Something About Nothing

They've all grown up a bit since these photos. This sleepy birdy became. . . a little princess in blue. And the little princess in yellow wore her big sister's poodle skirt for Halloween last year. . .   And this little superman was always some sort of superhero. . . including the sports legend kind.

Baby it's cold outside! The current theme for my 12x12 group is "Cold" and I suppose today is an appropriate day for my "Cold" quilt to make it's debut because we had our first snowfall.  My yard is covered with about an inch of the beautiful stuff but it won't be there for long since it is warm enough that everything is melting already. I had many ideas go through my head for Cold: cold turkey, cold shoulder, cold feet, snow, ice, icicles, and snowmen to name a few. I sketched out many of these ideas but when it came down to the wire this frosty face was the image I decided to go with. My son says it looks more like an image of warm than cold because of the big puffy coat.  However my thinking was more along the lines of a cold so frigid that even a big puffy coat will not keep you warm. A chill so cold that you don't want to open your eyes for fear of freezing your eyeballs. Perhaps I need to add more frosty bits (glitter perhaps?) al...

Halloween 1979 I'm the one dressed as the Hillbilly. And yes we seem to be the only high schoolers dressed up for Halloween in the entire cafeteria.  That's just the way we rolled. And I'm glad we did! My sistah is going to shoot me for posting this photo but I think it's the only photo I have of her in a Halloween costume.  By the way, I made the clown costume for myself for the previous Halloween and wore it to school too.  I love the pillow we put under the costume to make my sistah look fat because, of course, ALL clowns are fat!  However in this case she looks more preggo than fat.  Ah, good times. 

I work part time at a fun quilt shop: Whimsy Cottage .   Occasionally I work in the store but generally I send out the email newsletters, keep the website up to date (click on the words Whimsy Cottage and you will visit the website) and I also get to make fun samples like the Koala I made last week and this Amy Butler Birdie Sling Purse I finished up today.  Whimsy is unique because Nancy, the owner, loves pure color and it shows in every part of the store.    I have enjoyed being allowed the freedom to explore color while working at Whimsy.  I have amazed myself as I have helped cutomers pick fabrics for their quilts.  I think it is easier to help others pick their fabrics but I am also much more confident with my own color choices.  I have grown as a quilter and an artist over the past few years and I attribute a lot of that growth to my associations with the owner, employees and customers at Whimsy.

New Melly&Me Pattern I made up as a sample for the shop . I just think she is so cute. I love that I get to do these kinds of things!

Last weekend was sister's weekend in Chicago. Ever since my Mom passed away in 2002, my sister and I have tried to spend a weekend together in Chicago to enjoy one another's company, go to a Cub's game, visit friends and visit Mom's grave. This year was a little different.  We didn't even plan the weekend around a Cub's game because we had a different goal in mind this year. Last December one my sister's best friends, Damien, decided he could not stay on this earth any longer. His decision was devistating for my sister and many others. My sister and his friends have tried to reach up out of their pit of despair and contribute to the world by raising money to benefit the San Francisco SPCA, one of Damien's favorite charities. My sister organized a few fund raisers in San Francisco while another friend, Cathy, prepared to run the Chicago Marathon in Damien's memory.  The marathon and an afterparty with a  raffle would be the culminating e...

I'm following again. Following a prompt to learn to mix dyes. I started with Turquoise, Fuchia and Bright Yellow and made this silly color wheel. Color wheel in the center with gradations on the outside. I've made color wheels in watercolors but never in fabric dye.  It was a very similar experience but still fun.

I showed you these when I picked them a while back. They were delicious - and still are delicious because I bottled them. My friend Marie wants to learn to bottle fruit so I took pictures of the process to help her along. The offical instructions for canning peaches can be found here   and I'm just adding some pictures to help out with the visuals.  Sometimes the instructions can be a bit vague if you haven't done this before. Always  use a USDA approved recipe to keep your family safe and healthy and use a water bath canner.  Steam canners have been deemed unsafe because they do not keep the temperature consistent. The first thing to do is to remove the peach skins.  We do this by blanching the peaches in boiling water for about 30 - 60 seconds.  Quickly remove the peaches from the boiling water and plop them into a sink full of cold water. I cut my peaches in half before slipping the skin after they've be...

I pulled this photo out for a flashback because I think it's cute and funny.  The large circle is around my grandparents.  I love Grandma's hair - up and high for the special occassion.  Grandma's dress is down to her knees because Grandpa liked to see Grandma's great legs.  I remember going with them to DeMars dress shop and hearing Grandpa give this very opinion.  Remembering Grandpa Lou always makes me smile.  The person with the square around her face is Grandpa's twin sister, Louise.  The wedding is for Aunt Louise's youngest son Jerry.

We have spent a lot of time through the years in this room. It's the children's room at our local library. We are just barely outgrowing this room and when the new library opens we will have totally outgrown it. I'm sure it will be a number of years until I have grandchildren to take to the new children's room. I hope - no need to rush things after all. This is the area of the library we have graduated to.  When the new library opens this row of teen books will have become an entire room. That is something to look forward to. This isn't much of an area for teens to hang out and enjoy reading. I loaned out my camera recently but was fortunate enough to have my cell phone camera with me to document the end of our old library. I tried to be discreet taking pictures. I didn't want to appear as if I were being too sentimental, even though I was feeling very sentimental. But how can I not feel this way about the end of an era. I'm sure th...