8/26/2007

Log Order

Got so confused trying to put logs on correctly (much reverse sewing amidst lamentation) that I finally got organized:

8/22/2007

the trashcan fabric

At Stash Sisters last night, I asked for suggestions on what to make with the fabrics laid (viciously thrown) by the wastebasket. Mary Ellen suggested a log cabin! She suggested adding purples, making sure to get lights, mediums, and darks, and showed me several purples up in the shop. No time to decide/get them right then, so I've added some from my stash. Need to decide what to use for the center. Considering that orange at the top, but black would probably be better. I think making a log cabin out of these great colors is a great idea and how nice to use stash fabrics that had been headed for the trashcan.




Uh oh. College Son says he is stopping by sometime Saturday to get a paycheck that was left behind in the minivan. I spilled my Weight Watchers water all over the bin that had some papers and notebooks in it and found the waterlogged check in the stack.

His room. Didn't think he would pop back here so soon. Will he be upset? Haven't had time to set up his books, shelving, and computer downstairs yet. Mom might be in trouble.

8/21/2007

Halloween and Emails

Got it done! Most the central portion is from stash.


Emails from college son

[told him I missed him]:
"Sorry about being gone; I'm sure you will get used to it".

[on his roommates]: "[#1] doesn't ever talk, he just plays guitar and looks at baseball stats. [#2] plays computer games all alone all day. I don't even know where [#3] is. Maybe he met [#1 and #2] before me and ran away. Who knows. Anyway, do your best to enjoy yourself. I had to talk to [friend a freshman at another college, who is unexpectedly homesick] for about 10 minutes on the phone last night to try to boost his spirits, so at least you're not as bad as him".

[on making sure he was through with everything left in his room but his coats prior to clean-up]:
"Yeah, minus all the coats everything that's left is yours to do as you please with. You can set up a shrine, dress up lifesize puppets in my clothes, or give them to hobos".

[on whether he wants the watch from under his bed, still on its plastic stand, that has a calculator for the face]:
"That watch is a calculator watch, so there's no way I am going to ever wear it. Even though most of the kids here have embraced their inner nerd, I'm still fighting it".

[on my missing him]:
"Mom, don't cry".

[update on his roommates]:
"The roomies have been doing better. [#1] talks a little now, nothing close to a conversation, but at least he's using words. I lured computer guy out of the room to go eat. All he contributes to the conversation is a slight chuckle every once in a while. Mysterious [#3 ] has long black hair, smokes, and likes to party. So he's the odd man out here. Now I know that the housing department just bunched us together. None of us has anything in common. [#3] just woke up...at 1:06pm".

8/20/2007

new apron, new room


Finished this shop sample, a Christmas apron, this morning.

Now that Timmy's at school, it was finally time to clean his poor room. I just didn't know how to do it when it was so full. Spent six hours yesterday removing things, making trips to the street with things, putting things aside for a garage sale, putting his keepers in the closet and downstairs. You know what was there. Every toy purchased in the past ten years, scads of too-small clothes, hundreds of books, two computer desk/towers, shelves, table, computer, TV, video camera accessories, paintball paraphernalia, old comforters (guess he decided not to bring his blankie with him, which he used to not only sleep under but walk around wrapped up in like a toga), etc. Spent two more hours cleaning and moving in this large mahogany bureau that I bought at the beginning of the summer and have been visualizing being in here. I tend to stuff rooms to bursting and I want this room at least to stay lightly furnished.

8/17/2007

Quakertown Quilts


An imported fabric brought to Jo Morton class...

I thought you might be interested in reading a description that Betty sent me of Quakertown Quilts in Friendswood (Houston), Texas:

me: Do they have lots of quilt kits? Do the displays and fabric lines change quickly?

Betty: Yes, it's so nicely arranged. I know you'd love it and they change it around all the time. They'll have quilts and other things displayed and then they'll sell kits with the fabric and directions. Like at the front of the store they have an old fashion bed and then they change the quilt with the season. Right now I think it's Thanksgiving. It was 4th of July earlier this summer. Then they have all the bolts of fabric for that quilt around the bed and fat quarters. Whoever arranges the store is very talented.They have a beautiful small old desk painted turquoise and then there are fabrics and kits with turquoise in them arranged by the desk. All over the store there are these cute displays that are by season or color. Along most of the walls are bolts of fabric and there are more arranged in all these different displays. There's even a Texas section. The front of the store is Christmas with a few trees with ornaments and that's where you'll find the old fashion houses. They have tons of little sock monkeys dressed every way you can think of which goes along with the sock monkey fabric and theme.They closed the second store they opened in the same shopping center. The second store never made sense to me, but now some of the knitting and crocheting stuff is in the store too. It's a pretty good size store.

Back to moi again. And really, it's all about moi. If I can get through what may be an actually desperate day of work today, I get to work at the LQS tomorrow. And if I can still hold a needle by tonight, I might be able to make this shop sample and bring it with. It's a really cute one, you'll like it. In fact I'd better go start that instead of larking around on the computer.

I was shocked to see how dismal his dorm room is. He said it was bad but I thought he was just whining.

8/16/2007

Quilting Bits


Good heavens, he came home from a few days of boot camp looking completely different. We both agreed that this would be sort of a college-level kid-friendly version of boot camp, but it turned out to be the real thing, oopsie. At first, he was asking himself, "why did I sign up for this, it was optional but he really started loving it and made some good contacts. omg the camouflage fabric was so delightfully thick and nubby that it looked like homespun. Wonder if it's available in solid colors.

Began to unfold my Halloween wall hanging (not done yet) from showing it at the Jo Morton class and thought this skinny version was very, very cool. Like make the central part Chinese lanterns or vases or something.

Look at what my dear email friend Betty sent to me from Houston, in sympathy for the h**l I'm experiencing at Regular Work (note that Karen wants to make sure to differentiate this from LQS Work, which is the funnest work I've ever gotten to do in my life that wasn't self employment :-) ). Love how the gingerbread man's arm is bitten off lol. The saying is too perfect for my year-long WW adventure. And isn't the ornament darling. Betty lives minutes or moments from Quakertown Quilts, which she says is an absolutely gorgeous shop, and where she got these cuties. They won't allow pictures, or else she would take lots and lots to show me.

Ginger's found a comfy spot. This stupid duck quilt UFO has been around a long time. It's an early quilt of mine, begun when Timothy was a baby and now he's Marine Corps Man. I got some of that fabric that has the printed duck fronts and backs that you stuff and appliqued them to quilt blocks. I thought that was a pretty darn cute idea. Now I'm trying to finish it with machine quilting if only to show I can get something done no matter how old it is. And that the stash is getting made up and used one way or another by various family members. Problem is I can't get the machine quilting feature working on either sewing machine so it got benched for awhile longer.

8/12/2007

The Times They Changeth


It's a new era, my baby has left home for first boot camp, then Georgia Tech. I bought a half gallon of milk the night he left and it was still there the next morning. I'm sure going to miss my little boy, though:



I got to work at the LQS on Saturday! Definitely the bright spot in the week. Going back to regular work in the school system was much worse than I had even anticipated; I will spare you any dismal description. I wouldn't give my regular work life to a dog. Anyway, today I got my three BOMs done for the month, above.

Thought this was kind of interesting. I grabbed first one and then the other of the two fabrics above out of my reproduction stash cupboard, screeching, "you've been sitting there in that fabric stack for years. You're old and ugly and I hate you! I'm throwing you out!" (violence in the quilt studio) and threw them close to a little wastebasket (that quivered in fear). The orange piece below followed because it had pulled up way too much dye when I browned the orange pieces for the pumpkin wall hanging. The goldy flannel followed. I forget what its offense was. I walked back and forth past this group of four, admiring how cool they all looked together, and now they are in a little stack by themselves, waiting to go into some small quilt. You can just do a lot with fabrics even if you think you hate them. They look much better together than in this photo.


8/06/2007

Halloween II


Here's my own 3x3 pumpkins with the beginnings of the applique, borders not sewn yet. I can't wait to do more of this, vine applique is so satisfying to do. Several of the pumpkins are from the orange Basic Building Blocks panel by American Jane that I got for a pillowcase, toned down for the pumpkins with coffee and taupe dye.

8/04/2007

Saturday


Woke up extra early this morning, so was able to finish the second of two shop samples done for the LQS. I get to spend one more carefree (albeit very busy) day working there today, too, before the Grim Reality of the Duty Job rears its (no kidding) hideous head on Monday. I do not know how I will force myself to go down there. But for today, quilting! This is the second sample, nine pumpkins snowball-block style, set three by three. Aren't the colors heavenly. A variety of jack o'lantern features will go on their faces for the shop kit, but I drew an applique design using the same 9 (pulled from my stash) as a background that begins with my black cat Jack (from stash...hey, it's almost all stash so far) and that has pumpkin vines, blossoms, and one pumpkin as a little pumpkin fairy house. That the cat is checking out. And there will be a little pumpkin fairy. I'm hoping to get my own top done tomorrow and some more of the appliques cut out.