Friday afternoon surf

So many of you knew that we were driving into a hurricane on Thursday night and Friday morning to attend Uncle R's wedding at Fripp Island, SC. Fripp Island is about 30 miles south of Charleston, SC and about 45 miles north of Savannah, GA. It's a beautiful place. Here is a photo of the "steps to nowhere" from the 1st story deck at the house where we are staying.

Big Boy decided he would stand on the outside of the deck and walk on the rocks looking at the crabs crawling around there. He neglected to tell anyone and Grandma D caught him out there. Scared her half to death. He received a severe tongue lashing from MOM for that one. Here he is tempting fate. As you can see the waves are rather high but everything still looks good. It's about 4pm when these photos were taken. Seems like "Ike" might land close to here tonight but it doesn't look to be too devastating. We are keeping an eye out. No worries yet.

Here is a photo of the view from the deck of the house on the right. The point sticking out there is actually the beach. We will not be going there for any reason other than treasure hunting. No one is going in the water. The surf is just too strong.

Here is the view from the left of the 2nd floor deck. There is a hole from the golf course right next to us.

I will send photos of the inside of the house next. It is about 10,000 sq. feet. There are supposedly 12 bedrooms here. I didn't count them all but there are too large kitchens (both gourmet). We took a tour of the house earlier and silly me wasn't able to take photos in all the rooms. I will try to get some when we check out.

In Other News

I did attempt to make my Guild BOM (hard block) before I went away for Uncle R's wedding. Uncle R is getting married in South Carolina at the beach during a Hurricane or multiple hurricanes. I guess it's not his fault that he planned it for this time. Hopefully we make it. We will be driving into the hurricanes to get there. Here is the block so far.

Unfortunately the block is not complete because in the directions it said to cross cut many of the square twice to make the triangles. I wasn't really paying attention so I cross cut the given fabric twice as well to make the "feet" on the basket. You were only supposed to cut those once. So I had to call and request another piece of fabric and I am not sure that I will be able to get it before I leave to go out of town.
I did get to have a wonderful day out with my friend BP on Sunday. We went to downtown Fredericksburg, VA and shopped at the antique stores and boutiques downtown. Much of it was window shopping. But I did manage to find this framed picture made from a Molasses box.

I have lots of stuff like this hanging around the top of my kitchen and thought this would look cute up there. I really enjoyed spending the day hanging out with a girlfriend. These are the best kinds of days. I have been spending lots of time with the guys lately and need a little female companionship.
I will take lots of pics while I am gone and try to blog some fun stuff when I get back if there is no internet at the house. Hopefully you will have a great week without me.
Enjoy and Happy Quilting.

In Construction News

Well... progress is being made. On Saturday we received a large delivery of wood from Home Depot down the street. These are all the structural boards for the under part of the deck. Hubby was very excited because it meant that he can pretend he is a construction worker again and build big guy stuff in the yard with big guy tools. Little Brat and Eeyore decided that each pile in the yard was a different space ship and have played battle outside almost every day. I guess that's what you would call little guy stuff with little guy tools. Here is little brat on one of the ships.

Here is the structure that Hubby was able to build on Saturday. Nothing is actually complete but it looks like something is happening. At least if an inspector dropped by it would look like everyone went to lunch. Actually was inside the house cooling off when this picture was taken. He's not as young as he used to be and doesn't take the heat as well. But he is very excited about the progress that has been made so I can't complain.

Hubby is working on pouring concrete around the posts today in this section. This is only about 1/4 or less of the actual deck. It's actually about 1500 sq. ft. and wraps around the dining room. Hubby says he will put some plywood down very soon on the structure so that I can carry groceries in the house again. While looking at the deck I found this big guy on the fence by the gate.

He is a very big spider who has built a rather impressive tunnel web angled into the whole in our split rail fence. Hubby thought it would be fun to leave him there and feed him. The boys left a small bag of cheetos near the fence that had gathered ants so Hubby put them in the web and let the boys watch as Mr. Spider came out and grabbed and wrapped each ant in his web. I guess he was saving them for later. Live science is always fun. As long as he stays in his house I am fine with it.

Enjoy!

Second Day of School

Don't ask what happened on the first day of school! Here's my Eeyore (without glasses because they have been lost in the house) ready to head off on the bus. At least he has a healthy lunch. He loves his teacher this year and seems to really be excited about getting off to school in the morning. Thank goodness.

Little Brat is ready too. He has Alex's teacher from last year and cannot be more excited about it. I think they will be an excellent match. He needs to be challenged and she is more challenging. What a great fit. I am hoping she keeps him quite busy this year. He needs the homework.

Big Boy has two teachers. His homeroom teacher is also Math and Science and he trades classes in the middle of the day for History and English. They are getting him all geared up for middle school. He seems to like his situation as well. He brought home his first A this week and I really hope it will be the first of many.

Speaking of Big Boy. Anyone noticed the fashion choices this boy has made this year. They all picked their own haircut and shoes. Little ones picked a regular haircut as opposed to a short summer cut. Big Boy chose to shave his head (see below). He likes it. He also chose skater shoes this year because they had pictures of skulls on them.

Has the world suddenly gone mad? He told me that when shopping for him to keep in mind that he likes skater tees and rocker tees. Preferably things with skulls on them. Little Brat is now completely into Guitar Hero and wants everything that has Guitar Hero on it. And true to form. Eeyore will "have what their having". Well, at least it's only shirts and hair.
Big Boy has recovered from the double ear infection he was suffering from after his first day at school. The house had recovered from the second night's transformer problem. The power company replaced the transformer within 45 minutes and we were back to spending millions on electricity. Night three was surprisingly calm and normal. Day four is rainy. I am hiding indoors. Perhaps I will get some sewing done today.
Happy Quilting.

At the Bus Stop

While waiting on the bus... boys will be boys. No one likes to stand in line. Everyone wants to be in the front and they argue constantly. The only one it seems to bother though is me. What a smile from Big Boy because he's in the front (you should have seen the other shots). Eeyore is all smiles. He loves his teacher this year. She's really pretty. She gave him a star and a candy the first day for being a hard worker. Little Brat of course is pretending to moon me. He wouldn't smile unless he could show his butt in the picture. Ha Ha... little does he know that I won anyway.

Here Eeyore and Little Brat decide to be silly. Just noticed that Little Brat is wearing a ring with a skull on it. At least they are not crying and complaining.

Here is the evidence that they actually got on the school bus and traveled off to school. I had to blur out the bus number but you get the drift. They have reported every day that it is a great day. Guess we can't complain about that.

No quilting is getting done. Just filling out school forms and looking for things in the house. Did manage to sew up about 10 pillowcases into chair organizers for 5th grade. You know how I have to start the year with volunteer stuff. This is all for the teachers though and no PTA.

Happy Quilting and whatever else you do.

The Prodigal Son Returns

My Big Boy has returned from the Beach. His hair and eyebrows are bleached and his face is peeling from an obvious sunburn. However, he claims he had a lovely time and didn't miss us a bit. He was thoughtful and brought presents home for his little brothers.

Of course he couldn't resist purchasing a hermit crab (this family and crazy pets). But he did keep three goldfish alive for about a year in a single fish bowl until someone set somthing on top of the bowl and cut off their oxygen. So... he is a responsible pet parent and so as long as he keeps it fed and cleaned I don't mind. He has already taken care of it on his own when he got back by wetting the sponge.

Apparently his name is "Cami" because of it cammo colored shell. The truth is he doesn't come out much. And of course my son thought of his mother on his trip. He purchased this pair of earrings for me. Not really sure what the box says but of course I am elated that he thought of me. He's a great kid.

Dad gets nothing... Hubby said, "As usual, Dad gets the short end of the stick!" Too funny. Hubby is home from Tampa too. Our family is back together and ready to get going on the last preps for school to start tomorrow. Big Boy needs a haircut and everyone needs shoes (including Hubby who had a final blowout with his shoes on the trip and came home with shoes that need to be thrown away). I will be taking all "4" of my "sons" out shopping today. And then it's back home where a few loads of laundry need to be done before bedtime.
I wish the boys lots of luck tomorrow starting their classes and me lots of luck on my first day back at work.

Raingutter Regatta

Today was the annual raingutter regatta. Hubby didn't make it to this one to help make boats 'cause he was in Tampa with his Mom and Dad. Big Boy didn't make it 'cause he was still at the beach (on his way home). Soooo... Eeyore and Little Brat and I went to the race. Of course my car was filled with most of the stuff 'cause this family can't just attend an event, we have to run it.
I was able, with the help of the attending Dads to get the race tree and sign-up sheet complete as well as get the boys keels added to their boats and help prepare them for the race.


Unfortunately for Little Brat he was up against a much older boy and couldn't get the hang of where to blow on the sail. He had trouble making it to the end and ended our chances of a "medal sweep". He lost in the first round and ran crying from the race area. Not a pleasant scene but he does have to learn a little sportmanship. What a competitve mouse he is.

Eeyore, however, was in top form. He manged to speed through the first two rounds, including beating the boy that beat his brother. Look at that perfect form.

In the end, all the boys (and sister sibling) had a great time and Eeyore came away victorious with the First Place ribbon. He was really proud of himself. Every little victory strenghtens his confidence that with hard work and persistence comes success.

No quilting today as the PTA and other organizations sagas continue. I am completing up the last necessary details and then getting rid of everything. It will be a new year... I think there will be some very surprised people this year. Mom is done. No more working for free like a dog for the masses who completely don't appreciate it.
Wish me luck in turning over a new leaf.
Happy Quiltling!

Miniature Challenge

UFO Progress Report
Today I was able to get one more block done on the Women's Voices Quilt. The mate to it is still on the sewing table. I got the half-square triangles pieced but just got too tired to complete the rest. I finished a small patriotic wallhanging top that I found in the UFO stash. I didn't take a photo of it. I will have to save that photo for tomorrow night but I was able to quilt and bind it and add a hanging sleeve on the back.

I decided that I would join the Guild's Miniature Quilt Challenge which is due at the Quilt Show in October. I have been looking for the right project to complete for the challenge. I have a small wool wallhanging that I still plan to complete for the show but I found this picture in a miniature book. It was the easiest paper-pieced thing that I could find.

So I decided to dump out a basket of scraps and start picking some fabrics to make it. I also decided that I would only use red scraps. Not because the picture was red but because when I started pulling out fabrics that I liked I had a giant pile of red fabrics. Why not. So I pieced all the blocks and then without looking at the pattern I pieced the whole quilt in about a day and a half. Then I layered and quilted it (somehow breaking four needles in the process from the thickness). And in an effort to finish it I put the binding on. Then I took this photo of the quilt for the blog. It was then that I realized that something didn't quite look right. SO.... Here is my miniature for the challenge. You can look at the photo and then look at the quilt and you tell me what you think.

Like it or not... this is it. I am not remaking it. It might not be perfect but neither am I. I like it anyway and it looks really nice on my wall. It brings the show-n-tell count for Monday night to five projects including two full-sized quilts which isn't bad if you ask me. Of course I will have to quit piecing to get ready for cleaning house tomorrow and "meet the teacher" day at school on Friday. The big Raingutter Regatta is Saturday and the littlest boys and I are going to be making boats together and swimming in the pool so it should be a good day. I may get to spend more time in the loft before the week is out and I might even finish something else. Just as long as I don't disturb Duncan's nap. He climbed onto the scraps almost the minute I dumped the basket on the floor. Somtimes he acts just like a cat.

Happy Quilting!

Finding Treasures

I was thinking about all the treasures that I found when cleaning out the closet the other day. I have been cleaning and organizing so much that I thought maybe I should spend some time sewing. Monday night is Guild night show-n-tell and it's always nice to have something to show. I am planning on showing the house quilt but remember I found soooo many unfinished little projects that maybe it's time I get a few of those things done. So after some research on the laptop I prepared to get up to the loft to get busy. Here was the scene on the bed when I closed the laptop.


I don't think this dog has ever missed a nap. NOT EVER!
In one of the bags that I cleaned out of the closet I found a cut out fabric bowl that was never completed. I could never figure out how to get the satin stitch just right to finish it. Well I figured it out. Now I have this nice fabric bowl with vegetables on it. What do you think I should put in it?

In an effort to complete some of the many BOM's I have abandoned that are now considered UFO's I completed another two blocks from the Women's Voices Quilt. Apparently a long time ago I was trying to speed up the piecing process by cutting out all of the pieces for the remaining months. You would think that with all the cutting completed I would have finished it quicker but somehow I have overlooked it and so out it comes years later. How frustrating. Here are the two blocks completed from month #8.

They look nice but I started piecing this quilt soooo long ago and very early in my quilting career so not all the blocks are made that well. I think it will be quite a challenge to put the thing together but I am up for it.
Hubby leaves for a few days and now we are down to three in the house. It's getting quieter all the time.
I will keep you posted. School starts on Monday for the boys so we are just trying to get adjusted before D-day.
Happy Quilting!

Closet Chaos

Have you ever wondered sometimes how some people just look a little too happy. They look so together and organized, they never forget anything and they always look like they can handle anything life throws at them with the perkiest smile. I always wonder whether their lives behind the scenes are that pleasant. If they really suffer from closet chaos.
I am not one of those people. I wear my chaos on my sleeve. Everyone knows when I am not happy. Everyone can see that I am behind most of the time, I get things done but only at the last minute and I have great intentions for organization but never quite seem to get it fully completed. Today I was suffering from closet chaos, only my chaos involved a real closet.
My sewing room is out of control. I know this is true for many of us. Even if you are not a quilter, sometimes it seems it’s your primary workspace that really takes the brunt of the chaos. I recently installed that new organizer unit. Hubby said he really wanted me to get the storage inside organized so that the plastic containers on the far wall could go away because they didn’t look good. I also wanted to set up new tables all the way around the room so my sewing areas could be up at once.
So… I cleaned all the plastic storage out and organized the center island. I also put labels on all the project boxes so I knew what was in them and could check my UFO inventory. I was able to complete those tasks but the one area that I have been avoiding was the side of clutter as you enter the room. Everything that didn’t have a place was piled there. Some of the things piled there were only there because the storage closet was in such a state of chaos that I was afraid anything important that got put in there would get lost. I have also been missing a few things that I have been thinking about lately.
So… since I am getting ready to sell my old Bernina and needed to find everything that went with it… and I really needed to clean up the clutter in my room… I will tackle the chaos and take everything out of the closet. I should probably purge it anyway. So I did. I have to tell you I had a lot of things in that closet that should not have been there. I also emptied out two more cabinets that I can put all kinds of things in. It took me all day. I was very proud of myself. I threw out two big black trash bags filled with junk. I thinned out some of my fabric that I was given (mostly flannels for pajamas). I cleaned out lots of old pieces of batting. I can’t believe I kept that much stuff.
The good news is while taking inventory of the small kits that I have and what projects they are for I found a few things that I forgot that I had and one thing that I had been looking for.
I found this wallhanging that is almost complete. It needs the outer border. I made this in a 3-D flying geese class about 6 years ago.

I also found these Chicken of the Month stitcheries that I have been looking for. I thought about them the other day when I was looking for some handwork to do. Aren’t they cute?

I also pulled out Hubby’s other quilt that I have half completed. It’s a difficult picture piecing quilt that I enlarged (thank God) to make a bigger wall hanging. I think it might be really fun to work on this one a little in the upcoming weeks.

Maybe I will even finish it for the quilt show in October. I don’t have anything really special for the quilt show this year except for Hubby’s house quilt which I am really hoping wins that UFO FQ basket for me. Keep your fingers crossed. I also managed to put the binding on the house quilt so that I can finish it by Monday night’s Guild Meeting. I think I have a whole week to put the binding down and put the label on the back before show-n-tell. Hubby worked outside for two days completing the concrete for the footers on the deck project. He has been working very hard lifting all that concrete by himself.

The boys even wanted to get into the act of hard work. For payment of course, but I suppose there is no time like the present to teach them that hard work gets rewarded. Hubby agreed to pay them to be water boys. At dinner last night the boys asked for jobs that they could do to earn money around the house. I offered to pay them to clean my car. They worked on that job today as well when there was no more concrete to do. They worked together and had a good time.
Duncan, however, was not into working today. For him it was a “dog day afternoon”. As you can see he was caught sleeping like this most of the day. You know the dog has taken over the house when he sleeps with all four paws in the air.

At the end of the day we are all tired and have decided to retire early. I am still awake but have been in bed for about an hour. Hubby is getting rested up for work tomorrow and I am preparing my list for tomorrow. It’s amazing how much energy it takes to clean out the sewing room. It’s like letting go of little pieces of you. But now I have a little less chaos in my house (if I only had the energy to keep going and clean out the rest of the house) and plenty of room to create something new.
Happy Quilting!

A Baby Bird Leaves the Nest (a little...)

Today my oldest left me. Well… not like many of your children. He’s ten so he only left me for a week but it feels like empty nest syndrome. The mother of one of his friends called me about a week and a half ago and said she was going to Myrtle Beach with her two kids for a week and wanted to take BIG BOY with them on their family vacation to keep her son occupied.
I was floored. Immediately I thought NO WAY, JOSE! But then I thought about how long I had known their family, and how unfair that would be for my son. I spoke to hubby about it and he decided that we should give him permission to go. I WAS OVERRULED. OK fine. I will let him go.

I woke up this morning (a Saturday mind you) at 6am to begin packing his things because I could not bring myself to do it before then. I washed clothes all day the day before so that his laundry would be clean. He’s been on overnight’s before but never on vacation for a week without me. I made them promise to let him call me every night and he has to follow all my rules including wearing a life jacket if he goes in the ocean. Everyone agreed.
I decided to do the same thing I did the first day he got on the bus for kindergarten and just keep myself insanely busy all day so that I didn’t notice that he wasn’t there. I didn’t want to worry. I know that he’ll be fine. I know that if I took someone’s kid with us on vacation I would certainly make sure that I watched that kid better than my own. I didn’t think it would be fair to either of us to be one of those mother’s who worries so much that she makes herself sick or never lets her kids go anywhere.
So in an effort to stay busy I decided to work on the hexagon quilt all day. I was still struggling with the idea for making the additional blocks since I didn’t have enough fabric to do what the pattern called for. I still didn’t like the look of the alternating blocks. It just wasn’t the look I was going for. So… I spent the time moving the blocks around on the design wall until I found something that I liked. I figured out exactly how many more triangles that I need to cut out. Once all the pieces were cut and the hexagon pieces were together and laid out, I began to piece each row together.
After the rows were together I stopped to eat something because I had suddenly gotten hungry. No wonder. I had quilted until 4 o’clock. Hubby suggested that we take the other boys out to the Japanese Steak House for dinner. We had lovely time and then got back in time to watch more Olympics on the tele. I went straight up to the loft and finished piecing the entire quilt top. And then I laid out all the remaining triangles into an interesting pattern to put on the back (afterall, when will I ever use triangles of this fabric ever again). I am mixing them with muslin triangles and thought I would make a tumbling block for the back. It will look great. I will work on that tomorrow.

He called this evening as promised. They got there safely and they had already gone to the beach. He sounds like he’s having a blast. I am so glad that I let him go. We will all be just fine. And think of all the “I’m not worrying” work I will get done while he’s away. And… just in case everyone is wondering… I would call the Merry-Go-Round Quilt about a 2-3 day quilt depending on how fast you sew and how much determination you have to complete it. Today I was quite determined. Can’t wait to show it off next Monday.

And last but not least Little Brat wanted to get into the picture of my quilt. I am only sorry that I accidently cut his feet out the picture because he walked over in one shoe and one slipper. I saw a young teenager tonight (an otherwise nice looking kid) with these stretching disks stuck in his ears. I made a remark to hubby about how awful it looked and why his mother would let me him do that to himself. It's not like getting a piercing. We both agreed that Little Brat will definately the kid that's gonna do stuf like that just to piss us off. If he were a little girl he would've worn a feather boa to dinner. Guaranteed.
Happy Quilting!