I loved this picture. My husband took this with the color accent setting. I haven't learned to do this yet. A great picture, I love how it just punctuates just the pumpkin color.

Yesterday I was at my cousin Nikki's house. I saw this fabulous pear. I wonder what it would look good with. What would complete it?

I think I might relocate it, to my house.

Gail has her Sunbonnets almost done. She needs to finish quilting it and put on the binding. The girls really stand out. Gail said this is a very simple pattern.

So a couple of years ago, I made my first purchase on E-bay. This is what I bought. I won the bid and paid less than $20. These days you can't even look for under $20.

Anyway, so I was going to turn this antique French red work pillow cover into a gift. So I quilted it up and gave it to cousin Linda, on the stipulation that if we ever fought,I got it back. How naive of me, would you give it back? So I asked to borrow it so I could to take more pictures and draw up the pattern.

By the way, doesn't it look good on my bed?

How about in my chair? OK, I'm done teasing Linda, I'll give her back her pillow.

Take care, Brandie

Collections

Yesterday Debbie asked what do you collect. I have been collecting cobalt glass for years. I love the way the light hits it and it seems to be alive. This is odd as I don't like the color blue. Blue is not a color that I use in quilts, I would never paint a room blue and I rarely buy blue clothing. But cobalt blue is one of my favorite things. My living room windows are filled with cobalt.
I was as bad girl last night. One, I didn't finish my pears and I went out to eat. I've been on a diet since October (lost 16 lbs), but I have a weakness for sushi. My husband claims that sushi is low in calories and I want to believe him. If you like sushi and you live in my area, check out Big Tuna, on Mangrove. It is a little hole in the wall, but they won CN&R's, best new restaurant this year.
The beef udon. Perfect! Even though it has beef. I let my husband eat that. My all time favorite is the Mexican roll. This is crab meet wrapped in a seaweed paper with a silver of Serrano pepper. Covered in a shrimp, avocado and topped with baby cilantro. Yum, makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I also like the big tuna bomber, which is a tuna roll,with Serrano pepper and a hint of garlic.
This is the Mexican roll's close up.
All gone. Boy was it yummy. I was reading a food editors blog awhile back and her question was, if you knew this was your last meal, what would you have? For me, it would have to be the Mexican roll, hands down.
Take care, we'll talk later, Brandie

Yesterdays chores

After about a week, I finally got back to the pears. I have about 1/3 of the pears quilted. I motive myself by saying, "use only a bobbin, then you and read that book." I forget how long a bobbin lasts on the Juki. I had 12 squares done before my re prev. Back to the grind stone today. My goal is to finish all those pears tonight.
Partly I was side tracked by.......

Can you see these holes?

How about now? Do you see all that fuzzy stuff?

Do you see this smiling face? This is my problem child.

Murphy came to live with us this June. We have been looking for a good home for him. I've tried to give him away on Craigslist. No takers.

He is a stray who has fallen in love with my son. He adores William, but William is not home most of the time. So Murphy has taken it upon himself to make himself noticed. It started with the a little hole, than became many holes. He has moved my plants. And torn up his bed, that's all that fuzzy stuff.

So this was our solution. This is metal fencing from Lowes. It hopefully will keep Murphy out of future plants and keep the house from caving in.

If any of you are looking for a medium dog, I have one for you. If Jodie from Jelly Wares, lived closer, I would take Murphy to her. Poor Jodie lost more than half her chickens to a fox or foxes.

So seriously, if you live in my neck of the woods and are interested, well let me know.

well talk later, Brandie

A little color

This is an older quilt. I finished this about 3 years ago. I bought the hand dyes just for this project. I went through this period of black quilts. Little did I know then how these quilts would attract every hair and piece of lint in the house. I'm really pleased with this quilt. I don't know why I put it on the shelf and was embarrassed of it. I thought there was some glaring mistake, but I can't find it. Are you all that hard on yourselves? I like it so much now, I want everyone to see it.

Not much in the way of quilting went on yesterday. Just some stitching in the ditch, on the pears. PugsLee felt that I have been neglecting her lately. So we sent some quality time together. She sure does love her bathe time. She could sit in there for hours. She was such a good little girl.

Now she's ready to get out. It's time for a Greenie, her favorite treat. She has one everyday at 4:30. She know the time too. She'll go over to her treats and stare and whine till someone looks at her and gets her one. She can almost say "I want one". At least that what we hear.

In 2 days, she will be 10 years old. What a sweetheart.

Take care, Brandie

More from my sewing room

Isn't fall the most beautiful time of year? I love the colors, the fruits and the nuts. Does anyone know what these large wooden looking things are? Are they buckeyes? Whatever they are, they're beautiful!

I inherited this machine from my Grandmother. This was one of the first machines I even used. The best thing about it was it still worked when it rained or snowed and there was no power. I still love it, but it is now just a display.

I also have my Grandmother's button collection. This are not all vintage. I actually helped pick some out. Back in the day, there was one store for all our craft needs, Hart's fabric. They had a claw foot bathtub filled with buttons. From the time I was in kindergarten to pre-teen, I pick many a button. These buttons all ended up in her collection, and now in mine.

I found that thread display at an antique store and know just what to use it for. All those wooden spools of thread, also from my Grandmother.

Hey, if you look real close, there's a picture of my daughter and I and my son and PugsLee.

These are the threads I use everyday. I use the Gutermann threads for applique and Superior Threads for quilting and piecing.

A full view of my fabrics. Messy, I can't keep them clean looking when I'm going through them all the time. Now you know how messy it is on a daily basis.

Take care and keep well, Brandie

It's a Birthday

22 years ago, my oldest was born. Little did I know how time would fly. I wish I could have stopped time when my children were pre-teens. Those were some of the best times of my life. I don't know what they would say, but they were my favorite days. We were homeschoolers from day one. Not every day was smooth, but I believe we bonded and I miss those days.

This is my son, the one with hair, and his friend. We had a birthday lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. I wish I had more time to show you his years growing up, but I now that would bore most people.

William has always been very quiet and very laid back. He was a great baby. My husband and I thought we knew it all, then came our second child. I'll save that story for another day.

William is still finding his path in life, but whatever it is, I know it will be in a creative field. He is a man of many hobbies and with many irons in the fire. I wish him my best on his life's adventure.

Happy Birthday Willie-Boy!

A few pictures of my sewing room

My sewing room is actually one end of my dining room. The dining room is between the kitchen and living room. There was a narrow 18 inch space that is as long as the room, 9ft and 6in, That was prefect for built in shelves and a desk. On these shelves, are many necessity. Fabric, thread, books, my Grandmother's antique wooden sewing box and even quilts.

This box has seen better days, but I love it. It is missing 3 of the appliqued door fronts and several small pieces of molding. It is 17" tall, 12" wide and 16" deep. It weighs about 10lbs. It is very heavy.

I keep my fat quarters in these wooden boxes. Each box has a color. There are 3 shelves of boxes. This is just the top of the shelf, it was cleaner.

The other shelf has most of my finished quilts.

These are them. Maybe on those days when I don't have anything to show you, we will have show and tell. Like today, I'm still working on Christmas gifts. I'll try to have some quilting on the pears done for you tomorrow.

Take care, we'll talk soon, Brandie