Friday, October 30, 2009

*sigh* why?!

It is a well known fact amongst my friends and family that I have a disturbing weird *ahem* unique habit of giving inanimate objects names, personalities, feelings.....one or all of the above. 
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There was that one incident with Spot the daffodil....
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Meet Akai. Kai (kah-yee) for short. This is what I got during the Cash for Clunkers hysteria. Akai means Red in Japanese--I thought it would be appropriate. I mean, look at it! Shiny, Unused, most definately red, and until last Wednesday unblemished.

That was when I had the sad and unfortunate event of getting into an accident. I got rear-ended at a yield (is it just me or does rear-ended just sound raunchy? I had to stop from giggling or feeling dirty whenever I had to explain what happened)



THIS was the result of the altercation. *whimper* All I thought was--my poor baby car!! After the accident and getting home, I felt the urge to hug my car, apologize for the guy that didn't stop or at least slow down at the yield and of course--use duct tape (a car's version of a bandaid in my opinion) to make it all better. My mom convinced me not to do the last of those things. After a quick patch up and re-attachment of the bumper, I drove my car until Monday when I left it at the body shop to get all shiny again. Geico was great about taking care of everything and even got my rental lined up by the time I arrived on Monday. They're also making sure that my case of whip lash is for sure undercontrol before closing the incident. (bless all doctors and their perscription of muscle relaxants, perscription aleve and souped up bengay)--back to my car.

Now I don't proclaim to be omniscient and all powerful in the way of cars-- but two seconds after getting into my rental, a PT cruiser, I decided that despite the cute exterior--the PT cruiser is one of the worst rides ever (that sounds raunchy too now--doesn't it?!).

[No PT Cruiser picture available since seeing it, never mind documenting it, was a waste of time and effort for the very , in my opinion, evil car]

Thankfully, I got a call this morning to pick up my baby and have it happily parked out front. :D

(picture of the happy jeep parked out front coming soon)

--happy to never see a PT cruiser again--
dre


Friday, October 23, 2009

Give Away At The Pumpkin Patch


this is not a picture of a the pumpkin patch--I took it in Houston, but I still thought I could share. :P


My Aunt is hosting a giveaway at her blog, Pumpkin Patch Primitives. She's giving away these fat quarters.

                            
This is an actual picture of the Pumpkin Patch. 


So here's the deal, you must post about this giveaway on your blog and give a proper link to it before October 31.  If there are more than 250 entrants then she's adding another fat quarter bundle to the  fray and giving out two fat quarter packs, more than 350....she's giving a $100 gift certificate to her store.

So head on over to her blog and let her know that you posted and that I sent you there!!! I've spent enough more on fabrics....now I have to get 'em from a give-away. I promised myself no more fabric purchases until next year.
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except for the backing of Ryan's quilt.
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oh! and the border!
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or the cream for the stash buster quilt on my list.
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I better add the backing to that one as well.
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Who am I kidding?



--going broke--
dre


Houston Quilt Festival: Day 2

So I'm going to preface this parade of beautiful pictures from the exhibits with a mission I had going to the festival (beyond losing copious amounts of money to quilt vendors).

The day before we set off on our adventure, I was excitedly telling everyone my plans for the weekend at my work's break room. Beyond the initial shock that I was excited to go to a quilt show, everyone thought it was pretty cool. Except for one person who chuckled at me and mocked quilting as square patches being sewn together. I believe the words "What's the challenge in that?" came out of his mouth (of course it has to be a guy who thinks that).

As the daughter of a quilter and a quilter myself now, I took offense and decided I would take magnificent photos and return to prove him wrong. This years exhibitions were excellent and I definitely proved him wrong *cackles*

Sometimes, I was so shocked that what these people used was actually fabric and thread (sometimes a dab of fabric paint) and not a canvas with pens, pencils and oils.



I loved this one because it looked like a clear picture but  the piecing was so simple.





That's a little white felt-like fiber in the eye to make it look real!




This traditional quilt with some crazy attention to detail. At a distance you think, a medallion quilt that has an ohio star.  but upon closer inspection.....





There's also stars in the patchwork. And that scalloped edge that you think is applique....try again my friend.





Those are itty bitty pieces of fabric laid juuuussst right for there to be that illusion.

The talent that was displayed in the exhibits was incredible. I'll let them speak for themselves. These were some of my favorites.





There was this bedazzled beauty.





Fabric! That was the only medium used for this quilt.




I'm so impressed!  Look at the teeth close up.




 Wow....The attention to detail of this one just blew me away.





This one triggered a whole bunch of high school memories since my favorite teacher's classroom had this as a poster on her wall. The triangles on the girls dress actually are not sewn into the quilt. What a great idea!





This one really stuck with me because it reminded me of the modern art piece in a sea of traditional. You never think about the close up of a quilt block. I think this was too cool.





This is so beautiful. I thought about how great it was to capture this moment on a quilt.





I'm closing this post with my favorite entry from the doll exhibit. Who doesn't want these cuties crawling out of their Grim's book. :)


I had a great time and I can't wait to go next year! (I'm determined to go.)

--signing off for now--
dre


Saturday, October 17, 2009

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to Houston we go!




There once was a girl with no stash, 
her mother's closet she would crash,
So off to the festival she went,
and look at the money she spent! 
And now she's got fabrics gallore.
 --love, Dre

(I know it's the wrong rhyme scheme--but I was too excited to  figure it out.)



Check out my acquisitions!! My goals for this festival trip? Finish the fabric selections for Ryan's quilt. (All I'm missing is the brown yardage and flannel backing) and make a more robust fabric collection.  I only have 2 charm packs of Momo's Wonderland and 4 fat quarters of Sanae's Arcadia (pretty sad, huh?)

So here's the close up of the accent batik fabrics for Ryan's quilts.



Then I got a few different collections of fabrics for stashing...



This was some bits of fabric from various asian specialty booths. My favorite is the fishy one at the top.




I have no clue what to do with this charm pack but how can I say no to Momo's new line Odyssea? I just happened to come across a matching brown in a pile of fat quarters.




These are just some cute staple pieces to have.




This is happy purple themed collection that I picked from 2-4 booths.

This Last one was my most prized acquisition though....




The picture doesn't do it justice! It's a gold green, cream and navy blue.  I have like...3 potential projects from these great finds. (1/2 yard for $2.50!!!)



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It was friggin' fantastic. I'll let you know tomorrow about the actual exhibits.....and maybe some more acquisitions?

--signing off for now--
Dre


Friday, October 2, 2009

I just HAD to share this


Tell me this isn't the coolest watch you've ever seen.
You can order it here.

--signing off for now---
dre
 

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