Block #77 For Carrie M.

Carrie M. was the office manager at one of my previous jobs. She helped me at one of the most critical and chaotic moments of my life. Not to get into too many details. But my husband used to work off shore, one time he was on his way out (as in – on a helicopter) and I was on the road into work from an appointment. I got a phone call. His dad was in the hospital and it was critical. I needed to find a way to get him off back on land ASAP. I freaked out. I pulled over, couldn’t get ahold of anybody, didn’t know who to call at his work. So I called my work to tell them what was going on. Carrie picked up the line and all I told her was my husbands name and the company he worked for. Ten minutes and many tears later she called me. She got ahold of his boss and he was to be on the next helicopter back in. Some people are in your life at just the right moments. And I will never forget that moment. That was the last time my husband ever went off shore.

Sorry for the sad story. When thinking about what to say for her bird, there was no other story I could tell. She was my lifeline that day.

Date Made: March 21st, 2015
Block #77
Days on Project: 81
Blocks Made: 80

For Carrie M.

Block #76 for Angie R.

Angie is the wife of Erik, who received a bird earlier. But ironically, I met both of them separately before they knew each other. Friends of friends sort of thing… Regardless, Angie and Erik are perfect for each other. Basically, he’s nuts and she gets him. I told a story of Erik’s 40th birthday party and how crazy it was for his bird. She was responsible for almost all of the craziness. They are a fun couple and we miss hanging out with them.

Angie and I used to shop together, I hated shopping and I could tell she wasn’t the biggest fan of that activity either. But when she did go shopping… she was freakin’ serious about it. I remember going to the outlet mall with her and in one store I was done after about 10 minutes. I spent the next hour sitting in a very comfy chair reading a book on my phone and holding the growing mountain of clothes she had picked out. Strangely enough, we were pretty well matched shopping buddies. We each knew what we wanted and the goal was to get in and out of there. Her list on that day was just a bit longer than mine…

About the birds:

Today I reinstated the bird factory. Each bird typically takes 45 minutes. I thought, let’s streamline this process and see if I can gain some efficiencies. I made 5 birds in 3 hours. That is again of only one bird if I did the math right. smh…

Date Made: March 21st, 2015
Block #76
Days on Project: 80
Blocks Made: 80

For Angie R.

Block #75 for Norma B.

Growing up our church family was our family. You spent every Sunday morning, night and Wednesday night with the same families and kids. We went to church camp together, youth conferences, and tons of events. I had friends at school, but my church family were the ones I was with the most. Stuck together whether you liked it or not.

Some of my fondest memories was of going to Norma and Doug’s house after church to eat snacks, play cards and hang out. You see, our parents were rebels. They were the young people in the church and the older members of the church looked on in dismay as they played cards, let us get our ears pierced and go to school dances… Yes just like in Footloose, DANCES… Ok, so maybe it wasn’t that extreme but it was pretty funny.

I remember one night in particular, the older kids were hanging out. And of course we always wanted to be with the older kids. We were complete brats. That night they decided to play a trick on us, they turned off all the lights and started playing Micheal Jackson’s “Thriller” to scare us. It’s a bit fuzzy, but I am sure I freaked out.

Date Made: March 18th, 2015
Block #75
Days on Project: 77
Blocks Made: 75

For Norma B.

Block #74 For Karen O.

Karen O. is one of my former neighbors. Karen is the ultimate dog lover. At one point she had a huge great dane in a small patio home. “Oh, they are just lap dogs” she would say. Her lap was no where near big enough, neither was her couch. Seeing that dog play with our normal sized dogs was hilarious. It was just about the right size to be  used as  a horse for a hobbit.

She went from that to two tiny fur balls, Bailey and Jackson. I called Jackson “Dr. Daniel Jackson”. I just couldn’t not. I should probably also confess I also had a fish named “Dr. Daniel Jackson”. Let’s not use the word obsession…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 

Date Made: March 17th, 2015
Block #74
Days on Project: 76
Blocks Made: 74

For Karen O.

Block #73 For Matt Ch.

I worked with/for Matt on two separate occasions. The first time ’round he was my project manager and then became my boss. He hired me again several years later when he was everybody’s boss.

I remember my first day back there. I was talking to some folks I didn’t know from before and they asked, “How did you come to know about this job?” I said, “Oh I used to work for Matt.” They said “Matt who?”. Apparently, over the 5 years I was gone, “Matt” had become “Matthew” and no one knew who I was talking about. When they figured it out, I was just being disrespectfull. To this day, I have a hard time calling him anything other than Matt.

Quick Funny Story

I am not what you would call a neat freak. I am not what you would even call neat. Matt is. One day I picked him up for lunch and, as usual, there was a fine layer of dust on my dash. He immediately wipes it off with his hand. And all that dust falls directly on his sharp black suit. To quote one of the best TV series and movies ever “Why you always gotta be so tidy… You shouldn’t be so tidy”

Date Made: March 16th, 2015
Block #73
Days on Project: 75
Blocks Made: 73

For Matt Ch.

Block #72 For Bob

I had big plans this weekend. Make a ton of birds, get out of this bird every night nonsense. Well, once again… That didn’t happen. I did some cutting though…

Many moons ago, I worked at a fabulous place. The people were great, lots of holidays and an ocean view. Unfortunately it was also 70 miles from my house ( I think I’ve mentioned this place before). That is how I met Bob. Bob drove the carpool I was in and made it possible for me to read and sleep on the way to work every morning.

I have kept in touch with Bob over the years, we actually see each other exactly once a year as Bob does our taxes. It’s kinda weird, only seeing a person once a year for 2 hours. The first 30 minutes is always dedicated to catching up, sharing pictures and all the latest happenings.

I heard from him out of turn today, about 350 days sooner than expected. Bob had recently had some health issues and texted to let his friends know how he was. I felt like a heel as I didn’t even recognize his number. Grrr… But I certainly saved his name this time. Best wishes my friend.

Date Made: March 15th, 2015
Block #72
Days on Project: 74
Blocks Made: 72

For Bob

Block #70 for Kelley M.

Tonight’s bird is dedicated to my friend and former co-worker Kelley M. I have a bunch of crafty, quilty, sewing friends and she is one of the coolest. She is a wiz with her embroidery machine and comes up with some of the neatest stuff. I have often been tempted to ask her to make my quilt labels. But I don’t really bring much to the table by way of trade.

Kelley made a comment on Facebook on one of these birds, she said “I wish I could just roll around in your stash”. That is why she gets this very cool bird and a confession…

While it is true I have bought only 5 new fabrics for these birds, they actually make my stash look bigger than it really is. Years and years ago, I decided that I could make The Colourful Quilt. It’s huge and I bought a kit for it from Patricia. It was a complete disaster and I busted up the kit which has about dozens of 4 inch strips, most of which are batiks. The majority of these birds have come from that one kit. So while my stash is pretty decent, I don’t need a whole separate room for it. Yet…

Date Made: March 14th, 2015
Block #71
Days on Project: 73
Blocks Made: 71

For Kelley M.

Block #70 for Roland

Hummingbird #70 is dedicated to my uncle Roland. He and I are not that far apart in years and he grew up having to take me with him everywhere. I even have the very best photo of me putting curlers in his hair when he was in high school and I was 5 or 6 years old. I have used it as blackmail before (sent it to his daughter) but I will leave it off the interwebs… But trust me, it’s good.

My uncle Roland is an expert Bowler. I think his name is still on the wall at the bowling alley for bowling a near perfect game, just one point shy. He tried for years to teach me how to bowl. I was always leading off on the wrong foot or something. I could never get it right. It became a tradition when he and his family would come home at Christmas, we would all go bowling Christmas night. By that time, he was mostly just doing trick shots as there was no one else in the family that could offer up any competition at all and he had long given up on teaching me. Sufficed to say, my name never made it up on that wall.

Since the accident, I have seen him and his family more in the last 2 years then I had in the last 10. And, for the first time in my life, it feels like we are both adults. It’s weird.

Date Made: March 13th, 2015
Block #70
Days on Project: 72
Blocks Made: 70

For Uncle Roland

Block #69 for Patricia S.

Patricia S. was the owner of the best quilt shop in Texas. Patricia sold me my very first “real” sewing machine and I took my first quilting class in her store. She is also one of the kindest, sweetest people I know.

Her shop was destroyed by Ike and I miss her and her store very much. But at least I get to see her every year at quilt festival. She still remembers my name after all these years and she gives…hands down…the best hug you have ever had in your life. A bone crushing hug that screams “Hey, I am really glad you are here”.

The most special people are the people who make other people feel special.

Date Made: March 12th, 2015
Block #69
Days on Project: 71
Blocks Made: 69

For Patricia S.