Young Women in my life...

I just want to say this -- God Bless the person who came up with the idea for the VOICE. It's the best talent show on television right now. No sucky singers or terrible acts...every singer is good -- and some of them are incredible. I love, love, love Blake Shelton and I personally think if he turns his chair -- the singer MUST pick him. He's a great coach, and he takes them to tour with him...he seems like the real deal. Last night he picked Gratia -- the blonde girl who YODELED...really. You had to see it to believe it.... BUT then, the last singer of the show -- 18 year old Trevon Hunt -- totally blew me away...it's a GREAT, GREAT show...

BUT -- hey -- the thing I wanted to blog about today is what is the point of having so much stuff?

This isn't a very good picture -- but it's the only one I have of the "stuff" I decided to pass along...some dishes from my Grandmother...some jewelry from my mother...

Many of the things in our homes have stories that go with them. Who were the women who bought the dishes or embroidered the linens? My Grandma Dodds bought her own engagement ring -- and it dawned on me that I was the only person in the world who knew the story behind that odd purchase....





But -- the problem is -- I have two boys. And they are not the least bit interested in these stories. Fortunately -- I have wonderful NIECES. As soon as they started getting places of their own -- I started giving them some of the family treasure...while telling them the stories that go with them.

When Kelcy got married, I gave her the tablecloth my mother made for me -- the one we used for dozens of big turkey dinners... and I hope when Kelcy sets her table for a special occasion -- she will remember her Aunt Rita and her Grandma Little..

So, last week, I'm thinking the kids are back in school -- and Nicole is off on Tuesday. IT MUST BE TIME FOR A GIRLS LUNCH!!

Monday night -- I invited Ronda's girls to lunch. Amy and Nicole (mothers of Cale, Garrett, Cash, Parker, Landon and Memphis)...


I DO HAVE Emily and Lillian now -- I was delighted they could come, too!! I love, love, love having them ten minutes up the road.

John thinks it's very clever of me to invite people over for lunch and make them go home with a BIG BAG 'Ó CRAP...

Ronda came, too -- but this is the only picture she actually got in!!


It is my experience that the most memorable occasions often happen on the spur of the moment. I am a big fan of being spontaneous. Don't wait for a special occasion. Just do it. Call somebody you love. Invite them to lunch. Give them an unexpected gift...

Project Runway

Another team challenge....ugh...it is SO HARD to get excited about a team challenge. Either it ends up being about who's the bigger bully (Elena) -- or everybody on the team tries so hard to compromise and get along that the end result is a big old bowl of tasteless beige oatmeal...

My biggest problem with a "team challenge" for a design show is that they are forced to think strategically. So they are more worried about how to play the game than about what they might actually CREATE.

It becomes all about covering your own butt and who you can blame if things go badly.

The show actually started off hot for me. The designers were given some t-shirts and told they have to sell them on the street.

AWESOME....

You know how much I love t-shirts!! And they can do whatever they want, right? Paint them, dye them, sew them together, braid them, fringe them...

THERE IS NO FABRIC MORE VERSATILE than t-shirt fabric. Universal. Indestructible... It will NOT wrinkle...it makes for a very forgiving fit...awesome...

And -- wait -- there's more. They can actually SELL their own design services to make money.

I WOULD HAVE BEEN SO EXCITED...

Here's the plan, people.

1. Make some kick-ass t-shirt dresses...fringe them, write pithy words in the front...or create a team "logo"or cartoon...sign them with your names -- you are the PROJECT RUNWAY contestants for crying out loud...
2. Then make a BIG ASS SIGN -- saying, "THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO BE ON Season Ten PROJECT RUNWAY" -- and set up a make-shift table on the corner OUTSIDE OF MOOD FABRICS...(where all the fans go to shop when they are in the city)...let's remember -- you ARE BEING FOLLOWED BY A CAMERA CREW for crying out loud...
3. Every member of the team should be WEARING one of the shirts -- DUH!!
4. If you can't get $50 per shirt -- throw in a free "fashion consultation"...

Call me if you need ideas about the words to write on the shirts (just use a marker, people!)...

Of course -- nobody did ANY OF THAT!! From the little bit we saw of the t-shirts they supposedly sold "on the streets"-- they were not modified even a little bit -- they were completely butt-ugly -- yet they sold hundreds of dollars??

WHA??

Their amounts made no sense and it all felt totally bogus....and who's to say they didn't throw their own money into the bucket at the end of the day?

That t-shirt challenge SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE CHALLENGE. But NO0OOOO. Instead -- the money they raised ended up being their fabric budget for the REAL challenge -- to create two "looks" for Fall...(somebody -- please bring me a NoDoze)...

It all felt so disconnected and random....

Best line of the night was when Christopher said Dmitry and Elena were like Boris and Natasha from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon...

I KNEW THEY REMINDED ME OF SOMEBODY...

No surprise that dreadlock girl went home. Her name was Alicia and she obviously WANTED to go home. What else could possibly explain that horrible outfit she herself wore on the runway. She can't blame Boris and Natasha for that faded, worn out shapeless mechanic's jumpsuit with the rolled up pants...

Hey -- maybe we haven't seen the last of dreadlock girl in coveralls...

"Pimp My Ride" could be looking for a mechanic..

Another ROAD TRIP

This is a picture of the passenger seat in my car. Recognize the zebra car seats?? And if you see a thermos -- maybe you're thinking it's full of coffee...and is that a fast food bag?? This can only mean one thing...

ROAD TRIP!!


My special gift is turning a 3 hour drive into an all-day-saga. For one thing -- I have to check out every single rest stop...(in Dickeyville, Wisconsin -- the bathroom was spotless)...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE stopping in small towns. And in Mineral Point, Wisconsin -- there was A LOT to see and do...

Although, as you can imagine -- I am very easily entertained!!
By the time I arrived in Madison (8 hours later) for my meeting -- my car was alarmingly full. There was just SO MUCH TREASURE...holy cow....I have NO IDEA how I'm going to sneak it all into the house...

Wisconsin Quilt Expo

I am sitting in a lovely hotel in Madison, Wisconsin. I'm on my way to have breakfast with Deanna Springer! She is the Show Manager for the Wisconsin Quilt Expo -- and believe me -- that's a BIG JOB...

If you are in the midwest -- you have today and tomorrow to get yourself to Madison!!

Quilt Expo is a fabulous show! Jam packed with teachers and vendors and the best of the best. I couldn't do it all in one day -- so I'm headed back over there for my second day of stimulating excitement.

Yes -- THIS IS WHAT WOMEN DO. For entertainment, we get together. We congregate. We sew. We create. We talk. We laugh. We learn something new.

No bulls here, ladies....

Running with the Bulls

I told my husband he cannot send me any political stories...so he sent me this.

It's about how men define "fun".

Please note -- there are no women in the video.

Read a Book

I just read Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg. One of my favorite authors, she writes that life is like picking berries, but using an apron that has a hole in the bottom...

I thought that was brilliant. As you go through life -- you want to pick the fresh new delicious berries -- but as you put the new berries into your apron -- some of your older berries are falling out.

When it comes to life, philosophy and books -- I'm grateful for my clubbers. Here we are -- at a recent luncheon at Aunt Ada's house...

Ada is the mother to Linda K. and Jackie -- and Aunt to the rest of us. Once a week, we get together to share whatever berries we picked that week...and to lament those that fell away.

With Linda -- her juciest, favorite berries are about art. The clothes she wears, the house she lives in, the books she reads...For crying out loud -- she made an end table out of wine bottles...


You never know what you'll find at Linda's house. Like this wire mobile...wearing the perfect sparkly accessory...

As sewing sisters -- we enjoy our "sew and tell" berry moments. On this day, Jackie is sharing her latest totebag -- her current obsession...


Whatever we are dealing with -- into our aprons or out the bottom -- we look forward to sharing it. And maybe that's actually the point...


...maybe it's not really about the berries at all...

QUOTES and Pinterest

The other day, I got a couple of emails about my "Pinterest quotes". If you are NOT on Pinterest -- here's the deal. It is ALL ABOUT THE PICTURES. So every quote has some kind of pithy little graphic to go with it. And whatever YOU ARE interested in -- that's what your boards are about.

It's like having all your "favorites"-- categorized and pinned on your own master bulletin boards. Some of my boards are: Sewing, Food, Kid's ideas, Maxi dresses, Recycled T-shirt ideas, The Power of Words, Laugh Out Loud...well -- you get the idea.

I never really got that involved with Facebook. For one thing -- there are WAAAYYY TOO MANY people pushing their own agenda, ranting and raving - like you are ALL WRONG if you don't agree with them. It is exhausting and judgemental...and I can't remember the last time I logged into Facebook. Mostly -- I use it for my job -- and as Sew Expo gets closer -- Facebook is a great way to share information with a large group.

But Pinterest is totally different. It's all about the pictures -- and sharing the things you love. So -- that said -- here's my first quote:
************

Pinterest makes me like people I've never met. Facebook makes me scared of the people I know in real life...

You are always responsible for how you act, no matter how you feel. Remember that.

Don't believe everything you think.

It's late. You are standing in front of the refrigerator. You are not hungry -- you are bored. Drink a glass of water and learn the difference.

She loved life and it loved her right back.

The things you take for granted are the things someone else is praying for.

Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it. (Julia Child)

Sometimes the wrong choices bring us to the right places.

Be so good they can't ignore you. (Steve Martin)




Yóu don't have to attend every argument you're invited to.

You are only given one little spark of madness -- you mustn't lose it. (Robin Williams)

Whether you think you can, or you think you can't -- you're right. (Henry Ford)

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

I myself am entirely made of flaws, stitched together by good intentions.


Note to self: You are enough; You have enough; You do enough.

Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others.

Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.


Finally -- To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. (Einstein)