Screeeeeech!

That's the sound of me not quite squeaking in under the wire in Amanda's Christmas Challenge. I did finish by the end of the month, at least, so it's a victory in my eyes!

The Christmassy side:


It doesn't scream "Christmas" but some of the charm squares have a definite holiday flavor:


The other side is a nice sage green with all-over leaf pattern. One small pleat in this side; I'll just put a candle on that spot!


Next month is table decoration/centerpiece. Aiyee. No idea yet about this one!

Jill's Giveaway

Jill is having a couple of giveaways, one for the US AND one for international only!!

Good luck!

Nine-patches and snowballs done for June

Plus one make-up month's worth. When we get back from Florida, it'll be July, so I can do my other make-up month then.

I moved my blocks from the one-quart bag to the one-gallon bag today :)

Christmas in June (and July, and August...etc.)

My internet buddy Amanda in Australia has issued a Christmas Challenge. The task for the month of June was to make a Christmas ornament. I've been putting mine off (ya think?) but finally just decided to get it done tonight.

I had some scraps of sewn-together Christmas fabric squares that I think one of the kids dragged home as a quilt show prize. I took it apart and tried the half-square triangle technique demo'ed here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MissouriQuiltCo

It worked great, but the pinwheel block I started with was WAY too big, so I took the four pieces and cut them some more: two into smaller pinwheels and squares and two just in half. So I wound up with four ornaments instead of one. Only one got bound, and I glued the button on to cover the thread tangle from sewing a hanging loop on :)



I may or may not finish the other three tomorrow - I have some neglected black and white nine-patches that need attention, as well as my Art Now for Autism mini-quilt.

Happy Father's Day to a great dad!

My wonderful husband. The Small Man and I went out and got donuts from Donut King for breakfast, and then used his Father's Day present of a bag of chocolate chips to make cookies. Also listened to "Exile on Main Street" and watched "Blazing Saddles." He made his own dinner though - cheeseburgers! All in all, a good day.

Sparkly trees

In my yard in the summer, we have fireflies.

We have a lot more than we used to, because there are no lawn chemicals used at casa de Monkeys. Early in the evening, there are the sort of lightning bugs that I remember from childhood summers spent in East Tennessee. [I grew up in South Florida. Plenty of bugs, but no lightning bugs!] Slow, lazy fireflies that hover around fairly close to the ground, so easy to catch.

Later, though, when it gets to be full dark, my trees start to sparkle. Hundreds of fireflies in my trees, and they don't seem to bother with long flashes - short, rapid-fire flashes that make it look as if fairies are sending messages to each other. It's completely magical.

I wonder if I was just never allowed to stay up late enough to see this, and it happens lots of other places as well.

KinderCare graduation today

The Small Man graduated from preschool today.
Yes, he's adorable.


There were musical numbers, including all kinds of hand movements.


I think in this one, they were signing the letters for "Alligators All Around."


As they handed out diplomas, Ms. Nadine asked each kid "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Small Man was first, and said "FIREFIGHTER!" (He changes his mind on an hourly basis, mind you.) The girls were pretty consistent - teachers, doctors, ballerinas, princesses. One "gymnastics girl," one "painter," and one "singer." The boys had a core of testosterone-fueled professions (another firefighter, policeman, soldier, cowboy, etc.) but were also WAY more creative. "Spaceman." "Pizza Man." "Superhero." And my personal favorite: "METAL DETECTOR!"

One more week, then (as I'm told two or three times a day) the SUMMER BASH on Friday, and then NO MORE KINDERCARE PAYMENTS!!

Another successful play

Yesterday afternoon we had the last performance of "SeussOdyssey" by Center Stage, the youth theater run by the City of Gaithersburg. The performers are mostly middle schoolers, although there are a few high school "alumni" (like my daughter and her BFF) that were also in the play. And yes, the play is "The Odyssey" told in Seussian rhyme.

The Karate Kid (6th grade) was "Telly" and "Wind 2" in the play. Here he is (the short one in "dork" glasses) with Odysseus after he returned from his voyage:




As "Wind 2" he basically had to just run around the stage (the Lovely Daughter in the background):


The Lovely Daughter joined in late; she was in the spring musical at the high school, and that pretty much sucked up all of her time. When she started going to Center Stage (because of BFF, really), the director first gave her a non-speaking part and then asked her to take on the roles of some girl who couldn't be there on Sunday - basically crew members and villagers and such. So she learned her lines in about a week, and all of the blocking in one rehearsal day. She was also the tech crew for the Friday and Saturday performances.

She's the tall girl with the drawn-on mustache and beard:




She died about 7 or 8 times in the play (got eaten by Charybdis, got eaten by sharks, etc.) but most of the death scenes were off-stage. Here she got to die on-stage and get dragged off.




Both kids on stage together:


And of course, all plays need an audience:

Hormel Compleats: Run away. Run far, far, away.

I thought I would have some "Roasted Turkey & Vegetables with white and wild rice" for my lunch today. Doesn't the picture on the package look yummy?


Well, ahem. This is what it looked like when I peeled the plastic back off the serving dish after I heated up as per directions:


Um. Yeah. Stirring it up didn't help any. I was brave - I tasted it. NOT gonna eat it (I did bring it home for the dogs). Happily my mini-fridge is well-stocked.

All Over the House

So, I was whining yesterday on one of the Yahoo groups I belong to about how my quilting/crafting "stuff" was ALL OVER THE HOUSE. I was then informed that pictures were in order. So, OK, you asked for it:

1. The Kitchen. How, you ask, can there be crafting stuff in the kitchen? Well, there's a kitchen island that's right next to the stairs that go up to the playroom where the "official" crafting area is, and I have a tendency to put things there "for a while" until I take them upstairs. Yeah, right.

The big silver colander serves most of the time as my bread bin. The white lid is full of those beads you iron together, so technically they're my kids' stuff, but it still falls under "crafting" so I get to organize it (or not). All of the stuff in and on top of the clementine box (and the glue) needs to go upstairs.

2. The Dining Room. Now, to be fair, I actually do a lot of the actual work in my dining room. I mostly sew on the kitchen table, since I share my crafting area with the Wii and Playstation and kids' computer. However, I'm not sure there's any excuse for just leaving stuff here and not putting it away.


To show that I *DO* get some work done, here is my mid-kid's quilt, sandwiched and pinned last night on the dining room table:


3. The Living Room. Things don't tend to pile up in here, thankfully. However, it's where the laundry goes to get folded, so there's often a small pile of material that's been washed hanging out on the couch or loveseat waiting to be put away.


4. The Foyer. So, there's this nice big desk that's waiting to find a permanent home...so things get put on top of it. Like fabric.


5. Upstairs hallway. Along with the cat carrier that needs to be put away (see the pattern here?), there's a bag of fabric sitting in front of the bookcase (which has quilting magazines on top).


6. Our Bedroom. Just an example - a bin of material on the floor. I think there's more hiding around the room - along with the supplies masquerading as decorations.




There's actually NOT any in the bathrooms, or in the kids' rooms. And I'm not showing any pictures of the playroom/craft room because it's just too scary right now. Sigh.

I went to a "quilt club" meeting at one of our local fabric shops last week, and the guest speaker was a professional organizer talking on how to set up a quilt studio. Some good ideas, some that won't work for my house. (Fabric on open shelves? Not here in the land of dust and hair. Locking bins are my friend.)

Featherweight fixed

I took the tension assembly off the machine, put it back together according to the instructions, and re-installed it on the machine. (This was not successful the first time, or even the second, but it was accomplished without swearing.) I am now sewing a perfect stitch on as setting of 5!

I don't think it's sewn this well since I wrangled it off my mom :)

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2010

Today we went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It's probably a good thing I had whiny kids at the end asking to go home, because I'm feeling a little heatstroked myself.

As always, the alpacas were a huge hit with my boys.

These guys had been sheared, so they looked a little goofy. BUT, the clippers left designs in their short fur that looks really cool.


Here are a few more alpacas, these are not yet sheared.


The yurt was new to us (we didn't make it last year) and something else the boys really loved.


I didn't seem to take as many sheep pictures this year as in the past. That's too bad, though, because I think Miss Art-Girl should paint a picture to enter for next year.


I think this guy saw the red light on my camera and knew a flash was coming!


All three kids, with lambs:


The small man, petting a sheep:


My favorites are the llamas. They're just so standoffish and regal.


I didn't manage to buy any wool (it makes me itch). I did buy a small block of beeswax, a half-gallon of maple syrup, three over-the-door hangers made out of silver spoons, two seafood forks, a ring and some soap for my daughter, some glass beads for the mid-kid, a kid-sized broom for the Small Man, and a regular broom for me. TMOTH bought himself a cool pottery mug. Plus lots of food.

What is this plant?

It's a tallish shrub, about 6 feet tall. It's growing in the part of our yard that has lots of volunteer plants.

Leaves - maybe 3 inches long and an inch wide:


Flowers - tiny, pale yellow, in clusters:


If anybody has a suggestion as to what they think this might be, let me know, 'kay?

Another quilt show

I went to the Faithful Circle quilt show today. No photos, as I forgot my camera. Drat.
LOTS of beautiful applique at the show. Some bright colors, some nifty ideas. Sometimes simple approaches work best.

I came home with a couple of yards of beautiful batik, and some bags of scrap material from "Peddler's Alley." I'm bummed, though, because I seem to have lost one. The smallest one, with lots of bits of doggie prints that would've gone into the Bueno brothers' quilts. It could be worse, I guess - I'm only out $1, and hopefully I'll have good karma if someone else finds the baggie that can use it.

The streak will REALLY be put to the test - I only bought one raffle basket ticket! I did buy raffle quilt tickets as well, when it was at our guild meeting last month.

The streak continues!

I won a GREAT raffle basket today at the quilt show. Cool fabric, mini-size bottles of Mary Ellen's Best Press in all sorts of scents, quite a bit of Insul-Brite, small pieces of other battings (good for journal quilts), some thread, a magnetic wand, small size rotary cutter blades, a beaded ring kit...the list just goes on. Some patterns and stencils, nearly all of which I gave away because I'd never use them.

There were purchases, too...thread from the Superior booth, lots of ginkgo batiks, and not-batik ginkgos, fun fabric, some more black and white, even a little yellow. Also some needles.

No raffle basket yet...

I have an unbroken (so far) streak of winning raffle baskets at our quilt show, plus others I've attended. Two more days to fix this situation!

Girls scouts stopped by today. That was fun. I'm in charge of children's activities, and the take-it-home craft is a pincushion. I just pressed some more material, because I need to sew up a few more blanks in the morning.

I also need to stop by the bank when I take Laura to her painting class. Lots of stuff I'd like to buy, but need to restrain myself to some extent. I will buy some King Tut thread, and some stash enhancement, but not much else.

Quilt show starts tomorrow!

YAY!!! I took the ribbons over tonight after my work presentation, and filled in the "cheat sheet" for the peek-n-seek (THANKS, Roma, for pointing out that the quilt numbers were on the tags on the back).

I think (hope) I have enough pincushion blanks - especially because my featherweight is NOT cooperating. I think I'm going to have to take the tension assembly apart and put it back together. If that fails, I'll have to talk to the OSMG next week. I just hate to have it away from me. I can, of course, use one of the other machines, it's just a little more trouble.

Tomorrow I have to take the children's activities stuff over to the fairgrounds before work; then come back in the afternoon to work the show. Good times, good times.

Whew!

Wow. Quite a long time since I posted.

April has been...busy.

Spring break was OK - I had to work most of it, but I took an afternoon off to go see "How to Train Your Dragon" with the family (GREAT movie!) and took a day off to go to Calvert Cliffs State Park.

The Cliffs:


Small Man on the "beach":


The Mid-Kid:


Silly kids:


I went to Seattle for work. Took a few hours off the middle of the day one day and took the monorail to the Space Needle. Wonderful views - hopefully I can release those photos from the cell phone one day!

BUT, Seattle meant no sewing for five days. Right before quilt turn-in day. Aargh.

The saving grace, oddly enough, was my daughter's school play rehearsals. I sat in the car waiting, sewing on binding, and burying threads. It was down to the wire, but I finished all of the quilts that had to be turned in. This is a photo of the machine quilting in progress, and a close-up of the "design" in the sashing.




Along with quilt turn-in this past weekend were the performances. (So no more picking up from Poolesville!! YAY!) It was a wonderful play - they did South Pacific, and did it well. But I got almost no sleep. And ate really badly on Sunday. So I was really sick all day yesterday, and then woke up today not feeling great. I took kids to school, then came home and went back to bed. I woke up at nearly noon feeling much much better. Lazed around the house the rest of the day.

This evening I got the ribbons done for the Guild Challenge. I don't want to post pictures until after they're up at the show, but I'm really pleased with how they came out.

The only think left I know I have to do for the show is to get the children's activities stuff organized. Peek-n-seek and making sure I have stuff for pincushions, hopefully finding my information board safe and sound.

Not a crafty day

I spent the day with the Karate Kid at a tournament today - his first after a disastrous attempt a few years ago. This was at least better organized.

Some background: My middle kid, 11, got his black belt a week ago. This is him after his belt test with the school's owner/director, Mr. Derek. (If anyone is looking for an outstanding program in the upper Montgomery County/lower Frederick County area, Strive Martial Arts in Damascus, MD or Gaithersburg, MD is outstanding.)


So today, he did the forms competition in the tournament. Because of some weird way AAU calculates age, he was in the 12-to-something group even though he's 11. And not big for his age. AND all of the black belts compete against each other, so the next least experienced kid had two chevrons - almost a second degree black belt. The other kids were at least second degree black belts.


He actually did fairly well - but came in last place in his group. Which upset him greatly. I talked him down some, another kid's mom talked him down some more, and Mr. Derek told him what he needed to work on most. There's another tournament coming up in a couple of weeks - hopefully that will go better, or at least he's do better compared to his score this time.

Free Motion Quilting

I've been working on FMQ on the 9-patch-a-day quilt. Starting out doing spirals in the 9-patches, freehand. They're far from perfect, but they're getting DONE. I'm going to do feathers in the sashing and stick a fork in it.

I think this photo is a little washed out, but the quilting shows up better than I expected.

Past weekend's Sit-n-Sew

Our guild had a sit-n-sew last Sunday. Heaven. A whole day to sew, have lunch with friends, just chill with no distractions. I got surprisingly little done!

This is my space:


I got my next set of six-a-month blocks done:


The 9-patch quilt got sandwiched and pinned - gotta love big floor spaces! I'd planned on doing some quilting - but not only did I forget the free motion foot for the Brother, I also forgot the power cord and the foot pedal! What a goofball I can be sometimes.

I also put together a few pinwheel blocks. No idea what I'll do with them, but they're done.

Musicals

I've been home sick today, with occasional peeks at work e-mail.

This morning and through early afternoon, it was pretty much non-stop CSI.

But for the past hour or so I've been watching Oklahoma! What a treat. The old musicals don't seem to show up on TV as often as they did when I was growing up. The Lovely Daughter is in a production of South Pacific at her high school, so when that was on a few weeks ago we watched it. It was the modern version, though :( Much as I like Harry Connick, Jr., it just wasn't right. It doesn't help that I'm not a huge fan of Glenn Close either.

I think I will finally have to break down and order a DVD of The Music Man - it's probably my favorite of all.