Book Look Bloggers: Willie Out West

"Willie Out West" by Rhonda Walker is a nicely illustrated story (pictures by Alan McCuller) about a young walrus named Willie who is bored at home with his family so he leaves his cold home to travel out West.  He is made deputy and tries to help rid the town of Old Walter the one-eyed whale.  Wille tries to think how he can save the people of the town who are scared of Walter.  He comes up with a plan to throw a harpoon at the whale's tale.  This is where the story really turned me off.  I don't really like to have violence in my children's stories.  This book would have been so much better if Willie could have befriended Walter.  Instead he (and all the townsfolk) bullied Walter who ran out of the town.

I would not recommend this book even though I loved the pictures and all but the end of the story. Just because a fellow creature is ugly (so Wille says) doesn't mean the first thing we do is be mean to the creature.  I was quite disappointed in the ending and don't even want to give away my copy.


*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. They did not require me to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”*

Book Look Bloggers: The Day is Waiting

One of my children's favorite books was "Corduroy" by Don Freeman.  The little bear was a hit with my preschool kids as well.  So when I got the chance to preview "The Day is Waiting" which his wife and colleagues created from never before published artwork I had to jump on it!  The simple text is Linda Zuckerman's and it rhymes.  The pictures are truly mini works of art and show Freeman's sense of humor.  Some are of a more simplistic style, but many of them are really breathtaking.  My personal favorite is a goat on top of the house (enjoying the view), but the greenhouse filled with flowers is a close second.  The book is about enjoying the sights in the world while knowing you have a home to return to.  

Though the language is simplistic and the book is short, there are many topics that come up in the book that would make great springboards for discussion with your little one.  There are animals, modes of transportation, cities, people and insects.  Whatever catches your young reader's eye can be discussed at length.  For an older child's activity you could challenge them to reorder the pages and tell a new story!

I recommend "The Day is Waiting" almost as much as I would recommend "Corduroy."

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. They did not require me to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”*

Weekend Sewing--Got more blues!

 Did my two light blue Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks and am linking up with Angela's blog.  Woven fourpatches above and Ohio Crossroads (or Backroads as I call it since I turned a four patch!) below.

 I also made up the rest of the Talkin' Turkey geese.  These blocks should whip up a bit faster now!  There will be a total of 24 of them.

 I also did my Wild and Goosey this week.

 And I put them all down (two rows are not attached by the rest is all one piece) and Bug had to check them out.  One more block and this might be done.  Not sure yet.

 Finished off a few more knitted dishrags.  I really like making these.  I really wish I would get back to the socks...dug them out and thought about it, but I am not sure yet.

 And Bug had to pose on top of the quilt that Kathy was under on the couch tonight.  Kathy got sunburned at our Father's Day party at my brother's house.  We both put on sunscreen..I put it on my about three times and only have a little red.  Kathy hasn't been feeling well since about 3.  It was a great day to be out by the pool even if it was 115.  Key is drinking lots of water and plenty of pool time!

We are going to Rocky Point next weekend (then back home a few days) then back up for a long forth of July weekend.  Mom and Dad will stay the whole time and my siblings will be up on the weekends.  Really looking forward to it...been packing like mad because I work 12 hours days this week and know I will be running out of time.  Working at the crack of dawn tomorrow so I better get myself to bed (as if I could sleep at 9:30 PM!) Night owl here!  Kathy is already out!

A Winner, A Car, A Castle and some Geese!

The StoryPatches winner is number 5--Alycia who said..."Sounds so interesting. I always wonder where tech will take us next!"  Congratulations Alycia.  I will email you so you can send me your address so I can get your prize in the mail.

 I am also a winner this weekend, I bought myself a new car!  It is Boston Red and is a Hyundai Veloster.  I love it!

 Today Kathy and Barb (a last minute stand in for Randy) got up early and toured Torvea Castle in Phoenix.  It was a great tour and I learned a lot about the history of the area too.  We were able to go inside in the basement and first floor as well as outside and all around the grounds.  They have a virtual tour of the upstairs floors because there is only one way up and down and so code won't allow tours to go up there.

I loved this cool thing over the faux fireplace.  Apparently the guys building the Orphium at the same time as the castle was being done put this medallion in.  So if I ever get to that theater I will be looking for them.  You can also see the beautiful stenciling on the wall (it was also on the ceiling) which really was gorgeous too!  

 I also got a perm this weekend--so my hair can grown out a bit.

 Only a little bit of sewing happened this weekend.  I made the Talkin' Turkey geese in green and grey--five more colors to go.

 And I managed to make my weekly Wild and Goosey block.  Tomorrow back to work.  The weekends go too fast!

Getting Back to Neglected Projects!

 I finally made another Wild and Goosey block...I had been going strong with one per week and then after the first week of March I fell off the wagon.  So three months and about twelve blocks behind I am back on it!  I love these blocks.  One little square in this one has a light blue goose (bottom right center goose) made from a tiny scrap I found of my Grandma Nan's leftover fabric.  I then used the brown maple leaf print I bought after my dad's funeral for the center square.  This block makes me smile and remember both of them.

 Another neglected project is my Talkin' Turkey.  Have't touched this since January of last year!  I have eleven blocks done and need about 24.  (the red and blue one is a smaller verison sent off for the astronomical block challenge).  I happened to catch Kevin's post with a Christmas colored version of Talkin' Turkey and he encouraged me to get back to mine.  So I spent an hour or so reorganizing my strings that at one time had been sorted by color..then over time got all mixed up.  This time I put them in bags in the drawers instead of just four colors to a drawer.  Hoping this will make it easier.  I then made the flying geese for six more blocks.  So seven more colors to go.

 Barely made a dent in my strings which is fine because I am dying to make the string geese quilt Bonnie posted awhile back.  Geese on a String just looks like a cool quilt and when these string geese are done I shall get to that one!
It has been a busy and productive weekend and I am already in pj's and thinking I may actually fall asleep early tonight.  Hope your weekend was as fun filled as mine!

Saturday Sewing and QuiltCam!

 I spent all of Saturday (after water aerobics and Jump Pilates) sewing and sewing and sewing.  I watched QuiltCam (I had not seen any of the past five episodes).  I have now seen them all!  Kathy hung out in the garage as some guy replaced our windshield (again) and made this sign to sell on ebay.  Too cute!

I made the next Block Party block for Nimble Thimbles--Patriotic Pinwheels.  If I win this one I will do it up as another QOV.  Would be nice to have a second one done fast!

Not the best picture, but I made a backing for the Mystery quilt I made last year at Quilting on the Rim.  The gal sold her business so Becky and I didn't get to go back this year.  Bummer but hey we have the Quiltville cruise in October!

Watching QuiltCam reminded me that I should get back to work on the All People Quilt Four Patch Quiltalong.  My pile grew...

 and grew.  I decided to use some four patches that I had leftover from other projects--some needed to be trimmed down to fit, but they are doing me no good in the overflowing leftover parts bin so I am using them up!

 I made the light blue Betty's Choice blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge--one for me and one for Amy.  Linking up with SoScrappy!

 Here are all the blocks together.

 I met Jill at the butt crack of dawn (7 AM) though she said it was half way through her morning (HA!) and we hiked the Ridgeline at South Mountain.  Kathy went to the gym and went swimming.

Pretty happy with getting in that exercise early.  Now I can sew, read, and relax all day long!  If you haven't entered my giveaway click on the link and leave me a comment on that post.  I will draw randomly on Friday for the StoryPatches.  Now, what should I sew?

Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Bitty Blocks!

 I made my two Bitty Block Hearts in blue.  Here are all the blocks so far!

 I followed the directions (and my notes carefully this time) and even to pictures to prove to myself that I was following the directions (last green geese had the points in the light instead of the green, grrr) and guess what?  I did them correctly.  Apparently last time I didn't follow my notes...I have to make them opposite the direction picture so I must think about it every time!  This is my favorite way to make Flying Geese blocks though (Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day method).

 I also used leftover parts I had (gifted to me from June way back when) to make the inner block.  Made it go that much faster!  So here is the green pinwheel.

And here are all the blocks so far.  I am linking up with Angela at SoScrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

Book Look Bloggers Review: The Rainbow Egg

The Rainbow Egg by Linda Hendricks is a sweet story about a chick from the woods (aptly named Hope)who has a rainbow egg she doesn't know what to do with.  She finds many chickens with nests and eggs and then thanks for the song of a red cardinal she finds a rainbow pair with a lovely nest and no egg in it.  She knows right away that is where her egg belongs.  She deposits it in the nest and a baby boy chick is born.  The mother knows it it the right place for her little one so though she loves him so, she leaves him with his new family who also love him.  Really a sweet story of adoption told in a unique way.  

The pictures are also done by the author and are really cute!  This was an ebook and I know I will read it to my own nephew who was adopted.  His birth mother too loved him so much she gave him the best gift she knew--his very own home with parents who were ready and eager to raise him just as the rainbow chicks are ready to raise this one.  

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. They did not require me to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”*

StoryPatches Giveaway!

Mike Newman contacted me awhile back to put a cool product on my blog.  He sent one for me and one for one of my readers!  

There is a video here on youtube that shows you how it works.  You can also go to the website for StoryPatches to learn more about the product. 

Basically a StoryPatch enables quilters to connect a personalized audio or video message directly to their quilt.  I think it is pretty exciting that I can talk about the fabrics I put in a quilt--for example that some of the fabrics in a certain quilt came from my dad's shirts or about what is going on in my life or the life of the recipient at the time I made the quilt!  I blog this info, but love the idea of someone being able to access it directly from the quilt!

Mike assured me that "each patch has a unique code that works with our free smartphone app and website, and could not be easier to use – even for people who don’t like new technology!" Looking at the video I can see I can manage it, and I sure you could too. 

So giveaway time!  If you want a chance at having a free sample StoryPatch, leave me a comment on the blog and tell me which quilt you might want to try it out on and what info you might include.  I will draw a random number a week from today (so Friday June 12th) and announce the winner!  Good luck!

Ros Quilted Orange Crush!

 Just got these pictures from Ros!  My Orange Crush is quilted!

Shelves, Backings, Organization, and a Finish!

After a few years of waiting, Kathy finally had the time to make me a huge shelf on wheels!  I painted it turquoise.  You can see it is in a little nook that opens into my quilting studio (loft) and directly across from it is the guest bathroom(which the catbox is in since it is rarely used--thus the baby gate so the dogs can't get in it).  Next to it (covered by quilts) is a door that opens into the AC return.  I have to be able to get in that door to clean now and then (dust and dog hair) and when the AC folks come out.  So that whole nook area was wasted space and I tended to pile things up in there which was a pain if we did need to get in the door!  So now I have a shelf on wheels that I can roll out when we need to get in the AC door!  I wasted no time in reorganizing and filling the shelves either!  I used a dry erase marker to mark some of my bins (the others have post it notes inside the bins).  My modern fabrics fill an entire shelf and now I can actually see what I have!

Last Tuesday was the Nimble Thimbles meeting and we all turned in our star blocks.  Two gals won them..they really turned out great.  This month is red, white, and blue--will be fun to see how they turn out.  Would love to win so I have another QOV to donate so cross your fingers!

 We had a swap and sale meeting--I tried really hard to not even really look at anything because after my reorganization I discovered that I truly don't need anything!  I have full shelves all around.  However, one of the gals let me know that someone was selling six Happy Scrappy Houses from our Bonnie Hunter workshop.  At least I think they are from that day but in any event I had to save them!  Kathy and I did Halloween houses (and I actually need to decide if I am going to add to it or border it, would love to have it done for Halloween this year) so these won't go into that quilt, but maybe I will put them in the back or do another little quilt.  For two bucks they were a steal.

 I did get a chance to sew during the week this week too!  I made a backing for Classic Meets Modern (when I was reorganizing my shelves I picked out some bigger chunks of fabric that would make good backings--I think that is my least favorite part--making the backings!).

 I also made a GIGANTIC backing for Grand Illusion.  It is mostly teal but one strip of flaming fabric to make it big enough.  I need this quilt done before November when we do our next Kickoff party!

See what I mean about full shelves?  Many of those lights were in a bin and now that all my boxes are off the fabric shelf I got to folding them and getting them out where I can use them!
I got some outdoor pictures of Moth in the Window for Coleman and was very excited when an editor from Quiltmaker Magazine contacted me to put it on their facebook page!

Whoot whoot!

I also am still working on the weight.  I had a bad week last week and worked much harder this week to make up for it.  So 3.4 pound loss for a total of 92.8 pounds.  I did my first advanced Pilates jump class (15 minutes after a regular Pilates class) and I was able to get through it!  Really sore the next day but I went hiking (alone even) and did Pilates again the next day.  Today I rest and tomorrow Jump again.  :)