what was i thinking?

when i put up a picture of my legs on my blog?  good gravy.  anyway, so i figured i needed to come up with something to post to move it on down the line.

i’m having trouble keeping myself straight this week.  as we are learning about “opposites” this week, i guess that makes me crooked.

now, i seem to have no trouble working on umptynine  (ok, now if THAT isn’t a fun word, what is?!?!?) quilting projects.  in fact, i would guess that i have ……never mind, i’m not guessing again.  let’s just agree that i have ALOT of quilt projects in various stages of unfinishedness.

i DO seem to have trouble keeping my books straight though.  i’m listening to “the poison wood bible” by barbara kingsolver at the clubhouse.  it’s about a family with several girls that missions in africa.  i’m reading a J D Robb (aka nora roberts) book….seduction in death….at the kid’s house.  that is a futuristic tale about a female cop specializing in murders and her rich and dashing and slightly on the wrong side of the law husband.  while i’m on the road driving i’m listening to kathy lee gifford…. i know more about “flopbags” and her perfect hubby and kids that i need to but it makes for entertaining listening and it sure as heck beats john tesh!  and finally there is  “captivating.  unveiling the mystery of a woman’s soul” by john and stasi eldredge.  NOT a self help or self improvement book.  more of a self examination book.  i’m liking it.  alot.  here is a favorite quote from the book:

“the gift of presence is a rare and beautiful gift.  to come—-unguarded, undistracted—-and be fully present, fully engaged with whoever we are with at that moment.”

i’m going to work on that.

now if i could just get the witch from oz out of my head (the last book was “wicked.  the life and times of the wicked witch of the west” by gregory maquire.  she was just misunderstood.  really.  LOVED that book too.

what are you reading/listening to?  do you juggle?

what’s the opposite of……..

and just because you deserve a  picture…..

south dakota “roses”

2 chubby white legs

coming right up.

if you need me, i’m in the pool………

remember, you ASKED

for photos and i aim to please!

these are some of my favorite pix from the backyard….newly fenced and nearly complete play set:

brothers are the best

my “great nephew” Miles came for a swing one day.

Mr. BIG STUFF!

brother woke up!

i couldn’t possibly have more fun if i tried!

now pay attention

i LOVE the backyard!  thanks to everyone that made it happen!

ian is a big guy

so while kaiden is sleeping, ian thinks he is really big stuff because i’m letting him play on the back deck with his car garage and truck and “fixers” (plyers, wrench, drill) all by himself. 

 

yes, i am sitting 2 feet away from the patio door just in case he decides to wander.  so i’m paranoid.  i just hate returning damaged grands to the parents!  so i hoover.

 

update: ian pinched his thumb while closing the “screaming” (screen) door.  so another in and out trip………sigh.

father’s day 2009

not a full slate of pix because, well just because it worked out that way!

scott’s father’s day gift request was a fishing outing with ian. so saturday they went shopping for a pole and tackle box.

and sunday they went fishing!

and they caught fish!

and more fish! doubles even!

awe

boppa on duty

nana has a play date

momma and daddy are working

boppa has the babies

should be interesting.  he says he’s gonna get lots of laundry done…….hahahahhahahahahah

ok if he DOES, i’ll eat my hat.  no, i’ll marry a goat.   no….but i’ll be real ticked off about it!

month 583

JAN tagged me and it’s been a while since i’ve played and i also think i missed a monthly XXX or two so guess what?!? you get to learn even MORE about me. why did 30 of you just leave the building? how rude.

The Premio MEME Blog Award Rules:
1. list 7 personality traits

2. tag/award 7 blogs that deserve such fine recognition for the personalities that they share with the blogging world.

i think one word pretty much sums me up…..contradiction…..wait that’s not a personality trait…..contradictory…..let’s look a little closer and see if we have some examples.

1(a). i’m a rule follower. i obey the rules. if i don’t like the rules i don’t play. i get annoyed by the ones that don’t follow the rules which invariably affects me in a negative manner. i don’t speed, i don’t litter, i like the golden rule, i wait my turn, and i turn off my phone at the movies.

1(b). i totally cheat at cards. i’m incapable of not cheating. instead of discarding 1 card, i’ll discard 10. i’ll palm aces into feminine garments. i’ll peek over your shoulder at your cards as i offer to get you another drink. i bend the corners of the face cards of hearts. and i jaywalk. and i sew over pins.

2 (a). i’m quite self indulgent. it’s not unusual for me to lanquish for an hour or more in a bubble bath with a good book and glass of bubbly. it’s not unheard of for this to occur multiple times in a day. sometimes i eat cake for breakfast.

2 (b). i, like many women i know, tend to put myself last….i say yes when i’d like to say no, i say no problem when there is a problem, i volunteer when i wish i had sat on my hands, i smile when i want to reach down someone’s throat and remove their spleen, i wave merrily when the school bus pulls out in front of me when i what i really want to do is…..well, we just won’t print what i really want to do somedays.

3(a). i’m quite tolerant. it’s quite easy for me to see both sides of any story. i’m totally comfortable with you having your opinions, quirks, foibles, politics etc. even when they are direct opposites of my own. i’m like that frog in the science experiment where you put it in a pan of lukewarm water……then you turn the heat on (did people actually test this? totally mean to the frog if they did) and even though the water heats up to a painful level, the frog just sits there even though it could totally jump out if it just had the courage. and yet, if you put it in a pot of HOT water, the frog immediately jumps out. frogs must be stupid. and i tip even if the service isn’t that great.

3(b). that is until you cross over the invisible line that is there…somewhere….just waiting to trip you up. then you are OFF my planet and there is no interplanetary bus that will get you back on. i’m a bit of a grudger once you’re off the planet. and oh yeah, i detest televised SPORTS. except the olympics and figure skating. and i have a narrow comfort zone (about 1.5 degrees off a varying number…..this according to scott….phfffft)

4.(a)i’m “selectively” ocd. i have a quirk or two. like, i have to “start” things on the quarter hour. and i have to eat gumdrops in color order and in order of favorite flavor (i’m not big on the green ones). i want my tums to match

4. (b) and yet, i survive, even thrive in a completely chaotic environment. huh. and i rarely wear matching sox. and sometimes i wonder if i left something turned on (like the iron or stove) and i just think positively until i get back home.

5. (a) and this is just weird. i read magazines, newsletters etc. from back to front. always have.

5. (b) i read books from beginning (including the copyright, dedication, and thank you pages) and i never ever read the “excerpts” at the back of the book.

6. (a) i am really flexible. i go with the flow. i take advantage of last minute invites. i love spontenaiety.

6. (b) i totally believe you HAVE to have a plan. plans should be in writing. they should have numbers and alpha characters subdividing topics and maybe even a bullet point or two. following the plan is not nearly as important as HAVING one.

7. (a) i’m very honest

7. (b) except that i live in “denial” much of the time AND i like to exaggerate (just for effect). like if i say there was a “crap zillion”, there really wasn’t, there was probably ALOT of whatever but not a crap zillion.

OMG we’ve finally reached 7. this has taken me like an entire month of sundays (total exaggeration….see i told you! i’m out of control

i forgot to tag anyone. (that’s a lie.) i want to tag a crapzillion of you. (exaggeration). i’ll start tagging people at 6:45 (another lie) ok, whoever draws the queen of hearts is tagged (cheater cheater). i’m going to have cake for breakfast (ok it’s supper since it’s pm) and chillax (another lie, i’m going to pick up the pen and go pick up crystal)…….it (meaning me) is hopeless…..

it might be me…..

i think i’m there. you know, the “there’. right “there” on the edge.

so i had a full day of quilting. not the norm any more. thoroughly enjoyed myself. cranked up the tunes because well since BIG BROTHER decided that the world had to go digital i get no tv at the clubhouse. i barely get tv at the main house…..and what a conglomeration it is to get 3 channels there…..we have a roof top antenna, a table top antenna, a digital tv, and a converter box. all to wrangle 3 channels for my viewing pleasure. and just in case that isn’t enough…..don’t even think about getting up and moving around the room because you’ll INTERRUPT the one signal that is making it into the house. and please SAVE me from one local station’s weather orgasms. if there is wind in buckhound SD, this station sends a crew out there to document it and then proceeds to interrupt every 7.25 minutes to tell me there is wind in buckhound sd. i get it……. so anyway…..goodbye regis, oprah, dr. phil, ellen etc. hello tonic solfa, dixie chicks, harry etc.

i’m cooking along when i notice loops. loops are BAD. i tweak. more loops. i untweak. still loops. i change needles. loopy. i major clean. loopfest. breathe deep. meditate. looping. and the quilt is done so now to deal with loops. it’s not hard. it’s just piddly. and it cranks me off.

scott leaves for ballgame. i’m delooping. he returns i’m still unlooping. he asks…..”what’s up”. i snarl. he gets himself a snack and asks “do you want anything” i growl. he gets it and leaves me to loopless.

me: in my head because even i know it’s crazy talk. “really? must you crunch your cheese? and what’s with the eyeblinking? what are you trying to send a signal to BIG BROTHER through the weather man? is breathing necessary for you? here let me help you give it up”

yeah about this time i’m pretty sure it’s me. and i wanna think little happy thoughts about rainbows. but i can’t. i’m thinking “gads! just punch your face off because you are so mean you shouldn’t HAVE a face.”

so i go to bed.

and he comes to bed with the hic ups. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? yeah. it’s not enough that you jerk your leg every 11 seconds. FOR HOURS. noooooo. you have to hic up on top of that.

ok, punch my face off.

we have a pool!

it’s all very exciting. it’s NOTHING fancy. it’s like a big cattle watering tank only prettier. and it’s not done yet. we’ve been running water for 20 hours now. not sure how much is in there (i’m heading out to check on it shortly here) but i’m pretty sure we won’t be swimming yet today. that’s fine, i have work to do. in the mean time……YEA! we’re getting a pool!

no pictures of the actual pool folks-obviously the one above with the catus’ is NOT in my yard! (although i figure to give you a few pix PRIOR to putting on a suit….you’re welcome) as my camera and my BOYS went to minnesota where ian promptly fell and cut his lip requiring a quick hospital visit.   now, i could use the old camera (would have to find it first) or even the video camera but well, that’s out of my routine so….we wait for the water to rise and the camera (and boys) to return.

we have a POOL!

quilty stuff!

this “top” was beautiful to start with. VERY well pieced. and it came with extra STRESS as it was for a very special gift to the maker’s daughter and fiance’ for their wedding gift. no pressure. i always worry about ruining someone’s treasure. i gotta work on that. anyway……….the deets: we went with quilter’s dream WOOL batt. it is lovely and it quilted like butta! i used signature thread in a lavender like color (orchid maybe?). i started with a green and can you say YUCK?!!? did some stitch removal for that. sooo very glad i changed. what else…….oh, the all over feathering is a technique by Suzanne Earley called……meandering magic i think…..anyway, she’s got 2 great books out so shoot me an email or comment if you want more deets i’ll dig ‘em up for you. anyway, it’s a super technique that i think could be used equally well on a long or short arm or even a domestic machine. …..some ruler work, some pebbles, some freehanding, and some bead board in the border. deb levy’s video on MQR inspired me on the splitting of the pillow tuck border. okay, i think i’ve credited everyone. well, i’d also like to thank my mother on account that she birthed me and all…… i know, i hear you all saying “just get on with the pictures woman!” ok.

i know, my photos are not great. there was no sunshine to be had. trust me, even tho you can barely see it, this is QUILTED. it’s pretty good sized…..about 100×112

working from the outside in, the outside border on 3 sides is bead board followed by “barbara bush’s pearls” in the narrow lavender border. the next area of dark spikes and light spikes is a freehand feathered meander (ala suzanne). the 8 spike blocks have a variety of stuff in them (i’ll detail that in the close up), the “star” diamonds were CC (continuous curves) and the center star has pebbles, feathered wreath, and circles. the top border (which you can’t see) is larger (20″) to use as a pillow tuck. i split that border into 3 with beadboard on either side of an undulating feather.

(blah blah blah…..i can hear my sister saying that!)

here’s the pillow tuck.

this is the feather meander magic and a bit of “barbara bush’s pearls”

there are 8 of these blocks and they are all quilted the same. i started with pebbles behind the 1st spike (which has SID), the curved flying geese are feathered, again SID the spikes and then two 1/4inchish outlines, row of pebbles, 1/4 inchish again with a curly-q reaching out to the edge.

close up

close up (again)

the center. hard to see but the very center is a double circle filled with pebbles, a feathered wreath, double circles, SID, pebbles, SID

the most full shot of the back that i have. i played with the exposure and contrast in the photo so the color is completely off but you see the stitching better.

the back center

this shows the pillow tuck quilting (left side) pretty well

a bit “truer” color

and that’s a wrap! the quilt was picked up in the bag.  a few hours later i received a lovely phone call from deb and her hubby saying how much she liked the quilting.  made my day.

for those of you still with me, here’s a snack.

i also made 500 cream cheese mints for a dear friend’s son’s wedding tomorrow. the girls helped me one night so i got a good start and then i finished up the remaining 200 last night. scott did NOT help.  nor did he get up at 3 am to flip the mints.  you’re all surprised right?!?!?!