Done in a Day

I received two charm square patterns in the mail and I just had to make them.

Like right now this minute had to make them. I have a basket full of charm packs and these patterns are just too cool.

Here's what I did today after getting home from doing some major damage at Sweet Home. Take one Fig Tree Allspice Tapestry charm pack, add tone-on-tone fabric and border fabric bought at Sweet Home today, plus one helper kitty....

(That's Edgar helping measure for borders just like Pat taught us)

And voila,

(the blue painters tape really makes this quilt doesn't it?)

Love this quilt!!! I think I'll make another one sometime soon.

Busted!!!

I decided to go to Sweet Home Quilt Co. today since Melisa was having a sale on her sale fabrics. (I don't know about you, but when I read sale twice in one sentence, I'm there!). I pulled in the parking lot and who did I park next to? Becky. She asked a bunch of us to go with her to Melisa's on Memorial Day and I said I couldn't go because I am saving $$ for my vacation, too much fabric, yada yada. Well I walk in the door and Becky and Kristie yell "Busted!!!!!" Don't you just love your quilt buddies!!!

Yes I was busted. Might as well make the best of it. So I bought a few things...

just a few...(I know my eagle-eyed friend Debbie can tell how full this bag is). If you think I'm showing the contents of this bag, you're crazy. I did pick up backing for my OC quilt from the sale room.

Just for the record, Becky finished not one but TWO bolts of fabrics.

Wrens of Distinction

A pair of house wrens built a nest in my Craftsman-style lantern hanging on the porch. If you look close, you can see that the birds filled the lantern with sticks for a nest.
Here is a photo of a house wren from Cornell's ornithology website:
I don't have a candle in the lantern; I just use it for decoration. It's fun watching the parent birds busy flying back and forth bringing food for the two babies. For tiny birds, they are really loud too but have a pretty song.

Do you think growing up in a Craftsman-style lantern will later influence the birds and they will have an appreciation for Frank Lloyd Wright, William Morris, and Gustav Stickley furniture?

I'm not sure how the baby birds are going to get out of the nest since the only way in is through a small hole at the top. Hope the parents thought this through.

Holiday Weekend

I have not been as productive as I thought I would be this holiday weekend. Saturday, I did make this pursestart to finish for my new summer bag. I bought the kit last year (?) from one of my favorite quilt shops in Michigan, Mabelena's (unfortunately they don't have a website). It's from the pattern "Everyday Bag" by My Favorite Things. Another UFO done!

The weather has been beautiful here in GA this weekend and I did spend some time in the yard checking out the drought-survivors. This oak leaf hydrangea is my favorite plant in the yard(don't tell the others!).

I just love the deep green leaves, the creamy white flowers, and in the winter it has a wonderful twisty shape and shows off its peeling bark.

Yesterday, I worked all day at SBux and did my weekly shopping at Whole Foods. Instead of grilling this weekend, I bought a mess of wild-caught, fresh shrimp (on sale!) and some veggies and lots of fruit.

This shrimp is the best! Boiled quickly in Old Bay seasoning YUM!

Morpheus and I chilled out for a couple of hours reading the Sunday NY Times

Throw in a couple of naps and that's about the extent of things around here. Things I did not get done: get caught up on the OC Mystery Quilt, make it to any of the LQS's Memorial Day sales, and housework chores.

Has Anyone Seen My Staff?

This is a week that I am just overwhelmed with stuff to do in work, home, life, etc. I wish I had a personal assistant or five to help me get everything done.

Edgar Poe is always ready to help out, but unfortunately he doesn't know how to drive to run errands or how to do dishes or laundry. (He does know how to be cute though doesn't he?)

Faced with overwhelming things to do, I did what my cats would do, took a long nap after work and now I better get busy. Apparently my staff didn't materialize while I was sleeping.

Is it Friday yet?

Ugh! This has been a long week already. Not that Friday means much when you work during the weekend too but I still look forward to it, especially with Monday off from the day job. Tuesday was a crazy day since I had to drive 3 1/2 hours to east central nowhere to give a presentation at 7 PM, barely in front of a huge rainstorm, which turned into tornado warning weather (picture lightning every 2 seconds and blinding rain and no radio station to tell me if I was about to be carried away in the dark a la the movie "Twister")
by the time I had to drive 3 1/2 hours back to the ATL. (I did not take this picture. I had both hands on the wheel trust me!). Survived the drive and got home at 11:30 PM. Whew! Time to turn around and work again and work at Starbucks and here I am.

I was tagged earlier by Mary and Becky so here's my answers.

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.Okay, seems easy. Here goes:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Not paying $3.79 for a gallon of gasoline!!!!! I was married at the time (divorced in 2002), living in a small apartment in suburban hell, waiting to hear if I got the job I currently have now. I was positive I was not going to get the job since I was competing against 3 of my fellow grad students. But I did get the job and am still there 9 years and 11 1/2 months later.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
Do laundry, do dishes, start and hopefully finish sewing a bag, finish reading a library book, work on some wool applique while catching up on TiVo'ed Martha Stewart shows.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
popcorn (not microwaved because I don't own a microwave), anything chocolate, Annie's organic cheddar bunnies, dried fruit & nuts trail mix from Whole Foods

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Quit both jobs so I could travel (here are so many places I want to see) and have time to do volunteer work to keep me busy, move to the West Coast, donate money to my favorite environmental and humane society charities, pay off my student loans, live modestly but well, and buy a Tesla

5. Peeps I want to know more about: as usual, everyone's been tagged already. If you haven't answered these questions then consider yourself tagged :)

Sometimes a phone call is all it takes...

...to get out of the doldrums. Thanks to my friend Becky who called me this morning just to chat and although she didn't know it (until now), she really brightened my mood. As I posted earlier this week, I've had a case of the blahs. I couldn't sleep last night at all and was up until 3-something AM dwelling on all those bothersome things one dwells on in the middle of the night and reading (and finishing) this book

I shouldn't have been dwelling on anything because in the light of day, I am OK but who is rational at 3 in the morning?

So thank you Becky for calling and chatting about quilting and vacations and whatnot. I needed that call.

PS: I highly recommend this book. It is a wonderful and thoughtful book. I read it in two days. You find it at your local Starbucks as well as the usual places.