I'm still giggling over this

I have another non-stitching/quilting post. This is so funny. My office manager, who is a very young 63, was going up to Big Bear over the weekend when she got pulled over for speeding.

The cop came to her window and asked her for her license and registration. She found them and meekly handed them over. When he took off his sunglasses to read the registration, she couldn't help herself, he was so gorgeous: "Oh, my, God. Where were you when I was a young, hot, cop groupie?" He tried not to react, but the smile came, he handed back the paperwork, and said, "That's a good one. Slow down."

She escaped the ticket. She really didn't plan to say what she said - it just came out. Like I said, I"m still giggling.

A Confession and a Resolution

I have a confession to make. I have a colored pen fetish. I can't resist them. I can't walk by a display of pens at Staples or Office Depot without stopping to fondle the various packages of multicolored pens. I must have a dozen different sets of pens, all from different manufacturers: Pilot, Stabilo, Bic, Zebra, Foray, Flair, you name it, I have it. I just can't help myself.













So what's the problem? Well, I CAN'T MAKE MYSELF USE THE COLORED PENS! I keep meticulous notes on everything - school board, member issues, contract issues, quilting, travel and camping, cooking, family, cross stitch, Jeep maintenance - I'm an organizational freak about taking notes and keeping records of everything. But I only use black pens.


Why is that? Why can't I grab a pink pen and take some notes on a member issue? Why can't I do my grocery list in bright purple? Why isn't the fuschia pen all right for my calendar?

Yesterday I bought a new pack of colors - they're called Zebra Sasaras. They're gel pens. They write soooo smoothly. I took them out of their package and put them on my desk, thinking I could use them today. But no. I needed to add an event to my calendar, and spent 2 minutes shuffling through my papers to find a black pen. Then I needed to take notes on a phone call from a unit member about textbooks - I picked up the red pen, started to write, and without even thinking about it, put it down and picked up the black pen. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh.

What is this - black pen OCD? And I'm not making light of OCD here. I can't use my colored pens, but I own hundreds of them.

I'll start with a simple resolution:

Today I'm going to add events to my calendar in green. Today I'm going to take notes on member phone calls in whatever color I pick up.

One day at a time. I'll report back.

It's Not Easy Being Green

I made this little mini-quilt as part of a challenge on the Carol Doak Quilting Yahoo Group. We were to use the crayon pattern any way we wanted, and I like mini-quilts. Each little crayon is 4 inches long. The upside down green one is deliberate.

Lovin' that paper piecing!

That's my NEWEST delight. I was forced to do a little paper piecing on a quilt back in June - America the Beautiful - and realized that it was not as hard as I thought it would be, and was fun, too. I've now dived right in and am having a great time with little blocks and miniature quilts.

Here are a four finishes from last week:


This is called Indian Summer. It's designed by Wendy Vosters, and is from her book Paper-Pieced Mini-Quilts. It measures 9 1/2" x 12".



This is another Wendy Vosters mini-quilt, called Geese in the Air. It's from the same book as Indian Summer, and it measures 8" x 9".




This is little mini-quilt made from four Carol Doak squares (#G10) from her book Easy Machine Paper Piecing. It measures about 10" square.







While this one looks as big as the other three, it's only 4" square. It's #F11 from Carol Doak's Easy Machine Paper Piecing. I went ahead and turned it into a little coaster for my office manager.

Sunday Stash #6

These are going to be another Jo Morton Quilt. For more info on Sunday Stash, or to join in, go to 1/4 of an inch.

We had a visitor today!

For the story, and the reason he came, visit my cooking blog: Cookin' With Cyndi

Sunday Stash #5

For more info on Sunday Stash, go here.


Breedale- this fabric is for either baby J or little J. I'm going to finish the quilt and send it to you and you can decide who gets it - then I'll pic fabric for the second quilt!

Mini Quilts sent and received

I'm a member of STUDS (Swap Till U Drop), a Flickr group for swapping mini-quilts. I just joined in June, in time to sign up for the July swap. The theme for July was "Summer Lovin," so I chose to do a little quilt with watermelon in it. Below is the one I sent to Meg.




In return, Meg sent me this cute, a bright, cheery little piece she calls "Summer Sunset." I just love the sharp points on the sun, and look forward to when I can make them myself.

New Blocks for Don's "Manly" Quilt

I'm making good progress on Don's quilt. I've nicknamed it the "manly" quilt, since he requested "manly" colors. I also have decided that I'm going to find a good-sized fish to either appliqué or piece, and will use it as a center panel. He really likes that idea.

Pennsylvania Parade

Crockett Cabin

Arizona

Scrapbagger

Pick a Little

Lover's Knot

Ohio Star

Swing in the Center

Kentucky Patch