there's no intelligent life down here...

i love frosted flakes ... i never got to eat them when i was a kid - my mother would tell me they're just cornflakes with sugar and there was plenty of sugar in the sugar bowl ... but i loved Tony the Tiger with his red bandanna and his growly voice telling me they're gr-r-reat!
when i became a grup and i had my own money to spend, i bought myself frosted flakes ... the real thing ... from k-e-double-elle-oh-double-good-kellogg's-best-to-you!
so ... when i found packages of frosted flakes with the promise of the coveted Star Trek Beam Up Badges inside...

...see ... it says it right there on the package ... BEAM UP BADGE
INSIDE
...i was ecstatic ... there are five different badges and we had collected four ... last week we found the beam up badge boxes in frosted mini-wheats (fiber), corn pops (gotta have my pops), and froot loops (yuck) ... lots of engineering, command, and Romulan badges ... the Klingon badge was won in a bidding war on eBay ...... but where were the science badges??? not in any of my cereal boxes ... the only science badge we could find was on eBay and the bidding had escalated beyond $30 (can you believe that??? thirty dollars plus shipping - and you don't even get to eat the cereal???!!!) and i had to just say no ... still ... i really, really wanted a science badge (Mr. Spock is a science officer, you know) ... this week they were in rice krispies (okay, not my favorite, but rice krispie treats are pretty good) ... and my all time favorite cereal ... so we bought five more boxes of cereal ... groan ... that makes a total of fifteen (yes, fifteen) boxes of cereal over the past two weeks ... a week's worth of grocery money blown on cereal!!! anywho, we went out to the parking lot and Auntia started ripping open the boxes (excuse me, who is the trekker in this family?!?) and said engineering ... engineering ... engineering ... nothing ...... nothing??? nothing??? you mean nothing as in no badge??? you gotta be kidding me!!! no freakin' badge??? nope, no badge - not one bit of plastic in sight ... Tony the Tiger lied to me!!! the box clearly stated that there was a badge inside, but there was no badge ... ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!
she was down to the last box ... rice krispies ... score!!!
my science beam up badge!!!
woo hoo!!!

this is a picture of the boxes of nutritious and delicious (cough) cereal that we have to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks each day till they are gone ... not pictured are the two boxes in the car waiting to be delivered to Michael Myson (he already has the froot loops) and the four boxes of corn pops that we already ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and while watching movies (Nights in Rodanthe - blech - and Leatherheads - meh) and tv shows (double blech)...

...are they worth it?
do you really have to ask?

mr. husker's homestead

...there was not much sewing over the weekend, but i did manage to make a few log cabin trees for Mr. Husker's birthday quilt ... the herd is ready for ear tags, the bales of hay and the wood pile are together, Old Orange is missing his tires, the house is pieced, and the infamous moss rock wall that is always planted with red and white petunias needs to be trimmed and embellished with embroidered flowers ... Auntia found black kitty and deer crossing buttons ... and the spruce trees are in neat little piles of triangles, waiting for trunks and backgrounds ... i guess i've moved beyond the planning stage, but i'm still not sure where this is going or what it will look like when it gets there...

...we're gonna have turkey and dumplings for dinner tonight ... the morning was white with wet, slushy spring snow and the skies are still grey ... it will be a good evening for some comfort food...

thank yew! thank yew VERY much!!!

here i am, gleefully beside myself

well, in the post preview, it is me beside myself, but in the post i am over the top instead!
i logged on this morning for my morning dose of vitamin Blogs ...
cup of coffee in one hand and cinnamon muffin in the other (the crumbs and coffee are murder on the keyboard - i strongly suggest NOT getting into the habit) and, following my trained monkey instructions, clicked
bookmarks/blogs/kimsbigquiltingadventure
for a bit of vitamin K ... of course, i had stumbled down the stairs without my glasses, and found myself squinting at the screen, unable to read the words (picture yourself trying to see through waxed paper) and muttering where are my glasses? where are my glasses? hey - that looks like my slippers! ... checked my feet and checked the screen and checked my feet once again ... wait a min-ute! those are my slippers!
there was a mad dash up the stairs (okay, oh-kay - a mad dash for me is more mad than dash, but ... still ... i moved faster than my normal snail's pace) for my spectacles and back again to the computer ... lo and behold - there were my slippers and my name and ... holy crap! i actually won something! and not just any something - i won a book ... and not just any book ... a cookbook ... and not just any cookbook ... Jennifer Chiaverini's
The Quilter's Kitchen
i have been saving my pennies for this book ... can you imagine ... quilts and food and the written word all at the same time?!?
woo hoo!!!
to Kim ... a great big THANK YOU!!!
your generosity is exceeded only by your creativity (love those cherries)!!!
and your husband is my favorite random number generator!

sugar and spice

my baby girl and her baby girl
turn around and she's tiny
turn around and she's grown
turn around and she's a young wife with babes of her own

ribbit ribbit

this quilt was the first time that i attempted triangles ... i went to a class at Tomorrows Heirlooms and was shown several methods for make half square triangles ... i opted for triangles on a roll paper ... i remember having major issues with squaring up ... and with meeting points ... and thinking that i would never, ever make a quilt with triangles again...

...all of the fabrics are flannel and they are rich, jewel tones ... this was my second attempt at machine quilting and i didn't venture very far from stitch-in-the-ditch ... i love this little quilt ... it is just the right size to keep me warm when i'm reading or stitching in the living room ... and i'm willing to share froggie paws with my grandbabies when they come to visit

high maintenance

...ebony was already having a rough (ruff) morning ... and she knows that when the purple leash comes out, things are just gonna go from bad to worse ...... look at that face ...... first, she missed her last grooming appointment ... then her allergies kicked in and she licked off most of the fur on her nose ... her eyes got itchy and that made her third eyelid puff up ... her ears were infected (her ears are always infected) ... and it was time for her 3 year vaccinations ... not to mention the kennel cough injection and a general physical (which always involves a thermometer and a pain in the butt) ... her nails were too long, her feet were matted, and her bangs were doing that doodah thing that they do ... and then alpha had the audacity to wash her face ...
sheesh!

...she came back clean and coiffed ... her personal body servant, chauffeur, accountant, nurse, grounds keeper and chef took care of the bills and removed her shiny new rabies tag before she broke her teeth chewing on it ... and then led the princess to her throne ... it's a dog's life

power raking

or how i spent my beautiful spring morning ... that row of nasty dead grass has now been added to the compost heap ... i decided to stop before my back starts yelling any louder ... the backyard can wait till another day...

...as you can see, those are working gloves ... i should probably buy a new pair, but these don't have holes in the fingers yet...
now i'm gonna take a hot shower
and then i'm gonna eat some blueberry pancakes soaked in butter and (Canadian 100% pure) maple syrup
and then i'm gonna make some trees for Mr. Husker's quilt
and i'm not gonna feel guilty about any of it 'cuz i raked!

hamburgers, fries, and a coke

Auntia interviewed Little Nonnie a few years ago for a high school genealogy project and asked her to describe her favorite date with my dad ... oh, we'd buy hamburgers, fries, and a coke and then we'd take a walk down by the lake ... my mother still loves hamburgers and french fries and cokes, so when i found hamburger fabric and french fry fabric - this quilt just had to be made (yes, another kaleidoscope quilt ... and there are more ... several more) ... a green (lettuce) border, a red and yellow (ketchup and mustard) dog tooth border ... i had cheddar orange (cheese) and purple (red onion) borders planned ... but i realized that if i kept adding to it, the quilt was going to be huge ...... i stopped trying to build the perfect burger ... classic coke flannel fabric was perfect for the backing and binding ...... this was my first attempt on the quilting frame ... it was a nightmare ... i used mono filament (shudder) for the top thread, and ivory cotton thread in the bobbin ... i lost count of how many times i forgot to put down the presser foot ... or the thread broke ... or i lost my place on the pantograph ... needless to say, it was a mess ... still, i was kinda proud of the accomplishment and named my first attempt at free-motion quilting

the real thing

and wrote my mother's and father's initials in a heart on the naming block ... i'd never put so much love into my work ... i wrapped it up and gave the quilt to Little Nonnie for christmas in 2006...

...i found it under a pile of stuff in her utility closet when i packed up her apartment last fall ... when i asked her why, she told me that she just didn't like it ... that she really didn't like it ... she hated it...
so i brought the real thing home to live with me ... it reminds me of happier times ... when my parents would take walks down by the lake

mahvelous!

i went looking for dinosaurs when corbadoo was still in his mommy's tummy ... i found marbles, instead ... and (since i have lost all of mine) i decided to use the marbles as the focus fabric for a children's delight quilt ... the orange corners and the binding are scraps from the same fabrics that i used for his daddy's beep beep quilt...

...the backing is soft blue flannel...

the quilting is mostly stitch-in-the-ditch ... i quilted phases of the moon in the top border and sun rays in the bottom border ... i didn't have a quilting frame at the time, so this was pin-basted on the floor ... now my knees are too cranky for that nonsense ... anywho, this quilt is named simply marble-ous

good wishes fishes

this is Peanut Butter Cup's good wishes fishes quilt ... i didn't finish it till christmas because ... well ... there was a delay with the fish blocks being signed ...... actually, some good wish fish blocks remain missing in action in the world outside ... maybe they will become a wall hanging someday ... or not...

...Corbadoo went shopping with Auntia and me on fat quarter friday at a local quilt shop (the lqs is no longer open - no link) and picked out the colors for his baby sister's fish ...... when i ran out of the background batik, we went back for some more and it was gone ... okay, i have to admit - i teared up a bit ... okay, oh-kay, i cried ... like a baby ...... but then Auntia found the brighter turquoise batik (it looks like seaweed, trees, or arteries ... i can't decide) and saved the day ... the backing is flannel...

...i stitched-in-the-ditch around the signature blocks after free motion quilting the top, bottom and sides with sea horses and seaweed, shells and fish ... and this time i was not disappointed with my quilting ... i guess i am getting a little better at it

fourteen inches of snow on friday ... but today
the sun is shining and the snow is melting
the mountains are looking especially glorious and the plains are freshly scrubbed
april in colorado is a month of extremes, innit?

warning ... proceed with caution

this post may lead to granny envy!!!

full tummy ... clean diaper ... warm blanket ... loving arms ... sweet dreams

and if you look very closely, you'll see just a bit of the pink and yellow baby afghan that Auntia crocheted for her new niece

littlelle is home!

just look at our little sweetie pea ... her daddy is a pro at swaddling ... and she's already getting some use out of her it's cold in the world outside quilt ... because it is cold in the world - it has been snowing/raining since before Littlelle was born (heavy, wet snow that turns to slurpee when it hits the ground)...

...and while i was visiting the Moths and waiting patiently (cough) for my turn to hold the baby, i took a picture of the quilt (wedding wishes on dragonfly's wing) that is hanging in their family room

ces

this is Corbadoo with the wall hanging that i made for him (to show him that he is the center of my universe*)
the center is white 36 count linen with a back stitched stegosaurus and his initials (which are also his paternal great-grandfather's and grandfather's initials) cross stitched over it ... the green grass star rays are scraps from a quilt that i made for him before he was born ... there are dinosaurs quilted into the blue stormy skies ... the next set of rays and corner stars are scraps from my first kaleidoscope quilt ... as is the outer border ... there are little dinosaur buttons in the four-pointed stars ... i stitched a sleeve into the binding on the back in case his parents want to hang it in his room

*ALL of my grandchildren are the center of my universe

jeepers

i made this kaleidoscope quilt for Earth Science ...... he used to drive a (blue) jeep, his favorite color used to be orange (i'm not sure, but i think that now it might be blue), and (i think) he likes to fish...

...the tire tread border is pieced (i dunno how many strips it took - i lost track after fifty) ...... he sold tires (and wheels and batteries and windshield wipers and a whole bunch of other car stuff) to put himself through college ...

there are free-motion tire-trackish lines quilted all over it ... the backing is jeep (green) flannel ... and it is named the beep beep

edit - that is NOT the tip of MY toe...

introducing...

Littlelle
she made her first public appearance
today, April 16, 2009 at 12:32pm
(6 pounds and 10 ounces
nineteen and one half inches long)

here she is being held by her big brother, NoJo, for the first time

and then NoJo supervised while Gumdrop held their baby sister

Mrs. Moth, NoJo, Gumdrop and Littlelle ... together for the first time

and Auntia held her niece ... Littlelle decided to entertain all of us with her Popeye impression!

happy birth day, little one!

not your granny's ripples!

Auntia is listening to her book and working on another ripple afghan...

i love those pinks and yellows!

and this is Littlelle and her mommy, Mrs. Moth - she's gonna come out to play sometime tomorrow!

woo hoo!

trekker? who, me?!?

Auntia took me to the movies last thursday ... let's see if i can remember the name ... uhmmm ... 12 rounds ... yeah ... i think that's what it was ... John Cena was the leading man ...... this is her, spending her hard-earned money on tickets ... we went to the matinee, so it was a little cheaper ... but ... still ...... i'm just sayin'...


...and here she is with the tickets in her hot little hands ... look at the eager expression on her face ... this was just before she became fed up with me and told me if i didn't get a move on that i wasn't gonna get my own straw for the free coke she had a coupon for... okay, oh-kay...

...i was dragging my feet because the last time we went to one of her rasslin' movies, it was Nacho Libre, and i came this close to getting up and walking out ... seriously ... anywho, we were proceeding on to theatre 24, to the right and down the walkway...


when i saw THIS! woo hoo!!! Earth Science gave me some theater tickets for christmas and told me that i have to use them for this movie ... oh yeah ... twist my arm, why don't cha...




...and look what my Little Buddy Mason made for me for easter ... a paper bag puppet ... and not just ANY paper bag puppet ... Mr. Spock ... no bunnies for me, thank you very much - i prefer big ears of a different kind...


...he was disappointed in his masterpiece because the puppet part doesn't work (it's on the wrong side of the bag) ... so he made a sign that says JUST DISPLAY!!!

purple ripples

this is the (mostly) purple afghan that Auntia finished last week - she is kinda new to crochet and i (in my infinite wisdom) advised her to choose something less challenging (i was thinking a ripple scarf with two or three different colors - not an entire afghan with multiple types of yarn) but she pooh-pahed me ... and see how wrong i was?!? she didn't know how to work the reverse crochet border, so she practiced the stitch by making a baby blanket (that will go to the hospital for our first glimpse of Littlelle - when she decides to make an appearance) ... Auntia has no problem modifying a pattern's shape, size and colors to make it her own ... have i mentioned how amazing my daughter is? and she started another afghan (with pinks and yellows) ... she's listening to Wizard's First Rule on mp3 and crocheting like crazy!

sunny side up

the Moths celebrated their first wedding anniversary today ... this is the log cabin quilt that i made for Mrs. Moth's wedding present ... it is made of fabric leftover from Little Nonnie's blue and white 80th birthday memory quilt (and i still had enough left to cut strips for another log cabin quilt ... it is ready to sew sometime when my brain won't function for more than sewing straight seams) with yellow for the center hearths ... who knew that the yellow and white would end up looking like fried eggs?!? so i named it sunny side up...
...i used flannel for the back and for the binding ... it is queen-sized and much heavier than i would have thought - lots of thread goes into a log cabin block and the weight really adds up ... after sewing the last few stitches on the binding, i found out that their bedroom was gonna be brown and turquoise, so this doesn't go with anything they have - i should have just bought something from their registry!
p.s. - and there was enough flannel left for a baby blanket (good thing there are flowers on the blue flannel - the baby is a girl ... that is, if the little stinkpot ever decides to make an appearance!) ... hey, i was just thinking ahead!

happy keester!

yikes!

last night i used up hours and hours trying to make a button for my blog ... i understand the URL addresses part, but my image was ... well ... it was ... HUGE ... and it had to be put down for its own good ... then i used up some more hours trying to move pictures off the camera ... they are probably forever lost in the computer's innards ... and now my blog list is MIA ... not to mention the poor quality of pictures that i actually do manage to move over here ... sheesh.

anywho, while reading blogs this morning (yes ... yes ... i do have other things to do, but the other things involve toilet bowl brushes and vacuum cleaners and dust cloths and the washing machine ... shudder) i was directed to a give-away (thanks, mamasparks) here for 30 fat quarters - and she has a bunch of other giveaways listed, too ... so check it out if giveaways are your kinda thing...

fly like an eagle

my big brother, Skip, is one of the good guys ... when i realized that he was gonna be 60 (on September 5, 2008) i bought some fabric to make a quilt for him ... car hops, cars, Route 66, and some batiks ... with no clue of what i would do with them ...... he is a car guy (especially Chevys) and he loves Nascar (he thinks football is boring - he watches cars go 'round and 'round and 'round a track instead) ...... when he was sowing his wild oats, a lot of them took root at the Scotchman - yep, my brother was a cruiser - he would tank up (gas was less than a quarter a gallon) and go 'round and 'round and 'round from 16th Street to the drive-in and back again ...... he loves the mountains ...... he was a sailor during the Vietnam War, so i wanted to include the Navy ...... and the man really really, really likes eagles...
...the eagle fabric that i found was wrong - the colors wouldn't work ... and the Navy fabric that i found was wrong - the colors wouldn't work ... so i scrapped (as in a scrapbook page) the sailor idea and traced eagles and clouds and mountains and trees (adapted from continuous-line quilting designs by Laura Lee Fritz) so i could include the eagles that he loves so much... ...the Chevy bow tie made it into top and bottom borders ...... when we were young, we went on a car trip to see our relatives (including the world's best auntie and uncle) in California - those were some good times ... i was little, but i know that some of our kicks were on Route 66...
...and this is my brother from the same mother's quilt, fly like an eagle ... the star is kinda wonky and i loaded the backing fabric (Jeff Gordon #24 flannel) upside down on the frame (go figure) ... but it is still kinda cool ... just like my bro.