Quilts for Japan

In my last post, I mentioned that my friend JAB and I had made a "sew date" to make some simple quilts for Japan.  We each started with one each, and quickly decided we could do two each.  It took us a little over a week.

My two are on the outside, and JAB's are the two on the inside.

JAB's.  She has an affinity for purple.

Mostly scraps or leftovers.  My two.

It was extremely rewarding, and the time with a good friend was fun.  So much fun, we're going to try to get together about once a month and make a couple of quilts for charity.


But I've just gotta share....  I picked the WINDIEST  day ever to try to get pics... Here are some out-takes:

OK, so this one isn't tooo bad.  I could always claim I planned that so you could see the back.  Right?

So yes - they are very simple quilts.  But hopefully they will bring some comfort to a few people.

AMW

Sheesh...

Has it really been more than a month since I posted here???  Crap!  Why didn't someone poke me?  Oh yeah, that's facebook...

It's been stressful and relaxing this last month.  I've been busy and bored.

But no real excuse for not posting...  I've been reading and keeping up with everyone, but just forgot to post anything.

Maybe it's age?

Anyway -

Took one small weekend trip to one of my favorite places, the Outer Banks!  Went with four other fabulous women, and we went to Endless Possibilities in Manteo, NC for a day of creativeness.  We each weaved a rug:

Our finished rugs!

And I bought a bucket hat made out of men's neckties:

I've since been given a grocery bag full of ties, and will try to make another hat.

The Japan earthquake/tsunami disaster happened while we were on that trip, and I've been following things since then.  The devastation is utterly amazing.  I started seeing calls for quilts at a lot of blogs I was following, so I teamed up with my friend JAB to see about each of making a simple quilt to donate.

We set up a sew date, and were doing so well, we ended up making 4 of them in a weeks time.  (no pictures yet, but will post when I do have them...)

That left us wanting to do more, so we've decided to get together once a month and make a quilt each for the local children's hospital.  Will post more on that later as well...

(See how I'm setting myself up for more posts later???  Clever, huh?  Or lame... whichever....)

JAB was also the one to tell me a bout a local quilt shop that offers a class on how to use their long-arm and then rents it to you by the hour.  Class is done, and let's just say that I'm in LOVE!  Renting it this Friday for some practice time.....  But more on that later (yet ANOTHER segway to a new post!)

As for the stressful stuff, I think I'll leave that for a separate post.  Mostly so I have a subject to post about , but also cause it's a bit of a vent, and that will make it easier to skip over. (Although, really, do we skip over people's vents?  Or secretly welcome them as a way to see what's REALLY going in the real life of some of our blogger friends?, Yeah, that's I what I thought...)

Enough rambling for today.

Thanks to all of you who post regularly so that I have something to read when I'm not posting!

Favorite Things Friday

Time again for Favorite Things Friday Ms. P. over at Quilting in my Pyjamas.


This week - my favorite thing is something so simple.  Something that only comes around once a year, but signifies the beginning of spring for me.  I'm elated when they start showing up, and sad when they are gone.


It's - Daffodils!

What's not to love about these?  They are bright and sunny, and a sure sign that spring is here (or almost, at least!)


I love driving down the road, and seeing these grow wild.  It really makes me want to stop and grab a handful to fill a vase.  (Yes, yes, I know it's wrong, and I won't really do it, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to!)


So that's my FTF this week.   What's your favorite flower or sign of spring???


AMW

Squeaky Door re-visted

I wish I had a great follow-up story to yesterday's post about the squeaky door.  I don't.

It appears that after hours, the squeaky door fairy came in and fixed it.  That's the only thing I can deduce.  Nobody knows anything, has heard anything, has touched anything.  It just magically fixed itself.

That - or the guys don't want to admit that it was really a simple fix after all that fuss yesterday...

So it will remain a mystery, however the squeak is GONE!

AMW

Easily Amused...

I fully realize that this will only be comical to me.  But today at work, I let the engineers know that the door was "squeaky".

I thought it was funny, that two of them went to work on it, but thought, "OK, they're both new, so maybe they are leaning on each other..."



Then the third one showed up...

Then the chief engineer showed up...



And finally, a contractor perched himself on top of the ladder to watch the festivities.  All over a squeaky door...

As of this typing - it's been almost 1 full hour to fix the squeak, and it's still squeaking.  And I'm heading out the door...

I'll update tomorrow, to see if the squeak is gone.  But really?  With 5 of them, one can only hope....

AMW

Favorite Things Friday

Time again for Favorite Things Friday Ms. P. over at Quilting in my Pyjamas.


This week, I was going to say that my favorite thing is traveling.  And while that is true, it's a bit broad.  So, I'll narrow it down....


One of my favorite things while traveling is Roadside Attractions.  Some we've come across by accident, and some were actually the destination.  Some were just plain odd, and some were just something we thought were kinda cool...



Here are a few we've come across:

Goats with their own walkway to a feeder.  No fear, and  cars passing right underneath!

Foamhenge.  A full scale replica of stonehenge, made out of foam.

In front of an auto body repair shop.

Also in front of an auto body repair shop.

In front of the GraveDigger Monster Truck shop.

Full mosaic art in San Diego.

Paul Bunyon and his ox, Blue.  Somewhere on the coast of Oregon.

Sea Lion Caves on the coast of Oregon.  This place was promoted with major tacky billboards for miles ahead of time.  Couldn't resist...  And the caves were actually AWESOME!

Quilt painted on the road in Bell Buckle, TN.

Concrete troll under a bridge in Seattle, Wa.  There is a full size VW Bug under his left hand.

Lucy!  Lucy is an Elephant-shaped building near Atlantic City, NJ.  She has formerly been a  restaurant, tavern, house, and is now a tourist attraction.  

There are plenty more that we've seen, and been so in awe, we've forgotten to take pictures.  But it's definitely fun to find these oddities out there...


I just can't resist these types of attractions while traveling.  Sometimes, it adds a lot of time onto a quick trip, but I consider it "Stopping to smell the roses"!


AMW

Quilt Show - Art or other?

This weekend was the Mid-Atlantic Quilt show at the Hampton Roads Conventions Center.  I'm very fortunate to live VERY close to this location and LOVE to visit this show nearly every day.

I stopped by there on Thursday for a brief visit of vendors, before leaving for an appointment.

Thursday on the evening news, there was a story about a controversial quilt.  Complete with someone being threatened to be removed by police.  At a quilt show.

What had some people up in arms?  A quilt, of course.  But it was an art quilt.  Some of the offended women claimed it was por.nographic and should not have been included.

It was part of a special exhibit named "No Place to Call Home".   The description in the program reads:

"Homelessness exists all around the world.  There are a myriad of conditions that result in homelessness: poverty, unemployment, lack of education, drug addiction, abandonment, mental illness, war and civil unreast, along with man-made and natural disasters.  This exhibit takes a look at homelessness in all its implications.  Presented by the artists of SAQA and curated by Kathleen McCabe, SAQA Curator-in-Training."  

 I've been trying to decide whether or not to post the photo here or not, and let you decide.  And in the end, decided not to.  I will however post the "label" that was beside the quilt with the artists description of the piece and how it was made:

The basic description of the quilt was a woman living in a cardboard box.  She was completely naked, sitting "indian style" (that's what we called it as a kid, not sure of how else to describe it).  She was pregnant and semi-transparent, meaning you could see her breast as well as her heart and lungs, and you could see her child in her her uterus, and veins in one arm.   And since she's sitting cross-legged, you can see her private area.  And that's what had people upset.  Even demanding it to be removed.

To the credit of the quilt show organizers, they did not remove it.  I think it's up to each individual to decide how they feel about it, and move on if it offends you.  Simple.

I was personally NOT offended.  I saw it for what it was.  I enjoyed the entire show, and saw some other amazing quilts as well.

How easily offended are you by art?  Is there a point when it's too graphic?

AMW

Nothing update

I don't really have anything new to blog about.  But still wanted to post something anyway.  What do you do when you want to blog, but have writer's block?  For me - RANDOMNESS.

I've been looking for a pattern for the black, white, and red fabric I bought.  Most of the fabrics are rather large print, so I needed a pattern that would highlight them.  Thumbing through April/May 2011 issue of Quilt magazine, lo and behold, there was a Black, White & Red all over pattern.  I like it, but will probably adapt it a bit to better suit my fabrics.

Coming up this weekend is the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show just a couple short miles from my house.   People come from all over the county to go to this show, and I can get there is 3 simple turns.  Yep, I'll be there all weekend.  More on that later in the week...

It's "President's Day" here, so that means a day off for me.  I love President's Day holiday because it's always near my birthday (which was Sunday), so it was an extra day celebration for me.  

The weather continues to fluctuate.  78 on Friday, 65 on Saturday, 55 Sunday, and back to 72 today.  Can you believe they are talking about flurries tonight!  With a high of 40 tomorrow.  UGH!  Some consistency would be lovely.  Consistently 70's, please!

Yep, that's all I can think of...

AMW

Favorite Things Friday - The Weather

It's Friday, so that means Favorite Things Friday again inspired by Shay over at Quilting in my Pajamas.  

Sorry this one is so late, but I was actually out enjoying my FTF!

Today, my FTF is a rare 78 degree day in the middle of February.  Earlier this week, it was 45 for a high, and as you can see from the 7-day forecast, it's going to get chilly again shortly.

But to have this kind of sunshine and warmth today was a real treat!  

I went outside.  I opened the windows in the house.  I walked at the Botanical Gardens for hours.  

So that's it.  Simple, but so refreshing and good for the soul!

AMW

Eagle Update

A few weeks ago I posted about the Norfolk Botanical Garden's Eagle Cam as part of a Favorite Things Friday.  We were anxiously awaiting the eggs, and now  they are here!  3 eggs were laid, each three days apart.  The first on February 3rd, the second on February 6th, and the third on February 9th.  The eggs will hatch between 35-38 days later, which will be around the first part of March.

While there is not a "LOT" of activity right now, there is almost always guaranteed to be an eagle on the nest.  The male and female are switching out right now, and at times you can see them get up and "roll" the eggs.

The camera quality is one of the best I've seen on any wildlife cam.  Here is a screen shot from this morning:

Male eagle (or DADDY)

It's supposed to be 70+ degrees here on Friday, and I'm off work.  I'm seriously considering wandering over to the Gardens to see if I can see the eagles out hunting!

Wish me luck!

AMW