Presenting the BUBBLE MAN!

Tomorrow, I'll have some pics from our fiber meeting but today it's all about the bubble man. Yes, there really is a Bubble Man! On Wed. the kids, Ginny and I went to the library to see him! What a fun and educational show it was!! Ron Lloyd did an amazing job even putting smoke, square bubbles and multiple bubbles within a bubble. You can see a video from his earlier program here.

Here he's putting smoke inside a bubble. It wasn't real smoke but some 'canned' safe air. Hmmm is any smoke 'safe'?? Oh well, it was interesting and the smoke alarm never went off so... This was a square bubble inside a bubble!
This was the Merry-Go-Round...he placed about 6-8 bubbles inside a bubble then spun there around!
I don't remember how many bubbles he finally had attached to one another.
Now big can you go!
This was the cutest! It was a teddy bear he made of bubbles.

What a fun show! And we even got the recipe for making our own bubbles...1 Cup of Dawn liquid dish detergent to 10 cups of water (you can also add 1/4 cup of glycerin but not necessary). And you can use string or your hands/fingers to blow bubbles through! Who knew!

We had 5" of rain Wed. night and 2" last night! We do have a problem with some water from one of the pipes from our well but Bob rigged a drain into the sump pump. What a mess, but it could be worse...let's just hope it doesn't get worse. Temps still in the high 80's and so humid. It's almost hard to breath when you go outside. Of course, hubby is still golfing! Go figure!

I was cleaning out some of my art supplies and took a box to Little Monster's, a kids toy store in Lake Orion. They offer free craft sessions on Wed.'s for the kids so I thought they could use some of my excess. While pulling out items for them, I came across some wallpaper sample books my sister sent to me years ago.
Isn't this neat! Well, it's not the sample! It's actually a doodle I did this afternoon on one of the wall paper sample pages!







This next picture is what a page looks like in the book. It's just dots in a design and each page is a different color. I think they are really cool!! I used a white gel pen given to me by Carol T. and it worked pretty good. The pages are 8" x 10" but you could make a nice clutch purse or a cell phone & Ipod bag!


This is what's on the back of each page. They are pretty sturdy but not too heavy that you couldn't sew through them. Now I have to get some different color pens to match some of the dots on the pages. There's a great sepia colored page that I want to do next but my brown pen is dried right up! Michael's here I come!





Most of yesterday and last night I spent trying to figure out the triangle pattern! You see these triangles are beaded together to make a bracelet..which isn't what I'm doing! I just wanted to make a few of them just to say I could, right!

Well I couldn't! Geezzzz I even had a dream about making beaded triangles last night!



But SUCCESS! I finally 'got' it this afternoon!!! Now I can quit! I only made one full triangle and then started with the next attached triangle! They look like little soldiers sitting in a row...ok, maybe not..but they are cute...
You can see the front and the bigger one in the back is attached, by the hip!

These were some of the other triangles I made..the one in the bottom left actually was the start of the correct pattern. I was just working on the 'decreasing' part of the pattern..next you start increasing back to a triangle...hard to gt this out of my head now!

Whew..glad that phase has passed!!! Tonight I'm going to work on Georgia on my Mind..just because my friend, Susan, doesn't think I'll have it finished when I see her next winter! HA I'm actually over 75% finished with the reverse applique so two or three nights of baseball should finish it up! Susan's working on her piece which is HUGE!!! I'll have to confirm the size of it but it's taller than she is and about 10 ladies wide! How's that for a measurement! It's a beautiful piece!!

Temps back up into the high 80's today. I think we're going to wear out the central air!!

Beaded Triangles

The is a picture of my 'March Winds' I did for the 2010 BJP last year. I'm showing the small triangles that I made for the kite tail. (You can see the finished journal at the end of this post...back to the triangles.) I read Kate McKinnon's blog, which is a hoot, and she's been making closed beaded triangles from a technique by Jean Power's from the UK. I thought the triangles from Kate/Jean were quite clever, so I started to make them yesterday. My triangles above are made differently than Jean's but I have to admit her method is quite simple. This was the start of my first triangle.

And while watching the TV last night I made two more, but I'll need several to put them together. You have to see them enclosed on Kate's blog

and on Jean's blog. I think they're fun to make and you just never know where or how you might use a beaded, enclosed triangle!

This is how I used my peyote triangles so you might be surprised where or how you can use them!

The sleeve and label are on 'Betty' so it feels SO good to have that finished. It was a fun piece to do but I'm just glad to be done with target date projects. Now I can play! OK, I always play but now I can play without guilt! Temps up to 73 and I'm off for a bike ride...no breeze so I'm sure it will be hot out! Something different, right!

Cuff is finished!

Yippee! I finished my 2nd cuff that I "beaded on the loom"! This is another pattern from Suzanne Cooper's web site. Suzanne has some great bracelet patterns in addition to many other patterns for different beading techniques. Check them out!

The pattern set I purchased has five different cuff patterns and I'm not sure which pattern I'll use for my 3rd cuff! The next one I'm making will be in orange/white since I wear a lot of spring colors. I can't wait to start another one but I have to finish the sleeve and label on my 'Twin'..she's all done except those two items and I'll post pics next week.
Carol and I had a fun day yesterday shopping in Auburn Hills. Carol and Tony are 'beach birds' from Florida and now spend six months in Michigan. I actually felt like I was in Florida picking up Carol for a day of 'tooting' around! We elected to go to the outside mall and walk around to the different stores which really wasn't bad even in the heat. We would walk a few steps then walk into air conditioning! Of course we had to have lunch which was really good...salad and a spinach/artichoke dip w/flatbread. Then to Starbucks for dessert, taking our drinks with us to Tradder Joe's!
While we were at the outside mall, I wanted to stop in Williams-Sonoma. My DIL had me try some sauce she bought from from them called Burger Bomb. As soon as we walked in the store, we were hit with a wonderful smell of something being grilled. Turned out it was chicken marinated in their Tequila Agave marinade. well, you know if it says TEQUILA I'll have to try it. Wow! It's a great marinade so Carol and I each both bought a bottle. I'm going to use it to marinade chicken for dinner the 1st night my sister comes to visit in a few weeks! Yep, my sis is coming to visit! I'm so excited and can't wait to see her!!! She's never been to our house and we had it built in '96! I'm having everyone up for dinner that weekend she's here as she hasn't seen Darrin since he and Kris got married 21 years ago! Dawn and I have gone back to Penna. to visit but now it's my sister's turn and I am thrilled!
Today temps are only to reach high 80's! That's a cool down isn't it. Good day to do some laundry and cleaning so I can play this weekend with some beading or other sewing! Stay cool!

What a splash!

Well, for the first time, grandma allowed the kids to swim "on her watch"! Kids and I went to see Zookeeper, which was cute...loved the animals talking!, then back home to swim! I usually have the kids sit outside on Wed. but it was so hot I told them they could go swimming.

You can see by pics above they enjoyed the pool! Both kids swim like fishes and love the water! Grandma even put her feet in the water! Well, I can't put the rest of me in the water, neither Bob or I own a bathing suit! This statement was made to Ian and his friend one year when we met them for spring break in Florida. They just couldn't believe their grand parents go to Florida and don't own bathing suits. What can I say...we aren't near water where we stay in Ocala and if there is, we wouldn't go there anyway! Bob's on the golf course and, well, you know what all I do!

Anyway, kids had fun, I had fun...just a wonderful day with those kids!! I love all the conversations we have. They talk about the funniest things and just try to beat one another at stating facts first! Love my time with them!

Temp is suppose to be 98 today! I'm off to meet my friend, Carol, from Florida for a day of shopping and lunch. I'm bringing my cooler as my daughter mentioned to stop at Tradder Joe's! Love that place! Stay cool my friends!

Working away in the heat

Yep, working away in the heat! I finished the 'beading on the loom' for my 2nd cuff bracelet! I have to take it off the loom, weave the ends and add a clasp, which I'll buy on Wed. at the bead shop in Oxford. I love my 1st cuff and wear it often. The colors in this one aren't showing up as nice as they are in person...the brown beads are a cinnamon lined Topaz luster (DB0287)! That's a mouth full but a really nice color. I wear a lot of beige so I know I'll wear this one a lot too.

I also finished sewing down the binding on one of the Twins today while watching The Bachlorette and Big Brother! Yes, I'm a closet reality kinda gal! What can I say!

Now some good news! Our 'Tommy Slice Project' was juried into the IQA show in Houston this fall! How cool is that! It's my 2nd time with a entry juried into Houston but both were in the group category! Does that tell you I need help from my friends! The quilt is juried in and that's pretty exciting.

On another note, my friend Susan from Florida (I've posted about her beautiful applique work on my blog many times!) has been winning with her quilts this past month! She took 1st place for her Homage To Spring quilt & 2nd place for 256 Blocks quilt in their categories at the Minnesota Quilt Show. Susan made enough $$'s with these winnings to buy lots and lots of fabric! Then I received another email from her this past week that she won 3 more ribbons!! This was at a show in Ohio! Susan has her Homage to Spring quilt showing the end of this month at a big show in Hersey, Pennsylvania. I'm sure she'll win another ribbon! Her workmanship is the best as is her choice of design and colors. Susan is the one who came up with a unique reverse applique technique and she's generously shared with me! That's the technique I'm using on my applique piece, Georgia on my Mind.

Temps have been in the 90's again!! This is more like Florida weather! Thank goodness for air conditioning!!!

A "smoker" in the family

Yes, we have a "smoker" in the family!! But we are happy about it! My DIL bought my son a smoker for Father's Day and Darrin has been 'smoking' up a storm!
I think this plate looks like something from Gourmet magazine! This is what Darrin made yesterday for dinner and were joined by Auntie and Uncle Jeff.
When I called last night, all I could hear was Nick talking about "turkey legs" and everyone else saying how good the food was!

Here's what Darrin wrote in his email he sent along with the pics!
"So this weekend, we thought we would keep it on the lighter Side…so the Turkey Breast hit the Smoker for some good old fashion slow cooking. I used some Ginger Ale to soak the Turkey Breast; then some nice sweet season and let the smoke/slow cooking do the rest…Yes, it turned out very nice and tender as I thought it would. Nick wanted some Chicken Legs, so we added the legs to the batch and added some honey glaze…Wow!"
How good does this look!

Yes I have been beading but no pics yet. I'm trying to finish up one of the 'Twins' and I'm now ready for the binding. To be perfectly honest, my hands have not been co-operating lately but I'm trying not to complain. I could be in worse shape...just have to keep everything moving. I did go on my bike ride Sat. but it's already 77 @ 7:15 a.m. so no bike ride for me today! Thursday, I'm meeting my Florida friend, Carol, to do some shopping! We always have a good day and I'm looking forward to getting together. This week we had dinner with Carol & Tony twice and met yesterday to go to a graduation party. It's almost like we're in Florida!

Dan Burke Lecture

Before I get posting on the lecture at the GSQ guild meeting yesterday..here's my son's latest purchase! Uncle Dale (Bob's brother is a car salesman) called Darrin and said he had a buyer for his car and would put him in a new Enclave! So this is Darrin's new wheels! We are GM people and Dale has always found us what we are looking for. Darrin was quite excited and I love the black!! Very cool!!!

So now onto the lecture/trunk show yesterday by Dan Burke. I honestly wasn't familiar with his work but before I left for the meeting I did a 'google' search and thought this might be interesting to stay for after the regular meeting. I certainly wasn't disappointed..well, maybe in my photo's as they don't do Dan's quilts justice. I love his color choices and he primarily uses batiks.

You can see Dan's work on his web site here and order patterns, etc. from him. Dan does lots of foundation piecing and his work is impeccable!

This piece combined paper piecing and machine applique.
This had over 4000 pieces in it!! Trust me..they were there!
This was a miniature quilt and was outstanding!!! You have to turn your head sideways as they were holding the quilt the wrong way! Very cool piece...and yes, Dan loves purple..hence, you'll see lots of purple in his work.
This was really a nice piece but my picture doesn't do it justice at all!!
Quite a few of these quilts are on the website so you can get the pattern. I just wanted the pictures for the color!
This was another cool piece...foundation piecing and Dan made a smaller version (I didn't get photo) which was around 12" or so.

This quilt was made by one of the members (Millie)..isn't it adorable!!! I just had to take a picture of it. I love the little dresses!!!
This is another one of Dan's quilts..out of order...oh well...again, color choices are great!
That's it for today...off to do some cleaning and laundry, print out pics from the 4-H fair for the kids then bead some. Heat wave still upon us! Graduation party tomorrow and I'm sure it will be hot, hot, hot! But better than snow, snow, snow!

The 4-H Fair!

It's a good thing Amber and Nick made us all a good breakfast on Wed. before we headed to the 4-H Fair! Here are the boys eating scrambled eggs and bacon (Nick made the eggs and Amber cooked the bacon)! Amber even made grandma scrambled eggs (no, not Egg Beaters this time!). Nick's friend, Nate (on the left) came with us and Amber had her friend, Amber (yes, it got confusing at times) join us too.

Amber went to her first 4-H Fair on July 24, 2002 and Nick's was July 27th 2005! I keep the parking ticket each year and photocopy for their 'grandma' books so they have a remembrance.

Here are the group known as "Nick, Nate and the Ambers"! My DIL said it sounds like a singing group! The kids were so good and perfect ladies and gentlemen! Just a wonderful day!!

If you click on the picture you'll see where Nick and Nate sat on this ride.

Ditto on the 'zero gravity' ride. I have arrows where the girls where hanging on. Nick rode this several times as well with the girls.

Here we were watching the circus, which was wonderful as usual. New acts and some of the same, great acts.

Each of the kids packed their lunch and snacks so we sat at a picnic table and enjoyed our food before the rides.

Girls petting one of the rabbits that were judged that day. Nate is behind Amber and he did get to pet the rabbit too.

The kids also got enlightened on what "Market Fresh" stood for at the fair! Yes, they do eat rabbits too.

These pigs were only two days old!!! They were so cute!!



The kids always love going into the birthing barn. Nick's favorite is the egg incubator. For some reason he is
fascinated by the chicks hatching.

Kids enjoy the petting zoo. They have every type of animal for them to feed carrots or grain to.

They even had kangaroo's!

This was the circle of death with the motorcycles riders that Nick missed last year. This year I set my alarm on my phone so we wouldn't miss it! WOW! It was exciting! I have a video on the bottom of some rides the kids were on and the motorcycle riders inside this wheel.

The weather was perfect..not too hot and low humidity. I did keep sunscreen on the kids about every two hours but forgot myself...so I have what is known as 'red neck' or I should say 'red chest'!
I had 172!! pictures on my camera! Yes, that is 1-7-2...I had my camera set to burst so I could capture some moving pics of the kids. I'm going to print out a sheet of pictures for each of the kids so they have to show their parents. What a great day and great memory to have! Thanks to Amber, Nick, Nate and Amber!!!! You were so much fun to be around and I hope we can do it again next year!!!