Happy Zombie

Morgan Moore of One more Moore is hosting her final Nie Nie Benefit Sale at her etsy shop on:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th
Moved to:
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH
7:00 p.m. PST

Momma-Daughter-Dolly Purse Set (designed and made by moi) will be for sale at Morgan’s Nie Nie Benefit Sale. Get there on time… items sell FAST!

Purse set is from my original design of the Pick a Pocket Purse pattern that is featured in the current issue of Better Homes & Gardens - Quilts and More.  Sweet fabrics used are from the upcoming Lakehouse Dry Goods “Doll Dresses Collection”.  More photos here.

For more info, please click on these icons:

Posted in Do Something | 11 Comments

Someone’s in hot water. Someone who was naughty. Very. Very. Very. Naughty.  Someone was jealous of a fellow staff member (Triskit, who’s this month’s Employee of the Month).  Someone else saw fit to take revenge into his own hands hand.  Good thing I have cameras monitoring the staff.

Ouch. Ouch. It’s hot, Bob. Why are you doing this to me?

No. Bob. Seriously… it’s getting really hot!  Say something, damn it.  Stop looking at me with Dexter-eye.

Maybe Mother Clucker can help me escape. I wonder where she is. Mmmm. Something smells good. Almost smells like Thanksgiving.

Oh no! It’s all making scents sense now! Mother Clucker… get out of there. Fast!  And Bob, stop staring at me.  You look like Jimmy Kimmel’s evil twin.

Scoot, scoot… get out of there fast. Fast. FASTER! Fly up and rescue me, oh Mother Clucker.

Giddy up. Clickclickclick.

Time for a little estrogen justice. Payback time.

So Bob… how do ya like me now, eh?

In Hot Water was brought to you by Palmolive Liquid and Folger’s Instant Crystals. Filmed before a live studio audience.

Posted in Animal House, Triskit | 31 Comments

Something’s going on at Case de Zombie.   Either the animal kingdom is visiting my house one-by-one to meet their significant other… or there’s some weird undiscovered Alfred Hitchcock screen-play being cast at my house.

Knock, knock.

Mail’s here.

Ooops… male is here.  For the sake of my captions, I’ve determined this to be a boy frog.

We’ve had other strange visits too. Some can stay, some treat my house like this is their Holiday Inn Express, some had to go. Some I’m still trying evict.
- A bunny (who I’ve named Frankie). He can stay.
- A cute frog (he has no name. Suggestions? Front-door Freddie?)
- A mouse. Checked out.
- A lone deer. He can stay too, even though my precious mulberry tree has become his own little drive-thru diner.
- A coyote (heard him in the distance).
- A herd of elk (must be swingers).
- Three escaped neighbor goats (must be a threesome).
- A rat who discovered a sealed bag of dog food in the garage. Helping him pack his bags right now (gave him a special ’sleepy time’ snack).
- A raccoon.
- A bat. That was too weird. Don’t know how he got in, but he was nesting in a decorative bucket high atop a built-in bookcase. My bouncer T-man (dh, who fears nothing)… gave him the boot back outside.
- A mole. His friends have met the end of my shovel, but this one bugger just won’t check-out. Traps, gas, the shovel… he just won’t leave. Yesterday I picked up an arsenal of gas bombs… five 6-packs.

I’ve been battling this mole for over a month. He is my nemesis. My arch enemy. My Conrad Siegfried.
Eff PETA. I have become Carl.

Posted in Animal House | 27 Comments

I do not want to debate, I only want to give to fellow supporters.

Please feel free to copy and paste the code (or codes) located here. Tech support is not included - sorry.

Updated: I’ve gotten some kindly email help from fellow bloggers that my coding was off a bit. I think I now have it fixed. If it’s still buggy, I welcome the feedback. Thank you Blogland… I heart you!

Posted in Do Something | 17 Comments

The fun continues on my visit home…

Pam’s blogged it here, and Elizabeth has blogged it here… and of course I’m always on the short bus to ProcrastinationLand - so I’m finally blogging about it too. An über fun filled night and day.  It just went waaaaaaay too fast and I wish we all could have had more time together.

We started our Girl’s-Night-(and day)-o-rama with our wonderful friend Nireko at Emil Villa’s in Walnut Creek (officially it’s the Hick’ry Pit.  Whatever).  We ate.  We laughed.  We ate.  We laughed.  Nireko had us in stitches.  And there was pie.  OH.  THERE.  WAS.  PIE.  I stole these pics from Pam… because I’m still driving down that road.  Nireko showed us some new Lecien fabric that is just to DIE FOR, which left us competing with the pie for our drool worthiness.  I’ll show it when it gets on Lecien’s website.

Pam and I look like we’re getting chummy as a pose for the shot, but we were REALLY sitting like that. Smallest booth on the planet, and it’s always me who’ll find it.

We all go home, with just enough time to sleep (and digest our food).  Up and atom the following morning, and back on the road we go.  Heatwave was already in full swing, and Pam had her car nice and cool. Ahhh. First stop… Thimble Creek.  I haven’t been to TC in years, and this was my first visit since their move from Walnut Creek.  It was great to see Roxie, and wish I could have seen Joe too.  Joe and Roxie are just THE nicest couple, and it’s reflected in their wonderful business.  TC is great, and I could just hang out there for hours on end.  PS… if anyone is looking for some Minny Muu 3… I saw some there.

Elizabeth and Roxie.

The wonderful Chickie cutting my fabric. Maybe it was Pam’s fabric. Or maybe it was E’s fabric. Hard to know, since I told Chickie and Sandy as they were cutting Pam and E’s fabric, “I’ll have what she’s having”. I just noticed I have no pics of Pam while we were at TC. Mustabeen because I was nipping at Pam’s heals the entire time. Watching what she was picking out, and then I could get some too (like having a personal shopper).

The darling Sandy ringing up my first purchase (oh yes, there was more). Sandy has that “do you need to take out a second mortgage to cover this” look.

Brenda and Anne where there too. Ok, not really there there… but I saw Bren’s four season quilt and squealed with delight. I love this quilt so much. I bought her pattern at last market, and hope to one day make it. Lots of Anne’s goodies too, and picked up a few of her patterns as well.  Wish they had really been there there, but it was fun to see their beautiful works showcased.

As we head south, barely audible from the back seat are my “is it lunch yet?” whines. Having fun works up an appetite (in my case, even sleeping works up my appetite). Chevy’s. Mmmm. And did I mention it was a hundred-n-effing something degrees outside? The ice teas really hit the spot. Funny, after we sat down, we all instinctively whipped out our iPhones and Sidekick… checking to see to if we had emails from each other. Do’i.

Further south, we finally reach Mecca. Well. My Mecca. My version of Disneyland… Daiso.   A “dollar” store of Japanese delights and cuteness. I filled up two baskets and a cart. There’s a Daiso I’ve shopped at in Federal Way, WA… but this Union City, CA one is huge. HUGE. Makes the Federal Way store look like a mini-mart. I have died and gone to zakka heaven.

“OHMYGOSH… What’s that, Monica?”… it’s the ‘mayonnaise rack’ that Elizabeth found for me. After seeing this photo of myself, I noticed the one boob slimming-reducing effect it had on me. I should have bought two. Three,  one for my butt too.  Four… five…  six…

Pam and the find-of-the-day. Insert your own caption here. The use of OMG is not authorized since Pam, E and I have already said it to it’s maximum usage allowance on this item.

The wall-o-sponges. Like a museum of the world’s cutest sponges. So cute, they made us giddy. As Elizabeth said… “those sponges are Sponge Worthy”!

Here’s my sponge worthy buy… a little slice of sponge cake heaven. Who knew sponges could be so cute. Well, obviously the Japanese knew. Thank goodness!

After Daiso, we head back north to Walnut Creek to drop me off (my mom said I had to be home by 5:00 - and I actually obeyed - first time in 47 years). Our fun day is coming to an end soon, and I am so very sad. On the way back to The Creek, we stopped at The Quilter’s Inn in Danville. Darling little shop and the owner and staff couldn’t have been nicer. I could have hung out and shopped all day. Lovely, lovely little shop, and I found some more of the Lecien Antique Rose that I’ve been trying to gobble up for my stash - before it’s forever gone. Oh maybe… it just might come back? Hmmm… I hope so!

At the Quilter’s Inn I stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted this Guadalupe/Dia de los Muertos quilt. I asked if I could take a photo of it and was given persmission. I did ask who made it, but the info slipped out of my brain. I’d love to know if anyone knows who made this and will post it here.  One of the most beautiful and meaningful quilts I’ve ever seen.  I. LOVE.  IT.

Thank you Pam & E for the wonderful time - I hate that we live so far apart!

Posted in I Heart California | 28 Comments

First stop… my brother’s house. Why? Because my mom told me to. And plus this is where we called home for our visit. My brother never lets an opportunity pass without reminding me the hierarchy slash his positioning on our parents speed-dial.

Audry Doggie… she would have to be given the title of my niece.  Human in fur. Kookoo for Cocoa Puffs dog she is. Loves to watch tv, especially the Olympic swimming and diving events.   Everyone is forbidden to turn to the Animal Planet channel.  Yeah.  Audrey Doggie gone wild.  Yes that is carpet she is on (no wonder Audrey’s KKFCP). Bad, bad, bad HGTV episode (results) that was never aired. <— Edited in:  Not because of the results, but becuase of a production issue.  Not saying it was Chayse Dacoda’s doing. But you know, don’t say anything if you can’t say anything nice. So I’ll just be quiet now.

How to make a butt fugly storage facility look beautiful. I’m obsessed with this building and marvel at the akamai thinking of the designers and planners.

The storage building is on Ygnacio Valley Road in Concord near Cal State EB (I still want to say Hayward). The Luthie church (you can’t see in the shot, but the sign is visible)… I was kicked out of a Sunday service when a was a little one (for talking too much - go figure), and sent outside. My mom says I wasn’t “kicked out”… that I was merely being punished for bad behavior. Joke’s on you Pastor CrabbyPants… there was a playground outside.  And that was my inaugural trip on the Sinners Road to Hell & Damnation.

More trip-o-rama to come… unless I get struck by lightning.

Posted in I Heart California | 14 Comments

Signs of life… my life.  Getting back into the swing of things after our vacation (I’m STILL in de-vacationize mode). Signs that I was nearing Home Sweet Home. I know, bloom where you’re planted blahblahblah (actually, words I live by), but home really isn’t Home to me unless my family’s there too. It was SOOOO great to go home and be with ALL of my family (special shout out to Jodie… Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie, Oy Oy Oy), as well as hang out with my peep n peep. A trip of a lifetime for me. More trip stuff later - after I finish de-vacationizing and catching up on everyones blogs.

Good-bye Oregon. We’ll be back, I promise (or more appropriately… I warn).

Signs I’m getting closer to home… time to turn on the A/C.

Ahhhh. The sign that I’m home…

I took this photo for Kathleen from my iphone to taunt her. A pay-back because she did it to me a few months ago. But my evil (but oh so fun) plans backfired on me since she was getting ready to leave… for Paris. PARIS! So if there are any fellow Cali ex-pats who are looking at this photo and feel like I’m taunting you… well, I AM. Maybe this is how I’ll finally get to Paris myself. If the day ever comes when I get to go to Paris, be assured I will be posting taunting and tantalizing photos of crêpes.  Holy crêpe!

Posted in How I Live | 31 Comments

I’ve been getting a lot of emails asking where Lecien can be found after posting about my stack-o-happiness (aka the darling Minny Muu #3 fabric).

One answer is to ask your local quilt shop to carry it. Or… you can shop online for Lecien. I’ve added my favorite online recourses to the bottom of the original post as well as here.
Shop.
Enjoy.
Feel the fabric love!

Linkie-Love: My favorite online retail resources for Lecien:
FatQuarterShop.com
SuperBuzzy.com
PurlSoho.com

Posted in Quilty n Crafty, Stuff | Comments Off

I’m goin’ on a blogging break for a bit. Too many coals in the fire at the moment. Good coals… but still coals. And visitors. And visitees & visitees. And not like I’ve made a lot of posts lately… like a “break” would be something unusual. If my blog had a door knob - I’d hang one of those “We’ll be back at:” clock signs with movable arms, positioned at such-n-such-o’clock. But I wouldn’t know how to McGiver the arms to rotate them into a perpetual spin - or at least a 3 week spin.

The last time I had coals in the fire, I left some sneak peeks here. Not too bad of a wait for me to spill the beans since the project was last minute and all happened so fast.

I’m so excited my magic 6-pocket (aka Pick-a-Pocket) purse made the cover of the Fall ‘08 issue of Quilts & More. THE COVER. My head is about to snap off. And not only that… since I used some of Tula’s beautiful Fultterby fabric… it’s like sharing the cover with my future sofa crasher Tula herself. Why, we’re practically Mary Kate and Ashley now. I guess I should stock up on some Slim-Fast if I’m gonna be Mary Kate. Ok, NOW my head has snapped off. Edited in: Tula is not crashing on my sofa… it’s just a standing open invitation/inside joke.

Also in the issue is my secret Friendship Bag (aka To Market - To Market bag) . I can’t even remember when I made it, it was so long ago. What evolved out of wanting to dress up baggies of goop (Amish Friendship Bread starter) for my pals… evolved into all sorts of size bags, especially for grocery shopping (for light weight items only). Fun to make, fun to give!

In the back of the issue is a sneak peek for the next issue (Winter ‘08). That Silly Lil’ Doe - akamai friend of mine can read me like a book… and asked me if I designed/made one the items. If my head hadn’t snapped off, I’d be able to hang it around my neck on a lanyard to hold my scissors, needles and thread.

Ok… time to stoke the coals some more. As almost every signature pens in my late 1970’s high school yearbook… Have a cool summer, man!   Sidenote to Cheech & Chong… whoo whooooo!

Posted in Stuff | 44 Comments

A little field trip to Pomeroy Living History Farm near Battleground, Washington. Please keep your arms and hands inside the bus at all times.

Last weekend was Pomeroy’s 13th Annual Quilt Festival, and it was MAGICAL! The theme this year was butterflies. My friend Karen (queen of the butterflies) was the featured speaker, and I was her Vanna quilt holder at her Saturday performances (ok, not a *performance*… a speech slash lecture slash show-n-tell… but since there was a stage, and I happened to be on it… well… it became a performance). Sit down. Buckle in. Hold on.

Quilty bliss.

Path-o-happiness

I’d like to add some aqua paint or drape a quilt on this tractor. Silly me… it’s not decoration, they actually use this tractor. It is a tractor, right?

The fresh picked beets were calling my name. And some sour cream. And some herring.

The fence is not to keep the farmer in, it’s to keep me out. And the deer. Nibble. Nibble.

Outside of the blacksmith’s barn.

Inside the blacksmith’s barn. Much fun was had during a round of Let’s Tease The City Girl. Ok, so I don’t know the difference between horse shoes and shoes worn by loggers - but I CAN navigate the L.A. freeway system with one eye closed.

Edited in: A priceless comment from Karen, “Now, I have to tell the story of the blacksmith shop. There were some horse shoes with big cleats on them hanging on the railing in front of us. I asked the blacksmith why they had cleats on them. He said it was to help give traction when they were logging. And Miss Monica added, “I bet it helped them climb the trees!” Ahh, the visual image of those horses climbing trees……..”

I heart chickens. I sure miss my mine, especially at times like this.

Entrance to the big barn, greeted by my favorite flower (I love how the dahlias match the quilt).

Inside the big barn, this quilt knocked my flip-flops off. I’m a sucker for solids.

Outside of the big barn… an occasional aroma in the air would remind us these guys were there.

Lunch time! We could eat in the “farm cafe”…

or we could dine in the tea room. Karen treated for tea. Though I had an Americano, because that’s how I do tea. I also skipped on the Strawberry Soup. Wasn’t really my thing. Had there been some Belgium waffles under it, and whipped cream on top… then yes I would have devoured it.

Time to clear the scone crumbs off my chest… it’s show time.  A little pre-show PR with Debbie and Karen.

Karen’s presentation was “Depression Era Quilts”. Karen is always entertaining and informative. She’s the Mike Rowe of the quilt world. Quilty Jobs.

Every now and then I see a vintage quilt that just sucks the air right of me. This is one of them. Not only was it beautiful, but the workmanship was exquisite.

The hexes are so tiny and so sweetly fussy cut. I imagine this took decades to make.

If you look at this photo in super-size-me… look at the binding on the gold quilt - and you can see the binding size’s relation to the scale of the hexes.

A wonderful day, with wonderful friends, wonderful weather (overcast… love it). Hard to end the field trip… more photos to see (and no funky piggie smells) here.

Posted in Quilty n Crafty, How I Live | 47 Comments