Fraser Smith

Beautiful work, isn't it. But you certainly would not want to sleep under it. It might weigh anywhere from 80 to 130 pounds!! That's because it is not an actual quilt, it is a sculpture of a quilt completely carved out of wood. The detail is incredible. It is the work of artist Fraser Smith. You can see this piece and many more at his website. I encourage you to go there and take a look around. Also, check out the Frequently Asked Questions page where you can learn all about how he does it. Simply amazing. This particular piece is on permanent display at the Museum of the American Quilter's Society (AQS).

Where have I been???

Don't you just hate when Life gets in the way of all of your plans? Well that's what been up with me lately. The main thing going on in my life right now is that my dear, dear cat, Bear, has been ill. Never mind the fact that my husband and I both have colds, too. For some reason our cat has decided to stop eating and drinking. We're force feeding him thinned down food with a plastic syringe, but we can see that he is getting weak. The vet ran some tests and says his kidneys are fine and he has no fever. It is possibly because we had given him some antibiotics for a sore foot. Whatever the reason, it is an emotional drain on both my husband and myself, when we are both already under the weather and busy at work.

Anywho, on a brighter note, my quilting class started up again this week, and we have lots of people having lots of fun! Helen showed her version of the Batik quilt I taught last year and it looks WONDERFUL!! It was done in juvenile prints for her grandson, Liam. Nice job, Helen!

Lily's Daisy's

Here is a picture of a small quilt I made for my friend Lily for Christmas. We drew names this year and Lance got Lily's name and I got Lance's brother. This worked out nicely. I was able to pick some quilty things for Lily and Lance "consulted" on a gift for Steve. My BIL already has a quilt I made him a few years ago, so I wasn't on the hook for one for him this year. She kept it on her lap and didn't put it away for a while, so I think she liked it!

James Kim Auction

I'm sure that you have all heard of the story of James Kim of San Francisco. About a month ago he and his family were lost in a wilderness area of Oregon, where he died trying to save his family. There is a very nice article on him at CNET new.com. On that page there is also a link to a memorial video where they put together snippets of his show on CNET.

Currently there is an art + craft auction underway organized by his sisters to benefit his family. There are a lot of great items there including several art quilts. Stop by and take a look!

Getting Better

Well, we've all been down with one ailment or another lately. I was sick with a cold just before Christmas, then Lance came down with a worse cold right around Christmas and is still fighting it. I then developed an ear infection that left me quite irritable. And if that wasn’t enough, our dear Bear was injured a week or so ago. We're not sure if he was in a fight with another cat, or if he just hurt his paw somehow, but something definitely happened. His paw was bleeding a bit that first night, but he wouldn’t let us look at it. After a full day of sleep, he was up and about, in good spirits, but walking and running (and jumping) with only three legs. We started calling him Hop Along. He’s finally putting weight on that paw, but we are still keeping a close eye on it. He’s cleaned the paw so much that he “cleaned” the fur right off of it.

Here are a couple of pictures of him. He, like most cats, loves sleeping in paper bags. This is the first time that he fell asleep with his head outside of the bag, though.

Tonight he decided that he was going to sleep in a shoebox where I keep fabric for a project that I am working on. He tends to forget that he is not a kitten anymore…

Fortunately, we all seem to be on the mend.

One Christmas Gift Done!

Here is the quilt that I finished for my Mother-In-Law for Christmas this year. The background print has small roses, so the quilting design is in a rose pattern (detail below). It was beautifully quilted by Julie Murphy at The Laurel Leaf. She's been doing all of my quilts lately and always does a fantastic job.


CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

One more day until Christmas!!!!! Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

Heather Bailey

Heather Bailey of the blog "Hello my name is Heather" has some really great ideas for holiday decorating using fabric. She has lots of ideas for yo-yos. Yes, yo-yos. Here are a couple:

Yo-yo garland. Awesome.

The rest of her blog is great, too!

Leslie Harpold

Earlier today I had made a post about the on line Advent Calendar created by Leslie Harpold. I just found out that she passed away very suddenly a few days ago. It didn't even occur to me that the content on the calendar stopped suddenly on the 7th. I had been reading about the history of the Advent Calendar on Wikipedia, and the entry mentioned her noteworthy on line version of the calendar and remarked on her death. It was shocking to read this and I really didn't believe it, as it apparently is somewhat easy to post content on Wikipedia. I did some reasearch and found that it was indeed true. Such a shame. You will be missed, Leslie.

Hometown Holidays

Over the weekend Lance and I took my sister and nephews to our Hometown Holidays event in downtown Redwood City. We had a great time. There were all kinds of activities going on. There were craft booths, ice sculpting, music, food, Santa, and best of all -- real snow! It was trucked in and dropped into neatly cordoned off squares on Middlefield Road. The boys had a great time:

Jackson

Max

Lance and I went back later in the afternoon to watch the parade (nice and warm with a glass of wine at Savvy Cellar), the tree lighting and the fireworks.

I just love Redwood City!!

Sew Dorky

I found a website called Sew Dorky where they sell hand made felt donuts! This is awesome. Check out their site for a better view.

They also have felt teeth at their "School of Dentistry".

One down!

Here is little Shane wrapped up in the quilt I finally finished for him. (He's 11 months old now -- at least I got it done before he turned one...) Behind him is the quilt I made for his older brother Trevor when he was born (I actually got that one done in time for the shower!)

Below you can see the quilt layed out. It has a wonderfully soft Minkee backing. So incredibly soft I almost didn't want to give it up!! It is a Terry Atkinson pattern called Pinwheels and Pearls. DH Lance even helped me tie it because I was stressing so much about getting done in time for Thanksgiving. We don't see our friends Bryan and Molly very often (Shane's parents) as they live in Clovis, CA. Since we were going that way for Thanksgiving, it was the perfect opportunity to give it then. I wasn't thrilled with the colors after I started piecing it, but as usual, by the time it was finished, I was very pleased.

Now onto the 3 other baby quilts I need to get done!

Happy Thanksgiving

I DID IT!!!!

Well, as many of you know, I have been planning a surprise 40th birthday party for my dear husband, Lance. In addition, I have been planning an elaborate "treasure hunt" all around Redwood City to get him to the party. Now, it isn't easy to surprise Lance -- he's pretty astute and since we're almost always together, it was quite tough. But I was able to flush out the details during work and class and it helped that he had been working late due to his union negotiations. I'm still excited that it all worked out. Here are the details (I had to run around Saturday morning and "plant" the clues, so here's how it went when I got home):

After a light lunch, I handed him this clue, which was titled "It begins..."

He ain't heavy... but he's got your next clue.

This took him to his brother's apartment, which is also located in Redwood City. (from the song "He ain't heavy, he's my brother") His brother handed him this clue (which I had previously e-mailed to him):

Go to your favorite coffee joint and buy yourself a small mocha. Then you will find your next clue.

This took him to Perx, which is a coffee shop near our house. They have punch cards (they punch for every coffee you buy and when you fill it up you get a free one) that you can keep there in a file box. I had attached the clue to the card, so when he paid for his coffee, he pulled the card and found the clue. It read:

Find the place in RWC where you are free to read up on any subject. Your path will be clearer than The Rosicrucian Mysteries when you find your next clue.

This took him to the library, where he had to look up and find the book entitled "The Rosicrucian Mysteries". I had planted a clue inside the book in an envelope. That clue read:

GIVING A LARGE ELEPHANT ONE TINY TREAT ISN'T SMART... better make it pizza!

Hee hee!!! This one was the hardest! He was stumped on this one for a bit. He even called me on my cell phone (which I told him to do if he was stuck). He asked my where on earth he was going to find a "peanut pizza"! I told him to look at the whole clue and that I was confident he would figure it out. Here's what it means: the first letter of every word spells out GALEOTTI'S, which is one of our favorite pizza places. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that they don't open until 4:00 pm on Saturdays. I had to tape the clue to the window and hope nobody took it before he got there. Here's what that clue said:

If you are savvy enough, you will find your love carrying your next clue.

This one was easy. We've been spending a lot of time at Savvy Cellar, which is a wine bar/shop in downtown Redwood City. I could go on about how great this place is, but that's fodder for another blog post. Lance's brother, Steve, had picked me up and we were waiting for him at Savvy Cellar. Lance strolled in about 20 minutes later with a big smile on his face. We stayed there for a bit and partook of a little wine (champagne for Lance), as we excitedly told our tale to Savvy's owner, Jennifer Ayre. After strategically holding him there for the appropriate amount of time, I gave him his last clue which read as follows:

It would have been a series of small miracles if you reach your final destination.

The party, which he still didn't know about, was at our old fav, Milagros -- a short distance from Savvy. Milagros are actually Mexican folk art religious charms, but the literal translation of the word is "miracles". It took him a bit to figure this one out, but I think he worked it backwards by knowing we were going to a restaurant and thinking of the names of the nearby ones.

Oh well. It was close enough for us to walk, so we slowly ambled over there. On the way, my sister surreptitiously called me to let me know they were (mostly) all there. We arrived right on time and Lance was quite surprised to see everyone there. The lunch/dinner started at 3:00 pm, so after all was said and done, it was still an early evening.

Which was good because you know those old guys can't party all night long like they used to!

Countdown

Countdown to the big day. Can't give specifics until afterwards.

Stay tuned!!!

Monkey Sewing Machine

A monkey sewing machine.

I have no words.

I'm getting teary...