Borrowed Quiz

Dear Friend,

I was checking out a blog I follow last night and she had this great quiz. I want to share it with you. These are all true or false answers and it won't take long. Are you ready? Here it is....

1. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

2. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button.

3. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 years.

4. People do not get sick from cold weather; it's from being indoors a lot more.

5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even your heart!

6. Only 7 percent of the population are lefties.

7. Forty people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.

8. Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until they are 2-6 years old.

9. The average person over 50 will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.

10. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.

11. The average housefly lives for one month.

12. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.

13 . A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.

14. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.

15. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than any other time of day.

16. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.

17. The REAL reason ostriches stick their head in the sand is to search for water.

18. The only two animals that can see behind themselves without turning their heads are the rabbit and the parrot.

19. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in 'An Officer and a Gentleman' and 'Tootsie.'

20. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State Anthem.

21. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.

22. Prince Charles and Prince William NEVER travel on the same airplane, just in case there is a crash.

23. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in 1903 used a tomato can for a carburetor. 24. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are used in vein transplant surgery.

25. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were 7th cousins.

26. If coloring weren't added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.

Now, for the answers.........................Now I know you didn't cheat.

Right?

Ready??

Now??

Ok, Ok....They are all TRUE ... Now go back and think about #16!!!EWWWWW!!!!!

Thanks Nancy for letting me use this.

Hope you enjoyed it. I even learned a few things.
Love, Jan

Beautiful Ways to Start the Day

Dear Friend, When we moved out here a couple of months ago, we had these pretty little verbenias growing along the front sidewalk. They are pretty and easy to maintain (translation: no maintenance required.) And then about 2 weeks ago, we started noticing a visitor in this bed. We've watched it grow, put on buds and then we had this wonderful surprise!

A beautiful red tulip plant has opened up. It is absolutely gorgeous!

These colorful little plants are like a sweet goodbye when I leave the house and a wonderful welcome home when I return. It is a really good thing that they were already here and I am not responsible for them because I have the blackest thumb in the family. I can't grow silk plants!

Anyway, I wish I could bottle the wonderful smell that greets me every morning when I step outside. There is a sweet desert smell of damp mesquite, combined with the blooming flowers that is such a delight.

Last week I stopped and took these pictures of the sunrise over the eastern mountains. The sky looks like it is on fire. I should have pulled off the road last night and taken pictures of a glorious sunset

I was glad stopped. I need to do it more often! Oh and just down the road from this, I had to stop and wait for about 12 peahens to make up their little peaminds which side of the road they wanted to be on. What a great morning!

Love, Jan

Quilts, Quilts and More Quilts

Dear Friend,

On Friday afternoon I ran away from work! I really did. I finished the one task that has to be be done every day, shut down my computer and ran as fast as I could to the Mesa Convention Center.

You see, it was my only chance this weekend to catch the Arizona Quilters Guild 2009 Quilt Show. I am so glad I went. This was a better venue than they have used in the past and the quilts were awesome, inspiring, and breathtaking. I want to share some of them with you but you will have to excuse some of the poor photography.

I was drawn to these quilts for a variety of reasons. Some for the use of color and some for the technique. Some of them are traditional designs and entail a lot of work like this applique Whig Rose that was hand-quilted.

I loved this one, done in scrappy, colorful squares for the background and the applique motifs on the point where they have used a "drunkards path" in white.

These are both great traditional quilt patterns (bear paw and log cabin) that will always be top on my list.

And as you can tell, I am in a black, white with any other color mode right now. I loved this black and white with the appliqued flowers in bright colors.

How did she/he do this one?

This was a gorgeous pieced quilt. The photo doesn't do it justice.

Where do these men and women get their ideas? When do they have the time it takes to create these works of art? I know I will just have to keep going to quilt shows so that I can find the ideas and inspiration to make my own quilts.

I also know that my quilts will never be "quilt show" works and I am just fine with that, but I do hope those that receive my quilts will know how much I loved making each one and treasure it.

I have more pictures but you are probably putting your pointer fingers together in an "X" and saying "ENOUGH, already!" I had to share some of these with you, though. They were some of the best at the show.

More later. Love, Jan

PS-I'm sorry, I couldn't help it but here are a couple more that I wanted to share with you.

I have a friend at work that loves anything purple and butterflies. I saw this and thought of her. The butterflies were appliqued.








This bargello looked like stairways to eternity. I was amazed at the design and the placement of the color to creat this beautiful quilt.


This was an amazingly simple strippy quilt but the machine quilting was inspired. I wish the photo could show you more of it.

.