Alphabet Book

This summer, I decided to try my hand at making a quilted alphabet book for Mia.

I didn't really know how to do it, but I tried it anyway, and here are some sample pages:


















I had a jolly time going through my stash of fabrics to find letters and pictures to illustrate them.









I printed the words onto ink jet printer prepared fabric sheets, cut them out, and machine stitched them on the pages with a buttonhole stitch done with red thread.










On the back cover, I made pocket for a little book or some crayons.

I'm pretty sure Mia liked it because she stuck it right into her mouth.

Pictures and Picasso

I stole this photo of Mia from her Daddy's Flickr page. He's a really good photographer, I think. (Of course, I am a bit biased.)

This photo says everything anyone would need to know about Mia. Funny. Happy. Lively. Cute.



I saw a quote recently by Pablo Picasso that I think about sometimes to jump start my day:
"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."

So, it's off to the studio....

Yippity Skipity-It's Time for the Fair

Today, we went to the Oregon State Fair. It's always great fun to see all the stuff there, eat some junk food, scope out the livestock, and listen to the sales pitches.






































And you can never be sure which buddies you might see there, that you can hang out with for awhile.

Berry Blast

After a few days of rain, we're getting back into the beautiful Oregon summer.

This morning, I picked a peck of blueberries and a few Marionberries from our garden. Phoebe had to check them out.

We've had a HUGE crop of berries this year, so I'm freezing some, and making stuff with others. I made a berry crisp last night from my favorite recipe.

As you can see, we make short work of this yummy stuff.


CYNTHIA'S BERRY CRISP

4 cups berries
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter, softened

Preheat your oven to 375.

Put the washed berries in a baking dish. (10" x 10" or so is good).
Blend the dry ingredients. Then rub the butter in with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle this over the berries.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. This is good alone, but even better with vanilla ice cream.
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This past weekend, Josh and Lori were here with my ever-so-perfect granddaughter Mia. Isn't she a doll?

I adore her and wish I could see her more, but she lives in Portland.

Hi Everybody...I'm Baaaack!

Well, the few months vacation from blogging turned into almost a year. Life does have a way of taking over the best made plans, eh?
Recently, I decided to try making a quilt from a photo I took while in Honfleur, France, a little port town in Normandy. Here's the result. It's about 60" x 60".
















My friend Bonnie and I went last week to the quilt show at the Seattle Convention Center. There were some incredible quilts there. Here are a couple that caught my eye:






















Then we spent the rest of the weekend at Bonnie's brother and sister-in-law's house, playing in Leeann's studio with her bags of fabric rejects. Here's Bonnie showing her lovely creation.

BLOG HOLIDAY

Life at this time of year gets way too busy, so I've decided to take a vacation from blogging for awhile.

I'm not sure when (or if) I'll start back up...perhaps in a couple of months.

In the meantime, have a nice safe holiday season, and try not to eat too much!

The Cutess Creechurs

Today, I got to play grandmother. What a little, squeezable, kissable, pat-pat-pat-able, yummy creature is our little Mia.

Take a look: (I look pretty serious, don't I? I was operating my own camera and trying not to mess up.)















Yesterday we had a heckuva wind storm, and wound up without power all day. But this year, we bought a power generator for just such an occasion (it happens a lot out here in the boonies), and it was great. No more melted ice cream, no more going to bed at 5:00 p.m. because there's nothing else to do in the dark, and no more inability to flush the potty because we have an electric water pump. Why did we wait so long to get one of these things?



Hugs to all my loyal readers!

Lazy Days and Sundays

Today is a do-nothing day. I like it. I get to laze around and read, drink tea, and play with Phoebe the cat.

Here are a couple of photos of my most recent quilt. It's about 53" x 74".


Here's a little detail shot.

Artistic Creations

Okay, boys and girls. Since I have no new fanatical fabric work to show you, I will give you a brief lesson on the oh-so-well known French sculptor, Auguste Rodin. These are photos I took on my trip to France, at the Rodin Museum in Paris.

I always thought his figures were mostly like "The Thinker," cast in bronze and very realistic.









But after looking at lots of his scuptures, it was easy to see that the figures weren't actually totally realistic.




Note the oversized hands, feet, and the key the one figure is holding.






















Now look at a couple that he made in marble. They're like figures emerging from a dream. So beautiful and soft looking.
















Now take a look at this incredible figure sculpted and photographed by my son Josh. He had a little bit of help from his wife Lori. They're very talented, don't you think?

Lazy Days and Mondays

Believe it or not, I actually have been doing some work in the studio. Here's the most recent finished product. It's about 66" x68".










I did laundry this morning too, and Phoebe found the way into my to-be-folded pile when it was still warm from the dryer. Far be it from me to disturb her. She's still there.






And just in case you forgot what my son Josh, dauther-in-law Lori, and grandchild Mia look like, here's a pic taken yesterday morning soon after Mia came into the world.