Misplaced UFO

On my walk today I saw this hilarious and poignant sign.  It reads:  "I could have sworn there was a plum tree here yesterday... PS: To whoever stole it - classy.  PPS: also, you suck."

I am feeling a little like that myself except I don't think anyone stole my UFO (I might wish for that but I don't think it happened) but I absolutely cannot find this month's UFO in my sewing room.  I don't have much time to sew before the end of April so I randomly chose another UFO that was not on the list.

I don't think Judy will mind since the point of the challenge is to FINISH UFOs.  I'll finish the original one when I find it.

Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight.  

                                                                                    ~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Projects in Grocery Sacks (PIGS)

Pig Pen

I was blog-cruising yesterday and I stumbled upon a cute button on Infinity Quilter's Blog.

I can't figure out how to imbed the button here so you'll have to look on the right side of my blog.  It's called "Year of Pigs."  I think it is the most clever button I've seen in  a while.

Of course, I had to check out the blog and see what the Pig thing was about.  She has a clever idea that I think might be useful without adding pressure to complete things.  It's more of a process to build awareness about what you have.  She plans to ask a few questions per month to guide you.  The first question was how do you store your UFOs and PIGS.

I have pigs Every Where.  I need to build a pen for them so I have all my pigs in a Pig Pen.  HM.... I'm thinking a large rubbermaid tub.  It should be clear so I can see them all.  Out of Sight Out of Mind definitely rules my life.

That may be my next organizational project: Dig up a clear tub and gather all my pigs into their new pigpen.

Design Wall Monday 4-11-11

 

I took a fun class from Laura Wasilowski called "Little Towns"  or something close to that.

Here is what I finished in the class and I want to complete it so I can hang it in my office.  I still have a bit of fusing to do.  Umm, that tree on the right looks a bit naked.  Then I plan to do a bunch of embroidery/quilting on it to really add some texture, detail, and interest.  I'm not a fuser but this project was really fun.

April's UFO Assignment

I'm a little late in getting to this but Judy pulled #4 for this month's UFO Challenge.  This is what I will be working on this month.  There is quite a bit still to do to make this into a finished quilt.  This photo is terrible, I guarantee a better one of the completed quilt.













I found this quote which made me wonder how mature I am.

Maturity is: The ability to stick with a job until it's finished; 

The ability to do a job without being supervised; 

The ability to carry money without spending it; and, 

The ability to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.

                                                      -Abigail Van Buren

San Francisco

I spent a wonderful weekend in San Francisco with a very dear friend of mine.  We met on the first day of high school when we were made Biology Lab partners.  It was a perfect match on many levels.  I have always thought that I got the better end of the deal but I try to keep that a secret from her.

In my moderately small town there was one middle school and one high school and then, there was my school - a private Catholic K-8 school.  There were 25 or 30 kids in my eighth grade class so I was entering High School knowing few people.  Julie was my gateway into another group of friends.  She introduced me to her friends and high school was no longer a big scary place.  It is because of her that I had a great time in high school.I have been grateful ever since.  So, when she called me a few months ago, desperate for a getaway I eagerly agreed.  She lives in Arizona now and I live in Southern California so we try to meet places several times a year since we both LOVE to travel.

Here are the highlights of our weekend:

Julie and I strolled past a store near Union Square that had ALL of its windows lined with antique, hand-crank sewing machines.  SERIOUSLY, there were over 100 beautiful machines of all make and models.

I went inside to get a closer look and a young clerk told us that the company,  All Saints, Co. Clothing Store,  employs someone whose sole responsibility is to travel around and find more machines for their stores.  He said there are stores with many more machines than this one.

Here is a view from the outside.  The bottom floor windows are lined with machines, the second floor is lined and there was a third floor that I couldn't capture.  The kicker is that there is a second side to the store because it goes all the way through the block to the next street!!  Those windows are also stuffed with machines.

I wonder if they need a second machine-finder.

We took a lovely walking tour of the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District near the Golden Gate Bridge.  Of course, I've seen the Palace in lots of movies set in San Fran (think Vertigo, various Monk episodes) but it is very impressive in person.

On Sunday we picked up Julie's daughter and headed out to the Alameda Antique Flea Market.  Elise lives near these beautiful Painted Lady houses.   SIGH, we don't have anything that cute across the street from where I live.


We saw lots and lots of FAB-U-LOUS things.  Thanks goodness I was restricted to carry-on luggage or I would have brought home SO MANY things.

I saw lots of quilts and a lot of toy sewing machines.  I especially liked this one with its hot red carrying case.

Look at this gorgeous pineapple-like quilt.  It is all silks but it was just falling apart.

There were lots of gems just out in the sun on hangers.  I wanted to rescue them all from sun damage but I resisted.


We ended the afternoon sipping the absolute best Bloody Mary's in the world at DeLucci's in Little Italy.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend.

"Your friend is the [wo]man who knows all about you, 

and still likes you."
                                               - Elbert Hubard  

 You all have a wonderful week

March UFO DONE !!!

Here are all the butterflies.

The sashing is a bright lime green and I think I've had the border print in my stash since the 80s. HMMM, they may have appeared on one of my sons in the guise of jams (remember those!) at one point. I wasn't really sure about the borderprint but once it was all quilted and bound, I think it works.

I had to include a photo of my helper.  She is almost as bad as a cat in that she wants to be in every quilt photo.  You know, she makes this quilt look small but it's 58" X 60".  She's kind of big, huh?

It's a gorgeous day here and I am trying to be outdoors as much as I can between appointments.

I'm off to San Francisco tomorrow and I am very excited.  My friend and I are hoping to take some walking tours of San Fran and go to the Alameda Swap Meet on Sunday.  I'm bringing an extra suitcase in case I get lucky with some good finds.

Have a great weekend,