the red quilt finished

Ta-daaa! It raised $120 for the orphans!

(back detail)

"how are you so prolific?"

So I decided to put borders on the red quilt, and I'm glad I did. I was hanging out with my mom on Mother's Day, pinning quilts on her hardwood floor (yep, still have the shitty carpet - but I'm pretty sure I convinced my dad to let me lay marmoleum tile! SCORE), and she paused and said "how are you so PROLIFIC with your quilts? I mean, how do you make so MANY?"

...uh. total blank stare. See, I always think to myself "man, I wish I had time to start THIS one or THAT one, I like THAT, wouldn't THAT one be fun?" and here is my mom, the woman who made 15 quilts one year (yeah she had 9 months off, but she spent a whole heck of a lot of time in the garden too), kind of in awe at the fact that I'm at her house for the second time in 2008 pinning three quilts at once.

awesome.

feeling quilty

so today's biggest project is a charity quilt for the roses and rosemary spring cocktail event auction! i am taking a wee break to consider whether to put borders on it or just leave it at a nice cuddly 50"x60" throw size (totally big enough and less sewing - but it just seems kind of unfinished right now). i think i need some borders to hold the whole thing together. lord knows i have enough extra fabric. what posessed me to get eight plus yards of assorted prints for a throw size? sheesh. at least i have plenty for the back :)

pinwheels!

I finished the pinwheel quilt! FINALLY! It only took me like six, seven years. And before I even put the last stitch in it, it was sold. Thanks Tiff, enjoy!

sigh

confession: i am bad at the internet.

ok, i'm good at finding things on the internet. i'm good at ordering things from the internet. i'm great at wasting time on the internet. but i am really, really bad at updating things on the internet. i know the last thing this world needs is one more blogger/crafter/baker/joker posting their wares, and not like anyone reads this anyway, but i am still doing a lot of projects, and when people ask me what i'm up to i have to say 'here's my blog but there isn't much new stuff on it'. what's up with that? i have a digital camera, i have a flickr page, i have an etsy site, facebook, everything, but i can't update it to save my life. i am currently internally whining about the prospect of revamping my flickr page. 4000 pictures on there and i think i'm going to have to just delete them all and start over again. le sigh.

in other news: i made a key lime cheesecake with mango topping for my friend's birthday. it's glorious.

so i'll allow myself a mini-rant about quilting: i'm so annoyed with how deified denyse schmidt is. yeah, she's great, she does cool things, but why does every beginning quilter have to make their first quilt out of either denyse schmidt quilts or the modern quilt workshop? also, why does so much ADORABLE and/or GORGEOUS stuff come out of Japan? it seems everything is perfectly pieced, perfectly coordinated, perfectly sized, and freakin' awesome. plus it's all hand-pieced and hand-quilted! where do all these ladies get the TIME? anyway, kudos to japanese crafters, because you guys make me jealous in a good way.

ok, i am off to the quilt shop for a solid red (only) to use as the background for a charity quilt for the roses and rosemary auction. i got a bunch of different red prints and actually have been dreaming (literally) about a red-prints-on-red-background quilt for a few months now so i'm excited to have an excuse to make it :)

april already?

And the middle of April, at that!
Saturday was absolutely GORGEOUS and I went to Monica and Andrew's for a barbecue on the lake. I also got some quilting done and only have the hand sewing left to do on my pinwheels, but the cat has been sleeping on that one so I haven't been able to work on it, because she's so dang cute! Yes, I will be a crazy old quilty cat lady. Sigh.
love,
mcnabbs

laughed till i cried

ok. shitty two weeks. like SHITTTTTTT-AY! shitty.
but this, thank god, just made me laugh till i cried.

http://littera-abactor.livejournal.com/7748.html

holy crap i finished something!

only took me five years! here it is on my bed, before I washed it...

and here it is with the lucky recipients!

love, mcnabbs

long weekend

Hey guys! I had a super awesome weekend. Friday night the Bedards and Ani came into town for GT's 60th birthday party (which was awesome) and then we all went to Murphy's for a pint o Guinness. Saturday was Jenn and Will's wedding (gorgeous, personal, memorable, and fun!) then to R place with Allison and 4 adorable gay men. Sunday I pinned three quilts and quilted one, then came down with the cold/flu that's been going around my office for weeks. Monday was gorgeous AND a paid holiday, so it was a total waste of a sick day, but at least I watched all my netflix that had been hanging around for three weeks, got about 10% of my hand quilting project done, and even some laundry besides, so it wasn't a total loss.

culinary adventures

so last weekend was a feast-fest. I ate well and drank a lot.

thursday: meatloaf and mashed potatoes, berry crumble, and something red with chris and jade.

friday: wine night at monica's: fettucine with salmon and lemon zest, apple pie, many something reds (mostly from washington)

saturday: squash-themed dinner party at dave and lisa's: savory sage-infused soup with pancetta, some kind of bread-pudding-like baked dish without the bread, chorizo-stuffed butternut halves, and creme brulee. also, something red.

sunday: pie party chez my parents for their birthdays. two each pecan, lemon meringue, apple, marionberry, rhubarb, and banana cream. also the best guacamole i've ever made. THEN paella at justyn's with sausage, chicken, shrimp, mussels, and clams. yum. more red wine.

so i had a pretty tasty weekend but gained three pounds. hmmm.

tonight i'm making delicious valentine treats, tomorrow my new red shoes AND jenn and will's wedding present AND my 40 yards of quilt batting are all supposed to be delivered to my office (o happy day!), and then friday michela and brian come to town for terry steig's 60th birthday party. saturday jenn and will get married, then i have the rest of the weekend to sew, sew, sew!

mission: one or two dresses and maybe new shoes for under a hundred bucks. i already checked out shoes at the rack (and impulsively bought lime green slingback wedges for only $15) but didn't get to their dress section, although the girl in front of me in line had two formals for $30 each so i think i have to go back there today. macy's had two gorgeous options for over $100 each but the presidents' day sale starts today so maybe i'll get lucky there. banana republic had one fun and flirty but less flattering dress, also over $100. sheesh.

heart,
at