I need help

According to Random Number Generator, the winner of the giveaway is:

#9 Jan - "Oh I love give aways by my friends, cos I know they are always great things. Please enter me Erin, if I am allowed cos I am across the Pond of course. I wont be cross if I cant. I will still be your friend.  Happy New Year by the way."

Jan, I think I have your address already, but please send it again just in case.  Thanks to everyone for entering and for reading my blog.


I haven't gotten a ton of sewing done lately because I got it in my head to clean and rearrange my sewing room.  It would have been OK, if I hadn't gotten into the closet...I can't believe how much stuff I have!  I did take two pieces of fabric of questionable material to Goodwill, but here's the problem.  While at Goodwill, I thought I'd just peek around for some more pillowcases for more shopping totes.  Yikes!  I walked out of there with eight of them! (It's a sickness, isn't it, this fabric addiction of mine.  I felt like a hoarder bringing fabric out of corners where I didn't even know it resided yesterday.  And then I come home with MORE!)  

(there's only 7 shown, but that's because there are two of the solid pink pillowcases)

The only sewing I have done is to finally get the top and bottom borders added to my Birdie Stitches BOM quilt.  I'm stopping there for now.  I don't think I want more borders, but we'll see.  If so, I'll need to get more muslin as I've run out.


although now that I look at it, I should probably add some white on the two sides, just for balance

 What I should really do is use up some of my fabric as backings, sandwich up some of my quilt tops and do some simple machine quilting.  Some of my quilt tops have been languishing in a cupboard for years - it is time to make them full-fledged quilts!  And time to come to terms with the fact that as a hand-quilter, I will never finish all the quilts I want to finish.  I need to diversify.

Here's a question - how do you quilt a top with embroidery on it?  I'd love to finish up this Birdie Stitches quilt, but I am stumped.  The embroidered bits are about 8" square.  It seems like sewing over them would mess up the embroidery, but isn't that too big a space to leave un-quilted?  Help!  All suggestions are welcome.

I knew it had been a while since my last post, but 17 days!?!  Wow!  I feel like I should have a lot to show for 17 days absence.  The pressure is on!

I made 3 shopping bags from pillowcases that I got from Goodwill.  I am anti-plastic bags, and avoid them as much as possible.  However, my stash of "green" shopping bags has been dwindling due to unforeseen calamities (the exploding groceries left in the car for 4 days, a carsick dog, etc.).  It was either buy some more shopping bags or make some.  What is the point of knowing how to sew if you can't make your own stuff?  I used the tutorial found here - very easy, quick, and I love that now all my shopping bags are unique!  Some great features of this pattern are that the bags are fully lined, machine washable, with boxed corners and a reinforced bottom.

I finished the Christmas quilt top.  I think the pattern is called Flurry, but the quilt in the pattern is so much prettier than this one, I don't think I can call it that.  Gonna need a new name.  Honestly, I think my version is hideous, but it used up some of my Christmas fabrics, and that makes me happy.  Sometimes quilts start to grow on me after I begin quilting them.  I am hoping this is the case for this one. 

I finished my Birdie Stitches BOM flimsy.  Well, kinda.  I finished the blocks and the alternate blocks and I sewed them all together.  However, I want it to be bigger, so I'll be making some borders, at least for the top and bottom.  I love all the color!

And on a whim, I also made a circle zippered earbud pouch. It was my first zipper, and was super easy. What is all the zipper phobia about?

I have 4 more days of freedom before it is back to work and karate and basketball and cub scouts and exhaustion. I'm sleeping in, eating lots, exercising, playing with the kids, reading, watching McLeod's Daughters, and getting quite a bit of hand quilting done. I don't want this vacation to end!

The most wonderful time of year?

While I am definitely getting into the holiday spirit, December STINKS in the world of college admissions. I am taking files home every night to read, answering 3,167 emails daily from panicked kids who want to know if their second teacher recommendation arrived by the scholarship deadline, and talking to countless parents on the phone to calm their fears about the affordability of college. I love my job, but December is like receiving a mega-dose of work; too much of anything is not a good thing! Especially since my "other life" (wife, mother, quilter) hasn't slowed down at all either.

So while this should be the season of sitting under a quilt, watching Christmas movies while sewing on the binding, very little sewing is actually getting done at my house. I did finally finish the November Birdie Stitches BOM on December 1, but I haven't had time to add the border yet.


I also whipped up this quickie table topper for my dining room table to put my centerpiece candles on. (Thanks for the tutorial, Beth!) The fabrics are the same that I used in my tree skirt last year (my tree stands in my dining room windows). I am still sewing the binding on this, but hopefully I can have it on my table by tomorrow night.


Other than that, no sewing, but I did receive my winnings from the giveaway I won on the House of Wilson. In addition to the Charm Pack, I got these two neutrals and her TV Squares pattern. I think I want to make her pattern with some different fabrics. Anyone have a favorite (free, online) Charm Pack pattern I could make with this City Weekend Charm Pack?


Going out in the mail today will be my package for Leona's holiday fabric swap. I hope that my partner likes these Fat Eighths from my stash. I also made her one of the postcards I made with the cub scouts, and threw in a tissue cover that could be seasonal, but not necessarily. I'll be picking up some chocolate from the chocolatier in town, The Cocoa Mill, to round out the package.


So, since I am not sewing, what have I been doing, you ask? In addition to going to work every day, and maintaining our household...

Monday - take a karate class, read a stack of files at home
Tuesday - Jason's basketball practice, read a stack of files at home
Wednesday - teach karate class, then Adam's basketball game
Thursday - Jason's basketball practice, make cars for parade and cookies for Wounded Warrior Project, read a stack of files at home
Friday - make rice krispy treats for Wounded Warrior project, arrange and march in town Christmas parade with the Cub Scouts
Saturday - Jason's basketball game, go in to work for a few hours, Adam's basketball game, dinner with my brother and his family, get lost on way home from basketball game, read a stack of files at home
Sunday - help kids clean their rooms, visit radio station with cub scouts, go Christmas caroling with cub scouts, read a stack of files at home

Where's the down time in there? Do you see any??? Actually, last night I thawed the Turkey Pot Pie filling that I made the day after Thanksgiving, popped it into some pie crusts, and baked that for dinner, using the spare moments from making something that I had made ahead to sit and watch Akeelah and the Bee with my boys. Jason was in the school spelling bee earlier this week, so I ordered this from Netflix and it was nice to sit in the theater with some popcorn and my two little buddies and just chill for a couple of hours.

But back to yesterday afternoon, when we went Christmas caroling...

We first went to a nursing home in town, sang our whole repertoire of songs, and then caroled down the street, knocking on any door with cars in the drive, on our way to another nursing home about a third of a mile away. What absolute FUN!!! Why don't people go Christmas caroling anymore? People were so delighted, asked to take our photograph, clapped their hands, called to others in the house to come see. It was such a treat! Are you looking for something different to do this holiday season? I encourage you to go caroling!

All caught up! (and giveaway)

The last time I wrote, it was Wednesday and I was in Ecuador, longing to be home. Well, I made it home Saturday afternoon, and spent an exhausting yet exhilarating 3 days there doing a cub scout campout and hosting 12 high school seniors from around the country. Now it is Wednesday again, and I'm writing from another hotel in West Virginia. At least this is a short trip - I'll be home Friday night and then I'll be done traveling for a while.

Travel season is a great time for me to work on embroidery. I am all caught up with my Birdie Stitches BOM - here are the last 3 blocks that I completed, all during travel season.

I'm so glad I discovered embroidery. I don't do anything fancy, but I'm becoming more adept and faster, and I enjoy doing it. I'm thinking of sketching out my own designs for a couple projects.

Do you embroider? If not, would you like some embroidery floss to give it a try? Or if so, can I interest you in some more floss to add to your stash? Our local hobby shop is going out of business, much to the dismay of my boys. The good news is that everything is 50% off, so when I was there with the boys this weekend, I picked up 15 flosses, 3 shades of 5 colors. It's not much, but I offer it to you, my readers. I already have more embroidery floss than I know what to do with, but I couldn't resist buying more, especially at such a great price! I'll see what else I can throw in to sweeten the pot.

Leave a comment by my bedtime on Sunday, October 16 and I'll pick a recipient of the floss on Monday.

***EDITED 10/13/11 to say that I picked up these goodies to add to the giveaway - some embroidery needles, some DMC floss holders, and 2 fat eighths of black and white butterfly fabrics that I picked up at a quilt shop in WV today.***


Since I'm caught up on those blocks, and since this was a driving trip, I brought my Pick and Choose quilt to work on (hand quilting). I hope I make some headway, but honestly, all I want to do is catch up on my sleep! I am so exhausted! But not too exhausted yesterday to sew a bit - I made another snap shut change purse with the metal tape measure I bought for that purpose. I love these cute little things. (tutorial by Wilma can be found here)

I use the one I made before to hold my cash, coins, ID and credit cards. When I pulled it out at work the other day, there were some requests to make more, so I am happily obliging! These will be my stocking stuffers this year as well. What are you making to give away at the holidays this year, anything quick and easy (that I might want to make as well)?

Giveaway! From Ghana by way of New Orleans and Virginia...

Hey, Erin, it's your birthday!!!

40 - WOO HOO!!! So far, I'm loving this start to my fifth decade of existence. I attended two conference sessions this morning, and then set off exploring. Yesterday, Wendy commented that I should find a store here in New Orleans that sells fabric and goods produced by women in Ghana, so that is what I did. If you are ever in New Orleans, I encourage you to visit their store, but even now, at home, you can visit their website:
http://babablanket.com/our-story.html.

I was awed by many of the handicrafts there, but went in with the sole purpose of buying fabric to:

A) help support keeping young girls in Ghana in school (proceeds from sales help the SISTA - Stay In School Tuition Assistance - program; what better tribute to my commitment to access to education, the topic of BOTH conference sessions I attended this morning!) and

B) to share these lovely fabrics with YOU, my blog readers!

So, simple giveaway here - leave a comment on this post by the end of the day, Wednesday, September 28, and I'll enter you in a drawing to win half yard of each of these batiks that I picked up at the store.

As a hand quilter, I rarely use batiks, and even then, just in small doses, so this fabric is for YOU!

Once I found the store and made the purchase, I wanted to explore some more. I headed down St. Charles Avenue to take some pictures in the Garden District. I discovered that those beautiful homes are hard to photograph because of all the greenery that surrounds and shields them, but I've shared some photos here. My favorite architectural features are the working shutters, the two levels of porches, and the wrought iron detailing.



I ended up walking more than 4 miles, finally taking refuge in a public library where the book that caught my fancy was The Cottage Book: Living Simple and Easy by Carol Bass. After looking at all these fancy homes, it was refreshing to go from looking at what incites my curiousity to what feeds my soul. I may marvel at the fancy pants homes, but simple, country living is what appeals to me most and where I feel most at home.

Rested, I hopped on a streetcar for the ride back to the hotel. What fun! After that ride, I was hoping to find that I could watch A Streetcar Named Desire on Netflix, but alas, it is only on DVD, not streaming. Another night, I guess.

Now, I am resting my feet before heading back to Cafe Du Monde for my third round of coffee and beignets. YUM!


(the menu...)

Here's a shot looking out over Jackson Square (across the street from the Cafe) at the Saint Louis Cathedral and a museum. Can you see all the carriages lined up to take tourists around? And behind them, the artists selling their wares along the fence?

And this is the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co that I've passed several times on my daily pilgrimage to the land of beignets. I love the colors, those circular details under the windows, and those arches over the windows.


Lest you think all I am doing is walking around eating beignets and photographing the homes of unsuspecting private citizens, here is the Birdie Stitches BOM for August that I finished during the conference sessions.

I'm working on September now, and hope to have it done by the time the weekend is over. Speaking of which, I should probably stop typing and start stitching!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...

Tension Troubles

My mother-in-law came through surgery OK, and now they just have to figure out what to do next. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and positive thoughts. It certainly made ME feel better!

But still, I've been tense this week. I've been chewing up the inside of my mouth. My shoulders are sore from being held so stiffly. I'm not getting enough sleep, and not sleeping very well when I do.

I really want to get this quilt done so I can send it up to her. So after karate and dinner last night, I went down to the sewing room to see what I could do about quilting it. First, I started with some straight lines - BORING! I couldn't make myself do more than 2 lines, which I will be taking out. Time to put on my big girl pants (borrowing from Em) and try Free Motion Quilting. A meander can't be that hard, right? I thought I'd practice on one of my hot pads that I had made this spring, the one I messed up on and left the space between the O and the T, the one I am definitely keeping for myself anyway:

OK, not too bad, I can do this. Of course, the hot pad is only about 8" square...

I got started on the Chicken Soup Quilt and the thread kept breaking. I rethreaded 3 times before I pulled the quilt out and looked at the back. Not only was the thread breaking, but the back had ridiculous loops. Obviously my tension was wrong. Maybe I should read my notes from when I tried free motion quilting once before. Why don't I ever read the instructions FIRST?? I had in my notes what tension works for me, what stitch length, etc. I made the adjustments and switched to new thread (why not? maybe it was the wrong thread and THAT is why it kept breaking), and started again in another place.

It isn't perfect.

The shapes are funny looking and in some places, much more angular than smooth, sometimes crossing over other lines of stitching even though I was trying hard to avoid that.

I am finding it very difficult to maintain the same speed throughout so that I can have the same stitch length throughout.

But I'm doing it!

Unfortunately, I have a bunch of stitching to pull out from the first thread...UGH!

You know, I'm also tense because of the book I'm reading. Someone from work read my blog and offered me her copy of THE HELP so I wouldn't have to wait for the library copies to come available. I'm really enjoying the story, but it is also making me tense. I just KNOW something terrible is going to happen. Despite my knowledge of segregation and discrimination in the US, reading about it still exasperates and angers me. But it is a good story, so I keep reading.

You know what DIDN'T stress me out? On Monday evening, I watched the 1985 version of Anne of Green Gables, all 3.25 hours worth. No wonder it was on TV as a miniseries when I was a kid - it is LONG! But so good! I never even considered not watching the whole thing from start to finish. (I spent the whole time wondering, though, who cast Megan Follows as Anne? She's perfect for the role in temperment, but in the book, Anne is supposedly not pretty, and in my eyes, Megan Follows is gorgeous!) And while watching, I was transported to that magical place (in my mind), Prince Edward Island, and felt myself relaxing. I finished my June Birdie BOM (leaving me just August and September left to do at this point, which I will take on my first work trip this weekend):

and I made some more progress hand quilting my Pick and Choose Quilt. Will I EVER finish that quilt? I am starting to wonder...

It's that time of year!

You know the time of year to which I am refering, right? The time when you are spending half of your waking hours in waiting rooms as your children visit every doctor imaginable to prepare for the school year? Earlier it was the pediatrician. Yesterday it was the eye doctor. Thursday it will be the audiologist. Next Monday it will be the dentist. My kids were picking up on how ridiculous this is, and starting asking me silly questions in the car.

Is there a foot doctor? - Yes, actually. A foot doctor is called a podiatrist. (they thought that was funny)

Is there a nose doctor? - Yup, there's one of those, too, called an ENT because they look at your ears, nose and throat all together since they are all connected. (they thought that was hilarious, which, according to my children, is one level funnier than funny)

Is there a BUTT doctor? - I didn't even get an answer out because they were howling with laughter - just the thought was hysterical, which, of course, is one level funnier than hilarious.

The good part about all the doctor visits is all the hand work I get done while waiting. I finished the July Birdie Stitches BOM today, with my own modications, of course:

The bad part is that there is so much running around that personal hygiene takes a back seat. Donald was talking to me a mile a minute today while we walked in the door, and I opened the door for him and held it open with my arm raised high for him to walk under it. Both he and his mouth stopped in mid-stride so he could exclaim, "Mom! I didn't know you had UNDERARM hair!?!" Great, just great. I'm sure this will come up again in the line at the grocery store or when he is doing show and tell at school or at the office Christmas party.

When I got home from work today, the only day I am going in to the office this week (woo hoo!!!), there was squishy mail waiting for me. Thanks, Linda, for my Let's Bee Together Bee Block! I love it!

Now, with all this time off of work, I'm planning some fun activities with the kids to take advantage of the remainder of their summer vacation, but I also need to quilt that Pick and Choose Quilt! Keep me on task, will you?

Hanging on with both hands

I don't want this vacation to end. I am so relaxed, so happy. I've been getting done what needs doing, but not stressing about the rest, and I am so proud of myself! Plus, I've been getting some wonderful sewing time in.


First up, the binding is on my Ella Quilt, and it is in the wash. (please come out of the wash unscathed and wonderfully crinkly!! Do any of you worry about your colors running or stitches not holding or some other catastrophic event taking place between the time you put your quilt in the wash and the time you take it out?) I will be ready to send it off to my friend on Monday.

Secondly, I finished the Birdie Stitches BOM for May (yes, I know it is July - just smile and nod and be happy for me).

As usual, I modified the block a little - there were too many flowers in there for my liking, so I took some out.

And finally, I've been trying to come up with a quick and easy baby quilt for a co-worker who became a father for the second time this past week. I have been seeing lots of quilts with panels of a focus fabric, so I wanted to do that. Plus, I wanted her initials (we weren't clued in on the name until she was actually born). But it turns out that I don't have much fabric that I feel coordinates with the fabric I want as the focus panel. Be honest - is this too plain?

Do you have any suggestions for me? I haven't sewn anything yet, just played with things on the floor. Unfortunately, being the scrap quilter that I am, I only have limited quantities of the fabrics I want to use, so the quilt will be quite small, but then, so are babies, right? In all the time I've been agonizing over making something simple, I could have pieced a top!

Other than sewing, I've been alternately hanging out on my bed watching Brothers and Sisters (I'm on Season 2 now and still ridiculously addicted to that show!) and hanging out on my porch, reading, drinking iced tea and eating these beauties that I picked in our yard before breakfast.

Oh, how I don't want this vacation to end! I am hanging on to each second of it with both hands!

The problem with puttering

I putter. I start this, get distracted, start that, take a quick break, see something else that needs doing, and so on and so on. This happens around the house all the time. Yesterday, I got a lot done - weeding, mulching, purging clothes we don't wear/fit anymore, purging kitchen items to get rid of, sweeping - but I didn't FINISH anything.

The same is true in the sewing room, but for the month of June, I am committed to finishing some things. I've joined up with Rubyslipperz (see the button on my sidebar?) to get some things done in June. Each finish gives me another chance to win her giveaway, but even if I don't win, at least I'll have accomplished something. I hope to:

finish the ELLA quilt for my high school friend

get caught up on the Birdie BOM - I still haven't done May or June

put a sleeve on my Great Great Grandmother's quilt - this is my entry for the quilt show at the county fair this July and it needs a sleeve

and make a couple covered dish/casserole carriers for some friends from a pattern I found in a magazine.

Last night, I actually did finish the quilting items on my to-do list for the weekend. The first was to finish the April Birdie BOM - this one is one of my favorite blocks so far, so simple. I left off the Easter eggs that were sprinkled around on the block to simplify things:

The second item on the weekend to-do list was to sandwich the Pick and Choose quilt that I sold at the Old Middlebrook Village Day last month which needs to be hand quilted this summer. I've been looking forward to the quilting, but I can't stand basting! And ironing all of the backing was misery, even with my BIG ironing board. But, it is done and in a hoop and ready for me to put some stitches in every day (that's the plan, anyway):

Of course, first, I need to come up with a plan for my quilting...

CHECK!

I had a LONG list of things to get done yesterday. Near the top of the list was to buy a pass to the city pool - CHECK! With temperatures in the 90s, there was no question about whether or not we'd be going to the pool yesterday. I swam laps while the boys stopped my heart with their derring-do off the diving board. Why can't they just splash around like the other kids!?! Sheesh!

Another item on the to-do list was to finish my Bee Block - CHECK!

I also wanted to get my February Birdie block framed with 2.5" blocks - CHECK!

Along the way, I attached the white frame to my first alternate block (middle block in first column) and finished piecing the center of my second alternate block although the white frame hasn't been added yet (top right corner). This project is going to use up lots of my 2.5" precut scrap squares - YAY!

The other stuff on my to do list is too boring to list here, but, as it was payday, unfortunately completing items on my list included writing a lot of CHECKS!

California Dreamin'

Last Wednesday evening, after work and karate, I loaded my kids in the car and drove them to my mother-in-law's in Pennsylvania (about 5.5 hours with no stops, but c'mon, I've got two kids in the car - there were stops!). Needless to say, THAT was a late night. On Thursday morning, after taking the kids out to the bike path to wear them out a bit on their scooters, I left them in her loving care to drive south to Philadelphia to meet my husband at the airport and fly off into the sunset with him. We landed in San Francisco, then drove south to Palo Alto, as the purpose of the trip was for me to present at a conference at Stanford.

Friday was a picture perfect LAZY day - naps, walking around town, a picnic lunch of Vietnamese food, a matinee - followed by a pre-conference dinner meeting that night. Saturday, however, was a marathon - we had to be at the conference no later than 7:45 AM, and it ended at 6:30 PM - but an invigorating one. It was one of those days where I realize that I am truly good at what I do and that what I do makes a difference, and it gives me the energy to keep going.

Then, Sunday morning, it was back to the airport for the long flight back east, and Monday it was the long drive home again. I had a great time - it is important for my husband and me to have some time together but without the kids to reconnect every now and then - but how nice to sit still for a minute, even if it is at work.

In quilty news, I spent my time working on my Lil Miss Shabby Birdie BOM blocks. I finished February, and am at least halfway done with April, which means, I'm really only 1 month behind now with May left to do. Here's February, un-ironed and without the 2.5" blocks around the border yet. This was my first attempt at the Lazy Daisy Stitch - I like!!! All those hearts, though, I didn't really like. I finally realized that I can modify these however I want, right, not just the colors but also the design, so on the April block, I'm leaving out the Easter Eggs.

Funny side note - as I was sitting in the staff room at the conference during a break working on this block, a man asked me if that was a "Shabby" pattern. I was taken off guard - did he really know what I was working on? He DID!!! His fiance also follows Lil Miss Shabby and is working on these blocks, too! How neat (and unexpected) is that!?!

There were also a couple minor fabric purchases during this trip. I stopped by the quilt shop near my MIL's to get another quarter yard of Kona Snow to finish the Bee Block that I ran out of fabric for before I left home. I went in, got what I came for and left without even peeking at the other fabric in the store. It practically KILLED me, but I did it! Then, while in California, my needle threader broke (OK, folks, does anyone have a recommendation for a needle threader for embroidery floss? I use those cheapo fake metal ones from a 3-pack at Walmart, but I go through them SO quickly. Please tell me there is something better out there!), so I went out in search of a replacement and I stumbled across a JoAnn's. While there I checked out the clearance fabric and found this green polka dot flannel (1 yard - I'm so attracted to dots these days!) and this red pirate fabric for my boys (1/2 yard).

Less than $5 spent - I'm so proud of my restraint!!!

Bee balm?

I love the word BALM. To me, it is calm and soothing and quiet and restorative, and that's just what I was seeking in my sewing room today as I escaped the chaos that is my life. I don't want to bore you with the whiny details, but this snippet should sum things up:

-the plumber as he is trying to fix a leak in my basement outside my sewing room, "CRAP!! Um, do you have any towels?"

I'll work on my Bee blocks, I said to myself. Both April and May's fabrics arrived within a week of each other, so I had two blocks to make. I started with May. We could make any block we wanted, and the fun fabrics included a monkey that was screaming out to be the focus, so I made an EXTREMELY modified Weathervane block. I like the way it turned out, but believe me, the modifications weren't intentional but rather the result of poor planning on my part and some premature cutting.

Fun, but not really an experience that served as a balm. On to April. These fabrics are much cooler - Kona Snow and three green/grays. The request was for a pinwheel-type block. The first thing that came to mind was a Dutchman's Puzzle, and I cut, and started sewing before I realized I didn't have enough Kona Snow to make that. Hmmmm.... How about I use those bonus triangles, too? That should give me enough! Nice try, Erin. Close, but no cigar. (Where does that expression come from anyway? I use it, but it makes no sense to me!) So, here I sit, two 2.5" squares of Kona Snow short of finishing her block. The frustration of that didn't really soothe my nerves either.

Finally, as a leader and ender, I sewed together some 2.5" scraps to play with one of my setting ideas for my Birdie BOM (yes, I still only have 2 blocks done, but I'm hoping to finish block 3 on the plane ride to and from California this weekend).

Not sure about this setting - it is hard to tell how it will look with so few blocks.

Anyway, I know that part of my agitation is from going away. With all the travel I do, you'd think I'd be better at it, but ALWAYS, the night before I leave, I am a basketcase, trying to get everything done, making lists and checking them twice. Is this normal? Does everyone have pre-trip jitters?

When it rains...

You know the expression, "when it rains, it pours," right? It seems appropriate for so many reasons lately. First, literally. I don't think we are the only ones feeling soggy in the US right now, are we? I'm trying to focus on how lush and green everything looks instead of how soggy everything is.

But it has been pouring figuratively lately, too, particularly around my house. First, the microwave stopped working. No problem, we recovered a spare that we had in our rental property. Then the oven stopped working. Inconvenient, but truly, as the weather warms up, I use it less and less anyway. This week, the dryer stopped working. This is particularly troublesome since it keeps raining so there's no way to dry the clothes outside. And two days ago, I discovered a leaky faucet/valve/thingymajig in the hot water closet that was flooding the floor outside my sewing room. I think it is time we called in a handyman to start fixing all the things that are going wrong around here. Most times, I love owning my own home. Times like these, I wish I had a landlord to call and complain to.


I did try to get my windshield replaced. The repairman came out to my job earlier this week only to discover that we had ordered the wrong windshield. Aargh!


And my calf muscle has been healing nicely - now it is just tight and achy instead of actually sore, so I've been slowly easing myself back into karate. Well, but maybe not slowly enough. Yesterday, I decided to join in when we were doing our board breaking combo - a front kick to break the board in front of us and a side kick to break the board behind us. I'm happy to say that I broke both boards on the first try, but OUCH! I was on ice for the rest of the evening. Patience is not a virtue that I possess in any great quantity.


The weekend retreat with my sister was fantastic last weekend. We ate, we shopped,
(lookie, lookie, I found a sale!)

we explored, we discovered GLEE, we laughed, we drank coffee from these cute little mugs that remind me of an appliqued quilt,

and occasionally, we slept. I didn't get a lot of sewing done, but I did finish my second Birdie BOM. I love the scrappy colorfulness in my version, and am already playing with setting ideas, never mind that I only have 2 of 12 blocks done. :)

During my flights to and from Boston, I finished Jennifer Chiaverini's latest, The Union Quilter. Her books that take place in a historical context are my absolute favorites, and this book didn't disappoint.

Tomorrow night is the cub scout pack's annual campout and crossover ceremony - my little scout will be a Webelo before the weekend is over! Now if only it doesn't rain...