Thursday, March 31, 2005

Up, up and Away

Well, I think the little guys' fever finally broke around 1pm last night. He seemed to get cooler and he fell asleep (thank you!) and slept till about 6:30 this morning. Of course before that he threw up all over are bed, and cried miserably from about 10 to 11:30. Poor Mr. Moo.

In running news, I ran 3.5 this morning (stumbled is a more accurate report of my form) because I've started to FREAKING PANIC about my half is T-minus nine days. I've been sick for two weeks, and now I have got to run me eleven miles Sunday. Without, hurling or succumbing to diarrhea. Non-running diarrhea. TMI? No problem, anytime.

Holy Kitty Cats Batman! I finished the Month of Softies, three hours under the wire.

Let’s not tell the world that the bottom of that tree is stuffed with socks because we ran out of stuffing…..oops.

When I was young, I loved to climb trees. High in the Sky apple pie trees. Up, up and away from my younger siblings. I'd take the book of the moment, most often a Nancy Drew mystery, to the highest spot and read out of the reach of grubby little fingers.

Sometimes I would just lounge in the tree listening to the wind blow through the leaves, is there anything more relaxing?

I'm represented here by the monkey, she needs a little work, but then I thought that was perfect, because we all need a little work, and after all it was more about the tree for me.

The tree is a little whimsical, but then, so are my childhood memories. I used the template I made for this tree, and I really like the effect. Someone, might be getting this as a birthday present, it might not be a surprise if she is reading this!

Pukefest '05

Well Pukefest ’05 appears to be over. Poor Mr. Moo has spent most of the day staring blankly at Baby Einstein, or holding on to my leg “mama mama mama mamamamamamamamama”. He has eaten probably two whole piece of toast in the last twenty four hours.

There were some rough hours yesterday where I thought I was going to hurl as well. I’m pretty excited to have spent two of the last three weeks of my half marathon training, sick. After Mr. Moo’s next nap we are going for a walk, because I feel able to handle a walk. And Jonah die of forgotten dog disease, if we don’t go for one.

So not much happening here besides holding babies and thinking about quilts. Hopefully I’ll get to check in with more of my Blog list later today and post my entry for Month of Softies, which believe it or not, I'm done, with a day to spare. Except I'm not really done because I ran out of stuffing...so off to Joann's when I drop off Pixie tonight.

More news from my Stitch in Time group Tuesday night. One of my fellow quilters showered me with goodies, including this doll.

I have taken about 14 hundredpictures of this doll (seriously) but she is so bright that she always has a glare. I even tried scanning her, but then she REALLYlooked weird. Anyway isn’t this a cute doll? I do not know what I did that was so deserving of all these gift, but I’m loving it!

Quilter Friend also gave me this great Block of the Month series! I’m so excited. Each of these blocks can be finished individually or sewn together in one quilt, and each pattern comes with the full Nursery Rhyme.

Humpty Dumpty is the February block, the next Mad Quilters BOM starts in July, and I think this would make a great quilt or wall hanging and you can pick and choose which blocks you want to use. This pattern is designed by Sarah Sporrer and it is all hand appliqués and embellishment. It’s “rough” appliqué, which means you don’t turn the edges under, you straight stitch around the design creating a more rustic look.

It is always nice to have these things planned out ahead of time, although it may be a challenge for the Mad Quilters, as many of us haven't done much applique. We'll see how it goes.

Here are the rest of the rhymes for the months.
January-Northwind doth blow
February-Humpty Dumpty
March- Baa baa Black sheep
April-Rain Rain Go Away
May -Mary Contrary
June-Hickety Pickety my Black Hen
July-Yankee Doodle
August-Bobby Shafto's gone to Sea
September-Peter Pumpkin Eater
October-Hickory Dickory Dock
November-Blackbirds Pie
December-Christmas is coming (the goose is getting fat!)



Wednesday, March 30, 2005

This just in.....

This just in, right as I finished this post. Mr. Moo threw up SPECTACULARLY all over. After a call to the pediatrician I've got him bathed, drinking apple juice and you guesseder chester, watching baby Einstein. poor little guy.


Frac keeps watch

*****Original Post****

Mr. Moo and I slept in until 8:15 this morning, our whirlwind of activity over the past few days finally caught up with us. It was everything I thought it could be.

The woodstove is fixed, we have heat again. Life is good.

Speaking of good, Quilt group last night was Great! The Stitch in Time group have been together for about twenty years and they are hilarious. Last night’s project was ‘self portraits’. We were told to bring five contrasting fabrics and scissors to cut fusible with (you don’t want to get that stuff on your good scissors).

We started out by drawing a self portrait on paper, and then we traced it on to fiv different pieces of fusible. There was quite a bit of moaning about this part, because as I pointed out, I am traditional quilter because you use squares and triangles and I can’t draw. As the leader pointed it out “we’re thinking outside the box” . I am always amazed how different people are, and at how I never have my camera with me when I need it. The self portraits were amazing, creative and beautiful. I wish I had more than mine to show you.

The next step was to iron the fusible to the fabric, then you cut out each piece, hair, neck, face, background, shoulders. Then you moved them around so that you had one of each color together in a square.

Very Andy Warhol. But very easy. In fact several of us thought it would be a good kid project. This is what mine looked like in about an hour, the idea is to go home and embellish them with faces and satin stitch around the edges to keep the fusible in place.

Since we each made five, and four is a logical wall hanging. I suggested that we all put our extra self portrait together in a Stitch in Time Quilt “guess who” quilt to display at our local guilds Quilt Show that is held every two years. The group thought it was a great idea, and guess who is in charge…yeah, can’t keep my mouth shut ever…can I?

Lots more news from Stitch in Time group, but I've got puke to clean up, so it will have to wait.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Aha! Not the band

So it's 5:45 West Coast time and I am finally able to post to my own blog today, although I'm still unable to post comments elsewhere, include Sallad's blog which she wondered about today, since she doesn't even use Blogger. Apparently Blogger just hates me. I am soooo moving to Wordpress. This week. So be prepared.

School last night, wiped me out, woke up at 5:30 to walk three miles with Lady J who hurt her knee last Friday running the lake and is taking it slow this week. I’m dreading my eleven miler on Sunday (school this weekend Friday and Saturday *bleck*) with no running partners in sight.

We in the Northwest experienced Rain with Sunburst today. A truly Pacific Northwest phenomenon that I’ll attempt to define for you. Rain (pelting, sideways, drenching downpour) with Sunbursts, (random moments of brilliance that brings with it the glare that migraines are made of) .

This is especially nice when you are driving on the freeway. Es-Special-aly. Nice.

I’ve had a rough day. I think the Sunbursts did me in. It started out innocently enough with a Mr. Moo play date (because that kid needs some socialization his only friend is a dog and an eleven year old witch (the neighbors…oh how they talk!)) Then off to the airport to pick up Grandma and Grandpa, fresh from their sojourn to Spain, and full of Gaudi talk.

Unfortunately no one told me it would take over an hour for them to get from their plane, through customs to the arrival gate at PDX. Uh, yeah. I don’t leave the country much. So I had one very cranky baby during naptime in an airport terminal when I realized it was Pixie Potter day, and she would be arriving at my house in less than three minutes and I was over 45 minutes away.

Luckily resilient Pixie went to the neighbors, and when I called was industriously “digging a hole to China”. So alls well that ends well. And I was happy because I didn’t have to call her mom “uh, yeah I lost your child….gee, I’m sorry. Chocolate?”

And yeah I have quilting tonight…If I can just stay awake.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Bad Blog Daze

Zoey, I wish I had your email, because I could email you then….since Blogger is choosing to be grumpy and not allow us to comment on each other’s blogs.

Okay so I had five.

Which is the number of miles I was supposed to run today, but not the actual number (3.5) These are my new favorite peeps. Not only do they taste a little like chocolate, they are super fresh. Maybe we should pack more things in chocolate to keep them fresh. Maybe I have found my niche! My idea! The one that will make me millions! Chocolate sandwich bags, Chocolate Tupperware! It could work. Maybe. In the artic.

Minor catastrophe at our house. Upon arriving home from our multi-dog walk I found that the house was full of smoke. “Yahoo!” I thought to myself “our house in on fire! We can rebuild! (if I’m quoted in a legal document than I never said that!)” But no such luck. Our house was not on fire.

Upon further inspection I found that instead our woodstove’s stovepipe was leaking …smoke. This is nice because the Woodstove is the only source of heat we have, and it is WET WET WET here, rain predicted for the rest of the week. And it is cold.

Great! I love a challenge bring it on! So, I called Woodstove Installers of choice, and surmised the situation was a) something is in the stovepipe *ewwwww* or b) we burned wet wood and there is a creosote build up. I did not suggest c) you guys installed it wrong. Because it is cold, and the woodstove is cooling down, and I’m not sure that the warm smokyhouse is worth it, oh, and I want them to get out here and fix it!

Plus secretly I’m petrified that Mr. Moo will die of smoke inhalation in his crib. I yi yi yi! (in fact I’m just going to take this opportunity to run upstairs and make sure he is breathing…and maybe open a window~okay I’m back, he’s fine. His little nose is pushed into his bumper so that if he suffocates it is his fault not mine! *phew* JUST KIDDING! I opened a window just in case). So the Woodstove Installers of choice can come out tomorrow, if it's not raining.

I guess I’ll just put extra clothes on Mr. Moo and we’ll rough it. And if that gets bad, we can always go to Grandma’s.

Of course we have a metal roof. Which is three stories off the ground. So no one every wants to come fix our roof or do anything that involves being on our roof (like cleaning out the stovepipe) because wet, metal roof seems synonymous with really, fast, fall to certain death. So The Man and I are thinking, next roof, metal? Not so much.

Did I mention that it was raining, supposed to rain all week. And it is chilly. And our Woodstove is broken. Yeah. Woohoo.

I’m going to go drown my misery in working on my Month of Softies entry. Why bother you say? Because I STILL HAVE THREE DAYS DAG NABBIT! THAT’S WHY!!

Let’s end on a positive note though. Today I am wearing jeans I haven’t been able to sit down in (because yes I’ve pulled them over my rear just so I could say I could get into them, and snap them) since before Mr. Moo’s arrival. Ahhhhh.

And the sun just came out.....

I soooooo did not have peeps for breakfast this morning....Really.

Training log, week of:March 21st-27th
Monday - five miles
Tuesday- sick
Wednesday -sick
Thursday-sick
Friday -lazy
Saturday-eight miles
Sunday -stretch and strength

total mileage 14miles

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Three powers of Nature. Rain. Wind. Mel.

When I awoke this morning the rain was so loud on the tin roof that I thought we must be in the path of an oncoming freighter. When I looked out the windows I wondered how the rain could make that much noise since it was raining sideways and the great Northwest Pines, were bowing so low they look like they were trying to dust off their feet. And I thought to myself "self, nine miles this morning, I don't think so".

So I had some breakfast and a soda and took the advice of the Rains Gods and quilted instead. Around noon the weather had calmed down to a constant drizzle, minus the wind and the runner in me, got the better of the quilter. I arranged for Ama and Poppa to watch the little shnooker for me. Because the mother in me outvoted the runner on taking the tyke on a cold, wet nine miler.

The Weather gods were cruel and around the seven mile mark I was running in concrete boots and I was beat. Lucky for me Ama and Poppa came looking for me, (I had estimated my nine miler to take me 1:45ish, since my eight miler took me 1:32 do you think it was the soda?) and I jumped in the truck because I was done. Done, Done, put a fork in me done.

Only eight miles and in 1:37 (five minutes longer than last 8 miler) I couldn't get below eleven minute miles and around mile five I slumped into 13 minute miles. I have to admit though that some recent posts kept me going, include this one from Diana.

So I'd like to give a big shout out to my Running Blog Family. You rock. And in reality I'm pretty happy with today because I haven't run since Monday. Only two weeks till the Whidbye Half!

Today's run made me think of a very rainy day in Hawaii a few years back and very wet wait at the bus stop.
Here is a picture of Mad Quilter Mel. (on the left, I'm in the middle, nice huh?)It is my most favorite picture of mel (that can be posted on the internet). Here we are on a bus in Hawaii (1/03) with a very strange man. He liked us because we were singing show tunes. Well, I was singing show tunes, mostly to keep from having to talk to him or give him money. This bus ride went on and on and on. Their was a lot of singing. It was a very. Long. Ride.

Look how supportive Mel is of this plan! Uh. Yeah.

Mel lives in Chicago, it is very sad because we miss her very much at our quilting bees, and when I say we, I mean my sister misses her very much. She was always there to keep me in line. SOME BODY HAS TOO! I’ve been know to demote my sister to baking cookies because her stitches were crooked or dump her underwear out in the foyer to help her repack it RIGHT! Okay, these maybe extreme instances but it is important to give Mel full credit as someone who can tactfully re-direct me into the proper place. “Brit, back away from the suitcase”

Some days, I could really use Mel. And I miss her all days.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Popcorn isn't a food group?

Lazy Daze --this mini vacation from running is really nice. I've been sleeping in until 7:30 (unheard of on training days) The baby is going down around 7:30-8pm and sleeping all night. We are a well rested bunch here! Maybe too well rested. I think I better get out and run today, I'm thinking four miler, although my throat is still scratchy, but we have to do something befoe jumping into a nine miler this weekend!

So with The Man out of the picture away there is a dilemma. What to eat. His parents are away too, so they won’t feed me. I have a confession: I can’t cook (shhhhhh!) Okay, I can cook, I just don’t like too. Well it’s not that I don’t like too. But it scares me. The man always says that left to my own devices I would just eat popcorn and bread.

Okay that may be true.

The daily phone call or email home from The Man entitled “what’s for dinner” has been known to send me into a tailspin. What does he mean? Does he mean “why can’ t you be more like my mom (or dad) and cook dinner for me? “ does he mean “*sigh* have you even thought about what we are eating for dinner or do I have to subsist on beer and cheerios, AGAIN?” or does he mean “Should I even bother asking or should I just go to the drive through on my way home.” Usually of course he means, “what’s for dinner?”.

He (and his mom) are pretty good with the subtle hints though ( I think I’ve gotten a cook book for every single holiday for the last seven years. Some of which I’ve opened. (that’s how I know who they’re from, my mother-in-law always writes endearing messages in the front of every book she gives, she’s a librarian…what can you do?) But I digress, Again…..weird.

Last night, as I sat looking at Mr. Moo realizing that we could not eat popcorn for the next four nights, I had an epiphany…I would cook! And I would not be afraid! And I would probably feel pretty good about it.

So I made chicken ala king on freshly baked bread (I can do somethings without fear)for me, and oatmeal for The Buddy. He ate all of his oatmeal and half of my chicken ala king. It was amazing. It was fantastic. It was. Dinner.

Too bad The Man missed it. It could happen again. Probably.

Because.....Hey! I'm hot.

So my Mail carrier just honked at me. Not in that "hey sexxxxxyy laaaady way either. (which would have been totally inappropriate, but I would have understood..because Hey, I'm hot.)

But rather in that, I'm fat, and lazy and you have more than two (it's actually 23) steps in front of your house and if you want your package you better come down and get it, way.

What happen to the hot, mail carriers that walk around town and are in shape and have a waist? Those guys can go ahead and honk at me....cuz you know. I'm hot.

Raise your hand if you think my mail carrier may suck. Just a little.

And yes, I went down (and back up) the 23 steps to retrieve Mr. Moo's Easter gift from Uncle Frito. Because a Moo Mom had got to do, for her little Moo.

p.s. I am not a cow. I'm hot!

Dog Gone

So why am I not in Seattle? Because last night in our flurry to pack we suddenly remembered the three dogs, four cats, multiple dustbunnies, and various fish that we are responsible for. Uh, yeah. We can’t both leave for four days without someone to feed the animals. (DOH!)

So I’m still home, which is fine, because frankly last night all I wanted to do was cry and watch movies in bed. Which worked out because that was all Mr. Moo wanted to do to. We were both in bed by 8pm and were probably asleep soon after. I woke up around 7am to a baby serenade, *warble warble warble*. And believe it or not I feel 80% cured! And by the screaming and the clear colored snot (green snot bad/clear snot better) that is now leaking from the baby’s nose he feels better too.

And, Look what I finished yesterday! The top of the Polarbear quilt, and with only two weeks to quilt it. It could totally happen. Really.

I struggled deciding whether or not to put another border on this quilt. I’m not super happy with how it turned out but I am super happy that it is done. The interesting thing about project I think is that sometimes you have it in your mind how they are going to look and they just don’t turn out that way. This is one of those, but I’m happy because today while Mr. Moo is napping (please, Great Quilting Diety, let him take another three hour nap today) I will be quilting.

Although after that great gift box from Sunni yesterday I have a million ideas floating around in my head, including my Month of Softies entry, (hello end of the month again! How does that happen?)

Okay off to feed the Menagerie. Happy snot free, head clear day!

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

The Easter Bunny cometh!


I know it will come as a shock to many of you (not) but I haven't mailed my Easter Cards yet. *hangs head in shame* It's true. All those relatives who haven't gotten birthday gift thank yous yet, aren't getting Easter Cards on time either. Uh, yeah. Bad Mommy Award...I know, I know

But when we took Daddy his lunch today we stopped by the post office and look what the post office brought us from Sunni!

This box of delectable goodies and a cute basket and Yahoo a felt bunny! Hurray for felt bunnies! Doesn’t Sunni do marvelous work? Not pictured here is the coconut chocolate egg I inhaled (every cold needs some chocolate) moments after opening the box. Sunni also sent me some very crafty notecards, perfect for aforementioned thank you notes yet to be written! Good thinking, now I'm inspired to sit down and get some of those thank yous done!


And finally this little guy, who I didn’t notice as first (see in the original picture he is tucked on the left hand side there yeah, duh Brittany, I just reread this post...I mean the right hand side *rolls eyes at self*).

It’s a Giraffe! Thanks Sunni!







Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Ps. SweetPea says she's got pictures.

No mileage today. I'm soooo foggy, my throat hurts and now my ear is plugged. If I feel better tomorrow I'll get up an run, in the meantime I'm gonna do pilates and eat chicken noodle soup! Hurray for The Man!

We are headed to Seattle for Easter weekend, which means I get to try out some new runs. I think I'll run here, because I can get some serious mileage in,(not 25 miles, that would be excessive) and this weekend's long run is nine miles....cold. cold. go away.....

I have to say that I have been seriously J-E-A-L-O-U-S of Keith, ever since he got his forerunner. It's one thing for the RBF peeps to have them, but for someone you know to get one, is just PAIN! What a joy to just run...any direction and get the correct mileage...because I totally suck at math, especially while running.

Here is a picture of my partner in crime helping me decide what clothes of his to pack for the weekend. Apparently he is going with all of them. At least all his shirts.

We already packed our bathing suits because I finallyremembered that there is a pool at Aunt Lauren's and we have TWO WHOLE days to spend there while she isn't home and so swimming it is!

Well, that and quilting, I'm cruizing on the Polar Bear Quilt and hope to have the top pieced by the time we leave tomorrow.

And finally in quilting news, here is a picture (of a picture, because the scanner's USB is malfunctioning great!) for Nadine, because I want her to knit me a pair of converse booties, (for my kid of course) because He loves booties (the feet kind). He likes to talk to them and carry them around in his mouth (yes I'm beginning to worry that he needs to socialize with people besides the dog.) So, here Nadine is a picture of the design that The Man told you about, it does kind of look like baseballs. It is hard, and difficult, and down right NOT EASY. This picture was taken before the rows were sewn together, and it was taken mostly so we didn't get confused on where the rows went.

I knew nothing about this pattern when a friend asked me to help her. I was like "sure!! I love quilting". Believe it or not this was a beginning class she had taken! It was a frustrating experience, so frustrating in fact that I don't have any finished pictures of the quilt. But looking back at the picture it does look cool. This pattern is also called axeheads, sometimes.

Anyway come over and we'll walk you through it (that was the royal we...I'm sick, and I feel woozy, that is different than wonky but I believe they are first cousins.

Besides I want to learn how to make those flannel rag quilts ...so we can trade.

Sore Throat Update

Well, Mr. Moo is down for the count, and the sore throat I woke up with, is now a big ball of cotton in the back of my throat. Which leads me to believe that I wasn't fakin this morning when I bagged my run. Lady J suggested Chicken Noodle soup and much to my belly aching delight I found some of the The Man's frozen chicken noodle in the fridge. I LOVE THE MAN, AND HIS CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP.

Now to relax in front of the woodstove, with soup and watch Gosford Park. I've watched it twice, only halfway through. Mr Moo's vocalizations make it difficult to hear. Somewhat. I'm off to find out who dunnit.

Sweat Pea

My friend, SweetPea (not her real name) and I have an ongoing competition. It's called the "My in-laws are better than your in-laws" competition. It can get pretty hairy at times. Both set of grandparents provide unending babysitting, since both SweetPea and her Man and The man and I are in school. That is reallyimportant when you are stay at home mom, Grandparents who want to visit a lot! Because that means you might get to go to the bathroom BY YOUR SELF! at some point during the day. Like when grandpa comes by to take Mr. Moo for a walk.

Privacy in the potty. How novel.

So SweetPea and I go on about how much we adore our in-laws. Like the time that SweetPea and her husband decided, on a whim, to sell their house, and put a sign in their yard at 8am, and the house was sold by 2pm and they had to be out in a week, and her in-laws said, "of course you can live with us". Or like the time my in laws picked me up from work and took me out to dinner on their anniversery because someone had stolen my car.

Speaking of cars...

Apparently yesterday, Sweetpea borrowed her father in law's pick up to run a few errands, including driving out of town to the dump. She returned home to her hole in the ground I mean house they are building with her two year old asleep in the cab. Her father and her spoke briefly about some construction zone stuff, and then the electrician emerged from the house.

Sweetpea called to him "did we pass our electrical inspection?"
and he replied "I think your truck is on fire."

Sweetpea turned and in horror saw that her father in law's truck was smoking. She rushed the cab to retrieve her daughter, while her father ran around the other side to get her diaperbag and purse, but the door had already melted shut!

The electrician dialed 911.

On the phone this morning she says to me "I swear, not fifteen seconds later flames started licking the bottom of the truck". Clutching her baby to her, she and the growing crowd of onlookers backed away from the truck.

And then.

It. Exploded. The truck. Exploded. OH, Yeah.

At this point SweetPea called her father in law, and her husband. They arrived home at about the same time the TWO SHINY RED firetrucks did.

Apparently their is nothing but a car skeleton and a very charred road where the truck once stood.

SweetPea's husband wondered out loud to his father if this were "grounds for eviction" but instead SweetPea's in laws took her out to dinner. After all, she was distraught after single handedly TORCHING their car!

And though I don't think I've ever actually destroyed anything of my in-laws, I think this was a hands down victory in the "My in-laws are better than your in-laws" competition.

Today. I admit defeat.

Monday, March 21, 2005

Upon Request...

Well not really, upon request, but it is fun to say that. Dorothee and I are having problems communicating but a few of our emails seem to be getting through. She asked if I had posted a picture of my Tee shirt quilt. So here it is.

The Not-so-amazing T-shirt quilt and the not so amazing Photoshop job to keep some secrets between friends. The secrets we can't keep of course are the pictures of Michael Jackson! and the many unicorn t-shirts. Keep in mind most of these t-shirts are from 1980's, looking at the date I'm amazed, I made this quilt in 1991, I've been quilting for over ten years. Wow!

One thing I've learned since making this quilt was the benefit of using starch. It makes using interestingfabrics much easier. Especially when you are a garage sale fabric shopper.

Woke up with a sore throat this morning and didn't make my morning run, but Mr. Moo was up at the crack of dawn anyway, so we partied the morning away. My throat is still sore...

Daddy had school last night, so Mr. Moo and I had popcorn for dinner. He loved it! Dancing and clapping while I popped the corn on the stove and they he snarfed the popped kernels right down. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Mama's popcorn wasn't nearly as good as Grandpa's. We he gets back we will have to study the fine art of Grandpa's perfectly buttered popcorn.

Yummmm.

And in the morning...I'm making WAFFLES!

Training log, week of: March 14-20
Monday - 4.5miles
Tuesday- 3.5 miles (with stroller)
Wednesday -strength and stretch (pilates video)
Thursday- 3.5 miles (with stroller)
Friday -rest
Saturday-stretch and strength
Sunday -3 ish

miles total=15ish

Today's five miler started out on the grumpy side, I was late getting to the meeting point because someone (who will remain nameless) refused to bend his knees during his diaper change, making said change almost impossible. He just kept looking at me, like " you've got to be kidding me! I'm not up yet!"

In the end we did make it to the lake, and parked behind the Queen's truck, we met up with her and her dog Max at the halfway point (we had run opposite directions) and were able to run the rest of the lake with her.

Tomorrow is a three mile run or cross training, I've been seriously thinking about getting out my bike and dusting it off, but I'm not brave enought to try it yet with Mr. Moo. It would add a little variation to my workouts, it is hard to find baby friendly workouts.

And then I had yummy froze waffles for breakfast, played with the dogs and put the baby down for a nap. Did I mention I like this routine, it works nicely for me.

My favorite thing about being a west coast blogger (thas riiight dawg) is that by the time I sign on, my blogging compadres have usually already blogged at least once. Which is nice. I'm always behind in comments but I like knowing there is something new waiting out there on the blogosphere for me.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Rain, Rain, go away....

at least until I take Mr. Moo's Easter pictures, how am I supposed to dress him up in cute springy clothes if the ground is sopping wet and the daffodils are drippy?

This morning I was supposed to run 6.2 miles, I didn't. I'm not sure how many I ran but it was more than three. I do know that I ate WAY TOO MANY oreos and cadburry eggs at quilting and I felt physically ill as I strapped Mr. Moo back into the carseat to head home. I've been medicating myself with water today, trying to rinse the system...Seriously, it's way worse than a hangover...I'm pretty sure.

On the postive side, it wasn't my worst run ever and it snapped me out of my grumpy sugar coma, and The Man appreciated that for sure!


Met up with Ren, Natalia'n'Keith for Mad Quilters this weekend. I don't want to ruin Keith's reputation at all by implying that he was quilting...no no...he was playing on his new laptop, and Mr. Moo was helping him, isn't that cute!

"Look Keith! push this and your character has neverending gombstopper chompers! I play with my dad all the time! No, really, push it."
I pieced nine patches for my polar bear quilt/UFO my goals is to finish piecing that this week since I will be seeing it's soon to be owner on April 10th at the Half I'm running then. She doesn't turn one till later on in that month so I'm hoping to beat the birthday by a few weeks. Yeah I know! I'm a slacker.

Here are Natalia's Blocks of the Month for the last year, minus March's block, since she only got it yesterday, she was working on it though when I (clutching my over sugared stomach) left. I really like the color choices here, and look, Natalia's turtle is the same size as her other blocks, she apparently paid attention in Math class! I know you've heard it before, but I LOVE seeing everyone's blocks, it is so inspiring!

The final shot for the day is of Keith and Mr. Moo, they took the dogs for a walk and the weather got them, keith improvised with bandanas around Mr. Moo's hands followed by doggie bags handy and he even sacrificed his hat for the occasion.

This guy is ready for fatherhood! Only 16 more weeks till his own papoose arrives!

Friday, March 18, 2005

March BOM

Yahoo a Rest Day...Resting: Check.

I lied to you all! Kill me quickly. I stated in this post, Monday that I hadn't done any stars in the BOM until this month, but when I took all my BOM's for this rotation out to look at them, I found that I had in fact done and Antique Star, in September *hangs head in shame*.

This pattern is called Sarah's Choice, but I think it should be the offical Mad Quilter's Star. Ever since I posted on the history of the Mad Quilters, I've been reminiscent for this pattern, so I decided to go ahead and piece it.

The points are a little wonky on this star, but I don't let minor things like Wonkiness slow me down.

I scanned this block to try for a different look, one of the things about my camera that drives me crazy is that it is hard to get close up details. Scanning took care of that however...Look,how close!

Denim Theme Week: Day Five
Denim Mountains
For our final denim quilt of the week, (oh yes I have more, I can do an annual denim week at least a second annual Denim week)we have a quilt designed by The Man for his cousin. The Man wanted a mountain/lake scene (somewhat represented here) I added the tree and star border to the pattern and ouila! (see those pesky stars again..I love em)

Thank you for stopping by for Theme Week, hopefully next weeks' theme will be original crafting by me we can always dream. As for now, I'm off to pack and head to Seattle for my monthly Mad Quilters fix!

Ta Ta!

Thursday, March 17, 2005

There comes a time in every Half Marathoners training when Fruity Pebbles are required

That time is now. I'm pooped.

and don't forget they're magically delicious (not really, I just through that in for St. Patty's day...they do have green though, I think.

It was drizzly and windy yesterday, not usually unusal for the Pacific Northwest but definately unusual for the weather we've been having. It was not good make-up run weather, especially not with a running stroller. So I opted to run this morning. And so did Mr. Moo.

He was up again at 5am ready to run....or so I determined. I only ran 3.5 because I was just dying pushing the stroller this morning and it shows in my time 46:00 instead of the 42:00 it took me tuesday (also pushing the stroller).

Oh well I ran! Tomorrow is a rest day and I'm milking it for all it's worth. Mr. Moo and I are headed to Seattle to sleep over with Aunt Ren and to prepare for Quilting on Saturday.

Also on our agenda our Easter pics. Aunt Ren takes EXCELLENT photos, although I'm not sure if we will be able to out cute, last year.

I'm actually really enjoying the baby getting up early and running with me, since once we get home we both get cleaned up shower/bath respectively, have breakfast and then he goes down for his first nap by 7:30 or 8:00 which gives me a great start to my morning. Usually his naps are from 9-11 which leaves us litte time to run errands between our heavy social calender (lunch dates with daddy) and our afternoon nap. This way he is up by 9:30 or 10:00 leaving us a good two hours to run to the store.

Denim Theme Week: Day Four
This Round the World pattern was a quilt my Relay for Life team pieced for a drawing to raise money for the American Cancer Society. I love this simple pattern and there are so many variations that you can do with it, I really like the all blue look here. This top was pieced in seven hours.

Be impressed. Be very impressed. I had four dedicated women helping me, none of whom had ever quilted before. This quilt did so well that the team voted to make Quilts to raise money the next three years I was captain.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Cadburry Eggs

There have been alot of cadburry egg posts today. Which of course made me crave Cadburry Eggs which I LOVE with a love that lasts forever.

Of course I have no Eggs in the house, because I ATE THEM ALL.

So I went to my secret chocolate stash to find something chocolate. And I discovered....that IT IS ALL GONE!!! Someone has been eating my chocolate stash!

I wonder if it was me.

Baby Bear Claw

Missed my morning run this morning, I awoke at 7:00am, two hours and ten minutes later than my alarm went off. So a make up five miler is in my future today! Apparently I can't get up at 5am three mornings in a row, maybe I should try napping, afterall it works for mister Moo.

Denim Theme Week: Day Three
Here is a little quilt I whipped out for a friends baby. Notice I used the words whipped out because I usually I say "I started this quilt three years ago". That is the joy of combining tying and baby in the same quilt. Quick and Slick.

This quilt was completed in 1999. Kate asked if I garage saled for denim, but the sad truth is once I started making denim quilts people just began giving me denim, I currently have two tubs of denim all waiting patiently to be used in this quilt. Which I swear will be done soon!

My favorite denim to work with is little girls jeans, because they are so darn cute! I've worked with a girl scout troup for a few years helping them piece and tie quilts, and they bordered one of their quilts with little girl jeans, SO ADORABLE!


My one-year-old started walking yesterday! One day, no walking, the next day walking! How crazy! He is so cute I can't stand it! I did make him cry this morning though, so the morning isn't a total loss.

I stood him up to practice pushing his activity cart and he headed STRAIGHT. FOR. THE. STAIRS. I took about three giant steps towards him (our house, not so big) yelling NO! NO! NO! at him. He turned around to see me advancing and drop to his knees crying just as his cart dipped, two steps, down into the den. But he stopped. My work here is done.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Note to Self

Note to Self:

The time to learn new things, like Pilates on tape, is not when your one-year old is awake.

Laying on your back gives him the perfect oppurtunity to

*put things in your eyes (like his fingers)
*put things in your mouth (ditto)
*pull up your shirt "hmm get cracking mama, this ain't no washboard!"
*sit on your stomach
*investigate your belly button
*lay his head on your face
*pull on your braid
and while you are achieving the 'rolling the ball' lay down behind you so he gets squashed as you rock back.

so much for strength conditioning today.

Denim Ohio Star Quilt

Completed my 3.5 today per week nine of Higdon's novice training plan. Poor Jonah, I had planned on taking him with me, but Mr. Moo was up at 4:30 so he came instead. A black dog and a baby stroller in the dark is just one too many safety hazards. I finished in 42 minutes which is good considering the baby stroller takes at least a minute (sometimes more depending on hills) off my miles, and I had to stop to pick up a tossed sippy cup several times. Also my toe blister popped (disgust-o) while I was running so now I really am going to have to steal Marisa's blog title!

Jonah the Dog's Log:
no balls
no run
sad doggie.


In Quilting news it is Block of the Month day, but I haven't finished my Block yet, so hopefully pictures later. In the meantime, continuing with Denim Quilt Theme week this is the second quilt I made out of denim, it was for my cousin (seen at top, No! he really isn't that tall, he is standing at the top of stairs, hanging the quilt, although he is 6'3, I don't mess around with little quilts *grin*) when he graduated from highschool.

I had actually taken a quilting class by the time I made this denim quilt. Notice the Ohio star center, and the sawtooth stars in the corners. I have a star problem, I love stars, pieced stars, applique stars, stars on fabric...I've actually consciously not pieced any BOM stars for the last two BOM rotations. Until today. Today's is a star, but more about that later.

Working in denim can be difficult, but rewarding and it's great for guys! Pamalamadingdong is working on a denim quilt and I can't wait to see it! Speaking of other bloggers. Sarah has posted some great pics, although we are all bummed that she has to keep her wedding quilt a secret from the receipients so none of us get to see pics either. *so sad*

Well Mr. Moo and I have a whirlwind social calender today, with a playdate and hopefully a Pixie sighting allthough word on the street is that she has a temp!

Monday, March 14, 2005

Paper writing vs. Blogging

It is hard to go from Bloggin (hyperlinks, italics, pictures) to boring old paper writing. As I finish up my paper I find myself wanting to link to this cool site to better emphasize my point. I want to insert a picture to snaz the whole thing up. No such luck. Boring old paper. But at least I get to email it! So that is kinda fun -ish.

Denim Themes

I ran my 4.5 miles today, I ran out of time for the last half mile (my ride got there early) but I felt confident that I could have completed the run, that counts right?


I'm having a theme week, because I have softies, and March's BOM to make this week as well as piece a top for our Mad Quilter's meeting this weekend, (Yeah! It feels like forever since I've quilted) get the Mad Quilter's monthly out, and oh yeah write a paper today, and tomorrow. I LOVE finals!

Themes make life easier for everyone, this weeks theme DENIM QUILTS! Here we see the first denimn quilt I made, for sister Ren. It started innocently enough, I really like the doile in the center so I fastened it to a hexagon of denim. Then I cut out hexagons from my grandmother's wedding dress. A theme I carried over to the velvet twilight quilt I made for my other sister.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. This was my first conscious endeavor into quilting, and it was hard! I hand sewed most of the hexagons because I just couldn't figure out a technique for the sewing machine that wasn't start/stop start/stop start/stop.

Ultimately the wedding dress silk did not hold up to the heavier denim well, and was later replaced with other denim about 4 years later. However it may have lasted longer if my sister didn't let her cats sleep on the quilt because they damanged the silk beyond normal wear and tear.

Once you give away a quilt though you have to let it all go, AND I'M SO GOOD AT THAT!

One last thing before I start (ack!) my paper. For those quilters pursuing this blog, here is another excellent quilter' blog. Zoey's Perennial Passion. I'm excited because I keep finding new ones! If you are lurking around this blog you should DE LURK because I love visiting new blogs!

Sunday, March 13, 2005

I’m a dumb dumb.

It’s true. But I have renewed respect for walking, and walking as exercise. I know walking is great exercise, but I realized Saturday just how hard it could be and how much different it is from running.

This weekend we had marathon class, and at Lady J and I had decided we were going to walk at lunch. We joined some other classmates and ended up walking 4.5 miles. All I can say is….Athena! I salute you.

I am SO sore. My hip flexors especially, and my feet are crampy, not to mention the little toe sized blister I had on my little toe. Boy, am I dumb, I though a four mile walk would be cake! I mean I ran 8 miles on Thursday! Come on!

Dumb. Even dumber that I’m training for a half marathon and I have a blister on my toe. Tomorrow's five miler is gonna ROCK!

Ding Dong.

Training Log for this week March 7-13 2005
Monday - 4.0mile run
Tuesday- stretching
Wednesday -2mile run
Thursday- 8 mile run 1:32:29/ 2 mile walk
Friday -Rest day
Saturday-4.5 mile walk
Sunday -stretch

Friday, March 11, 2005

Pooh bear and a Post about other bloggers

I love my laptop: Let me count the ways. I love my laptop because I can sit outside in the sun and blog..I mean do my homework, I can sit on the bed and blog do my homework where Mr. Moo can’t reach me. I can move easily from room to room following the Mobile One and his ever present need to be Somewhere else! RIGHT. NOW. All the while checking blogs finishing up homework that is due tonight!

And of course I love THE MAN because he bought me the laptop, and the laptop carrying case.

In my ongoing attempt to keep my quilting gene alive, here is another quilt I’ve done in the past. This was made for Mr. Moo’s cousin, Pooh Bear.


This quilt was finished in May of 2003, picture taken July 2003


I love quilts! I love the way they can have hidden meanings, (children’s clothes, patterns made up between friends) the way the same patterns can look different depending on contrasts and colors.

For instance, Pooh bears mother (and her sister, my mother-in-law) are very into Winnie the Pooh so I chose Pooh fabric for this quilt. Now the quilt pattern (for you non-quilters, stop by anytime!!) I used here is Bear's Paw. I love doing stuff like that. It's like a secret code.

I’ve been stressing this week trying to get papers done, even though I just realized I’ll have all weekend in class to finish up papers (kids don’t try this at home! ) because I’m such a good student and always pay attention in class! Due to the fact that I can’t access internet in the classrooms. (Dang! someone there was thinking!)

Anyway, I was stressing, and haven’t kept on top of updating my template and the blogs I’ve been reading.

Here are just a few:

Quilt-o-mania: Another crafter who has two blogs! One knitting one quilting, great designs!

Thimble: I just love her and today’s post is a tutorial on making cute little icons next to your blog name

All sorts: Art and Crafts, is like being at camp all the time, Jenny has beautiful pictures and a kid's heart

Forget-me-not quilts: A stay a home mom of identical twins and a son who is 17 mths older than them HELLO! and she has time to quilt? I love her style, after my own heart!

And I don’t want to forget my Running Blog Family, always an inspiration.

Black Toes: Christian always has interesting links, especially to wife Brynne’s blogs (tri-mommy and knitlet) and baby pics….we love baby pics!

Dawn on the Run: She is an inspiration to runners and bloggers everywhere with her blogging serenity prayer.

And Mid-pack Mom: talking about balance, exercising for life and what it is all about.

And special thanks to the Zoot for teaching me how to slash out words. Happy Heartbeats Zoot!

Isn't it amazing how long your post can get when you supposed to be writing a paper?


Thursday, March 10, 2005

8 miles and an old quilt

This is a quilt that I made for my sister in 2001 called Velvet Twilight (I finished a lot of quilts that year, although few of them were started that year) entirely out of velvet. Uh yeah, it was hard! I finally ended up hand piecing most of it because it was just to crazy to deal with on the sewing machine.



The cream colored center that you can't see very well is a piece of my grandmother's wedding dress, I quilted hearts on this part of the quilt and then crosshatched everything else.

All I have to do is finish two more papers, attend a weekend class Fri-Sun and a Monday night class and this quarter is over. To quote the blogfather, can I get a HALLELUJAH?

Speaking of running, I ran 8miles this morning. Because of the weekend class, and the commute to aforementioned class, I had to be realistic with myself and realize I would not be getting my long run in this weekend. So I ran two miles yesterday and did some stretching, Friday will be my rest day and Lady J and I will do some cross training (aka hills) during our lunch breaks this weekend.

This morning I ran the regular route, 3.57 with Queen Bee and then Lady J hopped in and ran the second 3.57 with me. I ran the final .89 by myself, and was super happy because I finished. I'm always worried I'll wimp out in the final stretch.

Can I get a round of applause for my running buddies? They rock I'm lucky to have flexible women who will run with me and get me where I'm going.

What a gift.



Wednesday, March 09, 2005

DON'T PANIC. IT'S JUST THE SUN

Between the BEE U TI FUL* weather we are having, the homework I'm not doing and this guy..



I'm falling behind in my crafting. I'm busy visiting other quilters to keep motivated, and remember....have I mentioned I have no sewing room? Add that to our to do list. Only one more week of class (all weekend, but you know) and then I'm free...for a week. And then...another year of classes *sigh*.

So back to the work but for now if you haven't read this post on Dooce yet...Do it.

And check out the new Harry Potter Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince cover at Zoot's.

*I'm not really trying to make you jealous (well maybe a little) if you are still having crappy weather, it is just that here in the Pacific NW we have to Carpe Diem when we are having such scrumptious weather, because usually it RAINS ALL THE TIME HERE! We just aren't used to it, and we're giddy.

I passed a billboard the other day that said. "DON'T PANIC! IT'S JUST THE SUN!"



Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Happy Birthday to Uncle Pat

It is sooo beautiful today in the Pacific Northwest. I'm taking a break out here on my front porch, in short sleeves, enjoying the scenary.

The Man made the most of the weather this weekend when he was home, tilling up the garden, and planning for the harvest.

Monday I spent the day visiting with my sister, who is here from Philadelphia, and studying for an exam. I put 3.5 miles in on the run calender, and managed to talk Lady J and Queen Bee into splitting an 8 miler with me Thursday. They will each run four miles with me, to help keep me motivated. I have some kick butt running partner for sure!

Today is a strength and stretch day, so its 8 minute abs, and stretches for me.

I find myself doing less and less quilting as the weather gets warmer and warmer, if I could just get something on the frame, I could quilt in the sunshine, while Mr. Moo crawls around eating dirt!

And finally happy belated birthday to my kid brother, who turned 24 yesterday...dang, that is old, especially when you are the baby.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

RTD can't keep me down!

Running stats for week

Monday-3.5miles
Wednesday 3.1 miles
Friday -4miles
Sunday 7miles

Week total:17.6

After a serious look at my fellow RBF posts I've realized that I need to get serious about training and keeping track. So here are my stats for the week.

I am following Higdon's plan, picked up from Marisa's blog, pretty much.. I switched the rest days and the long run days to fit my schedule but I'm getting the miles in.

Lady J and I started out to run 6miles this morning at my request, but after 3 miles I headed home, a victim to RTD. Ever since the baby was born I've suffered from Rubbing Thigh Disease. It may be the twenty pounds I haven't lost yet, ya think? Anyway, not such a problem in the winter when I run in tights but this morning was sunny and I broke out the shorts.

I did not however break out the vaseline. So I headed home after 3 miles, when I arrived home, the baby was asleep the husband was occupied and I felt great, so Jonah, the vaseline and I headed up the road for another four miles.

Now I read in Higdon's plan that you can stop and walk while completing the mileage, so I'm sure that a twenty minute car ride counts as stopping to walk. So I ran three miles than four miles twenty minutes later.

I feel good, other than the RTD. It's sure nice to be running long miles again.

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Pixie Potter Age Five

I was going through some old pictures and found a series of pictures of Pixie Potter taken six years ago (almost seven Yikes!) when I was her Nanny.

I call this one....

"I beg your pardon...."

Cross training

So does walking* count as crosstraining??

Seriously. I really want to know what you think.

*consider that I'm carrying a 26 pound baby/backpack and throwing the ball for Jonah

Friday, March 04, 2005

Happy Face

That last post was such a downer! I turned on my computer and saw it and bummed myself out. So don't read the angst post if you don't wanna. Instead put on your happy face.



Here we are, all happy. After a walk.

Mr. Moo is now saying Jonah...which sounds a lot like Do Nah. And is barely distinquishable from his other baby talk other than it only had two syllables.

Doe doe doe doe doe.....Doe doe doe? Doe doe doe.

He also says Fish. Okay. He says Tch. But that doesn't sound anything like Doe....so there you have it.

Still working on Mama, and Dada. But hey, we can identify the animals...

The day after this Wordpress debacle, I'm feeling good, it actually kind of relieves the pressure. I don't really understand the techno babble, and am having a hard time with it, whereas I do understand Blogger, and it is working fine, and I can still access my website....which is what is most important to me, because of the Heart and Sole Run

Speaking of runs, Lady J and I did a 3.5 miles this am, even though we both thought about walking for coffee....Friday is traditionally, walk to Starbucks day with the group we run/walk with. So Yeah us!

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Peevish

Okay, so the Wordpress thing is not going well. Banging my head against the computer each night after Mr. Moo goes to bed does not seem to be working. I've spent the last couple of free minutes strung together (hysterical mama laughter) trying to figure out php and how to change the CSS on the template.....how to actually write on the template and get the changes to stay.

But whatever, I'm no techno geek. However TONIGHT..... I tried to log in to my account from another outside to see why you can't leave comments, because I was starting to despair that WordPress was exactly like Blogger in that you had to have an account on that system to leave a comment.

This mystery is yet unsolved for me, because I CAN'T ACCESS MY WORDPRESS ACCOUNT ANY LONGER. Oh yes the happy. happy. joy. joy. of it all. I'm ticked, it refused my password, and I may be no geek but I think I can remember my password.

So whatever I tried to change my password went through all the what is your dogs father's maiden name questions, was a sent a new password. That didn't work.

THATS RIGHT THEY SENT ME A PASSWORD THAT DIDN'T WORK.

I thought it must be me, I screwed it up. So I did it again.

ANOTHER PASSWORD THAT DIDN'T WORK.

I am in blogging Hell. "Hi, how are you, here's your handbasket."

Hell.

Soo cuuuute!

Pixie Potter Update:
Right now, Pixie is reading Mr. Moo's favorite book to him, Ten Little LadyBugs with no prompting from me WHAT SO EVER. I'm just quietly checking emails....errr I mean doing the dishes, in the kitchen..

The cuteness factor is huge!

Naty! Finally

Naty


Holy Flying Pigs Batman! Finally brit sits down to the sewing machine and finishes the flying pig pattern. Naty (for Cincinatti here I come!) is finished, now I can put her on my shelf of Softies to admire, and move on to my dragon plan.

Oh and all those unfinished quilts....hmmm.

This picture is for Jan @ Be*Mused because this post was so interesting to me that I had to take pictures to see if I had Mola's to.

mola

Jan? Mola? Yes or No?

Lady J and I decided we can't do Bloomsday this year, because we have school all day Saturday and Spokane is about an 8 hour drive....which would be WAY FUN do to at 6pm, to get to the run in time....but no we've decided that that was just too WILD AND CRAZY for us. So we are looking for another run in May.

And now for something completely different........

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

SIMS Update

I feel like Poop. Go ahead. Feel me. Poop.
Mr. Moo has had a cold since Monday, and I have splitting headache...It's raining and I want to go back to bed....but I have stuff to do.

On top of it all I'm depressed because I can't play SIMS. (note to the The Man, It's not that I would play SIMS instead of doing constructivethings) Just knowing that I can't play SIMS is enough to depress me.

A week ago, my stress levels hit all time high, with the Heart and Sole Run speeding toward me and The Man decided we needed a lovefest.

Not that kind of love fest Sheesh this is a family blog! And he bought me The Sims House Party expansion pact.

And it won't work, I haven't been able to get into my SIMS since I installed it and I can't figure out how to unistall it, it keeps re-installing itself.

What with this dilemna and not being able to manipulate WordPress, I am feeling like a real techno loser.

That is why I've decide that next week I'm using WordPress, no matter if it is super boring....and blue.

I will not be HELD DOWN by the smart geeks...I am not afraid to look stupid.

Obviously.

History lesson

One of the reasons I am trying to move to Wordpress (yes it's taking a long time, yes I get it, I just can make it look cool yet! Yes I'm bummed) is because I hate that on blogger you can't return comments.

For instance if someone comments, they don't have to leave their email, so I can't respond personnally to their email, which I like to do, because it seems friendly and all. Anyway in response to several emails regarding the Mad Quilters, here is a little history lesson.


Talia, Cool Kelly, Mel, brit, Ren

December 2001, Ellensburg, Wa



Once upon a time there was a girl named brit, she went to visit her college roommate (Mel), Mel was having a party, she had invited some of her sorority friends over (keep in mind that Mel was kicked out of her sorority, for reasons you are to young to hear about). Mel invited Dr. Heather (who brit knew from rowing boats down the Snake River) and Cool Kelly, who brit didn't know from Adam.

Someone, (the details are blurry, it was a long time ago! and yes I like parenthesis!) said "I wanted to make a quilt out of old t-shirts I have" and I said "I did that!" Then I proceeded to tell how I had taken a quilting class after graduation, and was now an experiencedquilter. We suggested getting together once a month for quilting ( the fact that we lived 8hours apart, didn't slow us down....we were young, and independently wealthy...oh wait no.)

So we met at my house, Dr. Heather, Mel and I and this was sometime after 1997, because that was the year I graduated from college. Specific, I know. We started out, with me showing everyone how to piece a block. We each made the same square, in our own style.

In the following terrible picture we see the results of that effort.

We were able to talk Ama



into making a fourth block, then we had a drawing, Dr. Heather won, and we had a quilt group.

My sister decided she wanted to get involved, her and a friend (Talia) pieced the block as well and joined our group. Eventually they each finished a quilt with this pattern.



Ren's blue stars on the left and Talia's mult-colored stars on the right


Soon, Cool Kelly joined us and we found ourselves driving here and there all over the state. Our husbands referred to us as the Crazy quilters, but we insisted that we were Mad Quilters instead. And it stuck.

In June of 2003 we learned that Mel was moving to Chicago (out of driving distance) and then suddenly Cool Kelly left us for career oppurtunities in Texas (again with the driving distance thing). So I created the Mad Quilter's Monthly, published once a month, usually as close to the fifteenth as our get togethers are, to keep all Mad Quilters in the loops.

The Block of the month evolved from us all doing the same block and then drawing a name to, twelve months of doing your own blocks and making a quilt. I am currently picking the BOM's from different sources (see the BOM listed on sidebar for that patterns origin.

So there are the Mad Quilters in a nutshell.....nutty nutty nutshell.

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Note to Self

Note to Self:
If you've missed a few days of another person's blog...Read it before commenting so you don't look like a dumbass...

Case in point: Christine @ A Big Pink Cookie was talking today about blurking and I read that post without reading the previous post and left a comment. (although I have since gone back , and none of my comments are there, so either she has a modifier for her comments, my computer doesn't like hers and wont' leave messages, or she hates me.

note: my comment said...don't you mean de-lurking? or some such dumbness.

Yeah. Me. Dumb.

Crossroads

I made this quilt for my Mom Mom (dad's mother ) in August of 2001, the same year I completed a quilt of the same pattern Arkansas Crossroads for my grandfather. ( I was busy that year)



I called this quilt Crossroads, after the name, I know...original. The quilt was a part of a block of the month that my guild that year, I made the blocks at the upper left hand corner and the lower left hand corener.

Anyway I've decided to keep posting pictures of quilts I've done, to help inspire me while my sewing room is still under destruction (not construction, we haven't done anything to it yet).