Hayden

Hayden tried on her new dress the other day. I'm not sure she likes it. What do you think?

Quilters Day Out

Yesterday my guild held a Quilters Day Out. We do this a couple of times a year as a social get together. Typically the organizers have a quilt planned for us to do but the participants don't have to if they'd prefer to work on their own project.

Our project yesterday was a simple mock log cabin that could be made using Jelly Rolls. I don't usually buy Jelly Rolls, but purchased this one by Moda specifically for the class. The colors are fun, but they didn't work out quite right for the pattern. We had samples of a number of different layouts for our blocks and the layout I liked best just didn't work because I didn't have enough lights for a good contrast. I did find one layout that will work and will end up with quite a bright quilt.

It was a fun day and it's always good to spend time with quilting friends.

Another dress for Hayden

This is the dress that took me an entire year to smock because I worked on it so seldom during the year. I finally got it constructed this weekend and it was a big pain to do. The instructions with the pattern were horrible! I actually still need to put the buttons on, but turns out I don't have just the right ones so I'll have to go out for some.

I've been feeling sick on and off since Sunday. Actually got sick yesterday. A few years ago I had a weird virus with nausea that lasted on and off for about 5 days and this sort of feels the same. I'm hoping it won't last that long. I'm feeling better this evening so maybe I've turned the corner! (although when I had it before I lost 9 pounds in those 5 days...hummm...I wonder if it's worth it. NOPE!)

Garment sewing

I don't do garment sewing very well. I was a Home Ec. major in college and actually had to take a clothing construction class, but I'm still not very good at it. (I suppose the fact that I cut most of my clothing classes probably contributed)

The other day I FINALLY finished the smocking on a dress for Hayden. I started the smocking a year ago! I was getting ready to go down to Florida to deal with one of my mother's injuries and hurriedly had a dress pleated up for smocking so I could take it with me on the trip. Since at that time Hayden hadn't even arrived I wasn't in much of a hurry to finish.

After returning from Florida I ended up only working on the dress when I was at my twice-monthly mini-group and sometimes not even then. It got to be a joke that Hayden wasn't going to have the finished dress until her high school graduation.

Last night I started finishing the dress - you know, actually putting it together after finishing the smocking - and I'm having a heck of a time. It has taken me about 4 hours just to get the neckline finished and I still have to do the sleeves. I'm beginning to think delivery of the dress before her high school graduation is pushing it and this thing won't get to her before she finishes college!

Craig's birthday

Yesterday was Craig's 35th birthday. I guess it's time for me to stop saying I'm 39 years old if my baby is now 35! Noah hates it when I call his dad "My Baby!" and always insists that Craig is HIS dad, not MY baby. Craig just rolls his eyes when I call him that.

Here are some photos of my baby when he really was a baby.







The first 3 were taken when he was somewhere between 6 and 12 months old and the last one was taken at his first birthday party. I usually have trouble seeing the resemblance between people, but I do see a little bit of Hayden in the photo of him sitting up in the blue outfit. I love the photo of him in his pram, which was his mode of transportation the entire time we lived in Scotland. Since our fridge was so tiny and had no freezer(you can see it in the corner behind him in his birthday photo) we would have to make a trip to the store almost every day. I would put him in the pram and off we'd go. The shops in town were very small and it was common for the babies in the prams to be just left outside the door while the parents were inside shopping. (although the dogs were allowed in, and you'd see far more dogs than kids in the shops with mom.)
Happy birthday to my baby!

Cooper River Bridge Run

One of the big events in Charleston every spring is the Cooper River Bridge Run. A 10K race over the bridge that spans the Cooper River. The race starts in Mt. Pleasant and ends in downtown Charleston. Yesterday was the 31st running of the race. In the past I have run the race, but that was a number of years and a lot of pounds ago. (and before my knee started giving me problems.) It was always a fun race and it was nice to be in a large enough event that I was not the last finisher. (several times when I would run in smaller races, I ended up being the last person to finish. It's very disconcerting to try to run with the police car signifying the last runner right behind you with the flashers going.)

Jerry and his running buddy John took part in the race yesterday. Unfortunately, Jerry hurt his ankle several weeks ago and could not really run. He ended up walking the distance with John's sister who came to town just for the race.

Here are John and Jerry before the race started. (Jerry is on the right.)

as always, click on photo for a larger view

More Palisades views

Our Pacific Palisades townhouse was up a hill - the area was referred to as the Highlands. We used to watch the fog roll into the canyon and it would actually be below us. It was really cool to look down on the fog. Jerry used to call those houses below our "Whoville." He thought he was funny.















This photo was taken from the end of our street before it went up the hill to our house. It shows where Sunset Blvd. and Pacific Coast Highway meet. (photos are clickable for a larger view)

Vista

We lived in the Los Angeles area (Pacific Palisades)from 2003 to 2005. Pacific Palisades is located next to the ocean between Santa Monica and Malibu. We lived in our rented townhouse for several months before we realized we had an ocean view. On a really clear day (there weren't very many!) we could see Catalina Island. This was the view from the back of our townhouse at sunset. (click on the photo for a larger view and you'll see the island)













While living there, an on-line friend challenged me to make a quilt based on the word "Vista" so I used the photo from our house as inspiration. This piece is only a little bigger than a piece of paper so it was quick to make.














Here's a detail shot.