Happy Birthday to me

No pictures, just a few minutes left of my birthday and want to say what a wonderful year this has been.  I have such a great family.
This was the last day of my vacation and it was spent being relatively lazy.  Good.  We went out to dinner.  All in all a very good day.

Graduation at U of O

Last week, we were in Eugene for my nieces graduation.  So proud of her!  It was a perfect Oregon day, no rain and just warm enough to be outside for hours watching the graduation and then moving on to the park for the party.

There was Thai food from a local restaurant that she and her friends love.  It was yummy.  There was also a picnic table full of deserts brought by all.

She looked so cute in her color coordinated sunglasses

My brother and his family.

This is my dad and his wife, he's a U of O graduate.  Growing up, he always told us we could go to any college we wanted, except Oregon State.  He said it in jest, but he really meant it.  Big rivalry here.  My niece gave him her sash after the ceremony.  It was the sash of gratitude, they were supposed to give it to the person they felt the most gratitude toward for their support through college.

It was a long day, Camille fell asleep on the way home.

Rose Festival

Last week we went to Portland's Rose Festival.  We promised the little girls a few rides and elephant ears.  Along the way, we got some fresh squeezed lemonade and cotton candy, too.  The weather was mild all day, so that meant we needed to take some coats for later in the evening when it got chilly.

We missed the fireworks, at the opening 2 weeks earlier, because I had a lousy chest cold and was completely worn out from coughing all day at work.  The rain convinced me that I didn't want to go.  Rain didn't stop me last year.

The warm up ride was a turn on the carousel.  They both liked it a lot.  

Sienna's leery of anything she thinks might be scary.  This was her, "I'm not having fun, but I really am" face.

The next ride was secretly a test to see if she'll have any fun at all at Disneyland next week.  She doesn't know she's going with me and Camille.  I don't think we'll tell her until we get to the airport.  She's a lot like her mother, she'll make herself sick worrying about every tiny detail and drive us crazy with questions.  It'll be my entertainment on the plane, to answer 1000 questions.

She passed the test.  Her first word when it came to a stop was, again!

Hard to get a picture where someone wasn't moving.  I had to settle for this one of the elephant ear eaters.  By now, it was after 9 and the band in the background was quite loud.  The ships were in and the band was all Navy personnel.  They sounded great.

Camille and I went on the Zipper.  Each time I go on it, I think this'll be the year it's no fun any more, but it was still great!

Next year, Fireworks.

Recycled wool blanket

I've been thinking about my Etsy shop and why I have so few sales.  I really like the items I've made and think they're reasonably priced.  I think I don't have enough to choose from.  It must be time to make many more items.  I've hesitated to make too many things, but everything I read says you need lots of inventory.
The more often I make each thing, the faster I get at it.  My favorite thing I make is the glitter stars.  I thought these would be a big seller, but they lose something when you don't see them in person.

The baby/lap blankets are my next favorite.  If I could sell 1-2 of them a week, I would be so happy.  This week I made another, a new design inspired by Lisa's Flower Garden BOM.  I wasn't sure if I was going to put flower or bird appliques on it, until I was through and liked it best without either.

I first cut out squares of many colors and sorted them into light and dark pairs for each 9 patch square and cream/beige for the 4 patch squares.

After cutting the wool into 3 inch squares and adding a pink square to the middle of the 9 patch blocks, I arranged and rearranged them until I liked the balance of color.  I ended up moving some blocks again, as I was sewing.

All the 9 patch blocks were sewn together in orange, the 4 patch in baby pink and all the blocks were joined in hot pink.  Thread color becomes another aspect of the finished blanket.

I added a binding around the edge, made of the same wools.  I put little patches of color randomly sized and spaced around the edge.

Camille helped me take pictures.

 She can make some of the most gruesome faces!

Zinnia had to come help too.

Potholders

I've made quite a few potholders out of a pile of quilt squares my Mom bought at a garage sale many years ago. Originally I made them in groups of 4, but it's getting harder to match up more than pairs.  So many of these were made for family and then I listed the rest in my shop.  Some have sold, but definitely not as many as I'd hoped.  I love them so much for their kitchy quality.  Very funky chic, if you ask me.

All these blocks look like they were cut from scraps or old clothes.  Some blocks have pieced squares!  Originally, they must have intended 4" squares to make 7" finished blocks.  They're all cut a little wonky and sewn a little crooked, so I had to trim them square again and lost about 1/4 inch.  The first potholders I made, I was so careful to only trim as much as I had to, to make them square.  Bah!  What a waste of time.  This time I just cut them 7" square.  So much easier.

Here they are, square, with backing and heat resistant filler all ready for sewing.  I only made the 10 that have the gold backing.  Need to look for more material to match the red squares.

Sewn, turned, slip stitched closed and top stitched.  Front and back.  Picking fun colors for the top stitching is part of the fun.  These will be listed in my shop today.