A Quilt! And A Luau!

I promised pictures of my quilt in progress, and here it is!

Meet Fruit Salad!

The blocks aren't sewn together yet--they are just straight pinned to the wall, so it looks a little weird right now. The colors I used were bubble gum pink, lime, orange, fushcia, hot pink, black, brown, yellow, dark pink, and anything else that got in the way while I was cutting up.

The actual colors are about ten times brighter than what this looks like on my monitor--hence the name. Here's a close up of the piecing on one block (I can't believe how dull this looks in a photo):

Check out this corner:

And how did I accomplish such great work? Well, here's the secret, on the backside of this square:

It's foundation piecing! I recently bought a great book by Karen K Stone, smack full of wonderful patterns and ideas for quilts. It has all the patterns you need for this kind of work!

In other news, a Random Teenager recently celebrated his 16th birthday. We threw him a surprise Luau Party:

Aren't these guys cute with their little leis?

Of course The Princess was in attendance. And look! She's wearing Jamaica!

The Duke of Cute was tearing into the cake, outfitted in his Hawaiian shirt:

Here we are with the Birthday Boy (yes, my skirt is falling off, I know):

Here he is again, with me and our two daughters (check out those cute outfits!):

And yes, I made him wear that shirt. And if that wasn't embarassing enough for a 16 year old....we then did a hula dance just for him!

Yes, I Did

I committed a crime today. I cooked.

A few months back, I told my Sweet Heart that I was sick of cooking. I've been doing it CONSTANTLY for about 35 years, and I had HAD ENOUGH. The thing about cooking is that you NEVER get through...in just a few hours, they are all hungry AGAIN.

Not like sewing, or knitting, or the current distraction, making a quilt. Once it is sewn, or smocked, or pieced, it stays that way. I don't have to constantly start over. And I hate the grocery store. No way to sugar coat it. It is pure hate.

By the time I shop for it, pay for it, get it in the car, get it out of the car, and put it away, why on earth would I want to drag it out again and COOK it, for goodness sake??????

So for the past few months, we've eaten a lot of sandwiches. And pizza. And spaghetti. And Hamburger Helper. My husband, bless his heart, is a good cook. And whatever he's cooked, we have eaten.

So why did I venture into the kitchen and try to get arrested? Because my sister and nephew came to visit for the weekend. To show you what a TERRIBLE mother I am, one Random Teenager called my sister and BEGGED her to cook something when she got here. Another Random Teenager had a list of food for her to cook once she arrived. Things like fried chicken, baked ham, creamed corn....you get the idea. She is hands-down the best Southern cook ever. I'd put her up against Paula Deen anytime.

So I caved in. She and I went to the grocery store together. I cooked Chicken Pilaf, fresh butterbeans, and tea biscuits. Sweet Heart tossed us a salad, and my sister whipped up a wonderful fresh fruit concoction. Imagine what heaven would taste like. That's how good this stuff was. As soon as she e-mails the recipe, I'll post it.

I'm feeling really fat and lazy after eating all that food. And I'll stay that way, since An Idiot stole my brother's bicycle from me. How do I know he's An Idiot? Because he stole the bicycle but didn't steal the helmet. He had probably seen me riding around with the stupid little helmet on and chose NOT to make the same fashion statement.

But at any rate, he stole it. And rode it straight to Wal-Mart and stole a can of gray spray paint. How do we know this? Because my brother has seen An Idiot riding the bicycle around town. Not everyone has a twenty year old bicycle with a wonky seat, you know? I don't have a wonky seat anymore, but An Idiot does. And no, we haven't reported it as stolen. Although I do have a photo of it, it has been freshly sprayed with gray paint. If I had stolen it, I would have spray painted it with a glow-in-the-dark paint. Those were my plans for it, at any rate. I was thinking lime green.

Oh well. Here's more yarn porn from the Knitted Laine in Shelburne. This is a luscious wool and ribbon confection that will turn into a scarf:



A close up:



This is a thin nubby wool thing that will also become a scarf:



A close up:




Here's more vacation photos, of the guys riding go-carts in Pigeon Forge on the way home from Vermont. We stopped there and they rode while I shopped at Dixie Darling, the needlework store. Stop in there if you are nearby--she has lots of great needlework linen, and all the lines of sampler threads.


This Random Teenager.....



Is trying to catch up with these guys:




And I have the actual Real Live Proof right here, today, that even though they look like Grown Men, they are still little boys at heart:



Yes, he won. With a grin like that, you know he was in sight of the finish line!

Still Here In The Sizzling South

Hello again. Guess what I've discovered?


I get a LOT more done when I'm working, as opposed to when I'm on summer vacation. This strikes me as really odd, since I have lots more time to devote to projects during the summer. But I think I have figured out why it always works out this way--during the summer, I catch myself thinking "I can do that tomorrow" but when I'm working, I know that "tomorrow" I have to go to work, so I go ahead and do whatever it is TODAY!


But I have been somewhat busy with a lot of different projects, and of course, I've been taking pictures! And shopping!


Some yarn porn:





This is 100% wool, the softest stuff on earth, from the Great Andirondack Yarn Company, grown in Vermont. A close up of the gorgeous hand-dyed color:






Here's more of it, in a different colorway:







And yes, I've started knitting a sweater from it (why is it that I always want to knit with wool and make quilts when it's 100 degrees outside?)







Here's some fabulous Noro:





It's enough to make this pullover top:





Of course there's more stuff, too. And where did I get all this yummy goodness? From Shelburne, Vermont, at the Knitters Laine! I love this place. If you are within 3000 miles of it, get in the car NOW and go. They have the most beautiful selection of yarn I've ever seen, and are the nicest ladies on earth.


Here's the Toter Boys with some of the haul (don't you just love the flowerbed!)




And I learned two things while we were playing Black Light Golf:




One, it makes your camera do weird things. Two, diamonds look purple under a black light.


For the past week, I've been trying to piece a quilt. But since I have developed Tennis Elbow, which is really strange, seeing as how I don't do sweat, progress on the sewing/stitching/knitting/smocking front is really slow. My daughter says that technically I should call it Stitcher's Elbow.


I'll take pics of the quilt-in-progress and post them later.

One Year Ago Today.....

One year ago today, we were blessed with something truly wonderful--this little granddaughter:




It's my birthday!


Here's the Royal Party Throne, a concoction of pink velvet, ribbons, and yards of tulle:




And the Royal Confection, complete with tiara and scepter:



And beautiful flowers for the occasion, of course:





More than 30 folks, spanning four generations, showed up for the Royal Event, including an aunt (Miss America) and the Random Teenagers:



Our grandson, the Duke of Cute, was way too busy to have his picture taken:




But I finally managed to get those big blue eyes, anyway:



Here are the Royal Parents, the providers of many more future heirs, I hope--hint, hint:




Here's the Queen, our very own Miss Christmas, demonstrating the wearing of a tiara for The Princess:





She got the hang of it really quick, didn't she?





And last, but not least, the Great Grandmother, a natural born beauty and Real Live Bona Fide crowned Beauty Queen more than 60 years ago:



I'm posting to you live from Amelia Island, Florida this week. It's taken us 3 days to piggyback on a wireless connection--we sure are glad the Butler family showed up today, aren't we gang?

I'm busy knitting a sweater with some great Vermont yarn. I'll post some pics tomorrow, and rumors abound that there is a great shop Right Here in town. By nightfall tomorrow, I'll know for sure!

More to come--right now we're going to see the fireworks on the beach!

Shelburne Museum Trip

We arrived in Vermont very late at night, so we really had no idea what the countryside looked like. When we checked into the hotel, I found this:




Yes, ma'm, that's an Apple Green bathroom if I ever saw one. That was the first hint of what was in store for us.

The museum is a wonderful place. If you haven't been, go. We logged 3,000 miles on this trip (spread out over a week) and it was worth every pizza. There is a huge number of museum buildings spread out over about 50 acres. Our first stop was the Round Barn for the contemporary quilt display. Absolutely wondrous work! I've already ordered a book from one of the contributing quilt artists.

Next up was the Circus building. Of all the displays, this was our favorite. There is a circus scene of 40,000 minature hand-carved pieces created through a period of 40+ years. There are people in the stands, animals, performers, clowns, you name it. This was a labor of love, created by a father for his children. And each piece was meticulously painted. This alone is worth the price of admission.

And if you like carousels, the same building houses carousel rides from 1904. You just don't see that kind of craftmanship anymore. I didn't spot a single piece of plastic in the entire building.

Here is a partial shot of the quilt garden outside one of the buildings. It was too big to capture the entire layout, but you get the idea. I would love to see this again when the plants mature a bit. If you go, take a picture of it for me and send me a link!



There's a covered bridge:



It crosses over a duck pond sheltered by a beautiful weeping willow:



There's a 19th century schoolhouse (I will not think about school, I will not think about school):



This is the garden outside the building housing the antique quilts and needlework. The antique quilts were fabulous. The contemporary quilts here are by Rosie Lee Tompkins and tell the story of her faith through needle and fabric. Just wonderful. The current display of needlework samplers focuses on memorial samplers, and there is a gorgeous display of antique hat boxes!



Here's more of the gardens:

Vermont has to be the most beautiful place on earth. Everything is green, green, green and lush beyond belief. It is amazing how CLEAN everything is--the roadways, the countryside, and even the women. I didn't see a single woman who looked to be wearing makeup, and they all had the most beautiful skin I've ever seen. No tanning bed babes here!

Another interesting thing we noticed was that we didn't see any extremely obese or extremely anorexic women, either. You see these everywhere in the South, and I wonder if it's due to the climate or just a difference in lifestyles. I've always said the heat makes us crazy down here.

Right now, it's 97 degrees, and rising. I can tell I'm back home.