DreamTeam Auction 2008: Quilt Progress #2

Well, my wife has been really busy with life and such and asked me to blog another teaser post of her fantastic quilt that she is making for Lou Mongello's Dream Team Auction that takes place at Magic Meets 2008.

So, with no further ado, I present to you.......

The Mickey Mouse Dream Team Auction Quilt!!!

If you cannot find the Mickey Mouse motif running throughout this quilt, you will need to get an appointment with your eye doctor....LOL

All that she has left is to do the quilting and put on the binding (which will be black).

As you can tell, the highlight and centerpiece of this quilt is a giant applique side-profile Mickey which takes up the equivalent of 4 quilt blocks.  The quilt is designed with a color palette to compliment the Mickey Mouse colors (red, black and yellow).

The final product will hold some quilting details that I hope (and expect) will draw people to the auction table to take a closer look since no photograph will be able to give it due justice. 

I'm sure this sucker will be like a giant flashing beacon drawing people over to the Dream Team Auction table at Magic Meets where they can check it out along with the other fabulous items up for bid (some of which are rare not-easily-found collectibles).

Please don't drool too much. 

Nancy's quilts are very nice to look at and she feels that this could very well hang on the wall of whoever puts in the winning bid.  But her quilts also make great functional pieces as well. 

We actually sleep under a Mickey quilt that she made a few years back.  Since I'm sensitive to synthetic materials, she tries to make the quilts with as much 100% cotton as she can. 

That holds true for this quilt as well.  So it will have a cotton batting for the core which translates to some weight to the deceptively thin blanket.

I'm sure Tim Devine can tell you just how heavy the quilt is since my wife made his son, Billy, a crib-sized quilt.  This one is quite a bit bigger and should fit onto a twin bed nicely or make a great cuddle blanket on the couch when you are watching your favorite Disney movie.

So, don't forget to bring your checkbooks cash or credit cards (Disney Visa perhaps!) [edit note:  Pat Whitson just informed me that the following accepted forms of payment are:  Cash, PayPal or Credit Cards via Firstgiving.com (they now take Visa, MC, Amex & Discover)].  There are many wonderful items up for auction this year.  Some are collectibles, some are fun, some are functional.  Wouldn't you love to come home from Magic Meets with an item that can possibly be passed down to family members who share your passion for the Mouse :)

I apologize for the quality of the picture, I was experimenting taking the picture using natural light so the lovely Enchanted Rose (aka Nancy) is holding it up on our back patio.  Since she stands at 5'6", you should get an idea how big this quilt is.

If you click on the photo, it'll take you to a larger version.

EDITED TO ADD:

Pat Whitson, DWT Dream Team Auction Coordinator, has blogged about this entry on the blog she maintains on the DisneyworldTrivia.com website about this fabulous auction.  Check it out:

Hand Crafted with Love: Nancy's Quilt

Technorati Tags: Dream Team Auction, Quilting, Magic Meets

Grumptastic Distractions: News from the Parks

My sister-in-law Julie just called me on her way home from Disneyland to inform me there is some new Indiana Jones-based fun in Adventureland.

Apparently, where Jasmine used to be near the Jungle Cruise and the Indiana Jones Adventure is a new "Meet the Son of Indiana Jones" stunt show (spoiler perhaps)????

She told me that she'll be e-mailing me some pics when she gets home....stay tuned

Technorati Tags: Disneyland, Adventureland, Indiana Jones

Grumptastic Links: Announcing TMIP ver 2.0

It isn't uncommon for me to dispense with the accolades of my Jedi Master, Tim Devine, and his works seen over at The Magic in Pixels.  But, this time, I get the proud opportunity to announce something that I played a big part in helping make happen.

Over the past few months, Tim and I have been arduously and painstakingly working on a new and improved The Magic in Pixels site.

This has involved finding a new host, a new platform for the content and Tim painfully rebuilding his photo gallery with new pictures and layout.

In addition to the content overhaul, Tim and I have implemented a brand-new store package.  This, in our opinion, is much more user-friendly than the former store and hope people will take the time to check it out as well.

The thing that makes us excited about the new site, is that the main content is managed through a Content Management System (CMS) rather than the code-in-notepad HTML method Tim was having to deal with before.

Now, with the same ease of my writing this blog post, a new article, review, or Photography tip up can be posted up to the site.

The forums have stayed the same and were moved to the new host as well.

Since rolling out the new site, Tim has managed to produce a couple new articles and we even got a submission from one of our very loyal members.

So, if you've never been to The Magic In Pixels, now is the perfect time to check it out.  If you have been there before and have become the prodigal child, please come back.  We don't bite, I promise. 

Officially, we are declaring this a "Soft Opening" (yeah we used Disney-speak).  So, bugs, quirks, oddities could happen, but aren't expected, as it gets it's first exposure to a normal load of visitors.

In honor of this "Soft Opening", Tim has decided to offer a 20% discount on your entire purchase in his store.  Just use the coupon code:  "SOFTOPEN" (no quotes).  This coupon can be used repeatedly until the promotional period ends.

As I've said on the TMIP forums, The Magic in Pixels may be populated by Disney Photography Enthusiasts, but it's is still a photography site at it's core foundation.  So, if there is anything you want to see discussed or written about, feel free to let us know.  It doesn't have to be a Disney photography related topic to get coverage.

This was a fun and exciting project for me to be involved with because I learned a lot in the process.  Have fun.

Technorati Tags: Tim Devine, The Magic in Pixels, Grumptastic Links