Life is uncertain, sometimes you should have dessert!

Pecan Pie at the Black Trumpet Restaurant in London. They serve every dessert with a scoop of their freshly homemade vanilla cinnamon ice cream.

Best shared with a friend

Lunch at the DQ, hold the oreo cookie crumble and double the hot fudge sauce.....mmmmmm........
No need for anything else.

Birthday dessert (yes it was months ago) but it was a wonderful chocolate experience

It feeds the soul, and some days that is the very part of you starving for a break.

gathering scraps and tidbits

This is a figurative collection of bits and pieces. I have been sewing on a few projects over the last week. Penny and I are up to block #7 in the "precincts of Japan", I am almost finished with my 59 signature blocks for the Quilt Pocket Swap, I finished sewing all the blocks for a Turning Twenty pattern quilt using Dick and Jane fabrics and I am surviving my house in disorder as a result of some home renovations taking place.

There is a fabric postcard waiting for me to put your name on it. I am still collecting names of the visitors who comment on my blog in celebration of my Blog-iversary. 1 week left so just let me know that you stopped by.

I lucked out at our local Wally-World, like the other stores, their fabric department will no longer exist after the end of the summer so I thought I should see what is left for clearance. I know the prices will go down to 75% off but there will also be nothing I actually want when it gets to that discount level.

I picked up 5 metres of Wonder Underfor under $12, 7 metres of a royal blue 100% cotton in a very nice feeling weight and weave for just over $30 and some other nice cotton ends.

I am too tired this evening to post photos but I will in the next day or so. I had been up sewing near 3 AM last night when the 2 cute chiens nagged me to go to bed. Usually Django caves and crawls in bed with Peter while Shiraz lays on her chair giving me the evil rolling eye ``when are you going up to bed?`` but last night they both teamed up and guilted me together. Of course I know that I do have to get up in the morning early for work.

The "Dick and Jane" fabric is being made into a quilt that will be a gift to my oldest childhood friend (she is not my oldest friend!) who has been in my life since we were 3. We learned to read together, play together, share and laugh. We shared sleepovers, giggles, Barbie dolls, dreams and even boys. I think I am safe from her learning the secret since she is much too busy this summer to do any blog reading. I am especially excited to get this done. Last year I gave her a wall-hanging (which I really loved) and she told me that was not going to get me out of making her a full quilt. I had already shown her a few years ago that she really is in my book of special people to make something special for. I told her that and she made me prove it. Good thing that it was true!

And 1 more tidbit, Melissa will be here to visit (short and sweet) in 11 days.

Wonderful weekend with friends and an Award!!!

It has been a great sewing weekend. Two of my very best special friends spent the weekend here with me sewing. (Our ever loving men were all having fun away) Penny and I are working on a BOM from Quilter's Line, The Precincts of Japan. Each block we make is my favourite. These are the blocks that Penny and I have made so far (click on them to see how fantastic these fabrics really are):
Kamata

Yushima

Susaki

Tonegawa

When I sew I always appreciate a little help from my friends.

Here are my first 4 blocks all together:

And an online friend, Paula, gave me this award:

Thank you Paula, at Coffee Time Quilt Studio who shared these nominations. This is the way you do it ( I have never had a blog award before)

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.

I am happy to nominate these blogs as they are some of the many that I look forward to reading.

Aileen's Fibre Fetish plays wonderfully with colour, and she is fun too.

Nancy Rose at Life is a Stitch has a lot of life going on, fun , crazy and quilty too.

A new fave, Found in Brooklyn because you may take the girl out of Brooklyn but you can never take Brooklyn out of the girl...

Brin at My Messy Thrilling Life has an old house, flowers and a great attitude

DebR at Red Shoe Ramblings because hers is one of the first quilty blogs I visited, even if there is not much quilty going on these days she posts wonderful flower photos!!

I could not miss Strombo, George Stroumboulopoulisos that is, with the blog for The Hour. I am not sure if my post on his blog will show up because there were a page full of error messages after I clicked send. anyway, The Hour is like Sesame Street for adults.

Comic Book Lady at Quilt as Desired is a quilter who is willing to do exactly as she desires and she is a super blogger as well.

I still am collecting posts for a July Blog-iversary give-away

July 12 will be my 2 year Blog-iversary

I surprised myself with that bit of trivia; I was checking to see how many posts I had made and the last one to this was #150, I am just a couple days shy of the 12th of July so this is truly a crossroads post.

I think that in the quiet world of "living,quilting and stuff" I might find some fun reader who would like to receive a little bit of something from me.
SO, I will celebrate July as blog month and send one of my fabric postcards to someone just like you, well maybe even you....

Just leave me a "Hi, I stopped by.. comment" and at the end of the month I will pick a name from the premium handful of visitors who post.

Interesting inspirations

These sculpted images are part of the stairway to the Bethesda fountain in Central Park. The lines fascinate me and I imagine that somehow, someday I could follow these inspiration as quilting patterns.

This would make a wonderful quilt; imagine the clamshells of bright lollipop colours....

And I stitch too

I have been keeping track, fairly faithfully, of my stitching efforts. Now that we are at the mid-point of the year I wanted to share my list of "done so far in 2008" up to June 30th.

My Hours of sewing, quilting, designing:

• January - 53.5
• February - 17.5
• March - 34
• April - 33
• May - 28.5
• June - 38

And what exactly have I accomplished in all that time:

1. 13 curtain panels for the kitchen
2. fabric bingo card for a guild game
3. 2 aprons
4. quilted Mazey Daze Quilt, bound and gifted
5. 17 fabric postcards
6. 10 blocks made for group quilts
7. Tea Cozy
8. Wedding Veil
9. Wedding Dress (and pattern)
10. 2 baby quilts (original design) quilted, bound and sold
11. 5 Placemats
12. 1 Humbug bag
13. Hat with brim
14. Xbag purse
15. borders and binding on a group quilt
16. Mini Linda doll and clothing
17. hemming and mending of various clothes
18. some hand applique

More Coney Island (part 2)

This is the same place, different time.

1975 versus 2008

Unlike 2966, the years spent on West 29th St. could never be razed. There I learned about laughter with my friends, I learned it could be wonderful to hide away and read, I watched the sunrise, I cried, I dreamed, I discovered longing, listened to soul music, bongo drums on the street and Cousin Brucie 77 WABC , played with dolls, learned about fear and pain, loss and love. I was safe there and I was in danger there. I was innocent and I was far too aware of life's terrors.

I can walk down the street now and be strong, I have survived, I have thrived.

Life in Coney Island is a lot like the Cyclone, the going forward sometimes feels like a slow crawl uphill, promising an exhilerating ride, rushing against all hope of control, down, up, around, screaming all the way but no one really cares, eventually you make it to the end, your choice, go around again $5, ride at the front if you want, or walk away, safe, the Land Mark deep and everlasting in your soul.

Coney Island, a walk into memories...(part 1)

Please click on the photos for a better look

The pool and bath house

Side shows








(yes, that is a platter of Nathan's famous deep fried frogs legs)



The boardwalk looking south west

What can I really say, Coney Island is, as always, itself. There have been waves of up and down time, I have heard "Coney Island is going down" and "Coney Island is coming back" all my life. Today we saw few hawkers, half-hearted though, they were still there.



It certainly was not the boom times of the late 60's when the crowds left no space to walk through and the NYC Police patrolled on horseback so they could maintain a watch over the masses of people. The beach of my memory was jam packed; one blanket nearly touching the next, laughter, the shouts of the man selling Ice cream and orangeade from brown paper shopping bags of dry ice, the crash of the waves, the lifeguard's whistle, the sun blazed and crossing the sand felt like walking on coals.

Sand has been built up so high that it is level with the boardwalk. The old wooden boards are screwed down now, no more nailheads popping up. Seeing that the sand is as high as the top of the comfort station roofs gave it a slightly surreal "Planet of the Apes" feeling.

The day was bittersweet and comforting. Coney Island has a spirit that will not fade. Over its history, Luna Park, Steeplechase, the closest cheap escape from the hot city on summer days, the 70's, the 80's the 90's, urban redevelopment, urban abandonment, waves of immigrants, despite it or because of it all, it will always remain Coney Island.


Shorefront condo living and corporate theme parks will never really dampen down the spirit.



This is looking down 29th Street from the boardwalk (Mr Coopey, there is an asian mini mart there now). My building, like the others are gone. Funny enough, where there were brick apartment buildings, now there is empty lots or parking, where there were abandoned lots are now apartment buildings.

There are more memories to be shared, blog post fodder for another day.