A Birthday

I had a birthday a week or two ago… I didn’t/don’t announce those… publicly. Never have. Anyone that is a friend on Facebook knows about this last one….  because some dear friends and some family sent wishes… via Facebook.

I am, alas, not really thrilled about getting older. Yes, things are getting better the older I get, but then there is the whole thing about wanting to live forever, and seeing… that - that won’t be the case. There is so much more to do!!!

This last birthday had a 5 in it… and of course I did a little thinking about birthdays and the age thing… that line of thinking didn’t last very long, once I realized I was going down the wrong path- of melancholy… You know those questions… about the mark you are leaving, your contributions, your legacy…. etc. So I let it all go, changed the channel so to speak! I’d still like to leave a mark… a good mark… do some good… somewhere.

Don’t get me wrong. I had a great birthday!!! this year. I got some cards and letters, a lunch out, a couple of gift certificates that I will put to excellent use!!! My husband gifted me one of the best gifts, though. It is a Web Domain of my own… for my photographs. Everyone says they like/love them.. and I know I do… so I am planning to offer them online. I envision some postcards or greeting cards, some prints… I’m thinking out loud here… so if you are interested in helping me pick some photographs or have a particular favorite…. sound off either in the comments or send an email… (see upper right side bar for a link).

I did get two quilt related (fabric gifts). One from my friend Karen, she blogs here, rather intermittently recently. We belong to an International Fat Quarter Swap group… and generally we send a generous envelope… to one another for the birthday. Some years she sends some of her Hand Dyed or Snow Dyed fabrics… but this year an awesome stripe-y batik that goes from pale green to yellow, and it is more than a FQ! There was also a gray and white… batik with snowflakes falling on it… I can see that as a background for another project similar to the Star “Hunter”… (I don’t know why the pictures from the little Nikon S01 take such gray photos in the Creative Space, but trust me when I say that batik is less yellow and more green).

And from my friend Wolfie, in Sweden, she blogs here sent a really fun envelope!!! In it was a box of chocolates, and as she wrote, not for the chocolate but for the tin they come in!! A box of flavored salts. Big flakes, a plain salt, a lime salt, a paprika salt and hickory salt flavors and while all that sounds great…

The best was a towel with all kinds of mushrooms illustrated by a famous Swedish cookbook author, Märit Huldt. But even better was the meter of fabric, which depicts many of the illustrations drawn by the same cookbook author. My plan is to make some placemats and a table runner from it for the kitchen table!!! Just look at all those funny little illustrations… clipping herbs, checking the pot, presenting the dish, eating, they are all just so cute!!!

I can’t wait to start making!!! All in all it was a very nice birthday!

More Later!!!

Look closely

I have a very good friend, Karen and she has a blog here, who is very artistic, talented and dyes fabrics. Once in awhile I get to be the recipient of one of her fabulous hand dyed pieces.

So recently I took a picture of a sunflower and recently posted it on my blog. (here it is again)

Here is a recently gifted piece of hand dyed fabric from Karen. The note with it said that she dyed it when she was working on her Tulips and Rosie piece in June. Don’t you think it looks like the background of the sunflower?

One of my favorite parts of many of the pictures is the blurred backgrounds… I often wonder how it would interpret in fabric…

I think I have my answer!

and I think this piece is begging to have the sunflower above translated to fabric on this piece of hand dyed fabric as the very true to life background.

Beth

Quilty as Promised!

The Kwetterkwilters are exchanging birthday blocks this year. The first birthday up was Lynette, in the first part of April. The pictures aren’t the best, because I used my phone… but once again… I didn’t have a better camera with me.  The first picture is all the blocks. She received. Can you guess which one I made?

Lynette chose birds as her theme. She did not even restrict if the birds had to be realistic or comic, just birds. There were no other restrictions on her block theme, not size, background or colors. Just it had to be a bird. Her plans are to make a wall hanging. I  think she has a great start.

If this is the block you thought I made, you are right. I chose a stylized peacock, so I could use lots of green and purple fabrics. Both are Lynettes favored colors. The little chicks block is my favorite though.

Lynette was not the only one to receive a ‘quilty’ gift. I received one too. The other Kwetterkwilters presented me with Twinchies back in late October, after I shared my small stash of postcards, Twinchies and 4x4’s. But one was outstanding. Isn’t it just wonderful? Definitely worth waiting for!!!

…. the last quilty project for today.

I have organized a small International Postcard Swap. Total of 21 players. We are just now moving into the last round of the swap. The photo above was my postcard for round one. We have a theme, for those that need/want to produce on a theme. I actually knew what I was going to do… before the theme…. and would have done this anyway. The theme was “Where You Are”. I put a little Swarovski Crystal to represent …Pretoria, South Africa.

These are the postcards I received in Round 1. There are only 5 displayed because one refuses to arrive. The maker has made 2 and mailed them both. They only have to come across town… but…. they don’t get here! She has said that the 3rd one will NOT be mailed. For many of the participants of this swap, it is their first try at postcards. I say WoW!

And if you are still with me. This is my 2nd Round postcard. The theme was ‘Plant’.  A native plant here is the Aloe. There are so many different varieties.  Mostly red or yellow flowers, long stiff leaves with a serrated edge. I also entered this postcard for the ‘Teeny Tiny “Bling Your Thing” Challenge’ over at IHAN there are 4 or 5 pages of entries, use the Archive to find all the pages (1/2 way down on the left side of the page).

Tonight we unveil our next 12” x 12” challenge. PASSION. I can’t wait to see what we have all come up with for that!

More Later- Beth

PS- Thanks everyone for all the comments on my Sad Post, they really helped! The void isn’t nearly as big and I am thinking of making a fabric portrait… from the posted photo.

Good Friends!

Let me start by saying we have some really great friends, both here and at home.

Just before Frank came home a surprise box from the US came in the mail. It was a care package from our friends from Durban, Carl and Brenda. They were stationed here for 2 years and we spent lots of time with them last year when I visited DH in Durban. We saw many of the sights with them. They are now home in Texas and settled back at life in the US.

Carl and Brenda have been sending small boxes of fun … periodically since we got here. Unfortunately I have been unable to blog about them… mostly because they seem to arrive just as we are going (to Kruger)… and most of the contents go with us and are consumed before I even get a picture!!! But not so this last time. I have a picture and I have delivered the other items in the box so I don’t even have to worry about spoiling the surprise for others.

The box contained a short letter and some pictures of their new house, some popcorn, DD coffee, gum, pretzel snacks and trail type mixes. Needless to say some are already gone or in the process of being gone!!!

Not only that, but last month a mystery magazine arrived. Of course it was a quilty magazine, that they surprised me with. Not just one but a subscription!!! Since it has been more than a year since I saw a US Quilt magazine it was quite a wonderful surprise!

Last weekend we had the opportunity to deliver the gifts to Fanie and Elmarie. They invited us to dinner on Sunday. It was great. There was a ton of food! Lamb roast and gravy, chicken stir-fry, rice, broccoli, roasted potatoes and butternut fritters, as well as desserts. In addition to Farnie and Elmarie, the kids were there, Heliza, Thornton and Tristan, but we also got to meet, Farnies brother, sister in law and his mother!!! We really feel like part of the family now. No pictures because I didn’t take a camera, but wish I did now!!!

No stitching or sewing to report this week. Although I have tried to be in the studio -I have not made it in there long enough to make any progress… It could be for things like trying to make the all in one wireless printer scan to a computer…. 3 hours later it works!!!

More later- Beth

Mail Call

Before I get on to the mail…. let me just say tell you about the rain this morning. It started with a T-storm rumbling in the distance at 4-ish. Linzy was bothered by it, so we got up just in time to be downstairs to see the deluge start. The heavy rain and T-storm lasted for 4 hours. We must have gotten between 4-6 inches of rain. The rain finally stopped around 2 and we had a beautiful warm afternoon.

A Morning Glory

The week before last the mail was slim… really slim. Like the only personal mail was the usual JUNK. How does that stuff find you even though you don’t even live where it would be useful?
Then this week a deluge. On Tuesday, I was notified that I had 6, yes 6, boxes in the mail room. So I drove back over to the Embassy to pick up my mail - I just couldn’t wait until Wednesday!
2 of the boxes were from my sister. She did a little shopping for me! There were 2 boxes of Graham Crackers, for making S’mores or pie crust, a 7 pound bag of brown sugar (for somethings it has to be the real thing), several bags of shredded coconut, 2 packages of corn tortillas, a 16 oz bottle of vanilla, a large container of Chicken Bullion cubes, and a Sams Club tub of cornstarch. There are some more goodies on the way, as my sister is sending one more box!!! I know for certain there are marshmallows in it, but the rest will be a surprise.
2 other boxes were from Joanns. I ordered a Die Cutter. Not the recently popularized one, but the one from Sizzix. It has a motor so no cranking to cut and it will take dies from the other machines, so for me it is the best of all worlds! It’s the Vagabond. Of course I didn’t order any dies to go with it… But I have a few on the way. I also got a bolt of Peltex.
I also got several squishie packages. 2 from Hancocks of Paducah. It should have only been 1, but will now be 3. In my comments, I asked that they not do any backorders, with instructions to pick something close to the backordered (regular priced items) or cancel them. The chances of a backorder being filled is slim to none, and the last time I waited 10 weeks only to be told sorry in the end. I am thinking Hancocks of Paducah is going on the list of online shops… of only if the price is really good!
The last squishy was the best!!! It was another Paisley block from a Sparkly Chicken. This one came from Wyoming and was made by Cheryl. I have 3 of them now!!! and they are turning out FABULOUS. Don’t you agree?









Lastly, I will end with one last picture. Linzy at 11 months. She is a lady now… and next time she will be spending her time at the kennel.
As always I will have more later-
Beth