Quilts!

I saw a banner hanging across the road that was announcing the local Quilt Guild annual quilt show. And it was this weekend.  So I went!

I was so excited by the cover photo on their website showing the quilt they are raffling off.  Check this out:

Now tell me you wouldn't want to win that beauty.  Gorgeous.  So much applique and gorgeous quilting.  It was perfection.

They gave me a program with a little ballot to fill in with the number of the quilt that I think deserves to win the Best In Show prize.  And I wandered and wandered through the area with all the quilts up for the award.  My God in heaven, there must have been close to 1,000 quilts of all sizes, shapes, colors, etc.  I was about halfway through when I saw people taking pictures.  So I started taking some photos of some of these exquisite works of art.  Here you go!  Enjoy!


Look at that!  Wizard, space and extraordinary color squares!  Just gorgeous.

And would you look at this!  It looks exactly like those crocheted hot pad things I make with the metal bottle caps!

Here's a close up view of the little hexagons and the quilting.

Look at the quilted Aztec calendar!!

Good Lord, will you look at those colors!  Just spectacular.

The ABCs of winter in quilt form.  Could you just die from the sweetness?

This one is like the drawing that goes from fishes to flying ducks above.  Very clever.

Would you just look at the quilting on this beauty?

This sunflower quilt was about as big as a wall.  HUGE!  And vibrant and beautiful.

The next couple of quilts are from 1930.  Depression era creativity.

This thing was so 3D that I had to walk up to it and walk away and keep looking at it to see that the flowers were appliqued on a thin piece of netting overlayed on the quilt and it truly was 3 dimensional.  Just breath-taking.

Can you even believe the loveliness here?  I couldn't.  It was like looking at a Tiffany glass window.

This quilt was HUGE.  Just HUGE.  And those squares were about 1/2 inch square. Teensy tiny little things.  I would have gone blind just trying to cut so many different fabrics that size.  Amazing.

This is the 12 Days of Christmas.  Just beautiful.

And which one did I choose for my personal pick of the Best in Show?  This one.  Although they were all winners in my book.

This is the tag that accompanied my choice for the winner.  SIX YEARS TO COMPLETE !!!  Can you stand it?  6200 pieces of fabric all hand sewn.

Right now I am eagerly sitting by my phone waiting for them to call and say I have won the raffle quilt.  I think I might just quit holding my breath.  : )

But it was a lovely afternoon seeing all these amazing works of art.  Can you even imagine how many millions of hours of work went in to them?  I am just gobsmacked.  

I can only aspire to doing work this good.  My quilts so far are much more utilitarian looking and not so museum-quality.

How about you?  Do you love the quilts?

Oh!  And I was good.  There were strict rules about not touching any of the quilts.  And I didn't.  I was very careful to not touch even though there were a few that were begging to be caressed.  Like the one made from teeny little marquis diamond shapes cut from 100% silk ties (men's neck ties) and had a burgundy wine colored silk velvet backing.  Oh my God!!!  It was amazing.  I don't have a photo of it because I had to hurry and back away before I wrapped myself in it's luxuriousness.

An afternoon well spent, wouldn't you say?

If Wishes were Horses . . .

You know those thoughts of "oh, if I had all the time in the world I would learn this, or that"?  Remember when you were little and every day there would be a new "when I grow up I want to be a pilot, astronaut, archaeologist, princess"?

Well, when you are on the back side of 50 those thoughts come back to you.  You have much less time left to achieve any of those dreams.  Sad to say it, but it's the truth.  If you want to be a librarian you best get to figuring out the qualifications and getting to it.

I have a list of dreams that I would think of but only in the abstract, never in the real life.  And in no particular order, here we go!

Archaeologist

Psychologist

Writer/Storyteller

Midwife

Chef

Owner of a cozy book store

Librarian

Artist (not necessarily a painter, but something artistic)

Healer

And what have I achieved in my life?  I never did become an archaeologist, or a psychologist, or write any books.

But I am a massage therapist and I have read, studied and learned to heal and treat with herbs, oils and natural remedies.  I am a birth and postpartum doula and I am good at it.

I am a pretty damn good cook and am an adventurous person in the kitchen.

I would never claim to be an artist or an author, but I am creative.  And I have spent many years making things, learning needlepoint, cross stitch, embroidery, sewing, crochet, knitting, and quilting. I took a class one time on making Battenburg lace.

I am a nurturer and hope to be blessed to be a grandparent one day.

And the things I wish?  I still wish I could write.  I would love to write stories, poems and straight-to-the-point diatribes on what's wrong with the world.  Because I am opinionated.

I still wish I knew what it takes to be an archaeologist.  I think it could still be in the realm of the possible.

But no way I am going to get to have a cozy book store like the one in 84 Charing Cross Road.  Barnes & Noble killed off most of the fabulous little book stores and then Amazon gutted what was left.

Any wishes you have?  Any dreams that you haven't reached for yet?

Seriously Random Thoughts

This is something I have thought for a while but haven't really shared with other people.  Have you ever looked at your pets in the mirror?  My cats love to jump up on the sink and drink water from the slowly dripping, trickling faucet so I have looked at them in the mirror on many occasions and I am struck by the way they look different to me when I look at them straight on or at their reflection.

And that led me to thinking about how we mostly see ourselves in a mirror 90% of the time and maybe the other 10% is in photographs.  Which is the real self?  The backwards reflection?  Or the photographed image?

And is this why people always say they hate photos of themselves?  Because our perception of what we should look like is just enough changed from what we see on a daily basis?

This is what happens when you are sick for too long and have way too much time on your hands so you ponder weird shit like this.

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A few years back I posted loads of pictures of all the different kinds of candy corn at the Walgreen's. This year, had I taken pictures of all the new candy corns you would be looking at about 5 more new flavors.  Now, why on earth do we need any new types of candy corn?  I like regular candy corn and see no reason to add Caramel Macchiato or Pumpkin Spice or S'more flavoring to it.  Those things are never going to taste as good as you think they will.  I promise to take some pics of the damn candy corn aisle next time I am over there.

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If I had had any idea back at the first part of April when I got sick and started coughing that damn near SIX MONTHS LATER I would still be sick the smart thing to do would have been to buy Walgreen's stock.  It's a good thing I didn't have any idea that this thing would hang in here this long because it is just too ridiculous for words.  My next move is to find a good allergist and get some extensive testing done.  The fall allergy season is upon us and I am not at all ready to take it on.

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Usually by now I have my Christmas list made and worked out what gifts I will be making and made good headway on having a bunch of them done.  And you would think with all the time I have spent at home doing nothing I could have achieved that and even finished most of them by now.  And yet, no.  I am blaming my lack of energy and stamina on the 93% oxygen saturation that I was at for all summer long and just being exhausted by the never-ending coughing.  So the truth is that I have done next to nothing and really have no clue about the Christmas list and gifting.  That's sad for me to admit.

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I was really looking forward to The Bastard Executioner, the new show by Kurt Sutter who did the Sons of Anarchy.  It premiered last night and was a big 2 hour extravaganza.  It took me damn near the first hour to get involved in it and figure out who was who.  I can't really tell how it will go yet.  There was a LOT of set up of time, place, characters, conflict, etc.  It is very reminiscent of The Vikings.

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Just so you know, I am done D U N with talking about my health and being sick this year.  It is boring and a pain in my ass and I am quite sure no one else wants to hear this crap either.  So rest assured, if you come back here to read again, there will be no more of the sick talk.

I am also done with using the cute little spacers between my random thoughts.  I thought it was a good idea, but now I don't think so.

Hope you are having a really good day in your part of the world.  Let me hear from you on the mirror vs photograph idea.

Dancing with the B List Celebrities

Let's face it, they use the term Dancing with the "Stars" rather loosely, don't they?  Did you see last night's new kickoff to the season?

There was no Len.  I am sorry, but I love Len.  He is the grumpy dad who keeps everyone else in line and at least the slightest hint that this is about talent and improvement and not just a popularity show. I am skeptical about how this season will go without him.

But there was a Gary Busey.  Holy cow!  You just know that people are going to vote to keep him around a while for the sheer entertainment value of watching a train wreck in slow motion.  His poor dance partner.  Lawzy, do I feel bad for her.

And speaking of oh-my-god-what-were-they-thinking casting, did you see Paula Deen?  Good lord. She was awful.  She also managed to be disgusting by shoving her partner's face into her bosom several times, belching loudly and talking about how her white undies were no longer white.  Now who wanted that mental image?  And who can't get rid of that image?

The ones who shone and looked like they were enjoying themselves were Crocodile Hunter Daughter Bindi Irwin and Nick Carter of BSB fame.

And for some reason they have a married couple on and had them compete back to back and wait to get their scores at the same time.  We get it.  It's a competition.  We get it.  They are married and won't it be great fun to watch the sparks fly while the producers create drama and friction between the duo.  I just don't think it's going to be as much fun as the DWTS people think it will.

Did you watch?  Do you care about this competition any more?

Random Musings

The Random Musings posts are the easiest for me because this is how my brain works, popping from one thought to the next with no regard for connectivity.  Here goes!!

Last night I was in bed getting ready to fall asleep  play games on my Kindle and Mr. Big Ed was already fast asleep as he goes to bed about 4 hours ahead of me.  When all the sudden he started jerking, moving and making sounds (reminds of me how a dog barks and runs in their sleep) and then he kicked me!  He KICKED me!!  AND DID IT AGAIN!  I started trying to wake him up and said "Hey, you are kicking me!" And in his dream fog he replied back "Yeah, I know. I was trying to kick the zombies".

Huh?  Zombies?

That was quite the unexpected end to my day!  Can't wait to talk to him about this over dinner and see if he remembers any of it.

A few days ago it was one of my sister's birthday.  She was turning the Big 5-0.  I did that just a few years ago my own self and wanted to come up with something fun to mark the occasion for her.  So I turned to my friend Google, and speaking of Google let me say this:  I do NOT like the new Google logo thing.  But back to the Googling adventure.  I asked Google about what products were put on the market the same year that she was born, 1965 and got a nice long list of really fun things.  Then I set about trying to find some of them.

Here's what I got:

The Sound of Music - they had a 50th anniversary edition available

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella - similar 50th anniversary edition

Mattel's See n Say, the Farmer says - This was a reproduction and it was the very first toy she was ever given as a Christmas gift so I was really happy to find one.

Operation Game - vintage with all the parts, money, even the original rubber band.

Mystery Date - reproduction of the original.

Spirograph - Be still my heart!  I loved the Spirograph so much!!!  This is an original one with everything still in the box minus the green pen.

Barrel O Monkeys - old, vintage, original.  Cute!

Spaghetti-Os - brand new can

Honeycomb Cereal - of course, new.

I found really fun brightly colored striped and polka-dotted giftwrap papers and wrapped them and set them out in a big pile in my family room because she happened to be in town this weekend.  She and her friend and friend's son all came over for dinner last night and I had her open them and try to figure out the connection between all these things.  I think the "50th Anniversary edition" on the damn DVDs gave it away but it was still lots of fun and I hope she likes them.

AND we broke out the Mystery Date game and played.  That was lots of fun.  We had dinner and I made a birthday cake which we were all too full to really enjoy.

This is the week leading up to the premiere of the new season of Doctor Who.  The 52nd season as a matter of fact.  And months ago they announced that there would be a showing of the first episode for this season in the movie theaters.  They did this last year and I got tickets and we all went dressed in our best Doctor Who outfits.  So the minute I saw this was happening again this year I snagged 2 tickets.  I have been beside myself about this ever since!

Until last week when I watched the trailer about the theater showing and see that it is actually going to be THE LAST EPISODE FROM LAST SEASON with a "special preview" of the upcoming episode.  WTF??

Are they kidding me?  What complete ass whistles.  That was a really crappy thing to do.  And guess what?  The new season starts this coming Saturday.  And this coming Saturday I will be at my mama's house at a family birthday party for my sister.  The one who was here.

Well, sonofabitch.  Now, not only do I NOT get to see the episode beforehand in the theater in 3D, but I also don't get to watch it on Saturday with the rest of the world.  I will get to watch it off the DVR much later then everyone else. Goddammit.

In other news, fall is shaping up to be absolutely gorgeous around here.  The sky is such a beautiful shade of blue, the birds and other critters seem quite happy.  And I have started decorating for fall/Halloween/Days of the Dead.  By decorating I mean I have hung Days of the Dead wreaths on my front doors and put out a package of Pumpkin Spice Kisses and some Halloween flavored Peeps. But it's a start!

Hope your fall or spring depending on your hemisphere is shaping up nicely!

Recycling, Downsizing and Letting go

Remember the other day when I showed you the KonMari book?

I am trying to implement this in my life.  If you know me in real life you may be picking your teeth up and putting them back in your mouth.  I KNOW!!!  I am a packrat.  I love stuff.  I have accumulated loads of stuff.  I have collections of stuff.  Let's face it, I am on my way to being a hoarder.

So I am trying my best to embrace the more minimalist side of myself.  The part of me that sees all the stuff as things that weigh me down, that keep me from being the best I can because I am too busy dusting, arranging and finding homes for all my important stuff.  It is hard to completely change your mindset, especially when you spent years of your life accumulating.  I did recognize years ago that I had a lot of things and made a hard and fast rule that any time I saw something I wanted I had to stop and think of a similar object in my house that I was willing to let go of, be it sweaters or shoes or whatever.  Note:  this rule has never applied to books.  Books are sacred and as such, limitless in the number you can own.

I let things go all the time.  And yet, the clutter persists.  So I am reading and re-reading the KonMari book up there and falling more in love with the idea of having fewer beloved items that now have air around them, that aren't crammed into a large collection so that this item of beauty can shine all on its own.

And you know what is really strange?  Along with minimizing my stuff I am also changing my style of furnishings and things that I want to inhabit my space.  I have always been in the Bohemian camp with loads of competing patterns, fabrics, textures, over-stuffed big comfy furniture and the like.  Nowadays, my taste is running more towards mid-century modern, Danish 1960s looking things and craftsman/arts & crafts.  Where the hell did THIS come from??

I have very slowly over the last 15 years come around to the Small House Movement way of thinking.  I love the idea of making great use of the space you have and not building, heating, cooling and walking through long hallways of unusable space.

That's me right now; recycling things that need to go to someone else, downsizing the amount of treasures I want to keep and letting go of all the things that no longer serve me and no longer spark joy in my life.

Holler at me if you need something, I just might have a collection of said item that I would love to gift you.

Update on the new eyeglasses and a few other things

Did you look at the pretty frames I posted the other day?  Well, I got in to see my eye doctor and the new and improved lenses will be ready to go soon.  However, one of the new frames did not work for me.  Yes, it is sad to say that the Frida Kahlo frames will not be mine.  They did NOT look good on me.  My daughter is coming to visit and I will offer them to her if she wants them and if they look good on her face.  If not?  Well, I will either offer them up to someone else or ask the seller if I can return them.  They are lovely and need to be worn.

Other random thoughts running through my head:

1. When you have little kids and you can't go to the bathroom by yourself, they eventually outgrow that nonsense and give you some space.  When you have cats?  Not so much.  This morning I had 2 in there with me and one at the door.  They are like little 2 year olds with OCD.

2. I am still sick.  I believe I am on the mend, but I am still sick.  And every time I go to a doctor they all ask "Are you depressed?"  Well, let me think.  I have been sick since April 1 and before that I had sciatica and couldn't walk and before that was the frozen shoulder.  What do you think?

3. I know summer is the worst time to try and watch anything on t.v. because it's usually a wasteland of crap and reruns.  In case you haven't seen any of these great summer shows, here are a few I highly recommend:  The Jim Gaffigan Show.  It's on Nickelodeon or TVLand.  Also the FX channel has 2 great new shows, Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll starring Denis Leary and John Corbett, and also one called Married.  These are outstanding t.v. Look for them.  The upcoming fall season is going to include The Bastard Executioner whick I am really looking forward to and what appears to be the final season of The League.

4. I am still doing the mostly all meat-free, dairy-free and gluten-free.  I say mostly because I have eaten a bit of meat here and there.  Maybe once a week.  But no dairy and almost no gluten.  I went to an Indian restaurant and of course I had a small naan and one of the golub jammun for dessert.  The naan was totally worth it and the golub jammun was not.  It was not as good as I am used to and was a total waste of calories and gluten.  So far, I am still with the sinus congestion and still coughing.  I have lost 1 pants size so there's that!

5. I am almost completely off the caffeine, too.  I dropped my black teas months ago and drink a cup of green tea in the morning and then switch to red tea (rooibos) and herbal teas after that.  AND NO SUGAR!!!

6. I have been starting the Kon-Mari method of tidying up and decluttering my life.  I love her philosophy.  Here's the book in case you haven't seen it yet.

And that picture is almost life-size.  The book is tiny.  Everything in your life, your house, etc. should spark joy and bring happiness and be useful.  If not, thank it, and release it.

Have a great long Labor Day weekend!

Cool Stuff in the Mail

Y'all, I am beside myself!  Do you remember a few years ago I was looking online at cute eyeglasses frames?  Well, I chickened out on trying to order them online because I was afraid if I didn't like them or they didn't fit well I would be stuck.

But after living with the crappy frames I picked out last year I am ready to take the plunge and try out something else.  So I got on Etsy and of course, I found some outstanding frames available!

There was one seller in particular that I seemed especially drawn to his items, so I bit the bullet and ordered.  They are made in Israel and if the return address on the box can be believed they are from a Kibbutz.

Let me show you the pictures of these beauties!

First up is each of the cases with the card of the artist making them.

Here is pair #1 They are blue cat eyes and have little flowery things at the temples.  Cute!!!

And these are called the Frida Kahlos.  Note the black unibrow-shaped top. Lots of vibrant red, pinks and pretty flowers.

Now, didn't I tell you the truth?  Aren't they the cutest?  And guess what?

THEY FIT!!!!

First thing in the morning I am calling my eye doctor to schedule my annual check-up to get lenses put in these beauties.  Then I can promptly donate the glasses I have now to the Lions Club.

I promise to post some pictures of me sporting these new pretty glasses as soon as I can.