Quilt Show

The weekend of 'try new things' continues. 
Took a bus trip with the local quilt guild to Road To California, my first ever quilt show. Hundreds of vendors, gorgeous quilts, and 8 hours of 'oh my, look at THAT!' My quilt teacher and show companion was highly amused. 
My little cell phone camera can't begin to do justice to the award winning quilts. They were beyond amazing. Stunning, impossible, intimidating, and just a touch of weird thrown in to keep things in perspective.

 

It took me three trips through the vendor halls - with breaks in between to rest my poor tired feet - to make sure I'd seen everything and to give them all my $$.
 
I came home with patterns, scissor fobs, hand-dyed fabric, custom printed fat quarters and this, the highlight of my day - 
They make me smile every time I look at them. Pretty sure this project is going to bump to the front of the line, just as soon as I quit dragon my feet (hee) and figure out how to use them to best effect.

Jewelry Makin'

I swore I wasn't going to get into jewelry making. Too many crafts already and not nearly enough time to do them well enjoy them. But then I started reading about French General, 
 
found out they are just a few miles down the road only 45 minutes away (or 2 hours, depending on LA traffic), and somehow let a friend talk me into taking a class there with her.
 
So. Much. Fun. Three hours, 72 charms and much laughter later, we both had finished bracelets. 
 
The shop is tiny but packed full of fun charms, beads, fabric, kits, and much, much more. The only thing that followed me home, though, was a giant pincushion. Simply could not resist it.

 
We're already planning on taking more jewelry-making classes, along with the felted bunny class in March. Yeah. So much for 'no more hobbies'.  

Perfection

You know how sometimes - not often - the perfect yarn pairs with the perfect pattern to make the most perfectest project ever? This is one of those.  

Two colors of Tofutsie sock yarn that have been in my stash for a looooong time 

Pattern is African Flower hexagon (a variation on this pattern) with this join-as-you-go tutorial. Fast, easy and fun.

And the result? I LOVE it.
 
This is another class sample for February. Can't wait to show them all the different things you can make with this one motif.

Spring Planting

It felt like spring today, with temps in the 80's, so Leia and I did a bit of planting.
 
An amaryllis for me - a gift from Marie, Scott and Leanne at Christmas;
 

and an avocado tree for Leia.

Leia did all the playing in the dirt dirty work on the amaryllis, going back again and again, even hours later, to make sure the dirt was just so.
 
We put the avocado seed in a clear glass so she can watch the roots sprout and the stems start to grow. 
 
Given my brown thumb, that may be as far as we get. But hope springs eternal, right? Maybe these plants will beat the odds.

Last Day of Christmas

I know it's the middle of January, but I haven't posted the San Diego trip pix yet. So here goes . . . 

Disneyland and Sea World were tops on Rachel and John's visit wish list, so we headed down to San Diego the day after Christmas for a 2-day visit. Rachel had the bright idea of renting a double-stroller, even though the girls were a bit big for it. 
They didn't get as tired - or cranky - as the day wore on, so we didn't get as tired, or cranky, either. Genius.
 
It also saved us from having to carry Leia all day. The little girl is getting to be a big girl, size-wise.
 
The day was gorgeous, with temps in the 60's, and the girls had a blast.
  
They fed sea lions, petted rays and starfish,
  
and tried to pet dolphins, but they stayed just out of reach.
 
 We checked out the penguins 
 
and turtles,
  
before heading to the kid's area, where Leia stood in line for over 30 minutes to go bouncing
  
and another 30 to climb on the extensive overhead play area. She was in heaven.
 
The lines took so long, in fact, that the two of us missed getting into the dolphin show with everyone else. By the time we got there, there were no more seats.
  Leia standing above the Shamu holding tanks.

Good thing we went to the first Shamu show of the day, before it got so crowded! I'd hate to have missed that one.
  
Rather than sulk - or wait in the looooooong line to be 'escorted' to the seats hubby had saved for us - Leia had her face painted
 
with "Shamu the dolphin", as she called it. 

Dead-eye Addy was the big winner of the day. She played several games in the kids area and later while waiting for the boys to finish a 'scary' ride, and won two stuffed frogs (she gave one to Leia. Awwwwww), a stuffed turtle, necklace and more. 
 
Hubby and I were afraid Sea World during Christmas week would be too crowded and too cold to enjoy, but it turned out to be positively perfect.

 

Mother Nature Wins Again

My computer is in my unheated craft room, which isn't normally an issue, but it's been so cold lately that my poor little space heater never had a chance in the battle with Mother Nature. I want to blog - and post things on Ravelry - but I'm a wimp when it comes to frozen fingers and toes. So please pardon the sparsity of posts and the lighting round of complete projects below, skimpy as they are on the details.

Mary's Christmas scarf (click link to go to my Ravelry page) -Acacia Scarf by Megan Marshall. (Color is more accurate in the photo below)Love this pattern and will definitely be making it again.

Another Sunrise Ripple Scarf, my own pattern that I'll get around to writing up one of these days. Probably the day before I teach the class for which this sample is destined. Love how the yarn (Schoppel 'Gradient') has so many shades of my lovely orange.
Four more squares for the Tunisian Block-a-Month class. This is Round 2; the gold/white block is my definite favorite in this group. It was supposed to be a Brick Stitch block, kinda like this, but I misread the directions decided to go my own way and came up with something entirely different. Pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Two more blocks for the crochet block-a-month class - 
 Cabled Beauty, a 10" version of 'On the Road Again', one of my favorite blocks;
 and Kitties on a Rail / Kittens on a Fence / Cats in a Row - so many different names for the same basic stitch pattern. This one's been on my to-do list for awhile; glad I can finally cross it off.

If anyone's interested, my entire list of classes for January through April is here. 

On The Second Day of Christmas

Two days after Addy and company landed in So. Cal., we headed down to Disneyland. Yep, on a Sunday. During Christmas week. 
 
Hubby and I thought it was going to be a crowded disaster; that we'd be lucky to get on a couple of rides in 8 hours. But the holiday gods were smiling on us - or the weather gods were frowning, I'm not sure which. It was cloudy and drizzly - with patches of lovely sunshine - all day . . . which meant no crowds! 
 
I've never minded a bit of weather at Disneyland. You're already dressed for the outdoors, so it doesn't take much to ward off a bit of rain. Fortunately, most people see "rain" in the forecast and stay home. Hooray!
 
We did the biggies first - Pirates, Haunted House and Splash Mountain - and then Rachel and I took the girls to Fantasyland while the others headed to the roller-coastery rides.
cutest photo bomb ever

 Dick and John got to the front of the line at Star Wars . . . just as the ride broke down. So they ran over to the newly revamped Matterhorn, stood in line for 45 minutes and just as they got to the front . . . . the ride broke down.

  

They toughed it out for 2 hours - being told "it'll only be 15-20 more minutes" several times - but finally did get to ride. And they both said it was worth the wait.

 
We did both parks, hitting California Adventure in the evening, but the highlight of the day for me - and for Addy and Leia, I think - was the surprise appointment I'd made for them at Studio 365, the Rock Star alternative to princess-themed Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.
 
They were primped
 
and pampered
 
and styled
 
and made-up to their heart's content.
  
Both were thrilled with the attention - and, as Rachel had predicted - it was a  welcome break for two very tired little girls. 
  
They both almost fell asleep in their chairs, despite the yanking, braiding and pinning involved in their fancy hair-styles.

And what do Rock Stars do, once they have their second wind? They smile for the paparazzi,
 
toast their friends, 
 
and party into the night.