Various & Sundry Monday: Vol. 29

How incredible it is that in this fragile existence we should hate and destroy one another. There are possibilities enough for all who will abandon mastery over others to pursue mastery over nature. There is world enough for all to seek their happiness in their own way. –Lyndon B. Johnson

Batiks, Baby!
One of my goals for this year is to start collecting a nice stash of batiks, and I think I'm well on my way now. I ordered these from Connecting Threads. They have a great selection that is very reasonably priced. I wanted batiks that look like they've been watercolored, but they have some amazing prints too and the best part is they sell fat quarters at linear yardage prices. They had a sale on a few of their batikss when I ordered my FQ's, so I practically stole a couple of these pieces.

The Last of the Peonies
Peonies definitely have the "less is more" thing down. At the very most, they started blooming in my yard 3 weeks ago, and they're all pretty much done. I missed showing you a few the later blooming ones and I very nearly missed showing you Bartzella. There was only one bedraggled bloom left when I finally made it out to take pictures. I tried to knock an ant off, and also got the petal it was sitting on. Bart is supposed to be yellow. He looks very pink in this photo, but he bloomed more coral and less pink than it looks here, with a hint of yellow in there. I suspect the color has to do with the acidity content {or lack thereof} in the soil. In any case, Bartzella made a beautiful showing this year and I'm looking forward to tinkering around to see if I can get the flower color to the yellow it is supposed to be.

Monday Music Spot: Rockebel's Cannon

Avilable for purchase from The Piano Guys or in iTunes.

Story behind the song:
Ask any cellist. They'll tell you about what's it's like to play the cello part of Pachebel's Canon in D. It's the same 8 notes over and over and over again. The good news is, it's easy to memorize. The bad news is you don't know when to stop. There's a rumor floating around that says Pachelbel either died while writing it, never finishing the cello part, or that he dated a cellist and it did NOT go well . This arrangement is dedicated to all the cellists that have fallen asleep while playing this song...or at least wanted to fall asleep. Steven Sharp Nelson actually began writing this arrangment while bored at a wedding >.

Ahem ... all the bitter cello-malice aside, Pachelbel's Canon in D (written in the 1600's) has stood the test of time — celebrated as the most recognizable piece of classical music. We like to call it the "one-hit wonder of the 1600's" . It really is an amazingly-catchy piece of music. It demonstrates the musical form of the "canon," when a melody is played and then repeated in a round by other voices (watch how the melodies are passed from one cello to the next — right to left).

ALL THE SOUNDS YOU HEAR WERE CREATED BY THE CELLO — bowing, plucking, strumming, and beating the cello any way possible.

This arrangement was actually written before ThePianoGuys posted our first video, "Michael Meets Mozart" — but we hesitated filming it because of how involved the idea was. We've never used "extras" before! And the thought of staging a wedding, directing extras, and cloning Steve 4 times all in one video-shoot made us justifiably anxious. So we put it off. And put it off. And then put if off some more. One day Al van der Beek was skimming through our thousands of messages on Facebook and happened to see one with the title "wedding" in the subject line. A woman had emailed us about an opportunity to film at a big magazine-spread wedding photo shoot. It was perfect — they would have the location, flowers, actors, and even a cake. Everything we'd need. To make a long story short, we excitedly scheduled our video shoot for the same day as their photo shoot, but a few days prior to the day it fell apart. After much discussion we determined to move forward on faith that we could still work it out. Paul Anderson marshaled all sorts of connections and called on whomever he could and by nothing short of a miracle in a matter of days the wedding was all planned — complete with a beautiful location, stunning decor, sharp tuxedos, fancy flowers, a photogenic bride and groom, 60 energetic guests, and an iced cake!

The piece at the beginning that is just ending is Steven Sharp Nelson's 4-cello arrangement of "Thanks Be To Thee" (att. to Handel). Available for purchase (track 7 on the album "Tender Mercies") from The Piano Guys. Sheet music also available for purchase.

Thanks to our many "cameos" we're reluctantly-proud to admit that this is the first video where you can SEE ALL FIVE PIANO GUYS! Everyone appeared as themselves, except for Jon who got a little carried away with his characters .

A HUGE thank you goes out to our vendors that made this wedding look so amazing. Please visit their sites and use them if you're planning a wedding!

Bell Tower
Forever More Events
Bloomers

Another huge thank you goes out to all our extras — family and friends that sacrificed an afternoon to make our little wedding look the part! You were all fantastic!

And another thank you goes to Robin Saville of Bride Access who helped Steven Sharp Nelson conceptualize this video.

Credits
Canon in D written by Johann Pachelbel (1600's)
Arrangement written and produced by Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studios
Video produced by Paul Anderson & Tel Stewart
Starring
Steven Sharp Nelson, cellists
Paul Anderson, himself
Al van der Beek, himself
Tel Stewart, himself
Jon Schmidt, minister and hip old lady
Shalley Sorenson, bride
Zach Sorenson, groom
Nicole Alfano, Wedding Coordinator

Various & Sundry Monday: Vol. 28

I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed. –Dalai Lama, 1989 Nobel Peace-Prize Speech

Eclipse

Yesterday there was a partial eclipse of the sun here. What a cool event to witness! Mr. Bug rigged us up a shadow viewer and we watched as it progressed. I fiddled with my camera settings, hoping to increase the pixel area/photo size. Instead I decreased it and ended up with teeny tiny photos with even teenier tinier images of the shadow of the eclipse. My little photo is almost not worth sharing, except the next time an eclipse will be visible in Utah is in 60 years.

The eclipse, which was annular {meaning the moon appears too small to cover the sun completely and leaves a ring of light around the moon} was fully visible in California. This is a photo of the actual eclipse.

{Photo: AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama}

Dog Ear Confetti
These little bits of fabric and paper are the dog ears of 936 half-square triangles. Each square has two triangles and each triangle has two dog ears, that makes a total of 3,744 dog ears {give or take} in this little pile.

I'm doing a half-square triangle swap. I figured out how many 2" HST's I'd need to make a nice lap-sized quilt and then pulled fabrics from my stash. Our swap group used triangle papers that let you sew 12 HST's all at once. It is almost like paper piecing, but not quite. You put your two fabrics right sides together, put the paper on top and use it as a template for sewing and trimming. When you finish, the half-square triangle still needs to be pressed open and you have paper to remove from one side. I did 78 sheets and used a different print fabric for each one. It took me a week, but I am done! I kept four of each of my color combinations {312 HST's} and sent the rest {624 HST's} to be swapped out for HST's made by other members of the swap. Let the record show that I was finished and had my swaps in the mail a full 10 days before the deadline.

I won't be so on top of things with the Sesame Street quilt. Cookie Monster has been giving me the old stink eye for about a week-and-a-half now. I'm going to be right on top of the deadline for the first of three quilt shows, if I don't miss it completely. Besides Cookie Monster's other eye and the rest of his face, I have six other blocks to finish, and then there's assembly, quilting and binding all to get done by June 8^th. It is such a fun quilt to work on and I'm still really excited about it, so I hope that enthusiasm will help me get it finished in time.

Peony of the Day
I have 17 peony plants in my gardens. 13 of them are blooming this year and I intend to show you them all. I still had my camera set to stupid a smaller pixel/photo size, so pretty much what you see here is what you get.

This is Bowl of Beauty. It is kind of the teacher's pet, because I bought this as a dry root start {I know there is a name for it, but I've been trying to remember for days and can't} and usually it takes three years for those kinds of starts to actually produce flowers. This one bloomed right out of the bag {literally} the first year I planted it. I love that kind of self-motivation.

This is Félix Crousse. He's not quite completely open, but look at that beautiful color! Félix & Beauty are right next to each other and they look so pretty together.

And to wrap up, this is my second Karl Rosenfield plant. The first one bloomed last week and now this one has buds starting to open. I has been really fun to see the peonies bloom this year.

Various & Sundry Monday: Vol. 27

Little drops of water,

Little grains of sand,

Make the mighty ocean

And the pleasant land:

So the little minutes,

Humble though they be,

Make the mighty ages

Of eternity.

Little deeds of kindness,

Little words of love,

Help to make earth happy

Like the heaven above.

–Julia Carney

More from the Home Machine Quilting Show
I've been picking up the HMQS catalogs every spring for probably the last 4 or 5 years, always admiring the quilts they show off and browsing the class lists. As I flipped through those pages I thought I'd never, ever, in a million years be quilting my own quilts. But last year when I was looking at the catalog, I was particularly interested in the quilt show because I'd started quilting my own quilts. I'd missed the entry deadline, which was OK because I didn't really have anything good enough to go in a show anyway. But I decided then that I would enter this year. I entered my Snowball Quilt. I knew it would be a daisy among the roses and didn't expect to win. I thought it would be fun to enter, though, because at the time I'd finished it {which was about 11 months after I started doing FMQ}, it was the best quilt I'd done. The show was last weekend in Salt Lake and here's my quilt hanging in the show.

Quilt shows are subjective and each person gets a unique experience when they attend, which is why, I think, it is hard to share them properly in a blog post. I mostly took close-up photos of quilting techniques that I liked and want to have as a reference. But there were a couple of quilts that I really liked and want to share them with you. I started yesterday with one of my favorites and I'll share another today. Maybe I'll show a couple of others in the next few days, or maybe not. I haven't decided yet. The lighting wasn't the best for taking photos. I alternated between using the flash and not using it. I used the flash on this quilt and should have gone with my gut and taken some without the flash. I did the best I could in editing.

These little embroidered dresses are so amazing! I love the bead details the quilter added. It is hard to pick a favorite!

Can You Tell Me How to Get {Back} to Sesame Street?
I've had to put my Sesame Street Quilt on the back burner for a little bit, because I had some prior sewing commitments that are a little time consuming, but not very interesting to post. Mostly, I'm participating in a half-square triangle swap that I signed up for in February, but that isn't due until the end of this month. I figured there was plenty of time, right? Right. Anyway, there's no set number of HST's you have to make. You just make however many you want, keep a few of each of your color combinations for yourself and send the rest to the coordinator. You get back the same number of HST's you sent in and then you can make something fabulous with them when they come back. I decided that I didn't want to be on top of the deadline for this one, so I've put the Sesame Street quilt on hold and have been working on getting them together. The HST's are 2" finished and I'll need 888 of them to make a nice lap-sized quilt. Picking and prepping the fabrics was fun, but sewing them together, even using a speed-piecing method, is killing me. Can you say snooze-fest?

My point is, 888 half-square triangles in the prep and sewing stages does not make for interesting blog fodder. I'm still looking for the balance between work, home, kids and me, so when I have a few free minutes and the choice is between sewing or blogging, sewing has been winning, even though it's not interesting enough to post about. When I get my swap triangles back and start sewing them together, then that will be interesting. And as soon as I get them wrapped up and in the mail, I'll be back to the Sesame Street quilt, racing for the deadline. The first quilt show is June 8^th and 9^th. If I miss that one, I have a few days before the entry period for the next quilt show. If I miss the second show, then I have three more weeks until the show here in town at the Art Museum, which is the show I really want to make it to. Hopefully, I'll be done with these HST's in the next few days and back to Sesame Street before mid-week {yeah, yeah. I know. Wishful thinking.}.

I was really inspired by Michelle's patterns and that's where this quilt started. As I've worked on blocks, I've also been working out all the details of the quilt, including how to quilt it. I wanted to do something other than my favorite swirls in the sashing and feathers in the border. Those didn't seem to really fit this quilt. I was inspired by a couple of things Lane is doing on his red silk quilt. I loved the pumpkin seed border and figured it would fit really nicely in the sashing of the Sesame Street quilt. Not so much.

The outer corners don't match up, and the intersections are kind of weird. So I asked Lane what he thought. He made some really great suggestions for making a motif work in your space. I revised. Lane {and everybody else}, what do you think? Do the little spacers work, or do I need to go back to the drawing board?

Monday Music Spot: A Thousand Years
The Piano Guys' latest release is an amazing! I don't think there is one thing they've done that I haven't like. But this one is extra cool because it also has a really great Twilight connection. They've put together an arrangement of Christina Perri's A Thousand Years from the Breaking Dawn soundtrack and it is beautiful.


Available for purchase from The Piano Guys or on iTunes

Story behind the song:
Our kids give us great inspiration for our music. When Jon's 17 year-old daughter said how much she loved this song, Jon decided to try it. He experienced a flood of inspiration. "Never has a piano part come together this fast" Jon says. Steve experienced similar inspiration while composing the cello parts. Since the lyrics suggest a bride walking towards the groom in a ceremony we thought we would include a quote from the Bridal Chorus by Wagner in the climax of the song (it is carefully disguised).

As it seems to always go, Paul and Tel didn't find the spot until they spent 9 hours driving around southern Utah the day before the shoot looking. After getting a little discouraged by not finding anything that great, they just happened to check out a little hidden spot right near Baker Dam and thought it was perfect for the song. The next morning we all loaded up the piano and headed out there to film, but after getting the Truck and Trailer stuck and waiting for the sun to move, we didn't get started filming until that evening having about 3 hours of light. It was so fun to film and play in the middle of the trees!

Credits
A Thousand Years written by CHRISTINA PERRI, DAVID HODGES
Published by SUMMIT BASE CAMP FILM MUSIC, EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC, CHRISTINA PERRI D/B/A MISS PERRI LANE PUBLISHING
Arrangement produced by Jon Schmidt
Arrangement written by Al van der Beek, Jon Schmidt, & Steven Sharp Nelson
Performed by
Jon Schmidt: piano
Steven Sharp Nelson: acoustic cello, & cello-percussion
Music recorded, mixed & mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studio
Video produced by Paul Anderson & Tel Stewart

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol. 26

If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance. –Andrea Boydston

Last Call
Have you finished a really great project this month and want to show it off? Blog about it and link your post at the April Finishes Linky Party page. Each link is an entry to win a jelly roll from the brand new line, Tradewinds by Lily Ashby! If you've already posted your finish for this month, there's no need to do a separate post. Just add the button to that post and link up.

<center><a href="http://emsewandsew.blogspot.com/2012/04/stitch-in-time-april-finishes-linky.html/" target="_blank" title="April Finishes"><img alt="April Finishes" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRXycaJOD_gF4mGlvKzjH4iZft_fYuxnaRAI8D6F03VSKNXFVyTZw90ejhY_osXxusoM5R2TUHWAq4Q0MY4h9ApSv_xMPfddYfbR-DcI-63K48epSx662l3rhE1Fd-Yp1PQxNmJPrT-k/s169/A%2520Stitch%2520In%2520Time%25202012%25204.jpg" /></a> </center>
If You Give A Mouse A Dishwasher
Our dishwasher washed its last load of dishes last week. It was a sad occasion because who likes doing dishes by hand? Not me. Fortunately for us we got a very meager tax refund which went to buying a new dishwasher last weekend. We got a really nice model at a very reasonable price at a scratch-and-dent clearance outlet. It is SO quiet and has a lot of extra space inside. This is my very first brand-spanking-new appliance. It is kind of fun and I love how quiet it is. But it got me to thinking . . .

. . . If you give a mouse a sweet new dishwasher that is so, so quiet, she'll want a new fridge too because the ice maker went out and the auto-defrost in the freezer isn’t working quite right and there is a near-constant drip of water inside the fridge. And then once you get the mouse her swanky new wide-by-side fridge with ice and water in the door and a pull-out drawer freezer, the stove will start looking shabby and the mouse will want a new stove. Once the pristine new stove is in place, the mouse will realize just how much she hates the super noisy over-the-stove microwave and will need a new one of those too. It will have to be extra quiet so as not to be heard over the really quiet dishwasher. Then, the completely spoiled little mouse will want a front loading washing machine. And dryer. With pedestals. With all those shiny new appliances, the mouse will definitely need a new couch so she'll have a comfortable place to sit to fold all the super clean laundry.

But if you give a mouse everything she wants, she won't have any scratch left over to take the Little Bugs to Disney World. So, she'll just have to be content with the new dishwasher.

Derivatives
Last night at dinner, Grasshopper wanted to know why “Bill” was short for “William.” The only thing we could come up with was that it rhymes. But we also talked about the other variations of William, which got me to thinking about the variations of my name. I listed 10, right off the top of my head: Beth, Betsy, Bette, Betty, Buffy, Eliza, Libby, Liz, Liza, Lizzie. Then I did a quick Google and found a few more: Alisa, Bess, Bethia, Bettina, Elisa, Elise, Elissa, Ella, Elsie, Liesel, Lilly, Lisa, Lisette, Tetty, Tibbie. According to Think Baby Names {where you can look up your own name—and if you do, I'd love for you to share your favorites}, there are 152 variant forms of Elizabeth. I looked up the names of the rest of the residents at Bug Cottage and Mr. Bug's name has 21, Grasshopper's name has 24 and LadyBug's name has 21 derivatives, most of which are similar spellings of their original names. This is also true for a number of the 152 variations on my name. But there also quite a variety in there of names that are very different from each other. The funny thing is, I'm kind of a stickler for being called by my full name. That's just who I am. But it is good to know that if I ever have to enter the witness relocation program, I'll have a good selection of related names to choose from.

Monday Music Spot: Only the Young

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol. 25

If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size? –Sydney J. Harris

Apron № 110: Retro Pears

For my Leap Day Giveaway, I offered an apron, made-to-order in the winner's choice of size. Nancy was the winner and this is her apron. Nancy, watch your mail box .

Here's a close-up of the pocket, because it is just so darn cute.

Dad Was Here
Saturday morning, my parents came down to bring LadyBug her birthday presents and take us to breakfast. My dad hijacked my camera.

Showing off his super clean, super shiny Chevrolet Impala Super Sport.

An interesting shot of the mountains out our front door.

Bushel and A Peck
Last month, my mom made a costume for the Jr. High School play for her neighbor. It was a really last-minute deal and she put the costume together in just a couple of days. She took a quick photo of the costume with her phone, texted it to me, and dropped the costume off on her way to work so her neighbor could have it for dress rehearsals. At the time she, didn't even know what play it was .

I posted the costume for her because she doesn't blog so she could link up to the February Finishes linky party. Since then, we have a few more details. The play was Guys and Dolls {one of my all-time favorite musicals}, which my parents went to see. My mom's neighbor was one of Miss Adelaide's Hot Box Dancers and here she is in her costume.

On a slightly related note, when I was in High School, the play my senior year was Guys and Dolls. Our sewing class was assigned to make the costumes for Miss Adelaide's Hot Box Dancers.

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol. 24

Remember happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think. –Dale Carnegie

40 Before 40
Somehow, somewhere, my name got on a 55-and-over-crowd mailing list. At first, I got postcards for those little retirement villages. Then I stared getting adverts for hearing aids. Today, I got a special invitation in the mail for dinner at the Sizzler at 4:30 pm, a week from Tuesday, to discuss safeguarding retirement plans. That really doesn't have much to do with anything, except it is a reminder that I am getting older. Still, I have fifteen years before I'm old enough to live in one of those senior communities, and I'd kind of like to get off that mailing list.

The big four-oh is creeping up for me. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I decided I might as well celebrate it rather than fight it and write out a list of 40 things I want to do before I turn 40. I got the idea from Pink over at PinkSuedeShoe. She's turning the big three-oh next year and has made a 30 Before 30 list. She had her list ready to go right when she turned 29. I only have about half of a list and I only have 10 months to finish my 40 things, so I'm kind of at a disadvantage. But it's a start and I wanted to share my partial list anyway. Hopefully it will remind me to finish my list of 40 things before I turn 40 .

1. Finish eight Ph.D quilts.
2. Turn out all the drawers & closets.
3. Go see an opera, live.
4. Make homemade raspberry ice cream.
5. Put bark around the trees in the plot I cleared in the back yard 3½ years ago.
6. Move. Or paint my kitchen. Whichever.
7. Write four new tutorials for my blog.
8. Learn Photoshop.
9. Make a new friend.
10. Make Christmas ornaments for neighbor gifts.
11. Take the Little Bugs to Disney World.
12. Learn to love mornings.
13. Make table runners for family Christmas gifts.
14. Read five books I haven't already read.
15. Take LadyBug to see The Nutcracker.
16. Go thrifting.
17. Enter one quilt in the Home Machine Quilting Show.
18. Enter at least one quilt in the Annual Springville Museum of Art Quilt Show.
19. Get new everyday dishes.

Jilly Bean's Book Club
My super cute sister is hosting an on-line book club. She'll be doing The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. I'm hoping to cheat and find it on audio, because I like to multi-task. If not, I'm going to hit the library and try to finish it before she does her review so that I can participate. If you love to read, check it out.



Monday Music Spot: Somewhere Over the Rainbow / Simple Gifts
I'm a little bit infatuated. I've always been a music lover. But I am absolutely amazed with every new release from ThePianoGuys. Each one is better than the last and I can't wait to see what they'll do next. I love how they weave melodies in and out and around each other to make simply beautiful music. I listen to their songs over and over and have downloaded them all so I can carry them around in my pocket.


Available from The Piano Guys, on iTunes and at Amazon.

The music speaks for itself, but I always love the back story. From ThePianoGuys ...

Story behind the song:
Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson were booked for a Piano Guys show in Hawaii. How could we resist filming our next video in the land of Aloha — beautiful beaches, green mountains, and fresh pineapple?? We went to our Founders and Facebook fans to ask what song they wanted us to play there. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was the nearly-unanimous response. But you know how we are ... we couldn't "just" do this tune by itself ... so in the studio we found a made-in-heaven matchup in the timeless melody from the Shaker Hymn "Simple Gifts" written in the 1800's (also used by Aaron Copland in his Ballet "Appalachian Spring"). We feel it's an especially appropriate mash-up because of our profound love and respect for the Hawaiian culture — a people who are so good at finding happiness in simplicity. As you probably could hear we borrowed a lot of ideas from Iz's version which has become the stuff of legend. This arrangement is, in part, a tribute to him.

Getting a piano onto a sandy beach and then onto a big hill in a famous ranch within the SAME day (we only had 8 hours to film) was no small feat. The only thing harder would be to be predict Hawaiian weather, which ended up being our biggest challenge.

"We had a little extra help on this one. My mother, Lynne Sanders Nelson -- a main source of my inspiration for pursuing music — passed away early in life from the effects of a brain tumor. She was an incredibly-gifted musician and taught me to play music passionately rather than just playing 'notes' on a page. 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' was one of her favorite songs. We finished this arrangement on what would have been her 70th birthday. Somehow she helped. I miss her so very much, but when I play songs like this I feel like I get to be with her again. This song is dedicated to her."
-Steven Sharp Nelson

Thank you so much to the Kualoa Ranch who bent over backwards last-minute for us and provided us such a beautiful place to shoot. Visit their site — when you visit Hawaii be sure to stop by and take a tour — its where dozens of huge blockbluster movies/tv shows have been filmed.

This song is dedicated to
Lynne Sanders Nelson, The Hill Family, J. Mueller, & the people of Hawaii

Filming locations:
Beach Scene:
Pounders Beach, North Shore, Oahu Hawaii
Finale:
Kualoa Ranch, North Shore, Oahu Hawaii

Credits:
Over the Rainbow music written by Harold E. Arlen in 1939 for the movie "Wizard of Oz" -- originally performed by Judy Garland
Published by EMI Feist Catalog, Inc.
Inspired, in part, by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's cover
Simple Gifts written by Joseph Brackett in 1848
Arrangement produced by Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Arrangement written by Jon Schmidt, Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Video produced by Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart
Piano: Jon Schmidt
Electric/Acoustic Cellos: Steven Sharp Nelson
Vocals: Al van der Beek
Percussion: Steven Sharp Nelson & Al van der Beek
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studio

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol. 23

Nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable.
–William Shakespeare

A Stitch in Time
Just a reminder that the February Finishes Linky Party is open all month long, so head on over and check it out. If you've finished a project that involves stitching of some sort {appliqué, crochet, cross-stitch, embroidery, knitting, practical sewing, quilting} link up and not only will you get at least one extra comment on your post from me, you'll be entered to win this month's giveaway, a Reunion by Sweetwater Jelly Roll, sponsored by The Fat Quarter Shop.

A Bird in the Furnace Intake Flu is, well . . . Just Plain Embarrassing
Early Wednesday morning, while all was quiet and I was sneaking around gathering up lunch boxes, I heard a sort of high-pitched chirping noise. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I was in LadyBug's doorway and didn't know where it came from. I stopped and listened, but didn't hear anything else, so I went about my business and forgot all about it.

Thursday afternoon, I heard that chirping noise again. I still couldn't decide where it was coming from, but it seemed to be in the general vicinity of the hall. I heard it again several times later that day. Friday came and the chirp persisted, becoming more and more frequent. I listened for the source and it sounded to me like it was coming from the utility closet in the hall where the furnace and water heater reside. Mr. Bug thought that perhaps it was a belt or something in the furnace that was squeaking. But there was no consistent interval between the chirps and by Saturday evening I was convinced that somehow a bird had gotten into the furnace.

Sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning the heater quit working and there was still chirping that sounded like it was coming from the utility closet. Mr. Bug turned off the breaker that the furnace is on and the chirp noise continued. He was now on board with the bird theory. He figured that it was stuck somewhere in the flu because if the bird had gotten all the way in the heater, there would be no more chirping. His supposed that the bird was blocking the flu, and there wasn't enough air getting to the furnace, which is why it wasn't working.

As snow was falling outside and the temperature was falling inside, we decided that we'd better see about getting the bird out of the flu. There is a man who attends our church who is a handy-man, so I asked if he's be able to come over after church and have a look. He said that critters get in furnaces pretty often and that he could do it no problem. As a matter of fact, he'd already done five this year. He came over later that afternoon and after assessing the situation, he said that we could stop the chirping with a couple of 9-volt batteries to replace the dead ones in the smoke detectors in the hallway and in LadyBug's room, which is just off the hall . The furnace had stopped working with very coincidental timing but was completely unrelated to the chirp.

February FMQ Challenge: Back to the Drawing Board
I was going to be all on top of the Free-Motion Quilting Challenge this month and get it done early. But Diane's Echo Feather exercise scared the starch out of me. I had to think about it for a whole week before I even dared to sketch it out. Diane has you do the bottom of the individual feathers and then curve around to the top for a minimum of traveling over previous stitching in the spine. I do my feather plumes the opposite way, so it was kind of like learning to write with your non-dominant hand. I erased and re-drew a lot on the rounded ends but my drawings are still “meh.”

I put it aside for a few more days, planning to draw a few more feathers out on test paper and then do a final drawing in my quilt journal before I started quilting. But I am an impatient soul. And as a general rule, my actual quilting looks better than my drawings, so I decided to give it a go on a practice quilt. I tried a branched feather for a little bit of interest, which came out at even less than “meh.” As you can see, I got bored and practiced a couple of things I want to quilt on the Polka-Dot quilt. I did a swirl inside of a circle {bottom right} and then some linked coils {left}. I can't remember whose blog I saw those on, but I left a comment and told that quilter I was totally going to copy. I think they are neat.

Then I decided I'd better focus. I tried a single feather. Still just “meh.” The shapes aren't very pretty. I know that thread choice has something to do with it. Diane said to work with a thread that didn't stand out too much. I used dark thread for my practice so I could see the stitching. I'm kind of a rebel because wanted to use this same dark thread on my sampler quilt because I want the quilting to show. With these craptastic results, I'm probably going to have to resign myself to a tan thread on the ivory fabric in the sampler quilt. But first, I'm going to sketch a few more feathers and then quilt a few more on a practice sandwich before I call this exercise “done.”

Storage Tins
While I was avoiding practicing echo feathers, I put these cute little fabric covered tins together for holding different quilting and sewing supplies. I used just about every last scrap of Metro Blue fabric I had left and I love how they came out. I keep my basting pins in one, my buttons in another and the third one is to keep the miscellaneous things on my quilting table organized. I have extra cutting blades, pens, pencils, an eraser, a seam ripper {not not the gorgeous new one}, a seam gauge, scissors and other assorted stuff in there. Cute and functional.

Monday Music Spot: I Want Candy
I like to think of Valentine's Day as a “love thy neighbor” kind of day, rather than the traditional “romantic love” kind of day. I try to do something nice for the people I love. Sometimes I make raspberry muffins and take them to the neighbors. Sometimes I make up little chocolate filled goodie bags for a few special girlfriends. Tomorrow I'll put an extra special treat and little pink paper hearts with love notes on them in the Little Bugs' lunches. And, I'm making homemade heart-shaped mini-pizzas for dinner. Each person gets the toppings they want on their very own pizza.

Tonight we had fun making a preparations for the Little Bugs' class parties tomorrow. Grasshopper finished up the Valentines for his classmates. LadyBug, who had her Valentine's ready yesterday, decorated a box to take to school tomorrow to receive Valentines from her friends. We had a white box with red dots on it left from Christmas we thought would to the trick. She cut out hearts, wrote the things she loves on them and taped them to the side of the box. We cut a slot in the top to slide the Valentines in and LadyBug drew an arrow pointing to the slot and wrote, “put candy here.” Then she wrote “candy” on all the red dots on the top of the box. That girl has her priorities straight.

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol. 22

If you put your happiness in temporary things, your happiness will only be temporary. –Steven A. Cramer

A Week of Giveaways Directory
I am so happy with the huge response to my week of giveaways! Thanks to each and every one of you who entered. I have so enjoyed reading your comments and hope to squeeze in a little time to reply to each of you before the giveaways close. You can enter through 10:00 pm on Thursday, January 19th and the winners will be announced on the 21st. If you haven't already, check them out.
• Embroidery Gift Pack
• Backyard Baby Fat Quarter Bundle
• $50 Long-Arm Machine Quilting Gift Certificate
• Polka-Dot Quilt
• Machine Quilting Gift Pack

My Kingdom for a Butter Dish
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . . wait. That's not right. Different story. Let's try again. Sometime last summer, I'm not exactly sure when, but I think it was about the middle of June, Mr. Bug knocked the butter dish {the everyday one, not the fancy one that matches my china} off the end of the counter. It was an accident, but our tile floors are not the least bit forgiving and anything that falls on them breaks. So it was with the butter dish.

I put “butter dish” on my grocery list and the next time I went shopping at the big blue box store, I looked for one. The shelf was empty. The was a little price sticker saying that butter dishes were $3.97, but there were no butter dishes. I circled “butter dish” on my list, as I do with things I can't find or they are out of, so I'll remember to put them on the next list. A week {or maybe two—I'm foggy on the details at this point} later I went shopping at the big blue box store. “Butter dish” was on the top of my list, but the shelf was still empty. There happened to be an associate on the aisle and she asked me if I needed help finding something. I told her I was looking for a butter dish, but there were none there. She kindly scanned the price sticker on the shelf and told me that they had six in stock, but perhaps they hadn't been brought out from the back yet. I thanked her and circled “butter dish” on my list. Again. I have been repeating this little ritual three or four times a month since then, and the spot where the butter dishes are supposed to be is always empty.

I am a creature of habits. As much as I hate the big blue box store, I still shop there because I mostly know where everything is and I can buy jeans for the kids, oil for the car, fabric and groceries all in one stop. I really hate running all over the place to get everything I need, so the convenience of having it all in one place supersedes the several annoyances that come with a large and spacious building that sells anything you could need. Also, I really hate driving anywhere that takes more than 10 minutes to get to. The nearest locale which may have a butter dish is between 20 and 25 minutes away, depending on traffic. I don't like to drive across town. Even for fabric. But I'm beginning to think that we'll never have another butter dish unless I shop somewhere else.

Or maybe I can hold out just until they do inventory and they find out that they in fact do not have six butter dishes in stock and order some more in.

Magic Starch
I'm big on washing fabrics before I use them. Because most of what I buy is 100% cotton, that means it needs a good pressing before I use it. I like to use a little starch, which makes exact cutting easier and the blocks press out better as you put them together. It also keeps the fraying down. My friend, Angie, gave me this recipe a long time ago. I never got around to trying it because procuring the necessary ingredients required driving all over town, which, as you might know, I'm not a big fan of. So Angie sent me some. She actually made some up, put it in a recycled 1-liter bottle and mailed it pretty much across the entire country to me. And I love it! The stuff is liquid gold! Fabric presses up like new. I've been using it carefully, because when I've used up the stuff she sent, I'm going to have to drive all over town so I can make my own. I'm sharing the recipe with you. Try it. You'll thank me later.

Magic Starch
2 cups distilled water
2 oz vodka
10-15 drops pure essential oil of lavender
⅛-¼ cup liquid Sta-Flo® liquid starch {ironically, available at Wal-Mart}

• Combine all ingredients. Put in a fine misting spray bottle and spray on fabrics before pressing.

Notes:
• Recommended for cotton fabrics. Synthetic fabrics may stain due to the oil in the mix.
• Shake before each use to make sure the ingredients are mixed well.
• Use the cheapest not-really-fit-for-human-consumption vodka you can find with the highest proof available.
• Vodka is an emulsifier for the oils as well as a preservative which will help keep the starch fresh over time.
• Vodka is recommended because it has no additives and dries quickly. Rubbing alcohol can be substituted, but some recommend against it because of its toxicity.
• You can mix other oils, such as peppermint, jasmine, chamomile, bergamot or sage to enhance the smell, but make sure to only use clear oils so you don't stain your fabrics.
• Tap water contains chlorine which will destroy the essential oils, so do not use it.
• If you leave out the starch it makes a great linen water to use in your iron.

Monday Music Spot: Total Eclipse of the Heart
A little something funny, especially if you lived through the ‘80s.

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol. 21

At Christmas play and make good cheer,

For Christmas comes but once a year.

–Thomas Tusser

Christmas Concert Cuties
Both of the Little Bugs had concerts last week. I promised to show pictures and here they finally are. Grasshopper started in the 6^th grade orchestra in September and last Wednesday was their winter concert. It was short, with only four songs, but the orchestra as a whole sounded lovely. It was a really nice evening and I enjoyed so much hearing them play. There are two cellists, two students who play viola and a dozen or so violinists. I am really proud of Grasshopper and the work he's put in. If only I could get him to hold his bow correctly and practice a little more.


On Thursday, LadyBug performed a lovely selection of Christmas songs with the entire 4^th grade. Their performance was at the mall, so lots of people could attend. There wasn't much opportunity for photos, not to mention I forgot my good camera {for both performances} and had to resort to the camera on my phone. I made the vest LadyBug is wearing about 14 years ago. It was for my youngest sister, who was just about LadyBug's age at the time. I actually made vests for all three of my sisters, my mom, my grandma, Mr. Bug's mom and me {that's seven, if you're counting}. At our Christmas party, you can usually spot one or more of those vests every year.

Glad of Heart
The Glad of Heart table runner, which I'm taking to my family's gift exchange, is all quilted and ready for binding. We ended up only taking one runner for the gift exchange at Mr. Bug's family party {besides the one I made for Mr. Bug's mom}, so when I get this one finished, I'll be done making runners for Christmas. This is all you get to see until it is done.

More Donation Pillowcases
A few weeks ago, I showed you some pillowcases that a group of women in my ward {congregation} got together and made to donate to local facilities in need. We finished 15 on our service day and several more kits were taken home for completion. These are the remaining 11 pillowcases, making a total of 26 we'll be dropping off for donation tomorrow.

I love the Dora pillowcase. It is positively aDORAble. The two in the top right corner are flannel. The jungle animals are so cute, even though they got sewn on upside down. And I love the Tink pillowcases.

I love the red fabric on the Spiderman cases. I bought it several years ago as a remnant because I thought it had interesting texture. Someone else donated the Spiderman fabric and I rummaged around in my stash for the red because I knew it would be perfect together. I was glad that so many great fabrics that would work well for boys were donated.

Monday Music Spot: When Christmas Comes to Town
Christmas is in six days. Is anyone else worried about getting everything finished in time? I have lots of sewing done, but still lots left. Same with the shopping, but on a smaller scale. And the wrapping? I'll probably be wrapping in the car on the way to my family party, and then staying up late after we get home to finish wrapping gifts for the Little Bugs. Still, Christmas will come whether everything on my list gets done, so I might as well enjoy the season.

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol 20

From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it. –Katharine Whitehorn

Undecided
I'm not sure how long ago I started this little table runner, but I pulled it out to add to my pool of table runners for the gift exchange parties I'm going to. I used a Moda Bakeshop "recipe" called Sunday Squares by Charlie Scott. I won the charm pack at shop hop a year or so before I started the runner and thought this would be the perfect project to use it in, only there weren't enough squares in the charm pack to make the whole quilt, so I decided to make a table runner. I had probably a half a yard of the background fabric in my stash, which wasn't enough to finish the top. By the time I got some more and got it washed, I'd either lost interest, needed to move on to something else more pressing or was kind of stuck on how to proceed. I'm thinking it was a combination of all those things, with being stuck the major factor.

I think I couldn't decide if I wanted to do a white border between the center and the sawtooth border . . .

. . . or if I wanted to do green. I still can't decide. I put the white border on last night and was all set on it. But when I got up this morning and looked at it again, I kind of like the green. While I was taking pictures, I was pretty set on sticking with the white. But after looking at the pictures, I'm pondering the green again. Opinions, please. Tell me what you think.

A Little Christmas Silliness
Christmas is in 13 days. Thirteen. Days. People. The pressure is on to get everything ready. If you're feeling stressed, here's a little something to make you laugh. There are some really great lines in here.


15 Yards
of 100% cotton fabric washed, pressed, cut and assembled into thirteen pillowcase kits. I got all my fabric on sale for at least 50% off and didn't pay more than $3.49 a yard for any one piece. I think there was even one piece that was $1.99 a yard. My favorites in this bunch are the Quilter's Showcase fabrics from JoAnn's. The fabric is a really nice weight/quality and it washes and presses really nicely, but the best thing about them is that they were on sale for $2.49 a yard, with an additional 10% off!

Glad of Heart
This is another table runner in progress. The top is finished and it is basted and ready for quilting. The fabric is Sanibel and I just love it. I know it is a little bit busy, but I think/hope that the quilting will help with that.

A very kind friend sent me five fat quarters of this fabric line at Christmas last year. I made a couple of Hexie Art Journals with it and had roughly a fat eighth left over of each fabric. This summer, I went to a fabric shop I don't visit often and they had one of those bins where everything you can cram into a gallon-size ziplock from the bin is $10. I was immediately drawn to the bright plaid. It was a big piece, just over 2 yards, and I thought it would be great for a table runner. When I saw Sanibel on the selvage, I knew it was meant to be. And just a few weeks ago I found a couple of different prints from this line on clearance at the quilt shop near my work. I was really glad to find them and I can't wait to start quilting on this.

Focus on Free-Motion Quilting
Vickie at Sew Inspired is hosting a little quilt-along during the month of January and I'm playing along because I am ready and anxious to learn as much as I can about free-motion quilting. Pop on over and have a gander.


Monday Music Spot: Santa's Got A Brand New Bag
I love this sassy Christmas song by SHeDAISY. It's just what I need to motivate me to do a little Christmas sewing, even though I'd rather go to bed.

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol 19

Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true. –Robert Brault

The Proof is in the Pudding
OK, not so much the pudding as the stuffing. And technically, it was dressing, since I didn't actually stuff it into the bird.

Mr. Bug's mom always makes home made stuffing and it is SO good. However, we spent Thanksgiving with my family, so for my contribution to the meal, I offered to make stuffing from scratch. I asked Mr. Bug's mom how she makes hers. She is one of those cooks who doesn't follow a recipe. She just throws stuff in a pot and it tastes good. Not me. I like to color inside the lines. And I like to have a definitive recipe to follow when I cook. Never-the-less, I decided to give it a try because if I succeeded my efforts would pay off and if not, we had some Stove Top to use as the back-up plan. I assembled my ingredients and started putting the recipe together.

Butter melted, check. Chopped onions and celery cooked until tender, check. Salt, pepper and sage, check. Two bags of dry bread, che . . . hey wait. There's not enough room in the pot. What do I do now? Stirring carefully isn't working. I'm just making a mess. Is there a bigger pot somewhere? Yes, that's what I need. A bigger pot. I'll move the stuffing to the bigger pot . . . uh, oh. Crap. I don't know how to cook on an electric stove and the stuffing at the bottom of the pan is burned. Dang. I hope I can get it all out. I'd better turn down the heat while it try to dig the burnt bits out.

It wasn't a complete disaster even though I burned the stuffing at the bottom of the pan a second time, while I was trying to dig out the bits from the first time. And I cheated and added two packages of Stove Top to the mix, just to get a better flavor. I wasn't sure that the sage was enough by itself. Everyone seemed to like it and there was plenty to go around despite the fact that I burned about a third of the recipe.

Still, next time I volunteer to bring the stuffing, I'm going to Google an actual recipe.

Another Toad Has Gone Missing
A while back, I mentioned that we keep fire-bellied toads in an aquarium. We started out with Henry who was the class pet in LadyBug's 1^st grade class and then we bought Henry a friend, who we named Violet. It turned out that Henry was really Violet and Violet was really Henry and then Henry mysteriously went missing. We supposed that he buried himself in the rocks and that was the end of him. I never found any remains, but I didn't go looking for them either. I disturbed the rocks as little as possible when I changed the water and cleaned the aquarium. When I finally did get brave enough to shift things around {like four months later} there was no sign of Henry anywhere. But we can't figure out how he might have escaped, either.

That's not to say it isn't possible because the other day Pants, the replacement we bought for Henry so Violet wouldn't be lonely, shimmied up the corner of the aquarium and had his nose poked out a teeny, tiny little notch in the hood meant for the cord of the filter. There are actually two such notches on the cover, but since we only have one filter, we only use one of them. I thought we'd taped over the other to prevent any more toads from going missing, but I guess we didn't, because Violet isn't anywhere to be found and I don't really have the heart to sift through the rocks in search of her.

I guess the question now is, do we get Pants a friend?

Poultry in Motion
I'm making table runners to give as Christmas gifts this year. I don't know who most of them will go to yet because we're going to play gift exchange games at most of the parties I'm taking them to. I have Kimono Garden all quilted and the binding just needs the hand stitching on it. I'll show it soon.

I've got two other runners put together, sandwiched and basted ready for quilting. I'm calling them Poultry in Motion. I can get away with calling them both the same thing because they'll be going to two different parties.

Before you think I'm all clever with the name for these, it is the name of the fabric line, but I thought it was pretty hilarious, so I kept it.

I love how these turned out. As I was putting them together, I pondered ways to quilt them. I'm excited to try a few new free-motion things. But at the same time, I still have that nervous what-if-I-mess-up feeling as I take the first stitch.

I am pretty encouraged at how quickly the tops have gone together so far. The quilting on Kimono Garden was pretty fussy, but even that went pretty fast, so I'm really hoping that I'll be ahead of the game instead of hand-stitching the binding down in the car on the way to the party.

Monday Music Spot: The Goat Rodeo Sessions
Michelle at The Gypsy Quilter shared some really great music recently and I have to pay it forward. Classical cellist, Yo-Yo Ma has teamed up with Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile and Stuart Duncan to create The Goat Rodeo Sessions. It is a little bit bluegrass, a little bit classical and a whole lot of awesome. In this clip the four musicians talk a little bit about the album and there are snippets of a few songs.


I'm hoping that Santa puts an iTunes gift card in my stocking, because this has jumped to the top of my wish list. Here's another sampling {note: swear alert. Stop at time index 4:15 to avoid}. And for more, check out The Goat Rodeo Sessions Playlist on YouTube.

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol 18

The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs. –Joan Didion

Meet Stanley
I'm not sure if this spider, with its head-of-French-knots and button-bottom is whimsical or creepy. I mean, look at those legs and the bead-y orange eyes. This is the last piece of the hat portion of Zelda's Fancy Hat. I still have three brim pieces to do, but after I finished Stanley the Spider, it was time to put this project away for a bit.

Kimono Garden
The Christmas crafting has officially begun. I've got this table runner just about ready to baste and quilt. I'm going to make several different runners for various parties, and based on how quickly this one went together and barring any flare-ups of my chronic case of procrastination, I hope to be done with all handmade gifts with time to spare. Wish me luck.

100 Years and Still the Heartbeat of America
On November 3, Chevrolet celebrated its 100^th birthday! Here's a look back at the last century.


Thank You for Your Votes

Last weekend, I entered the weekly themed quilt contest over at Quilting Bloggers. The theme was Remembering Veterans and I submitted the t-shirt quilt I made for Mr. Bug, using his old t-shirts, sweatshirts and work shirts from the Navy. My mom informs me that my dad voted from every single IP address he could, and called all my siblings and told them to vote from their computers and smart phones. I know many of you voted, and left me really nice comments of encouragement. I finished in 4^th place, with 113 votes which is so amazing considering that the vote was split between 27 quilts. Thank you SO much to everyone who voted for me. I really appreciate it! It really made my weekend!

I Can't Help Myself
Part 1 of Breaking Dawn premiers at midnight on the 18^th. I, somehow, lucked out and have tickets for a pre-screening at 5:15 pm on the 17^th. I'm just a little excited. Here are a couple clips with scenes from the movie to help with the pre-wedding jitters.