fun things I can do...

...now that my basement doesn't retain water like pregnant lady. :)

> quilt

> organize my fabric and patterns and whatnot

> run around in circles chasing my dog

> plan how I'm going to decorate the basement

> store things (so that das will stop complaining about stuff being messy)

> play darts

ok, so it's not a ridiculously long list right now. we can't really do too much because we can't really afford to finish it. it'd be probably a grand or more just to put in a floating floor (which das and I could do). and we'd need to put in some different lighting, too, so that it's not just that typical basement lighting. you know... the light bulb with the pull string that's 400 feet long but made of some string that breaks when you look at it wrong so you end up having to lick your fingers and just screw the bulb on and off anyway. yeah, that kind. so overall... it'll probably be a while before anything major happens.

but at least in the meantime, das will be dry when he does the laundry. :)

congrats to random visitor from february 18th!

I guess I hit 1000. hits, that is. I don't know who it was... but if you were surfing my blog on wednesday, february 18th... it could have been you. congrats! you win... well, nothing. other than the satisfaction of being number 1000. seriously though... I have "three" jobs to pay my basic bills... I don't have the extra cash-cash for even a small gift. and well, I don't know who you are anyway... so I guess it wouldn't even matter. :)

things have been insane lately. things for the bridal shower; things for soccer; things for home; things for work. ugh. hopefully after april... things will start to calm down. the soccer season will have started; the wedding will be over; job #3 will be "off-season"... and maybe I'll be able to get back to some quilting and stamping. :) now, my downtime pretty much consists of lounging on the couch wishing I wasn't so tired. (sigh)

so I'm thinking of putting in a garden in my backyard. not flowers... but some leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans. with only four things, the garden doesn't need to be large, but it'll still provide enough tasty produce for the summer. now does anyone know how to grow these things? because I *so* don't have a green thumb. :) but I'd like to try...

anything else that I should add to my plate while I'm feeling ambitious? :)

lastly, in this minor update, I wanted to thank those who volunteered to send some green fabric for my friend's quilt. I will email you with the sizes we need (so you don't need to send twelve yards when all I need is an eighth of a yard)... just let me know if you're still willing to help out!

calling all quilters

dear quilting friends of the internet,
this past november my friend asked me to create something for her: a quilt. this may be nothing special, but this quilt *was* different. her aunt, after a long-fought battle, succumbed to cancer earlier that week. she wanted me to do a signature quilt, a healing quilt, for the friends and family members. I quickly got together some muslin rectangles and some pigma pens for her as there wasn't enough time to finish up all the blocks fully before the service. now, I have the signature blocks, but not the rest of the fabric to finalize the block. she would have wanted greens. that was her favorite.

sure, I could go out and have my friend buy some fabric, but I thought that maybe I could ask the internet. everyone is so pro-stash-busting... that maybe that random piece of green you still have that doesn't really go with anything... could be donated to a quilt that will help a family remember someone who was taken from their lives too early. even just one 5" square would help. even something from your uglies - this will become a quilt that is loved - the fabric will find a good home.

if you are interested in help me out in creating this, please let me know. there's no obligation. I'm not asking for yards. just a couple of 5" squares would be perfect. :)

thank you from me, my friend, and her family.

warmest regards,
kt

go figure

ok... so of course, shortly after I make these grandiose plans to post and whatnot... I get sick. it was a pretty busy weekend... then tuesday I woke up with a bad sore throat. I slathered on the choraseptic but, alas, I still woke up wednesday feeling like ass personified. then thursday... I stayed home from work. I slept until 12:30ish and then watched food network all day. I hate sick days where you're actually sick. (sigh) so today... here I am at work. the joy. I feel, again, pretty craptastic... but I know I'm "well enough" to be here. however, I already know I have negative desire to do anything else when I get home. I thought I'd be able to finish up the taking down of christmakah... all that's left is to dismantle the hanukah bush (aka christmas tree) but I have no energy. I'm afraid if I take a nap... well, that just won't end well later when I try to sleep and fail miserably. (sigh) we'll see I guess.

I have been avoiding my sewing room lately. I use the term "room" lightly as it really is just our basement. I really just don't want to work down there is really what it comes down to. it's dark - the lighting is really poor. it's cold and damp - the water at the other end of the basement keeps it chilly (though there's no heat down there anyway) and the dehumidifier can only do so much. and it's musty - the damp, musty odor that has wafted down to my end of the basement really just sucks (that and the dog decided that he didn't want to "go" outside because it was too cold, so he opted to use random spots in the basement without our knowledge [none of my fabric though] so it has that "vet office" smell to it, too). I don't want to complain because yes, I'm thankful that I even have a potential space to work... but it's just disheartening to go down there. I know my machine is lonely... I've barely touched her since my retreat back in NOVEMBER. yeah, I said it... november. I stitched up some pillowcases for my friend's son, my mother-in-law, and my mom for the holidays (plus some others that I am almost done with)... but other than that... really nothing (oh, and my hanukah blocks for the kosher pickles block exchange, but really that's it). I know we're going to "fix it" soon... we are having waterproofing specialists come and give us estimates, but it's A LOT of money that we don't really have laying around (even though we could finance it). I know that would help. but until then... I don't know what to do to motivate myself to hang out in the Quilting Dungeon on any sort of regular basis.

thoughts? comments? suggestions? lotto numbers? rich great aunt in need of a beneficiary for her millions of dollars?

I think my only option is this: the great pillsbury bake-off contest. I think that is really the best solution. I mean, aren't baked goods really the answer to all of life's grueling times and tough questions? I don't see why not. and it's just a million dollars. I think I could get a waterproofed basement for at least that, yes? and maybe a new machine... and new janome would be nice. :)

so... anyone got a good recipe that I can tweak for this? I swear... I'll give you credit. and maybe a couple thousand your way for your troubles. :)

switching gears

I'm going to a quilting retreat this weekend at sunday river. I am ridiculously excited... just because I think I need it (mentally). and I have a lot to get done (quiltingly). well, there are two things in particular that need to be completed.

1. my round robin blocks for the kosher pickles
2. the wedding quilt for my friends... who'll be celebrating their one-year anniversary on monday.

I have some other projects, too, that I am bringing with me... but those are the major things that I need to finish. I'm also bringing some stamping, too, because I have a few cards that I need to make (namely b-day cards for my mom and dad whose birthdays were nov. 2 and oct. 25, respectively). we'll see how those end up. especially since my mom is going to be there with me. although... she's made cards for me while I've been sitting only five feet from her and just said, "ok... don't look at what I'm making." :) oh mom...

I'm also bringing "eclipse". I haven't had the chance to really start reading it... so I'm greatful for the opportunity. I've been able to escape in these books. it's enough fantasy so you know it's not going to happen... you're not that far out of reality... but enough of a realistic story line, generally speaking, that it leaves you longing for the relationship that bella has with edward. perhaps I'll have to pick up book four, too, while I'm home. :) I hear walmart has the lowest prices.

in other quilt-related news, I got an email from the maine quilts coordinator. she asked if I would be interested in working something out for doing the photography for next year's show... which honestly surprised me. I thought that I was going to be booted from the position given the lack of, well, interest that I showed for finishing anything up on time. but, she seems willing to give me another try. I'm concerned because I don't want to take on too much with my sign chair responsibilities plus the classes I want to take. I don't want her to regret her decision to try it again. however, I enjoyed doing it... I got to really see the show and it was fun. plus, there was a stipend, which helped pay for my room/board for the show. thoughts on what I should do? I have kind of made a decision, but I'm intrigued to hear what anyone else might have to say.

and speaking of maine quilts 2009... the teacher and class listing has been posted to the website. if you are in the area, take a peek at what is available... we've got some great instructors this coming summer. july 24-26 are the dates. come on up to augusta!! :) oh, and check out the photos that I took for maine quilts 2008, too! it took me long enough... I may as well tell people to look at 'em!

and the weekend after... the final weekend of july is the greater hartford quilt guild's quilt show. I haven't decided if I'll volunteer for anything, or just enter somethings... or just go to look for once. :) we'll see...

holy cats!

so... turns out that TOMORROW is my blogoversary. it was totally random that I stumbled upon it. I only looked because, well, this post is number 99... thus I'm almost at *that* mark. the 100th post. I have been planning (like a huge dork, I realize as I write this) by prepping a 100 things about me post. I now want to post this tomorrow for maximum effect!!!... however, that means I have to think of about 70-75 more things about me. yikes! I better get thinking...

so for those of you following along... my american heart association heartwalk was on sunday afternoon. it was a huge success for me. my goal was $750 and I raised $850! I am so pleased with the outpouring of support from my friends and family. this organization means a lot to me, especially after my mother's heart surgery in may of 2007.

my depressingly small "quilting accomplishments" listing:
1) finished my center for my kosher pickles hanukkah border exchange

for next month... I have to do a border on the two centers that came to me from the online group and I should finish up the baby quilt, too. all I have to do is sew it, turn it, and tie it. now that I have retrieved my embroidery needle... it shouldn't be too bad.

so... I have been seriously considering becoming a stampin' up demonstrator (representative, whatever, they all have such lame-o names... you are selling the stuff regardless!). this isn't a sudden decision... I have been interested in stamping for a while, I just haven't had the... well, get-up-and-go to use them. I enjoy creating with quilts, but also with the stamping. I created my save-the-date cards using stamps, have done various holiday cards and invitations, among other things. I could even use some for scrapbooking... if those magical 25-30th hours appear on my clock soon, I could really get into that. but anyway, there is a current deal going on where you can sign up to be a demonstrator for about half the cost as you normally would. I asked das and he said no. then, when a kind of pouted and whined a tiny bit... he said that he would make a deal with me that if I could be on time for work for a full QUARTER (yeah, 12 weeks), then he would let me become a stampin' up demonstrator. which I suppose is a fair trade-off... in order for me to do the things that I want to do and get into the habit of finishing my projects, I need to learn responsibility in the things that, well, I have to do (but really don't want to). I am horrible about getting to work on time... lateness means nothing to me, really. it's annoying and I hate it, but I just can't seem to break it. but... if I can do it, and then become a demonstrator... maybe I'll be fixed! well, I won't go that far... but at least it'll look better in my work reviews. :)

so here's to day one of being to work on time. only 62 days left... ugh.

dang the weather

(note: this post ended up being really long... just don't say I didn't warn you.)

so here I am sitting at the computer. das is in bed sleeping. he's supposedly getting up to play flag football tomorrow; all my bets are on "yeah right". :) but I'd like to get caught up...

so first let me show off the final product of the "hanukkah lights" project. not too shabby if you ask me... considering I haven't paper pieced in ages.

as you can see... it's rather long. the rules were 6" x 12" centers for a table runner and 12" x 12" for a table topper. mine's about... 6"(ish) by maybe... 18"(ish)? it's an invalid entry. :( but I hope that people will make due. it's my first round robin ever. please be gentle.

and yes, my tablecloth is bright yellow. I'm surprised you can't see all the hair on it from the cats.

so my friend storey called this morning while I was working on my project and we made the executive decision that ultimately it may be considered "bad parenting" to subject her two and a half year old son to the epic rainstorms we were expected to have here in CT. understandable. we were disappointed, but such is life. she got her son's hair cut... and I decided to go anyway. yeah, you heard me. I decided to go... in the weather that was potentially going to require a large boat and sets of two of every species (except mosquitos... I can do without them thanks). so I packed up my stuff... prepped for the elements... and went to the post office, dunkin donuts, and michaels (for some stamping supplies). THEN I went to the fair. up to this point, there had only been slight drizzle so I was expecting to get there and have torrential downpours greet me instead of cows and goats and fried food. I get there... shuttle in from the off-site parking lot... still nothing. I walked around the fair for three hours. NO. RAIN. AT. ALL. which was awesome for me since I was currently at the fair... but disappointing all around because storey totally could have come. was it muddy? yeah sure... but it would've been dirty anyway. it's just wet dirt so who cares? :)

so about the fair. it was great... as expected. I very much enjoyed myself and am glad I went since I wasn't sure if I'd get out there again this weekend to really look around. it was perfect, too, when I first got there as no one had realized that it wasn't going to rain and we were still in that apprehensive "oh well do we risk it or do we stay in and go tomorrow" phase at home. there were hardly any lines or congestion typical of a fair scene. that changed later, as people realized that no, it really wasn't going to rain even though the weather forecasters (AND weather.com) said it was 100% chance of rain today. but I digress. I visited the swine/small animal/poultry/goats section first. I saw THE cutest little black goat. I do so much want a goat, but das for some reason is highly against that. I'm just trying to be green... a natural lawnmower? :) anyway, I went to the llama/sheep section next. most of the sheep were off-limits because, I believe, they were doing some showing still so they wanted to avoid pedestrian traffic as they loaded and unloaded sheep. the llamas were mentally preparing for their obsticle course section. the handlers were still setting up, so I opted to continue walking instead of waiting around. besides, the wet llama is a far more grotesque odor than many things I've smelled. wet wool = oh HELL no (gag). so I moved on to the photography section. I mentioned before about how I forced das to enter some of his work... well, of the two things he entered, one didn't place and one was honorable mention (which might I add is honorable considering there are about 250 photos entered into the competition and not everyone gets a "hey thanks for playing" ribbon). I personally think it's a sham, but it's all in the hands of whoever is judging. who knows what their criteria is... same with quilt judging. one person may count off more for one thing than another and so on and so forth. he tends to get deflated after his work is judged, but I keep trying to get him in again and again. anyway, my submission (at the end of this post) was an honorable mention, too. so I moved on to the needlework section. I had entered my irish chain (which I was SO hoping didn't have as much cat hair on it as I thought it might). and I got a blue ribbon! I am very excited. I just like having my work validated sometimes... I am very (ok... very to the infinite power) picky about my work. I think that is why sometimes I don't want to work... I'm worried I'll mess up. but I was proud of this work. I put love into it because I was making it for my husband to commemorate a great time we had together in ireland. that alone was worth the blue. :) I don't know yet what any commentary may exist so we'll see. maybe there will be something about "ok seriously... shave the cats". maybe. the next stop was the canning area to scope out how my pickles did. this was a huge experiment for me since a) I've never entered canning before and b) I've never canned anything before. I always like a stressful challenge... ok not really but in the end it's usually ok. just not those several weeks leading up to the deadline or the 12 hours just before where I'm frantically scraping everything together. at least with the pickles... I had to have them done at least 10 days before I entered them so that they could, well, pickle. :) though I ultimately made three styles (level three hot, level seven hot, and level ten hot), I submitted the level threes since those were the only ones I had made and tasted prior. I searched up and down... and found them... I got a third! which, for me, is so great. some pickles hadn't even placed, so to win a ribbon on my rookie pickle entry is so cool. I don't know if I'll do more in the future... it depends. I hope that there are some comments so I know what to do... not just for the entering portion, but to make the pickles better in general. so moving on... I checked out the craft areas, which are usually the same as they always are at the local fairs, and got some food, and just walked around some more. I found the farm museum, which was quite interesting. there was documentation on all the local farms from their humble beginnings to where they are now. the sheer number of older and antique farm pieces was just astounding. they even had an antique treadle there, too. after a while, though, my feet were acting up and I decided to head home.

I started to work on some stamping stuff, but das got home from his poker night early so I ultimately just futzed around. such is life. I did find out that our soccer game was moved due to the potential field closings. what really irks me about this is that the coordinators are moving the games and then wondering why we can't field a team. that's because people plan to have the games at a certain time... which is why you give the schedule to us at the beginning of a season. then the games are changed for whatever reason (usually rain) and now it interferes with plans that people have already made. our team is having enough issues fielding a team without the issue of overlapping schedules interfering. it's just frustrating to have to deal with a team of women who should all know better, but complain about it anyway. well, not everyone complains, but all it takes is one. I so don't want to be rep anymore; I'm a player and a rep, not your mother. wow... thanks for that vent, internet. I needed that.

so I leave this dissertation-sized post with this photo: the sham ShamWOW (note: sound auto starts with the page load). hilarious.

yummy yummy

we had a pot luck luncheon at work yesterday afternoon. it was a fall theme and it was very very tasty. we had beef stew, pumpkin bread, apple butter and bread, tortellini soup... oh it was so good. I brought apple cake and crock pot applesauce. quite possibly the two greatest things I've ever made with apples. I'm by no means an apple pie person. oh I'll *eat* apple pie. but I can't make it to save my life. I just... don't get it. it never works out for me. but these... these apple recipes. it was magic on my tongue. so... try them. while you still have fresh apples. you'll thank me later. trust me.

so last night I worked on my hanukkah center. yes, it was supposed to be turned in on thursday, but stuff happened (namely I was making the above recipes). I will be on my way shortly to finish it up and then mail it out to CA. I couldn't find any of my judaic fabrics (because they are all in the other house) so I used repros instead. I'm ok with that. it's still a menorah regardless of what era of fabrics are used. :)

so the weather reports are saying that it's going to be crazy rain today... but it's the day of the durham fair. ugh! it's not doing anything major right now, so I hope it holds off. I'm waiting for my friend storey to call to give the go-ahead so she and her son can come with... crossing my fingers... it'll be a lot of fun!!

ok... off to finish up!

I enjoy my camera

really... I do. I think it's awesome. it's just... that once the pictures go on. well, they don't automatically transport themselves onto my computer and upload into shutterfly and blogger. which is totally unfair. so I boycott their complete lack of consideration by leaving as many pictures and videos as possible on my card.

until das gets mad at me for keeping all the photos on the card and then the card gets full and he can't use it when he needs to.

so here's a few photos for your entertainment. goodness knows it'll be a while to train all those new photos we'll take to jump into my hard drive. :)

old couch...

... new couch (contrary to popular belief - the style is kinda dated)

these are our beautiful kitties... they were napping together which was mega super cute.

hmm... let see. what else can I share? ah yes... this is my center block (in progress) for my jewish online quilting group (the kosher pickles). we are doing a hanukkah border exchange. I, as you can see, am paper piecing them... which I haven't done in forever. so there's a lot coming back to me... after it's already too late to do anything about it. such is life.

here are some photos of my quilting "studio". I am set up in our basement. I didn't move anything in until we had our dehumidifier, so at least my fabric is hanging tough. it could use some more light... but hey, it's a basement. what do I want?

and last but not least... a glimpse of the quilt I've been working on my friend's newborn (read: he's three months old now). I did only pick up the kit in july after I decided I wasn't going to design something but wanted something frog-related. it was perfect. and from pincushion boutique.

hi again!

it is SO hard to come up with titles for posts. I mean you don't want every post to be "quilting stuff" or "I sewed today!" or something like that. perhaps I should just arbitrarily start naming my posts after things I find on my desk: "golfing calendar", "reid state park photos", "spy phone", or even the intriguing - "stress ball!" ok maybe that plan won't work so well. :) but don't say I didn't warn you.

ok, so all silliness aside... I wanted to show you some pictures! my friend storey's birthday was last weekend so I, with the help of heather (another friend), created a card for her. we collaborated. I stamped; she did the card. she did the embossing with her cuttlebug, which was the most awesome-est thing ever. really cute for paper products... but wouldn't be strong enough to do any fabric for applique I don't believe.

so tomorrow is the drop-off day for the durham fair crafts. I am entering my irish chain, a photo of my cat (gabe), and some hot pickles I made. das is entering two photos. I was going to do, also, another quilt... a baby quilt, but I won't get it done in time. I am essentially done... but I am tying it and need to quilt around the quilt so I can turn it inside out (the kit didn't call for, or include bindings, which is fine) then, of course, tie it. das and I were at the uconn/baylor football game this evening and got back after midnight, so it wasn't going to happen this evening. oh well... such is life. it was a last minute decision to enter it anyway because I had wanted to surprise my friend with it while we were at the fair together... however, I never heard from her to see if she was going to go with me. SO, that plan backfired and now I'm going a different day with a different person with no quilt expectations. :) I do still need to finish the baby quilt though... just not for tomorrow morning. did I ever post the picture for the irish chain?!

so that, too, will be going. we'll see how it does. I meant to wash it before but our washer isn't big enough for a queen-sized quilt. and I forgot to bring it to the laundromat to wash it in their larger capacity machines. so I put two dryer sheets in and put it on the non-heat, fluff option to get some of the cat hair off. I'll probably run an iron over it before submitting, too, just to be on the safe side. that's the thing about entering in the fair... if I finish a quilt (especially one that's for me), I want to use it or give it right away (because usually it's late anyway) but if I want it to go into the fair... well, then I have to wait, or suffer the cat-hairy consequences. (sigh) it's worth it for my two little furballs though (not that bowser doesn't contribute though). :)

well I need to go warm up under the substitute quilt on our bed (since the irish chain is awaiting delivery to the fair) because it is freezing in CT this evening.

something other than quilting?!

so the past couple of days I have been working on a few things of the "non-quilting" variety. I know, I know... who could possibly think there is craft in this world OTHER than quilting. ;)

I had wanted to get back into knitting after several people had attempted to teach me the craft. my darling friends lisa and melly were very patient with me, but alas, once I came back to connecticut... I would make mistakes and not necessarily have a local outlet to question my methods. it also didn't help that I am a very visual learner and the books I had just didn't cut it in terms of adequate explanation. actually I *did* finish something, The Misshapen Pink Scarf, but then I just didn't know what to do after that.

there were a lot of dropped stitches and the tension was way off. it was like I knew something was wrong... and just didn't know how to fix it. so, as any logical crafter would do: I scrapped the whole mess. until now. I have been wanting to get back into knitting. so I was a little more proactive this time... I signed up for ravelry. this site is so fabulous for organizing your knitting and crocheting projects, finding like-minded individuals... which is what I did. I found someone in town who had a gazillion more projects under her belt than I did... and she taught me. well, we mostly just talked (we do have a lot in common), but it was a fun time and I'm looking forward to having a knitting outlet now. of course, in typical kt-fashion... I have already screwed it up... I switched my stitches (knitting when I should have been purled, and vice versa) and I added a stitch somewhere... I know how it probably happened, but *dont'* know how to fix it. :) I'm really helpless right now. :) but hey, I didn't know how to purl before, and now I do. it's already an improvement. and I'm glad, too, for the knitting because I do like to spend free time with das as much as I can and this is much more portable than my sewing machine. I do like doing embroidery, too, but I worry about all of the threads and whatnot getting lost and keeping thing organized. maybe I just need a better system. :)

also, last night, one of my friends from work came over for dinner and to see the new house. after some socialization and all that jazz, we busted out with her cuttlebug, I brought up the stamps and we worked on a couple things. one is a super secret project that I can't post for a little while lest the person who is receiving it reads the blog by chance. the other things were my "we've moved" notification postcards for our family and friends. yeah yeah, I know. you're thinking, "hey kt. did you move in, oh, july?!" that's a resounding yes. but... well... I'm a procrastinator. ;) I'm a little upset by the sheer volume of them... I think I did fewer cards for our save-the-dates. (sigh) I also realized that I need my colored pencils, which I believe are still at our other house. go figure.

it was definitely a late night though... and I slept in late today. which is why I have to sign off and finish up some cooking before heading out for uconn football. game's at 7:30p... but I'm getting picked up for tailgating at 2:30p! have a great day!

(note: sorry about the card photo - it's landscape on my computer, but it's uploading as portrait. anyone know how to fix that?!)

the photos I promised!

ok... so here are some photos that I promised yesterday (ok ok, not all of them - I didn't do the quilt yet).

this dude was all about "the hay is tastier on the other side". I love goats! so cute...

these were the uber-cute little baby chicks. of course all the little kids were like, "let me touch them let me pick them up!!" I said, "let the big kids have some fun, too." :) but ultimately, we all got to play and hold the baby chicks. so I didn't have to fight anyone.

there were very few quilts, or anything for that matter, entered in the arts and crafts area. the barn that held all the crafts was probably slightly smaller than my house in square footage. such a shame, really. anyway, this was one of the cakes. I thought it was brilliant... especially since I'm trying to get back into knitting again on a more regular basis! how FABulous is this? no cake wrecks here!

ok, that's all I'm sharing for now. I had a video that was kind of cute, but I don't really know how to do that and I'd rather be quilting (instead of copying cds, ugh). I had quilt guild tonight which was pretty cool... definitely an interesting group of women. I've never actually been to a meeting for a guild even though I've been a member of the guild in maine for a couple of years. show and tell was pretty awesome... very inspiring. I did bring a show and tell... my cow quilt (that still isn't finished) from maine quilts 2007. it got some oohs and aahs... so perhaps that will be the motivation I need to finish it up. only time will tell.

good weekend :)

so the weekend is coming to a close and I'm just going to toss a few things out into cyberspace. first off, I am exhausted. I haven't gone to bed this early in ages. perhaps I need to start doing that... second, I had a FABulous time whitewater rafting on the deerfield river in MA. it was such a great experience; I should have some pics to post soon as our group organizer bought the CD to share with all of us. hopefully he'll burn the cd soon! next, I did a lot of sewing on saturday night and today. I didn't take pics yet, but the baby quilt is coming along nicely. I have everything cut out and a few of the pieces put together. there will be twenty blocks in total when it's done (which seems like a large baby quilt); perhaps I can get some shots tomorrow before or after quilt guild. I also have to go to lowe's or home depot and see if I can find two dozen bell jars for my pickles. I need to have them in the fridge by wednesday in order to ensure they'll be done by the 20th for the fair drop-off! anyway, lastly, my friend and I went to the hebron fair today... it was nice. neither of us had been before and it was a lovely three-and-a-half hours of walking and enjoying the atmosphere. because of the hurricane and torrential downpours last night, the fair closed at 6pm saturday (rather than staying open much later), so there were A LOT of people who were there today to make up for lost time! it was still worth it though, and I would go again. I would even consider entering some things as there was a very tiny tiny arts and crafts section for judging... I saw, at most, seven quilts. seriously.

ok, time for bed now... I'm tired! I'll try and get some photos up! have a happy monday (ew).

I Quilted!

ok ok... so really I just cut some stuff out. but it is SO a step in the right direction. I've been in such a funk for a lot of reasons... one of which was my lack of direction in terms of my creativity. I have a lot that I want to be working on, but during my "free time" I have been doing nothing. but last night, after dinner with das's grandparents, I decided I needed to go downstairs and do... something... anything... just DO. so I got out a kit I had bought from pincushion boutique (at maine quilts 2008). this is for a friend of mine who gave birth in june to a beautiful baby boy. they are using frogs as their theme. this particular kit uses green minkie dots plus frog/green/blue oh, so soft fat quarters. each of the fat quarters needed to be cut into a variety of strips. it kind of reminds me of a YBR, but perhaps smaller, and a little more complicated block-wise. it will be interesting how this ultimately goes together... I'm excited to see. I think that I will definitely need to figure out a way to put up my design wall in order to work this. I attempted hanging it with electrician's tape, but that worked for about two hours at best. I think I just need some good ol' fashioned duck tape... maybe das can "borrow" some from work for me. I only need a couple of strips!!

so I had the responsibility of doing the photography for maine quilts 2008. which I did. however, I've been having such a hard time getting motivated to do anything that I put off prepping the photos... all gazillion of them (seriously, there had to be, like, 600 or something). I told the coordinator that it would be done by the 15th... I just sent them out yesterday. I feel so awful... such a failure. I don't doubt that she won't ask me to return to the post for 2009, but at least I had the opportunity to do it once. I hate these stupid little "episodes" that I go through... lately there've been a lot more. das and I have talked about it... but maybe this turnaround with my quilting will help. I'm joining a local guild starting monday (yay!) plus doing the guild back home, too. hopefully this is a step in the right direction... I hate the disappointment and knowing I let someone down.

speaking of maine quilts 2009, I figured I'd post the teachers that we'll be having next year.

• karen boutte (benicia, CA)
• linda cantrell (fletcher, NC)
• jo diggs (portland, ME)
• brenda henning (anchorage, AK)
• kathy kansier (ozark, MO)
• dodi poulsen (bremerton, WA)
• carole samples (omaha, NE)
• michele scott (philadelphia, PA)
• ami simms (flint, MI)
• karen stone (dallas, TX)
• carol taylor (pittsford, NY)

ok, so based on just the initial impression... I think I will be most intrigued by jo diggs (she comes to maine quilts every year as a merchant; her landscapes are exquisite), brenda henning (I love her triangulations), dodi poulsen, and ami simms (anyone who uses a bobbin holder as a margarita salter is aok in my book). I think that they are just too fun for me to pass up... of course, that is four people... and there are three days of classes. so perhaps my mom and I will have to split it up a little bit and take the class the other wants to take so at least we get part of the experience. :) I know that she's probably more along the lines of what I am interested in... given the other quilters available for class. we're just not down with the crazy quilting, or the art quilting. not that there is anything wrong with that... it's just our style. :) landscape quilting is about as crazy as I get with my quilts. :)

ok, well that's all for now. have a great day!

a couple of quilty items

coffee cup coolers: I just saw this in my connecting threads email. I thought it was a super cute idea. I like the fabrics that are included in the kit, and could see myself using those. I do frequent coffee shops that use the styrofoam (dunkin' donuts), but I still think it's a good idea.

casserole dish holders: I was doing a search for quilted coupon holder (which I think I'm going to have to break down and design myself), and I stumbled upon this. how cute... especially for the holidays with specific fabrics. if you are lugging around dishes from relative to relative... it's key! looks interesting to say the least!

out of commission

I'm kind of in a funk right now. I haven't quilted in weeks. I'm putting off so many things and I'm just not myself. I want to focus my blog again on the quilting... not so much the rest of life, but it seems that's all that is happening.

so I hope to be back soon... definitely once this headache is gone.

yay! a quilting post! (kind of)

well, a quilting post and a recap of the past few days. my parents are down visiting so I've been hanging out with them and not doing a whole lot of blogging. also, my co-worker is on vacation, too, so I haven't really blogged at work either. I know all two of you are sitting on the edge of your seat just anxiously awaiting the details of my mundane life... so here you go. ;)

so thursday night, my parents brought all the stuff I have been anxiously posting about. unloading the moving truck wasn't as daunting as I thought it would be, so all worked out well. and by moving truck, I do mean a 14' truck... but only about 1/8 of it was filled. that was just the smallest they could get. still funny though. :) anyway, the greatest accomplishment of the night... was breaking out the treadle. yeah, that's right. my mom brought me my grandmother's treadle sewing machine. it needs some work... namely a tune-up, new leather strap, and a good polishing of the wood (unfortunately, it has a gouge in it from its original move to my parents' house a few years back). I have plans to do some 30s wallhangings with it... for a little authenticity. :) I looked up the serial number on singer's website and discovered that it was in a lot of 5000 (model/class #44) out of elizabeth, new jersey on january 8, 1910. :) how rad is that?! I am very excited. in addition to the great treadle that was brought, we finally have some semblance of a spare room! my parents brought a full size bed (the whole set) plus sheets, a dresser, and a behemoth mirror. they also brought my old student desk so now I have that... and can finally use my computer at home (more easily than I was anyway).

friday das and I went to happy hour at, hm... well, I don't remember where (and NO, it's not because I was drunk!). we had some fabulous wings and other typical bar fare... it was a good, fun night. not much else to report there...

saturday I kind of slept in. not as much as I would've liked... but oh well I guess. we watched some olympics recaps... made breakfast... just generally lazed around. then das found some sales for kitchen/dining furniture so we decided to go check it out. we need a new kitchen table since our other one, well, isn't going to make it up the stairs (it's pretty old, and falling apart). one of the first ones we saw was really awesome... but also $1200. so we opted against that one. then we went to bob's discount furniture and found a great set plus a coffee table with end tables (it's being delivered as I write!). :) then we came home, had an awesome taco meal, and watched more olympics. here are some photos of the furniture. the table is just an example... it's not quite the one we got, but similar. the coffee table is exact... isn't the elevating table top cool?! now we can more satisfactoraly eat dinner in front of the TV! (oh, and we opened the homemade pickles - AWESOME!!)

sunday... I slept in. a little bit anyway. then my mom and I went out to the old house, loaded up the jetta... and I finally brought almost all of my stuff back. there was a lot there... but most of it was in bags and was easily manipulated to fit into the car. :) I will probably go back tonight to get my long table, the iron, the light for my lightbox, and the rest of my scrapbooking stuff (if there's room). after loading that up and then unloading it again back home, das and I got ready for a concert at mohegan sun: cheap trick, heart, and journey. we've seen journey before... and had a really great time. not so much this time around. they played a lot of songs we weren't familiar with... but heart totally rocked the house!! ann wilson is still the amazing songstress she has always been, and nancy plays a mean guitar. it was a wonderful show... I wish THEY were headlining!! now since my parents didn't get to go on their canadian vacation, they decided to hit up the slots at mohegan while we were there. after the concert, we met up with them for a few minutes... I won $20 on the penny slots (for my mom). then I promptly lost my $20 I played. das won $30... and then we were leaving. well, my dad said, "no wait! I see the one that'll be the jackpot!" we all said, "oh ok..." and slowly followed him over to the machine. about $11 into his $20... he hits a BAR-10x BONUS-BAR... which gave him 300 tokens (which is $75)!! apparently that was enough jackpot for him... because we left shortly after. :)

monday... was a dragging, dr a g g i n g day. after a late night sunday and all the olympic fever... it was rough. but after work, mom and I went to joann's fabric. what an event... did you know that they don't put out their irons for general viewing? well, I didn't. and apparently that's the biggest process known to man. 47 associates and 3 hours later... (sigh). I didn't buy an iron. :)

and now we're at today. which, for me, is over! :) time to head home... to my new (though slightly dinged) furniture... to my sewing machine... to my family... and to a tasty hamburger dinner. I hope to do up some photos tonight. maybe I'll show off my dimly-lit-but-more-expansive-sewing area. ;)

delayed... again

so I spoke with my parents... and yet again, this weekend isn't going to fly for their visit. I'm of course always excited to see my family, especially now because they haven't been in our new house yet. but I'm thoroughly disappointed because not only were they bringing the full bed for the spare room and my desk, we were going to utilize the trailer/moving truck to move the remainder of our stuff from the old home. aka MY QUILTING STUFF!! (sigh) another weekend will go by without my working on things I need to work on... jacob's baby quilt, my friends' wedding quilt (from last november), potentially another wedding quilt for october... and definitely some things that *I* want to finish for myself and the house. plus I have bought some dress/clothing patterns from the amy butler line and I want to be able to practice with them and get used to it. I've never made clothing before and quite frankly, I'd like to know what I'm doing before I cut into my $9.50 yard michael miller fabric!! :D

so anyway, I have my UFOs on the sidebar, but I think I'm going to list them here, too. I need another list like I need a hole in the head, but here goes! :) (oh, and blogger is totally screwing up right now so I can't get my bullet points and I don't know why... so hopefully the formatting isn't all messy).
* amy and ben's wedding quilt
* jacob's baby quilt
* "practice" quilts... a lap quilt and a tree skirt
* landscape quilt (someone at maine quilts show-and-telled hers - so awesome!)
* civil war pumpkin patch (I keep seeing leslie at various events and now I'm feeling a mite bit guilty it's not done!)
* a couple of wool applique pieces... quantity TBD
* children of israel paper pieced quilt (oh the horror)
* handwork stars of david

I'm sure there are a whole bunch more... but since everything's packed up still, I don't know. I'll provide a better inventory (hopefully) next weekend.

lastly, my good friend is getting married in april and I am one of her bridesmaids! at first I was worried because I knew that it would be a huge financial undertaking between the dress, the shower, and the bachelorette party... and with the new house... yikes. also since das is a groomsman, too. but I have since gotten over it. I am still watching the money, though, and hope to be able to pick out some things that are a bit lighter on the wallet... like the dress (we have eleven to choose from - I hope to have some pics later - we're shopping tonight!), and the decorations for the bridal shower. I have confidence in myself that I'll be able to help with the wedding while still keeping track of the finances. this won't be the last you hear of this wedding, though, I'm sure. :) I'm excited!! I just hope that I can tone it down a little bit... I'm just a bridesmaid, not the MOH and I really don't want to step on any toes. I'm just really happy and want to make sure that it's everything that my friend wants. you know?! I am considering doing a signature block for the shower and then putting it together for the wedding as their gift, but I made them a quilt already. not that that precludes them from ever getting another quilt again... but we'll see I guess. I also don't want to take on too much stuff that I can't promise. or maybe I should just get it done instead of procrastinating. :)

ok, well, I hope this posts because I have had trouble all morning with blogger. grr.

tidbits

ok first off... I LOVE this new fabric. well, it may not be new, but I'm so far behind on everything quilty and cool these days, it's new to me. :) I do hope that link works... it'd be a shame to miss out. it'd make such a cute bag using the pattern in my new terry atkinson book. that and some cute placemats, too.

so this weekend's been crazy. friday I stayed home while das was at poker night because we *finally* got our clothes dryer's outlet fixed so we can use it now. and we had quite a bit of laundry piled up! we could have gone to a laundromat, but I did that through college, then for a year when we lived in bristol. I wasn't keen on that. so we waited. :) saturday we did more laundry; das mowed the lawn (luckily just before the skies opened up); we played some video games (what? it was raining!); ran a LOT of errands around town (bought blinds and a dehumidifier!); went to our friends' house for dinner and some rock band (NOTE: there is music at that site that you have to shut off in the corner; only click if totally prepared!). that game is phenomenal. I love it and I need to perfect it. it's just fun, really. I can't wait for rock band 2... which das and I decided we would be getting (NOTE: also music at that link - click with caution). the song list is amazing... and I can't wait to bust out with some alanis, nirvana, beastie boys, the who, and, WHAT... ratt?!?! :D anyway, we rocked until about 1am or later. sunday, I went to a bridal shower (an ALL DAY bridal shower/BBQ) and das stayed home b/c they were installing our a/c. he also attempted to put up blinds, but failed miserably as we'd bought all stock blinds... and we needed custom cut blinds. so he had to take most of them back. ultimately we only have blinds in our bedroom now, but that's ok. I don't have to hide behind my bed anymore to get dressed every day. :)

yesterday I had a computer class for work so I was gone all day... which was nice. it was introduction to vba: excel. I learned a lot, which is always great. after work I stopped at target to pick up a few things and I saw a really neat 6-cube organizer that will be perfect for my fabric and such. now that we have the dehumidifier and an outlet in the basement (one's better than none), I'll be able to move my quilting stuff in downstairs!! :) schweet! I am hoping that maybe if my parents come this weekend with the full bed and my desk... I can use their rented trailer to bring back the quilting stuff from the other house. otherwise... I at least want to use my dad's SUV to bring some things back. that plus our other vehicles should do the trick. :)

so I'd like to introduce a new section to my blog. and I totally stole it from family guy. it's "what really grinds my gears". I figure I need a place to sound off every now and again. and now I can keep my rants organized! :D I know I'll be irritated with lots of things with a new house... and I'd like to rant about work, but I don't want to get fired (like the lovely dooce). it's bad enough that I blog at work. :) and, in general, I have a love-hate relationship with "people". most of them really just annoy the snot out of me... but if it weren't for that, life would seem so incessantly boring. don't you think? :D besides, I do believe that if you didn't have the bad, you wouldn't be able to recognize the good. however, that doesn't prevent me from blogging about your stupidity. at this juncture, I have only one rant (that I will share with you right now). and that is about ATM fees. when I was at maine quilts and both my mother and I had exhausted our cash stash, we realized then that we didn't have MY car with the convenient ez pass. we had HER car... which required cash for the tolls. though I'd be lying if I said I didn't pause to wonder if toll booths took debit cards. anyway, I volunteered to stop at the ATM. I have spank of america. I hate them. but that's another rant altogether. anyway, b/c they feel as though they have enough ATMs in the world, SoA charges you to use a "foreign" atm. I took out $20. I got charged $2 by the bank whose ATM I used plus $2 by SoA. I got charged 20% of my withdrawal to use the freaking ATM. how BS is that?! granted, it wouldn't have been so bad if I had taken out more, but I am not a cash carrier. I use my debit card everywhere. I feel safer using that than cash. anyway, ATMs are certainly a convenience for many people from a variety of banks, but what is inconvenient is having to pay to cover your "transfer costs" between banks. don't you make enough money on inflated interest rates and bank overdraft fees to cover the $.022 it probably costs to "transfer fees" between banks without charging me a million dollaridoos? maybe I just need to switch to banknorth or liberty. and that, grinds my gears. :)

chuggin' along...

well, das and I are officially staying in the new house (though I guess I can't call it "the new house" anymore... it's now just..."the house", right?). as I'd posted before, we've got some stuff done... and now the kitchen is just about complete (still looking for some furniture) and the living room is probably done (now that das installed the surround sound speakers). the office is still in shambles, lol, though we kind of have been expecting that. it hasn't been our focus room... and a lot of stuff has just been thrown in there. also, I want to set up the bookcase and my computer desk in there before too much is unpacked. the spare room is also a work in progress. we're waiting for my parents to bring down the bed that we got from my grandmother's house after she passed away. it's a nice full size bed. we'd had two twins in our spare room before... I don't know, I just like the idea of having the full size bed there... and I had said I wanted to take it for my house when my parents were taking stuff out of my gram's house. I really liked the headboard and footboard... and I just wanted something that was my grandmother's (not that I don't have *other* stuff, but... you know... I'm sentimental). anyway... we're waiting for that before anything else really goes in there. we will need to put something in there to fill the space, lol. but we'll cross that bridge...

so I'm kind of stressing out. it's better than it was a few hours ago when I was flipping out over an RFP that needed to go out that still wasn't quite done (and the owner was tweaking up until about an hour before submission)... but now I have to refocus my stress onto maine quilts. my upcoming "vacation". :) and it WILL be a blast. this I know. however... I have kind of waited until a little bit longer than I would have liked to do these signs. like... I haven't done them yet. and I have to leave tomorrow. ok... am I taking advantage of the fact that my darling darling husband works for a sign company and can easily take care of a lot of this for me... perhaps. :) but there is still quite a bit that I have to take care of myself just in word documents. (sigh)

but enough! enough of the dreary depressing stress-out speak! let me show you the upcoming maine quilts schedule! :) which is *totally* the point (besides all the awesome shops and whatnot). here we go:

• wednesday, july 23: help with the quilt set-up plus just in general volunteering. oh, I also have to drop my quilt off... which is totally against the rules and I *did* get reamed out for not being a good girl. but they can just suck it for all I care. :)
• thursday, july 24: again... general volunteering, but also my newest job... photography! I will be photographing all of the quilts... which will then mean that thursday night I will be fixing them all up... yikes! also, I'll be helping out with the champagne preview.
• friday, july 25: my first of two classes - small wonders with pat speth. I am going to work on 'star and hourglass' (I think).
• saturday, july 26: more volunteering (in the morning ONLY) then mom and I are going to be making our way around the vendors! there is a new booth hop that is going on that I'm very excited for. I have some money from my photography stipend (that's not going toward lodging or my latest quilt's batting/backing/LAQ) so I may invest in a finishing kit from one of the vendors... but I'll definitely get all the patterns.
• sunday, july 27: last day of the show and my second class - flying geese... again with pat speth. for this one, I'll be doing 'dutchman's puzzle'... I'm really excited about that one. it's so unlike anything I've done before. after class, I'll be helping out with quilt take down. then mom and I will be making the trek back home where we'll most likely just crash after unloading the stuff. :)

it'll definitely be a l o n g week, but so much fun. as always.

oh, and before I go... one last thing. this is totally a WTF moment. :) yesterday, das and I were moving things from our storage unit back to the old house. for this we'd rented a uhaul. we had been waited on by a youngish boy... I'd say 19-20ish... though he probably was older. anyway, we confirmed all the details, most importantly the gas gauge. it was right on the half-a-tank tickmark. no problem as their policy is to return with the same amount of gas in it (or else give up your first born plus a $250 fee plus gas at $50/gallon). we do our business... racking up about 50 plus miles between all the places we needed to go. the tank is now a little over a quarter full. I haven't the slightest clue how much gas to put in... but I figure it's got a twenty gallon tank (note: I'm a girl - I don't know these things nor have any basis for my guessing) and that I can do about $20 worth (which in CT is about 4.5 gallons). doing 4.5 gallons would also mean... that the truck was getting around 11 mpg... which I would assume sounds right for a 17' uhaul truck. so I put my $20, thinking how wonderful my logic is, and then start up the truck... and it's *THIS CLOSE* to the half-a-tank tickmark. I figure it's close enough and go with it. so I'm back at the uhaul rental center to bring the truck back (which was earlier than we'd anticipated). the kid gets into the truck to check out the tank so that we can finalize everything... he gets out... cocks his head to the side with a condescending smirk and says, "half a tank?" it really honestly to everything in my power to not slug him square in the jaw. then, not only has he been way super rude to me already, but he requests that I go back out and get another two to three gallons to bring it up to half a tank (which, mind you, isn't *that* far away from where I was). how hard would it have been to say, "I'm sorry but it's not quite up to half a tank... so unless you want to fill it up a little bit more, I'm going to have to charge you for not filling it completely." I could have understood that (I guess). so I get another $10... which a little over two gallons, which totally put it OVER the half-a-tank tickmark... and if I was more like my husband (read: confrontational) then I would have asked for a credit on the extra gas. but instead I couldn't even bear to speak to the little shit. :) so that's my annoying person story for this weekend. :D do you agree?!?!