Can you tell the Difference?

July 28, 2007 in Creativity

A very creative and industrious former staff member just sent me photos of a couple recent projects. She often uses my fabrics to sew fun Jammie pants for everyone she knows.  She sometimes whips up 12 at a time.  Robin looks so darling in the cotton summer dress she made, I just had to show you.

But what blew me away was the darling top she made for her look-alike daughter, Mandi.  Mandi spotted this blouse in the Nordstrom catalog priced at a whopping $189!  Robin went to work to duplicate what she saw and recreated the trendy style for a mere $10 of materials.  Compare the photo from the Nordstrom catalog and Mandi modeling her custom-made one. Her Mom proudly reports that "she loves it and gets compliments on it every time she wears it."

Amazing job Robin and thanks for sharing with us!

Debbie

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Memory Album

July 26, 2007 in Scrapbooking

Talk about stretching my birthday out this year. My sister Julie and her husband Ray just made a visit to Spokane for belated celebrations of my birthday, Murphy's graduation, and Julie's birthday.  Phew! Julie wanted to hand deliver her gift to me - and now I understand why. She put together a Memory Album that ties together my quilt/design career and my family. She included quotes here and there from interviews, family gifts, photos, and more.

I'm sharing a few of the pages so you get the idea of how thoughtfully it was created.

1. Murphy and Julie's boys holding up Christmas stockings that Julie made from one of my patterns. (The photo on the right is from the pattern cover.)

2. A photo of Julie's oldest son Robert on a tricycle and the applique project I designed inspired by Robert.   

3. A photo of Julie and Ray and the quilt I gave them for their wedding in 1983. Back then, I didn't think of signing the quilt or making a label. In 2004, she asked if I would send her a signed label.

4. A photo of my dad, Richard Kvare. I dedicated my book, Quick Country Quilting for Every Room, to his memory. He passed in 1997.

5. The year of Mummford. A family photo when I gave them all Mummfords for Christmas.

6.  A Sister Page! Julie and I as little girls and a more recent photo when I gave her two quilts for Christmas.

This was such a special gift and one that I will always treasure. My sister has always been one of my greatest supporters. (Thank you, Julie!)

Debbie

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What a creative woman!

July 25, 2007 in Creativity

Look at this cute tote bag that Diane from Royal Oak, MI (US) just sent me. Well, she didn't send the tote bag, but emailed me the photo of the tote bag. She made it from my Creative Woman fabrics and used several fabric and notion designs from my Embroidery Card. After all her work, she donated the bag to her Quilt Guild as a grand prize for a drawing at their quilt retreat. This woman is not only creative, but generous too!

Thanks for sharing your project with us.
Debbie.

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Cherry Pickin' Good

July 16, 2007 in Recipes

I woke up this morning with a sore shoulder and arm. It was Monday morning and I didn't work on art all weekend long. So,why is it hurting? Oh, that's right - I went cherry picking yesterday. We have a "darling" little Orchard community called Greenbluff not far from where I live and it's cherry pickin' time. I went with some friends and we loaded up on cherries - the sour pie kind and and sweet eatin' kind.

After a very hot afternoon in the orchard and a quick swim to cool down......I made a cherry pie to bring into the office today. (When I was picking away - it had sort of slipped my mind that I was going to have to pit all these cherries!)

Before I would let anyone eat it - I made Tom take a picture of me with my pie. When I actually come up with the time and energy to bake a pie - I feel it should be documented. 

I relied on good old Betty Crocker for my recipe which was basically -
6 cups pitted and drained pie cherries (they go down a lot in size after they are pitted)
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 Tablespoons butter dotted on filling
(Make or buy the crust that's ready to roll out and bake - I confess, that's what I did)

I baked for 30 minutes at 450 degrees (crust was a touch dark- maybe 425 would have been better) and 15 minutes at 350 and it seemed to come out all right.

The staff said it was pretty good - but some vanilla ice cream would have been nice.
Oh, and take two Advil for the shoulder ache.
Debbie

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Loving the Lake!

July 10, 2007 in Holidays

I just got home from a lovely, lovely week at the Lake. And it was nothing but hot sun and fun all week long. I stayed at a Condo Resort on Lake Pend Orielle not too far from Sandpoint, Idaho. But I call that camping. My position is that anytime you pack up the car and bring your own food, that's camping in my book. Plus, if you also bring sunscreen and bug-spray, that's it, you're definitely camping! 

Some occasional cooking was about as strenuous as my week got. Activities primarily included reading on the lawn chair, floating on the lake, soaking in the hot tub, strolling through the Marina, escaping the hot sun by cooling off and watching a movie in the room, meandering a few yards over to the Floating restaurant for the occasional meal out, oh and I did some staring at the lake over a few cups of coffee too. (that takes a lot of focus and concentration! LOL)

Just so you don't think I was a complete good for nothing, I managed to get out for a one hour walk every morning. I brought my ipod and listened to a book called, "The Queen of Babble."  Come to find out, there is a reason why they call it that - the story just seems to babble on, without a lot of plot advancement. But it was keeping me company during my walks and it started to grow on me. I haven't finished the book yet (will probably take one more walk in town to complete) - but now I am curious how it all turns out.

I also got to enjoy our Independence Day up at the Lake. There was an incredible fireworks display (a full half hour), complete with an impressive finale. And we got to enjoy it all from right outside our room. No crowds, no traffic - it was perfect. Most of the week, my son, his girlfriend and I hung out. But we did have a few visitors come by during the week. They were smart enough to bring they're own camping supplies -food!)

One week of relaxing at the lake didn't seem quite enough - I was just starting to get into the "groove."  Besides, I needed more time so I could get to all that work I brought up with me. (somehow, I was just too busy lying around "camping" to have time to get to much work)  Hope my "boss" is understanding. 

Debbie

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