The Cast Of My Life: Silly Nonsense

Since it's the weekend and I have tons of quilts to do and should be out enjoying the beautiful southern California winter weather...I'm taking a break and going out and running a few laps. No, instead I'm choosing to sit down at my computer and make this silly blog post for you.

In honor of Oscar weekend!

The Cast of The Life of Vivian Love

Starring...

Susan St. James as Vivian Love

If it were a film about a young Vivian Love, a young Susan St. James would be perfect for the role...BTW when I was young and McMillan and Wife was a popular show, my friends used to tell me I looked like her!

Or if it were a film about an older Vivian Love, Susan St. James could still have the role. Look how great she looks above. That was last year when she got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Robert Redford as Vivian's Darling Hubby

We would hire Robert Redford in his young, beautiful years or...

Or in his older I'm-wrinkled-because-I've-had-a-great-life version too! We'll take him either way!

A young Dakota Fanning as Daughter #1

because of her cute personality or...

Tyra Banks as Daughter #1.

because of those eyes!

Samwise Gamgee as Daughter #1's Sweetheart.

Or Kevin James as Daughter #1's Sweetheart.

We'd make sure to hire him because Daughter #1's Sweetheart is a big fan of Kevin James!

JamieLynn Spears as Daughter #2.

Seriously, she was mistaken for her once!

Or Victoria Beckham,

if she's available and her salary fits into our budget,

and because Daughter #2 loves her!

(I think Daughter #2 would rather have VB!)

Shia Lebouf as a younger version of Daughter #2's Sweetheart.

Or Keanu Reeves.

We would be happy with either one! Thomas Sangster at my BabyBoy.

(he's the cute little boy in Love Actually.)

or Ashton Kutcher as a current-day BabyBoy.
We would be happy to give the role to either one!

The Cute Dog in As Good As It Gets as The Purse Dog.

Or Snoopy
because The Purse Dog sleeps most of the day, too!

Ok, break time is over! Get back to work, Vivian!

Have a great Oscar weekend, blooging friends...oops, I mean blogging friends!

Blue.

Blue quilt.I love this quilt.

It reminds me of antique blue willow china.
This is my friend Lisa's blue kaleidoscope quilt.

I tried to quilt it so you could still see the cool effect.

Blue sky.

Ok, it's blue and cloudy. I took this picture Monday morning at 7am. We had a rare day of showers and hot temps around here. I was standing on my front lawn and this was how the sky looked above the homes across the street.

If you look closely in the picture below, this was not only a full rainbow, but a double rainbow too.

Blue eyes.

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Paul Newman this past week. I have been impressed with the many tributes that have been written about him. What a classy individual he was. I loved reading this from his obituary: Just one week before his passing, "Newman sat with his daughter in the arbor of the garden at his Westport home, breathed in all the late summer beauty and said very quietly, "It's been a privilege to be here."

Martha Stewart had a lovely photo tribute to him. Go check it out here: The Martha Blog and see photo #10. It's my favorite of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. He once said he had no reason to roam..."I have steak at home. Why should I go out for hamburger."

Blue Weekend.

I'm going to my high school class reunion this weekend. Which one? I'm not going to say. Let's just say Jimmy Carter was president and Grease and Saturday Night Fever were at the theaters when I graduated.

That would make anyone feel blue...and old!

Stuff You Gotta Do!

Enter your pet in the "Picture Perfect Pet Contest" sponsored by WeTv and Febreze. Do it before Oct. 27! Of course I submitted a picture of The Purse Dog. I told her to win me $5000 and she said she would do her best. Click here for details: Picture Perfect Contest

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And starting tomorrow, Mon. 9/22 at 9am PDT a random drawing begins to get red carpet bleacher seats for the upcoming Oscars (Feb. 2009). Drawing ends Sun. 9/28. Click here for details: Oscars.org. Of course I would rather be walking on the red carpet, but I'll just have to settle for the bleachers. I've heard it's really fun though!

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Here's a little 'celebrity sighting' story for you. I think I'll call it "Vivian's Always Been A Little Crazy...even in the 70's!"

I remember a time I snuck onto the set of show to see Shaun Cassidy. Remember him? It was 1978. I was a senior in high school. "The Hardy Boys" was being filmed at "Lion Country Safari" in Laguna Canyon in Orange County. The episode was supposed to be the Hardy Boys (Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson) going to Africa to solve a crime, of course! Isn't that what they did on every episode? I suppose it was cheaper for the production company to go down to Orange County than it was to really go to Africa. One of my friend's brothers worked at Lion Country Safari and told us they would be filming there. (Lion Country Safari no longer exists here in Orange County, but it was a theme park where you could drive your car amongst lions and giraffes, hippos, etc. They had a sign outside the park that said "No Trespassing: Violators Will Be Eaten!") In 1978 I was deeply in love with Shaun Cassidy, so I was going to do whatever it took to get up close and personal to him. There were three of us girls trying to sneak in to see Shaun Cassidy that day. My friend drove her Datsun 710 and two of us squished into the trunk. I remember being in that trunk, my face smashed against the lid and thinking, "all this just to see Shaun Cassidy?" Well we got in! Luckily in those days security didn't check the trunk like they do in lots of places nowadays. We drove around a bit and found our friend's brother. He let us hang out with him and we got to meet the crew and other actors on the set. It was a fun day.

Now I wish I could tell you that we met Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson. We only saw them from a distance. They weren't huge stars, but they were kept pretty guarded. They hung out in their trailers most of the day. One of the crew got us their autographs. Perhaps the crew warned them that there were these 3 crazy girls hanging out on the set and it was safer for them to stay in their trailers! Perhaps they thought we were more dangerous than the lions and tigers at Lion Country Safari! Oh well, it was worth it to us. We got to see them in person, get their autographs and we had a fun story to go home and tell to our friends.

Now I'm a little too old to be hiding in the trunk of a car just to see celebrities. I hope I get to sit in the bleachers next year at the Oscars though! Wish me luck!

Now, stop reminiscing Vivian! ...get back to quilting!

Dr. Jones! Dr. Jones!

I have been so busy quilting I realized that I've missed seeing all the popular movies this summer. I never saw the new Indiana Jones movie, Iron Man, The Dark Knight...not even Mama Mia!

Speaking of Indiana Jones..many years ago I was at Sony Pictures studios with some friends. We took a little tour of a set being used for some scenes of the movie, "What Lies Beneath." Harrison Ford just walked over to his trailer for a break. I walked right next to his trailer and a window was open. I knew gorgeous Harrison Ford was right in there and I could yell something in the window and he would hear me! I couldn't think of anything to say. I could have said, "Hey, Han Solo" or "Hey, Mr. Ford, I'm your #1 Fan!" but what did I say? All I could think of was, "Dr. Jones, Dr. Jones!" Isn't that silly? What would you have said?

Speaking of movies...would you like to give your input to an aspiring screenwriter? Daughter #2 is taking a college class and would like your input. She needs to submit a new script. Go visit her blog and help her out with some ideas. Click here: Daughter #2.

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Next post I promise I'll share some quilt pictures, but I wanted you to see these beautiful textiles my BabyBoy brought back from Peru. All woven or embroidered. Amazing.

Happy Birthday Martha, I'm Trying To Be "A Good Thing" Too!

Today is Martha Stewart's 67th birthday. Happy Birthday Martha!

I thought of the day I met her many years ago. I wrote about it on my blog last year, but today I think it's ok to repeat some of it:

"Many years ago, I got to meet Martha Stewart at a book signing event at the South Coast Plaza, not far from my home. I took my daughters with me. They were so little then. Anyway, as we waited in the long line, anxiously hoping to meet Martha, Daughter #1 was standing in the path where Martha was to come through. Suddenly Martha and her entourage came through and Martha had to ask my daughter to move. She put her hand on her shoulder and said, "Excuse me, dear." My little girl looked up and saw Martha face to face and said she wanted to scream.

When my daughter returned to the line where I was, she was so excited to tell me what had just happened. Two rather 'flamboyant' interior decorators, who were in line behind us, heard the whole story, screamed and said my daughter should never wash her shoulder again! Now those guys were taking it a bit too far! We were fans, not psychopaths! LOL"

Here are my daughters pictured below on the day we met Martha Stewart. They are riding the carousel at the South Coast Plaza.

I had Martha sign a copy of her Gardening book, a huge coffee-table-sized book full of information on gardening and packed full of beautiful photographs of her gardens. Martha wrote, "Happy Birthday, Vivian." It really wasn't my birthday, but in order to justify the cost of a $50 book, I told my husband it was an 'early birthday gift.' I think my birthday was about 6 months away!

This past week I thought of Martha as I was getting up earlier and earlier in order to get things done. And I was going to bed later and later each night. Pretty soon, I was running on 4-5 hours of sleep...just like Martha Stewart! I don't know how she does it. Today it caught up with me and I have trying to make my Sabbath day a Day of Rest!

I continue to be a big fan of Martha Stewart and am currently listening on my iPod to an audio-version of her book, The Martha Rules. I'm enjoying it very much.

So why have I been so busy? One day I drove about an hour away to a longarm machine quilter's studio in her home to teach her my freemotion techniques. It went very well. The next day I worked all day long at a local quilt show, here in Yorba Linda. And I worked on lots of quilts...of course. Seems like the last quilts I've done are all kids quilts. Take a look at some of them. Below is a printed panel of fabric, surrounded by some cute borders. That's it. So simple and cute:
As you can see, I attached my customer's prepared binding for her. She can do the hand-stitching part. She says she enjoys doing it. Not me!
And check out this darling cowboy quilt. I put a nice simple star in each block. The thread was Perma Core's "Dyed Natural." And in other parts of the quilt I used a beautiful primary-colors spool of King Tut thread.
Here's another simple little quilt:

I did freehand swirls throughout.
Just a couple of simple borders and it's simple and cute!
Believe it or not, I used the same spool of King Tut thread on this one as I used on the one previously.
And here are more for your viewing enjoyment!

Aren't these soccer girls darling?
One version in blues and the other in pinks.
I just did simple freehand loops and hearts throughout.
Wow! Still more? Yes, it's another cowboy quilt.

Simple patchwork with random squares of this lovely flannel fabric. I did a "continuous curve" technique, sometimes known as the "Terry Twist." I think it gives the quilt some movement.
And check out the backing fabric. It was a beautiful Michael Miller fabric.
And lastly, a darling daisy and ladybug quilt.

Aren't these applique daisies cute?
The ladybugs were embellished with tiny little buttons. I had to be careful quilting around them with my longarm.
My friend Suzanne, who pieced most of the quilts I just shared with you, is an awesome quilter! Don't you agree?

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Have a good rest-of-the-weekend! And if you can, have Martha call me so I can wish her a proper Happy Birthday wish from me to her!