Things I love today!

My new sink, faucet and counter + Rainier cherries...

I have never fully appreciated these lovely cherries before, I have always been a Bing girl.... WOW, these are amazing and put the dark reds to shame.  This is what a cherry should taste like. 
Insects in my backyard... Celery gone to flower...attracts ladybugs, who knew?
Artichokes gone to flower (click to enlarge)... can you count the bees in this picture??  There were a lot of them, more than I have ever seen in one flower.  I must say it made me happy that my lazy gardening this year is providing such a wonderful habitat to my pollinator friends.

JMB 

One joyous wedding and a piano to soothe you!

OK, watch this video...
Maybe it is just the pregnancy hormones, but they were so joyous that it just made me weep. It looks like a great wedding and a fun group of people.

And then yesterday I saw this on Ali Edwards' blog...and I just love it...

I like when people have a grand time and enjoy themselves and then do something a little bit different.  It just makes me so happy.
JMB

What happens when you marry your best friend?
Times and events are what they are, but you are never alone in experiencing them.
You see how delicate life is, appreciate it, but it is not so scary... and then you can laugh about it later!
There is someone to hold your hand when you see something that takes your breathe away, when you look upon your first baby's face, when you see your second baby take his first steps far too soon, while you wait for your third baby to come to live with the family that you have made together.
Marrying your best friend means that after 12 years of marriage that you can still spend an evening together and learn something new and exciting.

Happy Anniversary!

(Pictures were from Saturday 7.19.09, a lovely evening at a local vineyard.)

JMB

Finished a few things today... hooray!

Do you ever undertake projects that are super easy, but cool, and then never sit down to do them?  These shirts and Pjs have been shuffling around my craft room since last year!  I think the T-shirts might be from last summer...embarrassing.  Maybe I thought that the whole concept of dressing them up a bit was too easy and I could just finish it "anytime".  For me that sometimes means "never" and then I get frustrated because there are so many projects that I want to do like this....I just never start them.  Maybe this is the start of "nesting" but man, it feels so good to get something off of the "to-do list"...8 somethings.  Yay me!

Can I be frank for a moment?  We have been living without a functioning kitchen for over a month.  We have been without a stove for 3 weeks.  It hasn't been that bad, we have been laughing about how great the new kitchen will look... we have been getting fun "take-out" for dinner and sometimes lunch.  Sometimes I take the kids out for breakfast and we all LOVE that...

I am so done!  Yesterday, our flooring was supposed to be installed and then we were going to have a stove AND a refrigerator AND a running sink, ALL in the same room.  We got home and looked at our beautiful new floor and  ARE you supposed to have a long, blackish, raised seam in the middle of the room when a "professional" is installing the marmoleum??  Are you???  I could let it go if I was the one doing the installing, because I am NOT A PROFESSIONAL!  Also if I had to deal with myself it would have been WAY more pleasant than the two men that came to do the floor... can you say rude??  Condescending??  Not very nice people??  They were all of those.  AND I have had it!  I am hugely pregnant, I am sick of eating food prepared by other people, and I am sick of having rude men come in to my home and then having to pay them and smile about it.  

Serenity NOW!

I just want people to do their job, well, and with a little bit of kindness.  Is that so wrong??

OK, 

The crab is done.  These are small potatoes compared to so many things.  I am a blessed woman.

One small note:

Last week I had a bit of a small scare on the baby front...just some higher than usual blood pressure, but it merited more testing.  I am happy to report that the blood tests all came back normal and that is a LOAD off my mind!

JMB

Sisters gallery almost finished!

What a fabulous show!  I am almost done mentally processing all of the greatness that I saw last weekend...almost.  This quilt I saw from a block and a half away and had to go and see it.  I believe that the challenge theme this year was "The Power of Red".  This collection of reds just glowed.  I have uploaded a gallery to Flickr to inspire and tantalize you.  Unfortunately, I can not identify all of the wonderful makers, but I do think that great quilts should be shared.  If you are one of the pictured quilt makers, please leave a comment here or on the Flickr page and accept my thanks for your beautiful work!

JMB

Doll Quilt #7 ALERT!!!

Just a quick note, while I continue to sort my Sisters quilt show photos...this could be a 2 post day...

The Doll Quilt Swap #7 is doing sign-ups RIGHT NOW!!!!  If you want to try your hand at a small quilt swap this is a great one.  It is a great group of people, great sneak peeks, discussion, photos...basically ALL OF IT IS SO FUN!  If you are interested here is the link to the Flickr group and all of the sign-up info is there. 

Enjoy!

JMB

Just a few more words...I am EXHAUSTED!

I will write more about my classes after I return home.  I need time to assimilate my thoughts and try to figure out what this week meant to me.  I uploaded a bunch of photos to Flickr if you want to see more quilts done by these FABULOUS womens (Gwen's words, I swear!)
I  was totally taken by this style of basket handle.  We were doing a solids class, but Gwen still took the time to explain to me how she put this together, that is just the kind of fantastic teacher that she is.  I would take another class with her in a heartbeat.
We both look a bit dazed in this picture, but hey, it was a long day!  I was so pleased with this palette... not my usual colors.  Gwen does such amazing hand quilting that I am inspired to think about trying some hand quilting on this piece.  Maybe...

Here is a pic from my Liberated wedding ring quilt class, today.  (Yes, I am wearing the same outfit.  I washed it...and it was really comfortable to sew in.  I am ALL about comfort these days.)  Freddy was a wonderful teacher also.  I took this quilt to show her and she gave me the reaction that I had been craving since I first made it.  She just loved it, the little stars... all of it, I felt about 100 ft tall.  (I had shared it at my guild, but I don't feel like I have that many kindred spirits in terms of quilting style.  My classmates were so complimentary also...sometimes a little peer praise is a boon to your creative soul.)  One thing that Freddy said is that she tries to take 2 classes a year herself.  To keep her artistic muscles current and growing, but to also be a more sympathetic/empathetic teacher.  I really respect that.  And if you are curious, she is really just as cute in person as she looks in her pictures.

Gwen did express her immense gratitude to Tonya and all of her bloggety minions (really cohorts) who helped convince Gwen's publisher to reprint her Liberated Quiltmaking book.  That was cool.

Oh and did I mention that I met a blog friend and now she is a real life friend?  Kristin, from Knit One Quilt Too, was in my class on Wednesday, sitting right in front of me.  I recognized her from her pics on her blog and overcame my original shyness and said "Hi."  She was so nice and had brought her Halloween bouquet quilt.  It even looks better in person!!!  Also, I kept peeking at her solids piece that she worked on in class and it is a beaut...I can't wait to see it finished.

Kristin alerted me to the the blogger's bandanna brigade tomorrow at the quilt show.  Basically, if you are going to be in Sisters, wear a red bandanna somewhere on your person, then we can say hi to each other.  I have my bandanna and I am going to be looking for you all tomorrow!  I will be the 6 ft tall pregnant lady with the red bandanna, hopefully enjoying the temperate weather (Please not too hot!).  I would love to meet you and then we don't have to be imaginary friends anymore!

JMB

Gwen Marston's class...

One word...

WOW

pics later.

JMB

I like to ride my bicycle...

So I found out from my friend Chickenfoot (Susan) about this cool bike contest.  You too can find out about it by clicking on the picture (I hope it works...)  I would like this bike a lot...it looks like you could throw a couple of boys in there and maybe a baby seat on the back and I would be good for a ride down by river.

JMB

Cozy...

Finally a finish!!!
My Macbook has been naked while traveling and I was worried that it was going to get knocked around and messed up.
I need worry no longer.  It likes it's new cozy home.  I also like being able to take my pretty fabrics along with me.

Have I mentioned lately that I am going insane with excitement about Sisters next week?  I hadn't heard the final confirmation codes and things from the house I am staying in so I started waking up at 4 in the morning to obsess about what I was going to do if my checks hadn't arrived OR the reservation had been cancelled.  Finally after a few days of that I just got out of bed to check my email ONE LAST TIME...and, low and behold, there is was.  I was so happy and was able to go back to sleep.

I have had the wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-anxiety with my other pregnancies, but it has always been related to the birth or baby related things, not quilting.  Weird, I wonder what it means...

I probably will never know.  Have a nice holiday (for those of you out of the U.S., it is our Independence Day holiday.)!

JMB

Journey to the center of the Earth...sorta...

First you think...  

This will be really cool, the kids have been wanting to go to a cave...
Then you think...

What am I doing down here, 7 months pregnant (and pretty clumsy even when not "with child"), slippery shoes, a burning hot propane lantern, synthetic pants...????
Then you look at your oldest when the guide mentions all of the "cave slime"...
And then you are back at the beginning and you think "What fun!"

JMB

P.S.

This now concludes our trip to Sammish Bay and tomorrow's family update could be the State of Our Kitchen--How exciting!!!  But remember the craft sabbatical to Sisters and Bend are coming up next week!!!!

Last night on the Sammish Bay...

We are already back...in our house, with no kitchen or family sunroom...  but the upload times are so fast that I have to revisit the last night of our trip.  

Walking in from skipping rocks...
Checking the coordinates with Grandpa...
Wearing a helmet to walk to the park, but then needing it for his dare-devil stunts...
Not to be out done by a younger brother...
A taste of tether-ball...

Summer nights....

Ahhhhhhh, the memories.

JMB