Sunshine Bloggers Award

I received a very nice note from Suzanne who had received a Sunshine Award for “bloggers who inspire others with positivity and creativity.” Part of the rules for accepting the award is to pass it on to 12 other bloggers and she included me on her list. Thanks, Suzanne!!

I absolutely love Suzanne’s blog and it certainly seems appropriate that she was recognized. However, I am not sure why she selected me as one of her recipients given the crankiness I display from time to time. It is times like this when I wonder if she is a closet drinker a bit eccentric.  But that doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate it – it sure brought a smile to my face.

The rules for accepting the award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
2. Pass the award to 12 bloggers.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

On Suzanne’s blog, she said that choosing 12 people to pass on the award is tough. My first thought was how fortunate I am that, unlike that lush Suzanne, I know right off the top of my head exactly who I want to pick. However, as I ran through the possibilities, I realized what she meant. It is really hard to narrow it down and it took some time to think about it.

So… {{{drum roll}}} twelve bloggers that inspire others with positivity and creativity are:

1. Nancy -  Nancy's sly humor has me rolling every time I read her post.  I think laughing is a good way to get the juices rolling to create. 

2. Bilbo -  A personal favorite from across the pond. She actually has a couple of blogs and in addition to being a quilter, birder and dog lover who understands, she is an incredible gardener and voice of reason with good sense. Reading her blogs leave me feeling grounded to the earth and home for some reason – a great mindset to let loose creativity.

3. Elsie - She does quilty and needlework things not necessarily my first preference but is just so good I keep going back for more. She keeps things interesting and I always learn something and/or leave her blog with a smile.

4. Linda,  - Linda also can be counted on to provide me with my color fix, and art outside my comfort zone dished up with intelligence and wit. She's got it all, baby!

5. Amy - Amy is an amazingly prolific quilter, Samoyed mama, goat farmer, knitter in the making and I suspect my twin, separated at birth (Sadly, I suspect I am the evil twin). 

6. Miriam from Down Under – an easy, easy choice! I wish she were my sister except she lives too far away and I would be fretting about that.

7. Sherry – oh, this one is also easy. She cracks me up and that always puts me in the mood to be creative.  She'll tell it like it is, Honey. 

8. Mikol – another obvious choice – not only a marvelous quilter but someone who reminds you that there is a community at large who shares your passion.
 
9. Kathi – so artistic! Some of her posts are absolute eye candy.  As good as chocolate, if that were possible.  Darn close, let me tell ya. 

10. Shirley – my oh my – ART QUILTS!! Need I say more?  No!

11. Ranette – my fellow Okie who is so talented and giving and I was so excited to finally meet her when I moved back home. She is just as nice in person and her quilts make me melt.

12. Stephanie -  Stephanie always manages to find beauty and humor in everything, and if she ever retires as a nurse, she could take up being a mental health guru – she has it all together and puts it all in perspective.

Okay, I thought that would be easier than it was. Choosing just 12 really is tougher than it looks, even sober.  These guys regularly make me laugh, make me think and make me count my blessings.

And now, I'm off to comment on those 12 blogs. Thank you, Suzanne, for thinking of me. And stay off the sauce…


Happy Quilting,

Penny, Evelyn and Pearl

Internet Mary

Yesterday, I finished the barn quilt top but expressed angst over the yard and the sky. By the time I’d finished writing it, I had pretty much made up my mind to redo the yard but leave the sky alone. It wasn’t that I was happy with the sky, but with all those points on the trees, I didn’t feel like messing with it.

I received a number of helpful comments from nice people, both on the blog and elsewhere. I particularly appreciate no one writing that it really sucked, not even that nasty spammer who keeps leaving links to some p*rn site that allegedly has pictures of the girlfriend who just broke up with him via e-mail so he is allegedly getting even by posting all her nekid pictures.


Sigh.

I’d break up with him, too. And there would be pictures plastered all over although chances are, they would be of the crime scene when I was done with him.

Of course, it is all made up and pitched to energetic young men and sneaky middle aged ones.   Or Tiger Woods - not that he needs commercial p*rn sites since he apparently has the actresses on retainer.  The spammer's arrival has made what used to be an easy back and forth between me and comments into sort of a pain. So if I have not answered you, please don’t think it has been on purpose. Chances are, I am having to approve or reject incoming messages and even though yours is approved, it then is a little more complicated to go back and comment on it, particularly if I am “approving” it from my iphone while out running errands.  Sometimes I forget.  I need to up my Ginko.

Anyway, I got an e-mail from Internet Mary about my barn quilt. Internet Mary is a member of my Samoyed Owners Group and we correspond via e-mail and a yahoo group. She is a member of the same group where I met Julia, Blind Willie and Tarka. I call her Internet Mary so husband knows who I am talking about. We don’t know any other Marys but when I used to just say, “Mary said…” He would interrupt and say “WHO!!??????” (even though he knows good and well who I am talking about). We used to go through a dance of:

Me: “Taff’s mom.”

Him: “You don’t know if her name is really Mary. She could be a fat old man on one of those little scooters paid for by Medicare with too much interest in the neighborhood children.”

Me: “She’s a she. I can tell by the way she writes.   Besides, I’ve seen pictures of Taff.”

Him: “Whoever it is may well have an unhealthy interest in pictures!”

Sigh.

Eventually, we met her, her sweet husband, Taff and their new furbaby, Tootsie, in person. Internet Mary really is who she says she is. She is one of the best writers I’ve ever read, has a killer sense of humor and has unexpectedly and significantly enriched my life. She tells a story better than anyone I’ve ever met and a lot of of her yarns are on her website.  She fell down the rabbit hole that is the Samoyed world when Taff showed up as a baby foundling in the midst of some terrible storms and flooding. Go look at his website and see how awful he looked. They thought he was a coyote. They had no idea what he was. They actually thought he was a she.   I think even the vet missed it. 

Now, I have learned that if I just say, “Mary said…” Husband will interrupt and demand to know, “Mary who???” (We still don’t know any other Marys). I have learned that if I call her Internet Mary, he will generally let it go or ask, “You mean Taff’s mom?”

Sign. He messes with my mind on purpose.

Anyway, Internet Mary is a whiz at photoshop or some such program (she can also track down ANYTHING on the internet and could repair the space shuttle, neuter an unanesthetized cat or cook a standing rib roast with just duct tape). She sent me the following doctored photo and suggested I go with a blue sky, leave the “barnyard” alone ("It looks just like a barnyard!”" and added if it were her, she'd appliqué in a chicken or two.

Sigh. She’s right about the sky.

Not about the chicken, though. That is not going to happen.

And even though she thought the “barnyard” looked just like a barnyard, in real life that is actually a driveway. And when I think “barnyard,” I think pigs in the mud. So maybe I just THINK no one told me the barn quilt sucked!

So I yanked off the sky.

Kinda sorta looks like that tornado I was scheming on came through. 

Then I replaced it with that blue Stonehenge fabric by Northcott.

It sort of screwed up the trees but I am glad I did it. Husband came in to take a look at it and liked it because now you could see the "mountains" better.

Sigh.

Notwithstanding Internet Mary’s advice, I decided to change the pigsty lawn, too. 

I am still not thrilled with it but I do like it better. Frankly, now I think it looks like a wheat field. I still don’t like that patch on the right hand side but not enough to do anything with it, today.  Sadly, I don't think it is nearly as interesting as the first version but I learned some things and that was most of the point.

So, Before:

After:

Definitely more boring.  I feel like I've sold out...

My quilting buddy stayed with me all the time I was working on it so at least she isn't holding it against me.

That Evelyn!

She’s a good girl.

Happy Quilting,

Penny, Evelyn and Pearl

First Draft of the Barn Art Quilt Completed

I spent a good part of the day holed up in my sewing room working on my barn quilt.  There was one spot that I had decided I would just "wing it" on before I ever even cut out the pattern.  That was a mistake.  That two inch square area was what took about 5 hours to stitch, rip, restructure, re-rip, etc.  The rest was easy.  I decided to not mess with the windows on the side of the barn although that would have looked more interesting.  I will save that for a project that I do after I am more proficient. 
Recall that I used this as my model:

And here is the quilt:

The contrast between the blue and the neutral in the sky is more extreme than I want and looks either like mountains or sunrays or an explosion or something.  If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't use the neutrals in the sky - I'd stick with a number of shades of blue.    But I would still use a patchy background rather than something flat.  Actually, there is a blue fabric on the upper righthand side (Stonehenge by Northcott) that  I can see using for all of the sky because it has so much texture in it, on its own. 

This project contains an uneasy mixture of symbolic (the trees), artsy (the sky), and a stab at realistic (the barn). I don't even know what to call the yard other than weird.   The yard needs to be softer where the colors change.   I will probably redo it wth softer colors.  It wouldn't be hard, at all, because I can really just go with a sort of patchy look like the sky (only this time I wouldn't do such extreme mixes).

All in all, I am very happy with it. 

And look at THIS!!!

My darling daughters (two natural, one brought into the family by my wise son) are taking a knitting class, together.  They sent a picture of their home work!   I am not sure why they all used the same color unless the instructor told them to or they were going cheap on yarn.  Going cheap would come naturally for at least two of them.  I am mightily impressed.  One of them sheepishly confessed that she worked on hers in the car on the way to class, which is why it isn't as big.  She, of course, got the requisite mom lecture about doing her homework on time, but I think they are all just spendid.  I hope they teach me! 

Our snow from the Spring Equinox blizzard is all but gone.  I am not sorry to see it go.   I'm glad I had a fun project to work on.  I absolutely love the fabric for the roof. 

Busy week, ahead.  Tuesday, I have an orientation to volunteer at the local low cost spay/neuter clinic.  Wednesday, we close on our Virginia house (we'll be doing it long distance but I need to be here in case they need anything).  I hope the new owners love it as much as we did.  They are really going to luck out on neighbors.  Thursday, I have a quilt guild meeting and on Friday, my best girlfriend and I are planning on spending the day at the Medieval Fair like a couple of teenagers.  It is nice to have something scheduled.  I have really enjoyed my downtime but having something specific to look forward to and/or plan for is nice, too. 

Happy Quilting,

Penny, Evelyn and Pearl