Cute Story, Cute Quilts, Cute Movie

"Jesus went to Georgia!" That's what a little boy in our Primary organization at church said. We were learning a song called "Jesus entered Jordan's waters..." and he told his mom at home he wanted to sing "Jesus went to Georgia." She looked at him with a surprised look. Then she said, "Why don't you sing it me." So he sang "Jesus went to Georgia's water." Maybe Jesus did go to Georgia...they just didn't write about it in the scriptures!

I've been quilting like a mad-woman these past few weeks. I am leaving early Sat. morning for 6 days in Utah with a youth group. We're going to the University of Utah and staying at the Olympic village. Don't get me wrong. I am looking forward to it, but I have so many quilts waiting for me to get done here at home! My quilting customers have been busy piecing away. I'm even working on Halloween quilts for them. Talk about planning ahead!

Well, I had to take a break to share some pictures with you of some cute quilts I've been working on.

I love this one because of the simple piecing design.

So much fun to quilt!

And check out the backing! Isn't it lovely?

Here's another one done in a simple piecing design.

I did a fun feather in the border.

I do this all freehand and it's my favorite to do! I could do it for hours and hours! No kidding.

And my thread of choice on this one? Well, being that it's a pink & brown quilt I chose a lovely variegated thread from Superior Threads, Lava, "Choco Cherry." It was perfect for this quilt. My longarm loves Lava Thread!

And if anyone knows how I quilt, I like to have a movie in the DVD player as I work. Now, it must be a movie that doesn't require a lot of concentration. It needs to be a movie that I can quilt, look up now and then, and then get back to quilting. So today I had "Just Friends" in the DVD player. I've seen that movie a million times and I recommend it to you for one reason, at that would be just to watch the actress, Anna Faris. She is hillarious as the character Samantha James. Go rent it sometime and have a good laugh! (oh, and also Ryan Reynolds is pretty easy on the eyes!)

Now I must get back to work. Hopefully I'll post some more pics before I take off!

It Hurt My Eyes!

Today my eyes hurt because of post-Halloween-party-lack-of-sleep. Is that really a condition? I think so! Daughter #2 had a Halloween party last night. When these events take place here at our house we try and sleep, but it doesn't always happen. So thank goodness for Visine. Remember it 'gets the red out.'

Here was another time my eyes hurt. Years ago Daughter #2, my DH, and I worked on a movie as a favor for our friend, director Rodney Henson. It was called Suits on the Loose. (yes, I'm even in a movie, but if you blink, you'd miss seeing me!) One of the actors in the film, portraying a juvenile delinquent, posing as a Mormon missionary, was a young man named Brandon Beemer. He was so handsome that he hurt my eyes! I'm not kidding, whenever we talked to him I had to practically look away. I'd never seen anyone so handsome. He now portrays Shawn-D Brady on Days of our Lives. Here is Daughter #2 with Brandon after a day of filming. Oooh, he hurts my eyes!

And here they are on their "wedding day"...thanks to her creative "cropping" and "cut-and-paste" talents with PhotoShop! VBG!

It's the Frosting on the Cake!

Have you ever seen the 1994 film "Quiz Show," directed by my idol Robert Redford...remember I'm his #1 fan? There's a scene in that movie that is so simple and lovely. It is where the character Charles Van Doren, portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, and his father are sitting at the kitchen table eating chocolate cake. The son recalls a childhood memory...that of coming home from school, opening the fridge, eating a big piece of chocolate cake with a glass of ice-cold milk. I read an article once about people leaving the theatre after seeing that movie and going out to get a piece of chocolate cake with ice-cold milk. My, how we are influenced by the movies!

Chocolate cake is also a nice memory in our home. Now my children are grown, but this is recipe I have made for many years. It is their favorite! You can use any cake mix you like for the cake...no big deal. (I use German Chocolate Cake mix mostly. The frosting is super rich and that mix is pretty mild.) But you must try this frosting! It is awesome.
2 square baking chocolate (semi-sweet)

3 T. butter or margarine

1/3 c. milk

Heat ingredients until chocolate melts. Watch carefully--do not burn! Stir often. Take off burner. Place in bowl. Sift in 1 box of confectioners sugar. Add 1 t. vanilla extract. Beat well, high speed for about 2 minutes. Add milk if needed to get a smooth consistency. Spread on cake.

This cake is best chilled. And make sure you have ice-cold milk to serve with it. (just like in that movie!) You'll love it!

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And quilting is the frosting on the cake too, don't you think? Check out the latest. It's the pattern "Afternoon Tea" by Acorn Quilt and Gift Company, made with Lakehouse DryGoods "La Bella Rose" fabrics.

Romantic Picture ~ Romantic Movie

Romantic Picture:

Here is Daughter #1 with her true love Tyler. We just got the pictures back from our awesome photographer, Tashia. This pic was taken at Balboa Park in San Diego. I just love it. I'll share more from time to time.

Romantic Movie:

"Love Actually." Did you know that today was Colin Firth's birthday? He is 47. Wow! he's only a few months older than me. I thought he was way younger. I enjoyed him soooooooo much as 'Jamie' in Love Actually. A great movie to enjoy at Christmastime, but can be viewed and loved any time of year! I recommend it as you sit and work on a binding for a quilt :)

From the film...

Jamie: You learned English?

Aurelia: Just in cases.

Go rent the DVD and you'll see why that's my favorite line from the movie. So sweet.

Happy Birthday Mr. Firth!

"Let your mind go and your body will follow"

"Let your mind go and your body will follow." That's a line from the Steve Martin movie "LA Story." (I'm a huge fan of Steve Martin and I'm a little upset he did not invite me to his wedding last month! lol) Anyway, that line kind of reminds me what I do when I quilt like the pictures you see. I just 'let my mind go and my longarm will follow.' I just start and see what comes out. It's invigorating! I love what I do!

Happy Birthday Robert Redford!

I just realized what today was! Aug. 18th is Robert Redford's birthday. I have been in love with him since the release of the movie"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". I think I was in Junior High at the time and I was in love the from first moment I saw him on the screen.

When I was a kid my family was on vacation in Utah. I made my dad drive us up to the Sundance Ski Resort. I just knew since this was the ski resort owned by the Sundance Kid himself, we'd see him just walking around....just waiting for silly Vivian to get an autograph. As we drove through the Provo canyon my heart was beating so fast. "I just know we're going to see him," I told my dad. I went into the gift shop and bought a postcard. I think I was shaking when I asked the girl at the counter if Mr. Redford was around. She said "No, not today."What! Oh the disappointment. A little girl's dreams crushed.

Still I continued to love him. I kept scrapbooks of all my movie ticket stubs, and pictures of him from all the magazines I could find. Throughout high school was drooling over him in movies such as "Jeremiah Johnson", "The Way We Were", "The Sting."

Then in about 1979 I was attending BYU, not far from the Sundance Ski Resort. One winter, (ok, I was not a very serious student that year) I took skiing classes all day long..morning and afternoon. (was I earning college credit for that?) After a while I became a pretty good skiier. I spent a lot of time at the resort and never once saw Mr. Redford. I was enjoying the skiing so much and soon began to forget I needed keep my eyes open for him. Until one day...

I had gone to the lodge to get a snack--homemade bread with honey-butter--and coming out of the men's room was Robert Redford. What! He uses the men's room like a regular person? I thought he was a god among men! I was disheartened. And he was so short! Wow, in the movies they made him look so much taller! Robert Redford was just a normal guy. I was so surprised I couldn't even say a word. I just stared.

Ok....even though this should have broken the Robert Redford spell I was under all my life up to that point, it did not. Next he made movies like "The Natural", "Out of Africa", "Indecent Proposal", and "Up Close and Personal". I continue to be under his spell. My patient, understanding husband takes me to see all his movies and I sit there and sigh, staring up at the big screen, drooling over him, like I have all these years!

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Charlotte, another blogger, once wrote about seeing Robert Redford at the Sundance Film Festival. I like what she said about him. It made me happy. "...prior to the actual movie being debuted, he announced the film, the producers, and gave a brief introduction. He is very handsome. I think what stood out so clearly to me was the wrinkles in his face. They proved he is a happy man. Also very genuine. He isn't hiding anything. He is just himself. He has a beautiful smile. And he is short!"

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Happy 71st Birthday Robert Redford from your #1 fan always! Love, Vivian