So, yeah, I was going to try to post weekly, but THEN, I went to California to get the boys all set at their respective colleges, and THEN Sweetie and I both got really really really sick with a sinus infection that lasted three weeks and THEN I had a big backlog of stuff to do, including working  -by that I mean quilting on some awesome quilts made by my friends.

We had a great time in Santa Barbara,GO GAUCHOS!!

 met Kim down there and got the younger one all set for school.  We got him the coolest orange beach cruiser and checked out some great restaurants and stuff.  We took a side trip to Ventura and ventured into "Superbuzzy" headquarters!!  Kelly was soooo nice, and let us wander the warehouse of her online store that specializes in Japanese fabric and other Japan-abilia like HELLO KITTY. We shopped, shopped, left for lunch, came back and shopped more.  Sweetie was very patient.  We got some luscious loot.

I'll take him, please!

Part of my haul

Happy Mochi Yum Yum by Monica Solorio-Snow

Even the scraps are yummy

Mystery Bakery set!

Is it weird that I am a grown woman, with a law degree no less, and I still love Hello Kitty???  I think this guy would stick up for me:

Antonio Garay, NFL football player, Hello Kitty lover. Picture snagged from Yahoo!

L.A. was our last stop, where we met up with older son, had some delicious food and went to the mall for some apartment and college essentials.  His apartment is perfect for him, little kitchen, balcony, close to the bars (WHAT??) well, he is 21. . .

 Go Bruins!!

OK, so here is what has been on and off the machine since the last post:

Wedding quilt, half quilted

A beautiful log cabin quilt made by some of my quilting buddies in California, for one of their daughter's wedding.  I chose a grapevine and grapes panto for this queen size beauty.

Close up of quilting

"Modern Baby" by Gina:

With Minkee on the back!  SOOO cute!

Here is Kim's blue and orange quilt, very bright and happy.

And, Jeannie's SF Giants quilt, with fleece on the back:

and . . . 

Dr. Suess quilt by Gina

I also did an ABC's quilt for Gina, but forgot to snap a pic.

And, here is what I have been working on, on the design wall - a memory quilt made from calendar year tea towels, a commissioned quilt from my Aunt for her mother.  It will be two sided when done.  A great way to preserve the towels and see them all out at the same time.

OH, and we went to the New Mexico State Fair, yes to check out the fried foods, but also to check out my quilts that I entered.  I entered 6 items and won 4 ribbons - a first, a second and two thirds.  My table-runner and a wall-hanging did not place.  Here is Spiked Melon proudly wearing its third place ribbon:

 
Cooking has been kept to a minimum, given the sinus infections, but when we did feel better, we made cookies.  Princess cookies with our little princess.

Everyone say "sprinkles!"

Well that about does it to catch up.  Chat at ya soon, and until then, I will be going to a quilt show and vendor fair on Saturday, watching football on Sunday, and quilting every chance I get. Oh, and in case I don't get back here before then, Happy Birthday to me on the 13th.  Cheers.

Queso . . and Green Chile

Queso, it's been ages since I posted.  I am going to try something new.  Weekly posting with categories:  What's on the design wall?  What's on the Quilting Frame?  What's on the stove?  and whatever else I can think of.

Before I get to all that, I really need to be marketing my fledgling business and the website is ALMOST READY.  www.sunshinequilting.com is the site.  Check it regularly and one day it will magically appear.  Thanks to Lucy at Pearcenet designs.

SO, What's on the Quilting Frame?  The Nolting 24 pro in the Sunshine Quilting studio is getting a workout!
Here are the baby quilts I did this week:

First up is this adorable cars quilt made by my friend Jeannie.  I quilted each car differently.  The blue one has flames, the orange one has a surfboard on top, the yellow one a banana,the purple one has a star, and the red one (that has the country boy in it) has rope like a rodeo cowboy.

Next up is an airplane quilt (transportation theme here)

Loopy planes in the borders and empty spaces, filled in by loop de loops:

And Kim's playful kitties needed some string to tangle up in, so I quilted loops and tangles all over.

And here is what's on the design wall.  I had some leftovers from making a quilt (to be seen on this very blog after I quilt it), so I arranged the blocks thusly:

Then I pulled them down and came up with this pinwheel setting.  I like much better.

And, what's cooking?  As the title of this post implies, it is green chile season here in New Mexico.  If you don't know how this works, it is pretty cool.  Folks line up to buy a box or two or three of chile (15 lbs or so each), then take it outside the store and have it roasted on an open flame.  Then it is placed in bags and it "sweats" for a few hours so you can peel the skin off.  Wearing rubber gloves of course.  Then when you are   done, you put the roasted, peeled chile in zippered bags and freeze.  When needed, you take a bag out, defrost, add garlic, salt, and add to recipes, to eggs, to pizza, burgers, mashed potatoes, as desired.  Here is Sweetie laboring over the chile.

 And the finished product.   I know this looks like an episode of "Breaking Bad" (which is filmed here in the Albuquerque area) but it is really legit.  ALTHOUGH now that I say that, this stuff is treated like a valuable 'commodity' that people will ration, bargain for, trade and hoard.  It goes something like, oh crap, I only have three bags of chile left and it's only June -- the harvest is two months away.  Maybe I will call Dad and see if he has any left - I can trade him for some when we get our new supply."  SERIOUSLY.

SO my recipe of the week is anything and everything with green chile.

And, to wrap up this post, what have we been up to?  Getting 2 kids ready for college and one off to preschool.  Visiting Carlsbad Caverns, entering quilt shows.  Oh yeah, I won 2d place at one local fair, and then 1st place quilt and best of show in needle arts in another fair.  WHOO HOO!!

Tomorrow, I am taking my entries to the New Mexico State Fair.  Awesome!!  Wish me luck, see you next time.