Uppity-Mama

Merry Chrismukkawanza!

Whatever you celebrate,

I hope your day is filled with all the things you love!

My New Tattoo

Done by the amazing Swag at Tattoo Lounge.  I love it so much! The B is for Beckett.

The Long Beach Quilt Show

I had so much fun Thursday night which was the "preview night" for the show.  I went with Lisa and we grabbed some mexican food and margaritas before it opened at 5.  That may partially account for my spending there, but really what else was I gonna do?!  Of course I am decked out in my LAMQG t-shirt and large tote bag!

I have some bad pictures and some good links to share with you.  

I love this antique quilt...doesn't that design look incredibly modern and yet kind of art deco?  Just 2 colors.  Love it.

My main objective at the show was to try out some longarm quilting machines.  Awe-some. I am insanely considering acquiring one of these and squishing it into my studio somehow.  Oh, how the needle just glides over the surface of the quilt.  NO basting is required when you use one of these puppies, either, and most have a stitch regulator which means that when I speed up or slow down, which I do often, the stitches still look even.  But the frame you use is huge and they are cost more than a pretty penny.  My favorite lines were Innova and Nolting.

Pretty awesome hawaiian quilt, don't you think?

I bought a fantastic iron.  It was pricey, although supposedly I got the quilt show special price...and the mini travel iron came with it.   I have been using it for 2 days now and it is amazing. 
And to complement my iron I got a Miracle cover for the ironing board.  It has always annoyed me how the fabric will stick to the cotton cover and make it difficult to shift.  This solves that problem completely, as well as others.
The only thing missing from the evening was my friend Capril.  She and Lisa had gone together last year and so she may have felt Capril's absence even more deeply than I did.  We both agreed that Capril would have loved the quilt below...it's oranges and feeling of sunshine along with the beautiful quilting would have been right up her alley.

Mira's Party

Mira turned 7!  As you may have read, we made the potholders for favors.  I wrapped each one around a wooden spoon and tied them with ric rac...then forgot to take a photo of them all in a bunch. :-(

We also made this garland out of paper plates:

The girls decorated aprons and chef hats...

 

 

They made pizza and cupcakes...

 

   

 and most Hawley parties are not complete without a bit of karaoke!

 

 

Best Family Photographer!

I can't believe how lucky we got.  We bid on a session with Mindy Pastel of Pastel Photography at a school auction this year and won it!  Here are a few samples from our session but definitely go see more of us and other families at her blog. 

She is truly amazing. 

 

 

 

Gear Up

The lovely and uber talented Jane has created another fabulous logo (she did the one you see on the upper left for The Modern Quilt Guild).  Now, the Los Angeles chapter has our own logo and you can get your official LAMQG gear here.  Choose from a wide variety of items from water bottles to thongs.  My choices (for now)are the beach tote in mocha (I plan to fill it with fabric, etc. at the upcoming Long Beach Quilt Festival!) and a spaghetti tee. 

Quiltinis and Karaoke

Last night I hosted a party for the LAMQG.  It was so much fun getting to know everyone on another level...and meet some husbands, too! 

I created a signature cocktail for the event:  The Quiltini!

Here are the ingredients:

Absolut Mango, Trader Joe's Mango Passionfruit Juice, fresh mint, sugar and a squeeze of lime.  I rimmed the glassed with spicy salt.  Most of us really liked them, though some didn't want the salt. 

  

And then I taught my 13 year old son, Zander and housekeeper, Janet how to make them.  Is that good parenting?

But look how much fun they're having!

Lisa, Shaina, and Emily.

Everyone brought appetizers, desserts and drinks. And Lisa made me these beautiful potholders as a hostess gift!

 

I should have made name tags for the husbands because, now I can't remember everyone's name, but I do know who they belong to!  So this is Kelly's husband, Kelly, Emily, Alissa and Katie.

Bunch o' husbands (and Zander).

Katie and my hubby.

   

Ramona made both her blouse AND her husband's shirt.  On the back of his shirt she put their family crest!  How awesome is that?

Teri and hubby, and Melissa (with newbie, Piper tucked inside!).

So we ate and drank...

...and then came Karaoke!

I fear Shaina and I hogged the microphones a bit. 

See Emily and I on the couch doing the cabbage patch?  Yikes!  But Zander and Lori were doing an awsome rendition of Single Ladies!

Check out the fabulous shoes on Latifah here...though she flat out refused to sing into the mike, she WAS singing along!

And Lori and her hubby even did a duet.  How sweet!  And speaking of sweet, they brought me 2 rolls of cookie dough from La Brea Bakery with a bottle of creamy milk.  I think that is a brilliant idea for a hostess gift, don't you?

My "Hipstaprints"

I have been messing around with Hipstamatic, an iphone photo app.  I really like the way it can turn an ordinary photo into something retro, which seems to immediately add a bit of sentimentality and art to it.

Here are some I took this weekend on a trip to Santa Barbara and a farm in Moorpark.

 
 

Flea Market Treasures!

I can't tell you how happy I am with my finds today at the Rose Bowl Flea Market and last week at the Santa Monica Airport Flea Market.  I love the bottoms of the green wine glasses.  Can you see them?

The yellow candleholders in particular are killing me!  I grabbed them and practically squealed with delight when I handed over a mere 20 bucks for the pair.  Here they are a little closer:

As we were walking out with the awesome bench below we were told by a very disappointed couple that they were just going back to check it out again...you snooze, you lose people!

I'm waiting for guests to come before I use these amethyst wine goblets I scored.  Aren't they fantastic?

 

But I am letting the kids enjoy ice cream out of these thicker/less fragile blue cuties.

And I know this magazine rack needed me and my Living Etc. magazines.

Fabric Giveaway Winner...

Here are the names of all the entrants.  Thank you for participating and thank you for your comments.  SARAH KATE, I really appreciate your comment...I get so much from the generosity of others blogs, it's nice to know I am giving something back. 

 

All of your names went into this bag:

My daughter Violet reached in...

 

....and pulled out...

Congratulations Krystyn!