Tuesday Thoughts

This is not an earth-shattering revelation, but did you know that play-doh comes in metallic colors? It does, and it smells just as good as ever. So while I like the concept of making homemade play-doh in theory, in reality it just doesn't smell the same. And that's reason enough to buy new play-doh. Oh, and because of these two...

Even the puzzle seemed extra colorful this morning.

For some reason Charlotte thought she needed help putting her shoes on. Yep, those velcro straps can be pretty tricky. So she conned charmed her brother into helping her.

Some custom pincushion orders and a few others for friends.

                                     
See you tomorrow for WIP Wednesday!

Tuesday Thoughts, Part 2: A dream come true

The second picture-heavy post in the same day. I wasn't expecting this one and I want to get it posted while it's still fresh in my mind.

Take yourself back to 1959. What? Some of you weren't even born then? Okay, so imagine yourself back to 1959. I was about 7. My father was a minister and while I remember having a comfortable life growing up, there was rarely any money for "extras." We had a chihuahua named Pepe. He was always a little hyper for me, and I think my parents felt that way as well. Anyway, I wanted a Barbie doll so badly. Maybe my parents were just looking for a way to pass that hyper little dog onto someone who would love him more. So they asked me if I was willing to get rid of the dog. If so, they would use that money to buy a Barbie doll. I know. Shocking. Sorry to all you dog lovers. I totally sold the dog out for a Barbie doll.

The first edition of Barbie had a blond pony tail. I am a redhead and by the time I got my own Barbie, they had come out with the "bubble cut." Imagine the early 1960s. Jackie Kennedy was all the rage, and with her incredible sense of style, it filtered its way down even to Barbie. My Barbie had a red bubble cut.

Somehow, maybe for Christmas or birthday, I don't remember, but Barbie also acquired a canopy bed with a dressing table, chair, "French" armoire and a couple of "store-bought" outfits. I was completely amazed to have a Barbie, and to have her living so stylishly.

While I got rid of nearly every other toy, I saved my Barbie, in the original box, never with the idea that she would be a collectible, but with the hope I could pass her on to a daughter. Or a granddaughter. That happened today.

I had checked with Christa a few months ago, and she said it was fine. You never know these days if mothers want their daughters playing with a doll whose figure is so unrealistic. But this morning Charlotte also had the most adorable Dorothy doll from the Wizard of Oz, and Tiana (spelling?), so the timing seemed right.

We got the box down and started taking things out. Wow, what memories came flooding back. I learned to hand sew with this doll. While I had a couple of purchased outfits, like this stunning red velvet swing coat with white satin lining and a Jackie Kennedy "pillbox" hat and the black dress with the organza collar and a matching big hat (think Kentucky Derby...),

more and more outfits came spilling out of the bag, outfits that were mostly hand sewn. Even though I was the one who made them all those years ago, this morning I was shocked at the detail I had put into them.

An evening dress (modeled by Tiana), which consisted of a long strapless dress, and then a cape kind of thing that you would put your arms through and it would wrap around your shoulders, complete with a train:

A red denim wrap skirt, lined in red and white ticking stripes, where one tie went through a little opening and tied in the front:

That little white dress with gray flowers, next to the red skirt, was actually made from fabric from a dress my mother wore to church, kind of a shantung silky thing.

Here we have a corduroy coat, with an attached scarf to wrap around your neck. Check out the fringe on the ends of the scarf.

Here we have a three-piece knit ensemble (I think it used to belong to a skirt my grandmother wore at one time) which consists of a pencil skirt, short-sleeved shell, and jacket to complete the outfit, a long satiny evening gown with sequins, a short summery party dress with eyelit overskirt, and two pairs of high-waisted pants.

Here is the white dress again, the summery dress, and another flower shift-style dress with an odd sailor-collar thing I guess Barbie tied around her neck, and then a pretty pink wool coat.

A see-through overskirt (not sure what Barbie wore it with) but check out the rickrack on the border, and some capri pants with little flounces on the bottom (wow, the elastic really crackled when I stretched it out a bit).

Probably my favorite, this pink wool number, with the black embroidery trim and black fringe (sorry about the weird fit around the bust--I think Barbie needs to have the darts pressed down and she'll be just fine...)

This is what I had forgotten: all the hand sewing, darts, tucks, trim. While Charlotte was busy changing Barbie's outfit from one to another

and Levi was doing the man thing and getting the furniture in order,

I was lost in memories...

Tuesday Thoughts: A little on edge

Warning: this will be a picture-heavy blog post. On a variety of completely unrelated things...

For my spool quilt, I had to pull out a lot of selvages based on color, whereas my normal "filing" system is by topic. So after all the blocks were completed, my selvages were a mess. I spent the afternoon organizing them.

There was a box of super cool selvages. These will be fun to incorporate into something special.

Oh, and I found a typo...

I had just finished, when the mail arrived, along with another box of really awesome selvages.

So this is my plan:

And I have started working on my hexies again. I had 25 hexies per compartment in this plastic container. I guess Levi had a better system in mind...

"Grandma, I'll be really careful..."

Where did our favorite hexie go? The monkey with the pirate bandana...

I went to the grocery store to stock up on food for Super  Bowl. I don't have a sister, but these were kind of fun labels:

Not sure how I feel about these next to each other though...

Basting quilts? In my opinion, the.worst.quilting.job.ever. I'm trying a new product. So far I like it. "Like" as in I didn't completely hate basting the quilt top. We'll see how they work with a combination of machine and hand quilting.

Tuesday Thoughts

Tomorrow I will post progress on "Spoolin' Around," my selvage-edge challenge quilt. So excited. It has turned out even better than I expected!

But for today, it is kind of dreary outside so I thought pictures of colorful fabric might be cheerful.

The top two are Patricia Bravo's yummy new solids and Nature Elements (LOTS of gorgeous colors) , and the bottom is from Laura Gunn's new line. Thank you, Hawthorne Threads, for your super speedy service!

Sunday night I was catching up on some reading. Paging through this magazine...

...when I saw this picture. The one on the right.

What? See the plate that salmon is sitting on? Mark made that plate!!  Each one is totally one of a kind, but it is very similar to this one:

Or this one:

Alex Anderson has been a huge supporter of Mark's fused glass business, Around the Block Designs.
He has designed and made the plaques that The Quilt Show presents to their chosen Quilter of the Year each year, and Alex has purchased quite a few things over the years. 

Anyway, I just wasn't expecting to see it in the magazine and it was quite exciting.

I'll be back tomorrow. Hope all of you experiencing Snowmageddon are getting a lot of quilting done!

Tuesday Thoughts...and a giveaway

I have been organizing: my linen closet, the cookbooks above my cooktop that are never used,  fabric (more about that later--and a small giveaway), and my pictures.  Am I the only one who just downloads pictures to my harddrive and they stay in random folders for months at a time? And then when you need to find a certain picture, you have no clue as to its location? I'm hoping to do better in that regard this year.

In the meantime, here are some pictures I came across (and they are now nicely categorized so I'll be able to find them again if I need to...)

Mark was at a jobsite in the mountains last week, not too far from our rental cabins at Huntington Lake. Coming back to Fresno (which is below the fog bank), he took these. Yes, while driving.

And remember. He was in the mountains, not at the ocean. This is what it looks like when you are above the valley fog bank.

This is what the fog looks like ahead of you...

And next to you...

Amazing pictures, don't you think? 

Sometimes when Charlotte has my iPhone, she takes pictures. I have found many pictures on my phone that make me ask, "What is this??"

I get a lot of pictures like this (gotta love Crayola marking pens...):

or this (she likes to play with fabric from a basket in the family room):

But every once in a while, I also get these gems. Pictures of her brother, Levi. Priceless.

Two random pictures snapped at Borders this morning:

Seen in the parking lot. All silver. Interesting to me on a grey day.

I still get a bit giddy when I see my pincushions on the cover of a magazine. In a major bookstore. The one in the middle.With the turquoise header. Feel free to click on the picture to enlarge. (hehe)

Then I moved on to organizing fabric. Again. Yes, once again seemingly massive piles of fabric are on the way out the door. So here's my question. Do I donate yet again to my church quilting group? I think I may have overwhelmed them a bit last year with donations. Should it go to Salvation Army or Goodwill? Should I sell it? I actually had good luck with some fabric I listed before the holidays and there are some pieces that I will list on etsy, but what about the rest of it? If someone is looking to increase their stash of nearly any color, let me know. For the price of postage it could be yours.

Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on fabric donation. I have 12 pieces (each  one is about 6 x 8 inches) of really cute polka dot fabric. I'll let the random number generator pick a winner on Thursday morning.

It is also highly likely that I'll add something else to the package. I'm feeling generous, so while you're giving me advice, what color would you most like to add to your stash if you are the winner?

Do tell.