Happy Zombie

I can’t even make it on time to my own blog to celebrate the 4th of July. I had big plans to show my 4th of July Friendship Sampler quilt that I always use for watching fireworks under… but I think I’ll save that for October, (thus getting me on time for next July 4th). We had a great 4th… spent it with friends who are family to us. Ate, ate, ate and ate… and mixed in some Wii bowling to help burn it off (so we could make room for more food). And true to Astoria tradition… our day was chilly and overcast with occasional sprinkles.

My contribution for our food fest was dessert. I couldn’t remember my banana pudding recipe, so I made 2 desserts - one as a back-up. As it turns out, and after scouring the internet of it’s 710,000 recipes for banana pudding… I remembered mine. And wrote it down. I call mine Banana Lasagna, because Bananas With A Crap Load Of Layered Delicious Fattening Stuff is just too long for a recipe card. The key secret is whipping cream… not pretend whipped cream like Cool Whip. And funny story about my pudding shot. I had my camera on a lilliputian tripod in front of my dish… and before I knew it - my camera was submerged in the pudding. And yes. I did lick my camera. Who wants to lick the mixer beaters camera?!

I blame Jon & Kate + Eight for the next dessert. Never mind that we’ve gone through our stash of tivo’d episodes, and have succumbed to watching reruns because we are THAT addicted to this show, but we’re taunted with great food as well! In one episode, Jon and Kate discuss the sticky buns she made for Christmas morning. Well that bee flew up my butt and stung me hard! Obsessed, I had to find a recipe. Combing through mountains of sticky bun, monkey bread and cinnamon roll recipes… and because I am extremely lazy (especially when it comes to cooking and baking)… I came up with Munkie Bunnies. An all in one eazy no-cheezie make ya fat and happy recipe. Of course I had to make this LIKE THREE TIMES.

Really fun to watch the progress of the munkie bunnies getting all jacked up - so in the name of science… you have to make this. Seriously. Just please don’t blame me if you get fat.

Click on the recipe cards and print at 100% - and you will have 4×6” recipe cards.

Linky Love:  Nilla Wafers, Rhodes Bread Dough,  Cook and Serve Butterscotch Pudding and Instant Banana Cream Pudding.

Posted in Bake something | 43 Comments

I first saw this fun little meme on my friend Paula’s blog, and have also seen it popping up all over blogland. Fun to see/read… and fun to make. Great way to avoid laundry, cooking, weeding, bills, getting dressed. Oh you KNOW you wanna play too!

The Game:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image. I don’t know if this is cheating, but I selected each photo from viewing all the first page categories “Most relevant • Most recent • Most interesting”. Ok. Not cheating. I just decided.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Monica
2. What is your favorite food? German
3. What high school did you go to? Northgate
4. What is your favorite color? redaqua
5. Who is your celebrity crush? George Clooney
6. Favorite drink? Iced Tea
7. Dream vacation? Paris
8. Favorite dessert? Crème Brûlée
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Alive & Healthy
10. What do you love most in life? My family & friends
11. One Word to describe you. Absurd
12. Your flickr name: thehappyzombie

For bonus points… put “sign” behind your answer. Oh this was fun. Good laughs. Gahead… go beyond the first page.

1. Monica sign, 2. German sign, 3. Northgate sign, 4. Aqua sign, 5. George Clooney sign, 6. Ice tea sign, 7. Paris sign, 8. Crème Brûlée sign, 9. Alive/Healthy sign, 10. Family sign, 11. Absurd sign, 12. Zombie sign

Posted in Stuff | 16 Comments

My tv debut on My Life on the D-List. Well… sort of.

A thank you gift I gave to Kathy Griffin. Re-gifted! Tiz ok though… I got my jollies seeing it on tv, and I’m glad that it’s being worn and going to good use. With the audio off - it appears my sweatshirt was stolen from Kathy… a scuffle ensues… and justice served.

Seriously… how D-List am I… that I’m blogging about a sweatshirt I saw on TV! Simple pleasures - for simple minds.

Posted in Stuff | 13 Comments

An innocent little trip to Amanda’s blog made me trigger happy. Spray paint trigger happy. Amanda inspired me here and here. First the big planters, then DS’s old, old boots he wore ONE time when he went to Outdoor School in Vernonia, OR - and his feet grew the very next week. The park bench is next. And then I’m off to search for something else to spray in red and aqua. I’m eying my son’s John Deere. Yellow and green? Ha.

I am the keeper of these roses. The previous owner of our home planted them and I do not know what kind they are. We call them Missile Pops because that’s what they look like when they’re budding…

And Pink Lemonaid when they’re blooming.

Happy Monday!

Edited in:  Paint is Krylon indoor/outdoor gloss.  Aqua is “Blue Ocean Breeze” and red is “Cherry Red”.  I did spray the black boots with a coat of white first to make the aqua pop.   

Posted in Quilty n Crafty | 38 Comments

While at my local pet supply store yesterday, I came to the realization that I really have not seen it all. Too many words to describe this… that it’s rendered me speechless. There must be a gazillion captions worthy of this photo - and I can’t think of a one.

Flickr tells me, “You’re the only person who has used “petstrollers” as a tag.” Hey… there’s my caption!

Posted in Stuff | 43 Comments

Help. I’ve fallen off the planet and I can’t get up. Spring Market is way over, and I still have a lot of catching up to do. Pam and Elizabeth are way past me on their posts… and I haven’t even gotten to their trip to my digs yet! Long overdue peep show, and then I still have my Booty Call (otherwise known as How I Spent My Time Trick-or-Treating At Quilt Market) and My Most Excellent Adventure With Pam & Elizabeth to post. At my rate, I should have it all wrapped up by Fall Market.

Because I’m so lazy striving to be efficient… I had a light bulb moment and thought I’d give the ol Pimp My Mosaic route a twirl. Mosaic is clickable and will lead to all the photos. And if you are a flickr user, you of course can see the photos in all their supersize-me glory.

Moda, Moda, Moda. How I love Moda. Moda fabric, Moda Home… I love it all. What I didn’t know was how much I was going to love the peeps behind the fabric and goods. My new best friends (ok, not really… but I want them to be) - Whitney who is the director of the Moda Home division, Jen who is the one and only Tula Pink, and Holly who is half of the Urban Chicks. I love these girls! Ok, the bordering on creepy McModa Baby not so much (Triskit’s PG-13 moment). McModa Baby was soooo upset that Triskit was the center of attention. Poutie, schmickpoutie McModa baby (even though her darling outfit was made from Swell). Anyhoo, back to my new best friends (regardless if they deny it). Whitney is in black, Jen in the denim jacket and Holly is in white/green. Are they not too cute! So my two all time favorite fabric designers are Tula Pink and Urban Chicks (both of which I have used for Quilts & More projects), so triple bonus thrill for me to meet them. I could have spent all day hanging out with the Moda girls, but why risk a restraining order.

Paddling up to the Lakehouse, I finally get to meet Holly (top photos). Many an email has zinged between us, and finally we get to meet in real life. Holly is an amazingly talented woman and her booth did not disappoint! All these photos I’ve seen of her previous booths, and wanting to hole up inside… and her Portland booth was no different. I’m sure if I looked up “happy” in the dictionary, there’d be a reference to Holly’s booth. Holly’s been such a great cheerleader for me and she makes me gush with her many kinds words for me. I was especially excited to have some projects with Holly’s delicious fabrics showcased in her booth… two of my Jingle Jolly runners and two Jingle Jolly Pillow Talk pillows I designed just for Holly’s booth in her ever so adorable new BOB (Boy Oh Boy) fabric. The pillows were just a slick move on my part so I’d have a soft place to rest my head when I snuck into her booth to at night to sleep.

Also fun to meet at Lakehouse was Penny. It’s just so wrong to call Penny The Bag Lady, but the woman is seriously talented with her purse designs! And ever so cute are her purses in Holly’s fabric. Penny having some fun with Triskit, putting her “into the vault” (bottom left).

The Peep Show continues in a bit. For now… it’s Intermission. BRB.

Roxie and Joe Wood from Thimble Creek. Nicest and friendliest couple ever, and I love their store. Sure Pam and Anne like to blog about them, but I was born across the street from TC. Was Pam? Was Anne? Noooo. Ok, so I was born before it was Thimble Creek. And Thimble Creek has since moved. But still. I look at it as my birthright. Anyhoo… TC is one of my fave quilt shops ever, and I’m hoping Roxie and Joe will let me have a slumber party in their shop. Just wishing out loud.

Jennifer and Tanya. Do I really need to mention their last names? Who doesn’t know these two design darlings. These two wonderful ladies force us to wear bibs to keep ourselves from drooling all over their cotton goodness. From set-up day to near the end of market, I kept running into Jennifer. <— That’s code for I was stalking her. Ya know how when you were a kid, and you’d go on a class field trip, and your teacher would group you up with one of the helper moms, and you’d be chanting for that one really special and nice mom… Let me be in her group. Let me be in her group. PLEASE let me be in her group. Jennifer is like that mom. Everyone wants to be her presence and have her attention… and she so sweetly gave it. The woman just oozes love, joy, warmth and happiness. And I think her goodness is infused in her beautiful and happy fabrics. The biggest buzz I heard at Market was not about what… but about who. And that was Jennifer.

I didn’t get a shot of Tanya’s booth - because when no one was looking I was taking a nap in the scrumptious bed in her magically delicious booth. Tanya was so sweet (she’s just so stinkin’ nice), especially over my confusion over her name badge and who she was. Yes it’s Tanya. No, it’s not Tanya. Yes it IS Tanya. Yes I am a weirdo. Which is pretty funny since I had two badges… each one with a different last name. Did I mention I’m in love with Tanya’s fabrics? I especially love her new Ava Rose in the pinks and aquas. And of course I heart Tanya too!

My fun friend Keri Duke from Maui and Liz Lois of Nearly Insane. Keri and I keep running into each other over here on the mainland. What I really want to do is run into her on Maui! I met Keri at an Artist’s Way “camp” about two years ago, and during one of the speeches - Keri and I swapped doodles. No, not code. We really doodled in our notebooks and then swapped. I soooo got the better end the deal. Keri can hold a pencil and the paper magically turns into a work of art, and then it turns into a breathtaking Hawaiian quilt.

Liz has taken Dear Jane to a higher level. OHMYHECK… It’s Dear Jane on The Juice! Breathe. Breathe. I was having a Dear Jane-iac attack! Liz’s quilt stopped me dead in my tracks. Judy’s too. My photo doesn’t do it justice. Judy and I each bought one of her two books, and we vowed to each other we were going to make it. WHAT WAS I ON? Ok, so now it’s a life goal. And for the record… Liz had THE best treats/goodies at Market.

Judy introduced me to her friend Bonnie Sullivan, and little did I know that I already knew Bonnie. Well, not know know her… but in the past I’ve bought some of Bonnie’s All Through The Night patterns AND some of her Maywood Studios fabric. I love Bonnie’s style. Just the right amount of cuteness and folk art, and kind of Euro in a way to me. Exatly my style, and Bonnie’s designs fuel my inner autumn.

Triskit got word Santa was going to be making a visit, and she hid in the fireplace to wait for him. Judy got her out thankfully, and briefed her on proper Santa etiquette.

Cindy Taylor Oats filling in for Judy as her stylist and Colleen Blackwood and her sister of Laughing Lizzie’s Patterns. Fun girls, as you can see! Cindy’s booth was pinklicious and her cupcakes the sweetest I’ve ever seen. And how cute are they in Holly’s fabric! And Cindy’s apron in Sandi’s fabric. Pure eyecandy. Cindy’s little cupcake stands were genius too - she made them the repurposed way (I’m hoping she blogs about how she made them… way too clever).

Jean and Gerri hanging out at Casa de Bloomio. These two were a hoot, but I did keep on eye on Gerri while she was in E’s booth. Just saying. Triskit’s sitting on sweet Lori Smith’s shoulder - who is one of my favorite quilt designers of all time. Love, love, LOVE her patterns. I wish I could make them all! I had a field day in Lori’s booth (and I bet Wendy would have had snippets of fun too). Mmmmmm…. I love the smell of wholesale prices in the morning!

This is Davide from Aurifil. Not because Aurifil is the best thread on the planet. Not because Aurifil is my favorite thread and is all I will use. Not because I got the VERY LAST 4-pack free sample. Not because the colors of the threads had me dazzled. No. Because Davide was sooooooo stinkin’ cute and his Northern Italian accent was like sweet, sweet music.

Santa, “Now you be good, Triskit.”

Hard to say this right below Santa’s photo, but… Booty Call is next up to bat. And now my name is in Santa’s Naughty Book.

Posted in Quilt Market | 12 Comments

I’m handing the keyboard over to Triskit today - she’ll be guest blogging. Who knew she could type. But then… who knew Mimi could type. - Monica

Welcome to Quilt Market! Best thing about Market, are not the quilts, the patterns, the books, the inspiration, the fabric, the pretty colors… it’s the wonderful quilting peeps! Come on - come and meet my new pals…
PS… I’m sitting on a Jingle Jolly runner mum made for Holly’s eyecandy Lakehouse Dry Goods booth, with Holly’s darling new cupcake fabric. More at Holly’s booth in a bit.

One of the first people I met was Brenda of Acorn Quilt & Gift Company. She’s just as sweet as she looks and couldn’t be any nicer. I wish mum had a shot of the cute, cute Janet (from Team Acorn) too - but she goofed up somehow with her camera. Brenda is responsible for getting us (Pam, Elizabeth, me and mum) into Sample Spree early. To work. Right. To work. Here is Brenda in her darling booth. Mum bought gorgeous happy wool and patterns there - and she was sporting drool drops on her shirt. Brenda named my doggie on my dress Bailey. Is that not too sweet!

Next stop Bunny Hill Designs to visit The Anne’s (Anne Bryson on the left, Anne Sutton on the right). I fell in the with The Anne’s… both are just too stinkin’ sweet and Anne’s booth was incredible - so much so it won a blue ribbon for Best Single Booth!

A common dilemma about me visiting a booth, was how the models wanted to be photographed with me…

Oh! Like this!

Here’s mum’s friend Sally of Maw-Bell Designs (Sally’s last name is Bell, and her partner sister’s last name is Maw… too cute, eh!). Mum ran into Sally at Sample Spree, and I over heard Sally ask my mum, “can you keep a secret for 8 hours?”. I heard mum say “yes”, but I knew she was fibbing. Not 8 minutes later - I heard mum telling her friends that Sally’s Bell Tower Quiltworks in Corvallis, Montana was going to be featured in the next issue of BH&G’s Quilt Sampler!!! More fun with Sally’s last name… is the name of her shop - which is a former church - and has a bell tower.

Sally’s shop being in the Top Ten came as no surprise to mum… she’s been saying for years it was an “it shop” after her and Auntie Karen went on their Montana quilt retreat via Sally’s shop. Just a little sampling from Sally’s shop…

Speaking of Better Homes & Gardens… FINALLY mum gets to meet the world’s best editors and nicest people ever! Jill Mead and Elizabeth Tisinger of mum’s two very favorite magazines on the planet… American Patchwork & Quilting and Quilts & More. Mum says Jill should wear a cape because she’s a realife superhero.

Sweet. Sweet. Sweet… Laura and Dianna of From Me to You Quilts…

the fairy Godmothers of quilting and teaching, and perpetuating the love of quilting via their book Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!!, teachings, patterns and Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar. Mum says, “I heart you Laura and Dianna!”

Email and blog pal of mum’s… FINALLY mum gets to meet Cyndi of Stitch Studios IRL. Mum’s in awe of Cyndi’s talents, from pixels to cotton… mum says Cyndi is an It Girl. In the big blog universe of friends all over the world, mum and Cyndi are practically neighbors and should have meet sooner. Must be because Cyndi’s been so busy with her fantastic new book Spotlight on Scraps: 10 Pretty Quilts. Pretty is an understatement! Cyndi even gave mum a signed copy that she cherishes. Mum’s also nuts about Cyndi’s newsletter - and says everyone should sign up for it. It’s like a great box of cereal each month and the free prize inside (quilt pattern) is right on the top - no digging to the bottom or your mom telling you have to finish the box before you can get the toy out.

Cyndi’s sidekick is her mom (and am kicking mum for forgetting her name)… aren’t those two just the cutest! So much love was oosing from their booth - it made mum miss her own mum down in California. Cyndi has patterns published in magazines too… and mum and Cyndi hope to one day be in the same magazine in the same issue at the very same time! Hint, hint, wink, wink to Jill and Elizabeth.

Here I am telling Gina all the buzz. This is what I’m whispering… “You should see the darling outfits everyone is wearing over at the Threaded Pear over on Pam’s post about Sample Spree!”…

Mum couldn’t wait to meet Sandy Klop from American Jane! Mum’s made a lot of things with Sandy’s yummy fabric and it was such a thrill for mum to meet her. What a nice, nice lady!

Whew… I’m getting tired. All this walking, all this talking, all this typing - maybe just one more visit for today, and more later.

Last visit for today… another It Girl as mum likes to say. Here I am with Sandi, another email and blog pal of mum’s. Sandi has such yummy fabrics that all I want to do is swim in them! Sandi also designs the cutest children’s clothes, and I’m hoping she adds extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra small to her sizes. You know. For moi. With the help of Sandi’s uber talented and sweet as pie husband Dustin… Sandi’s both took a big fat honkin’ second place red ribbon for best double booth. It should have been blue, if you ask me. Yeah, I’m seeing a tv show in Dustin and Sandi’s future… on HGTV or TLC - a home improvement/home dec/crafty show with the two of them as hosts and talent. That’s AFTER they come to Astoria, and move here… and then broadcast their show from Astoria. And I can be a donut-dolly - and can make coffee/cocoa and serve donuts to the crew. Sigh.

Oh look… a place to nap, right here smack dab in the middle of cotton paradise. Thank you Sandi! More from my market meet & greet coming soon… but for now I must nap.

Posted in Quilt Market | 13 Comments

First stop… Pam and Elizabeth at Elizabeth’s darling Late Bloomer Quilts booth. This is where I spent much of my time. Maybe it explains the look Pam has… Are you here AGAIN?

And this is where I spent the other part of my time at Market. With Judy - and her new client Triskit. This is my friend Judy Hillman - aka The Mole. Judy is a stylist and most recently Judy’s amazing style talents have graced the pages of Darlene Zimmerman’s newest book Quilts from Lavender Hill Farm and Karen Snyder’s newest book Quilts From My Garden. Judy’s daughter Sarah was the photographer for both books as well. Sarah’s photos are incredible and beautiful. Jaw dropping beautiful. What a team those two make! And now Triskit is on Judy’s client list as well.

This is why I love Judy - she knows how to handle a diva client! I’m totally over being mad at Judy for placing the strawberry pincushion she made - front and center in the shot (pages 45 & 50 of Karen’s book), while the strawberry I made almost out of the shot on the left. Yeah. Not a good idea to stay mad at Judy. Just saying…

Darlene looks worried someone will see her holding Triskit…

Triskit getting a private lesson from Darlene on how to use her newest tool - the Tall Triangle Ruler…

My roomie and gal pal Karen. And now I know why I saw the industrial size tweezers on our bathroom counter…

At the Moda Home booth, Judy says, and I quote… “Let’s have Triskit ride the carrots”. No objection by me!

More Moda Home antics with Pam, Judy, me, Triskit and the adorable Moda chicks to be posted later - but it will come with a PG17 warning. And I have a hunch I’ll never, ever, ever, ever, ever get my fantasy fulfilled of being locked in the Moda warehouse, all alone… just me and 10 cute UPS drivers (in shorts of course) standing at the ready with trucks ready to be filled and headed out to Oregon. Just saying.

And speaking of PamKittyMorning… Hmmm… I wonder what’s been keeping her so busy since Market ended???

Chapter 3 - Triskit’s Meet & Greet coming soon…

Posted in Quilt Market | 37 Comments

I’m just getting started. Oh yes… this is just the start. Having way too much - so I’m taking a little break from market today and resting the ol feet. Just a few pics from set-up and Sample Spree. More to come. Oh. So. Much. More.

Oh. What’s this? Hmmm. What if, what if…

Elizabeth sees that look in my eye. And senses danger.

“Ok Pam… I’m parked in the F section on parking level one…”

Wool delights from Brenda. I got to shop early and Bren’s wool is THE most beautiful wool ever. EVER!

Sandra, Tara and Kathy from The Teacher’s Pet. These gals were such a hoot and so, so sweet! And now I’m outing Kathy as my favorite lurker!

Me, Jennifer, Pam and Elizabeth. Jennifer’s giving us the star treatment… Pam and I are giving her the boob treatment.

I didn’t take too many photos at Sample Spree. Maybe because I was too busy spreeing. More to come when I get back!

PS… guess who else came to Market? Yup… Triskit is who. And she’s making her rounds. Not only has she gone to Market… Triskit now has her very own stylist. By Market’s end, she’ll no doubt be needing a PA, a publicist, driver and personal chef. Triskit’s gettin’ around. Just saying.

Posted in Quilt Market | 22 Comments

I teased about it almost a year ago. Almost a YEAR! And it all started a year ago when my friend Robin gave me some vintage 4-patches for Mimi. More love… Elizabeth sent Mimi some DARLING aqua fabric (the border)… and “Friendship Bread” was born!

Here’s Robin holding the quilt. Wasn’t it nice of her to coordinate her outfit to go with the quilt!

On my sewing room wall at our old house…

It’s so hard to keep things hush, and for so long too. But on the bright side - since I’m such a procrastinator, I’m pretty much timely. Friendship Bread evolved into “Four Bean Salad”…

… which is in the current issue (Summer ‘08) of Quilts & More as “Bay Breeze” (I love the name it was given!). Whoo whoo! So stinkin’ excited over it and I love the photography and how it’s done in a shabby beach chic setting. The yummy fabric is from Joanna’s Allspice Tapestry line for Moda.

I haven’t seen the issue on the newsstands yet, but I know it’s out because the Magazine Queen has her copy. Even with my advanced copy… I was still scooped by Pam! HOW DOES SHE DO IT!?!?! Elizabeth says “pam” is “map” spelled backwards… but I think “pam” is an acronym for Princess of All Magazines.

I love Quilts & More (seriously, no bias on my part) and it’s my favorite magazine of all time. Such a fun issue for me to browse through… Tanya has her ADORABLE “Flirty Skirts” on page 16, and then I see Holly with her DARLING “Slumber Party” on page 50 (and I especially love the “M” and the “O” on page 57 - though I was disapointed there was no “N”, “I”, “C” and “A” - sigh), and then there’s lil ol me on page 40. I had to put on my glasses and whip out the magnifying glass… and there in an ad on page 25 is Karen’s Fat Quarter Fun book. Too fun!

My little Four Bean Salad/Bay Breeze is so much fun to make… I can’t stop making them. All you need for the whole shebang is ONE charm pack and TWO fat quarters. That’s it. Seriously. Oh, and bat. It’s a project in a day, start to finish. Instant gratification. Unless you hand quilt… and if you’re like me… that will take a month. Or two.

Here’s my holiday version. Beeeeee-u-teeee-ful fabrics by Minick and Simpson’s Christmas Past by Moda…

And here’s my summer picnic version with deeeeelicious fabrics from Minick and Simpson’s Prairie Paisley by Moda (binding and flange from my stash, not part of Prairie Paisley)…

Market is just around the corner and almost here. Lots for me to still do before I go, so this is my last post for a while. It’s my first time going (virgin in the house) and I couldn’t be more excited. Can’t wait to see everyone, and putting faces with blogs, and seeing what’s new and yummy they’ve created! I plan on taking lots and lots of pics (even though I know Pam will scoop me on that too) and posting them when I get back.

Blah, blah, blah… I’ve rambled. I don’t know if I’ve put anyone to sleep, but I sure am sleepy now!
And now I must nap.

Posted in Quilty n Crafty | 45 Comments