Archive for May, 2009

Crazy For Quilts!

Saturday, May 30th, 2009

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The next step in my Crazy for Quilts! project is to add in the quilts that are spinning around in my head. For them, I headed to my computer. I design in EQ6 and Corel Draw, so I pulled images from quilts in both and printed them out. Some are quilts that have come to fruition, such as the duckie quilt which was taped for a Love of Quilting episode, and others are still wanting to be made. When I was sure the size of the quilts was right I printed them onto printable fabric. Here I’m cutting them out and placing them on the quilt.

~Jodie

Cupcakes: Here Kitty Kitty!

Friday, May 29th, 2009

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These are the lovely coconut cupcakes, or what was left of them, when I thought to take a photogrpah of them. And then along came…

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… Rimsky. Ah, cream cheese frosting! Prrrow! (We’d had enough anyway.)

~Jodie

Bling Comes For Dinner

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

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Bling had an absolute BLAST in his first visit to my house. And then fell asleep on Mom’s shoes under the table.

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Rachel feel in love at first glance. (He looks big in this pictiure but it’s becuase he’s close to the camera.)

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But to Bling, Mommy is #1!

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Higgins truly is the best dog in the universe. He’s getting over the new baby jealousy syndrome and is starting to play with Bling.  Here he’s saying to me, Please can I have an overnight with you?” He loves to stay at my house because we hike in the woods and he gets to go swimming in streams. And he loves Manny. But then, who doesn’t? ;)

~Jodie

Memorial Day Table Arrangement

Monday, May 25th, 2009

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A blurry photo of an arrangement cut from the garden. I had pruned a Japanese maple and some loropetalums, and they needed something white, so off I went to snip laurel blossoms. It turned out nicely! And let the roses remain outside. 

~Jodie

Huh?

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

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As I was brushing my teeth in my room at the Marriott in Pittsburgh the label on the hand towel hanging by the sink caught my eye.

Centium Core Technology? Is that quad or duo?

Here’s what the web site has to say:

“Centium Core Technology is a patent-pending weaving technology available exclusively in sheeting products manufactured by Standard Textile. Utilizing proprietary Optimized Polymer Performance Enhancement engineering, Centium Core Technology sheets and pillowcases offer a sensuously soft feel, combined with the strength and durability previously unattainable in hospitality sheeting products.

In addition Centium Core Technology sheets and pillowcases are engineered to deliver exceptional whiteness retention, superior stain release characteristics, and the ultra smooth hand of a true single pick construction. Moreover, Centium Core Technology products retain a remarkably exquisite feel throughout their extended service life.”

Appeared and felt like any other towel to me. And it didn’t make Windows boot up any faster.

~Jodie

We’ve Been Blinged!

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

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Mom has a new puppy!

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Bling is a Bichon Frise, almost nine weeks old now.

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It all started last week when mom took Higgins, her Norwich Terrier (the BEST DOG EVER!) into PetsMart. There she and Higgins saw the cutest puppy having his socializing time there with his breeder. Mom fell in love and, well, you softies know the rest of the story.

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Cassie and Bling want to play, but Cassie stepped on Bling’s foot last night so she’s being very careful of him. He’s still a fairly awkward little thing, but in a short time they’ll figure it out.

Higgins’ nose is a bit out of joint, but the experts say it’ll take about two weeks. Higgins has had other housemates and loves every dog he meets, so he’ll warm up once the puppy isn’t so puppyish.

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I can’t wait to see what Manny thinks of the puppy when they meet this weekend!

~Jodie

Quilt Market: Pittsburgh Penguins

Monday, May 18th, 2009

 

penguin1We arrived on Pittsburgh for Quilt Market on the afternoon of a Penguin’s game. Our hotel was right across the street from the stadium. As we headed out to dinner we came across people attired in Penguin t-shirts, sweatshirts, and caps. But this fan outdid everyone else. He kindly posed with Jayne and me for Ivan to snap a picture.

~Jodie

Started My Crazy for Quilts! Entry

Monday, May 4th, 2009

The Alliance for American Quilts is having a fun contest to support their very worthy mission. In fact 100% of the proceeds of the eBay auction of the quilts will go to the Alliance. Your quilt need only be 16″ square, so why not join me in making one? The deadline in June 1, so we have plenty of time.

Crazy for Quilts! entrants are encouraged to draw inspiration from one or more aspect of the crazy quilt: design, color, fabric, surface embellishment, history or some other aspect of this style that you want to celebrate. There’s room in this contest for all kinds of crazy-from traditional approaches to art quilts.

My idea is that my head is a constant whirlwind of quilts vying to be made. “Make me!”

“No,make me first!”

This is my first rough sketch:

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The next step was to draw the head to size: 

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Then I traced the shapes onto Steam a Seam 2, cut them out, and pressed them to fabrics, then cut along my traced lines. Now I have the beginning of my design.

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As you can see, my “helper” arrived on the scene about then. It was time to take the dog for a hike and think about dinner anyway. Turned off the iPod and the light. This was such a fun hour, I can’t wait to work on it some more!

~Jodie