He Found It

My hero, Robert, found the lost quilt. He deserves to wear a super hero cape. See my last post below.

Can't Find It

Now that my mind is off circles, I plan to finish up some UFOs. I’ve been searching around for this quilt which I started in the year 2000 (the photo is from 2001). I’ll be darned if I can find it. It has never been taken anywhere, that I can remember, because it isn’t finished.

It is called Synchronized Swimming in the Garden Pond. The fish are goldfish and Koi. The goldfish are smaller than the Koi. The quilt needs beading to liven it up. I’ve bought two books about beading on quilts, some blue beads, and those long, skinny needles. I want to put beads in the water and a beaded spout of water spewing from the frog’s mouth. I think I want to replace the existing frog with a more three-dimensional stuffed one. And, if I can figure out a way, plump up the fish. Perhaps stuffing them from the backside would work.

The boys in the picture (Victor and Spencer) are putting their feet on the quilt green-grass border where footprints and dog and cat prints are stenciled.
I am going to enlist Robert in the search party.

Going Around in Circles Again -- Finally

I am pleased and proud to announce that my new pattern, Going Around in Circles Again, is finished and ready for sale. It has been a long time in development – since January 13 to be exact. My first circle post.

The circles were tested by 24 quilters and they liked them and said they were fun! See the test swap.

Now, the finished pattern is up on my Patterns page. Tomorrow, I will start refining my next pattern – Cake Walk.

We Can't See Them

Even though we live on an island in the California Delta, we can’t see the whales “Delta” and “Dawn” from our Bethel Island. The mother and baby swam up the Sacramento River a few days ago. They hung around the Port of Sacramento for a while, then headed back down the Sacramento River. They seem to be afraid of the Rio Vista Bridge. When they get near the bridge they turn around and head back up-river. Poor things. They have a 70 mile trip to get back home to the Pacific Ocean.

Found It

I just read Quiltinfitzy's blog and checked out Microsoft's virtual earth. I found my house. It is the smaller white one to the left of the gray one. Wow, that is really fun.

I take my walks up and down the lane that runs in front of the house.

Oh Woe is Me

My hard drive crashed last Thursday. We called Juan Caballero of Delta Computer Troubleshooters and he came and took it away. We had a chance to dust under the desk. Juan managed to recover some of the files, but not all of them.
We now have a new 232 GB hard drive in the same old box. I am working slowly to restore what I can. All the files in my accounting program are totally gone. I have to re-enter all of my invoices and purchases from January 1, 2007 to date. Most of the pattern files were recovered.
We had subscribed to a backup service – Mozy.com but they were unable to help us recover any of the data. What a waste of money. We are going to buy a backup storage device now.

Envelopes Away

These envelopes were mailed out to the swappers on our About.com Circle Swap this afternoon. The circles were random-sorted and tucked away in the self-addressed, stamped envelopes the participants sent in.
Before swapping, I scattered 12 of the circles on muslin to see how they looked together. Pretty good. I wish I could have kept them all.

Our Wild Life

A flash of red way up high in a tree. Hearing “screeeeee” in the morning. A red-wing blackbird has taken over our neighborhood. Sitting patiently on the back porch with my camera at ready, I’ve yet to get a good shot of him. He swoops past so fast, then alights on a waving tule stalk. By the time the button is pressed he is gone. (I don't know if you can see the red circle in the photo.)

I’m sure there is a nest in the tules in the ditch behind the house. I would be able see the nest if I were taller (maybe seven feet tall). When I walk close to the ditch he darts to a nearby light stand, and then to bushes near the ditch and keeps his eye on me. The nests are cups of vegetation, and are either built in shrubs or attached to marsh grass. Some nest predators include other birds, snakes, and the raccoon. We have raccoons around here and yesterday I saw a snake slithering across our driveway towards the ditch. Oh dear.

The picture is from A Field Guide to Western Birds, Roger Tory Peterson, Third Edition
Our bird, the Bicolored Blackbird, is unique to central California and has solid red epaulets without the yellow border seen in most male Red-wings. He seems to be defending a very large area. I’ve read that these male birds are polygynous and often have up to 10 mates.

A White Cat Crossed My Path

I reported on a black cat crossing my path in mid-February. That was Blackie. In April our white cat, Feather, decided he needed exercise too. He now walks along almost every time we go. Sometimes both Blackie and Feather walk with us. I love the companionship.