Quilts With Love

Saying Goodbye

2011-04-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

Because of health issues, I will no longer be updating this blog. I am currently catching up on the quilts I've comitted to complete and then beginning July 1, I will no longer be machine quilting for customers. I hope to be able to quilt for myself and perhaps enter show quilts. Thanks for the memories...
10 years of longarm machine quilting for others and now it's time to retire. :)

If you would like to contact me, my email is: quiltswithlove @ sbcglobal.net <----no spaces, of course.

Visit me on my new blog: http://regardsmrslove.blogspot.com/ I wish a celebrity a happy birthday every day!

New Years Resolution: Get Back To Blogging!

2011-01-09T20:21:00.000-08:00

So many stories to tell...so many quilts to share! But I'm back and will be blogging about once a week. First, you must see the latest picture of my grandson. He just celebrated his first birthday! Is it just me, or is this the cutest baby you've ever seen?

And here's a preview of an quilt to show you soon!

Vivian's back to blogging! See you soon!

Introducing...The Quilts With Love Studio on Etsy

2010-11-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

Looking for high quality, beautiful quilts? Check out the new QUILTS WITH LOVE STUDIO on Etsy. Follow this link---> quiltswithlove.etsy.com Go to the link to check out these quilts for sale!

Please.

2010-11-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

Please do not copy or take images or content from this site without my explicit permission.
Thank you.

Vivian Love

Attention Twilight Eclipse Fans!

2010-06-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Please take a moment to hop over to the Twilight Quilters Coven blog and see what the talented ladies have made this time! Make a donation and you could win this one-of-a-kind Eclipse quilt! If you are a Twilight fan, you'll love it! If you are a quilter, you'll love it! Not only does it include some amazing paper-pieced blocks throughout, but there are also 3 autographs from some of the actors. Hurry! Donations accepted June 4-August 1, 2010!

(photograph property of Twilight Quilters Coven)

Follow my friend/TQC member Elizabeth's link to see details and info about this wonderful quilt--->

http://emsewandsew.blogspot.com/2010/06/eclipse-give-to-win-quilt.html

Give us a break and take one!

2010-06-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

"Give us a break and take one" is what my friends and I would yell out to rock bands at concerts if we didn't like them. Well, it's time for me to give you all a break and take one.

If you have followed my blog for the last few years, you have noticed that I haven't been keeping up with it for quite a while. I was diagnosed with Lyme disease in July 2007. I now have it under control, but it triggered Fibromyalgia. I am currently part of a chronic pain program through a hospital near my home. It's a wonderful program, however I'm learning to make some temporary life changes. I'm learning to pace myself better and slow down as I get my pain under control. Once I have it under control, I will slowly add more activities to my life. Blogging is an activity that I need to slow down on for now. I am still quilting, however just not as much right now.

Soon I'll be back to the 'ol Vivian and do more blogging and quilting, but for now I'm taking a break. Take care and I'll be back before you know it!

If Life Gives You Lemons...

2010-04-02T21:47:00.002-07:00

You know the saying, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well that's what I did. Except I would have to say, "If your neighbor brings you lemons, make lemonade...and lots of it."

Here's a great recipe I got from an episode of Barefoot Contessa with Ina Garten:

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (5 to 6 lemons)
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 cup crushed ice

Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until completely smooth on "puree." Add to 4 cups cold water. Serve over ice. (I made the lemonade base and froze it for future lemonade.)

I squeezed enough lemons the other night to make about 9 pitchers of lemonade! We're all set for summer! :)

~~~~~

And if someone brings you a quilt, feather it! This is one I worked on a few months ago and forgot to share with you.

Now get back to work Vivian! What will you feather next!

A Country Baby

2010-03-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

The other day I made another fleece blanket for Baby Jay--my grandson. He's 3 months old now and weighs over 12 lbs! Don't you just want to pinch these cheeks?
And check out those blue eyes too! He reminds me so much of his mom when she was this age.

I'm headed up to the "country" aka Utah to see this cute little "country" baby soon. So this is fleece blanket #3 for him. Can a baby have too many blankets? I found this darling John Deere fleece at JoAnn's and it made me think of him. I did some freehand clouds on it...similar to the pantograph pattern by Keryn Emerson, "Oriental Cloud." My freehand version went way faster and didn't turn out so bad. So...it's a "country" blanket for a "country" baby!

Now, get back to work Grandma! Lots of quilting to do!

The Mystery Object

2010-03-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

Here in the town I live in, Yorba Linda, we don't have snow...but we do have rain. Occasionally it does get cold enough for the rain to freeze! During this past December, I experienced such a morning. I leave every morning at 5:30am. One morning my windshield was covered with ice. I didn't know what to do. The windshield wipers were no good, so I tried to wait for the defroster to work. That took too long. I thought about using something like this...

...but figured that would be a little dangerous. Next I considered using a credit card or a spatula. No time. So I took of driving and eventually the ice began to melt and I made it to my destination safe and sound.

Later that day I put a comment on my Facebook 'wall' about the experience with ice I had had that morning. I received many comments from friends giving me suggestions about what to do next time. Later that evening, at a ladies dinner at my church, a friend (who read what I had written on Facebook) told me she had a gift for me. It looked something like this one...

Do you know what this is?

We had a good laugh about it. Later, I returned to my seat at the dinner. With a big smile on my face I showed the ladies at my table the gift I had just received. I held it up for all to see it. I expected them to laugh about it too. But their reactions surprised me. With puzzled looks they asked, "What is that?" I said, "It's an ice scraper!" One said, "Oh is that what one looks like?" I forgot that I was sitting with California natives, who had never even one!

Well, on Christmas morning, look at the gift I got from Daughter #2....Another ice scraper. But this was is fancy one! It's from Brookstone. I think my daughter gave it to me as kind of a gag gift, never thinking I would actually ever use it. Unless of course, I found ice on my windshield here in Yorba Linda again! But guess where I got to use it?

In Utah in January, when I got to visit my grandson! Here I am scraping the windshield. (Actually this picture was posed. My DH did the scraping for me while I waited in the car with the heater running! But he really did use my ice scraper!)

And this is my grandson with his mom, Daughter #1, in Utah in his new snowsuit. Poor little guy lives in the freezing snow. The snowsuit's a little big, but I'm sure he'll grow into it soon enough!

That's right, in Yorba Linda we don't have snow, but we do have rain (and ice)! Here's a cute little wallhanging I worked on a customer of mine. She did all the piecing and applique. I did the maching quilting.

She requested that I make the raindrops and umbrella really stand out. So I added a little extra batting. I call it "faux trapunto."

When she came to pick it up, she was very happy with it. I loved it too!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

An Unexpected Package

2010-02-20T21:02:00.000-08:00

Last year I had the opportunity to do the machine quilting on an awesome quilt that was eventually presented to Twilight author, Stephenie Meyer. Read all about it here: I Was Dazzled. Last week, this is what came in the mail as a thank you gift from Stephenie Meyer! Stephenie Meyer surprised me and the other quilters with signed copies of the New Moon Special Edition book. This was such a lovely gift!

A New Member of the Club

2010-02-13T20:15:00.000-08:00

...which club? The "Grandma Club"!

On Dec. 30, 2009 I became a grandmother for the first time! Jay William Barnes entered the world at 2:22 am, weighing in at 7 lbs 4 oz.

Below is the first picture I saw of Jay. It came over on my cell phone (via text) from my son-in-law. It was love at first sight! (check out that blonde hair!)

Jay was born a few weeks early. He had a little bit of a rough start and had to be under the bili lights in the NICU. I called them his "disco dancing" lights!

Daughter #1 and her Sweetheart, Jay's parents, live in Utah, near the Idaho border. As soon as we heard the great news that our grandbaby had arrived, we jumped into our car and drove as quickly as we could. 12 hours later...the picture below is my husband meeting his grandson for the first time. Notice Jay holding is grandpa's finger!

Here he is looking at his mom. "Are you my mother?"

Two new happy parents with their little baby, ready to leave the hospital.

I returned to Utah 3 weeks later to spend a week with the little family. Here they are with Jay. Look how much he's already grown!

He's now almost a month and half old! He weighs over 11 lbs! (yes, I'm one of those grandma's, who shows everyone pictures of the cutest baby ever! I show everyone...the people at the grocery store, the bank tellers, the ladies at the quilt shops...everyone!

And what kind of quilt did his grandma make for him? A fleece blanket to keep him warm up there in the snow. I chose a fleece with surfboards...to remind him of his grandma down here in sunny California!

Now back to quilting! Lots of little boy quilts to make for my grandson!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-12-04T16:38:00.000-08:00

My life is busy, busy, busy! I'm just passing through. Not much time to visit "blogland."

Thanksgiving was a blur! I baked and baked, just like Olivia The Pig...We enjoyed a nice dinner with family and friends.After all that delicious food, I should have exercised like Olivia. Here she is jumping rope (although it's a little hard to see...there's a jumprope there!) I didn't have any time like Olivia. My expanded waistline would have benefitted from it though.
Any time for soccer with Olivia The Pig? Sorry, no way!

Olivia The Pig and I have both been busy working though. So many quilts to do and so little time!

Sometimes I feel like Olivia and just want to fly away!But no time!

Get back to work, Vivian! Remember you're just passing through!

Sharing

2009-11-27T11:35:00.000-08:00

"A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside." --Denis Waitley

Quilters love to share. This beautiful quilt, which now hangs in a friends home, was the result of a fabric exhange. (I did the machine quilting for her.) Each student in the quilt class brought 6" squares of brown-toned fabrics to exhange with one another. The result gave each student a good number of fabrics to create the centers of these sunflowers.

Hope you all enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving day. The weather was beautiful here in southern California. It was 80-degrees.

Now back to work, Vivian!

Special Things

2009-11-23T13:01:00.001-08:00

Recently I had the opportunity to machine quilt a darling dinosaur quilt. This special quilt is from a grandmother for her 3 year old grandson. It's from the Kansas City Star book, "Dinosaurs-Stomp, Chomp and Roar" by Pam Manning. I know the little boy will treasure it always.

I look forward to becoming a grandmother for the first time in Jan. Daughter #1 is due Jan. 20th and is expecting a little boy. I bought the Dinosaur book to make a quilt for my grandson someday. "When a child is born, so are grandmothers." ~Judith Levy

And here's something else that's special. It's very special to me. I see this on my front porch every time I enter my home. It's a plaque that my sister made for me while she was in Louisiana serving a church mission. It's actually made from a slate roof tile. She painted our name on it. I love it and treasure it always. This week she would have been 48, but to me she'll always be 32. That's how old she was when she left this mortal existence. I treasure these special little things that remind me of her...

Now get back to work, Vivian! This is your busy season!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

2009-11-11T21:01:00.000-08:00

Asked to pick a number between 1 and 28, my daughter Stacy picked NUMBER 27...the winner is Jodi! I'll be sending your Scrabble Tile pendant soon! Thanks to everyone for helping me celebrate 300 posts! Now to do 300 more!!!

...In The Garden of Life

2009-11-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

"Friends are the flowers in the garden of life" ??? Lately my garden of life has been full of some weeds! Many things going on but I'm hanging in there. This is my busy season as a machine quilter, after all!

(I quickly snapped these photos just before this quilt left my house. I had folded it up, so sorry the photos aren't the best...a darling Mary Engelbreit quilt...for your viewing enjoyment!)

I have so many stories and quilts to share with you! I have vowed to get back to my blog. I feel, at times, it is much like a journal and it helps to reflect and ponder on things going on in the garden of my life. It also helps me to "pull the weeds" from the garden of my life too!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is my 300th post! Woo hoo! That's right! 300 posts of stories/randomness/and quilts!!! To celebrate, I'm having a little 300th post celebration giveaway. You can win this lovely scrabble tile pendant/necklace I purchased from HomeStudio. Please go visit their etsy shop soon. These make great Christmas gifts. -->HomeStudio.

Yes, that's right! Leave a comment below and tell me why you love to quilt, sew, or tell stories. Deadline is Wed., Nov. 11th, 9pm PDT. (that's my bedtime!) Best of luck and thanks for visiting my blog! Tell your friends!

Slow Down Or You Might Miss The Details

2009-10-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

This Mariner's Compass quilt was made by a woman who's son-in-law was just deployed to Iraq for his 3rd tour. I did the machine quilting on it. Take a look at the fabrics 'fussy cut' in the compasses!
Some of the soldier's favorites...Nemo... Mr. Incredible...And of course the marines are in there too!

Sometimes I think I move too fast and forget to look carefully at the details. This is a poem I heard recently that made me stop and think:

Slow Dance, by David L. Weatherford

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round

Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

Do you run through each day on the fly

When you ask "How are you?"

do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,

do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow

And in your haste,

not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die

'Cause you never had time

to call and say "Hi"?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift....Thrown away...

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now get back to work Vivian! But don't forget to slow down now and then...

Angels

2009-09-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had angels on my mind...much like I did when I machine quilted this darling angel quilt.

"I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." Doctrine and Covenants 84:88

"Behold, this is pleasing unto your Lord, and the angels rejoice over you." Doctrine and Covenants 88:2

Why did I think of angels yesterday?...because there was a strong earthquake in Samoa. I got a phone call yesterday afternoon from a lady from my church telling me to turn on the news immediately. After the strong earthquake there was tsunami watch in effect in Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. Of course I was glued to the news for the rest of the day!
In case you weren't aware, my son is currently serving a two-year mission for the LDS Church in Auckland, New Zealand. Right now he is in a city called Tauranga, on the north side of the north island. As it turned out, there was a tsunami that came on shore just 3 hours east of my son's city. But now damage was reported. Thank God for GoogleNews! I was able to monitor the news from New Zealand all day long. I'm sure my son is safe and sound, but he was definitely on my mind, as you can imagine. I pray for him and all those in the Pacific South region. I know he's being watch over by angels.

Now back to work, Vivian....Breath a little easier today.

I Wish Every Day Was Thursday!

2009-09-19T07:50:00.000-07:00

These days Thursdays are my favorite days! Why? Because of the television show, Project Runway. I love it! I started watching it a few seasons ago and got hooked. This year's another great season. Why do I love that show? Many reasons. I love Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum. Heidi Klum is by far, one of the most beautiful women in the world.And I love the show because it's so inspiring. Every time I finish an episode I feel like I need to go sew a dress or something. Now of course I don't really have much time for anything other than machine quilting. Certainly I could never make dresses like those designers, but it's fun to dream!

Do you watch Project Runway? If so, tell me why...I'd love to know.

Speaking of dresses...Check out this cute little quilt I did the machine quilting on. The pattern is called "All Dressed Up."

I love the detail this quilter put on each and every dress! Isn't it cute?

Each dress was beautifully hand-appliqued with fabrics that belonged to the quilter's late mother.

Now, get back to work, Vivian! Is it Thursday yet?

What Will Be in THIS Grandma's Kitchen?

2009-09-10T10:13:00.001-07:00

As I did the machine quilting on this quilt called "Grandma's Kitchen" (from Bee In My Bonnet), I wondered what kind of kitchen THIS grandma would have. Yes folks, that's right! I'm going to be a grandma!!! I'm going to be the proud grandma of a little baby boy, mid-Jan. Daughter #1 and her Sweetheart are expecting their first! We are thrilled!

What kind of kitchen would THIS grandma have?

Well, it may not be too much like this darling quilt...too many quilts--too little time--to bake! Shopping? Baking? Ok, there will be shopping, but baking? Not too much here at THIS grandma's kitchen! Perhaps I will be a grandma that will say to her grandkids..."Let them eat cake!" (of course they would have strawberries on top!...after all, this grandma is from Orange County, CA!) Can you see what's embroidered below? "Give us this day, our daily bread." Well at THIS grandma's kitchen, we'll have daily bread, but it'll probably be made in the bread machine!

Bowls? Yes. This grandma's kitchen will have bowls. Mostly for decoration of course! Will there be a juice squeezer for lemonade? Probably not. But we'll have lemonade from a mix. It's not so bad. :) Will there be cookies? Absolutely! THIS grandma's cookie jar will probably filled with Oreos. A rolling pin? Yes...again for decoration!

An apron? Yes, because they are fun to make. Fun to wear too! There's our lemonade below.(from a mix of course!) A scotty dog? Probably not! THIS grandma has a purse dog!

Cherry pie? Yes, THIS grandma will go pick one up at Marie Callenders.

I just hope that no matter what, lots of grandkids will love to come to THIS grandma's kitchen. My first grandbaby will be in Utah, so to get to THIS grandma's kitchen, he'll have to travel a bit. This makes me a little sad, but thank goodness for videochats via Skype! I've got mine all ready to read my grandson bedtime stories at night! And of course THIS grandma lives near the "happiest place on earth!"---Disneyland, here we come!

Now it's time for THIS grandma to make some baby quilts...back to work, Vivian!

Sometimes I'm In The Mood...

2009-09-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm in the mood...

to do something different.

I actually took a little break from my machine quilting to create something. I made this little bag as kind of an experiment. I found this tutorial on this website-->P.S. I Quilt. I made it as instructed in the tutorial, but then made another one. The second one was a little larger. I want to use it to carry my scriptures for church. I also added some pockets inside for pencils, etc. (the only thing I would do differently is use a thicker batting.)

I know. I know. I went a little nuts with the quilting. On the tutorial it said, 'quilt as desired'...well this is how I 'desired' ...

I even went a little further and heatset some Austrian Swarovski crystals on it too. (from Cheri's Crystals) I know I'm a little crazy. But I like it. And if you know me...this bag is so me!

*****

Sometimes I'm in the mood...

to miss my son.

In July my son left for Auckland New Zealand where he is serving a 2-year mission for our Church. I'm so proud of him. He's such a good boy and is working hard. I must admit, though, there are times I miss him soooooooo much. Todd and I are have always been close. I call him my BabyBoy. But look at how grown up he is now:

Pictured above, he is on the right with a young man who recently got baptized. Todd is about 8,000 miles away. I know I shouldn't think of that, but I do now and then. How lucky he is to be in such a beautiful place! When he first found out he was going to New Zealand he said, "Wow! The Land of The Lord of the Rings!" Yes, that's right, they filmed all three of the Lord of the Rings movies there. Beautiful place!

Now here's bit of irony...or perhaps it's just a coincidence...

Just before Todd left he and his sisters and their husbands all went to Disneyland for the day. There they saw Sean Astin, the actor who portrayed one the of hobbits in the Lord of the Rings films. His character was named Samwise Gamgee.

He was at Disneyland that day visiting with his wife and kids. Here is my family with Sean Astin in the center. I teased my kids..."you went to Disneyland to find Mickey Mouse--instead you found a hobbit!"

Notice the matching shirts. Todd's sister made them to wear in honor of Todd. They shirts said:, "New Zealand, EWE should come. Farewell Todd!" This was one of the last times my entire family was together. They won't be together for another two years.

Now, stop missing your son so much Vivian, and get back to work!

Facebook Fan Page Giveaway! Hurry!

2009-09-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

Facebook Fan Page fleece blanket giveaway today! Become a fan of the Quilts With Love fan page, leave a comment and you could win this pretty fleece blanket. It measures approx 57 x 68. One side is bright pink and the other is black with bright colored flowers and dragonflies. (to enter, you must already have a facebook acct.) Become a fan and leave a comment today!

Giveaway ends tonight 9/4/09 10pm PDT. Click here to get to the Quilts With Love fan page--> Fan Page

"I Was Dazzled"...by a Twilight Quilt

2009-08-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

"Do I dazzle you?" --Edward Cullen

"Frequently." --Bella

Last year I began reading quilter Shannon LaCount's blog, The Quilted Word by Freckles Quilts. She mentioned being a huge fan of the book Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. She also attached a link to a preview of the upcoming movie Twilight. I watched it with great interest. Oooo, this looks good! I had never read Twilight, but from the movie preview, I could see this was the kind of book I'd like. When I bought the book from a local bookstore, I recognized the cover. I had seen that distinctive cover before--two hands holding a red apple. A few months earlier I sat next to a 12- year old girl on a plane. She was completely absorbed in a book our entire flight. It was a thick, hardcover book. This piqued my interest. Such a young girl deeply immersed in such a big book? I glanced at the cover as she read. Two hands holding a red apple. I recognized that same cover when I bought my first copy of Twilight at the bookstore.

As I read Twilight, I continued to follow Shannon's blog. Soon she began to talk about working on a quilt with an online forum called The Twilight Moms. The quilt was to be a gift for Stephenie Meyer, representing all four of the books in the Twilight Series. A anxiously watched as Shannon and the others pieced their blocks. Eight of the Twilight Mom's communicated via email and on the Twilight Mom's forum to construct, what turned out to be, an amazing quilt.

None of the ladies had ever met before. What bound them together was their love of quilting and their love of Twilight. The ladies were from California, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, New Jersey, and Australia.

In April as the quilt was just about completed, I offered to quilt it for them. It was an honor to be involved in some way with these talented ladies. Throughout the entire construction of the quilt, the ladies worked as a team, giving ideas on the construction, layout, colors, everything! And all this was done via emails and on the Twilight Moms forum. The ladies named the quilt "Piece, Love, Twilight."

In the end of June the quilt top was finally constructed and ready for quilting. It was sent to me by Elizabeth Mills of Utah. I was anxious to receive such a treasured package. Once it arrived at my house, I called Elizabeth to let her know it arrived safe and sound. I'm sure she and the other had been holding their breaths and were relieved it didn't get lost. Above: The Twilight Quilt on my doorstep. I'm sure my mailman had no idea what a precious package this was! When I first saw the quilt top, it truly took my breath away! I could see the thought to detail, and excellent workmanship in each and every block. Included with the quilt were suggestions from the ladies. I knew that my job as the machine quilter would be to simply enhance the quilt. My job was to complement each block, not overtake them. Now to get started...

The quilt backing loaded.

Next, the batting. I used Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 batting.Above, the quilt top loaded and ready to quilt.

In each corner of the quilt were machine embroidered quotes from the four books of the Twilight series. Below, please enjoy some of the 15 blocks representing different locations, characters, and favorite parts of the books:

La Push First Beach (below)

Edward's Crystal Heart (below) The Volturi: Clock Tower in Volterra (below) Below, Bella & Edward's Stone Cottage (left) and the final line from Breaking Dawn, the last book in the Twilight series (right). Below, Isle Esme (left) and Renesmee's Locket (right).

A quote from 'New Moon', the second book in the Twilight series. (below)

This block represents Jasper and Alice. (above) This block represents Emmett and Rosalie (below) The block on top represents vampire eyes changing color. The block underneath represents Carlisle and Esme. (below) Below, "And so the Lion fell in love with the Lamb" block (left) and Bella & Edward's Wedding Dance (right)

Below, Bella's Truck (left) and Jacob's paw print (right)

Below, the blocks represent Forks (left) and Charlie Swan (right).

~~~~
Above is the center medallion of the quilt. It includes parts of all four books in the series. I set the books with the quilt, so you can see how beautifully they included details from all the covers. Even the satin ribbon was painstakenly torn to look like ribbon on the cover of the Eclipse book!

Below, some of the detail work I did on the quilt...I changed threads frequently. Remember I just wanted to enhance the quilt...

Finally all the machine quilting was done. And it just so happened I was going up to Utah on a family trip, so I brought the quilt to Elizabeth and personally hand delivered it to her. Below we are pictured in Utah, together on the day we finally met. The very last thing I said, "You might think about entering this quilt in a quilt show...it's that awesome!"

I knew that Twilight fans would enjoying seeing such a beautiful masterpiece! So, Elizabeth consulted with the rest of the ladies, a vote was taken, and they decided to enter it in the 36th Annual Springville Quilt Show, held at the Springville Utah Art Museum. Elizabeth quickly finished the binding and entered it. Below is the information card to accompany the quilt...And what do think happened?....
It won a blue ribbon! It won for the Best Group Quilt! $100 was awarded. The nine ladies involved in this quilt decided to donated the prize money to a charity. :)

One weekend in August, during the run of the quilt show, some of the Twilight Moms got together to go see the completed quilt in person. Pictured below are four of the ladies. A fifth Twilight Mom, Wanda Beach visited the next day. This was the first time they met in person!

Left to right: Vivian Love (yours truly!), Shannon LaCount, Elizabeth Mills and Iris Fox, pictured with the Twilight Quilt in Springville, Utah.

Shannon LaCount--who first introduced me to the Twilight Moms and this wonderful quilt project--and I finally met in person. Having emailed and read each others blogs for so long, it was like seeing an old, dear friend. It was wonderful to finally meet her! We were brought together by Twilight and quilting! Thanks for allowing me to participate with you!

Shannon also created a blog to follow the progress and stories of the Twilight Quilt. Read The Twilight Quilters Coven to find out about the ladies and more projects they are involved in. The blog introduces you to the ladies involved and details about all the quilt blocks. From their blog: "We are a group who met online in support of a another Twilight quilting project. A few of us thought it would be fun to have a blog where we could continue to inspire each other with Twilight quilted projects, design, swaps, and accomplishments. The possibilities are endless!"

*******

And just like reading a good story, where you hope there's a good ending...

The ladies are still eager to be able to present the quilt personally to Twilight author, Stephenie Meyer. If you know of a connection that might help them, please email: twilightquilterscoven@gmail.com

The Republican Quilt Revisited

2009-08-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hearing about the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy reminded me of a quilt story. Yes, that's right. I didn't make a quilt for Sen. Kennedy, but many years ago I made one for one of his nephews, Wm. Kennedy Smith. I wrote about it on my blog a few years ago. Enjoy!

Read here--> A Nixon Quilt for a Kennedy

Sometimes I Remember, Sometimes I Don't

2009-08-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I remember...

Last Tues. on the KTLA morning news here in southern California, they were talking about how young people today aren't familiar with terms and names from even 20 years ago. This reminded me of a story about Daughter #1 when she was about 16. So during the news broadcast I went to the KTLA website and emailed the following story to them. And before the broadcast ended, one of the newscasters, Sam Rubin, read my email!

"Your water-cooler buzz topic this morning reminded me of a time when our daughter was teen. A friend of ours had the first name John and middle name Wayne. Once he was trying to get our daughter to guess his name. He gave all kinds of hints like, 'I was named after a famous western actor, etc. etc.' She could never figure it out. Finally he told her, 'My name is John Wayne!' She looked at him completely serious and said, 'You were named after an airport???'

They all had a good laugh. I called Daughter #1 immediately and said, "how many people in your neighborhood can say they had a story about them read on a news station in LA?" I'm glad I remembered that story!

Sometimes I don't...

Every now and then my quilting customers ask me to... "quilt mine like my friend's." Well, to be honest with you, sometimes I don't remember how I quilted their friend's quilt! It's a good thing I take photos for reference. These are 2 Christmas quilts I quilted the same. I looked at my photos for reference.

Quilt #1

Quilt #2

Here's 2 Block-of the-Month sampler quilts that I quilted exactly the same. They are the same quilts, but different fabrics.

Quilt #1

Quilt #2

Now back to quilting, Vivian! (And back to blogging too! I have tons of stories and quilt pictures to share!)

Would You Like This Quilt?

2009-07-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well it can be yours if you win! Buy a Raffle Ticket from my friend Lisa (email LisaMarieV@aol.com). All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Drawing will be held on Aug. 8th, Yorba Linda Middle School in Yorba Linda, Calif. Hurry! Get your tickets today and tell your friends!
This beautiful quilt pieced in batiks and freehand machine quilted (by me), measures approx. 66 x 86. Batting: Quilters Dream Cotton. Thread: Signature Cotton Variegated.

Remember who you are!

2009-07-10T16:19:00.001-07:00

I recently ordered these vinyl letters. I put them up myself. Well, acutally with the help of my son and hubby. I was so proud of us. My friends always pay someone to do this in their homes. But it really wasn't rocket science. Pretty easy.

This is one of those saying my kids have heard for years from their dad... Everytime they would leave to go out at night, he would remind them of that motto. I think it's a good motto to live by. And our 3 three children, all grown and gone, turned out just fine. Maybe that motto actually sank in!

Here are some pretty pictures we had done when our family was all together last month.
We had them taken at the Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Beach, by Lillie B Photography. I love them. It was the last time my entire family will be all together for the next 2 years.
When it comes to quilting, my motto would be...Remember to do a good job, or else!

I've always tried to do a good job on every quilt.

Big or small...all quilts are important to me.

I'm trying to make the world a little more beautiful...one quilt at a time.Speaking of which, I have lots of quilts to do!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

Don't forget the bubbles!

2009-07-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get quilting away and just go and go. But some quilts take some pre-planning, like this quilt for example. This darling quilt was made by my talented friend Lisa. It was for one of her kid's school teachers. She's made others before. Remember the Horton quilt?...Horton. And the Hungry Caterpillar?...Hungry. Each handprint belongs to each of the students in the class. The largest handprint on the quilt is the teacher's. Each of the students is following the teacher in the 'school of fish'. I began by making swirls throughout to give it the look of water. I just started quilting away, but as I quilted past the first fish, I remembered the bubbles. Lisa suggested the fish have bubbles coming out of their mouths. So I stopped and changed threads, in order to do the bubbles. Thread of choice? A light aqua from A&E Permacore. They have tons of colors...more than I'll probably ever use! If I had not stopped to quilt the bubbles, I wouldn't have been able to quilt them at the end. The water would have been all around the fish, with no bubbles! I'm glad I stopped and remembered the bubbles! Soon all the fish had their bubbles and I could continue with the water. Look how cute Louise's fish is below. Louise! Someone named their girl Louise? I haven't heard that name in years. Soon all the water was done. Now, on to the sand. How do you quilt sand? I did my faux-McTavishing technique for the sand. And check out the darling crab here:
And speaking of bubbles...whatever happened to...

you know who....

Bubbles, the Chimp? Who gets custody of him?
Now back to work, Vivian! Enjoy your 4th!

I'm Baaaaaaack!

2009-06-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks I've been very busy with my family. You see, my BabyBoy is leaving July 8th to report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah to begin his training to serve a missionary in Auckland, New Zealand. He'll be in New Zealand for two years. These past few weeks we've had lots of family and friends stay with us to bid him farewell. Some nights I was fixing dinner for 20 people. Other nights it was just 8. Most nights I was calling out for pizza!

Between all of this, I have been trying to quilt...believe it or not! I have so much to share! I don't even know where to begin!

First, let me show you a small wallhanging I repaired and finished for a woman. She recently lost her mother and in her mother's belongings, this is what they found:I don't know if you've ever pieced a lone star quilt, but it is not easy. This woman's mother hand pieced this lovely wallhanging. Notice the waves in the mauve areas around. Can it be saved? Will it ever lay flat? Well, I'm no miracle worker, but this is what I did...

First I removed the mauve areas around the star. Next I pressed them and trimmed as needed. Then I pinned them into place, so they would lay flat. After re-attaching the mauve areas, I quilted it. What do you think? I think the woman's mother would be pleased.
It made me think of my own mother. She and my dad stayed with me for about a week. We enjoyed many good times together. I even interviewed them for a family history project my sister is working on. We spoke of their childhood and school memories. It was wonderful.

My mother has slowed down in the past view years and walks with a cane. Occasionally she uses a wheelchair. Her memory is not what is once was and she gets confused once in a while. But she is always smiling and that makes me happy. She seems to be in a 'happy place.' The picture below is one of my favorites. It was taken about 4 years ago. I love it because I love the way she is looking at me. I can tell she loves me.
Now, get back to quilting, Vivian! Have a great day, blogging friends!

"Leaves Changing to What?"

2009-06-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

This was a quilt I worked on recently. It was huge and I was in a big time crunch. I did the machine quilting in one day. The quilter wanted to take it with her on a trip to work on the binding.

Don't you love this beautiful collection of batiks? The woman who pieced this said she made it from a kit. That's how I would have done it. I don't think I could have coordinated the colors so beautifully on my own! To take a picture of the quilt, I hung it over a balcony in my home. And I still couldn't get all of it in the picture!

But who do you think had to get in the shot? Yes, the Purse Dog of course!Now let's look at the leaves on this quilt. The woman who made it fused the leaves on and I embellished them for her.

I used a lovely variegated thread throughout.
Thread of choice? Signature Variegated Cotton in Tie Dye. Remember I only use the threads my longarm machine likes!

As I quilted the leaves of this quilt I was reminded of something my kids said to me when they were little. "Leaves changing to what?" I was visiting Washington DC with my sister. It was the fall of 1993. The fall season was beautiful in Washington DC. I had some free time one afternoon and told my kids on the phone, "Today, Mommy's going to drive around and take pictures of the leaves changing." They asked...

"Leaves changing to what?"

You see, my kids were raised in Orange County, California. The land of palm trees and beaches. Land of Disneyland and orange groves. (ok, there aren't many of those left anymore!) They didn't know that leaves changed color! Now my kids are all grown up. How I miss those times when they were little and asked me funny questions!

Now to change the subject a bit....

Remember the "Montana" quilt I wrote about in my last blog post? Well here it is in a local quilt show held last weekend.

Didn't win any ribbons but is sure is cute, isn't it?

And as I walked around the quilt show I stopped at this quilt and thought it looked familiar. Why?

Because I quilted it! I know this sounds awful but I quilt so many I honestly can't keep track of all of them.

Here's my name on the sign. I went, "Oh yeah, I quilted that!" More and more the quilt shows are recognizing the machine quilter. Years ago it wasn't like that at all.

I've been quilting for almost 9 years and the older I get, I'm finding it harder and harder to remember all the quilts!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

I'm Not From Montana...

2009-06-02T15:03:00.000-07:00

...but if I were, I would want this quilt! I just finished this cute "row" quilt for a quilter who's entering it in an upcoming quilt show.
She is from Montana and each one of her friends made a row of this quilt.

I quilted it in a lovely Signature variegated thread. Don't you love this moose?

Although I am not from Montana, I was reminded of my great grandfather who worked in a silver mine in Anaconda, Montana in the 1890's. He's pictured below, standing in the doorway on the left. My great grandmother is seated in the center. This looks like a hard life. They worked for my great grandfather's wealthy brother who owned the mine. You'd think he'd put them up in better accomodations. Wait, maybe these were the best accomodoations!
Now here's a crazy coincidence for you. My great grandfather was a friend of a man name George Washington Love. He worked in that mine too! George Washington Love was my husband's great, great, granduncle! Here they are both pictured below. This picture was taken in Anaconda, Montana. Small world, don't you think? Yes, my ancestors and my husband's ancestors were friends. Of course, being some of the Mormon pioneers, they probably all knew each other! (don't you think my great grandfather, pictured on the left, was a handsome man?)Now, get back to work, Vivian!

Flying High

2009-05-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

I did the machine quilting on this beautiful birdhouse quilt recently. It was absolutely beautiful and I'm sorry I didn't take more pictures before the quilt "flew" out of my studio. There was lovely applique, embroidery and beadwork throughout.

I really tried to steer clear of all the breathtaking embroidery.

Thread of choice? Through the sashings and borders I quilted freehand curly feathers with Signature variegated "Rose Petals." I was very pleased with it. And my longarm machine loves Signature variegated!

Besides the birds in this quilts, who else is flying high? My son-in-law!

Sat. was his graduation from CalState Fullerton. He's pictured below with his proud wife...Daughter #2.

We are all so proud of him. He's such a great kid...oops, I mean young man!

Does he look happy? Thank goodness for a telephoto lens!

Sidenote: Here's some trivia for you...what university did Kevin Costner graduate from? You guessed it smarty pants! CalState Fullerton! I thought maybe he'd come back as an alumni speaker. But no, he wasn't there! Don't think I didn't keep my eyes open for him though!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

Peaceful Quilt, Peaceful Place, and Sam Elliott

2009-05-15T19:37:00.001-07:00

Been so busy, haven't had much time to blog these days. But I wanted to share this pretty, peaceful stack-n-whack quilt with you. Aren't these fans beautiful?

I wasn't sure what to put in the fans, but I chose a simple feather. Isn't this fabric beautiful?

******************

And this reminded me of a beautiful Japanese Garden I visited in Portland, Oregon in April. I was in Portland visiting my parents. One day we had some free time and driving around the city, we found this lovely place to visit.

You can tell it was springtime.

It was very peaceful and serene.

This was the view below of Portland from the gardens. It was a beautiful day.

My father-in-law who also lives in Oregon now, came along with us. In the picture below are three generations. My father-in-law, my hubby, and my BabyBoy.

Here is my BabyBoy checking out the koi fish pond.

And below is a stressed-out guy trying to make you think he's relaxing! LOL

And what are these guys doing? Enjoying the beauty of the gardens?

Well, they were! That was until the camera lady disturbed them!

***************

Now here's something completely unrelated but kinda funny! While visiting my neice and nephew's high school, David Douglas High in Portland, I checked out the Student Body President 'Hall of Fame.' Each student body president, past and present, has a portrait displayed in the hall. (my nephew is next year's president, so his portrait will be added to the wall too!) Well, check out who was the student body president in 1962! Do you recognize this future star? It's Sam Elliott!

Below is what he looks like today!
Of course, I fell in love with him in 1976 when I saw the film Lifeguard.

I was surprised to learn he lived in the Pacific Northwest. Sam Elliott is the perfect cowboy! Check out the stache!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

Mi Casa Es Su Casa

2009-05-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

Today I am thinking about my mother, not because Mother's Day is next week, but because yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. My mother's family is from Mexico, you see. Every Cinco de Mayo I reflect on my heritage. Who would have ever guessed a surfer from Venice, CA (my dad) and a beautiful "Latin Lover" would marry one day and produce ME!

That blob on the left is me!

I went to visit my mother and father over Easter last month. They retired to Oregon and love it there. It's so green and wet and different from southern California. As we drove through their neighborhood I said outloud to my dad, "I still can't believe you guys live here! It's so different from the O.C." He said, " Yes, but it's beautiful isn't it?"

My mother has slowed down these past few years. I noticed on this last visit that she doesn't talk much anymore. But one day she surprised me with this comment:

"Vivian, Mi casa es su casa."

I'm sure she meant, Make yourself at home, which is what 'Mi Casa Es Su Casa' means. But literally translated it is: 'My house is your house.' I laughed. What a funny thing to say! I told her, "That's exactly right, Mom!"

You see, about 15 years ago, I bought my parents house. At times it seems strange to think I am living in the house I grew up in. But Yorba Linda is a wonderful place. So, litterally My house is my Mom's house!

However, I'd like to show you where my mother lives today. This is what is looks like in Oregon, where her casa is now.

My BabyBoy went for a walk nearby. Very different from the O.C., where my parents lived most of their married lives.

When once they were surrounded by palm trees, this is their backyard today...

On a dresser in the guest room my mother displays dolls. She loves Shirley Temple!

Although my mother is an artist, it has been many years since she picked up a paintbrush. Hanging in her home is a painting she did.

Throughout her home there are many pictures of family, especially pictures of my sister who passed away after a long battle with cancer.

On one wall, my mother hangs a drawing of the McCune mansion, my father's ancestors' home. And next to it are childhood pictures of my paternal grandparents.

On another wall hangs a lovely picture of the church hymn, Come, Come Ye Saints, including a picture of William Clayton, my great, great grandfather who composed it.Throughout my mother's home there are many things that represent our family. Probably one of the most touching things I saw was a little wallhanging I made for my mother in 1990. Those were the days I was hand quilter. I made this little wallhanging with six hearts to represent my mother's six children. I couldn't believe she still hangs it in her home.

I was so happy to go to my mother's home. And to be reminded, "Mi Casa Es Su Casa."

Congratulations!

2009-04-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you for participating in my last give-away. Congratulations to Jennifer! You'll be receiving you Scrabble Tile pendant soon!

I've been busy with many, many projects and not just quilt projects. But I thought I'd share pics of this lovely quilt I finished for The Calico House recently. I'm sure this fabric will fly off the shelves. I love it! Very 'summer-y'. Is that even a word? Enjoy!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

PS. My sister has written some really good articles about epidemic/pandemic emergency prepartions. Visit her blog, won't you? This link: http://preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com/

Give Away And A Good Cause

2009-04-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

Several times a year, Southern Cross Humanitarian takes groups to Peru, Ecuador and Colombia to perform humanitarian service. Southern Cross Humanitarian helps over 40 million street children. Last summer my husband and son spent 10 days in Peru, working at the Sunflower Orphanage, one of the projects of Southern Cross Humanitarian. It was a wonderful, life-changing experience. Read about it here: My Adventure-Seeking BabyBoy. They were able to help orphans and street children by serving them with hygiene and building projects, as well as giving love and friendship. My husband said it was "a life changing experience to bless lives, lift others and learn about yourself & others."

This July, my husband will return again to continue working on projects started last year. Accompanying him will be Daughter #2 (StaciJayne) and her Sweetheart (Nathan). They are looking forward to working hard and helping the children in Peru.

As a fundraiser for this worthy cause, the talented artists of the ever-popular Etsy shop, HomeStudio, have created these beautiful Scrabble Tile Pendants. Each of the limited edition Scrabble Tile Pendants you see below, include the pendant and an 18" snake chain.

All of the proceeds of these limited edition Scrabble Tile pendant/chain will be donated to Southern Cross Humanitarian. If you would like to donate more, you can purchase ANY items in HomeStudio's Etsy shop and 10% of the proceeds of those items will go towards the fundraiser. IMPORTANT: Be sure to put "Southern Cross" in the message-to-seller note area during your checkout, so they know you wish to donate.

********************************

Now, while you're making your donation by purchasing a Scabble Tile pendant at HomeStudio's Etsy shop, leave a comment on my blog post TODAY to win your choice of one of these limited edition Scrabble Tile pendants! It's my gift to you!

CONTEST RULES: Tell me the farthest you've ever traveled. Perhaps, it's Peru! Perhaps it's Spain (that would be me!) Perhaps you've spent time on the International Space Station! And tell me which of the four limited edition Scrabble Tile pendants pictured you would like!

Contest is open to EVERYONE! Deadline Mon. 4/27/09 10pm Orange County time. (that would be PDT!)

Good luck and don't forget to shop over at HomeStudio's Etsy shop!

Note: If you have any questions about how to shop on Etsy, please email at- quiltswithlove@sbcglobal.net and I will be happy to help you.

Teaching Another Generation

2009-04-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Recently I had the chance to help a local high school senior with her senior project. I did a presentation for our Church's Young Womens organization about how quilting is like life (another blogpost for another day!). One girl, Misty, called me shortly after that presentation and said she wanted to learn to make a quilt for her senior project.

A few weeks later I got together with Misty and we took a field trip over to Fresh Picked Fabrics where I introduced her to owner Gina Halladay. Gina gave us a tour and showed us around her business. She was very helpful and answered many of Misty's questions. She suggested that Misty make one of her Threaded Pear quilts from the pattern, "Suprisingly Super Simple." After that we walked around looking at all the beautiful fabrics.

Next we took a trip to another quilt shop to see even more fabrics! (Note: I told Misty all about what a "fabric stash" was!) We visited The Calico House where Misty found some fun black and white fat quarters. These fabrics were fun and just right for Misty. Yes, that's right...animal prints, pins, skull & crossbones, etc. And this is what she made:

Didn't it turn out cute? Now she's going to do the binding and present it this week at the high school. I know it will be something that she'll treasure for many years to come. I was glad to be able to help the next generation learn about quilting.

Isn't It Obvious What the Obama's Are Doing?

2009-04-18T10:50:00.001-07:00

Don't worry, this isn't a political blog post....read on!
Isn't it obvious that the Obama family wanted a dog like the Purse Dog? Well, they came pretty darn close! Here is the Purse Dog as she looked when she joined our family in 2004. Our lives have never been the same since! Let's look at some photos of the Purse Dog through the years...

Here she is last January, visiting her cousins. Dancing around in her pj's...With Daughter #2 in her new party dress. Purse Dog was only 2...
Another picture with Daughter #2 in the freezing cold. Oregon coast, Thanksgiving 2006...
Below she is pictured with Joaquin Phoenix...ok, it was my BabyBoy dressed up for a costume party...but the Purse Dog looked scared! As you can see, the Purse Dog gets scared when my BabyBoy dresses up. She doesn't like it one bit!
Here is America's Next Top Model...modeling some purses...doesn't she fit nicely in a purse?
...even this Amy Butler bag I made!
Here she is with Santa a few years ago. I don't think she liked that costume either!
I know I'm insane! But, it's true, I am crazy about my Purse Dog!
Happy Birthday to the Purse Dog! Let's party! (doesn't this make her 35 in dog years? Do you think she'll have a mid-life crisis?)

A Little Goofy, But Not A Show-Off!

2009-04-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

I'll admit I'm a little goofy, but I'm not a "Show-off"...

Here I was being goofy with Orlando Bloom:
Here I was being goofy at a quilt show. I believe that if I crop half my body in a picture, it takes 50 lbs off!

Here is a picture from the olden days, when I was a goofy cheerleader:

And here is the back of a quilt I did for Road to California. Ok, here maybe I was being a show-off!

For the most part, I believe my machine quilting should enhance a quilt, not over-take it. For the most part, I don't think a machine quilter should be a show-off. For example, look at this pretty quilt.

The piecer put a lot of time and effort into this quilt. I love the contrasting colors in these beautiful batik designs.

So I quilted a simple freehand design and changed threads throughout to match and enhance the fabrics.

That way my machine quilting didn't over-take the quilt, just enhanced it.

And the graphic layout of the quilt was not lost. The machine quilter wasn't a show-off, you see.

And in the back, I picked subtle colors there too, so it didn't detract from the beautiful fabric.

You see...same freehand design throughout, just different threads to match. Hey, wait a minute, who's that sleeping on the job???

Why, it's the Purse Dog of course, sunbathing in my quilt studio!

She's back from a week at the dog kennel. I'm sure she didn't get any sunbathing time there! And I'm back from a week in Oregon for Easter visiting my parents....and back from about 3 weeks of being sick! I'm feel so much better now!

Tons of quilts to do...

Get back to work, Vivian!

Make It Your Own

2009-04-07T20:10:00.001-07:00

Recently I had the opportunity to machine quilt some amazing quilts. They were made by some very talented ladies. Let me share them with you.
Perhaps you are already familiar with the ever popular "Be Attitudes" quilt by Nancy Halvorsen of "Art to Heart" quilts. This is the 3rd one I've had the chance to machine quilt. Read about the last one here: 'A Quilt Comes Alive.' (I even got a nice email from Nancy Halvorsen herself! She got a kick out of my blog entry last fall.)

Well, let me share with you what another talented quilter did with this quilt. She made the "Be Attitudes" quilt, just as it was designed, pictured below:
Then she made a second one. And she made it her own! ...or rather, she followed her own pattern!

Following the basic layout of the quilt, she inserted photo transfers in the blocks. Following the lettering patterns, she appliqued other words. This darling quilt went to one of her daughters. Such a wonderful gift!
And here's another one. This beautiful "Hopeful Sampler" quilt, made by Sherri of the blog, A Quilting Life. (follow this blog! This girl quilts and quilts!) She did such a beautiful job of applique, embroidery, and piecing! I was amazed!
Throughout the original quilt as designed there are beautiful quotations related to "Hope." But look what Sherri did! She embroidered passages of Scripture. Here's one of my favorites:
And here's another favorite of mine:

As I machine quilted these two quilts I enjoyed seeing how these amazing talented ladies made the quilts their own. Sometimes in life we don't always follow the pattern. Cartoonist Al Capp said,

"Success is following the pattern of life one enjoys most."

Look For The Quilts!

2009-04-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

Due to a very bad head cold I haven't been able to quilt. When one is sick in bed, something you can do is watch movies. Here are some I'd like to recommend. Why? Because when you are watching them, look for the quilts!

In Steve Martin's Roxanne, look at the scenes of the interior of Roxanne's house. There are some beautiful quilts on the walls and on her bed. (I tried to find some movie stills of the quilts for you, but couldn't find any!) This is one of my favorite movies. Favorite line: "Earn more session by sleeving!"...you have to watch the movie in order to get that!In Sarah, Plain and Tall, starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken, there's a beautiful Double Wedding Ring quilt on the bed.

In the 1985 film, Anne of Green Gables, there are many quilts throughout. Seems like the quilts on Anne's bed change all the time. Lucky girl!

Of course, while you're looking at the beautiful quilts, enjoy the cute story of the darling girl with a vivid imagination who catches the eye of handsome Gilbert Blythe!

And who can forget the gorgeous quilt Susan Sarrandon's character gives her daughter in Stepmom! Oh, I wish I could have found a picture of that! Rent the DVD just to see that beautiful quilt!

Perhaps you didn't see the beautiful Amish-style quilt in the movie Baby Boom, starring Diane Keaton. The quilt is hanging in her New York apartment and later you see it again in her home in the country. Diane Keaton's character even mentions quilts! She thinks she's going to the country to start baking pies and making quilts!

Of course, you didn't think I would fail to mention How to Make an American Quilt. You'll drool over the beautiful wedding quilt you see being made through the movie. Of course, many quilters gasp in the scene where Winona Ryder's character wraps herself in the quilt and runs off to find her fiance, Sam. The quilt is dragged slightly in the dirt! Favorite line: "Young lovers seek perfection. Old lovers learn the art of sewing shreds together and of seeing beauty in a multiplicity of patches."

And last but not least, the quilt that Bill Murray wakes up under each morning in Groundhog Day. That quilt is practically a star. After all you see it over and over again as Bill Murray's character wakes up on Groundhog Day again and again! The most repeated line in the movie: "Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today."

Rent these movies today and look for the quilts!

Know any others I forgot to mention?

More Viewing Enjoyment and You Never Know Who's Going To Be a Vampire!

2009-03-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

Feeling much better now. Last week was the worst! Don't have any pictures of recent quilts to show you, but as always I try to share some quilt pics and stories. Well, today these are quilt pics and a completely unrelated story, but I just had to share!

Keep going...

You'll get to the story at the end! First some quilt pics...

Isn't this a darling quilt. A great use of small scraps from your stash.

I don't really know what kind of flowers these are, but I made them roses!

I really do that swirl thing a lot, don't I? Perhaps it's time to create a new kind of filler.

And here's the completely unrelated story!

Watching Twilight recently, Daughter #2 realized that she has met one of the vampires! Or rather, one of the actors that portrays a vampire! That's right. About 4 years ago she worked on a short-lived murder-mystery show called "Close to Home."One episode, Romeo and Juliet Murders, featured a young actor named Jackson Rathbone. Daughter #2 worked in a couple of scenes with him. Look how young he was! Well, that young actor played Jasper Hale in Twilight!

He looks a little older and a lot more creepy, don't you think? Check out those black eyes and pale skin. Is that what a vampire looks like?

So you never know who's going to be a vampire!

Enough Twilight talk!

Now back to work, Vivian! So many quilts to do! Get busy!

For Your Viewing Enjoyment

2009-03-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

First of all, thank you for all your kind comments on my last blog post. They were so kind and heartfelt. My BabyBoy (19 next month) is still reeling from the excitement of being called to New Zealand.

As for me, I've been under the weather for awhile and so I thought I'd post pictures of a quilt I worked on a few weeks ago. A lovely homespun patchwork of baskets and vines. Of course I did swirls throughout, (you know me!) but I thought leaves mixed in would be nice too. Enjoy!
Now get back to work Vivian! (I wish! Still not up to it yet!)

A Special Day for My BabyBoy

2009-03-23T20:37:00.001-07:00

Last Fri. my BabyBoy received his mission call. He'll be serving a mission for our Church for 2 years. He leaves July 8th. Where do you think he's going?

Here he is getting ready to open the letter that came from Salt Lake City. He was nervous, but very excited:

Family and friends waited in suspense as he opened the envelope:

Here he is reading the letter. Where do you think he's going?

Here is a teary-eyed boy telling everyone he's been called to serve in Auckland, New Zealand! That's right! Land of the Kiwi's:

And land of Lord of the Rings! Yes, that's where they filmed the movies. I wonder if he'll meet any hobbits!Here is my BabyBoy doing a happy dance:
Here is the PurseDog and Daughter #2. They would have never guessed New Zealand!
None of us did! Here he is with some of his friends as he's making lots of phone calls to friends and family.

And here are his two proud parents. We are thrilled.
It's hard to believe. My BabyBoy will going out to serve the Lord for two years. Now there's lots to do to get ready. July 8th will be here before we know it!

Let There Be Light...Let There Be Shadow!

2009-03-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's hard to see what I'm machine quilting. Because of the light. Especially when I'm working on a light colored quilt and I'm quilting in light colored thread!

Let's discuss light...just for a moment.

Below you see the lights my dear husband had installed in my quilt studio. Now, don't get me wrong. They are great. They are nice and bright for sewing and doing all kinds of projects in my quilt studio. When my kids were younger, they would come in here and work on their homework. But this is what happens when I'm trying to quilt with light thread on light fabric.

Now, let's see what happens when using the lights installed on my quilting machine table. They are great, but not for light thread on light fabric.

This is what I see below with those lights. Or rather, what I don't see. I still can't see!

And how about the smaller light attached to the machine. It's the small fluorescent bulb that came with the machine.

It's a little too bright for light thread on light fabric. I still can't see!

Oh my! What's this?

It's a different light! Let there be light! No! Let there be shadow! Now I can see! Why? Because this light creates shadows!

It's my Flexible Display Light from YLighting you see below! I bought it a couple of years ago and it has been the best investment! I set it at the best angle (not too close to the quilt, of course) and it creates enough shadow so I can see what I'm quilting...especially when quilting with light thread on light fabric!

You see, I do all my quilting freehand. Therefore I must see what I'm quilting!

I attached it to my quilting machine with the optional 4-inch clamp, sold separately. It's just the right width so it can fit on my Gammill Longarm.

Below is another shot of the clamp.

I also purchased an extra light bulb too. Nothing worse than working on a quilt and not have an extra light bulb!

Hey, what's on TV? Oh, it's Seinfeld...the Soup Nazi episode! One of my favorites!

Ok, besides my Flexible Display Light, my favorite light is natural sunlight. The perfect time for this natural light is in the morning.

But of course, that means that is the only time I can quilt to get this great visiblity.

But I don't always quilt in the morning though. So I depend on my Flexible Display Light, because I quilt all hours of the day and night!

Now get back to work, Vivian! And no more Seinfeld Nazi episode for you!

Where In The World Did Vivian Go?

2009-03-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize how long it's been since I updated my blog! I have so much to share with you!

Here at my house in Orange County it's springtime. Here's a very "Spring-y" quilt for you to enjoy. Teri Christophersen of Black Mountain Quilts' "Chubby Chicks." I just finished doing the machine quilting on this darling quilt. A great quilt for using up your scraps.

The weather has been great here. Even my garden has sunflowers! Yes, sunflowers in March! You see, a few months ago I asked my gardener to clean up my vegetable garden for the winter. I guess there were some seeds left behind. All by itself, my garden has grown again. And I didn't do a thing. No kidding, I have a few tomato plants, carrot plants and the sunflowers bloomed last week! I love winter in California!

What else have I been doing? Waiting by the mailbox. Actually, my son has been waiting by the mailbox. You see, my BabyBoy is waiting for his mission call. His papers have been turned in and now he's waiting to find out where he's been assigned to serve for our Church for 2 years! I can't believe he's old enough. I still see him like this:And below is what he looked like last summer:
Below is what he looked like last week. He went to a celebrity-look-alike party with friends. The PurseDog was scared to see Joaquin Phoenix at our house!

The PurseDog is thinking, "This guy's going to serve a mission???"

What else have I been doing? Reading Twilight of course. I'm still so busy, but I read it whenever I get a chance. Remember I'm a new Twilight convert! Check out the new Scrabble Tile pendant my brother and his wife gave me! Don't you love it? Visit their Etsy shop and you can get one too!

And speaking of Scrabble Tile Pendants....

I was in Palm Springs last week visiting my brother and his wife. Below is a picture of 'Scrabble Tile Central.' Here they are busy working together making darling interchangable Scrabble Tile Pendants. They make them in their home...their HomeStudio!

You see, I went to visit them in the desert with my older sister. She came to visit me from Portland for a few days. Soon she'll be a grandmother for the first time! We had a great time together!

Here we are pictured below with our little brother, the artist, Mark McCune. That's some of his artwork on the wall behind us. He's amazing! We had a nice time visiting him and his family.

What else did my sister and I do? We went to quilt shops one day of course! We visited Gina Halladay's new fabric shop in Yorba Linda, Fresh Picked Fabrics. And my ol' favorite, Calico House in Placentia too! We also took a little visit to Nordstrom's of course, where my sister got a makeover at the Bobbi Brown counter. (my favorite!)

We also went to Downtown Disney. It's a great place to take a stroll in the evening. Plenty of good restaurants, shopping, and entertainment. Below, we are in front of Disney's California Adventures theme park. When you visit, you must take your picture in front of the C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A letters!

We had to play tourists, even though we grew up just 10 miles from here in Yorba Linda.

Here we are below enjoying the shopping too!

Until next time...blogging friends!

Now, back to work, Vivian!

Am I Vintage or Antique?

2009-03-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

Recently I started an Etsy Shop. I'm trying to clean up my quilt studio. I'm selling quilt books, craft books, vintage quilt tops, quilt blocks, fabrics, etc. If you are not familiar with Etsy, take a look at it sometime. It's a website to buy and sell all things homemade, vintage and supplies, too!

As I listed these quilt tops and blocks, I was working on the descriptions of them. Did you know that they consider vintage as an item that is more than 20 years old? This made me wonder what would be considered an antique. It didn't really say, but I did a google search and found that an antique is something more than 100 years old. I guess I'm vintage, but not an antique yet!

Maybe if I just add a little sepia-tone. Does that work?

I guess it's all how you look at it. You see, I love antique furniture too. I have a few pieces in my home. A lady visited me once and looked around my home. She said, "Oh I love what you did with all this used furniture." "Used furniture!" I gasped. "I thought it was antique!!!"

Maybe I should use the terms car dealers use. Not used! Just previously owned!

Now back to work, Vivian!

A Twilight Convert

2009-03-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

I realize there's been a lot of craziness about Twilight this past year. I first heard about Twilight from blogging pal Shannon at FrecklesQuilts--she's a huge fan! So I bought the book--me and 40 million other people! I read a page or two and got busy. I passed it on to my daughters and they both read it and later bought the rest of the books in the Twilight series. They were hooked. I kept telling myself I'd get to reading that book when quilting slowed down a bit. Needless to say, it hasn't slowed down. The book has been sitting on a shelf, now collecting dust.

Last night Daughter #2 took me to finally see Twilight-The Movie. We even went to the dollar-theater. After all, it will be out on DVD soon, won't it? It was Daughter #2's second time seeing the movie.

I was surprised to see the theater packed! Typical nights at the dollar-theater have many empty seats. And the majority of the viewers last night were young girls. The first time the character Edward appeared on the screen, the young girls in the theater squealed and clapped. I looked around and laughed and said to Daughter #2, "Oh my, what's this all about?"

Ok, so now I'm hooked! I enjoyed the film very much. I was the only one making comments throughout. Everyone else was glued to the screen. I would ask my daughter, now who's that guy? and why did that happen? etc. Yes, I'm one of those annoying viewers! You know the kind. You've probably turned around and said "Shhhhh!" to me in the theater. Daughter #2 told me "Shhhhh!" and said, "You have to read the book Mom, then you'll understand everything."

Am I a converted "Twilighter"???

Maybe so. I'm just a newbie, though. Of course, I dusted off my copy of the book this morning and started reading it again. I'll let you know how it goes. I can't wait for the DVD release! (Where has Robert Pattinson been? Those eyes! My goodness!)

Now, back to work, Vivian!

(How can Vivian get back to work, when she'd rather read all about Edward Cullen....Except for the whole vampire thing...does a man like that even exist!!!?)

A Precious Gift

2009-03-02T17:23:00.000-08:00

Five years ago today, my mother-in-law passed away from the effects of Multiple Sclerosis. She battled it for many years. In fact, in all the years that I have known my husband, I never knew Linda without a wheelchair. She was only 61 years old when she died and she was the closest person to a saint that I have ever known.

(Linda with one of her granddaughters, Julie, my Daughter #1)

Today in my early morning scripture class (we're studying the New Testament) we were discussing the story of Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus anointing the feet of Jesus Christ with a costly ointment. (St. John 12)The students and I talked about gifts that people have given us that were significant and precious to us. The most special gifts we discussed were those that were given us by special people. I brought to class the painted wooden plaque you see at the beginning of this blog post.

To many of the quilters who visit me in my quilt studio, they think it is a plaque that one of my children made me. It hangs near my longarm machine so I can see it as I quilt. But it was not from one of my children. Instead it was given to me by my mother-in-law Linda. She painted it many years ago and it is very precious to me.
You see, from the effects of MS, Linda only had the use of one of her hands. And so I know painting it took many hours to complete. I wrote about Linda last year on Mothers Day. Please go visit that entry again, if you have a minute. It's an experience I had where I learned how much she loved me. Follow this link: Hats Off To Mothers.

This is a scripture from the New Testament that reminds me of Linda: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."--2 Timothy 4:7

She is dearly missed by her family, escpecially by her eldest son, my dear husband. And me.

I hope that you take the time to reflect on precious gifts that special people have given you. Sometimes they are gifts that don't cost very much, but when they remind us of special people, they become priceless to us.

"The heart of the giver makes the gift dear and precious."--Martin Luther King, Jr.

************************

Pictured below are a couple of scrappy quilts I worked on recently I wanted to share with you. I see more and more scrappy quilts these days.
Do you think it's because in this economy, quilters are using more and more of their stash? Perhaps.

Have a good day, blogging friends!

Which Track Will He Choose?

2009-02-27T22:27:00.000-08:00

I've still been busy quilting. That's the way I like it. (Even with my Lyme disease, I'm keeping up.) I've been so blessed to have so many quilts to do. And I enjoy every single one I get to work on.

Here's a fun one to share with you. This is similar to one I did for the same customer a few months ago. I would give you a link to see the other one but I just can't find it and it's late and I should get to bed!

The cute race track I left unquilted so the little boy who's getting this quilt can race his hotwheels on it a little easier.
In the horizontal strips on the top and bottom I created some more race tracks. This was at the request of the customer. She thought it would be even more fun for the little boy to have more than one race track to play on.
Can you see the other race tracks?
I used a variegated thread throughout. In the race car border I tried to make the swirls look kinda like flames. What do you think? I hope he likes it. I wonder which track he will choose. Hopefully all of them!Have a great weekend!

Purse Dog And I Get To Babysit

2009-02-26T13:07:00.000-08:00

Today the Purse Dog and I are babysitting 2 kittens. They are Daughter #2's new babies. Yes, that's right. I don't have any grandbabies yet. Just "grand-pets." Daughter #2 has 2 kittens, Rob and Tink, and Daughter #1 has a teacup poodle, Ruby, the Purse Dog's country cousin. Don't my daughters' pets count as grand-pets?

Here are the kittens trying to figure out what that furry thing is...Hey, it's the babysitter! Aren't they cute? They are a brother and sister, just 3 months old!

In honor of pets, how about a cute Amy Bradley quilt?

Here it is hanging up in my studio ready to be picked up. Notice below what is sitting on the table there on the right? That's not a candle! You'd never see a candle in my quilt studio. That's a Scentsy warmer. I love it. Wickless and flameless, it keeps my quilt studio smelling pretty and it's much safer! Daughter #2 sells them. Check out her website here: Scentsy.

Let's take a closer look at the quilt. Cute pets, don't you think? Ok, I don't know anyone with a cow as a pet! Or a sheep either! A pig, maybe!
Close-up shots. Cute bees appliqued around. Of course I did swirls allover. You know me!

In the green field I quilted some grass. And in the rainbow border I quilted swirls in variegated thread.

Here's a close up of a Purse Dog and a Cat. Too bad it doesn't look like my Purse Dog. And the cat doesn't really look like one of Daughter #2's kittens. But they turned out cute anyway, don't you think?

Now back to work, Vivian! Vivian and The Purse Dog have get busy and babysit the kittens! (it's not hard work at all...in fact, it's lots of fun!)

The Cast Of My Life: Silly Nonsense

2009-02-21T09:13:00.001-08:00

Since it's the weekend and I have tons of quilts to do and should be out enjoying the beautiful southern California winter weather...I'm taking a break and going out and running a few laps. No, instead I'm choosing to sit down at my computer and make this silly blog post for you.

In honor of Oscar weekend!

The Cast of The Life of Vivian Love

Starring...

Susan St. James as Vivian Love

If it were a film about a young Vivian Love, a young Susan St. James would be perfect for the role...BTW when I was young and McMillan and Wife was a popular show, my friends used to tell me I looked like her!

Or if it were a film about an older Vivian Love, Susan St. James could still have the role. Look how great she looks above. That was last year when she got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Robert Redford as Vivian's Darling Hubby

We would hire Robert Redford in his young, beautiful years or...

Or in his older I'm-wrinkled-because-I've-had-a-great-life version too! We'll take him either way!

A young Dakota Fanning as Daughter #1

because of her cute personality or...

Tyra Banks as Daughter #1.

because of those eyes!

Samwise Gamgee as Daughter #1's Sweetheart.

Or Kevin James as Daughter #1's Sweetheart.

We'd make sure to hire him because Daughter #1's Sweetheart is a big fan of Kevin James!

JamieLynn Spears as Daughter #2.

Seriously, she was mistaken for her once!

Or Victoria Beckham,

if she's available and her salary fits into our budget,

and because Daughter #2 loves her!

(I think Daughter #2 would rather have VB!)

Shia Lebouf as a younger version of Daughter #2's Sweetheart.

Or Keanu Reeves.

We would be happy with either one! Thomas Sangster at my BabyBoy.

(he's the cute little boy in Love Actually.)

or Ashton Kutcher as a current-day BabyBoy.
We would be happy to give the role to either one!

The Cute Dog in As Good As It Gets as The Purse Dog.

Or Snoopy
because The Purse Dog sleeps most of the day, too!

Ok, break time is over! Get back to work, Vivian!

Have a great Oscar weekend, blooging friends...oops, I mean blogging friends!

How Do You Do That Vivian? Vol. 4

2009-02-19T18:57:00.000-08:00

This is a little tutorial on how I make a snowflake. But first, since we're talking about winter weather...

The other day here in Orange County, we had a sudden showering of hail.

You see our winters are very mild...I've even have some of my vegetable garden still!

Yes, that's right, hail. While the rest of the country has snow in the winter, we have pretty mild weather here...except for occasional showers. Rarely do we get hail. The Purse Dog didn't like it one bit!

"Let me it!"

I've lived in Orange County since I was 7. Winters with snow and freezing temperatures in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania and Roswell, New Mexico (the two places I lived before I was 7) are a vague memory to me. I love the winters here. Like The Purse Dog, I love mild temperatures, sunshine, and an occasional shower.

Many years ago, I was in Bethesda, Maryland with my sister. She was receiving treatments there for cancer at NCI. One evening during the fall, I was sitting in my sister's hospital room. It had been raining most of the day. Suddenly I heard what sounded like little pellets hitting the window. I went over to look out and see what this strange sound was. It was little ice pellets hitting the window. I had never seen or heard anything like it before.

I asked one of the nurses, "What is this?"

She answered, "Oh, that's sleet."
I said, "Oh my, so this is sleet! I've heard of sleet. I think I heard about it on the Weather Channel once."

She smiled, "You're not from around here, are you?"

I think she was really saying, "What planet are you from?"

I told her I lived in southern California, not far from Disneyland, and that I had never seen sleet before. She just smiled and left the room. I'm sure she went over to the nurses station and told them about me. They probably had a good laugh.

******************

Now I don't know how to quilt sleet, but I can quilt a snowflake. Let's get on with the tutorial, shall we?

Machine quilting numerous Christmas and winter quilts, I was always looking for a nice snowflake pattern. I could never find one I liked, so I made this one up:

First you draw lines like this. I use that cheap chalk I told you about before.
Then you quilt these shapes. They kind of look like holly leaves. You quilt them in opposite corners. Use those chalk lines for reference points.
You need to quilt 4 of them. Next you quilt up about two-thirds of the way up, stop briefly, and then come back down.
You make these lines with little notches you see below. You make 4 of the, using those chalk lines for reference.
Here it is all finished. See how easy!
Lastly, you wipe away the chalk lines with a microfiber cloth--like I told you before.
And here's a variation below of that snowflake. I quilted it on a scrap cloth in variegated thread. It's essentially the same designs, but at a different angle. Why not add some loops and "sparkles" too.
I hope this tutorial made sense. I do apologize for sharing a "winter" design here in February. Maybe where you live it's still snowing. Or maybe it will help you in the next holiday season!

The Purse Dog and I need to get back to work! I've got tons of quilts to do and she needs to finish her nap!

Am I Frugal, Or Just Cheap?

2009-02-16T10:51:00.000-08:00

I had a bit of "sticker shock" the other day. I've decided that I'm in the mood to sew myself some clothes. Inspired by amazing blogger Summerset Banks and Project Runway...I've made it a goal to get back to my "sewing roots." I used to sew for my girls when they were little. I used to sew as a teenager too. (I grew up with 4 teenage girls in our house! And I grew up in the days when they taught us to sew in HomeEc in high school!...do they even have HomeEc anymore?!!) But I swear the last time I bought a sewing pattern, it was only $1.99! Well, I guess those were the "olden days."

Did you know a Butterick pattern costs $14.95 these days? A Vogue designer pattern is $30!!! So, of course I waited for the President's Day sale at Joann's today. I got 5 Simplicity patterns for $5.00. And I'm using fabric I have on hand. Many years ago I began purchasing nice fabrics when I would see it on sale--hoping I would someday find the time to sew. So now I'm going to get started. I suppose that sewing clothing is much like sewing quilts. Perhaps it's not a way to save money, but it's the process of sewing that is the fun part. Sure you can go to Ross or TJMaxx and buy dresses for way less than sewing them yourself. And you can go to Target or Bed,Bath,and Beyond and buy quilts for way less than making them yourself. Sewing and quilting yourself, though, can ensure that you get better quality. And it's more fun to create! So, I guess being the frugal sewer, I'll wait for the sales!

Of course, I had to get a pattern to make The Purse Dog something!

In longarm quilting, I try to be frugal too. I have very few gadgets. Let me show you what I use for some of my designs. Many years ago I saw Kaye Wood doing a demo at Road to CA. She was selling her "View & Do" Shapes. I bought the circles set. This is what I use to make circles and curves on quilts. I just trace them with cheap, inexpensive chalk. (the cheaper the better! Check out your school supplies aisle at your neighborhood Walmart!) I learned this inexpensive way for marking designs on quilts from my idol, the 'feather queen' Kimmy Brunner. She taught me how to make feathers. She suggested using a chalk holder too. I use this chalk all the time! Below you can see how I marked the areas I want to quilt. It's also how I "try out" or "audition" designs. If I don't like it, I just erase it with a microfiber dust cloth. (you can get them at the automotive supplies aisle at your neighborhood Walmart.) Takes the chalk right out.
Now let's finish this lovely Mariner's Compass quilt.

I filled the white area with small swirls.

Didn't it turn out nice?

I'll share more frugal quilting ideas as I think of them.

And when I finish sewing some new clothes, I'll post pictures too!

Now get back to work, Vivian!

A Blast From The Past: The Future Mrs. Love

2009-02-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

Here's a blast from the past. It's Mrs. Love's kindergarten class in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Love is on the right. A kindergarten teacher in a dress and high heels! I admire her. And who is the girl second row-second from the left. I think she's the only one not looking at the camera. A little girl in pigtails, staring off into space. That would be the future Mrs. Love
I wonder what she was thinking. Observations: crooked pigtails, crooked bangs and I think she has missing teeth. Was she daydreaming? Most likely.

Yes, that's right. My kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Love. I can hardly remember that long ago.

*****

I have no new quilts to show you. This is a favorite I did years ago. I enjoyed doing this one because of the lovely variety of colors in it.

And of course it has some heart wreaths. And they're not very good. I can do them so much better now. It's fun to look back at quilts I did when I was a beginner.

And here's one below I made for my hubby many, many years ago. I made it following the Eleanor Burns Quilt-in-a-Day method. That's how I first started piecing. And I quilted it by hand! My goodness, when did I have the time? If you look closely you can see where it faded in the sun and became discolored in areas. I like to look at this quilt and realize that I've become a better quilter.
"What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now." ~Author Unknown

Laughter

2009-02-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

Here's a Hollywood secret for you. Laughter.

Do you watch a favorite sitcom and notice the laughing? Yes, those are real people. And they are really laughing. It's not a laugh track or canned laughter. It's real.

I've sat in many studio audiences. Years ago, I got the very popular (and practically impossible to get) tickets to see a taping of Will&Grace. The writers on that show closely monitor the audience. When a funny line is delivered by the actors, the writers watch the audience. Did we laugh? Did we laugh enough? If not, they quickly rewrite the lines, hand them to the actors and they are delivered once again. If we still didn't laugh enough, they rewrite them again and whole process is repeated. Once I watched a scene rewritten and re-acted 6 times! So, needless to say, watching the filming of Will&Grace used to take hours and that's probably why that show won numerous awards.

When Daughter #2 worked on 6 episodes of a funny, but short-lived, sitcom, I sat in the audience laughing. It was lots of fun. Plus, seeing the whole process of a television production is quite amazing. You should try it sometime. Here's a website to get tickets to be in the audience of sitcoms and gameshows: AudiencesUnlimited.

Now here's the Hollywood secret! Did you know there are professional laughers? That's right. They are cast through an agency and placed in the studio audiences to laugh. In order to be cast, you have to have a good, distinctive laugh. Years ago, Daughter #2 got a phone call in the middle of the night. It was an emergency job. They didn't laughers first thing the next morning. The casting agent said, "Let me hear your laugh." So she tried. Have you ever been awakened from the a deep sleep and tried to laugh, on cue? Probably not. It's not easy. Her tired, half-asleep laugh didn't make it. She didn't get the job. Oh well, that's showbiz!

Laughers sit in the audience with the regular folk and laugh and laugh...even when the scene isn't that funny. That's what they're paid to do! Lately I've beening think that I need to pay a laugher to work for me. When things go wrong, wouldn't it be great to have someone laugh for you. On cue!

You see, I don't mention this very much in my blog, but I have Lyme disease. Sat morning it flared up again so I'm working a little slower and trying to take it easy this week. I'm in a support group and have learned a lot from it. I know I don't have it as bad as some. But I'm trying to keep a good attitude about it. I just deal with pain from one joint to another. It feels like someone is holding a hot flame against my joints. I contracted it from a tick bite in New Mexico, July 2007. I'm back on the antibiotics! Well, enough of that!

Anyone know a laugher I could hire?

*********************

Here are some pictures that made me laugh today. These are last years 'Christmas card pictures that never were!"

I told my hubby I wanted to flip my hair around and look sexy for our pictures. What do you think?

We just kept laughing.Finally I behaved myself, and took a decent picture, but we were too busy to get them sent out.This one below was my favorite. It's called "Behind Every Good Man, There's a Good Woman." That's the one we should have printed on our Christmas Cards, don't you think?

So in conclusion...I want to share two darling wall hangings I machine quilted. To me, they are saying, "Hang in there, Vivian!"

"Good cheer is a state of mind or mood that promotes happiness or joy... With God’s help, good cheer permits us to rise above the depressing present or difficult circumstances. It is a process of positive reassurance and reinforcement. It is sunshine when clouds block the light." --Marvin J. Ashton.

What's In A Name?

2009-02-06T13:41:00.000-08:00

Thank you for your helpful comments on my last blog post. It's nice to know that some of you feel the same about quilt bindings. If you notice I have a link list on my side bar that has many of the links you have given me. Check that link list from time to time and I will add more--not just about bindings but other quilting subjects too!

***************

Now, today I'm thinking about names. Here's a name for you: SID. Sid? Who's Sid? You mean what's SID? In quilting terms, it means Stitch-in-the-Ditch. Stitch-in-the-ditch is a technique where you stitch into the well (or ditch) of a seam. It's pretty easy to do with your domestic home sewing machine, but with a longarm it takes some practice. You see, my longarm is a handguided sewing machine and it can be a little tricky guiding the stitch to go right into the ditch. To be honest with you, I used to hate doing SID with my longarm. But now I have a pretty good handle on the process and don't mind it at all. I like to finish most of my machine quilting and then I go back and do some SID lastly.

In a longarm quilting class I took years ago, a quilter asked the instructor her opinion on SID. The quilter slipped on her words and it came out, "What do you think about Stitching-in-the-B@#$!tch" (you get the idea! Remember, this blog is rated G!) Redfaced, the quilter apologized to everyone. We all had a great laugh. Wasn't that what they call a Freudian Slip?

In 2005 I went to Linda Taylor's quilting studio retreat near Dallas Texas. I spent 3 days there learning her techniques and longarm machine quilting methods. (I loved it!) Linda Taylor is a big fan of SID and so part of our supply list read: Bring your favorite SID tool. Well, out of the 6 of us quilters who attended, there were 6 different SID tools! (pictured below--Linda Taylor, me, and Cheri Meineke-Johnson.)

While some longarm machine quilting instructors say SID is not necessary and way too time consuming--others (like Linda Taylor) say to SID wherever you can.

****if you are a longarmer, I'd be interested to know your opinion of Stitching-in-the-Ditch***

Here's an example of what a quilt I worked on recently looked like before I did SID. (Note: yes, this is a Christmas quilt for Christmas 2009!) You'll notice the seams of the borders and sashings are a bit wavy.

And below is how the quilt looks after I did some SID. The seams look more finished and straight. I think it frames the quilt nicely.

My favorite SID tool (below): The Megan Best ruler...easy to handle. And I do so much SID that I keep my extended foot plate on all the time. It helps keep the ruler steady. (Hey, how did my mother's hand get in that picture? Oh, it's mine! I must be getting older!)

And here's the quilt finished. I did SID around the sashings and borders. I like the look.

Did my quilting ancestors do SID? (Mmm, I wonder what they thought about bindings?)

"Sid, who's Sid?"

******************************

One more thing...

Here's a name for you. It's Vivian and Love. Yes, that's right. Did you notice that Lisa Marie Presley named her twins after me? Ok, maybe not after me, but they are pretty names anyway: Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood and Finley Aaron Love Lockwood.

Hey, didn't Brad and Angelina name one of their twins Vivienne too! What a great name!

Now back to work, Vivian!

A Quilting Confession: Bindings

2009-02-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

May I share a confession with you?

The only part of quilting I do not like is the binding. There you have it! It's true. Many of my quilting friends love the binding. Not me.
Occasionally a customer will ask me to do the binding for them. I usually say no and refer them to other quilters who are willing to do bindings. (I've paid them to do bindings on my own quilts.) But when I took in this Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt, I found myself saying yes. Have you ever done that? Found your mouth saying yes, when your mind is saying no! And this one even had 2 of 4 sides curved! Yikes!

Making the binding wasn't so bad. I even made a biased binding. Attaching the binding wasn't so bad either...even along the curves! The next two parts I do not like: Attaching the beginning and the end of the binding together AND sitting and hand-stiching it to the back.

A quilting friend of mine has the right attitude. She says the binding is a way for her to say goodbye to the quilt...that's when it's completely finished. I'm sorry, I have not ever felt that way.

As you can see, I did get it finished--grinding my teeth the entire time! And it came out lovely. But I did not enjoy it one bit. Of course the Purse Dog loved me sitting with her as I did the hand-stitching. We watched a couple of good movies together.

*************

Do you know of a link you can share with me that gives good, clear instructions on putting the beginning and ending of a binding together? Or perhaps you would like to email me some good tips. Email: quiltswithlove@sbcglobal.net Or perhaps you can just pat me on the shoulder and say, "There, there Vivian, next time say NO!"

*************

Now get back to work, Vivian!

Get back to machine quilting...that's the part of quilting you love!

How Do You Do That, Vivian? Vol. 3

2009-01-31T08:51:00.000-08:00

Before I get to my little tutorial, please hop over to Daughter #2's blog for her give-away. Click here: Check out Scentsy. I love, love it! I'll soon have a warmer for every room in my house! It's a scent system that is wickless, meaning that they do not use flames, wicks, or smoke. Much safer than candles in a quilt studio! And the scents are awesome! Check it out today!

***************************

Now, I got an email requesting how I do this swirly, curly thing I do on many of my quilts. Here's how I did it on the Dazzling Dogs quilt I just finished. I hope this helps! It's super easy. First you make a little curl, going one direction. Below I curled in toward the left.

Once your curl is made, then go the opposite direction. This one I curled in towards the right.You continue doing this making lots of curls and swirls. I kept the size of these curls pretty consistant. On some quilts I go a little crazy and make large and small, alternating the sizes.

This is a simple, yet pretty, design that can be used on many quilts. I quilted it in a 'sky' once, and a friend said it looked like the Santa Ana Winds. (hot, strong winds we get from time to time here in Orange County. They caused the fires we had here last November!)

Tip : This design looks awesome in variegated thread, too!

****************************

I also receive emails asking me what kind of machine I use. It's a Gammill Classic I purchased from Cranberry Quiltworks in 2000. It's a basic model, without all the bells and whistles, but I love it! I've been quilting with it, probably daily, for 8 years! Newer models have stitch regulators, and even computers! So mine's practically an antique now. But I love the feel of this machine, so why change?

Hey what's on the TV, there?

I usually quilt with the TV on, with movies and shows that I don't have to really concentrate on.

Hey, isn't that Napolean Dynamite?

Please excuse this photo of my messy quilt studio.

Hey, is that a picture of Sting on the wall?

Of course! A quilter needs a little eye candy to look at now and then!

Now back to work, Vivian!

They Make Our Lives Whole

2009-01-29T10:51:00.000-08:00

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." --Roger Cara

That is one of the quotes on the Amy Bradley "Dazzling Dogs" quilt I just worked on recently. It's true though...dogs really do make our lives whole!

Another quote on this quilt put a smile on my face. It said: "The more people I meet, the more I like my dog."

Each of these blocks were appliqued by my customer. She really had a great collection of fun fabrics to use in this quilt.

You may notice all the dogs are missing eyes. After my quilting was done, the quilter was going to sew button eyes on the quilt. (I appreciate that she waited to put the buttons on...that way I didn't need to worry as I quilted around them!...I wouldn't want to to hit some poor dog in the eye!)

I used different background filler techniques throughout.

I also changed the threads to match the fabrics. I didn't want my machine quilting to be too distracting on this already bright, fun quilt.This is the perfect quilt for dog-lovers, like me! Don't tell the Purse Dog that there were other dogs before her! She thinks she's my only one true love. Below, I am five years old, holding our beagle Chumbo, in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania.And pictured below are my kids here in California when they were little with our bassett hound, Molly. She was a wonderful, sweet, loyal dog. During the years we had Molly, I had this cartoon hanging on our fridge. I hope you can see it. Posted inside the dog house of the bassett hound, a sign reads:

"Daily Schedule--8:00 Chase Ball, 10:00 Chase Cat, 11:30 Chase Mailman, 2:00 Chase Cars, 4:30 Chase Tail."

The owners say: "Boy, what a life--what I wouldn't give to just lay around all day!"

That sounds like the Purse Dog too! But she lays around all day keeping me company as I quilt.
Here she's saying, "Now back to work, Vivian!"

Thanks For The Nomination!

2009-01-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

I've been nominated for the "Kreativ Blogger Award" by my blogging friend, Summerset Banks. (don't you love her name?) I first heard the name Summerset Banks a number of years ago at the Road to California Quilt show, where she won a ribbon for her beautiful garment--American Beauty. There was a crowd around the garment, so I had to check out what all the buzz was about. There, I saw the most beautiful dress and coat I had ever seen! It won a first place ribbon. One day while surfing blogs, I happened upon Summerset's blog.

Following her blog, you will be inspired. She makes the most beautiful clothing--vintage and modern. She takes you on a step by step tour of the process too. You will be in awe. In fact, she has inspired one of my New Year's resolutions, to get back to garment sewing. (of course I won't be making anything like she does...but just to return to sewing something other than quilts will be a treat now and then!) Thanks Summerset! You are truly an artist!

Rules:
1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.

So, to honor the rules, I've nominated the blogs below.

Material Mary, a wonderful quilter...she even has a shop, too!

A Quilting Life, Sherri is always working on lovely quilts. We found out we have a friend in common, too.

Sarah Looking In, another talented quilter. She also shares fun stories too.

Learning By Heart, Evaly, a talented family & wedding photographer. I knew her when she was teenager. (am I that old?)

Sher-ing Time, a talented quilter who enjoys traveling. I love reading about her adventures.

Thea Quilts, Dee is an awesome quilter. I love seeing what project she's working on next.

Field Trips in Fiber, If you don't already follow Vicki's blog, you should! She takes you on a blog "field trip" every now and then. Super fun! And she's an amazing fiber artist. I love watching her projects.

So there you have it. That should keep you very busy for awhile.

Now back to work, Vivian!

(Coming soon! An awesome Amy Bradley quilt!)

The Details

2009-01-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

To the casual observer this quilt might look like it's finshed. But no, it's not.

I went back and worked on the details. It's the last thing I do to a quilt. I roll it back up the top and do some stich-in-the-ditch, if it needs it. I quilt areas I may have thought--at first--they didn't need quilting. And I check to make sure I didn't miss anything! There wouldn't be anything worse that having a customer come back and say, "Hey, Vivian you forgot this part!"

Now let me tell you a story--not a quilt story--but a story where I learned about details.

It was 2003, and Daughter #2 was working on an HBO film--Mrs. Harris. It was released 2005. She portrayed a student at an east coast private school. (I told you about our experience with Sir Ben Kingsley before!)Once my daughter was in costume--hair and makeup done--and ready to go, she was checked over by the head costumer. I thought she looked perfect. But no! Her knee socks had to be exactly one inch folded over. That was checked and fixed. Her sweater had to fit absolutely perfect. That was checked and fixed.

The head costumer was an odd, eccentric woman named Julie. At first glance I thought she was just some passerby who had wandered onto the set. She looked like an woman who may have been a "hippie" in her younger years. Now she was older, but still dressed in sloppy clothes and beads. I did notice that she was definitely the person in charge and wardrobe assistants were scrambling all around her. Finally, after much fussing, she looked at my daughter and said, "Perfect."

They were filming at a beautiful old mansion in Pasadena, California. It really did look like an upper class private school in New York in the 70's. In this scene, Daughter #2 and another girl were to be playing lacrosse right behind Annette Bening. So a quick lesson was given, a short rehearsal, and they started filming. In the scene there were other students and teachers and even authentic cars from the 70's. All the teachers looked awesome. They wore high-heels, beautiful dresses and their hair was teased up and big. Teachers don't look like that anymore! As I sat on the side watching the whole scene, I was reminded of my early days of grade school in the 70's. Everything looked so authentic!

Soon the director shouted "Action!" and everyone came to life. In the scene, Annette Benning (Mrs. Harris) was talking to another actor as teachers were walking to and fro, students were laughing and talking, and two girls were playing lacrosse right behind them. It looked awesome. Then the director shouted "Cut" and everything stopped.

Then the head costumer, Julie, angrily shouted at her assistants. "Why was that teacher carrying that purse?!!" A change was quickly made. "Get a ruler and measure that student's knee socks!!!" Everyone scrambled to make the changes and the director yelled "Action!" once again.

I sat on the side, and whispered to one of the grips, "Oh, brother, who's going to notice? The audience is going to be watching Annette Bening anyway." The grip smiled at me and then asked, "Do you know who that wardrobe lady is?" I answered, "No." He said, "That's Julie Weiss." He went back to work and I continued watching the filming, wondering who Julie Weiss was.

When I got home, I did a search on Julie Weiss. She was certainly not some passerby who had wandered onto the set! She has been nominated for numerous awards in Hollywood for Best Costume design. I didn't realize who she was! And for the HBO film, "Mrs. Harris" was nominated for "Outstanding Costumes in a Miniseries, Movie or Special." I had no idea!

Sitting there that day, as I watched that woman fuss over all the details, I would have given her the award for Excellence-in-noticing-all-the-details-probably-everyone-else-won't-even-notice. Do you think there's such an award?

There might be in quilting! Now back to work Vivian! (and mind the details!)

And on a final note: If you've ever seen the movie "Mrs. Harris" you won't notice that the girls socks are exactly one inch folded over. You won't even notice the two girls playing lacrosse behind Annette Bening. These are the details you won't even see, but they are the kind of details that win awards!)

Whar do you find th'time?

2009-01-23T08:38:00.000-08:00

In the treasure of books, patterns and other quilt paraphernalia that I received the other day...I found this. Hope it puts a smile on your face. At least it will if you can relate!

In case you can't see it too well...(you may have to click on it)

Elviney: Take a gander at my latest work of art, Loweezy.
Loweezy: Glory be! Whar do you find th'time to make them purty quilts, Elviney?

Treasures

2009-01-21T15:02:00.000-08:00

Last week a lady at church asked, "Hey Vivian, you quilt, don't you?" I answered, "Sure." I thought she was going to ask me to make her a quilt. Then she said she'd been given a bunch of quilt books from a lady she knew and wondered if I would like them. She didn't know the owner of the books personally. They were given to her from a friend of friend and they've been sitting in her garage collecting dust. The other night she brought them by.

Let me share these treasures with you...

It looks as if the owner of these books, magazines, and patterns was a quilter in the 70's and 80's. She was very organized with her templates and directions.
I reminisced about the days I learned to quilt in the 80's. I looked at this woman's notes and recalled learning the same things many years ago. (I started quilting in 1983...which means I've been quilting since I was a baby?...LOL!) One of her quilting books was from 1972. Check this cool girl out! Groovy trapunto pantsuit!
And don't you just love this guy's vest below? Can you dig it?

Check out this far out ad for Mountain Mist batting! Don't you love this girls funky outfit? Actually the yellow shoes kinda scare me!

Now below is the nicest book in her collection. It's a big coffee-table-sized book called "The Art Quilt." I drooled over the pictures in this book!Here's a page for you to enjoy:I'm sure the stack of books that was given to me was only a treasure to me! ...and any other quilters who can appreciate them! Others might consider them trash.

*****************

And here's a little treasure I worked on the other day for The Calico House . They had it on display at their booth at Road to California. Lovely Lakehouse DryGoods fabrics! Closer detail of my quilting. I hope they sold lots of kits of this little treasure at the show!

********************

And one more treasure...

The other day I found this picture of my girls. They are about 7 and 4. In the background you see my hubby and my brother-in-law. He's a farmer in Idaho. This was our family's first experience riding in a combine. We are such city-folk compared to our relatives in Idaho! We loved the adventure of it! Look at how beautiful the sky is! Look at how little my girls are! This is definitely another one of the those things that is a treasure only to me. A sweet memory.

Making Things A Little Easier

2009-01-15T11:47:00.000-08:00

Sometimes my customers try to make things easier for me. For example, this lady's quilt top and quilt backing were just about the same size. To put a quilt up on my Gammill Classic Longarm, I have to have the quilt backing about 3-4 inches larger all the way around. Well, perhaps a customer might have just enough fabric for the backing...no more, no less. Been there done that! (once I bought a beautiful backing for a quilt and ran out of it. And the quilt shop where I got it didn't carry it anymore. And I couldn't find it on-line either! Frustration!)

This is what I have my customers do if they run into this problem. Can you tell what she did?

Let's lift up the quilt top and the beautiful wool batting so you can see...

She attached some strips of a simple white muslin to "enlarge" the backing. Can you see it better below? Isn't the backing fabric lovely? As I loaded the quilt onto my Gammill longarm, I just made sure the backing and quilt top stayed lined up properly. I didn't quilt onto her white muslin strips and everything worked out beautifully. By the way, this quilt is a gift to her husband.

And here's another way my customers make things a little easier for me. This customer loves to make darling little quilts. When I say little, I mean, table topper/runner size. All the backing fabrics are the same--unbleached muslin. So what she does is bring me a bolt of unbleached muslin. This one happens to be a good quality Moda muslin.
I racked up enough yardage onto my Gammill longarm and quilted all the quilts at once. Normally I would have to rack up each quilt backing and quilt top separately. Before Christmast I quilted 7 table runners doing this. It's a great way to save time...if all the backing fabric is the same, of course!

Now let's take a closer look at these darling little quilts:

She did a great job on her applique:Here's another quilt I did for her at the same time. And because these quilts were so small, I just used scrap pieces of batting I had on hand.
Isn't this chicken cute? His "comb" was a 3-dimensional piece.

I wonder if my quilting ancestors had ways to make their quilting easier. Look at how sad they all look in this picture! That's because they are wishing they had a Gammill longarm!

Three Angels

2009-01-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

My 3 angels in Balboa many years ago.

We had a very quiet Christmas this year. The second one in a row. Daughter #1 was in Utah with her Sweetheart and his family. Daughter #2 was visiting Oregon with her Sweetheart and his family. So for Christmas it was just me, my Sweetheart and our BabyBoy. Ooops! Of course the PurseDog was with us too. (Forgive me, PurseDog!)

A few weeks later, though, we received wonderful news! Daughter #1 was given a plane ticket from her uncle and she was able to spend a weekend with us! (Thanks, Bob!) Her hubby was so sweet to let her come and see us. You see, it's been a year since she's been back to her 'ol stomping grounds...Orange County. They both have busy full-time jobs, full-time school, and a home in Utah they're doing work on. So we were thrilled that she was able to come and be with us for a weekend!

What a nice weekend we had! The first thing she asked for, after her plane landed, was to go to In-N-Out!The second thing she asked for was to go to the Huntington Beach pier. She and her dad and brother ate at Ruby's on the pier.We had a nice time visiting and hanging out together. Her last day with us, our whole family was together. Daughter #2 and her Sweetheart were in Reno and returned just in time to spend a day with Daughter #1. Here are my three kids together again after about a year apart. They really are angels. I have been so blessed to have three great kids!

On our last night together we played games. Here is Daughter #1 entertaining us. She cracks us up!
Can you tell she is very shy?

As you can see behind her, I left all the Christmas decorations up for her.

We had a great time together. I sure miss her.

Here is Daughter #2 and her Sweetheart. Everyone was playing Scene-It: Seinfeld Edition.

One of Daughter #1's friends from high school came by to visit too.

Here's my BabyBoy having a good time.

"Hey, Mom, do you always have to take pictures?"

And speaking of angels....

You know I'm not going to do a blog entry without including quilt pictures too!

Check out this darling baby quilt I just finished. The lady decreased the size of the embroidered blocks. The embroidered designs are of angel-kids. Isn't it cute?

Here is the top border you can see.

And this is a side border. I had lots of fun quilting this.

This block reminds me Daughter #1:

This one reminds me of Daughter #2:

And of course this one reminds me of my BabyBoy:

Happy quilting, blogging friends!

It's A Good Thing I Was Quilting!

2009-01-08T20:22:00.000-08:00

It's a good thing I was quilting tonight. Even though my longarm purrs like a kitten...it does make some noise and it's not easy to hear things going on around me. Tonight I missed this:

Do I live in earthquake country? That red square indicates a 5.0 earthquake centered in San Bernardino, about 45 miles east of my hometown, Yorba Linda.

I didn't feel this earthquake at all tonight. I just felt a little dizzy as I was quilting. I thought to myself, "Oh great! Am I getting sick again?"

My BabyBoy sure felt it. He was sitting on the floor playing video games. He came into my studio and said,
"Did you feel that Mom?"
I said, "Felt what?"
He said, "I think we just had an earthquake."
He sat down at the computer and went to this site: Earthquakes

There you can see all the earthquakes just seconds after they happen. Not a pleasant site to look at when you live in a state where there are 300 earthquakes a day! Oh, the joys of living in southern California!

Like I said...it's a good thing I was quilting. That way I didn't have to feel the earthquake and could focus on a quilt like this.

A lovely Broken Star quilt.

Below is a view of the back.
Yes, quilting is much more pleasant than feeling earthquakes! Now get back to work, Vivian!

New Years Eve Memories

2009-01-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

What did you do for New Year's Eve? Me, I just stayed home and watched the Twilight Zone Marathon.

I had a touch of the flu. That's me peaking in the window at William Shatner! (my favorite Twilight Zone episode!) Actually, I felt as bad as that guy looks! So my New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful...but relaxing.

********

I recalled past New Year's Eve celebrations. One of my favorites was when I was 20. I was all alone for New Year's at BYU. My roommates were still home in California. I had to get back to Utah to work right after Christmas because I had a job at the University Mall...selling shoes at Thom McAn. (do they even exist anymore?) Just before closing an old friend came by and invited me to go with him to Park City for New Years Eve. He worked at one of the ski lodges there. I said "Sure!" I was grateful not to have to spend the evening alone.

I stayed in the employee dorms of the ski lodge and had a blast! Skiing, riding the tram, goofing around. Such fun! At midnight a trail of skiiers holding torches skiied down one of the slopes. It was an awesome sight.

(this isn't a picture of the night I was there...but I found a picture that looked just like it!)

I'll never forget that. Those were the days I didn't have a care in the world. Oh, to be that young again!

*************

Another New Year's Eve memory. I was 21 living in Spain, serving an LDS mission.

In Spain they have a tradition at New Year's Eve (or Nochevieja) as the countdown to midnight begins, you eat 12 grapes, one on each chime of the clock. I was with a favorite family celebrating New Years in Jaen. The family gave us all 12 grapes to follow tradition.

Eating the grapes was very funny because it's impossible to finish eating the grapes by the time the clock finishes chiming. We all laughed at each other with our cheeks full of grapes. Pretty soon we had a big mess of grape juice all over us! I remember they told us that this tradition started in Spain because one year there was huge grape harvest and the king of Spain decided to give grapes to everyone to eat on New Year's Eve. Ingenious!

*********************

And now my least favorite New Year's Eve memory. It was 1987. Daughter #2 was 9 months old. She was sick with a stomach virus and bronchitis and was in the hospital for 5 days. It was a very stressful time for our family as you can imagine. She had to be kept in a mist tent the entire time for the bronchitis and had an IV to replenish her fluids. She was terribly dehydrated and the only place the doctors could find a good vein for the IV in her in her foot! Poor little thing. The nurses set up a bed for me in her hospital room. The only bed available at that time was a small juvenile size bed. But I didn't care. I slept there next to my little baby each night she was in the hospital. The first night there in the hospital was New Year's Eve. I stayed up to watch Dick Clark's countdown. As the New Year began I turned to my little girl--asleep in the mist tent, contected to machines and tubes--and said outloud, "Happy New Year Stacy!" I'll never forget that.

A few weeks later, she was back to her old self. As you can see in the picture above, she was once again healthy and happy!

********************

And in closing...I hope your New Year's Eve memories were good ones.

Perhaps you saw...

wait for it...

Pink Elephants!

This darling baby quilt is similar to another elephant quilt I did for a lady back in Oct. I lightly quilted it with a medium meander throughout. I used a pantograph pattern in the border called, "Sydney."

The back was a lovely minkie fabric. It was soft and cuddly. I know the little girl who received this for Christmas loved it!

A Special Memory Quilt

2008-12-31T20:44:00.000-08:00

I finished working on this special quilt just before Christmas. The family it's going to lost their 18-year old son in a car accident. It was beautifully put together by a family friend. Let me share this special quilt with you:

As you can see, this young man loved football. The center block you see above, was his football jersey. The woman who put this together did such a great job. She stitched down the jersey onto this center block and I outlined the numbers and stitched it down in white thread here and there. I tried to keep it somewhat three-dimentional.

Below is a darling block which was one of the young man's dress shirts and a favorite tie. I did a medium meander throughout and matched threads to each shirt in the quilt. Here are some more blocks you can see.

I felt very honored to be asked to quilt this special quilt. I know it will be a wonderful keepsake for the family.

Taking A Look At The "Big Picture"

2008-12-29T16:01:00.000-08:00

That's right. Sometimes you can't see the big picture, as you are immersed in the details.

For example, take a look at this lovely log cabin quilt. You see the beautiful fabrics and my freehand quilting in the pictures below:

Now take a look at the "Big Picture." Don't you love the layout of this log cabin quilt? I love the star in the center. I did the same freehand design throughout but changed the threads to match the fabrics. That way the star wouldn't be lost. A bit time-consuming, yes, but so worth it!
And this is the back! Isn't it beautiful? I enjoyed quilting this quilt so much!

And here's someone else who can't see the "Big Picture." The Purse Dog doesn't understand why it has to rain from time to time here in Orange County.

"Hey, my toes are getting wet!"

"Why do I have to make my peeps and poops out in the rain?"
"What happened to SUNNY southern California?"
"Let me in! I don't like this one bit!"

"Please? Pretty please?"

The Purse Dog doesn't understand that when it rains at her house, this is what happens in the mountains. This is the Big Picture! Believe it or not, these are the moutains not far from Anaheim Hills:

And these are the mountains in the distance behind Yorba Linda and Brea:
I took these pictures from Bastanchury Hill not far from my house. This was the morning after a rain storm we had a few days before Christmas. The mountains look like they're floating in the air! In the foreground of the picture below, you can see the burned hills of my hometown, Yorba Linda. So sad. Hard to believe we had those wild fires just about a month ago.

Yes, sometimes it rains here, but the result is a beautiful scene in our mountains! That's the Big Picture!

I Am Never Bored

2008-12-27T13:13:00.000-08:00

It's true! I am NEVER bored. I can enjoy hours of mindless entertainment here on the Internet. It is obvious by the following pictures:

Make one of your own: Acme Heart Maker

Make one of your own: Acme Label Maker

Make one of your own: Acme License Maker

I would attend this Church if this were the message of the sermon!

Make one of your own: Church Sign Generator

This sign says it all!

Make one of your own: Tombstone Generator. (although you must really have too much time on your hands if you make your own tombstone! That's a little creepy!)

NOW GET BACK TO WORK, VIVIAN! LOTS OF QUILTS TO QUILT STILL!

Congratulations #10

2008-12-25T08:51:00.000-08:00

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:10
Timestamp: 2008-12-25 16:48:10 UTC

**********

Congratulations Sherri! Winner of my blog giveaway!

Have a Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Memory

2008-12-24T21:24:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, on Christmas Eve, my big sister and I would sneak downstairs and check out what Santa brought us. You see, "Santa" (aka Mom and Dad) would set out our gifts around the living room. We even made name tags and set them around the night before, so Santa would know where to put our gifts. During the night my big sister would sneak into my room and wake me up and say, "Let's go see what Santa brought us!"

We'd sneak downstairs quietly so my parents wouldn't wake up. In the morning we acted all surprised as the rest of the family would come and see what Santa brought. The first time we did this, were little and living in Penn Hills, PA. During the years we lived in New Mexico, we did it too. When I was 7, we moved to southern California. And there we continued our Christmas Eve tradition.

The last year that my big sister and I did this was the Christmas of 1982. I had just returned from an LDS mission in Spain. I was 22 years old. My big sister was there at my parents house visiting with her little baby girl. Christmas Eve came and we all went to bed. During the night, my big sister quietly snuck into my room and said, "Let's go see what Santa brought us!"

As we tiptoed around the living room peaking at all the presents, I realized that here we were, two adults peaking at Christmas presents! I was a returned missionary and she was a mother!

I'll never forget that Christmas because it was the last time we did this. Lives changed and I eventually had a family of my own. Her family grew and she soon had 6 kids! Soon my big sister will be grandma! Maybe she still gets up in the middle of the night to see what Santa brought!

*********************

Enjoy this Mr. Bean Classic! Merry Christmas!

(check back tomorrow to find out who won my blog giveaway!)

Holiday Give-Away

2008-12-22T12:18:00.000-08:00

In my last blog post I mentioned a favorite Holiday movie: The Family Stone. What's your favorite Holiday movie? Leave a comment on this post (include your email) and tell me your favorite Holiday movie. I will draw on Christmas Eve 11pm PDT. (contest open to everyone! everywhere!)

If you win, you will receive TWO of my favorite items....this lovely Scrabble tile necklace from my brother and sister-in-law's Etsy shop, "Home Studio." (they are the #1 jewelry shop on Etsy!)
And a "Scentsy" Car Candle in Ocean scent. Scentsy fragrances are fantastic! You'll want to take them everywhere. You can hang this "car candle" in your closet, hotel room, or wherever you want a hint of Scentsy Fragrance. Daughter #2 sells Scentsy. I love it and have a Scentsy warmer in practically every room in my house.

So, get busy and post your favorite Holiday movie! I'm still quilting away and need some more Holiday movies to keep me company!

C'mon and tell your blogging friends too! You only have a few days until Christmas Eve!

Just Because...

2008-12-20T20:43:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness! I've been so busy quilting. And I'm trying to survive the Christmas hustle and bustle too. But I just wanted to take a minute to share some quilts and thoughts with you.

Just because....I love feathers. I've been doing them a lot lately. On just about every quilt these days. Where are the feathers? How about a closer look? It was hard to photograph feathers red on red. Hope you can see them.
Here's some more feathers...
And more...
Here's a lovely quilt that came all the way from Connecticut. Lovely feathers throughout.
I really do love feathers!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And a couple of weeks ago my husband took me to an L.A. Lakers game. I loved watching #16. Why?

Just because...he's a Spaniard!

Yes, that's right. Have you ever heard Pao Gasol give an interview in Spanish? It will make you melt. Oh, that Spanish accent! I love it! Just hearing it takes me back to Spain. There's nothing like it. It's like music to my ears. Oh, how I miss Spain! (and, he's a pretty good ballplayer too.)Ok, I didn't just go to watch Pao Gasol. I also went to take pictures of the stars. Here's Dyan Cannon below...a loyal Laker courtside fan. Can you believe she's 71? From where I was sitting she looked like a teenager!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While I've been quilting these days, I've had Christmas DVD's playing on my TV. They have to be movies I've seen many times. That way I can quilt and not focus on the movie. I just listen to the movie. Here's one of my favorites: The Family Stone.

Why do I love this movie?

Just because...of Diane Keaton. One of my favorite actresses.Go rent this DVD and enjoy Diane Keaton!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I'm nervous and probably won't sleep tonight. Why?

Just because...I have a hard time saying no.

No to what?

I should have said "NO" to playing the organ at church tomorrow. It's just a little part--a descant--so it's not a solo. But I've never played the organ really. I took piano lessons from the age of 9 to 18. When I was 16 my piano teacher wanted to teach me the organ too. She worked with me for two lessons and then I rebeled. I told her I didn't want to learn. I refused. I only wanted to play the piano. Here I am kicking myself. Why didn't I take organ lessons? Ok, I'm not accompanying the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! But still...I will not sleep a wink tonight! I hope you're enjoying your holiday season. "Feliz Navidad"---Do I sound like a Spaniard?

More Holiday Fun

2008-12-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

Is this an alien ship? No.

It's a Christmas globe made of plastic cups and Christmas lights!

These are pictures of a street in Fullerton where these lovely globes are hanging from the trees down the street. It's really pretty. Some really industrious neighbors worked hard on these. There are hundreds!

And here is a lovely holiday Mary Engelbreit quilt for you to enjoy!

Yes, I agree! Christmas is Jolly!

Enjoying the Holiday Season

2008-12-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

In between the Christmas rush I have been trying to enjoy the Holiday Season. I hope you are too!

Here's a cute Nativity quilt I finished quilting recently. Cute applique, don't you think?
I love the way the stars frame the scene in this quilt.

One of my family's Holiday favorites is going to the "Brea Nativity." It is an outdoor live Nativity scene put on by members of our church. As you can see, a large screen is projecting beautiful pictures above the scene:
Beautiful music was being played and sung. Below you see the choir of "angels" that were up on the roof of the church building singing. They even had trumpets as props.

Who is this below? Why, it's the Prophet Jeremiah prophesying the birth of the Messiah. (He's an Old Testament prophet.) Hey, wait a minute! That guy looks familiar! Yes, it's my husband making his acting debut. Look for him at the Oscars!

Now who wouldn't be a star without fans and paparazzi? Below is one of his biggest fans, Daughter #2:

And below is "Prophet Jeremiah" pictured with another one of his fans. That's my BabyBoy. I think he was asking him for an autograph. I was the paparazzi, of course!

I love this annual event our church members put on. Not only does it feature church members, but it also includes community leaders too. The Wise Men were played by the Brea City Council.

I love it because it reminds me of the real reason I celebrate Christmas. It's nice to take a little break and remember that.

(...now get back to work, Vivian!)

Doing Our Part

2008-12-09T17:02:00.000-08:00

The other morning I was telling my Seminary (early morning scripture study) students how my husband has taught my children to have compassion and give service to others. All three of my children are like their dad with their love of others. I'm so glad they learned this great quality from him.

In fact, for Thanksgiving this year our family served a turkey dinner at a homeless shelter in Santa Ana, CA. We worked for about 3 hours in the morning. It was a great experience. My BabyBoy was with with us, as well as Daughter #2 and her husband. (Sorry I didn't take any pictures.) I'm glad we had a chance to serve even here in Orange County.

Last summer my BabyBoy went to Peru with his dad to help build orphanages. What a great experience it was for him. This summer Daughter #2 and her husband want to go to Peru and work too. If you would like to donate to a great organization helping children in South American, (and it's 100% tax deductible) read about it here: EveryDollarCounts. And all proceeds help Daughter #2 and her husband get to Peru to work building orphanages. Please, won't you consider making a donation?
As for me, I have been trying to do my part to. I recently finished quilts for another wonderful group called: Home of the Brave Quilts. All the quilts are given to families who have loved ones who have died from injuries received while on active duty in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. So far, 2,450 quilts have been delivered. The quilts are replicas of the Civil War US Sanitary Commission quilts. Read about the quilts here: CivilWarQuilts. I love what's written on this quilt below: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave."

And here's a lovely patriotic quilt below, I did for one of my customers who made it for a nephew who is serving in the military. I hope he likes it. I loved working on it!
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." --Matthew 25:40

Let's all try to do our part!

Good Advice: Try To Laugh Instead

2008-12-06T16:36:00.000-08:00

A dear man who was a leader in our Church, passed away this past week. His name was Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. He was 91 years old. His funeral was held yesterday in Salt Lake City. Let me share a cute story he told recently.

"I remember when one of our daughters went on a blind date. She was all dressed up and waiting for her date to arrive when the doorbell rang. In walked a man who seemed a little old, but she tried to be polite. She introduced him to me and my wife and the other children; then she put on her coat and went out the door. We watched as she got into the car, but the car didn't move. Eventually our daughter got out of the car, and red faced, ran back into the house. The man that she thought was her blind date had actually come to pick up another of our daughters who had agreed to be a babysitter for him and his wife.

We all had a good laugh over that. In fact, we couldn't stop laughing. Later when our daughter's real blind date showed up, I couldn't come out to meet him because I was still in the kitchen laughing. Now I realize that our daughter could have felt humiliated and embarrassed. But she laughed with us, and as a result, we still laugh about it today.

The next time you're tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable."

********

Here's someone below, not laughing at all today!

The Purse Dog got a rabies vaccination yesterday. She has to get them every 3 years and this was the second one she's had. I tried to reassure her that she won't have to go through this until another 3 years, but I don't think she believed me. Her back end is very sore. At only 6 pounds, a vaccine like that is hard on such a tiny dog. Poor baby.

********

And here's a pretty Christmas quilt for you to enjoy:

Have a great weekend!

How Do You Do That, Vivian? Vol. 2

2008-12-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

What was that thing I did on the Man's Quilt? Would you like to know? What's the Man's Quilt? Read about it here: "You Can Tell A Lot About A Man..."

Every now and then I take pictures of some of the techniques I teach in my freemotion machine quilting classes. Read about the last one I shared here: "How Do You Do That, Vivian?"

So, here's another fun technique:

It's similar to the Terry Twist, developed by Sally Terry, but not exactly. It's kind of my own style of it. Another machine quilter showed me her version of it once and now I call mine Vivian's "faux" Terry Twist. As I tell my freemotion machine quilting students, try to develop your own style. Remember my "faux" McTavishing? How about my "faux" trapunto? Is Vivian Love "faux" real???

Ok, here you go...it's super easy...just do this:

Step One:

Step Two:

Step Three:

Step Four:

See, What'd I tell you? Easy! Try in sometime! Have a great day, blogging friends!