Twenty-two years ago today, I married my best friend. I would do it again in a heart beat!
Since the purpose of this blog is to talk about creative accomplishments, I will tell you I made all the dresses and did the flowers. The flowers are silk — it was the 80s. I wasn’t decorating cakes, yet, so it was probably the single most expensive thing at the wedding.
Other than preping a classroom (including painting it) I haven’t accomplished much on the creative side in the last couple weeks. Since Sheila posted her pictures I thought I’d show you what I was working on a little over 19 years ago.
I made all the dresses for the wedding party + my mom’s dress.
Bible Boy and Flower Girl
Including a miniature of the bride’s dress for the flower girl. (The flower girl was changed after rehearsal the night before. The original did not want to do it. These two are cousins.)
I did the dresses from 3000 miles away while I worked full time. I was living on the East Coast and everyone else was on the west coast. I got one fitting on my sister at her college graduation. It was fortunate everything fit as well as it did. Then I flew in a week early to do the cake.
Sheila and David Wedding Cake
This cake had four different flavors and various fillings.
By the end of the wedding I was just a little ticked at my sister. I was there that week working like crazy and all she wanted to do was sleep. Turned out she had mono which gives her a very good excuse. By the time I finished working on this wedding I swore I wouldn’t do another until my daughter got married. I didn’t end up with any girls so it looks like I’m off the hook!
This week is the final week of the Up & Running class with Jessica Sprague. I thought the layout this week was loads of fun to work through. Usually the more complicated something is the happier I am. Perhaps it is the need for a challenge, or it could be that I just like to learn new things.
The picture in this weeks layout is a scan from a photo that was made from a slide. As you can imagine, the quality isn’t that great. The picture was in color, but part of the assignment this week was to create more of a sepia toned picture. I really like this picture. It is of my dad and me. Apparently, I had no fear of standing upright in his hand. My sister wouldn’t ever do it. When he tried with her, she would just sit down.
All the elements in the layout were provided by Jessica as class materials.
I know everyone is wishing people a Happy Mother’s Day, but my dad was born on Mother’s Day in 1941 and this year his birthday once again falls on Mother’s Day. In honor of his birthday I experimented with another digital scrapbook page. This was a quick page that was a freebie from E-scape and Scrap and was designed by Ruth Davis. I played around to create my own journaling box.
There are very few pictures of my dad when he was young. The first one in the layout is probably one of the earliest I have managed to find. One of the reasons there aren’t any is their house burned down twice while he was a boy. I suspect there wouldn’t have been large numbers of pictures of him anyway since he was the sixth child. I know there aren’t quite as many pictures of my second child, I can only imagine what would happen with nine children. I need to rescan the pictures at a higher resolution the next time I am at my parent’s house.
Dad and Mom are on the road somewhere between Oregon and Colorado so I will see them tomorrow. Anyway, wherever you are, Happy Birthday Dad and Happy Mother’s Day Mom.
Today is my sister’s birthday. She was born on Easter morning when I was a little over two years old. I remember just snippets of going to the hospital, I think it may have been when she came home. If my mom was anything like I was when my second was born, she was expecting another similar to the first. That couldn’t have been more wrong. Actually my parents were expecting a boy, they only had a boy’s name selected. My dad was logging in Alaska when my sister was born in Oregon. When my mom called to tell him and ask about a name they had a bad connection. He finally told her to name my sister whatever she wanted.
I can remember watching her take a nap when she was a little older and stroking her soft little hands. I’m still drawn to baby hands.
This is a picture of Sheila and me when she was almost one so that would make me three.
As you can see she had dark curly hair and I had straight blond hair. The contrasts didn’t stop there. Sheila had a bubbly personality and I was very serious as a child. People do not forget Sheila once they meet her. She got every drop of musical talent. Do you know how frustrating it is to sit and practice at the piano and have your younger sister just listen and then come play it better than you ever could? She had a fantastic imagination. She used to talk about her “other” family. She could sit and tell stories for hours.
It wasn’t all a bed of roses. We fought like crazy when we were kids. Her first year in college we roomed together. My dad didn’t think we would last the year. We did, and had apparently out grown the fighting. Now we are very good friends even though we live 1000 miles apart.
By the way when I talked to her tonight, I found out she spent her birthday visiting four quilt shops (she decided a few years ago she likes piecing quilts even though she hated sewing when she was a kid — I loved it.) and she cooked her own birthday meal! I told you she liked to cook and would sometimes choose to cook rather than go out — even on her birthday!
Happy Birthday Sheila.
Yes, you read correctly. Much to my dismay, Guy is going to shave his head. At least it is in support of a good cause. He is joining one of his co-workers on April 4 to shave his head for St. Baldrick’s Foundation. I just helped him upload his “before” photo on the website. If you would like to read more about it, and see his progress, check out http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.html?ParticipantKey=2008|30029.
While I’m not a fan of shaved heads, I do understand why Guy is drawn to this cause. Guy’s older brother Mark lost his battle with cancer in January 1977. Mark was 16 years old.
I’ve been plugging away all week and don’t feel there is a lot to show for it. I pulled out my Prairie Flowers UFO. This quilt is from a book by Barbara Brackman and was originally a block of the month for the “Kansas City Star.” I started the blocks in 2002 in a Beginning Hand Applique class. We were only supposed to do one block in the class, but by the second class I had started my second block. I was now hooked on hand applique! The blocks have been finished since sometime in 2003. I decided I wanted a King size quilt without making more blocks so worked on a setting that would get me the extra size. This is a picture from Electric Quilt that gives a rough idea of the setting. (The picture is clickable.) The blocks are actual pictures of my blocks. I have had the nine patches finished for at least two years, but hadn’t added the triangles to them. So that is what I’ve worked on this week. Between working on a customer quilt I cut over 300 triangles on Tuesday. I used the Omnigrid ruler and cut the triangles from strips. Using this method you cut triangles from the same width of strip as you would cut for an unfinished square. If I were make half triangle squares the unfinished block would be 3 -3/4″. My strip is 3-3/4″ and because the corner is trimmed off, I still get that size block with these triangles. A picture is worth a thousand words, so perhaps this will explain it a little better.
If you are interested in learning more about this method, Debbie Caffrey has very good instructions in her book “Power Cutting, Too. (She is also an outstanding teacher if you ever have the chance to take a class from her.
I just finished adding the last triangle to the nine patchs this morning and here are the fruits of my labors.
The strip that goes with each block is the length of three nine patches. Once the center is together I will need to applique the borders, which is not shown in the EQ picture. There are vines that come out of each corner basket and then a mixture of the flowers from the blocks. These blocks are very large and went quite rapidly so the borders should go together reasonably fast.
I have also continued to work on my Horn of Plenty for a new century. The corner scallops are appliqued and I have only 18 more leaves to go for that top to be finished.
It was time to think about my next color class project. I really have no interest in doing another quilt this month. Our color scheme is Analogous. We can use from 3 to 7 colors next to each other on the color wheel. All of the colors need to share one common color. I had no idea what I wanted to do, but went searching for a print that was Analogous. I think I found one that I can argue fits that criteria and I bought four accent colors to go with it and plan to make a vest from a commercial pattern. I need a break after last month’s project. Here is a picture of the fabric and the pattern from Sew Mini Pieces.
Now I need to get off this computer and get my house cleaned. My sister and brother-in-law are flying in tomorrow from Portland. Monday was supposed to be ski day for the boys’ school. They didn’t get the minimum number they need to go so it was cancelled. This is usually the only time Nolan gets to ski since no one else in this family is interested. So Uncle David is going to take him to Copper to ski for two days. Auntie Sheila gets to hang around here.
Today was the first full day of vacation for my boys and we finally got around to make goodies for Christmas. [I had intended to do it earlier, but am fighting another nasty cold. It is the third so far this school year and puts me ahead of where I usually am for the whole school year. Not sure what is going on, Guy suggested stress.] My weakness is sweets — forget the salt give me the sugar. I tend to overdo it with making sweets for Christmas. So in an attempt to restrain myself I’ve started making just one choice per family member. The boys each helped to make their pick. I think the number one sweet for Christmas in this household is Chocolate Scotcheroos. We can count on Guy to pick that one so everyone else can come up with another option. I’ve decided to include recipes for each pick here. There appears to be a theme to our choices — the majority contain commercial cereal and the other equally used ingredients are peanut butter and chocolate.
Guy’s Choice — Chocolate Scotcheroos
1 c. sugar
1 c. light corn syrup
1 c. peanut butter
6 c. Rice Krispies
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels
6 oz. butterscotch morsels
Combine sugar and corn syrup in microwave safe bowl and microwave until the mixture bubbles, stirring about every minute. Remove from microwave and stir in the peanut butter. Mix in the Rice Krispies. Press into a 9 x 12 pan which has been sprayed with cooking spray. Using waxed paper to press the mixture into the pan and avoid burning your fingers.
Combine the chocolate morsels and the butterscotch morsels in a microwave safe bowl and microwave at half power until the mixture melts. Stir once every minute. Spread the melted mixture over the Rice Krispies and allow to set up. You can chill to speed the process. Cut into bars. These are very rich so smaller bars are better than larger ones.
Nolan’s Choice — White Trash
2 lb. white chocolate (white morsels work)
2 T. vegetable oil
3 c. wheat chex
3 c. rice chex
3 c. corn chex
½ lb small pretzels
½ lb. pretzel nubs
3 c. Crispix
1 can mixed nuts
Combine the last seven ingredients in a large bowl.
Combine white chocolate and vegetable oil in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at half power until the chocolate is melted stirring every minute. Pour the white chocolate over the other ingredients and stir gently to coat. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Break into pieces and store in covered container.
Jesse’s Choice — Peanut-Butter & Chocolate Kisses
½ c. margarine, room temperature
½ c. peanut butter
¾ c. packed brown sugar
¼ c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract
¼ t. salt
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
3T. granulated sugar
48 milk-chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped
Preheat oven to 375F. In medium bowl, beat together margarine, peanut butter, brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar, egg, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy. Add flour and baking soda, beating until thoroughly blended. Shape dough into 48 balls, using a rounded teaspoon for each. Roll balls in the 3 tablespoons granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until light golden. Immediately top each cookie with a candy kiss, carefully pressing down firmly. Remove cookies from baking sheets; cool on racks. Makes about 48 cookies.
My Choice? I’d have picked the Chocolate Scotcheroos, so I let the boys sort of pick the fourth — Muddy Buddies
9 c. Chex cereal (any variety)
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
½ c. peanut butter
¼ c. margarine
1 t. vanilla
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
In a large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
In a microwave safe bowl, stir together chocolate chips, peanut butter and margarine. Microwave uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until the mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into a 2-gallon resealable food storage plastic bag.
Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.
So that and a long nap pretty much took up my day. There are enough sugary treats in the house to make me even sicker, unless I can find will power somewhere. Anyone know where I can buy some?
This week is exceptionally busy so this may be my only post for a few days.
Monday was Guy’s birthday he caught up with me once again for a couple of months. I thought I had actually managed to buy a gift that would surprise him. He has been talking about this saw for almost a year. When I checked Amazon.com it was almost $100 less than I could get it here in town with the free shipping. The scheduled date for shipping was on his birthday, but then I received a notice that it had shipped and was due to arrive on Monday. How cool is that — here for his birthday and I didn’t have to unload it from the car. Last Thursday he comes home and says, ”Hey that saw is a lot cheaper on Amazon.” Oh great, there goes the surprise. I went ahead and told him it was on the way, because we sure didn’t need a second one showing up on the front porch.
Today Quilter’s Anonymous met at my house. (Guy says first you have to admit you have a problem, but it is actually my mini quilt group.) We had our gift exchange today. It was great! Everyone made gifts for the name they had drawn this year and the gifts were all awesome. There were four quilts, a beautiful fiber runner, an embroidered shirt, hand knit socks and fingerless gloves and last, but not least the gift I received from Joyce, a purse. We sent emails to our group discussing our likes and dislikes and I specifically said I like blue and yellow. Isn’t it cool? It has pockets all the way around the inside, too. 
While we were chatting today we somehow ended up talking about a female police officer that frequents the quilt shop where two of our members work. I made some comment about how the vests police wear make them look buff. I then received some teasing about liking my husband in uniform. I frequently quilt for one of the other members and she has met Guy and she said something about him being good looking even when he isn’t in uniform. In case I haven’t mentioned it before, Guy volunteers as a deputy with the Sheriff’s office. The volunteers go through the academy and have all the same authority as any other deputy when they are on duty, they just don’t get paid. Anyway, the Sheriff’s office recently took formal pictures of the volunteers to have on file. Since about half the group hasn’t met Guy, I went and grabbed the picture and passed it around. I got a kick out of the comments — they went something like this — “Oh, he is good looking, he still has his HAIR!” I’m posting the picture here so you can be the judge (No matter what you decide, I’m keeping him!). It’s a pretty good picture, but Guy wasn’t pleased that they spent most of the day on the range before they took the pictures so they were sunburned, had hat hair and weren’t freshly shaved.
The final thing that is making this week hectic is the Christmas Dinner Theatre at school tomorrow. The teachers and students provide the theatre and I provide the dinner. We are having soup, salad, bread and dessert. The soups are all homemade (also vegetarian) and I had planned to bake the bread as well. At this point I think I will be stopping in at Panera tomorrow to buy some bread. For soup I have a mild Chili, Mock Chicken Noodle soup, Minestrone, Taco soup, and Baked Potato soup. The first four are finished except for adding noodles to some of them and the baked potatoes just came out of the oven for the last one. For most of the soups I quadrupled the recipes. How did I end up with this job anyway? Oh, yeah it was my idea several years ago to add the dinner as a fund raiser and to get more people to show up. So now I do it twice a year, at Christmas and in the Spring.
So until I finish with clean up tomorrow night, I will continue to remind myself to breathe!
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