Friday Favorites

Raindrops on roses?  Whiskers on kittens?

Nah, those aren't my favorite things.

But chocolate cake is.  My sister knows this and bought me a Chocolate Layer Cake candle:

My house smells like chocolate cake.  I can't think of anything better...

... except Hello Kitty:

One of my favorite students (I love all of my students equally) thought I needed a Christmas Hello Kitty for my collection.  Thanks, Celeste!

I'm spending my day after Christmas quilting.  I couldn't think of anything I'd rather do.  I realized as I was quilting that I was absolutely in love with one of the colors in this current quilt:

I think this color is my new favorite color.  That photo is pretty true to color on my computer screen.  It's earthy and warm but has a gray overtone.

I was happily quilting until this happened:

Oh the sadness of an empty spool!

Fortunately, I had a spare.  And since I know you are going to ask:

Perma Core Taupe 659.  You are welcome.

Too Cute!

My favorite lawyer used my Squared Away pattern and made this bold and wonderful quilt:

I adore her and I adore this quilt!

If you are interested in the Cutie Pattern or a Cutie Collection (fabric), I'm thrilled to let you know that my favorite online quilt shop is offering a 20% discount (look under the photo of the shop for the code) until Sunday.

HURRY!

Squared Away

Remember this quilt?

It's my Squared Away pattern.  It is now available for purchase online.  Look for it here.

While you are on the Quilt Basket website, read all about their Cutie collection.  They offer many Cutie Packs of fabric that will work with any of their Cutie Patterns.  You get to mix and match and choose what you like!

If that wasn't awesome enough, they are offering a 20% discount through December 21.  The code is under the shop photo on this page.

Happy shopping!  I hope that you love the Cuties as much as I do!

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 139

Hotel Room?  What hotel room?

This post is short and written on my phone because the wifi is awful in my hotel.  Wifi isn't the point of this hotel, though; the beach is the point. 

The hotel staff has a sense of humor, though:

At least this animal didn't attack me!

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 138

I had a harrowing day today and was relieved to make it back to my hotel room, misplaced kitchen tile and all.

Today was apparently "Debby gets attacked by animals" day.

It started with a Capuchin Monkey:

Cindy had a death grip on my hair.

A couple of camels got in on the action:

I was next attacked by a vicious, 4-month old ant-eater:

I think she was part vampire.

Two baby pigs tried to root me to death:

I narrowly escaped.

When a huge, dangerous alligator attacked, I was paralyzed with fear:

Like I said -- HUGE!

I stared down the owl:

and he left me alone.

I kept my distance from the porcupines:

I've been poked by thousands of needles over the years, but 1,000 all at once didn't sound like much fun.

We fled this dangerous place and went to another, hoping for peace and safety.

When we parked our car and saw this box of tarps:

and read the warnings about vultures destroying your car (windshield wipers, rubber seals on windows, etc.), I was very afraid, but we decided to leave the car parked in that vulture-infested area anyway.

As soon as we got back to the parking lot, hubby inspected the rental car and declared free of vulture-induced damage:

Phew!  Close one!

I am once again safe in my crazy-making hotel room where I hope to sleep free from any more animal attacks!

(Do you think an animal could attack the kitchenette and destroy the misplaced kitchen tile?  I think it would be easier to look at a hole than a turn-sideways block in the backsplash.)

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 137

It's important to stay hydrated in the heat.  I take this warning seriously:

Beet/celery juice for breakfast:

S'mores hot chocolate from Serendipity3 for dessert:

They balance each other out.

In between beverages, I got to see tug boats at work:

Some incredibly boring beaches (yawn!):

And Art Decoo manhole covers.

As you can see, I'm suffering.  

May I suffer like this forever.

The tile in my hotel room kitchenette is still driving me nuts, though.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 136

After yesterday's blinding discovery in my hotel room (an error in kitchen tile placement -- gah!), I went looking for more soothing sights today.

How about a window display made of old sewing machines?

There were hundreds more inside of the shop, too!

And the reason that the hotel room is irrelevant:

I walked my feet off today, just enjoying the view:

Ahhhh.., much better.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 135

I said I wasn't traveling for work again in 2014, but I didn't say that I wasn't traveling.

I'm back in a hotel room again, and this jumped out at me:

Do you see it?  There is no way this was intentional.  How are people supposed to sleep with this screaming at them all night long?

Commitment Issues

I tend to over-commit to book series and television series.

Most recently, I've been consumed by the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child.  These are not "The Great American Novel" because 1.  they are written by a Brit and 2. they are just fun to read.

I just finished reading (listening to) Personal, #19 in this series.  I am now patiently waiting for the next book to be written and published.

These books are so much fun to listen to while I'm quilting or driving.  I like the narrator, they are fairly easy to follow, and they are quite entertaining.  I don't think everything in life needs to be serious; sometimes 'entertaining' is a high enough calling.

In case anyone is thinking, "I saw the Jack Reacher movie.  It was great!  I didn't know there were books, too," I warn you that you might not want to say this to me and just maybe we shouldn't be friends.  Tom Cruise IS NOT Jack Reacher.  I feel very strongly about that.

Grand Illusions -- clue 1

I am so excited to be working on Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusions Mystery Quilt!  It comes at the perfect time -- right after I return home from 11 months of travel.  I look forward to this every year and working on it is my reward for working hard all year.

I'm making mine scrappy and in the colors that Bonnie recommended:

I've recently adopted a young quilter.  She has quickly sewn through every kit quilt I've prepared for her and is also looking forward to working on Grand Illusion.  I gave her yardage for her quilt:

I think this one will keep her busy for a while!