Another online friend in real life

For me, one of the highlights of our weekend in the Twin Cities was getting to meet for the first time another online friend with whom I've been corresponding for quite a while. Between the wedding and the reception on Saturday, Jess, Alex and I headed off to Baker's Square for a visit with LiEr and her husband, Dave, and their girls Emily, Jenna and Kate. They turned out to be every bit as delightful as I expected them to be... such a lovely family... and we had a great visit (and yummy pie).

Here are Jess and I with LiEr and the girls.

Alex, who was manning my camera, didn't make it into the photos. Boo.

The girls are so cute and so sweet. They're also normal kids and got a little restless before the grownups got done visiting, so I asked them if they'd each draw a picture for me. They love to draw, and went right to work. Here are the drawing gifts they gave me.

Unfortunately, there were only two colors of crayons on our table, yellow and brown. Kate ended up with a yellow one (above), so her picture was pretty pale, but some editing at least made it show up a little better. Very cute, huh?

Jenna's picture (below) was of two butterflies getting married! Love!

Emily drew the very hot sun we've been having for so long. It's beating down on an unhappy cloud and making it sweat rain! (We did get .94" of rain last night - HURRAY!!)

Thanks, girls! I love your pictures!

I will soon (that's a relative term) be testing another pattern for LiEr! And of course I'll show it to you when it's done. Meanwhile, I have nothing in the works at the sewing machine! Don't worry... I'll think of something!

Too Cool for School Satchel

Welllll.... the suspense is over! Drumroll, please! Here, finally, is my last (as opposed to "latest", which I'm currently working on) sewing project, which you got a sneak peek at here (and you've been breathlessly waiting to see ever since - ha!). It's called the Too Cool for School Satchel, and the pattern is from the new book, A Bag for All Reasons, by Lisa Lam. The print fabric is "Skiff", from the Dawn colorway of the Outside Oslo collection, designed by none other than Jessica Jones!

I wrote a review of the pattern, so if you're interested in the details, you can read it on Jess's blog. I particularly enjoyed making it, because I knew it was going to be a gift for my California friend, Cindy.

Yes, the very same Cindy who made me the awesome quilt! It was a surprise for her, along with the lunch bucket I'd made earlier. It was so fun making and exchanging gifts.

I cannot leave out our fabulous photographer. Here he is, busy multi-tasking. He had also been holding one more camera, but I couldn't resist grabbing it from him to get this shot. Always such a busy guy!

Yep, it's Cindy's husband, Mark. You may remember having seen him before. He's an all-around super guy, and I'm sure (hoping) also a good sport for goofy photos of himself! At least I know he's a good sport about paying up on the bets he loses. Heheh.

Friends, fun, felines, and a first

Long story short, I've had company this week... some very special friends from California. We met online, and then we actually met in person when they visited me here three years ago. So it was great fun to have them come again this week! You may have noticed their comments on here from time to time... Mark and "Live a Colorful Life" (a.k.a. Cindy). Mark takes great pride in having grown up in Minnesota!

Cindy and I have sewing in common, although where I am a "bag lady", she is a quilter... a FABULOUS quilter. And she made me a quilt, which she brought along with her this trip!!

Here's the back of it, along with Cindy's and my arms/fingers. :)

And here's the front. And the 'first'... an actual photo of me (with face included) on my own blog. Ack! I'll let you figure out which one of us is which. :)

This quilt is so cool!  Cindy put a lot of thought and planning into it, choosing fabrics that she just knew were 'me'. You can click on the photos above for a larger view, and here are some closer shots of the fabric. Just look at those CATS! You couldn't get fabric any more 'me' than that! Add the bare branches of a Minnesota winter and some snowflakes... how right on!

There are also a lot of paw prints:

And some "Kitty Chronical" articles. (It was Japanese fabric, so the spelling and translation is pretty interesting in places.) The back has more newsprint fabric (with better spelling this time), and lots of very "catty" articles to read. So fun!!

Here's a closer shot of one article:

The quilt means so much to me, because it was made entirely with me in mind, by a terrific friend! I love it! Thank you soooo much, Cindy!!

Oh... umm... Josie loves it, too. I had it on the table to read some of the articles yesterday, and before I got it put away, she discovered it.

I think she thinks it was made specially for her! Obviously it's quite comfy!

So, a cat quilt with real cat hair on it. How authentic, huh? But that's it. She's done. The quilt is MINE!!

Okay, I know I told you yesterday that I'd be showing you my latest sewing project. But for reasons I won't go into right now, I've decided not to show it yet... and probably not for a week or so. Nothing's wrong... it's been photographed, gifted, and received (by Cindy, incidentally). But it's gotta wait for a bit. Sorry. But don'tcha just love secrets (when you know them, at least)? Ahhh.... the suspense!!! ;)

I had company again!

This time it was people, not cats. :-) People that I'd never met in person before.

It's been nearly a year since I met Cindy over the internet. She tracked me down at my blog via a comment I'd left on Jess's blog and discovered we had many things in common... not the least of which are granddaughters that are close to the same age, have dark curly hair, and even look somewhat alike. She emailed me, and we've been corresponding and growing closer as friends ever since.

Another thing we have in common is Minnesota. Cindy and her husband, Mark, live in Fresno, California... but Mark grew up in MN, not all that far from here! He's kind of a "displaced farmer" and really misses MN and farm life. (If you recall a few of my posts last winter in which I mention a "Mark", that was him. I just had to let him see pics of all the "lovely" SNOW he was missing out on. ;-) )

Cindy and Mark came to MN for Mark's class reunion last weekend, so they decided to also come and visit me on Monday! How fun! We had a great visit, and it was so good to actually meet in person. Here are Mark and Cindy.

They even brought me gifts! Besides their regular jobs, they also make fused-glass items. This is a wine bottle that they melted down in their kiln and made it into a little serving tray for nuts, candy, or whatever. Isn't it cool?

Below is a set of glass coasters that they also made. So pretty!

(You're right, Cindy... glass is hard to photograph!)

If you'd like, you can see many more of their glass items in their Etsy shop, One in Every Color, or on their website, Around the Block Designs. Cindy is also a wonderful quilter, and she has designed and had published a couple of quilt patterns, which are also available in their Etsy shop or on their website. I just may have to learn how to quilt someday!

Thanks again for the gifts, Cindy and Mark, but especially for coming to visit me!