Oh, My Stars and Jet Lag

The quilt that had to sit 'on hold' for a week while I was in Bali is finished.
The pattern is Oh, My Stars by American Jane (AJP 255).

What a beautiful job the piecer did.  All the fabrics came from her stash.

Whenever I try to make any Lone Star type blocks they end up with a pronounced D-cup in the middle.  These were all beautiful and flat.

Ooh - love the back!!

Coming back from Bali left me with 12 hour jet lag to get over.  I checked on Facebook to see if I could update my status to Calamity Jane, but no, there's no such status.
So far I have:

• dumped the dog's kibble into her water dish (which was full of water)
• made a lovely breakfast pastry that looked like it was run through the washing machine
• made a pizza for supper but the dough did not rise one little bit, so we darn near wore our jaws out eating it
• broke the handle on my FAVORITE tea pot
• twisted my ankle when the neighbour's farm dog came after us on our walk

I am hoping this will be a more...uncomplicated week.

the Wedding Gift

You may have noticed that the happy couple came complete with a baby.  :-)
I made them a birthday banner with removable numbers that can be used forever and ever.  Here is a link to the pattern.

It took DH and I two weeks, but he finally found the two clusters of flowers that have been in mom's cedar chest since my first memory.  (yes, a little cleanup in my house would go a long way)  I have no idea where these came from but they are at least 60 years old.  There are matching necklaces too, but I'm keeping those for the time being.

I really wanted to add some family treasure to the banner.  Mom would have loved to see her granddaughter's wedding.  This way she can stay in their lives for a long time.

I also had some fabric left from the bride's brother's wedding, so that was used for the center cupcake.  The cupcakes and candle flame were bejeweled.

I was still encumbered by my cast and dreaded having to trace out the series of numbers from the pattern.  Instead, I purchased a set of letters and numbers for the IQ.  I loaded up the backing fabric, layered that with black 80/20 batting, and added the black polka dot top fabric.

After the numbers were cut out I added a blanket stitch all around and used soutache braid to make hanging loops.

To keep the numbers from getting wonky over the years I also made a little box to contain them.  For this I used Peltex 72, which is fusible on both sides. 

There are two sets of numbers, so the banner can be used right up to 110 years of age.

Wedding Day

On the morning of the wedding the bride took her family out for breakfast to a swanky place called Ku De Ta.  We all started with bellinis, then I had ricotta flapjacks with blueberry sauce and maple syrup.

They were ready for Easter with the creepiest bunnies I've ever seen.  The breakfast was excellent though.  It was a little disconcerting when we arrived - they check the underside of all cars with mirrors to make sure they are not coming in with explosive devices.

The ceremony took place at the end of the lawn, before the dropoff to the beach.  This happened at the villa where we (bride's family) were staying.  I spent the afternoon watching as the grounds were transformed into a fairy tale setting, which was really quite fun.  The Balinese do not move quickly.

Happy bride, groom & baby.  The groom is not wearing a transparent shirt - the poor man was soaked.  It was so hot and ridiculously humid.  We girls are so lucky that we can wear spaghetti straps and blowy skirts in that kind of weather.

After the Balinese dancers (see previous post), champagne and hors d'oeuvres, we moved over to the bride's villa for dinner & dancing.  Like I said earlier - fairy tale setting.  She even managed to schedule a clear sky with a full moon.

Of course, no wedding dinner would be complete without the FIRE DANCERS in between dinner and dessert.

The dessert table was incredible.  This is a tiny portion.

I went to bed at a reasonable hour, so I missed the communal swim.  Everybody went in the pool, in their clothes, many with their shoes still on.  Yup, that is the happy couple in all their finery.  Trying to save on the post-wedding dry cleaning bill, no doubt.

Entertainment

Excellent dance performance after the wedding ceremony.

Sleep!!!

Oh, delicious sleep until the birds woke me up at ...6 am maybe? This is a pic of where I'm waiting  for the other sleepyheads. Yesterday's shopping trip was a bust for me. The batiks I was finding were around $25  for 2 m. pieces and there was no bartering to be done. Pooh. Although, really, it is NOT like I need more fabric. Lunch at Bridges in Ubud was very good! And owned by a Canadian, to boot.
Last night just about everyone had arrived from countries hither and yon. The meet and greet included a buffet featuring a suckling pig. I wandered off to bed at 9 pm.
Today's schedule: breakfast for members of the bride's family, afternoon wedding , then party, party, party.
Yum - my coffee has just arrived. More news later...

Sightseeing

Tuesday night was a trip to Tanah Lot to see the sunset. There is a large tourist market and a temple there, but the attraction for us was the landscape that has been carved out by the surf, leaving large cliffs where tourists can watch the sun go down. You can also watch the silly tourists who trap themselves across the little causeway when they don't realise the tide has come back in. Ha ha, thankfully it was not me!
Watching the sunset must have helped with the jet lag because I slept soundly last night from 9:30 pm until 4 am. Yesterday I spent the day ON VACATION and lounged by the pool, swam, investigated the beach, read a book, and enjoyed a couple of cocktails. Mmmm, nice.

Sleep

Ah, a delicious, solid, 5 hours sleep. With my head on a real pillow, not squashed against the window of the plane.  I turned my light on at 4 and read for a while.
I must find out where the chanting was coming from at 6 a.m.? By the time that stopped the birds were up and making a racket so I resigned myself to getting an early start on the day. Next mission - search out some coffee. I am pretty sure the chanting was not coming from one of us guests.