X's & O's for Em/Secret Reveled

This was the backing, when I first layed it out. Broccoli loved it from the beginning.

Here he was holding it down for me, once it was finished, & he gave this whole thing his kitty seal of approval. I think he actually said this is his favorite quilt so far.

Poor Em got it in the mail just in time. With her immune system taking a beating from the Chemo, she has caught a flu bug, & she sounds terrible. Please keep her in all your prayers.

I made this quilt of Hugs & Kisses for her rag style. If you knew me, you'd know I'm NOT a piecer, & this was a tough thing for me to do, but I wanted to make something very soft & cozy, & this was the coziest. The top is flannels, & the dark green on the back, that shows on the front is Minkee. The softest, velvety , most cozy fabric I've ever touched.

Em said she was surprised by the colors I used, but she shouldn't be. These are the colors of an Alaskan summer, when the fireweed is in bloom.

Apocalypto

Well, it's my day off. I had to work the last 3 days, so have nothing fun to blog about today, unless you want to hear about work!

Warren & I went to see 'Apocalypto' last weekend. It was probably the most graphic movie I watched in a long time. It was very violent. Several times I had to close my eyes, cover my face, try not to watch. It was a sad & very intense story. The dialog was all in some language that didn't sound like anything familiar, & you had to read the screen, so it was hard to not watch if you wanted to know what was happening. I had to decompress from it when we got home, so we watched 'Pirates of the Carribean 2- the Dead Man's Chest'. I love Johnny Depp. He makes me laugh.

I sent a package to my sister. I'm hoping she gets it soon, so I can show you what I sent her. I thought I'd be going to my Calendar Girls Christmas get together today, but apparently we aren't having one, because I haven't heard from them, so I guess I'll head down to my studio. Tomorrow the dishwasher guy is coming. Keep your fingers crossed for me, that my dishwasher woes will be over!

Hey, I was reading Blogger Buzz, it sounds like they're about ready to switch to all Beta, so soon you'll be going Beta anyway, if you haven't already. Don't worry if you haven't done it yet. It's much better than the old version.

A Rowenta Disaster!

It all started with my iron stand on my ironing board. My brand new Rowenta has an oval base on it, so in order for it to set securly on the square base I had to set it at an angle. The old Rowenta had a square base, so this was never an issue.

So to comfortably set the iron on it's base after using it, I sat it sideways, rather than twisting my arm at an odd angle, while handeling a very hot iron.
It was a BAD, STUPID thing to do!

I walked away for a minute to cut the piece of fabric I had just pressed, & the weight of the hose tipped the back end of the iron off the metal stand.

It melted a hole right through the plastic housing.

Now I think it can still be used, & I may be able to cover the hole with a fiberglass tape of some other sort of patch, as the metal parts inside are where the steam generator lives, but this made me sick & sad. It's only the 2nd time I've used it, & I think this is really a bad design that this could even happen. There should be a heat proof plate on the entire top. So if you have one of these irons, BEWARE!

I'll be letting Rowenta know about this, & if they can replace the housing, I'll have them do it.

What I did with my Saturday Off

I sat in the Emergency Room, staring at the wall paper border. I think it might be upside down....

it all started with my DH saying "Something is wrong". He hasn't felt well, for the past 4 days or so. He's had a nagging pain in his low back, that he's been taking Motrin for. He felt he had pulled a muscle, but then he was nauseated yesterday, & thismorning he had a sharp pain in his right groin. Well I thought he may have another hernia, or maybe a kidney stone, so off to the ER we went.
6 hours, blood tests, xrays, ultra sounds, & CT scans later, we still don't know for sure what it was, but it doesn't look like any new cancers, & if it was a kidney stone, which it may have been, he passed it! He's feeling ok now, & I'm much relieved.
We stopped at the Moose's Tooth & ate a bowl of soup, then ran down to JC Penney's so I could pick up one item, & Warren circled the block so we didn't have to find parking downtown.
For you snowbirds who have left us for the winter, we are having warm Chinook winds, & last night when the wind died down, we had a lovely thick snowfall. The trees looked like lace when I woke up, but as the sun started to rise around 10a.m., the winds picked up again, & the snow blew off the trees.
It's odd this time of year, when the sun rises & set in the south. One more week, & the days will be getting longer again!

Shhh.....Christmas secrets..

Dear Family & Friends, I'm sorry I haven't posted much here lately. I've been busy both working at work & at home. I've been working on some gifts for the holidays, & since it would spoil the surprises I can't show them here. Broccoli has been overseeing everything & has given his approval on each item.

I found a tin star for the bear's tree.
Decorated just one of the skinny little Alaskan style trees for the living room. A few gifts have started appearing under it already.
My Round Robin Christmas quilt is hung on the quilt rack. This was from my group of friends in Michigan.

& I got the snowflake dishes out for winter. I added the red & white to the set this year. When we got the blue & white 2 years ago, I had wished aloud that they came in red & white instead, since red is my favorite color, & this year they have them, so now I have red, white & blue! Isn't that patriotic?!

For Jackie & Margaret, sorry I failed you. I didn't go to the quilt guild Christmas party this week. I had a horrible night at work Wednesday evening, & was just to wore out to get up & go to the party Thursday morning. So I guess they missed all 3 of us this time!

Annie Annie are you Ok?& Mail meme

This is Celeste, being blown away by the brilliance of the Advanced Cardiac Life support class that she was teaching (her words were something like'"I'm not coming to this hospital if I have chest pain".
My friend Jamie, surrendering.
This is a class we have to recertify every 2 years, & can be quite stressful for us, but we managed to have a pretty fun time. My hubby Warren was in the class too, as a Respiratory therapist he has to take it too. We all went to Mooses Tooth for pizza & beer afterwards (well I drank Diet coke, I'm not a beer drinker). I haven't had much I could blog about lately, can you tell?

This Beautiful little journal book was in my mail box when I got home. It's from Debra, & she had it wrapped in a little piece of batting just right for a journal quilt, & the envelope was Tyvek, so I can paint that & burn it too!!! I'm thrilled!! Thanks Debra!!

Dolls & Collections & Dishwasher News

Karoda asked me if I collect dolls. My answer is "Not intentionally", but collections I seem to have!!

There's the movie collections from 'Finding Nemo', 'The Little Mermaid',
'Shrek' #1 &2 (Puss-n-Boots not pictured)
2 sets of ' Toy Story ' dolls


including the Slinky dog & Mr Potatoe Head, & 3 from 'Monster's Inc.' that I didn't bother photographing.

Plus the dolls I've kept, that I made. The Mermaid is from a Patti Medaris Culea pattern.
& the Good Time Girls, who have evolved from an Eleanor Peace Bailly pattern, but I've changed them a lot, & Eleanor doesn't approve of them. She was offended that I would do something that might glorify the oldest profession, but my feeling is that they were a real part of our history, & shouldn't be forgotten. They helped settle the West, especially Alaska & California histories.
Then there are the dolls that were given to me.
And the bagains I just couldn't pass up. These 2 native Alaskan made dolls I paid about $20.00 a piece for.

& more bargains...my little black folk dolls,

I got them for a song,
at a little antique shop..
in Muskegon, Michigan, & I love them. They live in my kitchen.
So I guess I do collect dolls, among collections of many other things, but honestly the only thing I ever intentionally collected was rocks, sand & thimbles!

I've always lived in small houses, & don't like to spend money on useless items & "Dust collectors", as my Mom always called knick-knacks. I really didn't set out to collect, but it seems to have happened. Someday I'll have a bid yard sale, or start selling on Ebay, or my kids will when I die....until then I've got STUFF! & lots of it! How about you folks? What have you collected?

Oh, & the dishwasher news...a very nice guy from Meile in SanFrancisco called me today. He reassured me, that if the dishwasher isn't perfect once the repair guy works on it again, they will replace it free of charge with the newest, best upgraded model. I am happy!

Oh! & the name for the baby girl....Emily Marie. The Em for my sister who gave her to me, & Marie for our Mom.

Gifts

My dear, sweet, whacky sister Em sent me a surprise package in the mail. It's a Girl! I honestly found it a little bit freaky when I opened it. It looked so much like a dead baby laying in a casket. I lost a child about this size, so believe me, I know what they look like!
But when I picked her up, & held her, I cried.

She has soft mohair eyelashes, & fuzzy hair on her head. I'm not sure what to name her yet. At least she doesn't require hiring a babysitter, or diapers, & I'll never have to worry about who she's dating.

My new iron came today! That made me happy. I hope I love it as much as my old one. The one thing I noticed that's different, & I think I'm not too crazy about it, is the sole plate is different. It has more holes & grooves. I liked the flat center on my old iron. When fusing fabric flat is sometimes better than steam holes.
Another little gift I noticed today is this magnet of kitties drinking from a bowl. My DH says he has no idea where it came from. The bowl is one that my friends Trace & Dave gave me, from an old restaurant here in Anchorage. I keep water in it here for Broc to drink when he's in my studio with me. So where did the magnet come from? Mindy, or Judy? Was it you?

WIP Wed Not much progess here

Ok, I know it's supposed to be WIP Wednesday. Sorry folks for not having much to show. I spent all day Sunday working on my Cristmas cards. I got them finished. I wrote a short poem, printed it, & then made cards, embossing them & making a lovely glittery snowlike mess in my studio.
On Saturday we went to a wedding reception. It was supposed to be the wedding, but we read the time on the card wrong, & arrived in time for the reception! Ooops! This picture is our good friends Trace & Dave Walker. It was their daughter Melissa who was the bride.
Dave is the best cookie baker in Anchorage. He owns Illusions Bakery & supplies cookies for a lot of the coffee bars in town. The wedding had a snowflake theme. It was very pretty.


Adam is in the Air Force, & they will be shipping out to Germany next month. Melissa's dress had furry trim. It was so pretty.

The beautiful cake was made by Adam's mom who used to be a professional baker. The frosting was realllly good!
When Dave danced with his daughter, we all ended up crying. It was a really sweet moment. He married Trace when Melissa & her brother were just little kids, & he'd been a great Dad to them. He really married the whole family when he married Trace.

Things lightened up when the grandgirls started dancing with their grandpa.

Aurora Postquards

These are multi-layered , starting with handdyed fabric that I used Shiva stick rubbings on, then hand painted old lace & painted fusible webs (2 kinds), hand painted silk chiffon, & some Angelina fibers.

These are 4 postquards I made for my Art Meme. I realized I needed a 5th when I finished putting these in envelopes, but I think I'll wait until my new iron gets here, because right now I'm having a heck of a time pressing anything, & my Timtex needs steaming before I can use it.

My old faithful Rowenta steam generator iron bit the dust, & can't be revived again, so I ordered a new one from Joann's on line. They were on sale, & the shipping was free, so it was the best deal I could find. I can't wait until it gets here.

Consumer Warning! Miele Dishwasher!

My least favorite household chore is washing dishes. When we started our remodel I looked for a dishwasher that would last the rest of my life, be quiet & a low water user. I thought I'd found the best. I paid top dollar for it. Decided I wanted this worse than my granite counter top & a new refridgerator. Those things could wait. So, do you see the dishes stacked up here? My cuticles are cracked & bleeding.
My lovely fancy dishwasher is NOT WORKING, AGAIN! The Miele people have not responded to my complaints other than an email to tell me the repair man would be contacting me within 24 hours. I feel like I should put Darren the repair guy on my Christmas list! He's a nice guy, but we've had to spend way too much time together.

See no dishes in there? It's certainly not using much water! & it doesn't make a sound! So I can't complain there, now can I!!!

I really think for the amount of money I spent on this machine that Miele should replace it. I should not have to wait another day for more parts to be sent. It's been broken for more time than not, I haven't even used it for a whole year. They are replacing the motor next. It apparently has not been right from the beginning. Don't you think for a machine that you pay > $1700.00 for you shouldn't have to get a rebuilt????!!!!!IT"S A LEMON!!!!!!