Salvage, soccer and snow

Strange weather we are having!  Saturday was a warm, sunny 60 degrees and I participated in a charity soccer tournament (http://www.conwaycup.com/) with my co-workers to help support an office mate who was recently diagnosed with ALS.  What fun!!!  I played soccer in high school, but the last time I used my shin guards was Fall 1988.  I'm glad to say that I still knew what to do, but I must unhappily report that my body was about 3 steps behind my mind.  Also, I figured, since we were playing in the 30 years old and over bracket that we'd be playing against other hodge podge groups like us.  NOT SO!  Every team we played against had UNIFORMS.  With NUMBERS on them.  Because they were actual TEAMS!  That practice 2 times a week YEAR ROUND!  Needless to say, my team of has-beens, some of whom had never played soccer before got CRUSHED, but what fun!  Well, except for the pain.  By the end of our 4th match (short 25 minute games), both of my knees were bleeding and I had caught a ball with my face, somehow dislodging my nose piercing.  Luckily, I have spare studs at home.  I also found some lovely bruises in the shower yesterday.  Battle scars!

Then yesterday, Sunday, it snowed EIGHT INCHES!  I wasn't planning to leave the house anyway, since I could barely walk from my soccer escapades.  Know what that means?  Time to sew!

I worked on my hand quilting a bit on the Charm Quilt, and then remembered that my mother's birthday is in about 2 weeks.  Down to the sewing room I went. (Mom, if you are reading, this is your cue to STOP READING!)

Do you remember the summer coverlet I inherited this spring, made by my Great Aunt (or someone - I should make an effort to find out who made it), that was falling apart and needing to be repurposed? 

Summer bedspread made by my Great Aunt Somebody or other. Flowers are made from french knots on muslin.

I pulled out two of the embroidered blocks and some coordinating fabric to make a pair of throw pillows for my mom for her birthday.  The back has an envelope closure for easy removal and laundering.

I liked them so much and I had a tiny bit of the fabric left over that I made one more to be the first item in my new ETSY shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop/mypatchworklife. 

Yup, that's right, I've taken the plunge.  I make more stuff than I have intended recipients.  And besides, at the Old Middlebrook Village Day last year where I had a booth, many people asked for a business card.  So now, I have a shop, business cards and labels to sew into my stuff.  Cool, huh?  Now, if I can just finish some actual QUILTS to put in there!

Anyway, today is a snow day for the kids, so I am working from home.  I just finished reading a bunch of files, and now my bed is calling to me to come take a little nap.  My bedroom is perfectly situated in the house, warm and sunny throughout the day, perfect for napping.  YAWN!  Happy Monday, everyone!

Where does the time go?

It's been a week since my past post? Really!?!

And I don't really have anything quilt-y to show for it! All that stuff I brought with me to work on in Atlanta? The only thing I did was finish the binding on Donald's quilt.

While a finish feels good, I wish I had done more. But it was hard to fit quilting in with the trips to:

• the zoo


• Toys R Us shopping with the kids' own money


• the park


• the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center


• catching up with college friends


• watching episode after episode of Brothers and Sisters (how have I never seen this show? I am now officially HOOKED!)


• cruising the Atlanta Underground


• the hotel pool and hot tub EVERY DAY


• the College Fair and Case Studies (work! ick! but it's got to be done)

We got back on Monday evening, just in time for karate and a marketing meeting. Then work on Tuesday was the typical day after you get back from a long trip - overwhelming chaos. After work, I picked up the kids and we headed to my mom's house to spend the night because my twin sister was in town helping my mom pack up her house - she's moving to New Hampshire this summer. (don't leave me, Mom!!!)

Look what they found - a bedspread made by my Great Aunt Bertha (or Bernice, or some name that I don't remember...I guess I should write the name down next time I talk with my mom). It is pretty threadbare and stained in parts, but I'm taking it apart and gonna use those embroidered blocks in something!

I can start something new because I just finished something, right?

Then came Wednesday - work, karate and a Board Meeting. How is it that I regularly leave the house at 7:30 AM and don't return until after 9:00 PM? No wonder I'm too tired to sew most days!

But then came today. I went to work, but left at 10 AM so I could take my hubby to the hospital for some surgery on his foot. Minor stuff, and he came through just fine, but there was NO WAY I was going to sit in a hospital waiting room with my boys all day long. We dropped off my husband and picked up lunch, ate it in a park, caught a movie, and then spent a couple hours at the skatepark. While they performed acts of derring do (they were the ONLY kids there with protective gear on!!! C'mon parents!), I sat on my Orphan Quilt and did a tiny bit of quilting on my Martini Girl and my 4th of July Table Runner. Finally, some stitching!

Hopefully this weekend will bring much more time with needle and thread!