Tuesday's Orts--Sept 14, 2010

Today's Orts are variable with a chance of sneezing and coughing...

• This time of year brings a weather statistic I enjoy, mostly because it is far away from my city:  The national extreme temperatures quoted in the paper are both in California, less than 300 miles apart.  Today it is going to be a high of 111 degrees in Death Valley, and in Bodie there will be a low of 19 degrees.  I have been to Bodie, a miner's ghost town in the Sierras that is now a National Park, but have never been to Death Valley.  Temperatures can be over 120 degrees there often in the summer, so I surely won't go then!
• My nose is chapped from too much tissue interaction and my ribs are sore.  But I'm wondering how many calories I have burned off with the sneezing and coughing I've been doing the past four days. 
• A house across the street is in foreclosure and the now divorced woman and her kids have moved out as of Sunday.  We neighbors may be taking over the lawn care chores.  One of them already edged the larger section of grass.  We all worry about how long the house will remain empty and how the low sales price might affect our home values.  This is not a good feeling.
• Traffic rant of the week:  It really isn't necessary for you to floor it and pass me on the quarter mile section of the highway before it ends/merges into the freeway.  Because you are going to end up in the slow lane anyway, DUMMY. 
• I am completely lost in the college evaluation process.  Erica got accepted to ASU and we need to check out the school.  Luckily we can stay with my brother Ted who lives in Scottsdale.  We were debating driving vs flying--the latter would be more expensive though probably more practical.  Erica quickly asserted that we can borrow Ted's Corvette and that I won't be driving, as she's the one who needs to learn the roads.  That girl is quick, I tell ya!
• The housekeepers were here last week and one of them held up a couple of stacked cardboard trays to ask if they were trash.  I told her no, they have a use.

Yes, I keep my cat in a CPK tray, you got a problem with that? 

I originally brought these home from a luncheon at the office--they held buffet size foil pans--thinking they would be good for transferring parts from one place to another in the sewing room.  They were lying on the floor and Mini climbed in.  Purpose defined--so be it!

Border/Patrol

Despite some frequent interruptions today, by the auto body guy, my son, my daughter, the auto body guy, my husband, the auto body guy, the dog, the auto body guy, I was able to get one of the border sections pieced.

Looks a mile long, doesn't it?  That's 40 four patches.

Apologies for the slightly blurry photo.  This is the way I drew the design, butting up to the center, but I think it needs a spacer strip of the background, probably 3" finished.  Otherwise I like it.  Since I was home, I took a little garden patrol to snap some photos.

In about a month or so this plant will be covered with red bracts that will last until February--I love my poinsettia! 

A friend gave us two Plumeria plants about a year and a half ago.  These blooms are on the larger plant and smell heavenly.  Of course I always think of my time in Hawaii when I smell them.  The blossoms are frequently used for leis and the plants tree-sized in landscaping there.  Our plant is about three feet high now and the other about a foot and a half.

Our next year's crop of Hass avocados from our dwarf tree.  There is ONE other fruit! Very disappointing, as the last crop we had was about 25 fruits.  There you have it, border/patrol!

Design Wall Monday--Sept 13, 2010

Actually this week it's a design table....

Pieces and parts for 80 four-patches to use as a border on the bowtie quilt, which now has all rows sewn together, yay!  This quilt has well over 100 different fabrics in it given all the scraps I've cut up.  I'm home sick today--a lovely cold which has had me run through about a box of tissues since Friday--so I'll get to work stitching the border up.  Yesterday included a visit to a fabric shop to get additional fabric to flesh out the backing to Erica's quilt, and I also completed the backing to the Rick Rack Road quilt (the one in my header photo), so I'm getting closer than ever to making sandwiches.  Progress is progress!  Go to Judy's blog to see more Design Walls. 

Favorite Things Friday--Mini & Me

I have a little shadow...and she's a cat.

Relaxing on our bed after breakfast.

Assisting with laying out a quilt backing.

Whaddya mean I'm in the way?

This floor is not big enough for both of us?

What are we gonna do next?

See more Favorite Things Friday here.  TGIF.

Tuesday's Orts--Sept 7, 2010

September's first Orts are here!

• Isn't it amazing what tricks your eyes play.  I did not notice until laying out the Bowtie blocks again to play Switcheroo with my mom that I had a duplicate bowtie!  Luckily I had extra background squares so it was an easy thing to stitch up an alternate. 
• This week's traffic rant:  No, you cannot make a right hand turn from the second lane.  Instead of veering over in front of me you must correct your mistake the legal way. Go up to the next intersection and make a U turn.  Really.
• Nick found a job on Friday (YAY!), which meant we went out to Kohl's at 9:00 PM to buy black pants, black socks, and black shoes.  And a few other necessities he was lacking, having not worked since December.  It's getting a bit expensive to have The Young Man back in the house! 
• Job #2 was a bit bizarre last week.  Thursday found me refereeing an argument between two employees.  Dr. P said he couldn't believe he was paying three people to argue in the parking lot. 
• Note to shoppers: Calling first before you drive 15 miles to a store is a really good idea. Because that "Closed" sign is a real bummer.  Especially if the sign is on a fabric store.
• Somehow my brain thinks I can add a third project to my current quilting list.  See, I finished all those 9 patches so I have room for a piecing project.  I'm going to try to resist the seduction of a new project and work on an older one. 
• I had a date last night with my friend Pat.  We went to a movie and then dinner.  We saw The Switch, with Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston.  It was really nice to see a movie with no computer aided graphics, gore, or aliens.  Just good characters, dialogue, and some funny lines.  Oh, and the kid was adorable.

Speaking of aliens, these flower spikes appeared on my echevarria last year, then half the plant died.  Alien Attack or Mother Nature?

Design Wall Monday--Sept 5, 2010

Actually it's a Design BED.  This is my progress on the backing to DD Erica's quilt. 

You can see the E O initials better since I added a lot more of the cream background. Boy, figuring out the size and cutting and sewing of all those sections took a lot of time!  And it's bigger than ever.  It is laying across our king sized bed.  I'm a little anxious about quilting this beast on my own.  Gulp.

Yeah, I'm missing some fabric right there.  So, darn it, gotta go to the fabric store.  Poor me! 

There was a great deal of sewing happening here over the weekend.  I also finished all the 9 patches for Julie's swap--that's 78 of them.

Then I had a little play time with the leftovers:

No idea what'll become of this but it was fun to see the fabrics all together.  I just cut 1.5" strips from the 2.5" strip set leftovers.   I may make a little doll quilt out of it somehow.  I have some young nieces who might like one.  Go to Judy's blog to see the rest of the Design Walls.  Happy Monday!

Favorite Things Friday

My friend, General Pyjamas, is having a new feature on her blog and I'm linking up.  It was already Friday in her part of the world--Down Under--but she graciously has allowed for the remainder of the world to join in when Friday gets to them. Isn't she sweet?

The favorite item I'm showing is a painting.  I have the artist's permission to post this on my blog with the caveat that no one steal the photo.  So please play nice, especially since the artist is my Mom. 

Used with permission of artist.  Do not copy.  Thank you!

This is a painting of Two Trees, a hill that is the backdrop to a great deal of our city.  I grew up in the flatland at the base of these hills and my parents still live there today.  This was the hill that was on fire a couple of months ago, as shown in this post.  My mom was in the middle of painting this piece, many years ago, when she developed a detached retina and had to undergo emergency surgery--a very scary time.  Fortunately she regained her sight and this was the first painting she finished afterwards.  It means a great deal to me.  I am also fortunate to have many other original Ledlie works of art in my home. 

Here we are standing in front of another.  Love you, Mom!  Go see more Favorite Things Friday here, until I put her button on my blog.  I seem to be lousy at grabbing those suckers.