cover up

remember when Niki Masonsmom cross-stitched this flamingo for me? 

it was an excellent christmas present waaaay back in 2014!!!

  the stitchery was moved from the pile of christmas presents

 to the pile of write-thank-you-notes 

to the pile of  this-is-cool-but-what-am-i-gonna-do-with-it 

to the all-encompassing Great Pile of Stuff 

where it took up residence till last summer...

and that was when i decided what to do with it...

still good advice

Shabby Fabrics had a tutorial but i can't find it now demonstrating how to make quilted covers for electronic devices... 

i added a pocket cuz i don't wanta lose my earbuds...

can you hear me now?!?

anywho, i really like(d) my Kindle cover... 

 Melissa decided that SHE needed one, too, and i told her i would make one for her for christmas...

last christmas...

it is now june...

a pack on a pocket put-er-in-er

 it's only six months late...

How did it get so late so soon?

It's night before it's afternoon.

December is here before it's June.

My goodness how the time has flewn.

How did it get so late so soon?

Dr. Seuss

jimmiejams

this month's Saturday Sampler Neutral BOM meeting coincided with pajama day at The Quiter's Studio ... 25% off the total purchase for showing up in pajamas by 9am ... Auntia had to drink a LOT of coffee to get going that morning...uh ... you have pinwheels on your head ... didja know that?!?

and she was willing to go out in public in her jammies...her dawgs are barkin'
she even ironed them so they would look nice ... but that's not all ... she ironed mine, too...yes, yes ... i can be bought ... but i ain't cheap!
i don't think i will be doing that again ... i just about froze to death cuz those jammies aren't that warm when they're not under a couple of quilts, a velux blanket and flannel sheets ... and those once-pristine pink fluffy slippers picked up a lotta dirt off the floor ... i'm just sayin'

yoo hoo!!!

i ran out of red fabric when i was adding the outer border to Mr. Husker's Homestead ... not to worry ... i knew they would still have some at Hobby Lobby and i was armed with a 40% off coupon ... of course, the fabric was already on sale ... for 30% off - doesn't that just figure? i hate it when i actually remember my coupons but everything i want is already on sale for more - so i used my coupon for another Moon in My Room just don't tell anybody cuz it's gonna be a christmas present ... but look who was calling...
yoo hoo!!!

di-anne!!!
i'm 50% off!!!
you know you want me!!!
i'm 50% off!!!
i'm pink and lovable!!!
and did i mention that i'm 50% off?!? little flamingo fairie with her magick wand

... and i just couldn't walk away from such a pitiful little baby with big blue eyes

and baby makes three

this is what happens when i let my guard down...

remember this post about my little fluffy friends?!? well ... i was right to be worried ... now look what they've gone and done!!!
i should never have left them alone ... and the mess from eggshells squashed underfoot was unbelievable...

mistakes have been made ... others will be blamed

AA - the first step

our applique instructor is the same lady who made the sewing machine go bonkers when she was putting the castles in spain block together at the BOM meeting ... Sheri is a real sweetheart and very, very patient with my cranky hands and Auntia's frosty fingers ... i believe her exact words were you have the coldest hands i have ever touched when she reached over to show Auntia how to use her needle to position a leaf ... we are the only two students in the class (which either means everybody else already knows how to hand applique or they all heard that we were gonna be there and didn't show up) and the one teacher/two students ratio was super ... we learned needle turn applique last night and next week will learn a different technique ... Sheri told us that the folk heart threads book is the one she likes to teach beginners because it's folk art and so it's not supposed to be perfect ... it's supposed to be folksy...

...this is my block - i still have to make three little circles for the center of the flower ... i have to keep telling myself that it is a flower and not an alien waving his little E.T. arms at me...
...and this is Auntia's finished block ... i'm loving the plaid leaves ...... our homework is cutting out the pieces for flowers with squared corners for next week's blocks ... the whole process was much less stressful than i thought it would be ... we learned a lot ... and it was kinda nice to not have to worry about meeting points and matching seams and not stretching biases...
...Auntia took this picture on the way home ... we were going 65mph down 287 and watching a glorious sunset most of the way ... the delicious aroma of Schlotsky's sandwiches was wafting through the car ...... our home is in a valley (a very, very windy valley) and the houses around us block any view of the Rockies ... unless i stand on a step stool and lean into the sewing room window till my head smacks the glass - then i can see about a quarter inch of one of the 14ers ... the setting sun is out of range unless we walk down to the corner and over two or three blocks ...... Schlotsky's serious sandwiches ... a sunset ... and good company ... what could be better?
...unfortunately, Mingo has fallen off the wagon again ... this is what he was doing while the rest of us were attending AA

...and when we arrived at home there was a message from my sister ... Little Nonnie has bronchitis (antibiotics) and a pinched nerve (neck exercises that she will not do unless she is forced by a physical therapist) and an ulcerated sore in her mouth (special $37 mouthwash four times a day) and PMR (with its accompanying threat of the nightmare of Prednisone rearing its ugly head) ... sigh.

anywho ... the sunset was beautiful, the sandwiches were yummy ... and hand applique is kinda fun

clubbing

do you remember this guy? his name is Mingo and the last time i saw him he was stretched out in the middle of The Quilters Studio - not taking a nap ... well, this is the sad state that i found him in when we went to the BOM club on saturday ... it seems he's been hitting the bars ... just look at that sad, pathetic face ... alone in the corner ... forsaken ... the word on the street is he's lost his standing with chicks to this guy...

a biker musician dude who travels with his own bali pops band and fat quarters groupies ... wearing his plaid shorts, birkenstocks, and cool shades - he wins them over with his rockin' rendition of you are my sunshine ... dancing and flapping his wings in some kind of weird pink mating ritual ...... it just isn't fair ... it's enough to drive a bird to drink

itty bitty's quilt

this is Itty Bitty's quilt ... the bear paw blocks are from stash ... i have a small collection (cough) of jungle fabric that will be a star quilt someday ... the pink flamingos were getting lost in all the other noise, so i changed the inner squares to pink ...... and it started really shouting ... so i shushed it with the tan and grey borders ...... it is free-motion quilted with indian elephants ...... whoa ... wait a minute ...... INDIAN ELEPHANTS ...... in AFRICA???

what was i thinking???

the backing is pale green flannel ... by the time it was ready for binding, i knew that my first great was gonna be a niece ... so it is bound with pink flannel
this one is named you'll be in my heart

fyi - there's a book giveaway at Dawn Heese's blog for her new book, Geese in the Rose Garden

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!

fluffy pink flamingos

my pink flamingo slippers are the bomb-diggety!!!

they were a girls' night in present from Auntia and i love them ... Kim was wondering if the mating season for bunny slippers is all year round ... and sometimes i worry about my little pink fluffy friends - i spend enough of my life walking on eggshells.

girls just wanna have fun

we left this morning at 0823 with coffee in our travel mugs and hot out of the oven cinnamon rolls ... Auntia was dressed in her robin hood leggings and furry brown boots, but she wouldn't let me take a picture of her ...... anywho, we arrived at the TQS BOM Saturday Sampler meeting about two minutes before 0900 and - gasp - our seats were taken! so we sat on the other side of the room and saw everything from a very different perspective - which was kinda refreshing. this month's block is "free trade" and the alternate is "hourglass" ...... then it was time to shop!
i was pretty good this time and bought just four fat quarters (the brown and black batiks are for Mr. Huskers' 60th birthday quilt - shh - it isn't till next year and i'm not even sure what it's gonna be, but it will have black angus cows) and two patterns by Penny Sturges for mini totes:
i didn't realize that the tote patterns were by the same designer till i took them out of the bag for their picture ... and, yes, i know that it is not environmentally correct to ask for a bag (especially when i have shopping bags in the car that Auntia made for me) ... but i can't help myself. when i go to The Quilter's Studio, i want to take my goodies home in one of their bright green bags ... i love those bright green bags!

look who was supposed to be taking a nap in the middle of the studio:
his name is Mingo ... and i don't think he's gonna close those peepers till people stop taking his picture ......
there are pink flamingos in evidence throughout the shop, and all of them are named after movie stars from the 30s and 40s ... except for Mingo, who already had a name when he arrived. i think we could have milled around the shop all morning, but we needed to pick up the stocking threads and charms from the Stitchers Garden. so, we put our quilting goodies in the car and then crossed Main Street to buy:do you see the thistle bookmark kit? that is not for the stocking ... it is for Auntia and, even though she knows how to cross stitch and could make it herself, she expects me to make it for her ... i think it was a mistake to tell her that Little Nonnie wouldn't sew (or crochet or embroider or stitch) for me after i learned the basics ... she would tell me, "You know how, you can do it yourself." ...... i used to hate hearing those words ... nope, i never should have told Auntia ... she guilted me into buying the kit and asked if i could at least have it finished before An Echo in the Bone is published ... i dinna ken if that will happen, but i will do my best to have it done by Robert Burns next birthday ... "Who?" she asked.

then we went to see Little Nonnie ... she wouldn't let me take her picture, either. she told me that her hair is too frizzy and i can take all the pictures that i want at the baby shower next saturday because she is gonna have her hair done on friday. well, all righty, then. after a (looong enough) visit, we headed for Schlotskys, ordered our serious sandwiches, and came home to eat and watch some episodes from the first season of Highlander ... and take a nap.