Internet Problems

Hi guys, sorry I've been so quiet. I'm having horrendous internet problems lately and this is the first time I've even been able to access my blog to post. Reading blogs hasn't been possible either, but maybe this is a good sign.

I don't know why, but just can't seem to get myself motivated to sew, but I have been handquilting on Rumspringa.

The one big thing that is going on here is that I'm going to be coming back to the states earlier than expected. Sometime in January my husband and I and all the cats will fly to Florida where we have a place to stay. He'll spend two weeks on the beach and then head back to Paris to finish up his tour, which will hopefully be shortened. My husband had always planned on bringing us back to the states early - he doesn't want to traumatise the cats with the pack up - he does worry about them so.

I need the sun desperately and this will give me a chance to get medical issues taken care of and work on the book with Bonnie. Don't have any news for you on that front, just that we're still working on it slowly but surely.

So I'm starting to sort through things. Not really seriously, just staring with the magazines. One thing at a time.

I'm ready to stop living the gypsy life, but we're not quite there yet. This is my last overseas post though - I'm done. It's way too hard with the cats, plus I'm ready to be more serious about this whole quilting thing.

By the way, my husband actually watched all of Pushing Daisies Season One with me and really enjoyed it. Woohoo. Hope ya'all are watching it too.

Now, fingers crossed I can actually get this to publish. I'll probably be posting really rarely for a while, please hang in there with me.

Portrait of the Quilter

Portrait of the Quilter as a No-Longer-So-Young-But-Surely-Not-Middle-Aged Woman

I thought it was time to update the pic in my blog profile so I asked my husband to take some photos of me. You'd have thought I was asking him to walk on broken glass. He hates having his own photo taken and apparently it's also torture to take a photo of someone else.

Those are my new earrings I got for my birthday this weekend and I made the necklace years ago while I was living in Cairo. I've got different eyeglass frames from my previous photo and definitely more gray hair. But I like the smile in that older photograph - more me even though that's not quite what I look like anymore - so I'm not going to change photos in my profile.

I got some books for my birthday - woohoo. I did a good job selecting them if I don't say so myself. The only real celebrating we did was eat out for lunch every day of the long weekend. And yeah, okay I did have a couple of desserts.

Since I've been so lazy about posting I have a few links for you.

First off, make sure you're reading ComicBookLady's blog Quilt as Desired. Besides being a wonderful blogging friend, she's also recently attended Gwen Marston's Beaver Island Quilt Retreat and got permission to post loads of photos from the attendees. Here and here are the posts she's written so far, but I know there's more to come.

Loco Quilter Kimberly has put together a bunch of Halloween faces together for a very fun seasonal top. You can find my tutorial for piecing faces (specifically Frankenstein's Monster) here. And suggestions for making jack o'lanterns, and an alien, witch and mummy are here.

I've been doing a lot of reading. First off, the new Pendergast novel The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It was okay, but no great shakes. The books used to have eerie, creepy events happening that by the end could always be explained scientifically. Well, we've gone well beyond that now. Rationality out the window and I kinda miss it.

Stuart MacBride's latest (in paperback) novel Bloodshot about Aberdeen police detective Logan MacRae left a bad taste in my mouth. Just went too far at the end. I don't like feeling grimey from my reading and if this had been the first book I'd read by the author I wouldn't be reading any more. I did like the first two though, so I'll give him another chance. Oh, and the U.K. title of the book Broken Skin is MUCH better than the stupid title the U.S. publisher put on it.

Continue to love Ian Rankin's broken down Inspector Rebus. Naming of the Dead was an enjoyable read. Not a great memorable book, but well worth reading.

That's it for me. later...

Gargoyles Again

Okay, I should be working on the tutorial for making wonky jars and bottles. I've at least gotten some made.

This is for the new Quilt Together House, Home, or Pantry. Thank you for your response, I love that so many of you have already joined up to play with me. There's still space, just send me an email if you want to participate. I've sent out all the invitations for everyone who's already asked so if you haven't heard back from me, uh oh, please email me again.

I spent yesterday with with some dear friends who were in town for just a short while. We climbed to the top of Notre Dame Cathedral and now I'm paying for it. Ow. I do love the gargoyles that live up there.


The weather was lousy most of the day and this break in the clouds was most welcome.
We also hit Montmartre for the Sacre Couer and Croque Monseiur sandwiches, the Louvre for the ever small Mona Lisa and a quick walkthrough of history, Angelina's for hot chocolate (I was even good and just had iced coffee - that hurt!), a walk down the Champs Elysees and a ride on a Bateau Mouche on the Seine. Whew, that was all tiring but wonderful.

I've got some links for you.

First, some funglies: Here are Cheri's and Brenda's.

True Blue Nancy is working on a wonderful HOPEful quilt. I love how it's got both Lazy Gal and Gwen Marston inspiration.

Speaking of HOPE, I hope you've been checking out the wonderful Priority Hope Challenge quilts folks are generously making for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Still plenty of time for you to participate too if you're interested.

This is a hoot. What happens when Jack O'Lanterns drink too much beer?

Announcing the House, Home, or Pantry Class

It's gotten cold here - finally feels like fall. Seems like the trees never turned pretty colors, they just lost leaves. I've decorated with my Halloween quilts - woohoo! Kinda ridiculous how many of them I have AND how many more I want to make.

Here's Pokey with Halloween Faces in the background:

I've finally decided on the theme for the fall/winter class (not that I'm calling it that). It's House, Home, or Pantry. I've started the class blog and explained it all there. I hope you'll join me. You can make the quilt as silly, holidayish or serious as you like.

I was thinking that I'd make a Wooooohoooo haunted houses quilt. Buuut I do already have a Halloween Houses quilt. This was the third quilt I made using Gwen Marston's liberated houses method and this was where I realized I could indeed free-piece letters.

Instead I'm making a Witch's Pantry inspired by the great quilt that MamaSpark made. Mamaspark also inspired Dote: look at hers. All of the jars for our class have to be free-pieced and I bet some of you can figure out how to do that on your own. But I AM working on the tutorial to make wonky jars and bottles - I'll have it posted soon.

I'm such a procrastinator, figured I'd better announce that I'm working on the tutorial though so that all of you could pressure me to get it done.

Please come play with me! That class blog is awful lonely at the moment...

Pushing Daisies

I've been busy with non-blogable things like laundry. Well, I guess it's not NON-blogable - I could physically do it, but I'd put you all to sleep. You could sleep like little Pokey:

I got all my Netflix discs at once, which I love and hate all at the same time. I LOVE having something to watch while I handquilt, but hate not having them nicely spaced out. Finished Entourage Season 4 without even knowing it was over. I was looking for the next disc, but oooh no, there isn't one. It's one of those shows that I do enjoy, but definitely fluffy. I'm not emotionally invested, just amused. I don't need to watch it over and over again. Not like:

Pushing Daisies. I LOVE Pushing Daisies. Ned has the ability to bring the dead back to life with a single touch. One touch = life, but two touches = dead again. Oops. The show's got a real morbid side but at the same time it's really sweet. Not everyone does, but I love The Narrator - he adds the fairy tale-iality of the show. Every episode is a mini-movie. Super saturated colors, great acting and writing. I forgot to mention the show is a mystery since Ned can ask murder victims who killed them.

If you like Amelie, Beetlejuice, Dead Like Me, Addams Family, Edward Scissorhands, Moonlighting, Edward Gorey, Lemony Snicket, or Christopher Moore then give the show a try. You don't have to like all these things, just one. You may not like the show, but you should try it. Seems to be a show you either love or hate. My husband of all people enjoyed the first episode.

The ABC home page has lots of info for Pushing Daisies and it will get you caught up so you can start watching the second season of the show. Even better, watch the first season - it's fabulous.

You'll get some quiltiness after all in this post. Check out Marit's blog Quilt It. She makes wonderful light colorful quilts and her cats are gorgeous. Check out her Maverick Stars quilt and I'm thrilled to have helped inspire her Tea for Two quilt.