Birthday Girl

Yesterday was my friend Brenda's birthday...I won't tell how old she now is, but if you look at the cake further down you might get a clue ;)

I told her she HAD to come visit us after her son GP took her out for dinner, for what else, cake and ice-cream. There is a lot more to the story and how it all came about is rather quite funny, but perhaps Brenda will tell that tale on her blog...big hint there Brenda!

It was such a glorious day that we decided to eat outside. First came the cake - I just did a French Vanilla box cake, but made the buttercream frosting and put a good deal of lemon zest and juice in it. Can I say it was quite delicious?!! In the middle I put a layer of frosting and raspberry jam, but ran out of jam, so it was half jam and half grape jelly! Hey, sometimes you just make do with what you have, right?!! Then I put some coconut on top and there you have it - a french vanilla, lemon butter-cream, coconut, raspberry jam, grape jelly cake! But it was GOOD!! Really!
Now do you see how old she is?! My daughter looked at the candle arrangement and said, "Mum, is Brenda 77?" "No dear." "99?" "No dear - not quite that old."

Then it was onto the card and present. 2 of Brenda's favorite things happen to be pumpkins and the color orange. Luckily, these two things happen to work very well together! The kids made a card, each drawing their own version of a pumpkin....

And here is the birthday girl opening her present...
Woo Hoo!! Yet another monogram initial! And there is a very funny story about that...Brenda, you tell it! This time it got the special treatment with the addition of pumpkins and binding. But oh the torture of getting it done. I had started to quilt this thing, and had quilted the letter and one of the pumpkins, when I turned it over only to see that I had the backing on inside-out! It took me an hour to unpick what I had done, and I think I cursed continuously that entire hour! But it finally got finished, and I learnt a good lesson. Always check that your backing is the right way out before you start to quilt it!

It was a great night with family and good friends.

The Fabrics Audition

One of my very favorite parts of making a quilt is auditioning fabrics. It often takes me longer than the actual making of the quilt! But it sure is fun, so maybe I stretch it out longer than necessary??!

In the last post I showed you the new (free!) table I got, and the lovely weather. Well now it has been raining for 2 days with more to come, so I am glad we spent time outside while we could. I spent the afternoon outside auditioning fabrics and took a lot of photos of the process so you can see how my mind works!

This will be photo-heavy, so hold on people....

First I cut out a whole bunch of baskets and handles.And now I get to mix'n'match them!

Then I started with a pink handle...which basket would I choose to go with it? Most everything looks good with this pink handle...
Perhaps too much pink here...
oooh I do like these two together...

This one is just OK for me (sounding totally like Randy on American Idol there)...But which did I choose?? None of them! I had this very hard piece of basket fabric to match and it just didn't look right with anything - in other words, the fabric was so garish (probably why I love it so much) that it clashed with everything! But I put it with the pink handle and instantly knew they belonged together...Do I think the basket is the best for the pink handle? No - but I DO think the handle is the best pick for the basket, so they are now a married couple. Aaaawwww!

Next I tried a couple of options for this blue basket...the first you already saw above...This handle isn't strong enough to be a good match with the blue...
But when I saw it with the following handle, I knew I had a match...
Now for another hard to match basket. It's a gorgeous Heather Bailey fabric, but it's been oh so hard to find a good match for it. Once again, this handle isn't a strong enough match...2 garish fabrics do not always a good match make. Sometimes, but like this match, not often...
The yellows are too different to look good...
The handle is too soft and pretty to match the brighter basket...
Hmmm I really like this match, but I LOVED the handle with the blue farther above, so with the blue it will stay.

I am still searching for a love match for this basket. However, I did find the match for the same fabric as a handle, which was equally hard to match. Remember the pink?
And finally for today, here are the options for the pink/grey handle. As I mentioned a couple of times above, it's hard to put this handle with a very strong fabric, so let's see it with a variety of good and bad matches...This one is OK but doesn't make me want to sing...No. Just plain no...Oh gosh no!!!...
Getting better...Hmmm I like this one...But what did I pick?!! This...Though I reserve the right to change my mind to one of the other two good choices!

I hope this was helpful to someone. All I can say is try a hundred different fabrics if you have to, and when you find the right one, you will just know, and get that warm excited feeling inside! And most of all, you must pick what YOU love, not what you think others will approve of. This is a quilt-police-free-zone!

Outside

Today was a lovely day - not too hot, not too cold, so I decided to sit outside with the kids and some lemonade. And of course some quilting:) The rhododendrons at our house are in full bloom this week, so sitting outside is particularly pleasant. Until the bees come in another week or so to do their thing. Just in case you were wondering, thanks to the previous owners, we have a lot of rhododendrons. A lot!



Do you like my new table? I picked it up just this morning from the side of the road for free! I have been looking for a round table, just this size, for just this purpose. I really coudn't have found it at a better time. I am thinking of spray painting the metal base a fun color, and maybe tiling the top. But I do like the current smooth surface..any ideas on how to jazz it up a bit?This is what I could see from where I was sitting...


Anyone know what this little worm will turn into? We were sitting under our red maple and these were falling on the table like crazy. Blech!
I swear I didn't arrange this photo...my youngest boy brought the flower over to me and placed it right there, and said, "Here Mummy!" Talk about melting a mother's heart...
My Sofia had a shower and then joined me at the table with paper and pencil to draw quilt patterns. So Sweet!
Apart from taking in the floral beauty around me, I also did some basket fabric auditioning, so check back in the next couple of days to see that process. I think I may like it even more than the sewing part!

Applique Baskets

I just thought I'd show you the applique I've been working on lately. Yes I have been sewing every day and keeping up with my goal! I thought I'd missed a day at Anna's house until her teenage son reminded me that I had sewn after midnight the night before, so all was good!

These baskets are going into an Anna-designed quilt, and we worked on the layout a bit at her place. Most of the fabrics are Anna's, as I didn't take fabric on the trip. She insisted that I just use what she had, and she has great taste so it was easy to find fabrics I liked in her stash.

Today is just such a glorious day, I had to take them outside and lay them out on my rock wall just to see what I've got...


And this is what happens with one gust of wind...
This has been my American Idol project, and now that it's finished (loved the Kara/Bikini Girl bit!!!!)I will have to find a new show to applique to!