CQ RR Faces - Bertha is ready to Parteeee!

On my blog posting of October 8th, I introduced a couple of great ladies that were created for Gerry of the CQI Group. Gerry created the faces and sent them around to a small group for some CQ gussying up. Opal and Pearl were all dress up in their glory ready to party and poor Bertha just was sitting home pouting as she didn't have a thing to wear. Well, move over girls, Bertha is ready to party now.

Bertha before:


Bertha in her mink cape, hat and diamonds:



Girls just want to have fun!! Opal, Pearl & Bertha

A B&B Story of Ever Lasting Friendship.

Can I tell you a little story? I’ve been trying to think of something special I could do to celebrate my best friend Beverly’s birthday. Through the years, we try and send each other a present, a card, a note or even a phone call. This time I thought I would recap a little bit of our 44 years of being B&B (Barb & Bev) (Barbara being my first name).

In 1965 Beverly and I were two new girls in a new country and new school. Our fathers had been transferred to San Pablo Air Force Base near Seville, Spain. Being 13 and in a new environment you can imagine how scared we both were being the “new girls”. On that first day we turned to each other, introduced ourselves, and from that day we have remained closer than sisters.

Bev and I were baptized together the following spring on Palm Sunday – somehow God knew to bring the two of us together as he knew in the coming years we would go through so many ups and downs - good times, bads times and crazy times. (Bev, he knew there was something special in both of us - the best in me and the best in you - that would help us to survive what life threw our way as long as we had each other to rely on).

Bev has been the one constant in my life and the one person I turn to no matter what. It has been the most incredible 44 years of my life knowing that she has been beside me, supporting me in all my craziness and helping me get even crazier at times! One of the most incredible things about our lasting friendship is…in the 44 years of being more than sisters, we have only lived near each other for the 3+ years we lived in Spain. Going through our High School years together in Spain was the most wonderful experience and we had soooo much fun. In 1969 our parent were sent back to USA – Bev’s family moved to Texas, mine to Boston, MA. With the exception of a few years scattered here and there, we have made it a point to see each other at least once a year. Through the passing of her mother and brother, her wedding in Las Vegas, my wedding in Maui, the birth of my sons, all out heartbreaks and all our joys and all the other important days of our lives… B&B have been together. Many B&B trips have been taken too – canoeing and fishing at the Devil’s River, Chris’s parents mansion in CA, Wandering through Oaxaca & Puebla in Mexico (and OMG the Mexico City Airport fiasco!!!) Kansas City, Madri Gra, Las Vegas, jumping out of trees in Costa Rica, Camping out in the Rain at the Kerville Folk Festival, Maui, Sailing in Scituate Harbor with Rob, Cape Cod, PTown Galleries, numerous Seville High School Reunions …. the list goes on and on. How can we ever forget all the times we’ve laughed and cried together, the secrets that only we share and sreiously, how can we ever forget the times that we don’t even remember (Balloons! Brownies! Tequilla! LOL!!!! )

When Bev and I got married our husbands knew all along that we were a package deal… always have been, always will be. Poor Chris, always putting up with our craziness and Rob! OMG! He now has wifey #1 and wifey # 2 to contend with LOL! Hey, he still hasn’t bought me a diamond as big as the one you got! LOL! Bev, remember that poem we had to memorize in 8th grade? The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost? A few lines have always stuck with me:

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood… and sorry I could not travel both” and the ending…” I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference”

I’m so happy that we’ve have traveled all these years together down the same road. People have told us a million times that we look like sisters.... little do they know we are in more ways than one. Happy belated Birthday Bev - I love you, miss you and adore you…

we need to plan another B&B soon.

Mini Quilts

Happy Fall!

Over the past 5 weeks I have been teaching a Crazy Quilting class at a local quilting store and also trying to catch up on a few CQ RR's. Stepping back from CQ (somewhat) I took the time to complete two Mini Quilts for a Mini Swap I am in on the HGTV Board. The first mini (above) is a Fall mini and is for Christine. Using the orange and yellow fabric in this mini has certainly shown me that the two colors I most dread can certainly be pretty together. They are slowly growing on me LOL! With each mini sent out, the girls also send a little gift so I picked up some of the scraps from this mini and made Christine a little Needlebook - actually I lined it with some low-pile fleece which is awesome to use when beading... the beads don't roll away from you.

Here is the mini Christine made me in return - I just love it! She also sent me on of her beautiful pieces of tatting - gorgeous colors!!!!

My second mini was for the Christmas Mini Swap. This one was made for MyJack - it is a smaller version of the Fall mini - done up in blue and white snowy Christmas fabrics and embellished just a bit with some glittery trim and crystals. I also made her a small needlebook out of some of the scraps used on her mini. This one is in the mail and should be arriving to her house soon.... Oops - Surprise! I forgot to tell her it was on the way!

Crazy Quilt Faces RR

Want to see something that takes Crazy Quilting to a new level? When I received this package in the mail today I could not stop laughing! These wonderful blocks belong to Gerry and I just know she is going to flip out when she gets them home - they are hysterical!

Meet Opal & Pearl -



A few months ago I signed up for another RR with the CQI Group. This RR has us all creating CQ blocks depicting "faces" to be passed around for embellishment. Well today I received my next round. Inside the box I pulled out 2 completed blocks - Opal & Pearl. I love them! Without any further ado... my I present Ms. Opal in all her glory - created by the one and only Rose Anne


and Ms. Pearl with her beautiful peacock hat - decked out to the nines by Leslie - check out the pup in her arms - too cute!


Since I am blond (well most of the time -LOL!) I have chosen to work on Bertha. I haven't quite decide how I will deck her out but you can be sure she will be ready to party with these ladies in her finest apparel.

Update on Courtney's CQ Block

I really would like to get Courntey's block done by the beginning of next week so I can sew it up into a pillow. I've been working on it little by little and like the way it's coming along - and especially liking my new found "like" for orange and yellow.