HOT new finish!

I'm feeling absolutely NO GUILT about sitting and sewing while I recuperate from my calf injury - after all, how can you sweep a floor or scrub a toilet on crutches? So I'm thrilled to present my Independence Table Runner, done in plenty of time for the 4th of July! Although, I probably won't keep this - I have a recipient in mind...

And while I was downstairs sewing on the binding, I also whipped up some 7.5" square hot pads. The ones I use in my kitchen are scorched and stained and tattered, so it was time for something new. I had purchased some Insul-bright specifically for this purpose some time back and have finally gotten around to using it. What a fun project - no measuring, no precision piecing, just grab some scraps and go!

(you can tell I haven't yet sewn the space at the bottom where I turned it right-side out, and I think I'll also do a minimum amount of topstitching/quilting, but other than that - DONE!)

Thank goodness for sedentary hobbies!

This is one of those times when I am glad that my hobby is one that can be done while sitting down. Yesterday, in karate, while trying out a very simple grab on my son, I tore my right calf muscle. There was an audible POP! which stopped everyone in their place, including me, and then the pain began. I'm in much less pain today, especially after an ice bath for my leg in the training room at the University, but the doctor says I shouldn't use it for the next 48-72 hours, and then gradually begin to introduce weight to the leg. Thank goodness I still have my crutches from last September's mishap. So what will I do? QUILT!

And to cheer me up, look what was waiting for me when I got home today:

I had forgotten about my online purchase from earlier this week. I see a pink and brown quilt in my future! And 4 yards of that polka dot should make a nice backing for something.

I'd rather my leg didn't hurt, but I'm glad to have a reason to NOT clean house, to just sit and sew.

I'm b-a-a-a-c-k!!!

Actually, I haven't gone anywhere; I've just been burnt out by work and the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was get on the computer. Instead, I've been doing my best to finish up some projects, relax, and watch Brothers and Sisters, my new favorite show. I'm still in Season 1, episode 20 or so, and I am already dreading when I run out of episodes and have to say "goodbye" to my new friends. Seriously, I felt like my friends had moved away when I finished the 7th season of Gilmore Girls, so I know this one will affect me, too.

One project I started and finished since my last post is a pair of ragged edge placemats. I had seen some done with this method in a magazine, and decided to design my own and see how they came out. I drew a deisgn on paper, laid it over three pieces of fabric pinned together, stitched on the lines, tore away the paper and then snipped away one or two layers in each section with a quarter inch seam allowance to make the design appear, then snipped all the seams like a rag quilt. After washing and drying to get the fringed edge, I was thrilled with them...

...until I noticed that I had accidentally cut a hole in one of them. (Can you see it there on the right side of that yellow square?)

It is a hole that defies fixing (I know, I've already tried). Don't you HATE that, when you work so hard on something only to see that it wasn't a success? Oh well, I can still use them - I don't care if my placemats are hole-y, but there goes my idea of giving them as a gift. I think I may just purchase some SNUB-NOSED clippers and try again.

In the meantime, swim lessons have begun for my boys. For me, that means 30 minutes of hand stitching time three times per week while they splash away in the pool. I'm committed to completing my 4th of July tablerunner this week, and hopefully my martini girl, too.

That's all for now. My stomach is calling - it would much rather I eat than blog during my lunch break. Hopefully, I'll find a chance to catch up on all the blog posts I've missed in my two week hiatus soon - I've missed you guys!!!

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!

Full day in Atlanta

What a great day! We arrived at our hotel at about 12:30 AM, slept until 8, had breakfast, 20 minutes to let our food settle and then 2 hours in the hotel pool. For the first hour I just watched the kids swim while I worked on the binding of Donald's Boys Will Be Boys quilt, but then I got in and swam laps and lounged around in the hot tub.

Then it was shower time and a walk to a nearby mall to buy new sneakers for all of us. Lunch in the food court and back to the hotel to find Adam had returned from his appointment. We left him napping and took the car to McDonough, GA to visit my friend, Nancy, who moved away last summer. The boys enjoyed some basketball in the driveway with her husband while she and I caught up,

then we went down to the lake to walk around and watch the fish and geese. Finally, they took us to a fun diner for dinner, and we were back in the car to drive back to the hotel.

The boys are out for a nighttime walk with Adam before bed - remember the magic of being outside in the dark after your bedtime? I do; in fact, I still feel that magic when I am out in public after dark. I'm such a homebody that that is a rarity.

Tomorrow should be another fun-filled day, so I should get some sleep.

At Rainbow's End

Sometimes, I find that I do so much that I don't do anything well. Today, I was convinced that I was a failure as a mom. My 5 year old has been talking for weeks about his concert/play at school. It's been on the calendar. We changed other plans so we could go see it. It was tonight at 6:30. Or so I thought.

We arrived at 6:20 PM, just as it was ending; apparently, it started at 6:00. When we walked in the door to see the kids getting their final applause and I looked down at my little guy, all dressed up in his finery with a crestfallen look on his face, my heart broke. I held it together until another mom told me, "It's an honest mistake; it could have happened to anyone." But it didn't. Donald said, "Why did you make us late, Mom? No one else was late." and I couldn't help but cry as he walked off to find his teacher. I called my husband to tell him not to bother coming with Jason; we had missed it and it was my fault.

The other mom took pity on me, found the music teacher and got me the CD of music that the kids used so at least Donald could sing the songs to us at home, and we drove home. As I drove, feeling like the worst mom in the world, we came over the last hill before our house, and this is what we saw -

they say that there's gold at the end of the rainbow, but they are wrong - my house is at the end of the rainbow. My family is the gold.

Little did I know. I walked into the house and noticed that the furniture was missing from the kitchen. When I got into the computer room, I saw why. When my 8-year-old, Jason, heard that we had missed the program, he recreated the stage and seating so Donald could perform it for us at home; he didn't want his brother to be sad for missing the program. I couldn't help but to cry once again - how did such a befuddled mother end up with such wonderful children?

We put the CD in the player and Donald sang every song to us as I watched through a veil of tears, holding hands with his thoughtful big brother.

Auction, martini girl, stars and freebies

My husband was out of town for a few days and the weather was wet and cold, so on Friday night, I took my kids to an auction with me. I wasn't really in the market to buy anything, but I was open to suggestion. I set the kids up in a quiet corner with their portable DVD player, pulled out my sewing, and settled down to watch another person's lifetime accumulation of paraphernalia being parcelled off to others piece by piece. There weren't many people there, and things were going pretty inexpensively. I bid on some plant stands, and won them for $2.00. Later, as I was wrapped up in my sewing and not paying very close attention, I heard the magic word - QUILT. There were a few quilts there, but nothing I particularly wanted, but this was something I had missed. A whole barrel full of quilt fabric - or so the auctioneer said. I hadn't had an opportunity to look inside, but no one else was bidding so I said, "What the heck?", made a bid, and won the barrel for $1.00. COOL!

Until I got it home and figured out how to get the top off, that is. The first thing I noticed was the smell. All the fabric was musty or mildewy - stinky. And then I started pulling the fabrics out. I wanted to give that auctioneer an education in quilting, because these WEREN'T what I call quilt fabrics. In fact, I couldn't identify most of these fabrics. Gauzy, stretchy, scratchy ick! I went through it all and found 6 fabrics that I was willing to give a try - 3 cotton prints and 3 flannels.

I popped them in the wash, and put the rest back in the barrel to dispose of. Oh well, it was just a dollar. Besides, while sitting there, I was able to finish embroidering this block:

I am currently in the process of quilting it to make it into a small wallhanging.

I've also finished the rest of my stars for Jason's karate quilt, but I'm waiting for inspiration to strike before I assemble anything. And I'm pretty annoyed at myself because the blue and the purple fabrics are so similar that it is hard to tell which is which!

Prior to the quilt guild meeting on Saturday morning (which I couldn't stay for since I had to work, but I did make a brief appearance) I made another star for the Just One Star project. I have already sent my first star, but I wanted to make another because we had encouraged members of our guild to make a star to contribute so we could send them all in together. I was thrilled to learn that our guild made over 30 stars to send!

I meant to take this book to the guild meeting to see if anyone wanted it - my friend, Nancy, sent it to me since she already had a copy, but it turns out I already had a copy, too. Do any of YOU want it? If so, just leave a comment to let me know - first come, first served.

The same goes for this Vera Bradley travel planner. It was a gift from a student, and while I love the colors and I love the paisley, I know myself and that I will never use it. I would rather it go to a home where it will be put to use. If you want it, leave a comment letting me know - again, first come, first served.

Finally, we are headed to Atlanta as a family later this week, so I've been gathering hand projects to work on. I will take:

• Donald's quilt off his bed to finish the binding (I've only sewn one side down)


• Feb, Mar and April Birdie Stitches BOM blocks to embroider


• My 4th of July Table Runner that I got to within inches of finishing the hand quilting and then just lost all interest


• And the little yellow gal wallhanging that I've been working on.

I also picked up 4 paperbacks from the library this morning. I envision long hours in the car, and long hours next to the hotel pool while my children wear themselves out swimming. I'm hoping that means lots of progress on my hand sewing projects for me!