Happy Zombie

It all started with the little one for my studio.

And then the medium one for the kitchen.

And FINALLY came the big one from Santa Kohl’s.

It was a week long event. It took only minutes to put the baby tree up. But the big tree… that was a week long chaotic, messy event.

My white Christmas trees are multiplying like little white bunnies. I think I even saw one of the trees smoking a cigarette.

The absolute best part of my my week long decoratingpalooza - was putting all the storage boxes and all the decordoohickies away. I can’t stand anything on my table other than meals and table-bling - so when all the decorating by-product came off the table and the floors - and went back into the garage…. THAT is when sighed and oohed and took a deep relaxing “it’s Christmas!” breath.

Next year’s Christmas… I’m starting next month.

Edited in:
Thank you for the tree-skirt lovin’! Actually, it’s more like tree-pants. It’s just a bunch of basic 9-patch stars set into a big square (I’ll try to make a pattern for it, but it’s really basic). The hardest thing about making this was cutting into the quilt to make the “legs”. Also hard to take pics, as someone kept trying to get in the shot.

Who says it takes days to decorate. I did mine in about 3 minutes.

Before…

After…

Indecision is my middle name. Because Monica Inability To Make A Decision Solorio was much too long.

Before…

After…

And THAT was my Christmas decorating for 2009. ONLY because I’m still waiting for the 7′ white tree I ordered from Kohl’s. They sent me a green one by accident - so I wait for the replacement. Customer service (via their facebook site) was so outstanding in the matter… that I’m all good with the little extra wait. Indecision may be my middle name… but Procrastination is my first name. Plus the MaryKate-mas tree wants to come out of the attic.  Just in case.

Darling, darling, darling owl and adorable dress/apron ornament made by my seriously talented and sweet friend Laurie of Old School Acres (and she’s got a wonderful etsy shop!).

Pics from my iPhoto… odds and ends of things that crack me up, inspire me, embarrass me and make my heart swell.

In Portland, Oregon in the South Waterfront district - peppered with train/trolly tracks.   I love this sign.  Though I am puzzled that the bike has no front tire.  Maybe the sign means, “Caution: Ride with all tires” or “Beware of floating tire thieves”.

Five Guys in Beaverton, Oregon.  It’s not every day I get to sputter things like “Let’s do 5 guys for lunch”.  Thank you to Jackie who suggested I try the hot dog there. WOW!   I’ve found THE perfect hot dog.  Mad love fest for the Five Guys hot dogs!   And yes, I really did want to word that differently.

Target in Walnut Creek, California.  Thanks a lot Wipeout.  Now every time I go to a Target - I have an urge to jump on the big red balls.   Shout out to Sarah… Good Day, and big balls.

On I-5 near Eugene, Oregon. Oh Land of Lincoln… you are so funny.  You really have to super-size this photo.   The best part… the couple in the car looked like textbook Norman Rockwell midwestern grandparents.  And also funny… this is a numbered plate.  You mean there’s more like this?   Watch out Missouri… I’d keep on eye on Illinois - they may have plans to copy (and slightly modify) your Show Me State nickname. EDITED IN: If you don’t have flickr or can’t read the plate… I’ve edited what it says on my photo’s caption here.

Lunching at Bagels by the Sea in Seaside, Oregon…. I caught the color fairies spreading a little color magic.

On I-5 near Mt. Shasta. The color fairies spreading even more color magic - and this time in my colors.

At my parents house in Walnut Creek.  Yes, it’s a bull.  Yes, it’s a chair.  Yes, we are an odd family.  After his recent trip to Australia to visit my oldest son and DIL - my youngest son brought me back a shopping bag from Oz.  He said he knew I was going to go gaga over it - and that I would probably blog it.  Yes - and yes.   Mission complete.

Sunkist Zombie - circa late 60’s. I hated my freckles as a kid.   HATED.  THEM.  Now I wish they’d show up more.  I guess if we had that stuff in the sky (sunshine I think it’s commonly called)… my freckles might just pop out.  Photo credit:  George George of Berkeley, Calif.  Oh yes, definitly circa 60’s.

Mami Zombie - circa late 30’s/early 40’s Germany.  I’m seriously ticked at my mom for not saving her toys for me.  I’m sure the captain of the Mayflower would have made room for the buggy.

Back to iPhoto… Amy of Park City Girl is getting ready for her next Blogger’s Quilt Festival.  It’s almost time to pick a quilt!

Lucky me (super lucky me), Jona is visiting the motherland - and I got to be a part of her visit!   Non stop talking and laughing - and even some tweeting thrown in.

Tweet-n-Eat… it’s what happens when two friends meet up for dinner and their iPhones are just as important as their forks and knives!

Then after the tweets come checking the @replies and txt’s…
Me: Pam wishes she was here too! (and we did too!)
Jona: Bari says hi! (Hi back, Bari!)
Me: Patty says it looks like we’re having a great time (we WERE!)
Me: Joanna says no fair… she wants to be here eating fish and chips instead of writing patterns & prepping ads… (us too!)

Some days I shun technology [insert Laure Ingalls fantasy life here], but had it not been for technology and blogging… I never would have met Jona. Well, I think we would have met eventually… but it sure made it faster with the help of technology. Speed friending. AND… we kinda had our friends join us for dinner… three snaps in Z formation for technology!

Before dinner, I give Jona the not so E-ticket tour of Hacienda Happy Z… like making her walk through the golden retriever mine field to show her my secret forest - and show her were I want to park my fantasy camper.

We had so much fun, and it went all to fast. There was never a moment where we weren’t talking. And never ever have I ever seen such attentive service at The Wet Dog. Our twenty something waiter was at our table I think every 5 minutes. But I can see why, when this person is at your table!

Saying good-bye is hard - luckily it was bone chilling cold or we would have stood by our cars for a couple more hours chatting! Good-bye Miss Jona Arizona… hurry back soon - and thank you for making me a part of your trip home!

Something’s going on. There’s been a rash of Trunky-business in NorCal lately.  A trunkidemic.
You know you’ve arrived, when you see this person on a roadway snapping your photo - and this person providing the production support.

High-jinx and video tape… a bit of quilting, a bit of comedy… and a heaping spoonful of Al Roker. ALex ROKER.

Something’s going on over at The Quilt Show… a sneakie peakie on The Daily Blog.

Help.
I’ve fallen in a trunk and I can’t get up.

I feel like my summer so far has me sitting on a bus-stop bench, while my friends whiz by me on to their super cool destinations. Damn bus… where are you - I want to catch up with everyone!   Ok, maybe it’s best I don’t get on that bus… we just sped through 5 GLORIOUS seasons of *Six Feet Under - maybe I should keep a safe distance from buses.  But sadly, now after all that 6′U watching… I’m saying “shit” excessively - all in the hopes that I’ll hear Ruth Fisher trumpet, “LANGUAGE!”.

More summer fun to come, but this is what I’ve been up to so far:

=NOSHING=
Five Guys.  LOVE THEM.  Seeing Prez-O’s OTR lunch on Inside the Obama White House had me drooling.  We discovered a Five Guys in Beaverton, Oregon and fell in love.   As did my Al Roker head. Instantaneously… fell. In. Love. It’s not In-n-Out… but it’s a fantastic stand-in.  I have no idea what the peanut thing is all about.  I’m guessing there was a sixth guy, had a falling out, now disgruntled, super allergic to peanuts - peanuts are positioned at the entrance to keep Guy6 out.  Just guessing.

=VISITING=
Early one Thursday…

From up the coast comes dear sweet Sarah and her delightful girls “Priscilla” and “Lil Sis” - who arrive in HappyZombie Heights on the most beautiful Oregon Coast kinda day.  It wasn’t raining.

Tea.
Redwork Club.
AnnaLenaLand.
Wet Dog.
Elvis.

It was a magical day and I hated for it to end. The charming Lt. AnyoneCanQuilt and weinerific Miss Cowgirl Rosie came up too. It was a fun filled day with the AnyoneCanQuilt’s, and they are THE most wonderful family ever. EVER. Sarah has gorgeous photos and words here and here. Only one thing was missing from our great day - and that was having our third member of our Team LeFleur there too.

Tea time = blogging time.

Sarah blogging my Shelf-o-Joy (me pretending to be a newspaper reporter/photog… reporting the Royal Visitors).

Sarah sewed here. Ok, pretended.

=MIDSOMMER=
The Midsummer Scandinavian Festival in Astoria. I can never get enough pickled herring.  Or the Dane’s and their use of Lego people.
Or Krumkake.

Or the national costumes and the music.

Even though we are “Southern Scandinavian’s” during ScanFest weekend… DS representin’ the DE in the Scandia Haus.

=INTERMISSION=
Let’s all go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat. Mmmm. Flower Sugar. Soooooooooo tasty.

=PITTER PATTER=
Señorita Melvita de la Frita, aka Mel. Two new little feet pattering around (and freaking out my dog Madison - just hearing the click of her eyes makes her shake). I did it. I finally bought a full size Blythe. I kinda blame that silly lil’ Doe, I kinda blame Sarah.

But I’m so happy I took the Blythe (full size) plunge. Triskit not so much. Someone’s jealous.

I’m having a blast making clothes.

The real reason I bought Mel.

Sew fun.

=iPhone FUN=
I killed my old iPhone. Not on purpose. But ironically, it biffed on the day the 3G’s were released. So now I’m doing the whole 365 flickr thing, via my new iPhone.  I’m only on day six.  Shit. [Ruth: “Language”]. Crap. Three hundred and fifty-nine more days to go.

=SNEAKY PEAKIES=
I’ve been sewing - as usual, top secret stuff that won’t be seen until much, much later. This was a project I was asked to make. Something WAAAAAY out of my realm of reality. Itching to say what it is, but once it’s seen… people who know me will say, “You designed that… why?”   But I’m super happy with the way it turned out, and especially love my fabric choices. 

Jennifer Paganelli’s “Dance with Me” by Free Spirit.

Lila Tueller’s “Santorini” by Moda.

=PACKING & PLANNING=
I see In-n-Out’s in my future plans. And now I must nap.

*The house and property used for Ruth’s sister’s character in 6′U.. that’s my dream home/dream property/dream landscaping. Just putting that out there in case the universe is reading my blog.

Every day of the week, a happy home I shall keep. Or at least try.

Even on those un-creative utilitarian sewing days that I’ve put off for 3+ months - it feels great to check-mark chore #79 as done.
Finally.
Boring.
Blah.
Zzzzzzzz.
Done.
HalleHappyLujah!

Fantasy sewing.

Reality sewing.   Snooze.

My mind wanders when I sew.   With Mike Rowe’s voice in my head,  I’m on a boat in the middle of the sea.   A luxurious quilting boat.  Lots of friends. Lots of laughing. Lots of eating, snacking and sewing. A seafaring quilt retreat given as a Mother’s Day gift.  Our captain (Sig, of course) calls in an emergency SOS for us.  Save-Our-Sewing.  Cut to USCG helo lowering a basket on board with emergency supplies.  Bolts and bolts and bolts of fabric crammed into the basket…  and James Sawyer/LeFluer is in the basket too… and… and… and… I really need to get to the Post Office, Fred Meyer and Costco.  Oh reality, you pop into my head at the worst times!

His & hers therapies. I’m so happy to say that Mr. Zombie is finally home. And thanks to modern medical marvels, aka the PICC line (a “diy” IV system) - the Infection-Zombie gets his RX treatment at home - rather then spending 6-8 more weeks in the hospital. That just blows my mind.

The hospital (OHSU) was fantastic and they couldn’t be more pro-family and made a bummer situation so much better. And perks that scored big with me… the staff of course, but also the 24/7 cafeteria with really good organic/free trade coffee. But home is best, not to mention I can do without the daily almost 2 hour drive each way.  Mr. Z’s infection (in the donor bone) will take a while to rid of, but he’s on the right track and we see progress each day. Our heartfelt thanks to all who bestowed us with good wishes and thoughts, comments and emails… now THAT was truly the best RX - for both of us!

Physical therapy starts again soon for Mr. Z. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was picking up my “prescription” while I was in Arizona.  Ahhh… Arizona.   I had blast with my girl-gang.  I want to go back.  This was my second time in Phoenix, and I need a third -  I want to visit my sweet pals Jona and Bren… and a trip up to Sedona is in order too.

I love the Arizona flag - I’m just gaga about it.  It’s so graphic and bold, and very, very cool.   It has an art-quilt quality and fantastic branding to it.  I want to cut up some fabric and make one for myself.  I love the flag of my home state (California Republic) and my adopted state’s flag (Oregon) is a snooze… but Arizona’s flag is King of The Flags.  Top flag dog.

Beauty found in a Phoenix strip mall.

Surprise!   Or as I like to say… Supplies!  This never got old for me, even though I drove the girl gang nuts and was threatened with getting kicked out of the car.  Arizona has the best names for cities and towns.   I love these names… Bumble Bee, Happy Jack, Carefree, Grasshopper, Christmas and Sunflower.  And these towns/cities say “Arizona” all over them… Skull Valley, Iron Springs, Black Canyon City and Maverick.  Best flag.   Best city names.   And a ton of In-n-Out’s.   Sigh.  You rock, Arizona.

At a JoAnn’s in Phoenix.  Merchandising the HZ way.

Sure is loud in here.  Ahhh.   That’s better.

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) and Calavera de Azúcar (sugar skulls) are not an easy find here in the Pacific Northwest. I KNEW I’d score big in Arizona!


Another score were the tiles I found at Hobby Lobby.   And what a score Hobby Lobby is!  So jealous they’re not on the West Coast.   I first heard of Hobby Lobby via Blogland… and I must say that I really liked it.   It’s as if Micheal’s and HomeGoods had a night in Vegas… and 9 months later a little Hobby Lobby was born.

And then there are the fabrics that came home with me - even though there was already some of it at home.  For the I-Just-Can’t-Get-Enough-Of-These files.  There’s always room for more Sandi, Tanya, Heather and Jennifer in my cupboards!  We visited Quiltz - a shop being featured in the upcoming Quilt Sampler.  We had high expectations, and boy did Quiltz deliver.  I can see why it made the top ten in Quilt Sampler.  Beautiful store and wonderful shopkeepers and staff.   The store was heavily peppered with my favorite fabrics (in my realm of unreality, I know they set the store just for me).  A definite e-ticket of a quilt shop, and the small world part - was that the owners were from Scapposse, Oregon… just up the river from me.

Fabric shopping is all good and fun, but there’s nothing better to make your husband’s-having-emergency-surgery-and-you’re-out-of-state-scrary-sucky-day… then to come home and find that your sweet friend Nanette has sent you some cotton love from her stash.  A total OMG moment.  LOOK at what she sent me!   Talk about vintage goodness, and all the better because it’s from Nanette’s cupboards-o-joy.  Just dreamy. Nanette has a knack for vintage fabrics. She’s THE vintage fabric whisperer. I’m just waiting for the day she gets gobbled up by a fabric company as a repo designer - and we can all have some of her vintage joys in our cupboards.

But wait, there’s more!  Nireko sent me these beautiful Lecien bundles of Mrs. March’s 30’s.  Sooooo stinkin’ cute.  Nireko sent me some other goodies, like the darling box she made - and filled with tiny little Japanese treats that are Triskit sized.  Saving that for another post.  Just too darn cute.

And now that we’re settling back in to “normal”, and the big scare is on it’s way out… time to focus on some more fun stuff!

I’m so excited… the current issue of Quilts & More (Spring 2009) is hitting the newstands! Inside this issue is my little mushroom needlebook project and pattern. So fast, so fun, and I’m so thrilled Q&M wanted to publish it, and just as giddy because my project is in my favorite color combo…  Red. White. Aqua. Mmmm. I couldn’t be happier how it all turned out and what a beautiful job (as always) the good peeps at Meredith did with it!

Cover-girl alert!  Look, look, it’s Roseann! Roseann’s beautiful “no diamonds to sew” quilt is definitely on my to-do list, and looks like it would be a fun quilt to make at a retreat (I’m having retreat withdrawls… I need one.  Bad!). Also on my to-do On my done-list, because I couldn’t stand just looking at the photos and not making one fast enough - is the ADORABLE “Sweet Slice” cake pattern by Cindy Taylor Oats.  DAR.  LING!


I was so excited to make it, that I took a short-cut (that I SHOULDN’T have), and didn’t use fusible interfacing as directed.  Bad me, because my cake got a little lumpy, saggy and out of shape (but I still love it).   Note to self: add fusible interfacing to my entire wardrobe.

More magazine love… my teenie tiny little studio is being featured in Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS (Spring 2009)! Holy scrap, my head is sure to snap off when I see it. I couldn’t be more honored and flattered to be in the issue, especially since my goofy little Happy Zombie Hideaway will be amongst the great studios of Melissa and Betz! And speaking of cover-girls… that’s Melissa’s studio on the cover!

From the super wonderful STUDIOS editor Cate - The Spring issues of Cloth Paper Scissors Studios is now available for pre-order. It will be available on select newsstands March 31. If you’d like to pre-order a copy, you can do so here.

A little behind the scenes about getting my studio ready.  Sure, it was one thing to get my studio cleaned up and lookin’ pretty, as well as cooperation from the weather (Oregon = dark days)… but the biggest task was getting ME all cleaned up!  Super-Cate wanted a photo of me.  OF ME???   Ugh. Ugh again.  I don’t do pics of me, so I wanted to submit these:
Me… Simpsonized.
A no-go.

Me ala Juniper Creek (when I was deciding what to wear at PDX quilt market).
A no-go.

I even sent pics of the real me… in a hoodie, Hurley hair and no make-up.
A no-go.
So I did my parents proud… I foof’d my hair, foof’d my face with mascara and lip-gloss, and I even donned a blouse (with buttons and everything!).  So if you see the issue, know that a lot of time, effort and elbow grease went into jazzing things up.  My studio was a piece of cake.

And speaking of studios… THIS is my version of heaven.

ZOMBIES IN AREA! RUN! I love this. Ok, take out the part that it was an illegal act, and possibly a traffic hazard… I love it!  Love.  It.

In other zombie news… have you seen Fido?  My new fave movie… right up there with The Goonies and Shaun of the Dead (it’s for the greater good).   Fido has everything I love… obscurity, super saturated color, campy retro charm, witty humor and of course… zombies.  I love the fictional ZomCon company (Zombie-Containment), which tells us “A better life through containment” and  “Be Happy - Be Scared“.  Pam has grabbed the former as her motto, and I the latter as my motto (which I think is the icing on the Happy Zombie cake).

In other warnings.  If someone tells you, pssst… pssst… hey little girl, wanna come play at Facebook?  Do not walk in the opposite direction.  Run.  RUN for your life.  Facebook is an evil plot to take over every minute of your spare time.  DO NOT FALL FOR IT.  Oh sure, your friends will tell you it helps keep up communication in place of email (I’m a sucky email-replier), and your friends will tell you it’s like a “2 minute blog”, and then you have a friend who joins - and even though you email, text and talk on the phone with her… you’ll want to know 24/7 what she is doing right now.  Before you know it, you will be a Facebook zombie and you’ll be forming all of your sentences in third person… “[your name here] is“.  You’ll have friends who play fun little google games, and you and your friends will get sucked into that too. Like this game:

UNFORTUNATELY: Google “unfortunately, your name”, including the quotes, and ta-dah… instant laughs.

- Unfortunately, Monica lost her voice and had to retrain her vocal talent.
- Unfortunately, Monica screws up and the stripper turns out to be a hooker.
- Unfortunately Monica hasn’t been convicted of anything (yet — she IS under investigation)
- Unfortunately, Monica’s dress turned out to have a bit of DNA on it.
- Unfortunately, Monica wakes up while David is standing over her with a pair of scissors.
- Unfortunately, Monica has committed another out-of-context faux pas
- Unfortunately Monica can’t act.
- Unfortunately Monica is blonde (for the most part) and comes with a thick Italian accent.
- Unfortunately Monica fails to heed Miss Cotton’s sage words and is attacked by some of the women in the village
- Unfortunately Monica had fallen into a vicious circle of drugs and prostitution

You.  Have.  Been.  Warned.