Block #31 For Keisha X

When we first moved down here we left all of our family and friends thousands of miles away. We were alone and pretty soon after my husband’s job took him out of the country and I was truly alone. In those first few weeks, I got very lucky. The neighbors just across the hall from us were super nice and took us in. We had an instant group of friends and a church to go to. In truth, I don’t know any of those people anymore, it’s probably been 15 years since we have seen or heard from them. I often wonder how they are and where they are.

Keisha was that neighbor. I was always volunteering to help her out with baby showers, wedding showers, moving people…  One day, Keisha says to me “You are such a servant”. This was meant as a compliment, a testament to my faith. I, being young and immature, didn’t take it that way. I was infuriated. I was a strong, independent woman! I was no servant! How dare she! 15 years later, I get it and I hope that I can live up to that colossal compliment one day.

There are some moments in life that just stick with you…

First Month of Birds – In the Books!

I have quickly realized, sewing a bird a day is not going to work. It is just not practical. There is a reason my Christmas tree is still up. (at least I took the ornaments off). I started thinking about it and I would never make a quilt this way, sewing one 4 inch block a night. I would spend a day on the weekend sewing 10 or 20. So that is what I am going to do. Tomorrow I am going to set up the BIRD FACTORY. I will still post one a night, but the goal is to churn through a bunch on the weekend. I am also hoping to realize some efficiencies in the process. There is no way I can chain piece with foundation piecing but I can try to assembly line them. We shall see…

Credits:
My husband picked these fabrics.

Date Made: January 31, 2015  
Block #31
Days on Project: 31
Blocks Made: 34
Husband’s Picks: #10

For Keisha X.

Block #30 For Cathy J.

This block is for my former neighbor Cathy J. We love our new house but we miss all of our colorful neighbors. Cathy was a wonderful neighbor and she has the best dog, Wags. Wags was found by another neighbor in a very hot parking garage. Someone just left him there as a puppy to get rid of him. He bounced around through a few neighbors yards until one was found who would keep him. We think wags is a mix of a lab and basset. He is low to the ground and has a little extra around the middle (don’t we all…). When Wags smiles, he bears all of his teeth, he looks like he has just smelled something awful or he is about to bite your hand off. My husband has nick named him “Mr. Teeth”.

My old neighborhood was the kind of place where you knew the dog names more so than the people names. So our girls had plenty of play dates and friends. They also got plenty of attention from other humans on our walks as well. While they have an enormous yard to play in at our new house, frankly, they seem a little bored just hanging out with us.

Credits:
My husband picked these fabrics.

Date Made: January 30, 2015  
Block #30
Days on Project: 30
Blocks Made: 33
Husband’s Picks: #9

For Cathy J.

Block #29 For Mike N. (Tapeworm)

This block is dedicated to Mike N. Early last year, my bosses boss declared Mike N. to be my “work husband” after hearing the story below. And I have to admit, he is. We hang out at work, go to lunch together, look out for each other, get each other’s advice on things (mine is typically more useful than his). He also falls into the week of “These people know too much “stuff” on me so I better get their bird knocked out”. He is not the first work husband I have had, but hopefully he is the last.

And the story goes….

One day Mike, me and another co-worker of mine were at lunch at a vietnamese restaurant. I was feeling horrible: snotty, coughing, sweaty gross (sorry but you really need a visual for this). I ate all the meat in my noodle dish and didn’t each much of the noodles. Mike looks at me and says “You’re not going to finish that??” in an accusatory tone.

Me: “No”

Mike: “Well give it here”

Me: “No you really don’t want to do that, I am really sick”

Mike: “I don’t care, I never get sick, I’m immune to ebola”

Me and our other co-worker were so shocked when he started eating it we both started laughing so hard I nearly feel out of my chair. It was freakin’ hilarious. However, as we have gone out to lunch with others, I have realized that I’m not that special.There is a reason Kendra R. (Bird 27) nick-named him tapeworm…  To his credit, the ebola statement was made before the outbreak happened.

Credits:
My husband picked these fabrics.

Date Made: January 29, 2015  
Block #29
Days on Project: 29
Blocks Made: 32
Husband’s Picks: #8

For Mike N. (Tapeworm)

Block #28 For Nona

This block is dedicated to Nona. Nona is my co-worker, friend and confident. I realized at lunch today that we have conversations I almost never have with anyone else. The same can be said for yesterday’s bird as well. So I guess this is the: “They know my dirty secrets, so I better get their birds out quickly” week. But in all seriousness, it is nice to be around people you can be completely honest with.

Nona is also my personality opposite. At our work, we take this personality quiz/class. It is all about learning how to communicate with each other and understanding our own personality traits. We get ranked by colors and most people are predominately two of the four: Red, Yellow, Green and Blue. Yellows are extroverts; happy, creative people. Reds are fiery “get ‘er done” types. Blue want lots of detail an are typically introverts. And Greens want everyone to be happy.

I think she is a Yellow/Red and I am Blue/Red. I’m hopelessly introverted and have a low amount of patience for people who are not moving fast enough. Nona is creative, colorful and just fun to be around. This project has made me realize that I surround myself with people who are not like me. I enjoy being around happy, fun people and find my little introverted bootie riding the happiness bubble of all the “yellows” and “greens” in my life.

So in honor of them, I picked my most colorful bird.

Credits:
My husband picked these fabrics. An tonight he said: “Hey it looks like a sonic boom coming off the nose of the bird” – “Ok.”

Date Made: January 25, 2015  
Block #28
Days on Project: 28
Blocks Made: 31
Husband’s Picks: #7

For Nona D.

Block #27 for Kendra R.

This block is dedicated to Kendra R. Kendra is my co-worker and good friend. With triplets and a full time job she is the very definition of a super mom. The stories she tells about the funny things her kids do and how she manages their crazy schedule crack me up. My favorite story is about how she deals with chores. Hopefully I will tell it right…

With three kids, keeping track of whose turn it is to do chores and if they did them, on top of cooking dinner, helping with homework, and playing chauffeur is nearly impossible for two people to manage. So she devised a system for the chores and put the kids in charge. Yeah you heard me… they are in charge. Each week a different kid is in charge and they are responsible for reminding the other two to get their chores done and making sure they get them done. It’s pure genius. It’s almost as if she is raising little project managers.

The lunch story today was pretty awesome too, although not exactly “fit for print”…

Credits:
My husband picked these fabrics.

Date Made: January 27, 2015  
Block #27
Days on Project: 27
Blocks Made: 31
Husband’s Picks: #6

For Kendra R.

Block #26 for Brandon M.

This block is dedicated to Brandon M. Brandon is a former co-worker of mine and over the years he has been my colleague, my Project Manager, my boss, and my vendor. Such is the very small world that is IT.

Brandon also has the distinction of being the first person I made (and finished) a quilt for. Once you finish one, it’s all down hill from there! It was a snoopy quilt, I remember scouring eBay for the perfect snoopy fabric. Yes, eBay… way back then it was just about the only place online to buy fabric. It was also before digital cameras so I don’t have a picture of it. It is amazing to me how things have changed in such a short period of time.

I think it was for his first child and it was during a time when every guy at work had a pregnant wife. We had baby showers at work every Friday for three months. It was a very baby time of the year.

Credits:
My husband picked these fabrics.

Date Made: January 26, 2015  
Block #26
Days on Project: 26
Blocks Made: 30
Husband’s Picks: #5

For Brandon M.

Block #25 For Travis

This block is dedicated to my brother-in-law Travis. I married into a sports family. My brother-in-law is a baseball coach at a junior college, my sister-in-law is in sports medicine, my father-in-law was a basketball coach (and later a principle), and my mother-in-law and husband will watch sports over anything else on TV. So they put up with me…

Travis is a great coach, having taken his team to the Junior College world series. Which is a pretty big deal. And now he has a second job, daddy. Thanks to his new job, I got to participate in the most stinkin’ cute baby shower I had ever been to. It was all baseball food and decorations with popcorn, peanuts, candy bars, nachos, and hot dogs. I also made my first and probably only sports themed quilt.

Credits:
My husband picked these fabrics.

Date Made: January 25, 2015  
Block #25
Days on Project: 25
Blocks Made: 29
Husband’s Picks: #4

For Travis L.

Block #24 For Jennifer L.

This block is dedicated to my sister-in-law Jennifer L. Earlier last year she and her husband adopted a baby boy and he is perfect. I’m an Aunt!

My mother-in-law is in love. She was visiting us last weekend and I took her to a knit shop she likes. As she was checking out, she told the lady all about him and pulled out her brag book showing him off. It was adorable, you can just see her love for him every time she talks about him.

Yesterday, they were able to make it official and finalize the adoption. So congratulations Jen, you are a wonderful mom and doing a great job! We are so happy for you guys.

Credits:
My husband picked these fabrics.

Date Made: January 24, 2015  
Block #24
Days on Project: 24
Blocks Made: 27
Husband’s Picks: #3

For Jennifer L.

Block #23 For Kay

This block is dedicated to my good friend Kay. I had to do some research on this one to make sure I got the dates right. Kay and I met in a quilting class in 2009 at the International Quilt Festival. I had been going to festival to shop for several years but this was the first time I had ever taken a class and I was so freakin excited. The class was HORRIBLE, worst teacher I have ever had (we will keep her name out of it) and even the other classmates were pretty annoying. That is how Kay and I met each other, giving up on day 2 in a 3 day course annoyed by the people sitting beside us.

We have taken classes together each year since. Every year we get up at the butt crack of dawn to register and then count the days until we get to class. We don’t always pick winners, but we always have fun. It quickly became less about taking classes and more about the one week of the year we got to hang out together. I know at some point, there will come a year when one of us can’t make it, but for now, we will keep our yearly reunion in October.

Credits:
My husband picked these fabrics. He’s pretty proud of this block. Now if I could just get him to make some of these birds…

Date Made: January 23, 2015  
Block #23
Days on Project: 23
Blocks Made: 26
Husband’s Picks: #2

For Kay