The Mystery Object

Here in the town I live in, Yorba Linda, we don't have snow...but we do have rain. Occasionally it does get cold enough for the rain to freeze! During this past December, I experienced such a morning. I leave every morning at 5:30am. One morning my windshield was covered with ice. I didn't know what to do. The windshield wipers were no good, so I tried to wait for the defroster to work. That took too long. I thought about using something like this...

...but figured that would be a little dangerous. Next I considered using a credit card or a spatula. No time. So I took of driving and eventually the ice began to melt and I made it to my destination safe and sound.

Later that day I put a comment on my Facebook 'wall' about the experience with ice I had had that morning. I received many comments from friends giving me suggestions about what to do next time. Later that evening, at a ladies dinner at my church, a friend (who read what I had written on Facebook) told me she had a gift for me. It looked something like this one...

Do you know what this is?

We had a good laugh about it. Later, I returned to my seat at the dinner. With a big smile on my face I showed the ladies at my table the gift I had just received. I held it up for all to see it. I expected them to laugh about it too. But their reactions surprised me. With puzzled looks they asked, "What is that?" I said, "It's an ice scraper!" One said, "Oh is that what one looks like?" I forgot that I was sitting with California natives, who had never even one!

Well, on Christmas morning, look at the gift I got from Daughter #2....Another ice scraper. But this was is fancy one! It's from Brookstone. I think my daughter gave it to me as kind of a gag gift, never thinking I would actually ever use it. Unless of course, I found ice on my windshield here in Yorba Linda again! But guess where I got to use it?

In Utah in January, when I got to visit my grandson! Here I am scraping the windshield. (Actually this picture was posed. My DH did the scraping for me while I waited in the car with the heater running! But he really did use my ice scraper!)

And this is my grandson with his mom, Daughter #1, in Utah in his new snowsuit. Poor little guy lives in the freezing snow. The snowsuit's a little big, but I'm sure he'll grow into it soon enough!

That's right, in Yorba Linda we don't have snow, but we do have rain (and ice)! Here's a cute little wallhanging I worked on a customer of mine. She did all the piecing and applique. I did the maching quilting.

She requested that I make the raindrops and umbrella really stand out. So I added a little extra batting. I call it "faux trapunto."

When she came to pick it up, she was very happy with it. I loved it too!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

Special Things

Recently I had the opportunity to machine quilt a darling dinosaur quilt. This special quilt is from a grandmother for her 3 year old grandson. It's from the Kansas City Star book, "Dinosaurs-Stomp, Chomp and Roar" by Pam Manning. I know the little boy will treasure it always.

I look forward to becoming a grandmother for the first time in Jan. Daughter #1 is due Jan. 20th and is expecting a little boy. I bought the Dinosaur book to make a quilt for my grandson someday. "When a child is born, so are grandmothers." ~Judith Levy

And here's something else that's special. It's very special to me. I see this on my front porch every time I enter my home. It's a plaque that my sister made for me while she was in Louisiana serving a church mission. It's actually made from a slate roof tile. She painted our name on it. I love it and treasure it always. This week she would have been 48, but to me she'll always be 32. That's how old she was when she left this mortal existence. I treasure these special little things that remind me of her...

Now get back to work, Vivian! This is your busy season!

Sometimes I'm In The Mood...

Sometimes I'm in the mood...

to do something different.

I actually took a little break from my machine quilting to create something. I made this little bag as kind of an experiment. I found this tutorial on this website-->P.S. I Quilt. I made it as instructed in the tutorial, but then made another one. The second one was a little larger. I want to use it to carry my scriptures for church. I also added some pockets inside for pencils, etc. (the only thing I would do differently is use a thicker batting.)

I know. I know. I went a little nuts with the quilting. On the tutorial it said, 'quilt as desired'...well this is how I 'desired' ...

I even went a little further and heatset some Austrian Swarovski crystals on it too. (from Cheri's Crystals) I know I'm a little crazy. But I like it. And if you know me...this bag is so me!

*****

Sometimes I'm in the mood...

to miss my son.

In July my son left for Auckland New Zealand where he is serving a 2-year mission for our Church. I'm so proud of him. He's such a good boy and is working hard. I must admit, though, there are times I miss him soooooooo much. Todd and I are have always been close. I call him my BabyBoy. But look at how grown up he is now:

Pictured above, he is on the right with a young man who recently got baptized. Todd is about 8,000 miles away. I know I shouldn't think of that, but I do now and then. How lucky he is to be in such a beautiful place! When he first found out he was going to New Zealand he said, "Wow! The Land of The Lord of the Rings!" Yes, that's right, they filmed all three of the Lord of the Rings movies there. Beautiful place!

Now here's bit of irony...or perhaps it's just a coincidence...

Just before Todd left he and his sisters and their husbands all went to Disneyland for the day. There they saw Sean Astin, the actor who portrayed one the of hobbits in the Lord of the Rings films. His character was named Samwise Gamgee.

He was at Disneyland that day visiting with his wife and kids. Here is my family with Sean Astin in the center. I teased my kids..."you went to Disneyland to find Mickey Mouse--instead you found a hobbit!"

Notice the matching shirts. Todd's sister made them to wear in honor of Todd. They shirts said:, "New Zealand, EWE should come. Farewell Todd!" This was one of the last times my entire family was together. They won't be together for another two years.

Now, stop missing your son so much Vivian, and get back to work!

Remember who you are!

I recently ordered these vinyl letters. I put them up myself. Well, acutally with the help of my son and hubby. I was so proud of us. My friends always pay someone to do this in their homes. But it really wasn't rocket science. Pretty easy.

This is one of those saying my kids have heard for years from their dad... Everytime they would leave to go out at night, he would remind them of that motto. I think it's a good motto to live by. And our 3 three children, all grown and gone, turned out just fine. Maybe that motto actually sank in!

Here are some pretty pictures we had done when our family was all together last month.
We had them taken at the Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Beach, by Lillie B Photography. I love them. It was the last time my entire family will be all together for the next 2 years.
When it comes to quilting, my motto would be...Remember to do a good job, or else!

I've always tried to do a good job on every quilt.

Big or small...all quilts are important to me.

I'm trying to make the world a little more beautiful...one quilt at a time.Speaking of which, I have lots of quilts to do!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

I'm Baaaaaaack!

The past few weeks I've been very busy with my family. You see, my BabyBoy is leaving July 8th to report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah to begin his training to serve a missionary in Auckland, New Zealand. He'll be in New Zealand for two years. These past few weeks we've had lots of family and friends stay with us to bid him farewell. Some nights I was fixing dinner for 20 people. Other nights it was just 8. Most nights I was calling out for pizza!

Between all of this, I have been trying to quilt...believe it or not! I have so much to share! I don't even know where to begin!

First, let me show you a small wallhanging I repaired and finished for a woman. She recently lost her mother and in her mother's belongings, this is what they found:I don't know if you've ever pieced a lone star quilt, but it is not easy. This woman's mother hand pieced this lovely wallhanging. Notice the waves in the mauve areas around. Can it be saved? Will it ever lay flat? Well, I'm no miracle worker, but this is what I did...

First I removed the mauve areas around the star. Next I pressed them and trimmed as needed. Then I pinned them into place, so they would lay flat. After re-attaching the mauve areas, I quilted it. What do you think? I think the woman's mother would be pleased.
It made me think of my own mother. She and my dad stayed with me for about a week. We enjoyed many good times together. I even interviewed them for a family history project my sister is working on. We spoke of their childhood and school memories. It was wonderful.

My mother has slowed down in the past view years and walks with a cane. Occasionally she uses a wheelchair. Her memory is not what is once was and she gets confused once in a while. But she is always smiling and that makes me happy. She seems to be in a 'happy place.' The picture below is one of my favorites. It was taken about 4 years ago. I love it because I love the way she is looking at me. I can tell she loves me.
Now, get back to quilting, Vivian! Have a great day, blogging friends!

"Leaves Changing to What?"

This was a quilt I worked on recently. It was huge and I was in a big time crunch. I did the machine quilting in one day. The quilter wanted to take it with her on a trip to work on the binding.

Don't you love this beautiful collection of batiks? The woman who pieced this said she made it from a kit. That's how I would have done it. I don't think I could have coordinated the colors so beautifully on my own! To take a picture of the quilt, I hung it over a balcony in my home. And I still couldn't get all of it in the picture!

But who do you think had to get in the shot? Yes, the Purse Dog of course!Now let's look at the leaves on this quilt. The woman who made it fused the leaves on and I embellished them for her.

I used a lovely variegated thread throughout.
Thread of choice? Signature Variegated Cotton in Tie Dye. Remember I only use the threads my longarm machine likes!

As I quilted the leaves of this quilt I was reminded of something my kids said to me when they were little. "Leaves changing to what?" I was visiting Washington DC with my sister. It was the fall of 1993. The fall season was beautiful in Washington DC. I had some free time one afternoon and told my kids on the phone, "Today, Mommy's going to drive around and take pictures of the leaves changing." They asked...

"Leaves changing to what?"

You see, my kids were raised in Orange County, California. The land of palm trees and beaches. Land of Disneyland and orange groves. (ok, there aren't many of those left anymore!) They didn't know that leaves changed color! Now my kids are all grown up. How I miss those times when they were little and asked me funny questions!

Now to change the subject a bit....

Remember the "Montana" quilt I wrote about in my last blog post? Well here it is in a local quilt show held last weekend.

Didn't win any ribbons but is sure is cute, isn't it?

And as I walked around the quilt show I stopped at this quilt and thought it looked familiar. Why?

Because I quilted it! I know this sounds awful but I quilt so many I honestly can't keep track of all of them.

Here's my name on the sign. I went, "Oh yeah, I quilted that!" More and more the quilt shows are recognizing the machine quilter. Years ago it wasn't like that at all.

I've been quilting for almost 9 years and the older I get, I'm finding it harder and harder to remember all the quilts!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

Flying High

I did the machine quilting on this beautiful birdhouse quilt recently. It was absolutely beautiful and I'm sorry I didn't take more pictures before the quilt "flew" out of my studio. There was lovely applique, embroidery and beadwork throughout.

I really tried to steer clear of all the breathtaking embroidery.

Thread of choice? Through the sashings and borders I quilted freehand curly feathers with Signature variegated "Rose Petals." I was very pleased with it. And my longarm machine loves Signature variegated!

Besides the birds in this quilts, who else is flying high? My son-in-law!

Sat. was his graduation from CalState Fullerton. He's pictured below with his proud wife...Daughter #2.

We are all so proud of him. He's such a great kid...oops, I mean young man!

Does he look happy? Thank goodness for a telephoto lens!

Sidenote: Here's some trivia for you...what university did Kevin Costner graduate from? You guessed it smarty pants! CalState Fullerton! I thought maybe he'd come back as an alumni speaker. But no, he wasn't there! Don't think I didn't keep my eyes open for him though!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

A Special Day for My BabyBoy

Last Fri. my BabyBoy received his mission call. He'll be serving a mission for our Church for 2 years. He leaves July 8th. Where do you think he's going?

Here he is getting ready to open the letter that came from Salt Lake City. He was nervous, but very excited:

Family and friends waited in suspense as he opened the envelope:

Here he is reading the letter. Where do you think he's going?

Here is a teary-eyed boy telling everyone he's been called to serve in Auckland, New Zealand! That's right! Land of the Kiwi's:

And land of Lord of the Rings! Yes, that's where they filmed the movies. I wonder if he'll meet any hobbits!Here is my BabyBoy doing a happy dance:
Here is the PurseDog and Daughter #2. They would have never guessed New Zealand!
None of us did! Here he is with some of his friends as he's making lots of phone calls to friends and family.

And here are his two proud parents. We are thrilled.
It's hard to believe. My BabyBoy will going out to serve the Lord for two years. Now there's lots to do to get ready. July 8th will be here before we know it!