Getting things finished (or at least making progress!)

Many thanks to Cici for filling in for me on the blog last week (I think!).  Fortunately, things are going a little better.  I finally have all of the En Provence blocks that I had to rip apart resewn (some more than twice, unfortunately), and have started putting them on the new design wall I made in my sewing room.  My sewing room is an attic room with sloped ceilings that are pretty low - I don't have to stand on ANYTHING to change a light bulb!  This made creating a design wall a little tricky, but I finally figured out how to do it and told the Hubs, and he had a bracket and rod up in no time.  I purchased a cheap vinyl table cloth and sewed a casing in one end of it and put it on the rod and PRESTO!  Design Wall!  It's at the other end of the attic room between the dormer window that is now a closet, so I get my steps in going back and forth!

You can see that I have 9 of the 16 blocks finished and some of the sashing pieces as well.  I finally counted and each block has 80 pieces.  I will be so glad when this top is done.  I can't wait to hand it off to be quilted and say something like, "I don't want to see this again until August at the earliest.........November might be even better."  I just want to be able to say I got it finished before our December guild meeting so I can scratch it off the list.

The best thing about this is the design wall.  The flannel on the back of the table cloth is great for sticking blocks to.  And if I need to get into the closet, I just slide the table cloth to the side, or can even lift the bar out of the bracket.

Stitchin' Rip!

Hi!  This is Cici!  I am blogging today because my human has had a tough week in the sewing room, so I thought I'd help out by writing her blog this week.  She was on spring break, and had planned a trip to Brunswick to do a little fabric shopping, but felt that she was accomplishing so much in her sewing room that she gave up her shopping trip to sew. (Since I love fabric because it's so fun to sniff, lay on, roll around in, etc., I was a little disappointed, but was enjoying her spending the whole day at home with me.)  However, about the middle of the afternoon, she suddenly stopped the sewing machine and stared at her fabric.  She was working on some red nine patches and hour glass blocks and had all the blocks sewn into rows (really fun to drag around the sewing room!), and she had about half the rows sewn together.  She took the fabric out of the machine, turned it off and grabbed a seam ripper.  Apparently half of the hour glass blocks were turned the wrong way.  (Let me point out that this was one sewing room disaster that WASN'T MY FAULT!)

So, I am going to take this opportunity to share what I have learned while spending time with my human in the sewing room.

1.  HIDE the seam rippers!  I can't believe how many she has.  I work overtime knocking them off the different sewing machines and cutting table, trying to hide them under the furniture, since she hates them so much and gets so grouchy while she uses them.  I just want her to be happy!

2.  Playing with thread is fun!  I love to sit on the edge of the sewing table and bat the spools from the thread holder to the floor.  They roll across the floor so well.  Thread is also good for flossing and who doesn't appreciate good dental hygiene.  The best way to floss is to use the thread that is on the sewing machine.  It's already stretched taught and since I lack thumbs, that makes it so much easier to floss with.  And if you get all the spools of thread hidden, there are cute little bobbins that can be batted across the floor.   

3.  Watching the needle go up and down in the machine is mesmerizing.  However, if you actually stretch your paw out to catch the needle, you wouldn't believe how quickly you get swatted away.

4.  Fabric is wonderful to sniff, roll up in, or take a nap on.  My favorite place to nap is in the scrap basket.  It's been awhile since I have had the opportunity to sleep in the scrap basket as it was mounded up so far above the top of the basket that I kept falling off.  She finally put the basket on the cutting table this week and started cutting the scraps into strips and squares.  She got about half of the basket of fabric cut up which was perfect because there was finally room for me to crawl in and take a nice nap.  I have come to understand that part of my "job" is to mash down the fabric in the scrap basket so that she can put more in!

5.  Pincushions are wonderful!  You can take the pins out with your teeth and drop them on the floor to play with.  However, if you get a needle out of the pincushion, you can test your human's reflexes to see just how fast she can move to get the needle away from you!  I do my best to keep her on her toes!

6.  If you are feeling neglected or in need of some love, just jump on the cutting table when she is cutting fabric and show a little interest in the movement of the rotary cutter.  She immediately puts the cutter down and cuddles and snuggles you.  Of course, while all of this love is happening, you sometimes don't realize that she is moving you off the cutting table and back to the floor.

7.  Anytime she leaves a cabinet door, drawer, or fabric tub open, she is hoping you will "organize" things for her.  Just be careful about getting into a cabinet.........if she doesn't realize you are organizing, she might shut you inside without knowing it.  Of course, the opportunity to jump out and surprise her when she opens the drawer again is worth it.  

Well, I'd share more sewing room knowledge, but as my human often points out, I have the attention span of a flea, so this is as long as I can focus on this for now.  I do have to say that her week got better.  She did get all of the blocks ripped apart and has three of the rows sewn back together.  She also got lots of projects finished and has several things for the guild show and tell tomorrow night...............a suitcase full in fact.  She has taken some pictures which I'm sure she'll get posted next week.  In the meantime, here are a couple of photos of our day in the sewing room together.
Cici

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Wow!  What a windy day this has been.......much too windy for kite flying.  Since my sewing room is upstairs, I haven't spent much time there today because the wind is so loud up there.  I did spend my morning judging FFA public speaking contest.  It was very interesting.  Some really good speeches and a few that needed some work.  My favorite speech title was OMG  GMO!  The title was good, but the speech needed some work.

DD was home this weekend for her BFF's wedding.  Here are some of the pics...........

 Yes, the maid of honor is wearing high-top converse tennis shoes..........at the bride's request.  (Mom just had to get over it!)

The Circle of Life

Since Mondays are my one day at home (other than going in to the church to do book work since I am the treasurer), I try to catch up on house cleaning.  Today, to make the cleaning fly by - well, it still didn't fly, but it was more enjoyable - I had Pandora radio on.  I was listening to the Broadway Show Stoppers station.  In the middle of all the great songs from Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked, came The Circle of Life from the Lion King.  This really took me back because it would have to be Sarah's all-time favorite movie.  We have it in VHS, but of course had to upgrade to DVD - but we still can't get rid of that original VHS movie though.  Sarah was infatuated with Lions when she was little.  We all knew the movie by heart.  We have the Lion King board game, matching game, playing cards, and of course, she had lots of Lion King t-shirts and even cute little sneakers.  Sometime prior to her 3rd birthday, she acquired a small beanie baby kitten that was the color of a lion.  Of course she named it Simba.  Simba went everywhere with Sarah.  Here he is at her 3rd birthday party where she is opening presents.............

President's Day - Still Monday!

Happy President's Day!  I almost forgot that it was still Monday and I needed to blog.  We just got back from a visit to my parents.  DH helped my dad with a few projects including trying to get his phone to work "hands free" in his new car.  Dad kept asking me why I wasn't answering my cell phone, and I never heard it ring, nor did it show any missed calls.  When we arrived home this afternoon, my home answering machine was full of waiting calls........all from Dad!  

Sunday afternoon, before we headed north, I attended the Marshall Philharmonic Orchestra Concert.  I took 3 of my MVC students with me (it was a class requirement), three gentlemen, 2 from Brazil and 1 from Bulgaria.  It was definitely a unique experience for all of us.  As we were stopped at a stoplight on the way to drop them back at campus, I was asked, "What does YIELD mean?"  This opened a discussion on driving rules and having a license (which none of them do even in their home country as it is so expensive).  I have now promised to stop by the license office and pick up driving rule manuals for them.  (What are piano teacher's for???)  I'm unsure as to whether they could get a license here, but I figure knowing the driving rules won't hurt them.  They did enjoy the concert too, but wanted to know if the orchestra ever played anything they might know.  I told them that would be the April concert.  When they asked if they could attend, I said sure and that I was in charge of the reception (the cookies and punch were also a big draw), so they've now decided they might get to take home the leftover cookies if they have to help me clean up.  We'll see if that happens!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all!  I made DH homemade angel food cake (Great Aunt Mildred's recipe) this afternoon and fixed fresh strawberries to go with it.  I also did some chocolate covered strawberries!  We have a quilt guild meeting tomorrow night, so I'm planning to take DH out to eat Mexican prior to the meeting.  I invited him to the meeting since it's Valentine's Day, but he declined.

Romance is in the air.  DD came home this weekend to try on her maid of honor dress for a wedding she's in on March 4th.  I had to alter it a little and wanted her to try it on before I clipped curves, etc.  Now I need to hem the slip she's wearing.  We also practiced a hairstyle.

Keeping on track.........

We made a trip to Rolla this weekend to see the DD at school.  We went car shopping with her and decided it was time for her to have something more reliable that got better gas mileage than our old sorento.  After some negotiation, we all decided on a 2016 Kia Sportage.  She won't get it until Thursday.  The best part is that she finally made it up the list far enough to get a parking pass that is much closer to her dorm!!!!  Yeah!!!  This is actually as exciting as a new car!  And, honestly, I really don't enjoy car shopping at all, so I'm glad it's over with.  I think the DD would have looked at every dealership in town, driven all sorts of cars, and drawn the process out much longer.  We assured her that when she gets her next car (which she will be purchasing herself), she can shop to her hearts content!  

DH and I did some driving around Rolla to kill time on Saturday and discovered some new areas.  Here is a photo of the old courthouse.

And here is the new courthouse, right next door.

While we were driving around, I wondered aloud that we had never seen the high school, or any school other than S&T in Rolla.  As we turned the corner to the courthouse, this building came in to view.

So, we stopped to take a photo and look what the stone sign said...........

Rolla High School - erected 1915 - Ask and ye shall receive!!!  Trust me, the University is a little more modern.