Monday, right?

I woke up this morning unsure of what day it was.  That doesn't happen very often, and maybe it was because I was coming down out of a whopper of a dream, wherein I had discovered I had a head tattoo in the shape of a red multi-line zigzag pattern underneath my hair.  When I mentioned it to someone, they informed me I also had a matching tattoo on my back, which I was unaware of.  Why didn't anyone inform me of this before?  Oh right, because it happened during the time I was kidnapped and lost my memory; I forgot.

Yeah, that made sense.

So as the dream faded, I was glad to realize today was Monday, not Saturday, not Sunday, and also that my scalp was tattoo-free.  Not that there's anything wrong with head tattoos, if that's your thing.  I would only hope you remember why they're there.

Perhaps I was dreaming about patterns because I've been binge-watching Vikings, in which there are indeed head tattoos, but more interesting to me are the beautifully simple and colorful patterns on their shields.  I am not much into the battle scenes and ensuing gore, but am happy to zone out during the mayhem whilst admiring the variety of shields.  I am counting it as quilt inspiration.

I had my ancestry DNA analyzed this past summer and was surprised to find in the motley mix a portion of Scandinavian ancestry.  Having known next to nothing, until recently, about Viking history, how far and wide they ranged (to put it politely), it now kind of makes more sense.  

What does not make sense, in terms of the Vikings TV series, is why—why-oh-why—can they not BATHE?!  I mean, they live on the coast of the sea (water).  They pilot great ships to distant lands (in the middle of copious amounts of water).  It rains a lot (more water).  So why does the main character have to constantly look like he just emerged from a coal mine and rolled downhill, past the slaughterhouse, and into a pig sty?  

Granted, Travis Fimmel is quite pretty in real life, so maybe they feel they have to muss him up to look Ragnar Lothbrok tough. 

I said to my husband as we embarked on Season 2, "It's like the makeup department on set has a vat of stuff called 'Viking Grunge' which they apply liberally."  I don't know, but it makes me want to take a long soak in a hot tub on his behalf.

Well, I didn't intend to get so carried away by the Viking theme, but there it is.  And one more thing:  The Last Kingdom.  Netflix it.  That is all.

But wait, there's more:  I finished the Hunter's Star quilt top.

And put together a backing and binding.

The backing is a vintage thrift store find I've had in the stash for years.  Burnt orange and pea green were all the rage in the mid-to-late 1970s.  My first car was a used 1976 Pontiac Ventura muscle car in burnt orange (with genuine rust accents).  Can't say I've seen too many tulips or whatnot in burnt orange/rust, but I love the funky print and am glad to have found a use for a big ole swath of it on the back of this quilt.

I used up a lot of the batik scraps and stash.  It measures about 56 inches square.  A nice throw or lap quilt size, for sure.  I might have liked it a little bigger, and the outer border in the blue batik versus the green, but when you're using up what you have, it is what it is.  Anyway, I like the surprise of green. 

Mopped and Basted

Norm mopped the kitchen floor this morning, so you know what that meant?

I could baste a quilt!

And so I did.

I listened to an audiobook while I scrambled around on the floor, taping and smoothing, and poking in my pins. This is a Hands2Help donation quilt, by the way.

I'm on the second to the last in the eight-book Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone, and I'm maybe two-thirds of the way through the book.  Hard to tell with Audible, or at least I don't pay particular attention to how far along I am.

It's been kind of like the story that never ends, partly because I'm a take-my-sweet-time kind of reader/listener (quilter/blogger) with a tendency to distract myself on other things.  Each audiobook is well over 40 hours of narration (actually, two of them were over 55 hours), but that's okay with me because I'm enjoying the ride.  Thanks, Sarah, for giving me the heads up on Outlander a couple years ago!

I binge-watched (twice, in fact) the first eight episodes, which came out on Blu-ray on March 6.  The next season starts tomorrow night on Starz, but since we don't get the Starz channel, I'll have to wait a few months until those episodes come out on DVD/Blu-ray to get my next fix.  Meanwhile, I'll finish the book series.

(Catriona Balfe and Sam Heughan as Claire and Jamie)

I adore all the actors/characters in the TV series.  It is so very well done.  Jamie, Claire, Frank/Jack Randall, Dougal, Colum, etc.—all seem perfectly cast.  Tobias Menzies, who plays dual roles, is every bit as wonderful playing the forlorn Frank as he is the villainous Black Jack Randall. 

(Tobias Menzies as Jack Randall)

And Jamie, played by Sam Heughan, is totally swoon-worthy.  It's like he walked right off the pages of the novel.

The scenery is wonderful, the costumes divine.  So you could say that's been a slight distraction.

Back to reality, though.  I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

On and Off the Wall

Today I got the 16-patches and X-blocks up on the design wall.  It's all ready to be sewn together.

I was down to the nitty-gritty with the hand-dyed fabrics in the colors I wanted to use in the outer border blocks.  Things seemed to be weighted toward the dark values, so for a little variety, I used a bit of a variegated batik in my stash to round things out.

Boy, I really like this quilt.  It's going to be a little hard to part with it!

In order to make room for it on the design wall, I had to take down the improv quilt flimsy that was in that space.  Since I had the backing and batting ready, I went ahead and pin basted it.

And now for some non-quilt related meandering...

There Can Be Only One
If you ever watched Highlander in the 1990s, you'll recognize that line.  I watched Every.Single.Episode of the TV series.  Not that I'm all that big a sci-fi fan, but I very much enjoyed Adrian Paul. 

Especially in a kilt.  Mercy.

So Norm went to Wizard World Comic Con this past weekend with instructions to get a photo of Adrian Paul, who was appearing there, if he saw him.

Now, he could have stood in line and paid $$ for a photo of or with Adrian Paul, but being the frugal man he is, he just obliged me from afar.

It's a little grainy, because, well, afar—but that's him there on the right!

And then he stood up and looked right toward Norm...almost like he may have sensed another Immortal (cue the slow-mo and sound effect)!  Wait, is he reaching for his katana?

Thankfully, he just needed a stretch (and everyone kept their heads).  Pretty exciting though!

Also, he saw the original Batmobile from the 1960s TV series.  It was bought at auction in 2013 for $4.2 million.  Holy hubcaps, Batman!

Really Random Thursday 3-14-13

I seem to have spent a week in neutral as far as sewing goes, except for a bit of work on the Tea Towel Challenge.  I made some more drunkard's path string blocks (actually only the string parts thereof).  

The idea was to make the next border with mostly cooler colors, greens, purples, etc., but I am not sure how that is going to look.  Will there actually be a second border like that, or will I end up taking apart what I have sewn so far and mixing things around? 

Time will tell, I guess.  For now, I'm forging ahead with the DPs.  We'll see where it goes from here.

* * * * *
I recently watched the 2009 Masterpiece Classics version of Wuthering Heights.  How did I miss this before?  I do love me a romantic costume drama.  Anyway, thank you Netflix for the recommendation.

Tom Hardy stars as the tormented Heathcliff and...swoon...is about all I have to say about that.  Oh, and lips.  Holy cow.

I had seen Tom Hardy in Lawless and Inception ("You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling" Best line ever!).  

I have Warrior in the Netflix queue next.  I'm appreciating his fine acting ability; he's quite mesmerizing to watch!  ;)

* * * * *
Now for some tech talk. 

I recently added a gadget for emailing blog posts to those who wish to subscribe, and this service is managed by Feedburner.  (See the right-hand column of the blog page.)

It works pretty slick, from what I gather from friends who are using it.  However, when my dad asked if I'd gotten his reply email to a recent post he received by email through Feedburner, I had not. And thus it occurred to me there was a problem.  I set about troubleshooting it this morning and eventually found the fix.

So I offer this information for other bloggers who use Feedburner and may want to check the status of their reply email address.

Problem:  Reply email setting for posts emailed to subscribers (originating  from Feedburner service) is set to "No Reply."

Solution: 
- Log into Feedburner.google.com.
- Click the "Publicize Tab" at the top of the page.

- Under "Email Subscriptions" in the left-hand column,
- Click "Communications Preferences"
- Check the "Email From" Address - if it is "no reply," highlight and change to the email address where you would like to receive replies.

- Click "Save" at the bottom of the page to save changes.

Even though  my regular Blogger account has my correct reply email address, somehow it defaulted to "no reply" in Feedburner.  You would think otherwise, but apparently not.

So now, Dad, and anyone else who cares to reply directly instead of commenting on the page (which I appreciate too, of course), you can simply hit "Reply" to the email.  The reply should come directly to me.  It won't post in the comments.  If I start getting spammed, I may have to change the setting back, but I'll let you know.

Linking to Really Random Thursday at Live a Colorful Life!

'Shrooms!

But harsh, what light through yonder (dirty) window breaks?

It is the west, but Pyrex is the sun...

It was probably the movie we saw this weekend that has me
perverting Shakespeare.  (The movie was called Anonymous.  Quite good, actually.)  

Unfortunately, iambic pentameter won't spiff up my godawful windows.  Guess I better get outside with a ladder and squeegee soon.

Anyway, these are my thrift finds from the weekend, i.e., the things I bought at Goodwill instead of a vintage Singer sewing machine. 

'Shrooms!  They were just too cute!  Which, strangely, is not what I thought in the 1970s when this kind of thing was popular.  Watch out, the next thing you know, I'll tie a cord to my big toe and macrame an owl.  Seriously, I had a friend in high school (in said '70s) who did a crap-ton of macrame, and she started every project by tying the macrame cording to her big toe.  I am not making this up.

And oh, speaking of Shakespeare—back before my mind wandered back to "ye good ole days," (not to be confused with Happy Days, which was to '70s TV what That '70s Show was to the '00s)—

They are filming a new Romeo and Juliet, by screenwriter Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey writer), and starring Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth, an extraordinarily pretty young man.  I first saw him in Great Expectations a month or so ago and almost stopped breathing (which you may too; click that link to a photo on IMDB).

*Ye ole swoon.*

This post reads like it was written on 'shrooms.  I promise I'm only under the influence of fatigue.

A thousand times good night!

Green as a Mallard Head

I don't spend a lot of time being envious of anybody, especially my brothers, but I will admit that when I saw this picture, I was a little green.

L-R standing: My brother Darrell, Jase Robertson, brother Russ, nephew Nathan, niece Samantha; cousin Jason in front.

My brothers and a couple of their kids spent some time visiting family in Louisiana over spring break, and during that time, they got to meet Jase Robertson from Duck Dynasty!

Jase is my favorite redneck. Of course, my brothers probably didn't know that, so they didn't even get me anything autographed.  Hrmph.

Have you seen this reality show on A&E?  I admit I watch it, and spend equal amounts of time laughing out loud as I do groaning and rolling my eyes.  I mean, good gravy (with squirrel on top).

Of course, it was my brothers who introduced me to the Duck Commanders on DVD a couple years ago.  Then I caught the show and got sucked in.

I haven't heard the full story firsthand, but I hear my cousin (first cousin once removed?) Jason knows the Robertson bunch and made the introduction.  Otherwise, they're not in the habit of meeting with the fans that may wander through their place in West Monroe, Louisiana.  How cool is that!

Sunday Sundry 3-4-12

It has been a few weeks since the last Sunday Sundry post.  I feel kind of bad about that, but there have been other things competing for weekend time.  You know how it is.

Now that Downton Abbey Season 2 has wrapped, are you suffering withdrawals?  You are not alone.  Google "Downton Abbey withdrawals" and you'll get over a million hits.  Entertainment Weekly did a piece on a reading list for fans of the series.  Some of the titles sounded interesting.

As for me, I'm already onto something likewise compelling, the new series "Awake" on NBC, starring Jason Isaacs (otherwise known to Harry Potter movie fans as Lucius Malfoy). 

Is it getting hot in here?  

Hormones aside, this is an fascinating story line (click on the photo to read EW's synopsis, which says it better than I could).  

In case you missed the premier on Thursday, the entire first episode is available to watch online at nbc.com (that link will take you directly to the video premier episode).  You might also want to check your "On Demand" TV programming.  My local cable company has it available through 3/5/12.  I'm telling you, I was hooked within minutes.

What are you watching, reading, or listening to lately?

And Sew it Goes
There was a little bit of sewing yesterday, as I finished sewing together the wall hanging or table mat sized A Patch of Sun and made a backing for it too. 

I decided to do a disappearing nine patch for the back from some colorful scraps.  

Sort of looks like an Easter basket exploded, doesn't it?
I'm also working on a backing for the Hubcap Diamond Star Halo quilt, using some of the leftover kaleidoscope triangle cuts.

Sweet Nothings
Every day, as part of my job, I listen to people summarize various types of business matters.  As you can imagine, there is a certain amount of jargon involved.  What is amusing to me (or annoying, depending on the day), is the buzzword phraseology that is bandied about, which essentially means nothing.  For instance:

"At the end of the day, I told him we'd drill down and do some due diligence and then circle back and go from there, and then we should be good to go."

If you say so, Chief.  Of course, what is actually meant may be more along the lines of, "We will investigate Situation X, call So-and-So back to discuss the information obtained, and then make a decision."  I'm thinking a little more specificity might be appropriate in corporate America, but what do I know.  In the meantime, I'm creating more Autotext entries.

Stevie Ray Vaughan doesn't need any stinkin' words, yet I understand him completely.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My husband came through with my special request for Valentine's Day!

He had to go to three different stores before he found it, commiserating along the way with a few other beleaguered spouses in hot pursuit.

Whatta mighty good man.

I had to share this chuckle, straight from today's newspaper Police Beat column.  You can't make this stuff up.

I bet the Fashion Police would beg to differ...

May you all have a good day and be surprised by your special Valentine, who should know whether to bring the pizza or the fishnets.

Favorite Things Friday ~ 11-11-11 Edition

It's a good day for playing Favourites with Shay and friends at Quilting in My Pyjamas.  I've got more than one this week, and I'll get to the short list in a minute.

But first, did you know it's Nigel Tufnel Day? A day when Spinal Tap fans everywhere (including me) celebrate their own and others' maximum eleven-ness! 


Okay, so favorites this week.  I have been tuning in to the talk show appearances of the Twilight stars all week, in anticipation of the new movie, Breaking Dawn Part 1, which opens next week.  Hands down, my favorite one was Robert Pattinson's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.  Oh my gosh, I laughed so hard!


Gotta love those late night TV interviews.  This one definitely went where daytime TV did not.

I'm still on a music jag this week.  While I was basting my quilt, I tuned into the alternative music channel over cable TV and heard some good new-to-me music, like this version of Fixin' to Die by G. Love.  

I also watched a live concert DVD of Mutemath and was totally into it last evening.  What a great band.  Later, I popped in the CD while I was quilting on the kaleidoscope quilt.  The drummer is an animal, and I mean that in the best possible way (check this out).  They definitely bring the eleven-ness!

Finally, here is another new-to-me duo, Rodrigo y Gabriela.  Coincidentally, this song is called 11:11.

Sunday Sundry - Vol. 47

The sundry items are jingling around like a pocketful of change today, so let's reach in and see what we come up with.
 
Golden
I found these glasses at Goodwill on Saturday.  Actually, at two Goodwill stores, 30 miles apart.  The three cocktail glasses have seen some wear, but I couldn't just abandon them on the shelf in favor of their spiffier siblings.  It seemed more appropriate to keep the family together.

Besides, I kind of like the patina on them.  It shows they were enjoyed in a former lifetime.  Can't you just imagine the red lipstick stains and matching manicured hands that held those highballs?  Or the crisp white shirts and skinny black ties, and pencil skirts and pumps viewed through the condensation on the cold glass?  Is that Dean Martin on the hi-fi?

All I really know is when the new season of Mad Men finally premiers, you can bet I'll be raising one of these.

I also found this piece of old ironstone.  Talk about patina, this plate has seen the entire last century and then some.

The mark apparently dates it to before 1900, when the "Ld" (for Limited) was added, so sometime between 1869 and 1900. 

Other Things I've Taken a Shine To
We watched Water for Elephants last night, and what a great movie.  Robert Pattinson did a wonderful job, and it was good to see him in this role (definitely smiling way more than a brooding vampire, for one thing).  

And...okay.  The man is just so fine.  There, I said it.  I was going to be all mature and respectable, but I can't help it, I could just stare at that face all day.  Beauty is beauty, and who am I to deny that I appreciate it?

All things ga-ga aside, I think all the actors, including especially Christopher Waltz, Reese Witherspoon, and Hal Holbrook, did an outstanding job in Water for Elephants.  I was really into the entire story from the get-go, not just drooling over the remote.

But speaking of vamps, to say that I am excited to see Breaking Dawn in a couple weeks would be an understatement.  And I will be wearing these, because I am a big dork who actually called my eye doctor, who had to look at that same link to approve my order.  

And I could hear the smirks in their voices on the phone, those white-coated professionals, because, well, just when you think you know your polite and unassuming middle-aged patient, she calls up and asks for vampire contacts, and that right there is likely to make your whole day.

Just wait till they see what Norm wants to get.


Sew...what now?
I finished the backing for the kaleidoscope quilt.  And now I am having a dilemma.  The quilt is too big to baste as I normally would on my kitchen floor, the only hard floor in the house, and it's bigger than any quilt I've quilted on my machine so far.  And why did I not see this coming?  

So there's that to mull over. 

Meanwhile, the weather is getting colder and I'd like to start wearing my cords and other heavier jeans, but they're all too big now, so I need to do some alterations, several pairs worth (*groan*).  But that job is one that has to be moved to the front burner ASAP, like today. 

After that, plans are in the works for quilting the black and white quilt, and I've got another couple quilts in the hopper to cut out.  Details to follow.


New Music
Mutemath has a new album out called Odd Souls, and this is one of the songs that I've been listening to all week.  I would love to see these guys live.  Come to Madison, Mutemath! 



And, just because, this is a cool acoustic version of an older song. 

Go on...break the spell of the Typical!

For Your Listening and Viewing Pleasure

Thought I'd share a couple things here before I go spend time in my sewing room for the first time in many days.

New music from The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, from his new CD, "How I Go."  This'll fire the week off to a good start!



And these are especially for Sarah, but I think others will enjoy too:





And we can't forget our hardworking Wisconsin guys either (no, these were not my landscapers):



Time to sew! Enjoy the day!

Sunday Sundry - Vol. 38

Yay, it's raining!!  That means I won't have to stand outside and water the ding-dong new plants and grass seed for an hour this evening...maybe.

I'm not complaining, really.  The landscaping got done this week by Larry the Landscaper (LtL) and his sidekick.  When I wrote that last blog post about two young men, I must have been hallucinating, because apparently there was only one, and he was a baby!  Well, not a real baby, of course, but barely out of his teens.  Still, he did become shirtless in short order, and yes I did open some window shades at that point and offer him a cold bottle of water because I felt sorry for his hardworking, sweaty young self.  And he was so polite and such a babe (in a pale blue blanket kind of way) that I almost wanted to adopt a son right then and there.  Hello, and welcome to my fluctuating midlife hormones.

And that boy worked 10 hours straight.  I didn't even see him take a lunch break, although I did ask at one point and he told me he had some sandwiches in the car.  LtL had to leave for a few hours and do some estimates or something, but Boy Wonder just kept on going by himself with the paving stones and sand and rocks and dirt and landscape fabric.  And then I bet he went home and fell fast asleep in his crib for the night.

(In the time it took to write those couple paragraphs, the rain has stopped and the sun is now shining.  I may have to water again later anyway.)

Other Good Things This Week
- Since my little herb garden is growing like crazy, I made salmon with homemade basil and parsley pesto.  Oh, it was so good.  Norm will eat one piece of salmon and then he's done with salmon for the next two months, thank-you-very-much.  I conveniently forget this every time I make it, so I had a lot left over to eat cold the next day (and the next), which was even better!

- Also made spareribs with homemade BBQ sauce, which I tweaked by adding about a cup of sweet cherries (pitted, cooked down and pureed) to the sauce.  Yum.

- Movie recommendation (now on DVD):  Source Code.  I love a good mind-bender.  Plus? Jake Gyllenhaal.

- Elizabeth sent me an early birthday present, bless her heart, along with some fabulous machine quilting thread (above) that I had bought from her.  Isn't this little notebook sweet?  

And she's having a giveaway on her blog for one, in honor of her 500th blog post, so be sure to check that out before the Tuesday 8/9 deadline!

A Legend in His Own Mind
We went to see my brother's band play last Saturday night at an establishment in the lower Fox Valley, an area of the state where one can still occasionally spot a more primitive type man, identifiable by his endangered 'do known as the Wisconsin Waterfall, and where listening to The House of Hair on Saturdays is de rigueur.

The band was good (and loud, holy crap), and the crowd seemed to respond well to the energy, especially one well-lubricated fellow.  I mean, this guy was really into it, head-bobbing and weaving his way around the crowd while generally trying not to spill his beverage.  

He disappeared between sets, only to return some 30 minutes later—get this—wearing a long, curly, platinum blonde mullet wig.  We wondered whether he had ventured up the road to procure the piece, or whether it came from his private collection at home.  At any rate, he bops back in, grinning from ear to ear, and proceeds to stand about six feet from the band and play air guitar to Every. Single. Song.  After a particularly rousing version of Crazy Train or some such homage to '80s metal, he high-fives my brother (the lead guitar player), as if to say, "DUDE, WE ARE SO AWESOME!!"  Highly entertaining, indeed.

Hope you have the kind of day that rocks your world!