Cup quilt

I finally brought a few personal things in to work so my space would be a bit more homey. But this is something new!

My cups from lunch were leaving little sweat puddles on my desk & seeing as I always have a ton of paperwork all over...well you already know the point of a coaster!

I used some of the BITTY scraps I had left from making this quilt. After squaring up all the pieces from the quilt I ended up with some one-inch wide strips that I didn't know what to do with. Until I realized that I needed a coaster at work. And what better way to personalize my space than to make one myself!

Funny thing...the cleaning crew put my glass cat paperweight on the coaster after they cleaned one night. Kind of looks like a cat napping on a quilt!

Difference between Kansas & California #241

In Kansas, I kept a blanket in my car because Mom worried that I would get stranded in a snow storm...who am I kidding, we don't have snow storms in Kansas...I should say stranded in an ICE storm.

In California, I keep a blanket in my car so Jacob & I can have impromptu lunch picnics.

This is the beach/picnic blanket I started MONTHS ago & just finished recently. Sadly I didn't have it done in time for Jacob's family's visit or Mom & Bear's visit...& this is the only time it's actually been to the beach. But, lucky for us, another difference between Kansas & California is that now we can go to the beach whenever we want so we have lots of opportunities to take this new quilt with us.

Yes, I still sew...

I started these placemats months ago. They're a gift for some friends who got married...in March. She saw the placemats I made for my sister & requested a set of her own. I have no idea what colors are in her kitchen but apples seemed rather kitchen-y, right? Hopefully she loves them.

For some reason I got stuck on the binding of the last one & just couldn't make myself sit down to finish it. I recently got the bug to finish up some WIPs (Work in Progress). So this makes 1 down, 16 (or so) to go!

(Again, sorry for the quality of photos. I need to remember to actually use my camera sometimes & not my phone!)

I'm not sure why this picture is sideways & I don't know how to fix it...oops.

They are in the mail now & on their way to Jacksonville, Florida! While I feel awful they are getting to her months after her wedding...I know she'll love walking out to the mailbox & finding a gift she wasn't expecting.

And I hear a collective "Poor Jacob" from the crowd

Every year Long Beach plays host to an amazing quilt show: the Long Beach International Quilt Festival. For some reason I thought the show was in the spring & was bummed that by moving here in June I just missed it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it's actually the last weekend of July!

So last Saturday Jacob & I went downtown to the Convention Center & stepped into the craziness that is a quilt show! Jacob was one of four men we saw under the age of 35...& he thought he would be the only one. Ha! Women were EVERYWHERE. I was elbowed & bumped into & stepped on. I'm telling you, fabric hunting is a viscous sport to some people!

After visiting all the vendors (some more than once) we walked through the quilts on display. Here are some pictures of ones I was drawn to:

for their colors (this quilter was inspired by Yellowstone for this quilt),

for their messages (this one addressed society's tendency to fix all problems with pills even though there are possible side affects - the quilting is taken from warning messages on pill bottles),

and because they remind me of home (the 'seeds' are actually little beads & we guess the middle of the quilt must weight several pounds). I thought it was interesting how many of the quilts I was drawn to were so different from what I would think to make myself.

We didn't look at all the quilts because I was exhausted & wanted nothing other than to take a nap! But overall, the quilt show was a success. I got some new patterns that I'm SUPER excited about, some great fabric (for some planned & some unplanned projects), & a magazine I had been hunting for. The highlight of the day was getting to use a long arm quilter for the first time. I was in a bit of a daze after that. It was just simply amazing...I won't continue because only a few of you out there will understand. :)

But just so you know, Jacob did survive. He didn't get lost in the crowds or trampled. In fact, he was praised for being such a wonderful boyfriend & tagging along. I'm pretty lucky!

Go Go Gryffindor!

Last night Jacob & I went to see the last Harry Potter movie & it was a bittersweet thing. It's difficult to say goodbye to characters I've spent so much time with between reading (& rereading) the books & watching (& re-watching) the movies. And with the exception of this movie, I always watch HP movies with my sister before watching with anyone else. Jacob, I love you, but you aren't my sister...

To give this momentous event the respect it deserved, I knew I had to dress up! I didn't go all out (like I did with Pirates of the Caribbean - check out my FB for a picture of that one), but I made myself a Gryffindor scarf! I don't know how to knit (or crochet...never can remember which is which) so I stuck with what I do know: sew! I bought some Dupioni silk & roughly followed this tutorial.

Please forgive the awful quality of this picture. My phone can only do so much in a dark theater.

The atmosphere in the theater was great. Everyone cheered as Mrs. Weasley called Bellatrix a ... & when she ... People giggled when Ron & Hermione ... And the theater applauded Neville as he ...

In hind sight, I should have used some of the extra fabric to make Jacob a Gryffindor tie! Alas, I did not. But maybe I can have one made by the weekend my mom & sister come visit...& we go see the movie again!