A Fabulous Week At QSDS!

Carol Soderlund (pictured above) taught a workshop that was everything I'd hoped for and more, and I'm pretty sure everyone in the class felt the same way. When was the last time you spent seven days in a room with nineteen women and never heard a single complaint? Okay, you can't count heating or air conditioning issues.

The days at QSDS flew by while we dyed 1,029 different swatches of cotton, plus a variety of larger pieces using techniques we learned in the class. Here are all of us next to our sample boards.

Everybody sing along:

Ninety-nine buckets of dye to be mixed,

Ninety-nine buckets of dye,

Take one down, stir it around,

Ninety-eight buckets of dye to be mixed.

No cats or sneezing allowed!

We could hardly wait to start assembling The Book, and, incredibly, by the end of the third day, all 1,029 colors had been dyed, cut, labeled and distributed among ourselves, ready for taping into our huge reference books. Here, Carol demonstrates the proper taping procedure with some Magic Pointer Finger action.

Ooooohhh, aaahhhh!

I'm so glad that taking this class was my New Year's Resolution. It was lots more fun than losing 40 pounds!

Oops, I Did It Again

Motocactus magnificus--and isn't it?

This cactus had three tiny buds last week and now...

Oh, noooooooo!

I feared this would happen. First I joined a cacti and succulent group. Then I poked fun at them. Then I found myself shopping for new succulent plants. Then, and this is the part I feared most--I made a label for the pot: "pleiospilos nelii." Yes, I've stooped to labeling succulents. The next thing you know, I'll be trying to grow them from seed. I wonder if there is a support group. I could organize one. CSA--Cacti and Succulents Anonymous. Anyway, after I planted the five pleiospilos nelii into a pretty red pot, I covered the sand and gravel with my best aqua pebbles. Somebody stop me!

Texas Star Hibiscus

When I bought this plant last year, I asked the owner of the nursery if it was the "infamous Texas star hibiscus." She laughed and said it was indeed. This plant's leaves look so much like marijuana leaves that supposedly some gardeners have been "busted" for growing it.

Mine started blooming this week and it has gobs of buds. It's between five and six feet tall, so if you get one, allow plenty of room!

It's appropriately named because it has star shapes front, back and center and the leaves are stars, too (well, sort of). It dies to the ground in winter but comes back with a vengeance in the spring.

This agapanthus cracks me up! It is trying so hard to open, but it looks like it is wearing a little bonnet.

The one next to it is almost open. The color is just spectacular!

My Father's Encyclopedias

While cleaning my sewing room, I came across my father's 1934 World Book encyclopedias, as well as my own 1961 Collier's edition. He was 10 years old when he got his books and I was 11. My grandmother kept his until she felt I was old enough to take good care of them. As a child, I spent many hours carefully turning the yellowed pages, studying the odd photos and drawings. Look how much bigger the 1961 stack is than the 1934! Oh, and to the left is a dictionary that was a gift from a guy I was dating in 1979, right before I met Mike. How many people you know have received dictionaries as a token of affection?

In the 1934 World Book, there is only one entry for "World War" because, of course, there had been only one prior to 1934. Here is a photo of the "Leaders of the Allied Powers" and the "Leaders of the Central Powers."

The section on Frank Lloyd Wright is one short paragraph, and begins: "Wright, Frank Lloyd (1869- )" because he was still living, as was Orville Wright (1871- ). Interesting stuff.

He actually said, "You people need to get a life."

But when Mike saw our inchies (okay, mostly inch and one-halfies) he said, "Those are cute. I like that one...and that one...and," well, you get the picture.

Here are the ones I made (above).

Here are the ones I received in exchange. I just love them! I think I'll use some invisible thread and hand-sew the corners of the inchies to a background and put them in a shadow box.

Having A Bad Feather Day

I think he's using a new product called "Nest Head."

Dinner Time!

This very chubby squirrel has discovered our bird feeder near the kitchen window. She sees us watching her, but she is not afraid.

Shopping Is Hard Work

Buying groceries is hard work, but Jake says, "I can do it all by myself!"

Did I Mention That I Love George?

I love my APQS George, that is. It stitches like but-tah! Plus, it takes me about one-fourth the time to quilt a piece as it did on a small machine because I don't have to keep rearranging the quilt constantly. Sometimes I like to use an old wooden embroidery hoop (a) to keep the layers nice and tight and flat, and (b) the hoop is a great handle to hold for moving the quilt. I split the inside ring so that I could slip it past the machine needle easily. The bottom ring is already split so it doesn't have to be tweaked. I put it the bottom ring on the machine bed first, spread the quilt over it, slide the top ring over it, smooth the layers, and push the top ring inside the bottom and start quilting. When I get too near the edge of the hoop, I slip the inner hoop up and rearrange the quilt.

Waiting For A Handout

I think that if I stood very still on the patio for a few minutes, with a handful of bread crumbs, these little critters would eat right out of my hand! The tiny squirrel (notice how he poses for the camera) is the king of the mountain, chasing away everyone except the jay, who gets to eat when he wants while the squirrel sits nearby and barks pitifully.