pay back

the young bride's wedding day was fast approaching
nothing could dampen her excitement - not even her parents' nasty divorce

her mother had found the perfect dress to wear
she would be the best-dressed mother-of-the-bride ... ever!

a week later, the young bride was horrified to learn that her father's new trophy wife had bought the exact same dress as her mother
she asked her father's new wife to exchange it
the new wife refused ... she replied
absolutely not!!! i look like a million bucks in this dress and i'm wearing it!!!

the young bride told her mother, who graciously said
never mind, sweetheart ... i'll get another dress ... after all, it is your special day

a few days later they went shopping and found another gorgeous dress for her mother

when they stopped for lunch, the young bride asked her mother
aren't you going to return the other dress? you really don't have another occasion where you could wear it...

her mother smiled and replied
of course i do, dear! i'm wearing it to the rehearsal dinner the night before your wedding...

simply ghastly

my sister loves halloween ... my sister loves the Addams Family ...my sister's living room is mauve ... my sister needs The Ghastlies...they're all together ooky

i fell for the fabric the first time i saw it at Desperate Quilters ... the plan was to make a double irish chain - with the different characters fussy-cut in 6 inch (finished) blocks ... none of the local quilt shops have The Ghastlies ... i had no idea that the characters are so BIG ... waaaay too big for 6 inch blocks ... so i modified the center of the blocks to be 6x10 ... there's a green peeper border around the black inner border ... this flimsy is crying out for a black flannel back and binding ... and i'm thinking that it needs big pink roses quilted all over it
i love this little coven of witches...i always feel like some body's watching me
the fabric comes in other colorways - green, orange, mauve and grey .... and i was gonna buy some more for me ... but i think i'm kinda over the whole creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky family

elephant in the room

mama said there'd be days like this

it was unseasonably cool for two days ... but now the heat is back on and i'd like to be hanging out with the saggy baggy elephant ... oh ... wait ... i have been hanging out with the saggy baggy elephant ... let me just say this about that - i am happy that the flimsy is done and i don't have to look at Sooki and friends for a while cuz it stopped being fun about ten minutes after i started working on it ... first i messed up the flying geese ... fortunately, i cut them way too big instead of way too small ... and then i messed up the flying geese again ... they were still too big ... they finally fit the book blocks after the third time of going under the knife ... then i couldn't find an alternate fabric in the stash for the four patches in the corners ... Auntia and i have sworn off buying fabric till we've paid for the computer ... with the exception of Hallographix ... which i am buying come hell or high water ... i wanted to go shopping - but i knew i couldn't spend real money, even if i did find something that would work ... and then i remembered that my stash card for The Quilters Studio still had some dollars on it ... ... Auntia found the nectarine fossil fern - woo hoo!!! and i could finally finish putting the blocks together ... time for sashings and cornerstones ... i remembered too late that squaring fabric on the grain doesn't necessarily mean that the stripes are gonna be straight ... yep - i've got crooked stripes ... the blocks are square, but they look like they're waving at the crowd ... grrr ... anywho ... it'll have to do cuz i am outta fabric and it's just too darn hot to sweat the small stuff ...

where's the beef?!?
i cooked with fire on the fourth of july ... i even managed to make grill marks on the chicken that was marinating for fajitas the next day ... Auntia successfully cooked with fire, too - she toasted three perfect, golden marshmallows ... The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook has a recipe for blackberry cobbler that is simple and gooood ... i used raspberries instead of blackberries for our fourth of july dessert...red and white, no blueberries
when i was grocery shopping, i found a red star-shaped platter and two plates that matched the dessert stars on sale ... so they came home to live with us...
now that's what i call fine dining - eat your heart out, Gordon Ramsey
and Auntia served the pasta salad in some little bowls that are shaped like onions ... i thought they were garlic when i bought them - but onions are almost as good ... we had Auntia's 4th of July mix CD blaring a whole lotta Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue for the enjoyment of our neighbors who all seemed to show a sudden interest in the 16-inning Colorado Rockies game ... then we watched The Closer till the fireworks started ... it rained enough to put out the barrel fire that our neighbors had blazing and to wash away the smell of sulfur ...no one set any roofs on fire and the celebration went off with a whole lotta bangs ...... and soon everyone will run outta pop bottle rockets and roman candles and firecrackers all of which are dangerous and most of which are illegal but there's no elephant in this room, is there?
nope - just the saggy baggy one

america the beautiful

american beauty

Auntia always dresses up for the fourth of july ... i think a princess should wear her tiara whenever the opportunity presents itself...

happy 234th birthday, America!

fruit floats

jammin' with the flamingo

this year we got to the strawberries before the robins did ... this was my first attempt at making strawberry jam ... the fruit is floating ... it's not supposed to do that ... i should go back and reread the recipe's helpful hints ... but i'm outta strawberries ... and outta sugar ... seven cups of sugar for eight little half pints of strawberry jam - sheesh ... but Auntia says it's even better than Smuckers ... she likes homemade so much that she's been outside chasing the squirrels away from the peach and apple trees ... always planning ahead

bad hare day

Thimbleanna is waging war against the rabbits ... and the raccoons ... and the ground hogs ... i hope her lilies win

and Mama Spark, the Queen of Lagomorphs, has entered her neighborhood quilt in a design contest ... you can vote here

bad hair day

guaranteed!!!
this is my sixth (of twelve) Hocuspocusville block ... at this rate, i will finish the stitching sometime around the middle of never


p.s. - the Twilight Quilters Coven is sponsoring a giveaway here ... these quilters are making some amazing blocks based on the Twilight saga ... vampires and werewolves - what's not to love?