Setting up the new [old] aquarium

We've had the tank for a long time - since we lived in Mobile, and that's been 1994 or so. We had it set up for a while here, but when the last fish died a few years ago, we just never got it back running again. Well, we [I] got all the gravel and rocks washed, and filled it back up. Filter runs, heaters run. YAY! Go to the pet store on Saturday - each kid is allowed to pick out ONE fish. Gotta let the aquarium cycle, and 3 fish is a reasonable start-up load for a large aquarium.






Well. See those little silver dots in the upper left corner of the aquarium? Less than 24 hours after release into the tank, the female molly is popping out baby fishies. A few more than 20 so far, as best as we can count. They're cute, and growing fast. Hopefully the big fish won't eat them all!

Great giveaway

Oodles of Amy Butler scraps and a cute bag pattern over at Sheree's Alchemy. Stop by and register - you can always share with me if you win :)

Peach-Mango Sorbet

I was going to call it "Orange Sherbet", but the Lovely Daughter insists that it's not orange. I made a bunch of blocks this weekend, but I don't think I'm caught up on the 9-patch challenge. Closer, but not there yet.

I was only able to get that much done because of this:

Everybody seemed to be lazy on Sunday. Possibly because the Small Man was starting to get sick, but it's not clear yet that he's germy. Maybe just ate too fast.

I believe I've confessed here before my sad addiction to scraps. Just love them. Am entranced by them. Well, I went to the new location of G Street Fabrics and managed to leave with only two bags of scraps (mostly NOT quilting fabric, BTW) and a nice not-quite 2-yard piece of backing fabric.

Rae Gun Ramblings: Giveaway: Fabric Bundle

Hurry!!! deadline is tonight!

Rae Gun Ramblings: Giveaway: Fabric Bundle

Graduations

I have one moving from middle to high school, and one from elementary to middle school. (Small man wants to know, "When can I have a graduation?" Next year, big guy - time for kindergarten then.)

The Lovely Daughter:


The Mid-Kid (sorry for the blurry photo - it's the best one I have):


Boy, it's trite, but they grow up so fast!

No quilty photos, despite getting a lot done on my daughter's quilt over the weekend. A few times a year, our guild sponsors a "Sit-n-Sew" at a local University. We get a computer-friendly room, so plenty of outlets. It's a great mini-retreat.

Museum photos

Not very many, since the exhibits we went to see prohibited photography. These are both from the Renwick.

This is me inspecting a carved mahogany sculpture. That "drape"? It's ALL carved wood. I swear the weave of the fabric is carved into the wood.


A Sam Maloof dining set. Swoon.

The Antique Quilt

SO, my boss comes in a couple of weeks ago and says, "M. [his wife] wants to know if you want an antique quilt." So I thought a minute and said, "OF COURSE!"

I'm thinking your average early 20th century quilt, available in your local antique store for $50 or so.

No. He comes in the next day with THIS:






My jaw drops to the floor, but I take it home. The next Monday is our guild meeting, so I take it in to share at show & tell. [TMOTH says to "show off", but we all know quilters like to share.] I jokingly tell them not to say anything if it's valuable, otherwise I'll have to give it back.

The others agree with me - it's mid-19th century and an extraordinarily fine quilt. It needs to see someone for conservation, and I do need to get it appraised. Sigh. I'm hoping against hope it'll only be worth a couple of hundred dollars and I'll be able to keep it.

Blogging before dinner - my UFO list

TMOTH has taken the mid-kid off to karate, the Lovely Daughter is staying with a friend so she can ride with her to the field trip tomorrow (YEAH! No getting up at 4 am!!), and Small Man is playing with Legos. Dinner will be easy, so I have a few minutes to think about my UFO list.

My internet buddies, the Prolific Online Quilters, are having a summer Waun-a-Finish challenge, and the first step is to post our UFOs.

1. Mid-kid's chess quilt - still lots more applique to do
2. The Lovely Daughter's cat window quilt - much progress here, mostly due to ...
3. Crazy Mom's one 9-patch a day quilt-a-long
4. Love's the Only House mini-quilt
5. My mom's 9-patch quilt
6. Flannel plaid quilt
7. Birds-in-the-Air quilt (BTW - 5, 6, and 7 are all inherited UFOs. They count, right?)
8. Baby quilt for Laresha's baby
9, 10, 11. Toddler quilts (x 3 - new baby, 4yo, and 2yo grand-boys of my boss)

I'll also probably start a few new ones as well - I'm not particularly stressed by the UFO level as long as I'm working on something ;^)

A Lovely Day Today

I took about half the day off today - worked early am and late pm but took the middle part off.

TMOTH and I went downtown.

First, we went to the Renwick (my personal favorite of the Smithsonian museums - it's really small and quiet and has different stuff) to see the Greene & Greene exhibit which ends Sunday without the benefit of children nagging at us. Ahhhhhh. Wonderful, wonderful, although I had the privilege of visiting the Gamble House in Pasadena about 15 years ago, and all of these kinds of things are SO much more wonderful in context.

Then we hopped one Metro stop back toward home and had lunch at a little Italian restaurant. Yummy.

Then, the Textile Museum. Somehow, I've never managed to visit before, despite having lived hear ~11 years now. They have an exhibit running on Amish Quilts. Oh. My. Goodness. I honestly couldn't pick a favorite, or even favorites. They were all just so amazing. If any of you are going to be in the DC area between now and Labor Day, I highly recommend it.