Speaking of Purses...

Well, that's all I've been speaking about for the last several days. At our Crazy Quilting International group (Yahoo), we're having our annual purse contest. So, I prepared an entry - most of the work occuring this week (Crunch Time). The deadline was yesterday, May 30.

Obviously, I cannot post that purse or even talk about it, but I thought I would post a picture of the first CQ purse I ever made about six years ago. It's a basic black and gold drawstring bag, and the sum of the embellishment consists of seam embroidery only.


The picture below shows the purse opened so you can see more of the (very plain) embroidery. Naturally, I've developed a bit since then and my stitching is more complex. But sometimes a walk down Memory Lane helps us realize that we've made progress!

I have used this purse, and it is very serviceable. And it does get noticed. CQ is that way, isn't it???

Old RR Block Returns Home

Back in late summer of 2006 I began a round robin with a group of ladies across the country. There were 8 of us who'd been doing RR's for almost five years up to that point. Due to circumstances (in other words, LIFE), virtually every participant got sidetracked and we sort of fell apart. It happens. But we all decided to make an effort to finish and get the blocks back to their respective owners. This block returned home to me last week. Eventually, this will be the front panel of a tote bag. There will be a green fern-patterned strip below it and green handles. The reverse has also been pieced similarly but is not yet embellished. I must say I was a bit disappointed that so much was left undone, and that someone added blue against my specific wishes (I'll frog it and replace it with green or orange). And speaking of frogs, I think he may have to go as well - still thinking on that.... Obviously, there's finish work to do, but on the whole, I love it. It's good to have it home. Gotta finish the tote now ASAP since it's supposed to be a summer tote!! Of course, I'm assuming that summer will eventually get here......

Meeting Author Debbie Macomber

What a thrill it was to learn that best-selling author Debbie Macomber (The Cedar Cove book series, the Blossom Street book series and many others) was going to be in town at Borders Bookstore in Murray, less than a mile from my house! So tonight I went down to Borders at 6:30 p.m. and got in line for her reading and book signing at 7:00 p.m.

There were about 25-30 of us there, and Debbie was so personable and fun. The set out chairs in a semi circle around her, and Debbie handed out free gifts to everyone, took questions (rather than doing a reading), and just laughed and talked with us. Then we got our books signed and pictures taken if desired.

Debbie inscribed my book: "To Cathy, What a wonderful smile you have! May all your wishes come true! Debbie Macomber (2 Tim 1:7)"

I'm currently reading her latest release, Twenty Wishes, and that is the book she signed for me. After the signing most people left, but for those of us left talking to her (about 8-9 of us), she invited us to join her for coffee in the bookstore's cafe. There we sat and talked and joked about all sorts of funny things - like how hubbies give us the eye when we bring home more stash. Debbie said she once bought out the shelving from a yarn store that was closing and now has filled it all - and then some! Now I ask you, is she is kindred spirit, or what?!?

1% Well-Read Challenge

After reading Susan Elliott's blog Plays with Needles, I visited and signed up for the 1% Well Read Challenge.. The goal of this challenge is to read 10 books in 10 months from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list (hence the 1% number). The Challenge runs from May 1, 2008 through February 28, 2009.

I'm considering this to be additional books for me, because I've already read a couple dozen from the list. There is a spreadsheet here that lists these 1001 books.

My ten selections were based on books I already have and that are actually already in my reading queue (which will take me another 20 years to finish, LOL). I'm just moving them up in line!

1. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
2. Cider House Rules by John Irving
3. Billy Bathgate by E.L. Doctorow
4. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
5. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
6. Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
7. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen
8. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
9. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
10. The Age of Innocense by Edith Wharton

I also have, and will read:

11. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
12. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
13. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
14. Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
15. Neuromancer by William Gibson

Of course, I have two other books that I need to finish first: Back on Blossom Street and Twenty Wishes, both by Debbie Macomber and both are part of her Blossom Street series. They're relatively lightweight, which was my intention. I've been home several weeks now, "decompressing" after quitting a very stressful job and my favorite pastimes are stitching and reading. Life is good!! :-)

Weekend Working in the Yard

Hubby and I spent the better part of this weekend working outside in the garden. Whew! First we visited the nursery to get some flowers and tomato plants - things we hadn't started from seed already. Then I weeded while he mowed. And then I snapped some pictures of what's blooming at the moment, so let's take a bit of a tour.



The snowball bush at the right sits on the east side of our house. It's getting the morning sun in this picture. To the left of it is lavender, which is just beginning to reawaken. In front are the tulips, which are mostly spent. I've got to wait until the green leaves turn brown before twisting them off the bulb. That gives the bulb time to store nutrients for next year. Once the tulips are out of the way, there will be some blue lobelia at the front of the bed along the border edging.


And speaking of blue lobelia and this same bed, look at one of my very favorite garden whimsies. It's a sea serpent (in three pieces, but you can almost imagine her "swimming" in the ground!)
That's a rose bush to the left, but in back of her is blue chip campanula and in front of her are the lobelia starts. When they grow in and bloom, the serpent will hopefully be swimming in a sea of blue!!

Now to the front yard. This is our Golden Chain tree. It's a bit hard in this picture to see the golden flower chains hanging down, but they are there. Maybe I can get a better picture in a few days.

Does anybody else name their trees???? I have a Flowering Pear that I named Perry (real original - not! pear - peary - perry). We also have an apricot tree that is of a variety adapted to the Utah climate, and it's called a Mormon Chinese Apricot tree. I've named it DeWong. And finally, there's my Golden Chain Tree. Her name is....... Aretha. (Chay-chay-Chaaaaaiiiin.... Chain of Fools......)

Next we move to a little shady area to the side of the front porch (in my blog header picture it's between the urn and the rose tree, toward the back)

In the forefront is that daylily. Behind it are bleeding heart, a stepping stone, a hosta and columbine........ all of them just waking up for the season.

Bruce got the brunt of the hard work this weekend. He had to get the sprinklers going, put soaker hoses in his newly-arranged vegetable garden, then he planted the veggies and mowed the grass.


And still left to do.......... These are the flowers I still have to plant. Usually we use up all the wood before spring hits, but this year we didn't (because this was the SECOND load!), so it'll probably stay there. The tortoise metal sculpture needs to be hung - we got it in Arizona earlier this year. The lattice work will go up along the grape arbor to replace the panel that broke last year (the grapes were sooooooooo prolific and heavy!). When the grape vines begin filling in and all the plants and flowers are IN, I'll snap some patio pictures. But for now, I'm off to go grab a wine cooler and sit out in my wicker rocker to relax!!

Peacock Round Robin

On the Crazy Quilting International (Yahoo) list, I'm participating in a Peacock Round Robin. We're about 75% of the way done now. This is Cheryl's block with everyone's work to date.This is a close-up of my work. The peacock body was satin stitched with Eterna silk, the feathers with pearl cotton and the eyes with Kreinik metallics. I also did the flower vines above Mr. Peacock, the chevron-cretan stitch combo along the seam to the right, and the flower and ribbon leaves below. I hope Cheryl enjoys it!!

Fabric Lover's Dream

Today I had the opportunity to visit my new friend Bev at the Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake City for our local church. Bev does volunteer work there every Monday and invited me to join her. Bev's responsibility? To sort all the incoming fabric donations, which amounts to several HUGE bins every week. But first, let me digress..........

The work of the Humanitarian Center is to prepare kits or "modules" of various items to be sent for relief and aid worldwide. The Center gives tours several times per day, where the public can see what work is being accomplished. These are some of the display cases in the front reception area that show some of these modules.Shown here are (from L-R): the Newborn module/kit (basic onesie, diapers, cap, booties, soap and specialized babycare items; the Classroom module - a bookbag full of pencils, folders, paper, basic classroom items; and the Childcare Relief Module (boy or girl); towels, soap, toothbrush & paste, etc.). There are also Children's Toy modules (in a toybag), Medical Relief modules, clothing, quilts and more that I can't even remember....

So, getting back to the fabrics, they are sorted into areas that they can be used. Cottons (by yardage or by pieces) can go for quilts or children's clothing, as appropriate. Heavier fabrics can be used for bookbags, toybags, or pants or jumpers. Fleece and flannel have their own bins, too, as does felt, fake fur, and fancies (dubbed "costume fabrics"). Even they old grandma-style polyester doubleknits are sorted (OUT!!, LOL).... In this area, we also see yarn, threads, buttons, lace, sewing miscellany, trims, etc. Here are two boxes into which materials suitable for bookbags go.So, first (the initial reason for my visit) was that I went through the five boxes (like the ones above) of the costume fabric, which are for the general public to take as they would like. I spent two hours doing just that. Imagine, after I couldn't reach in any more, we just brought a chair over and I climbed in. It was PURE HEAVEN sitting in fabric up to my eyeballs!

At noon, all the workers filed into the cafeteria where we were fed a delicious, well-balanced meal. And then............ back to sorting. Once the big incoming bins were sorted into their respective boxes, the finer sorting and filing away of the materials for use was done. For example, the threads were put in bins by color so that the seamstresses making quilts and children's clothing could use them.

So, here is my friend Bev (on the right) with her friend and neighbor (and my new friend) Carol on the left.
And this is me and Bev. Try not to laugh at my ridiculous sweatshirt - it was purely for work purposes, and I don't usually wear it out in public. (But it belonged to my mom and I keep it for sentimental reasons, LOL). Can you see how large this work area is? There are OTHER work areas adjacent to our room.

I can't wait to go back next Monday. I told Bev and Carol that I'd love to work with them on Mondays until I go back to work full time. From here on out, I won't go through the costume fabric bins; I'll just check fabric out as it comes in, and if it can be used for CQ, I'll cut some off.

The coolest thing about this is that Bev and I met through Sharon Boggon's blog. When Sharon invited new bloggers to announce their blog last week, I did. Almost immediately, I got an email from Bev, who lives about 40 minutes north of me. Bev was telling everyone today that "We met in Australia!". Bev has converted the top floor of their barn into her studio. And she wants to learn Crazy Quilting, so I get to teach her!!! We're going to set up a play date in the very near future!

And finally, this is my "haul" when I unloaded it at home.
Tomorrow: a job interview in the morning (I have mixed feelings about that, LOL!) and then must catch up on my emails, blog reading and then stitching!!!!!!!!!! Life is good!