Bring on the sunshine

Please raise your hand if you're had enough rain in the month of February already. Maybe some of you could say the same for the snow, especially if you're in the US on the east coast.

For my friends out there in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand...well, my heart is with you celebrating summer.

Finally the weather did clear a bit here and we have seen a bit of sunshine, but the cold bugs are still having all sorts of fun with my family. Our sweet and darling 2 yr old has been knocked out with a fever for 3 days now, poor little dear. Send your best healthy thoughts in our general direction if you can!

What could possibly cheer me up this week? Pediatricians who give you same day appointments, children's tylenol, 3191 blog - oh what a beautiful photographic study of light and color, reading Calico Cat blog and knowing that I'm not the only one out there that loves Japanese taupe fabric.

The tale of the red blanket - part III - "Happy Reunion - Diamonds for Blankets"

After many years of the red-themed gift exchange, and my poor sister typing "red blanket" as her computer password on a daily basis...my husband asked me to marry him.

It was a sweet and romantic proposal, and both families could not have been happier.

My sister, as a special engagement gift, and a testimony of her love to her new brother-in-law, returned the red blanket to him.

It was not quite the same relief experienced by hostages released after many years of imprisonment, but I will have to say that it was a very sweet reunion.

Ok, so in other news, I just got my embroidery pattern "Quilting Bee" from Hilary at Wee Wonderfuls. No idea when I'll whip this up, but it's adorable, and so quilty!!

The tale of the red blanket - part II - "The Cold War"

As you might have guessed, my then-boyfriend-now-husband was more than slightly upset that his red blanket had been swiped.

My sister was tickled pink with herself, and more than happy to keep it safe on a permanent basis.

This triggered what I call "The Cold War". Nobody was giving an inch, but many shots were fired over the bow.

For Christmas and birthdays, he picked out a red-colored gift every year. Red sweaters, red flowers, red cards, and any other sort of red goodies you could think of were targeted at my poor sister. (Good thing she likes that color!)

When she was in college, he helped her build her first computer. They picked out the motherboard, graphics card, chassis, everything. Guess what he created as the password to her new computer?

You got it - "Red Blanket".

This went on for years. Until...finally something happened.

(cliff hanger, right? To be continued...in the next and final installment.)

The tale of the red blanket - part I - "Grab it and Run"

This story is so famous in our family, that I cannot believe I have not told it yet.

Several years ago, I went on a trip to the Amazon region of Peru with some girlfriends to take photos and do some rafting.

While I was on my trip, I visited Machu Picchu and many other amazing places.

Along the way, I bought a red blank as a gift for my then-boyfriend-now-husband as a momento from the trip.

When I got home, he picked me up from the airport of course, and that weekend my sister came in to visit me.

I made her look through all 700 slides that I took on the trip, and she almost killed me for it.

At the end of the weekend she spotted the red blanket that I had bought back for my then-boyfriend-now-husband. He had forgotten to take it home to his apartment with him.

I think she saw this as lack of interest in the blanket, and she thought it was very pretty. She packed it up in her things and took it home with her.

That didn't go over too well with then-boyfriend-now-husband, as I will cover in my next post.

Patchwork Quilt Tsushin #142

Issue number 142 of Patchwork Quilt Tsushin is really out of this world, I must say. One of their best yet.

Tons and tons of quilts with traditional looking Japanese red fabrics, and brightly colored florals.

Several cute bag patterns (page 47 & 94 if you're following along here - taupe! Yum).

Pages 34 and 35 have some examples of this a block by Chuck Nohara that form this pattern that look kinda like the letter "Q" to me. This pattern is adorable. It looks like a good bit of work, but I think it would make a very cute kid's quilt.

Ok, so you know it is always my dream to visit Tokyo in January to visit the Tokyo Dome quilt show. Well, of course I didn't make it this year, but other bloggers did, so that's good for us.

Moving Hands blog has been a long time favorite of mine. Her flickr set of pictures from the show is not to be missed.

Super Tuesday

Clinton, Obama, McCain, Romney...it's a policical three ring circus on TV tonight with so many state primary elections.

Some folks just live to watch the elections, but I'm sorta looking forward to other topics even though there is a lot more still to come.

I knit this little hat for the friend of my son, after I found another yarn ball after I lost the first one I was going to finish the hat with....I'm so glad it's finally done. I need to hurry and drop it into the mail before it gets too warm to even wear.

Is knitting a winter sport? Are there those of you out there knitting year round? Hm...while I ponder that, I think I'll head back to a bit of quilting.

I guess my "Super Tuesday" is going to end with a good read of one of my favorite blogs, "Super Eggplant". No political messages over there for those of you who are glued to CNN, but some very cool cooking going on lately.

The Blues

Rain beautiful rain. It's still raining here. I'm seriously afraid to leave the house without my trench and umbrella.

Being from Southern California, I'm still adjusting to this Northern California weather (read "rain").

For those of you in Australia/New Zealand, I am jealous of your sunshine!

2 blogs you must visit now now now:

My friend Elizabeth's blog is really blossoming nicely. If you're the kind of quilter that has more than 1 or 2 posts a week that are titled "Another finished Top" or "My quilt is finished," you'll love to find another person that is EXTREMELY productive with a really beautiful quality of work.

Corinne, my friend, a great artist, and as it happens, a co-worker as well....started her blog some time ago and the contents are really impressive.

It's called Chocolate Banquet, and it started with a bet that she couldn't eat a new and different piece of chocolate every day, for a year. Well, it's been over a year now, and she's still at it! She records all the calorie information as well as giving you a little write up on how much she enjoyed her daily treat.