march 11, 2009

here's wishing a belated happy 50th birthday to Barbie!

i have owned one Barbie doll in my life - back when she had a high up pony tail, wore a black and white striped bathing suit, and always stood on her tippy toes - and that one was too much for me. one day i decided to smooth out her hair ...... there was a huge (relatively speaking, of course) hole on the top of her head, just underneath the ponytail holder ... i tried and tried, unsuccessfully, to rearrange her hair so that the hole wouldn't show.

i remember hiding Barbie from my mother for months - i knew there was a spanking waiting for me.

anywho, i found a link (not for eyes younger than ... uhmmm ... twenty-two or so) to Cougar Barbie ... i bet she has a hole in her head, too.

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.

eat your cake

and have it, too! this was baking in the oven while i talked to Little Nonnie ... and, yes, she does want a piece (maybe two)!

heading out

tomorrow we will be going to The Quilter's Studio for the quilt block of the month meeting. we are using the Block Party book by Marsha McCloskey and the hydrangea line of fabrics from Lakehouse. Auntia and i are both participating; she is going to incorporate all of our blocks into one quilt. i am making the assigned blocks and the alternates (times three) in pinks and oranges so i can make (more) quilts for my (soon to be three) granddaughters. Auntia is making the same blocks with greys and blacks and oranges and yellows, and a celestial fabric for the focus. at last month's meeting the shop displayed finished quilts from last year's BOM sampler and they were really, really cool. the fabrics were all batiks and, even though everyone made the same blocks from the same fabrics, none of the quilts were the same.

after the BOM meeting, we will walk across the street to The Stitcher's Garden and pick up all of the threads and charms that have been on backorder for Peanut Butter Cup's stocking. i've started Littlelle's stocking (i already had the threads and charms) ... i dunno if they will be completed by christmas ... i have stitched ten Shepherds Bush stockings in the past few years, and i know that it will take a loooong time to finish two more.

after we have spent all of our money on Main Street, we will go to visit Little Nonnie. she says that she really misses real food ... maybe i will bake a pineapple upside-down cake tonight and take a piece to her ... it depends on if my wrists will let me flip the cast iron skillet.

and then ... and then ... and then we get to eat Schlotsky's for lunch! woo hoo! can you believe that the closest Schlotsky's is almost 30 miles away! seriously!

printer, paper, scissors

this is the invitation to Littlelle's shower ... they were made by Mrs. Blakesmom ... the woman can work miracles with a printer, paper and scissors! she has a room in her lovely home dedicated to scrapbooking and paper crafts ... the scrapbook albums that she has created for her son are amazing!

a bun in the oven

Mrs. Moth has a bun in the oven ... a little pink bun whose name will begin with the letter "L" but is a secret because ...... well, because that is the nature of the Moths.

so, little pink bun in the oven's nonna calls her Littlelle because ...... well, because that is the nature of the Nona.

Littlelle's big brother (NoJo) is 8 and her big sister (Gumdrop) is almost 6 ... needless to say, all of the baby stuff is gone ... handed off to friends or relatives ... broken ... worn out ... lost ... gone.

Littlelle needs a shower of baby goodies and Mrs. Blakesmom generously offered to be the hostess. the very least that Littlelle's auntie and nonna could do is to help with the favors and refreshments ...... the party needed a theme ... oooo - how about a bun in the oven?!?

we found the cutest little party favors here ... but they didn't come in pink and we would have been able to buy only one or two for prizes because they were kinda pricey (last week we found them at Michael's for $1.99 each - who knew?) ... what to do? what to do?
Auntia decided that she could make them herself (in pink, of course) ... one for each invited guest. uhmmm - you do realize that's 40 ovens, don't you? seriously? seriously?
but Auntia likes a challenge, too. we started the search for the perfect cinnamon bun candles to put inside the ovens and found candle tarts here that i hoped would work. we ordered half a pound. but when they arrived, they were too small for the ovens. they smelled wonderful, though, and will be a prize for some lucky guest at the shower. then we found tea light candles here ... and they were exactly what we were looking for. they really do look like cinnamon rolls and they smell like heaven!

Auntia loves origami and can fold a flat piece of paper into all kinds beautiful shapes; making an oven-shaped template was easy enough for her to do. we couldn't find a bun in the oven stamp at any of our usual haunts; she found one on eBay. JoAnn's had their scrapbook papers on sale a few weeks ago, so we loaded up on pink card stock. she traced ... and i cut. we were watching her Supernatural Season 1 DVDs and she finally had to take the scissors away from me ... that show is scary ......
i probably could have folded the paper without hurting myself (or anyone else), but Auntia pooh-pahed me and took over ... sheesh.

look at what she made! is that not the cutest thing??!!?? the stamped parchment paper is held on by little pink heart-shaped brads ... the burners are buttons held down with ZOTS ... we bought a punch for the oven doors and she used a sliced-up page protector for the windows ... all held together with Duck Easy Stick tape ...



and then she just had to do it thirty-nine more times ... do you see that block on the wall behind the ovens? that's what she really ought to be working on ... and the pile of projects stacked up against the wall behind her ...... but then we wouldn't have 40 of these too cute for words little pink ovens with buns, now would we?

ahem ... more about the wedding quilt

wedding wishes on dragonfly's wing ...... Auntia was working across the sewing table from me and, bless her heart, did all of the pressing for the dragonfly blocks. i would probably still be standing there with the Rowenta gurgling and phwooshing if she hadn't come to the rescue. Auntia is much better at pressing than i am ... i tend to not press as i go, and then i whine about bunchy seams and warped blocks. between the two of us, all of the blocks were sewn, pressed, and trimmed in time for the wedding.

we did have to make another trip over to Tomorrows Heirlooms for a bit of dark green faerie frost ... the copper and blue were so bright that the purple looked like mud next to them; the green provided a bit of balance.

a table was set up at the wedding reception with the blocks and pigma pens so that guests could sign the wings. there was a photo mat for signatures, too, and many people opted out of signing the quilt blocks ... all in all, we ended up with 30 signed blocks. well ... actually, there were 31 ... one block had to be disassembled ...

one of the guests wrote, "Remember to kick her when she's down." on one of the wings ... and the fool actually had the cajones to sign his name! then some other fool wrote "Butt Hole" on the same wing ... the block couldn't be tossed out because another guest had written a nice sentiment on the other wing ...... it took just a few minutes to take two blocks apart and reattach the wings to make one acceptable block ...... but, seriously, who does something like that?

anywho, i was struggling with how to arrange 30 blocks into a wall hanging. a rectangle just wouldn't do for the intended wall space. what i really wanted was 36 signed blocks so i could make a square of 6 by 6. after sorting through the blocks again and again, i realized that Earth Science and his family hadn't signed any ... needless to say, i took over four blocks and hovered while he and LAB (his children's mother) wrote their messages, and Corbadoo drew squiggly lines on his block. LAB signed Peanut Butter Cup's block for her ...... and then there were 34. still needed two ... hmmmm ... what to do, what to do? sort, sort, sort ... aha! Little Nonnie (my mother) hadn't signed a block and neither had Traveling Man ... so, a short drive to Near South Broomfield and a longer drive to Near Lyons ...... and then there were 36. woo hoo!
with blocks in hand (9 of each color), i cleared a space in the living room







and started to arrange and rearrange the blocks ...








every arrangement looked like a diving bomber squadron of mosquitoes.
what happened to the lovely flitting dragonflies?!? maybe ... this way:




much better ...

but look at all of those crazy points to match!



much, much later, after a few choice words and lots and lots of reverse sewing, Auntia helped me sandwich the flimsy, basting with pins. i stitched in the ditch around the wings and bodies with a greenish brown thread (Earth Science thinks the quilting looks phallic ... sheesh). after that, we took out the pins and loaded it onto the Inspira frame. i freemotion quilted dragonflies with metallic copper thread on the top and brown thread in the bobbin, then more dragonflies in the borders. i am still learning freemotion quilting, so it isn't the best ... but i am getting better with each quilt. there is a hanging sleeve stitched into the binding. wedding wishes on dragonfly's wing is now displayed on Mrs. Moth's wall.

the rest of the story will have to wait for another day ... in case anyone is wondering what happened to the 63 leftover blocks.