Cute Bag, Easy to Make!

Cute little bag, easy to make and even easier if you go to Wanda's tutorial. I used some Charm fabric by Amy Butler and free-motion quilted it with one of those variegated Sulky threads. This is a great little gift to make for people of all kinds and a great way to use up scraps of decorative threads and not-quite-full bobbins. I also used a recycled zipper, which is 70's vintage, I suspect. You can make it bigger or even smaller, but you can fit a cell phone, keys and debit cards and some cash in here easily for a fast trip to the market.

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Don't know if it is an unlucky day, but we came home to no dial tone or DSL last night. I'd planned to take off today for vacation (and, yes, I will not be at work on 090909, either) and wound up waiting for telephone dude to come by. Actually, I called telephone company and pitched a fit. We keep losing service since they put in that new telecom box down the street. Teleco is trying to tell me it's because "there were storms in the area." What a crock, I say, the storms were 60 miles away. I'm sorry, that's not EVEN CLOSE! It's time to find the problem and FIX IT, not just put a bandaid on it! We are in BIG trouble in this country. Our telecom infrastructure is corroding and Teleco doesn't care (or doesn't know what to do about it). Ironically, while I'm sitting there on hold after calling them on my cell phone, they kept playing this marketing schpiel about how you should always have a corded phone because in case of bad weather it will probably work. Then the customer "service" rep comes on and his excuse for no dial tone is "there were storms in the region." HUH? Yes, they think we're stupid and if we're not stupid then we're complacent and if we're not complacent then we're "difficult."











So while I was trapped at home by telebungling, I started quilting la Amy Butler charm quilt top and Bhu helped. When Sophie and Rachel still lived with us, Bhu would never come to the sewing room. As a matter of fact, whenever the tornado sirens went off we had to put him in the pet carrier and haul him to the basement because he wouldn't go voluntarily and he would always sit at the top of the stairs waiting for someone to open the door. Rachel crossed the bridge three years ago and Sophie crossed almost a year ago and, since then, he has relaxed more and actually comes to find me and hangs out with me down there.

Hope you're all getting a little cooler weather! xxoo

There's a butt in my bag!

Uh oh! Bhu don fit but he don carez! Right after this he burrowed all the way in with only his butt sticking out. When he does this, he is purring furiously as if he was discovering gold or oil or gas cards or something! He's mai boy and I luv, luv, luv him!

It's Hot but it's not

We are finally having summer, and it will be coming to you soon! Mark put on his Indiana Jones hat today and braved the heat and humidity to mow. It's brutal, like Louisiana. So maybe we need to change the name of the hat to Louisiana Jones. Whatever. My oven does not go on if the temps are over 78, so everything has to be microwaved or crockpotted. Yesterday I made a crock pot meatloaf with potatoes. It was GOOD!! Actually, GREAT! Now, if anyone really even cares, I'm sorry to have so little time these days to chat. It's the busy time of the year for me and it won't end until mid-September. I am bottling up compost tea like crazy and I am also using a lot of it on the garden. It isn't killing anything I pour it on, so I'm assuming it's doing some good. A critter ate my first large round red tomato and my impatiens. 'bits or 'chucks, not sure. Hope everyone has a fabulous week!!! xxoo P

Unspectacular Quirks . . . hmmmm

This is Sweet Praline (ain't she purrity? Bhu's in LOVE with her!). Sweet P tagged Bhu to list six of his most unspectacular quirks and he can't think of any, so he asked me to help. I, of course, think everything about Bhu is spectacular; it's so hard to think of him in any other way. But, for the sake of True LOVE, I will do my best.

1. Bhu likes to play "fetch" with a crocheted hackysack. It's his absolute favorite toy.

2. Since we're always talking about thinking "outside the box," Bhu sometimes experiments with that theory and it usually turns out to be mostly unpoopular, er I mean unpopular, with the beans (if you get my drift). Sorry, Bhu.

3. Bhu loves to eat roses, orchids and geraniums, in that order.

4. Bhu loves to lick the butter off his dad's plate when he has pancakes for breakfast. Dad's dramatically frivolous with the butter, so there's usually a good five minutes of lickin' on each pancake plate.

5. Bhu loves to lick his mom's fingers after she's eaten an olive but only if it's NOT been soaking in a Tanqueray martini.

6. If anyone is eating raw carrots anywhere in the house, upstairs or downstairs -- doesn't matter -- Bhu will gallop to the site and aggressively push his way between the eater and the carrot and snort and sniff frantically, purring heartily. If you give him a carrot, he will lick it and then lose interest.

We're also supposed to tag some other kitteh friends, but we only know Sweet P, Goma, Annabelle & Zuzu, and Prince Muddy Paws. Bhu says, "U gotta getz out more, Mom!" Okay, I'll try Bhu, but I've been really busy lately.

Yesterday, as I was bottling up my first batch of Skypants Compost Tea, two ladies drove by very slowly and then turned around and parked. Up the driveway they came and introduced themselves.
Turns out they were the original owners of the Skypants B&B, built back in the '50s. The mother and daughter, lovely ladies, both of them; I will invite them back some time for tea. Well, darlings, it's time for the Sunday ritual to begin: quilting shows, ironing, and a little bit of quilting. Hope you are happy and healthy today!! xxoo P

Quiltsapoppin!

Ta-Da! Watcha think? I LOVE it! Believe it or not, it took me hours and hours of careful thought and repositioning of fabrics to come up with this arrangement. I love the way it flows.
Bhu seems pretty impressed and let me tell you he is not easily impressed! He's seen HUNDREDS of quilts laid out on the basement floor, although none quite so colorful.
It's a hot, steamy day again. Yesterday the garden yielded it's first tomato and here it is. At this point the spinach has bolted and not much else is happening other than herbs taking off and zinnias getting taller.

Burrowing Bhu

This is a special shot of Bhu for Sweet Praline. "Hai, Sweet P! Me burrow in blankies!" See his fluffy butt and big ole tail hanging out the end? He loves to burrow and he purrrs and purrrrs -- supah purring! Mark and I were trying to decide whether Bhu looks more like George Clooney, Errol Flynn or Rudolph Valentino. What do YOU think? xxoo P

SHHHH! Big Secret!

It was a big treat to lunch with Meg yesterday! I shoulda had the brie and apple salad, but I had curried tuna salad instead. Anyway, she asked me if I had any knitting patterns for a big ole sweater jacket and OF COURSE I DO!!! Let's see, what vintage, specifically? Here she is perusing a 1974 issue (obvious because of the crocheted cloche) and in the one below a 1986 issue (obvious because of the permed hair). She's harboring a secret I'm sworn not to tell, but we will get together again next month and I'll take her picture again and by then I might be able to tell the secret.

Steam, steam, steamy day. I'll be working on the Amy Butler quilt top and making zuppa toscana. Bhu is napping and won't let me take his picture right now. xxooo P

Me Can Has Cool Cat Award!

Wow! Look what Sweet Praline gave Bhu! She is not only the MOST beautiful kitteh, but she is kind and generous as well. We ALL LUV U, Sweet P! xxoo P

Goma Stars in Music Video!

You really have to see this cuz it's supah CUTE! Click here to see Goma starring in The Smittens music video! Can I has ur paw-tograph, Goma?
Bhu is hoping we will take him to the library this afternoon, so he's camping out on the book bag. He's thinking someone there might want him to be in a video, and he can be a star like Goma!


In honor of Goma and his first starring role, I am sharing this photo of the Shimmering Stars quilt I made several years ago for Meg. I used 1800's reproduction fabrics and it's one of my favorites. xxooo P

Twisty Bhu!

Twisty Bhu! Cute, huh? He don fitz, but he don carez! Yesterday I created a new thread saver block. This one is based on the log cabin design. I had these little strips left over from some project or another and I kept them in a little pile on the cutting table because I liked the fabric. That was about two years ago. Yesterday I saw them and decided, "Time to take care of these scraps." I have many baskets filled with long strips of fabric from projects, so a new thread saver block was created. They can be arranged just like log cabin blocks.

Nancy asked me what is a thread saver block. When you get to the end of a block, or any other sewing project, you always have a dangling length of thread that has to be cut off. Some people use a little square of fabric at the end of each seam to "capture" those threads. I just make more blocks. I have baskets an baskets of little pinwheels and flying geese that have been made from cast offs of other blocks.
Here are two ways to arrange the blocks, ala log cabin. Not entirely unpleasant and a better use of this beautiful fabric than tossing it into a landfill. BTW, I use some of the strips of fabric leftovers as "ribbon" to wrap presents. FUN!!

Oh say, can U C?

This is what we are doing on the Fourth of July: Bhu sleeping nearby (Me can relaxz on holidayz!). . .
Mark playing a vintage 'puter game in the basement . . .
and me, laundry done and on the line outside, finally quilting the thread saver pinwheels top! All in all, a perfect day. It will all be capped, sadly, by an entire evening of raucous fireworks.

Celebrate our freedoms and revel in your citizenship (or, if you happen to be an illegal alien, celebrate your successful assimilation SO FAR). xxoo P

Why I love NYC

STREET FAIRS! This one for Saint Anthony Abate in Astoria, Queens was captured by Dora Naughton (see her blog at www.dkn.vox.com). Her report of the event is amusing and there are many more photos that truly capture the whackiness of it all!
These are the REAL thing: sausages and peppers sandwiches! So succulent, so drippy, the most divine flavor! You will never forget it, no matter how long you are held prisoner in the midwest!
No doubt the calzone you get from this stand will be a billion times better than what you can get at Pizza Hut or whatever! Few people who live west of Philadelphia know the true bliss of zeppole but I know no one on the planet who really needs to ever eat a fried oreo. Whatsamattawichu???
Lookit this pitcher of limeade! Can I have like twenty of those shish kebobs, please? Well, I'd better settle down and shake off this NY state of mind. In many ways I wish I was there and in many ways I'm glad I'm not and, truly, there are lots of places way worse than BOCOMO. All I can say is I'm glad I grew up there and have so many wonderful memories. If only I'd been able to get a job as a Rockette, I never would have had to come to this wild country of southern Baptists and evangelists and chaw-spittin' ag majors. The twang alone makes me cringe (STILL, after all this time).

xxooo P

Bunnies Eat My Beans

We have about a hundred quilts in our house, most made by Moi, and Bhu enjoys every single one. I have a report that Kyle received his quilt and is happy with it and Scott wants me to make one for him that is "nature inspired." I thought immediately of this quilt, but I think it might be too elementary. You know me; I LOVE the scrappy look. Bhu's trying to look fierce in the second photo; actually, he's yawning. In the photo above, notice how he crosses his paws . . . so dignified. Hmmmm, do you think we have enough books?

It's a beautiful day and we worked on the adopt-a-spot this morning and then Mark and I went to Lowe's to get a couple of Knock-Out Roses and a soaker hose for the spot. The irrigation system at the spot is broken, so Jerry and Jim and trying to fix it. In my own garden, Mark built two raised beds this morning and we will fill those with dirt this week. It's a little late for planting, I know, but there are still a lot of things that can be planted and grow before the first frost. The thing about a raised bed is you can also build a cover -- like a tent -- to prolong the growing season. We seem to have a profusion of bunnies, some of who ate all my wax bean plants this week!! We are going to have to put a little chicken wire fence around each bed to keep the bunnies out. Any other suggestions would be welcome!

I haven't had time to take photos of the garden or the hollyhocks or the adopt-a-spot or the raised beds, but I will sometime today and post tomorrow, I hope. In the meantime, enjoy your day! xxoo P

Flying Burrito Brothers!

Bhu is napping peacefully, dreaming of boidz and bugz and suddenly there is a commotion under the table!
It's the HUMAN BURRITO! "Yikes!! What is happening?? I go look!" I made a cover for our 3" memory foam mattress pad but was having a bit of difficulty getting the pad into the cover. Mark, always the hero, decided he would be more successful at manipulating the cloth and the foam if he burrowed in. This is typically Bhu's schtick (he will burrow into ANYTHING), so he's wondering how he missed out on this fun! I love the fabric (from the stash, purchased in the 80's . . . a gorgeous batik).

Today, we all wish Sachie HAPPY BIRTHDAY (singing very loudly and clapping YAY)! xxoo P