The blue crabs were delicious. Here they are in live form. They were feisty. Did you know that the female crabs have red-tipped claws? You can easily determine the sex of a crab by looking at the underside. See the one turned upside down? That's a female. I just recently found out that she-crabs paint their nails! I also found out what the mustard inside them is, but I won't scare you with that bit of knowledge.
Here are the crabs after we've steamed them. The beers are just props. ;)
"Float" by Yumi
"Together" by Yumi
"Heart" by Yumi
Just look at these three gorgeous art quilts made by my friend Yumi in Japan. She made these for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. They are all so unique. The hand quilting is so pretty and I love the fabrics she uses. Some of the fabrics are from kimonos.
Yumi also sent me my favorite brie-flavored Cheeza crackers and other fun snacks. She also included some fabric covered buttons and button forms too. I shall repay her in funky fabric and Badia Sazon Tropical, which is a Cuban seasoning I have her hooked on.
Whew! What a busy week. Luckily, I was swamped with work. No exciting design jobs, but plenty of rush work and fire fighting. Kept me out of trouble. But now the weekend is here! And it's a three-day weekend. Trouble, here I come! Woo hoo!
This adorable little AAQI quilt was made by one of my doll quilt swappers. It measures 8.5" x 11" and has 56 of those teeny tiny one-inch yo-yos! Wow! My buddy Yumi is sending me more AAQI quilts from Japan. I can't wait! I'll show you when they get here.
This colorful Americana quilt was made for me as part of Bumble Beans 15 Minutes Play site. This was the first finished quilt by this quilt maker! She did a great job.
I did sneak in some sewing time to make another bag. This one is for a Mikey fan.
This 7" x 7" mug rug was finished a while ago.
I played around with scraps and a wonky star for this mini. It measures about 11" square and I attempted some free motion quilting with my feed dogs UP. The tension looked pretty good. I have less tension success when my feed dogs are down.
Three little miniature quilts 9" x 12" and under for the AAQI (Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative). If you haven't heard of this organization, you can find more information right here. Making these little quilts is a great way to use up scraps, practice crumb piecing, applique and paper piecing. I also did single fold binding on all three. It's always fun to learn something new.
Now to name them. Any suggestions would be VERY welcome!
We spent part of Sunday out on the lake. It was a beautiful day and both kids (and mom!) braved wake boarding and skiing. The death wish tube got left behind, thank goodness. As I type this post with my nose, because I'm ancient and should not be water skiing, I will also add that even the fit and skinny teens were whining about sore muscles. It appears that being towed by a ski rope at high speeds is not kind on the muscles no matter what your age. Sure is fun though! And what a treat to have the entire family together for a little sun and fun.
I whipped up this easy tote for a new summer boat bag. Thanks Noodlehead! Love your blog! Your tutorials are so clever and nicely written. I'm the one that carries all the sunscreen, lip balm, hand sanitizer, hair clips, dry clothes, towels, camera, and snacks, so I need my tote.
I've lived my entire life in Florida and my skin has paid for it. Back in the day, we didn't have sunscreen. Yep, I'm that old. I burned (and blistered!) many times during annual lobstering vacations in the Keys and while playing outside. My dermatologist probably gets downright giddy when I make my appointment. I've been carved on, biopsied, frozen, lectured, and more. I thought this video was informative and to the point. Funny, I ran across it as a public service message from one of my favorite bloggers. Small world. A world that revolves around the sun. So wear sunscreen and get a screening from a dermatologist if you've ever been sunburned. It can't hurt.
Recipe Recommendation: I hardly ever make the same thing twice, but I've made LuLu's Red Curry Thunder Thighs several times. The sauce it makes is wonderful and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. Who doesn't love a good, zesty sauce? There's a bit of chopping involved, but once everything is in the pan, it's smooth sailing. I like to serve it with Jasmine rice and a green salad. I think the dish would be a good contender for the crock pot. If you despise curry, leave it out. Bet it would still be delicious.
Have you heard of "yarn bombing?" I love this artist's interpretation. Or the Toyota Prius cozy in the video below. Crazy knitters!
Lost in Google, I stumbled across this wonderful quilt artist, Liza Eastman. Don't you love her car? Or check out these quilted cars on Kay Sorensen's site! Crazy quilters!
I started hand quilting this king-size 12" x 14" quilt about three years ago. I finished (and bound!) it this week. Now I need to wash it to see if any of that hand quilting shows up any better. I absolutely adore anything hand quilted, but I find it kind of tedious to do. One day, I'm going to learn to enjoy the process. I'll keep practicing until then.
These were two-inch squares cut from some scraps my buddy Terri sent me. I believe these scraps were old Hawaiian shirts. I had to "fake" four squares to get an even number. Can you spot them? I'm hoping to make this into a picnic table topper for friends celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. I couldn't afford anything silver.
I saw this really neat Greek key duvet cover in the West Elm catalog, so I tried my hand at some Greek key log cabin blocks. Boring.
Then I got lost in this little flower hair clip. I'm going to make the angry dachshund wear it when we walk and bark at dogs ten times his size. It's a very mean and threatening bark too. Very embarrassing. The big dogs laugh at little Mr. 10 lbs. with the ferocious bark. I try to hide behind bushes.
And now that I've seen my first (and last) zombie movie, I feel the need to protect myself. Those vampires have nothing on zombies. Zombies are bad. Our very own Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has posted emergency preparation in case of a zombie apocalypse. Handy, I tell you. Works for other emergencies too in case you don't believe in zombies. How I love a government entity that possesses a bit of humor. Go CDC!
Crazy post, huh? I blame work and having no time to sew.
I couldn't see yesterday's lift off because of the clouds. Space shuttle Endeavour (my dad's favorite shuttle) is delivering an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the Space Station. Sounds like a Jetsons or Back To The Future thing, doesn't it? This is the second to last of the shuttle shots and Endeavour's final voyage. I guess the Space Station scientists will have to call someone else for delivery. So sad to see it all end. I was very fortunate to benefit from the space program while growing up and I know my dad enjoyed his career there.
Just need to add a label to this little doll quilt. Hope my partner likes it. Those honey bun strips seem to be multiplying in my scrap drawer.
After weeks of heat, Spring has sprung here. It's been in the low 80's the past few days and the mornings are downright chilly. Perfect weather for getting outside and sucking in some pollen. Plus, it's too cool for snakes. Those butterflies are freaky though. I wish they would quit dive bombing me. Happy Spring everyone!
Spinach, ricotta and tomato tart and pork ragout over linguine was what was for dinner last night. There was a crudite platter too, but it didn't make the photo shoot. Can you tell I love parsley and basil?! Gotta use those fresh herbs before they croak. Both dishes were pretty good. Bet that linguine is even better leftover. It was a nice change from my usual marinara or meat sauce. My calendar page made me LOL this week.
One more wonky star to add to my collection. I really like the brights with the black ground. I could make these all day long. I think they've replaced my wonky house obsession. Well, for a minute! I'll never give up on those fun houses.
We did a mug rug swap for our guild meeting. This is the cutie cherry cupcake mug rug Linda made for me. It was fun seeing all the different mug rugs. We have a lot of talented and creative people in our growing group.
Our friends are having another of their seafood feasts tomorrow. Blue crabs galore! I'm so excited. They're my favorite food. Mike is a great chef and there's always tons of seafood and side dishes. I'll have to figure out what to bring. I guess I'll get back to healthy cereal on Monday. Or Tuesday. I really do miss those eat anything you want days. Long, long gone. Have a great weekend and happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there.
I ate a normal breakfast for once. Dirty packing peanuts with skim milk. Tastes just like you would imagine.
I finally unearthed a few of the things I worked on at Tonya's workshop. Wonky stars, crumb blocks, letter blocks. Tonya showed me this funny quilt based on George Carlin's Seven Dirty Words on Cauchy Complete's blog. WARNING: Don't click on the links if bad words offend you or if your boss has no sense of humor. Hey, why are you reading blogs at work?! I would be such a bad employee now. They didn't have the internet back in the day.
These basket-ey blocks used 1.5" strips leftover from a honey bun. Those strips seem to be multiplying in my scrap drawers.
I played around with more crumbs this morning. Fruit, anyone?
Someone in this crazy family left me this. Poor guy. This is what happens when you don't wear sunscreen.
The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild held a workshop Saturday with Tonya, the Unruly Quilter. I've been a fan of Tonya's since I started quilting. Her tutorials inspire and she always encourages creativity and fun. From her Lazy Gal Liberated Amish 2010 Get Together to her book Word Play Quilts, Tonya shares her love of quilting with everyone. Sixteen of us gathered to experience this enthusiasm and talent first hand. After a breathtaking trunk show (you should see her hand quilting up close), we jumped into the workshop part.
Machines were readied, scraps were dumped on the floor, and the playing began. We tackled Unruly Letters and Wonky Stars with abandon. Tonya composed our finished pieces on the design wall. Don't they all look great together? If you ever have the opportunity to take Tonya's workshop, prepare to have some fun! We sure did. Read more about the workshop and see much better pictures here.
This is my 300th post! Are you believing that? I started this blog so I could enter giveaways and then promptly ignored it for months. Eventually, I stumbled back to share and hopefully have someone comment on my work or babblings. Although talking to myself is okay too; I'm interesting. Ha! Anyway, I thank everyone who takes the time to read or look at pictures here in my little space in blogland. I love reading your blogs too. If you'd like to receive a squishy in the mail, leave me a comment below and I'll make you something or send you something you can create with.
, Tonya shares her love of quilting with everyone. Sixteen of us gathered to experience this enthusiasm and talent first hand. After a breathtaking trunk show (you should see her hand quilting up close), we jumped into the workshop part.
