My Favorite Schnibble

The Another Year of Schnibbles group is taking a bit of a break until May.  However, since everyone loves a parade, we are having one the first of February to share our favorite Schnibble.

Just in case there are people out there reading this blog that don't know what a Schnibble is, it is a line of patterns designed by Carrie Nelson under her  Miss Rosie pattern company.  You can see them here.  The Another Year of Schnibbles group is organized and the parades are shared by Sinta and Sherri at their blogs.  I only began last year, but they have been doing it for at least 2 years.  I have had so much fun!  I can't thank them enough for organizing it all, it must be lots of work, but I have so looked forward to the first of the month to see the parades!  Those days were the highlight of last year.

A favorite Schnibble quilt?  How can I possibly choose?  The reason that I LOVE making Schnibbles is because they use charm packs plus sometimes a bit of yardage.  Making them has allowed me to play with fabrics that I wouldn't necessarily have in my stash.  They have allowed me to explore  so much.  In this case it is the process that I really love.  As for the quilts, some I have gifted and some I have stacked in my closet.  I only have three hanging up.  So I have to ask myself, those three must at least be favorities since I have them on display, right?  Hmmm, I don't know.  It is sort of like asking which child is your favorite.  They all have their own purpose, personality, and history. 

I must admit that I am a very "influenced/relational" quilter.  By that, I mean that I remember what is going on in my life or in the world while I'm making a quilt.  I have had several quilts that were very nice quilts, and came out beautiful, but I could never stand looking at them because of what they represented or reminded me of.  One in particular I was piecing years and years ago during a Presidential election that didn't come out my way--and I finally donated it.  I wouldn't even give it to a family member.  I have learned to not work on a project in situations like that!  So choosing a favorite quilt for me doesn't just mean how much I like a particular quilt--but also how I felt while I made it.

I really like all of the Schnibbles that I have made, but so far, none is a favorite.  If I continue in this philosophical bent of mind, I would have to say that the next one is usually my favorite.  The dream of the "beautiful quilt yet to be made " is what makes me a quilter.  But, I didn't want to take a picture of my Schnibble patterns and stack of charm packs.  I suspect I should have a nice photo of a quilt to share for the parade.

So, with that in mind, I do have a favorite photo of a Schnibble.  That is really easy!  I love this picture way more than I like the quilt.

I love how the colors and shapes of what is in/on the water is reflected on the quilt.  I also really like the composition.  But most of all, I remember taking it.  It was just before we left Hawaii and I knew that I wanted to put Hawaii in the picture, some how.  I got my husband to set out with me one weekend afternoon, and we looked around for a place where we could get turquoise water and palm trees in a photo.  There were palm trees here, too, but they are pretty high up in the sky, so it was tricky getting them in a photo.  We spent some time trying out different compositions and taking many pictures, and in the process, had a fun afternoon.  So when I look at this picture, I think of that day and fun we had.  I like this picture so much, in fact, that I use it as my wallpaper on my computer.  In case you are wondering about the quilt, though, it is from the pattern Doc (it is a card trick block) and the fabric was from my stash.  I had lots of black and white, and white and black prints and wanted a place to use them.  I chose to combine them with turquoise because I totally fell for turquoise while I was in Hawaii.  My favorite color will always be red, but turquoise is currently my second favorite.

So there you have it:  I can't choose a favorite Schnibble (yet) but I do have a favorite photo of a Schnibble!

Have a great day!
JoAnne

Still Here

I know I've been an absentee blogger for the past week, but there just hasn't been a lot to say.  Today is the last full day in our house.  Tomorrow we turn it over and take our car to the port to ship and then check into a resort down on Waikiki and enjoy our last few days.  It seems that it has been coming for so long that it is weird that we are in our last week.  Come Sunday night we will be flying off to the mainland, leaving our "three year Hawaiian Vacation" behind.

Since we are turing in the house tomorrow, that means we are cleaning like crazy the past couple days.  So far I have the dining room, living room,  my old sewing room, and one of the bathrooms done.  That leaves 1.5 baths, the greatroom, our bedroom, the guest room, and ...the kitchen.  I've started on the kitchen already and have the biggie--the stove--done.  Whew!  I just have the inside of the fridge left (yuck).  And then I have to sweep and clean the laminate floors. 

The biggest job will be packing everything up.  I can not believe how two people with very little stuff can have things so spread out!  Just thinking that it all has to fit into 4 suitcases and one carry-on is worrying me a bit.  Yesterday I even mailed 4 flatrate boxes to our new address. 

We have been trying to do some fun things, too.  We snorkeled Tuesday afternoon and had a great time.  We were telling a friend about it and he wanted to go to that spot, too.  So on Sunday afternoon, we picked him and his college-aged son up and headed to the north shore.  Just before we got to the spot, an ambulance passed us with lights and sirens and we saw it turn into the parking lot where we would park.  It was filled with rescue vehicles.  We learned from the crowd that a man had been found by a diver on the bottom.  He was snorkeling and must have run into problems and drowned.  They got him out and managed to revive him.  Last we heard he was in very critical condition.  The strange thing is this:  The last time we went snorkeling with our friend and his son (over Christmas break) someone drowned there, too.  We were in the water, not too far away from that incident.  It didn't look good for that guy, either, but was revived as well.  The lesson here is that while the beach/water looks pretty--Hawaii is really in the middle of the Pacific ocean!  Swim with a buddy and be careful!

I can't wait for a bit of resort life.  Our loaner furniture is very nice, but lacks comfort.  I'm ready for a comfy bed, the chance to lay by the pool and read, and the massage I have booked!  So I guess I need to go grab a toilet brush and get busy!

Aloha,
JoAnne

Friends

Do you have a blog?  Or do you just follow your favorites?  Isn't it amazing when you make a connection with someone?  They quickly become a friend, even if you have never officially met.

I've had the pleasure of meeting Linda at the Quilted Pineapple and she is even more lovely and charming than her quilting, and that is saying something!

This past Sunday my husband and I went to airport to meet another blog friend and her family.  He kept questioning me:  You've never met her?  Do you know what they look like?  How are we going to figure out who they are?  Are you making a sign?

My anwers were:  No, I've never met her.  She has a husband and two boys about 3 years apart.  They are coming in on a plane from Kona--it isn't big.  I don't think we will have a problem figuring it out. 

And we didn't.  After waiting a bit, there they were!  And I was "officially" meeting Michelle from Island Life Quilts.  Yes, I "met" a friend at the airport.  We gave them all leis--flowers for Michelle, kukui nuts for her husband, and candy lei for the boys.  Can I just say that they are the neatest, friendliest family ever.  Her boys are very polite and helpful.  Michelle's husband even had some time in the military, too, so he and my husband "speak the same language."  I think we managed to enjoy each other's company.

Monday morning we met to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.  The weather wasn't the best, and the surf was up a bit, and it was crowded, so it wasn't the greatest time snorkeling, but it was nice sitting (or maybe huddling?) on the beach and visiting. 

I should not be surprised that she and her family are so charming.  She is a quilter and aren't we some of the best, most friendly people out there?  I look forward to a chance to sometime "officially" meet you all, as well, but until then, I'm happy to call you friends!

Aloha,
JoAnne

Photographing Doc

When I decided to photograph Doc in a Hawaiian setting, what I was visualizing was taking it to a beach with palm trees and turquoise water.  Sunday afternoon I asked my husband if he would help me out with it.

Remember that he is in the army.  Right now there is a big "exercise" going on with all services.  By "excercise" I mean "war games" of some sort.  Luckily, he doesn't have to go out to the woods and live in a tent or anything, but he is working an overnight shift.  He gets home about 3-4 AM and then sleeps until noon.  So it is Sunday afternoon and we haven't done much together so I asked if we could go photograph my quilt.  In fairness, it probably wasn't what he wanted to do, but he was a good sport about it!

This was actually the first try.  It was perfect!  Palms, ocean, and even boats--a plus.  We decided not to go too far and went to the harbor/beach at Hickam AFB.  There is a "point" of land, nicely grassy and with lovely trees, that sticks out into the water with the marina on one side.  That is my husband sitting on the table, hiding behind and holding up the quilt.  The big problem was that the afternoon trade winds were blowing.  Pretty hard at times.  See?

After taking some pictures at this first spot, we walked out further on the point.  I tried more compositions:

Still too windy!

A pretty picture, but you don't see much of the quilt.

The really neat feature of Hickam Harbor and Beach is that it is formed on one side by this land, Foster's Point, and then there is the harbor/marina and then the public beach and on the other side of the beach is the reef runway for HNL (Honolulu International Airport).  It is so cool to be there and watch the jets taxi out and then turn to take off.  We were lucky enough to see a few.

And the view is great, too, as you can see Diamond Head behind the sail.

As we continued to walk to the end of the point our attention was captured by a floating beach ball.  We saw it speedily floating out of the harbor, and a guy had gotten off a boat into the water and was swimming hard after it.  The scene reminded me a bit of Tom Hanks swimming after "Wilson" in Castaway.  At any rate, the guy was almost hit by a sailboat (this is the harbor, not the recreational beach) and the whole time I'm thinking "are we going to see this guy swim out and drown trying to save a $2 beach ball?"  Finally, he saw us--the ball was maybe 12 feet off the point--and he asks if it is our ball.  It isn't even his??!!!  We yell no.  And then I yell "you aren't going to drown for that ball are you?"  He realized about that time that he was losing ground.

I, of course, got a photo.

All in all, it was a fun hour we got to spend together.  As you can see, it was a gorgeous day!

Aloha,

JoAnne





Doc

I think I should begin this post by saying that the biggest challenge in making and blogging about this month's Schnibble is refraining from titling the post, "What's Up, Doc!"  That being said, when I saw the "assignment," I was eager.  I had never done a card trick block before.  When I was showing my quilt around, I heard that frequently.  I wonder why that is?  The block wasn't difficult, I just found it best to complete each one individually so as not to get things turned around.

This is probably my last Schnibble here in Hawaii.  I say "probably" because the packers come on the 4th and who knows if I will have a chance to complete June's in only 3 days.  (The possibility does exist, but is "probably" not likely.  We'll see!!)  Since it is, I decided to take out my completed quilt and photograph it with Hawaii in the background.  Here is what I came up with. 

I did not use a charm pack for this project.  I have been collecting black and white fabrics for over a year now and wanted to use them in a quilt.  I like black and white and one other color quilts real well, but what color to choose?  I like red, but it seems like I've seen many "newspaper quilts" (you know-- black and white and read (red) all over!) quilts lately.  I finally decided on turquoise.  It seems like turquoise has become a favorite of mine since living here.  I refer to it as my "favorite Hawaii color."  It is easy to understand why--the water, the sky, etc.

I began by dividing my fabrics into "black and white" and "white and black."  Each block had two cards of the dark, and two of the light.  I pressed differently than the directions said to because of the darker background.  I began by pressing all the half square triangles to the turquoise fabric.   My plan included using a solid black for the little corner squares in the sashing and then I really wanted a black and white stripe for the binding.  I love striped bindings!  I didn't have one, so I did a little online shopping.  I found this first:

And it was EXACTLY what I had in mind.  I put it in my cart and then, because I had typed "black stripe" into the search at Fat Quarter Shop, I continued to scroll through the results.  And came across this:

Be still my heart!  Was the turquoise the right shade?  How did I feel about the yellow?  I thought about it and decided to order both.  If I used the yellow, I would need to put it somewhere else to "make sense."  I saw that it was from the Lemon Grove line and looked for coordinates.  There was something that looked like I could "fussy cut" something from for the little cornerstones.  I bought a half yard of that, too.

 When the fabric came, it was perfect!  I looked over the coordinate and settled on these little sun shapes.  I loved them!  But, can you believe it?  In a whole half yard, I was two suns short of the number I needed.  Do I order another half yard?  I decided on cutting two of these little birds, instead.

I still wasn't one hundred percent sure of the completed top.  I took it to my bee and showed it with the stripe to use for binding.  It got rave reviews, so with renewed confidence I came home, layered, quilted, and bound it.  The binding really makes it!  I love how it came out.  One of my goals in doing Another Year of Schnibbles is to push myself out of my comfort zone, and this sure is but I'm really pleased with it!

One more "Hawaii shot."  If you look on the horizon, to the left of the boat you can see Diamond Head in the distance!

I have to say here that I have completed (quilting, binding, etc.) all of my Schnibbles by the end of the month.  It is killing me that I may not be able to do June's or July's!  (We do not arrive in Virginia until the middle of July and who knows when we will get our stuff and get unpacked!)  And if Sinta and Sherrie wanted to share the next one a little early so I could get it done before moving, I sure wouldn't tell anyone what it is!  I can keep a secret!

Aloha,
JoAnne

Great Weekend

I hope all mothers out there had a wonderful day yesterday!  It was a three-day funfest for me.  Friday was Military Spouse Appreciation Day.  This does not require any card/flower purchases, it is just a nice chance for my husband to appreciate the fact that I "reluctantly" follow him around to such dreadful places as Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, you get the idea.  (by the way, that was sarcasm!)  In honor of the day, we went down to Waikiki to sip tropical drinks (for me, beer for him) at the beach while watching sunset and the fabulous fireworks, all while listening to nice live music.  (We actually do this pretty frequently.)

On Saturday was my monthly quilting Bee, so I loaded up and ventured out.  I have such great fun and there is always such great inspiration!  This day I sat next to Kristin LaFlamme.  She is one of the "twelve" in the Twelve by 12 group.  She was doing some improvisational piecing of her scraps.  She had sorted out creamy, yellow, maybe light brown (if I remember correctly) scraps and was just randomly sewing things together into chunks and then cutting the chunks into bricks.  This is something that is WAY out of my comfort zone.  Try as I might, I just can't be random or spontaneous enough.  Some of the combos were a bit wild/bizarre, but when she finished the chunk and cut it into bricks, the wildness disappeared and became really neat!  I enjoyed watching the process because then I may be more inclined to push myself sometime and try it myself.  In fact, I should go upstairs right now and start sorting scraps!  Oh wait, I gave them all away because I'm moving!  (insert the sigh of relief here, ha ha.)

Yesterday, Mother's Day, there was no breakfast in bed.  I was awake first (as usual on the weekends) and came downstairs to start the day.  The phone rang (it was my daughter!!) and I answered and was walking to the sink to get a drink when something scurried!!!  It was a gecko in my kitchen!  Yuck.  I put down the phone and hollered upstairs.  My poor husband, he didn't get to sleep in!  I don't know about you, but I'm not one of those "take Mom out to brunch/dinner" people, so we celebrated in the afternoon by going snorkeling at our favorite spot, Shark's Cove.  No, there aren't any sharks there, or I wouldn't go, ha ha.  We did see two large turtles.

I don't care to go to the beach at what I call the "burning time" (11AM-3PM) so we got there a bit after three and swam for an hour or so.  Then we stopped by Ted's North Shore Bakery to get a treat for after supper, and then went to another beach and walked it looking for sea glass, etc.  We found some nice pieces and even a complete, pretty cowrie shell.  By this time, it was around 5:30 so we stopped at the food truck across from Shark's Cove and had some of their really awesome grilled skewers.  Can Mother's Day in Hawaii get any better than sitting outside, across the road from the beach, watching the waves while eating super yummy food?  I don't.  We went home and after changing we enjoyed our bakery treats while watching Sherlock Holmes on Masterpiece.

Aloha,
JoAnne

Quilt Show

Last night our Hawaii Quilt Guild Quilt show opened.  I went to the reception and I even drug my husband along.  There was opening statements and a program.  This year instead of featuring one quilter as per usual, the show decided to focus attention on our service programs.  There are examples displayed.  Some programs include Na Lima Aloha (quilts for local charitable orgs), Japanese Tsunami quilts (these are 12" quiltlets made for survivors of last year's tsunami), Wounded Warrior quilts.  Quilts of Valor, and ASYMC Kid Comfort quilts (small quilts or pillows are made using transferred photos of the soldier and kids for the children with deployed parents)

Here is a photo of the service quilt examples.



 After the program, the gallery was open for viewing and the buffet of pupus (appetizers, etc.) was available.  We snacked a bit first, to allow some of the crowd to disperse a bit from the gallery. 

Finally, we went in.  I just have a few photos here.  It is difficult to photograph the quilts and really get to look at all of them at the opening.  I will be "sitting the show" later and will take better photos and document some of the amazing works of art.

The wall of the challenge quilts.  I blogged about them here 

Here is my Omigosh quilt hanging.  It is always so neat to see my quilts hanging--they look much more artful than spread out on my living room floor, or hanging off the back fence!

Now I don't know about you, but when I go to a quilt show in Hawaii, I love all the quilts, but I sure am hoping to see some magnificent Hawaiian quilts!  This year is no disappointment!  There were some real stunners.

This is a pikake quilt.  Do you remember the lei from Lei Day that was made with ric rac to look like pikake?  It is Hawaiian for jasmine.  I LOVE this quilt and I usually only like the traditional two-color quilts, but this is spectacular!

Monsterra is the plant featured in both this quilt and the one below.  I will try to get a better photo of the top one later.



 Can a make a comment here about my husband?  As we were looking at the Hawaiian quilts, he hold his finger up to the first one.  (He is smart enough to not touch it!)  He says, "this is a good one, they quilted it the proper way--a finger width between all the quilting."  Ok, what?!  Where did he learn about that?  He actually knows that the traditional way to quilt a Hawaiian quilt is one finger width between the echos?!!

This is called Taffeta Ti Leaf.  It is not only appliqued and quilted traditionally, but it is made out of taffeta!!  I can't image trying to needl-turn it.  Taffeta is notorious for raveling!

That is it for now.  As I said, I'll take more pictures and share them later.  Maybe along with more surprising comments my husband made!

Aloha,
JoAnne

Where's a JoAnn's When You Need One?

One of the biggest frustrations I have with living on this island is the lack of a large fabric/craft store.    The biggest frustration I have is with lack of notions.   Last night,  I needed a zipper.  A white, separating zipper.  I also needed some packaged piping and wide double-fold bias tape. 

I had to sit at home because I had a repair guy coming.  You know how they say "we'll be there between 12 and 5pm" and it is ALWAYS 4:30 at least before they show up?  So I was unable to go out to get my notions until 6 or so.  There was, of course, traffic, so I got to the local fabric store at 6:20 and they must have closed at 6!  So I decided to try my only other option:  the big box store (known for their greeters) that I dislike and that has recently decimated their fabric/craft departments.  They only had the bias tape, so it was over an hour almost totally wasted.  Ugh.  I can't wait to get to the mainland where they have large shops with all the selection you can imagine.  And are open until 9pm!

What did I do to prep for the move yesterday?  Absolutely nothing!  I did go to water aerobics.  The excercise helps my stress level.  I also did some emailing and phone calling for my volunteer position.  I got the fabric for the project I'm needing the zipper for when the mail came at noon and so I fiddled with that for awhile, and then my best friend here who is also moving, came by so we could discuss prices on some items that she is "editing" from her life and is taking to consign at our thrift shop. 

Today is my favorite day of the month!  It is our Tuesday Bee.  There are about 10-12 of us who get together every second Tuesday.  We have such nice conversation and diverse interests that it is really stimulating and fun.  I am so going to miss those ladies!!!!  After it is over, I'm going to go back to the local fabric store to see if I can get that zipper.  And the piping!

Aloha,
JoAnne

Wait, What's the Date?!!!

I'm back!  My MIL left Wednesday night and I barely had the energy to function the rest of the week.  I did practically nothing at all, including quilting.  I did sew my Doc blocks together for this month's Schnibble and I have two of the four borders attached.  My goal for today is to finish them.

Why am I freaking out about the date?!!  It is the seventh?  One month from today is the final day of having the movers here.  By that evening our house will be empty of all our stuff less the two suitcases each that we will take on the plane.  I cringe at thinking all that needs to be done prior to that.  And here I was considering starting that star quilt I want to make for my bed.  I also was thinking that since the movers don't come until Jun 4th, maybe I could somehow get the June Schnibble done in those few days?!!!  Am I nuts?!  One of the big jobs I have to do is tackle my sewing room.  The last time I let the movers handle everything I went outside and saw my largest cutting mat in the yard under the blazing El Paso sun--already curling into a permanant ball.  I was not happy.

I do have something to share!  In Hawaii, May Day is Lei Day.  There are festivities and best of all, a lei contest!  The lei are dropped off in the morning, judged, then put on display and open to viewing at 1 pm.  My MIL and I went.  We had to stand in line for an hour before we even got to the lei!  The craftsmanship is awesome!

 Here are some of the winners in the Blue/Purple category.  You can see all the workmanship--they are far from a string of flowers!

 These are some of the yellow/orange winners.  Do you see the one in the middle?  It is croton leaves, woven into a think strand.  So cool.  Crotons are bushes that are everywhere here with colorful leaves.

 The winners of the hat lei catagory.

The lei on the left is one of my favorites.  This is the red/pink category.  The one I love is holly berries strung and then braided green ti leaves are twined aroung them.  Wouldn't this make awesome garland for holiday decorating?  Of course, it would be hugely labor-instensive.

This is the white catagory.  I would like you to notice the lei on the far right.  It is made of pikake--the Hawaiian word for jasmine.  Pikake lei are very popular.  I want you to notice it because the next photo is another "pikake" lei.

 When you get to the end of the floral lei, the next catagory is ribbon/yarn lei.  No flowers.  However, the artists use ribbon and yarn and beads, etc. to recreate the look of the flower lei.  This "pikake" lei is made of white ric rac!  I love how clever it it.  each "bud" is made from a pile of folded ric rac.  I think it is awesome.

These are the other ribbon/yarn winners.  See the full one on the left?  It is ribbon made into birds of paradise blossoms.  Again, the talent is amazing. 

 I hope you have a great day!  I'm off to sort, throw, panic, list make, and sew! 

Aloha,
JoAnne

Sunset and Seaglass

The other evening we went to the beach for sunset.  The beach we went to is way over on the west side of the island.  It was a gorgeous evening.  There were a lot of clouds, so the sunset wasn't the best.
There was a little bit of color and then the sun dropped behind the clouds and that was it.

 This was as good at it got, but still quite pretty.

A little "wave action."  Can't you just sit and watch the waves break for ages?  They are never the same twice.  It is so relaxing.

Here is a photo of my "treasures."  Down in the bottom, you can see the 2-3 pieces of turquoise sea glass that I found.  They are fairly rare.  I find aqua quite often, but rarely turquois.  There was also a nice piece of white that I gave to my MIL.  Do you see that small chunk of something other than glass just above the large green piece on the right?  It is a tiny shard of pottery.  It does not have a pattern on it, but we have found some pieces of blue willow at this same beach.  This used to be our favorite beach for sea glass, but then we found another. 

This is a result of a sunset at our favorite sea glass beach.   What I like about the glass at this beach is that it is much more polished and rounded.  You don't, however, find much green here.  I think that is interesting.  There is a magic time just at sunset when the light shines on the white pieces and makes them glow--making them much easier to find.

Aloha,
JoAnne

Luau Luck

Aloha!

I'm still not quilting.  I still have company.  It will be three more days until I'm independant again, but we are having fun sightseeing.  Do you ever sightsee in your own community?  I know it is easy here in Hawaii, but I try to "explore" everywhere we live. 

Last night we went to a luau.  No, we don't go to them often.  In fact, in the nearly three years we have been here, we have only gone to 4.  This one was a new place for us.  We went to Paradise Cove.  I liked the setting, activities, and show better than the other one we go to, but the food wasn't as good.  But, you really don't go to a luau for the food...

Here is a factoid about me:  I was born and raised in the lovely state of South Dakota.  At the luau we started visiting with the charming couple across the table from us.  She is from South Dakota, too!!!  And not only that, everyone, but she is a quilter, too!  Wasn't it lucky?  They have also lived in Alaska, but they were there a year after we left.  We had lots to talk about.  Too bad the show started, LOL.

Today we visited the zoo and are hopefully going to catch sunset at the beach tonight.  The sunsets we have had lately have not been the best.  Hopefully we will have some color tonight.  And hopefully we will find some beach glass, too.

Aloha,
JoAnne

Dolphin Leaps Bird

This isn't a quilting post, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.  You may remember that I have a visitor right now and so we are touring around this week.  My husband took leave since it is his mother and it is fun to have him along with--especially as he does the driving!  Today we went to the Sea Life Park.  It is a touristy place-sort of a small version of a Sea World.  It is a little shabby, but they are renovating two of the enclosures, so maybe that is improving.  We watched the shows and during the big dolphin show I was taking pictures with my camera on burst mode when this happened:

 1.  You can see the dolphin starting its jump and the booby (the bonafide name for that type of seabird--you can't make this stuff up) is flying in that direction.

 2.  The dolphin is nearing the crest of the leap and the bird is getting closer.

 3.  The booby is now under the dolphin.

 4.  The dolphin is heading down and the booby is just to the left of it.  It sort of looks like a fin there in front of the gate.

5.  The dolphin reenters the water and the bird flies away, probably oblivious.

Aloha,
JoAnne

A Busy Day

Today (Saturday for me--but by the time you all are reading this it will be Sunday) was a busy day.  So was yesterday.  On Friday I had three activities, all very enjoyable, but they took up most of my day.  The last was dinner at friends--and they cooked up halibut fish and chips.  We were neighbors a few years ago in Alaska, and now they are here, too.  I cannot began to tell you how good that halibut was.  Our friend had to travel to Alaska for work and he brought it home.  Yum!  I ate way too much and consequently I didn't sleep too well and woke up at 5 this morning.  Yikes!

I finally gave up trying to sleep some more and got up and did some early morning sewing.  I'm in the middle of a project and I would like to get it into a manageable/nearly finished state before I'm distracted from it for the next few days.  I managed to find the time to get all the blocks finished and now everything is up on the design wall until I can get back to it. 

Around 7:30 I headed out to the farmer's market.  The curse of Honolulu traffic is that even at 7:45 on a Saturday morning, there is traffic.  The traffic here is the number one thing I'm not going to miss!!  Yikes!  I loaded up with pineapple, mangos (they are in season!), papaya, rambutan, and local bananas.  I also got some gorgeous red tomatoes, heavenly basil, and a huge avacado.  If you remember, my mother-in-law is visiting us.  On the way home I stopped at a bakery and picked up some quiche for lunch.  Some quilting friends were getting together to try a new technique that another friend was teaching.  She moved away nearly a year ago, but is back on the island for a week.  Anyway, I signed up to bring a "lunch" item (not a salad) and I had planned to make something, but I just didn't have the time.

I got home and put everything away and started getting out my quilting stuff to take to our sew-a-thon.  I then checked on my MIL's flight.  It hadn't left!!!  She was an hour late leaving her local airport.  The flight was going to Denver and she only had an hour and twenty minutes there.  It wasn't looking good.
(My husband went scuba diving early in the morning and so he was unaware of all of the drama.)  By now, I was tired from lack of sleep, dealing with traffic, stress, and hauling all my sewing stuff downstairs.  I almost bailed on the sewing day, but my desire to see my visiting friend kept me going. 

It was lots of fun.  It was a free-form technique using scraps.  The technique was sort of like a log cabin, but you didn't measure anything, and just added chunks or strips until the patchwork piece was large enough to use a 6.5" ruler to trim down to a 6.5" block.  It was a real chance to just grab, sew, and play.  It was VERY conducive to chatting.  About the time we were eating, my husband was finally out of the water and heard from his mother that she missed the flight!  She has to sit in the Denver airport until 6 tomorrow morning!  The airline wouldn't give her a hotel room and it was their fault!  I'm pretty unhappy with them.

I got a few blocks done, gave all the rest of my scraps away, and packed up to come home around 3:30.  By then I was mentally tired as well as physically tired.  After I got home, I just sat for a while.  My MIL will finally get here (I hope) around 11:30 tomorrow morning.  My husband took leave for the week and so we will be out and around doing touristy Hawaii things.  I love it!  The ultimate staycation.  I really need some time at the beach, too.  I haven't been for ages.

I'll leave you with this picture of another Schnibble--Mon Ami.  I've been wanting to do it for ages.  I used the Moda Collections for a Cause--Friendship charm packs.  I love the mostly patriotic color scheme!

Please cross your fingers that my MIL gets here okay tomorrow!

Aloha,
JoAnne

PS.  Does anyone know the "Cause" for the Friendship collection?  I found a list of the past ones, but it didn't include this one.

Not Just Quilting Right Now

My daughter and her boyfriend are visiting this week.  It has not just rained, but also poured most of their visit.  We are making the best of it, though.  Today I had a luncheon that I needed to attend, so I drove them down to Waikiki to spend the day.  I went to pick them up afterwards and they pointed out how Hawaii 5-0 was being filmed right there on the beach.

Do you watch the show?  If so, you will easily recognize Scott Caan (as Danny "Danno" Williams) and Daniel Dae Kim (Chin Ho Kelly).  I have to admit that I was pretty excited.  I even got to walk by in the background, and my daughter and her boyfriend got to sit on the beach for a scene.  Too cool!