and my dear Molly.  Molly is normally Ron’s dog, but she and I became fast friends and cuddlemates.  

Molly braves the snow to “visit” the birds

Don’t let Morris’ innocent expression (“Who, me?”) fool you!  This little guy is as mischievous as he is cute!

Antique-ing in Coeur d’Alene

Gerry treated me to a wonderful lunch in Coeur d’Alene.  Great burgers and the best apple cider I have ever tasted!  

This was the (lovely but cold!) view from our table. It was only a half hour drive to get there, but an hour and a half to get back once the big snowstorm moved in.

 Ron and Molly

As Gerry leads the way to the barn, our four-footed friends are never far behind!

Not a good photo, but it does show some of Gerry’s whimsical decorating in what was the gift shop area of the barn...

We braved the weather to visit the barn every day.  The propane heater kept us warm on all except the most frigid day.

But even when the temperatures hovered in the single digits, we managed to get a lot of “work” done!

 This is the view from Gerry’s stitching area and chair 

Grosbeaks at the feeder

The bell, wheel and barrows stand as snow-covered reminders of warmer days

We were able to spend hours and hours every day stitching, talking, laughing and generating ideas.  So many exciting things are happening in the CQ world now like the upcoming CQ Adventure in CT, Allie’s book and Pat’s magazine) that the ideas (both good and ridiculous) and conversation kept us in regular fits of laughter!

Dear Gerry and I pose for a shot as Ron graciously wielded the camera. Up until then, it was me taking a picture of Gerry or Gerry taking one of me.  What wonderful memories we made!

 Thank you, Gerry, for sharing your home and your friendship!

I HAVE SEEN THE BARN!!

Neener neener!   :-)

This was our first day out in Gerry’s Barn, as we began to sort and chop fabrics.  Some for Gerry, some for me, some for CQI Retreat (Stash Dash) and some for .... the garbage...  :-)

Above:  Gerry    
Below:  Me (Blurry. But unlike pictures of the Loch Ness Monster, I think this proves conclusively that I WAS THERE!)

The spoils of Day One.

Gerry was the most gracious and generous hostess.  And such fun!  We had a fantastic time!!  Tomorrow I will blog about everything, but just had to tease you first with these!

Hugs,

Celebrity Pet Buttons

My dear friend Gerry K (Olderrose) has completed a series of button paintings of friends’ pets.  My dear furson Boomer is among those featured (along with Pat Winter’s Angell and Nicki Lee’s Brat).  Do check them out.   Gerry is over-the-moon talented in CQ, and painting... and just about everything she does.   I am so lucky to count her among my dearest friends, and look forward to visiting her in just three weeks!

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By the way, I see that I am approaching 300 posts, and that means a celebration!  As I am off in Arizona next week vacationing, I will be thinking up something fun and easy in the way of a drawing.

In the meantime, here`s a vintage Valentine image for you...

Hugs,

Goodies and Prizes and Sales ... Oh My!

Oh, where to start?!?  I may end up dividing up this post, LOL.  So much to talk about....

First of all, let your fingers do the RUNNING over to Gerry K (Olderrose)’s Etsy Shop, where she is selling her remaining pincushions for 50% off.   This is unbelievable to me, because I know she has waaay more time and $$ invested in them.  And once they’re gone, that’s it.  I own one that Gerry made for me a couple years ago, and I am ALWAYS getting compliments on it.  It is the centerpiece of my pin cushion collection (OK, I heard that.... you’re mumbling “she collects pincushions TOO?”).    Here is my favorite one in her shop.... at least for the moment, LOL!

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When the mailman arrived on Saturday, he brought me a surprise package.  Apparently my friend Freda Butler   was sneaky and sent me a totally unexpected gift!  She knows I collect vintage hankies and hankie holders, and she found this beauty from the 1950’s:

This lucite hankie box is triangular shaped to accommodate folding one’s hankies in that manner.  My daughter, who studied ballet for 12 years, was totally enamored with it (as was I, of course, LOL!)

Bruce and I got a chuckle out of the pink men’s hankies that Freda sent along.  As Freda pointed out, it probably got mixed up with some red laundry to come out pink!  But I see possibilities for that black crown motif with a pink background!  Thank you, Dear Freda!!!

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And if all that good stuff wasn’t enough, Kathy Shaw (shawkl) had a giveaway on her blog.  To enter, she asked us to write her a little birthday rhyme.  Well, the random number generated selected me (for my number, not for the poem, LOL).  If you have ready Kathy’s blog for any length of time, you KNOW how generous she is.  Well, she really outdid herself this time:

Wow, I sooooo needed an infusion of Good Stuff in the way of silk ribbons, threads and laces as I am participating in FOUR round robins this winter.  I can’t wait to dig in.  Let me tell you, Kathy has a great shop that you can browse here.   I know some of us get $$ to spend on ourselves at Christmastime, and if you’re like me, you begin shopping in January.  You may just want to bookmark her site.  Some of her goodies include laces (including some designs I haven’t seen elsewhere), scissor fobs, beaded hat pins, needles, charms and PET COLLARS!!

Thanks, Kathy!!!

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Here are some more vintage images for you (it appears my theme today is aqua!)

Hugs,