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!

Look For The Quilts!

Due to a very bad head cold I haven't been able to quilt. When one is sick in bed, something you can do is watch movies. Here are some I'd like to recommend. Why? Because when you are watching them, look for the quilts!

In Steve Martin's Roxanne, look at the scenes of the interior of Roxanne's house. There are some beautiful quilts on the walls and on her bed. (I tried to find some movie stills of the quilts for you, but couldn't find any!) This is one of my favorite movies. Favorite line: "Earn more session by sleeving!"...you have to watch the movie in order to get that!In Sarah, Plain and Tall, starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken, there's a beautiful Double Wedding Ring quilt on the bed.

In the 1985 film, Anne of Green Gables, there are many quilts throughout. Seems like the quilts on Anne's bed change all the time. Lucky girl!

Of course, while you're looking at the beautiful quilts, enjoy the cute story of the darling girl with a vivid imagination who catches the eye of handsome Gilbert Blythe!

And who can forget the gorgeous quilt Susan Sarrandon's character gives her daughter in Stepmom! Oh, I wish I could have found a picture of that! Rent the DVD just to see that beautiful quilt!

Perhaps you didn't see the beautiful Amish-style quilt in the movie Baby Boom, starring Diane Keaton. The quilt is hanging in her New York apartment and later you see it again in her home in the country. Diane Keaton's character even mentions quilts! She thinks she's going to the country to start baking pies and making quilts!

Of course, you didn't think I would fail to mention How to Make an American Quilt. You'll drool over the beautiful wedding quilt you see being made through the movie. Of course, many quilters gasp in the scene where Winona Ryder's character wraps herself in the quilt and runs off to find her fiance, Sam. The quilt is dragged slightly in the dirt! Favorite line: "Young lovers seek perfection. Old lovers learn the art of sewing shreds together and of seeing beauty in a multiplicity of patches."

And last but not least, the quilt that Bill Murray wakes up under each morning in Groundhog Day. That quilt is practically a star. After all you see it over and over again as Bill Murray's character wakes up on Groundhog Day again and again! The most repeated line in the movie: "Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today."

Rent these movies today and look for the quilts!

Know any others I forgot to mention?

More Viewing Enjoyment and You Never Know Who's Going To Be a Vampire!

Feeling much better now. Last week was the worst! Don't have any pictures of recent quilts to show you, but as always I try to share some quilt pics and stories. Well, today these are quilt pics and a completely unrelated story, but I just had to share!

Keep going...

You'll get to the story at the end! First some quilt pics...

Isn't this a darling quilt. A great use of small scraps from your stash.

I don't really know what kind of flowers these are, but I made them roses!

I really do that swirl thing a lot, don't I? Perhaps it's time to create a new kind of filler.

And here's the completely unrelated story!

Watching Twilight recently, Daughter #2 realized that she has met one of the vampires! Or rather, one of the actors that portrays a vampire! That's right. About 4 years ago she worked on a short-lived murder-mystery show called "Close to Home."One episode, Romeo and Juliet Murders, featured a young actor named Jackson Rathbone. Daughter #2 worked in a couple of scenes with him. Look how young he was! Well, that young actor played Jasper Hale in Twilight!

He looks a little older and a lot more creepy, don't you think? Check out those black eyes and pale skin. Is that what a vampire looks like?

So you never know who's going to be a vampire!

Enough Twilight talk!

Now back to work, Vivian! So many quilts to do! Get busy!

A Twilight Convert

I realize there's been a lot of craziness about Twilight this past year. I first heard about Twilight from blogging pal Shannon at FrecklesQuilts--she's a huge fan! So I bought the book--me and 40 million other people! I read a page or two and got busy. I passed it on to my daughters and they both read it and later bought the rest of the books in the Twilight series. They were hooked. I kept telling myself I'd get to reading that book when quilting slowed down a bit. Needless to say, it hasn't slowed down. The book has been sitting on a shelf, now collecting dust.

Last night Daughter #2 took me to finally see Twilight-The Movie. We even went to the dollar-theater. After all, it will be out on DVD soon, won't it? It was Daughter #2's second time seeing the movie.

I was surprised to see the theater packed! Typical nights at the dollar-theater have many empty seats. And the majority of the viewers last night were young girls. The first time the character Edward appeared on the screen, the young girls in the theater squealed and clapped. I looked around and laughed and said to Daughter #2, "Oh my, what's this all about?"

Ok, so now I'm hooked! I enjoyed the film very much. I was the only one making comments throughout. Everyone else was glued to the screen. I would ask my daughter, now who's that guy? and why did that happen? etc. Yes, I'm one of those annoying viewers! You know the kind. You've probably turned around and said "Shhhhh!" to me in the theater. Daughter #2 told me "Shhhhh!" and said, "You have to read the book Mom, then you'll understand everything."

Am I a converted "Twilighter"???

Maybe so. I'm just a newbie, though. Of course, I dusted off my copy of the book this morning and started reading it again. I'll let you know how it goes. I can't wait for the DVD release! (Where has Robert Pattinson been? Those eyes! My goodness!)

Now, back to work, Vivian!

(How can Vivian get back to work, when she'd rather read all about Edward Cullen....Except for the whole vampire thing...does a man like that even exist!!!?)

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!

The Details

To the casual observer this quilt might look like it's finshed. But no, it's not.

I went back and worked on the details. It's the last thing I do to a quilt. I roll it back up the top and do some stich-in-the-ditch, if it needs it. I quilt areas I may have thought--at first--they didn't need quilting. And I check to make sure I didn't miss anything! There wouldn't be anything worse that having a customer come back and say, "Hey, Vivian you forgot this part!"

Now let me tell you a story--not a quilt story--but a story where I learned about details.

It was 2003, and Daughter #2 was working on an HBO film--Mrs. Harris. It was released 2005. She portrayed a student at an east coast private school. (I told you about our experience with Sir Ben Kingsley before!)Once my daughter was in costume--hair and makeup done--and ready to go, she was checked over by the head costumer. I thought she looked perfect. But no! Her knee socks had to be exactly one inch folded over. That was checked and fixed. Her sweater had to fit absolutely perfect. That was checked and fixed.

The head costumer was an odd, eccentric woman named Julie. At first glance I thought she was just some passerby who had wandered onto the set. She looked like an woman who may have been a "hippie" in her younger years. Now she was older, but still dressed in sloppy clothes and beads. I did notice that she was definitely the person in charge and wardrobe assistants were scrambling all around her. Finally, after much fussing, she looked at my daughter and said, "Perfect."

They were filming at a beautiful old mansion in Pasadena, California. It really did look like an upper class private school in New York in the 70's. In this scene, Daughter #2 and another girl were to be playing lacrosse right behind Annette Bening. So a quick lesson was given, a short rehearsal, and they started filming. In the scene there were other students and teachers and even authentic cars from the 70's. All the teachers looked awesome. They wore high-heels, beautiful dresses and their hair was teased up and big. Teachers don't look like that anymore! As I sat on the side watching the whole scene, I was reminded of my early days of grade school in the 70's. Everything looked so authentic!

Soon the director shouted "Action!" and everyone came to life. In the scene, Annette Benning (Mrs. Harris) was talking to another actor as teachers were walking to and fro, students were laughing and talking, and two girls were playing lacrosse right behind them. It looked awesome. Then the director shouted "Cut" and everything stopped.

Then the head costumer, Julie, angrily shouted at her assistants. "Why was that teacher carrying that purse?!!" A change was quickly made. "Get a ruler and measure that student's knee socks!!!" Everyone scrambled to make the changes and the director yelled "Action!" once again.

I sat on the side, and whispered to one of the grips, "Oh, brother, who's going to notice? The audience is going to be watching Annette Bening anyway." The grip smiled at me and then asked, "Do you know who that wardrobe lady is?" I answered, "No." He said, "That's Julie Weiss." He went back to work and I continued watching the filming, wondering who Julie Weiss was.

When I got home, I did a search on Julie Weiss. She was certainly not some passerby who had wandered onto the set! She has been nominated for numerous awards in Hollywood for Best Costume design. I didn't realize who she was! And for the HBO film, "Mrs. Harris" was nominated for "Outstanding Costumes in a Miniseries, Movie or Special." I had no idea!

Sitting there that day, as I watched that woman fuss over all the details, I would have given her the award for Excellence-in-noticing-all-the-details-probably-everyone-else-won't-even-notice. Do you think there's such an award?

There might be in quilting! Now back to work Vivian! (and mind the details!)

And on a final note: If you've ever seen the movie "Mrs. Harris" you won't notice that the girls socks are exactly one inch folded over. You won't even notice the two girls playing lacrosse behind Annette Bening. These are the details you won't even see, but they are the kind of details that win awards!)