A Few Things To Say...

More Catching Up

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:04:00 +0000

Many moons ago I took a sewing class to make Amy Butler's Weekender Tote. I think it was early spring. My friend Heather was teaching it, I believe I talked her into it.

I showed the fabric awhile back. Here is the finished product.

Unfortunately I am not really able to claim this as my own FO. It was a tricky project for a beginner and my machine wasn't up to the challenge either. Many tears were shed. My mom took it home and asked her seamstress friend to finish it for me. I feared this might be the end of my sewing but I got back on the horse to make Clarabel's ballet bag. I am also gearing up to start a quilt soon and maybe even a Halloween costume.

Thanks for sharing all your opinions about gossip. There is a lot of wisdom there. I agree that there is a difference in talking about others and speaking disparagingly about them. I have been practicing Sophanne's keep your mouth shut mantra and it is working.

Look, I Made Something

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:41:00 +0000

Lake of the Woods is done. I stayed up extra late last night finishing it up. It wasn't really a hardship, Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest was on and I was still asleep by 10:30.

This is the unofficial FO picture. It needs buttons and ends sewn in and to be blocked. I am a bit stumped about how to block. I haven't really ever done it. Suggestions would be appreciated.
And that's my fancy new fall time shirt. I just got it and wore it especially for the photo. Isn't it pretty?

So the other day I was heading out early to the grocery store. That particular day I was washed and cleaned and my hair was combed. Before I reversed my car down the driveway I was required to move several items as not to run them over. Wagons, chalk, little ride on toys, I'm sure you all have your own assortment of driveway clutter.
As I was doing this I walked into a spider web. My whole self into the web, not just my shoulder or elbow. All of me, my face all the way to my knees.
I will admit there was some hooting and hollering and carrying on. I went back into the house to reassess. When I looked in the mirror my fair was plastered up in spiderweb (a bit like Something about Mary style) complete with dead bugs. . Lovely! I was able to comb out most of the web and just hoped the dead bugs went too.
When I got home it occurred to me that perhaps I should search out the offending spider. Anything that can build a web big enough to catch me must be an insect worth seeing. From far of course.

For your viewing pleasure, here she/he is.

That's my clothespin bag. The web was about 5 feet in diameter.

A Query About Human Nature.

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:19:00 +0000

I've been thinking a lot about gossip.

I'm reading the Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It's about Arthur and the knights and the Merlin though written from the perspective of the women. Great story and it is a trilogy, though I have only read Mists.

So that's a long time ago, medieval or something. The women are terrible gossips. Even the Queens who are always reprimanding their women for gossiping, gossip. It is almost on every page one of the major characters is saying (or thinking) about how the other women are fools and have nothing to talk about but other's and about how they never engage in the folly of women-talk. Then 2 pages later the same high and mighty character is dishing out with the best of them. Obviously the author wasn't in Queen Gwenhyfar's court and much is poetic license. But I've read many historic books and it is a common theme, especially in royal courts.
I have to believe it is somewhat true as it seems to parallel what I see in people all the time.

What is it about gossip?

I hate it, I hate hearing it, I hate doing it. What do people gain from this? I've never met anyone who was truly above it. I have tried many times to stop but it's like a bad drug. I hate that my children hear me talking about others and are likely to inherit the habit but even that isn't enough to make me stop.

Do others struggle with this? What is this madness all about? Can we start a blogwide pledge to stop?

To Catch You Up

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:46:00 +0000

Ahhh, you guys! One of the hardest parts about blogging for me is the pictures. I find it difficult to get the shots taken and loaded onto the computer, then discouraged b/c they are mostly lousy. I believe that is the biggest reason that I stopped blogging for so long.

The other reason was my youngest darling, Laila. I am no stranger to active kids. Both Ken and I were movers and shakers, we were well aware of the risk going into the procreation game. Clarabel was a really active toddler, like to climb and jump and get into whatever she could.

Now, Miss Laila, she is in a league of her own. Laila is not content with climbing onto the tables. From the kitchen table she climbs to the kitchen counter then onto the butcher block and rocks it back and forth. Like cutting block surfing. Fun games. She's 17 months. Fortunately she is able to get up and down the stairs by herself and that is a relief as the stairs are really central to our house and can't be gated. Though she is now starting to climb up the banister instead of the stairs. I am sure that part of it is having a 4 year old sister to chase but I firmly believe that she has some thrill seeking needs. And of course everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, goes in her mouth. Kinda has kept my hands full. Not to mention that she is not terribly fond of sleeping.

That said, she is really a delight. She is very animated and loves to dance, especially pirouettes. Her favorites words are owl and bummie. When I am not worn down to nothing with extracting her from very unsafe situations I am usually laughing. She is very funny.

Other than parenting, here's what I have been up to.
Much reading. (anyone read the Twilight series??)
Some beach going and pool swimming in the summerer months.
A great deal of procrastination of housekeeping.

Lots and lots of canning. Jam, salsa verde, relish, chutney, pickles veggies, ketchup and peaches. I'm done now, I don't think I want to process any more food. Until next year...

Today we made a pie. Apple and blackberry, it's a Jamie Oliver recipe, though I used my own pastry recipe. It is the most beautiful pie I have ever made, so for your viewing enjoyment

pie!

There she goes...

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:46:00 +0000

This past Saturday was the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitters Fair. It was the best fair yet!! They spread it out into 2 rooms, so there was lots of space to peruse and touch and smell yarn.
Also it was the first year in many that I have gone sans children and was not pregnant, likely that added to my enjoyment of the whole day.

I was very reserved, only bought a little yarn. Sea Wool from Fleece Artist.

I bought a pattern to go with it. Ilga Leja's Brickworks. She is the same designer of the Lake of the Woods that I am working on now. Ilga herself helped me, she is lovely and came all the way from Halifax! If you've never seen her patterns before do take a look.

Big day at A Few Things to Say

All by her own.

Back by Popular Demand

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:20:00 +0000

Hello? Hello, anyone there?? Do 3 people count as popular demand?

I've made some things and thought I would share.

Clarabel is signed up for ballet. It is a huge commitment for a 4 year old. The class runs from September to June and blue eyeshadow is required for the recital. I have a moral objection to blue eyeshadow, especially on a little girl and I can't wait for recital time to see if I am the only mother refusing to make up her daugther like a pageant hopeful.

None the less she is signed up and raring to go. I stitched up a little bag for her to carry her shoes and such to class.

It is even reversible.

Obviously, I had no control over the fabric. It's not what I would have chosen but I am not 4 nor even a little bit inclined to be a ballerina, so whada I know?
Notice the little white label on the handle. As Clarabel is starting school this year, we've been labeling everything. If you are in the market for labels of any kind, check out Mabel's Labels.

I have also been knitting.

I knit up Amanda's Squatty Sidekick for Clarabel from the yarn we kool-aid dyed last summer. I have enough left to make her a a pair of mitts. And enough yarn of a different color to make Laila a matching bag and mitts.

I was stuck this summer with a fair bit of free time with nothing to knit and a hankering for some fancy yarn, so I headed to the LYS to spend my allowance.
Some Handmaiden caught my eye and I've been knitting up Lake of the Woods.

It is a capelet. Not sure if I need a capelet but it is a quick and fun knit.
I am almost done and the best part is that there is no seams to sew up!!

Gettin it done!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:21:00 +0000

My very handy husband finished up our wall of storage.

It was a big job that required much math and Ken got to activate his new compressor and nail gun. He was a bit like a kid in a candy store. So caught up was he with his new toys that he forgot to remember that Laila was asleep and to do the quiet jobs.
Needs a little paint and such.

Inspired by Amanda at crazy mom quilts, we are having a finish it up week at our house. I started with small projects.

A while ago Clarabel and I bought some purple Princess fabric. She spotted it at the quilting store and talked about it forever, until I agreed we could have some. I sewed up a little summer nightgown. (which I haven't shown you b/c I can't figure out the ruffle, though if I showed it maybe someone could help me....) There was lots of fabric leftover so I thought some Princess napkins would be a good idea. Such a crafty mom am I that I was able to get Sleeping Beauty and Snow White on one side and Belle and Cinderella on the other. Jasmine and Ariel must have their own fabric. We made 5 and one will be a gift, 2 have already succumbed to jam and toast.

More to come...

I can make stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:33:00 +0000

Here's my newest fabric additions.

I am taking a class at my local sewing store. We're making this. The first class was last night and I spent all day doing the homework. Sewing the bias strips onto the cording for the piping. Not all that hard but I had some feet trouble. I got it in the end.

We also had a little craft time.

From left: one eyed cow, disco chicken, one eyed goat, drunken dog and finally pretty near perfect pig. Unfortunately the fabric glue didn't quite do the job and they need some reinforcing.

Hello....Is anyone there?

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:18:00 +0000

And it is done. Well, not really but it is finished enough for me.

Clarabel and I spent the afternoon loading them up. Then we shoveled the filth out of the family room and gave it a good scrub.

Needs a little fine tuning. You know how it goes when you have "helpers".

Top drawer- gift wrap and ribbons. Out of the way of little hands.

Middle drawer- yarn, needles, patterns. Almost reachable by little hands.

Bottom drawer- fabric, cutting mat and a pipe cleaner princess headband.

I am so pleased that I have been able to put stuff away. I am feeling very peaceful.

I'm still here

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:45:00 +0000

Apologies. It seems that I dropped off the blogosphere. The mess of renovating has spread through the house and into my brain.

Still no knitting or sewing to share, though tonight is knitting guild. We are having a special guest and I will be sure to post photos tomorrow. After much indecision I've decided to leave my Kauni at home and knit on my little green sock. Kauni is at the critical neckline and not really friendly for group knitting. (or 1 year old baby girl knitting for that matter) And the little green sock could use some love. Still undecided if I am going to go ahead with the monkey pattern. It is pretty warm here today so I will likely decide that socks with holes will be ok!!

I have been to the fabric shop and intend to do a little more fabric shopping later this week. I have something fancy up my sleeve. (Yes, I am shamely taunting you to stay tuned to this space for exciting things) And I'm setting a goal to finish Laila's quilt. Her birthday, which is in 3 weeks. It'll be serious crunch time as Ken also has to finish storage project by then too.

It's the first of the month again and I haven't really come up with a goal for this month. I think it will be finish it up month. Finish some projects that I have on the go, finish the renovations. I'm going to sleep on it and get back to you.

Waiting

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:12:00 +0000

There is little crafting getting done around here.
Here's why-

The cupboards that house all my gear are completely dismantled. Everything that usually has a home in the cupboards is thrown around the room. See in the bottom right, my quilting stuff, 2 finished quilt tops just waiting. The sewing machine is buried under the wrapping paper and gift bags, my knitting supplies are packed up and in the depths of the crawl space. It's like running hurdles to get in and out of the room. This will hopefully be a quick project and it is going to be FABULOUS! when it's done. Stay tuned for the reveal.
Can see the chaos in this picture? I had to tidy up after I took it b/c I couldn't stand it anymore.

In the reduce, reuse and recycle category

We were coloring yesterday and I started sharpening dull crayons and picking out little bits of broken ones. So I threw them into an old muffin tin (I don't use this one for baking it's mostly for paint) and melted them. 350 for a few minutes. They are great! Especially good for Laila because they color any which way, until she puts them in her mouth and they screams when I take them away.

A little behind the 8 ball

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:42:00 +0000

We had a great Easter celebration. Spring even made an appearance.

We dyed a few eggs on Saturday.

I used a Dremel tool to drill holes in the eggs and it worked really well. I tried the traditional pin method but the eggs cracked. For the dye I used my cake decorating tints, which I've decided not to use for eating anymore. 1 cup of boiling water, 1 tsp vinegar and a spoonful of tint. Fabulous colors, though it looks a little like toxic waste. All the more reason to not eat it.

And there they are decorating the table. Can you see the frogs on the dish? That is a wedding present from my grandmother's boyfriend. I don't really love it but can't bring myself to get rid of it. Just after Clarabel was born I was ruthless with gifts that we didn't love only a few things survived the purge.

If you look really closely you can see that the Easter bunny stopped by before I took the picture.

Fair Dinkum

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:18:00 +0000

The month has gotten away from me. The whole budgeting plan, over. Did not happen. Mostly because I was away and when I got home I had no interest in the pile of receipts Ken and I had saved up. But also because I realized that spending less money this month just means I will spend more next month. Not buying diapers on sale this month means I will have to pay full price next month, ya see?

Anyhoos I have accepted that my March goal is a bust and I am moving on.

I am reading a book, Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet by Carol Off. It is a huge eye opener. Did you know that chocolate is harvested by slaves, children slaves? Beaten and starved slaves. Cadbury's, Hershey's, Nestle, all the big names, they are in on it. It's dreadful. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys chocolate. I'll be giving it to my dad!!

I am not totally naive in the ways of the world but I try not to think about nasty things like child trafficking, corporate corruption and greed. I am taking up a new cause, fair trade. I am going to do more research on where I am spending my money. Instead of paying the lowest price, we are going to start paying a fair price. It will likely be a gradual process.

Our Easter bunny didn't get the memo in time and will be bringing slave chocolate for our egg hunt. Next time...

FYI- organic fair trade chocolate available at cocoacamino. They have bars, cocoa, chips, hot drink mixes. I am sure they are lots more sources.

Country roads brought us home

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:20:00 +0000

While at my parents for the March break we had an incredible storm. There was already a lot of snow, this storm was snow madness! It was what Clarabel and Ken call 'Purple Snow' named because on the Environment Canada radar purple indicates the highest snowfall per hour. We had purple snow all night!!

The bird feeder

The squirrels can just walk right on up like it's a buffet because the snow is so high up the pole. We spent a lot of time banging on the window trying to scare them. Mostly they just gave us the evil eye and went on stuffing their faces.
Behind is the tennis court, the posts of the net are long buried and so is the short fence.

The pool and pool house

There is no sign of the pool. The snow is 3/4 of the way up the door and to the window boxes.

The front door

Clarabel and Laila enjoy watching out the windows at the front door. After this storm they had to go to the second floor to see out.

Christmas tree on the back deck

In past years my father has been known to shovel snow up onto the trees, so they are pretty and Christmasy. Not really required at present. He also has trees in the driveway at the lampposts but they are totally buried from the snowplow. Clarabel and I tobogganed over them.

There is so much snow on the roof that leaks are starting in the house as the snow melts. It is a bit of a disaster actually. The house is on the market and it's a bit tricky to show a house with water pouring down the walls.

March 14th my father said he didn't want anymore snow. This was shocking news to the whole family, after years of fretting and panic over lack of snowfall and melting rates we didn't believe we would ever here him call uncle to the white stuff.

We had a great visit. Shopped and ate and played and ate. Did very little knitting. Did lots of scrapbooking, I really like scrapbooking.

To celebrate an early Easter we went to the Sucrerie. Ate until we couldn't move, best roast potatoes I have ever tasted, danced and had a little tire.

Tire sur le neige is maple syrup boiled to thicken and poured on the snow, you use a popsicle stick to roll it up. I believe it is the very best of Quebec. That's my mom limping up for her tire. Shockingly Clarabel didn't want any part of it?!?

Happy Marching

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:51:00 +0000

I am pleased to report that I am on the mend. I started taking some meds and they are kicking in and doing their magic. It was a long haul of sick bringing me down and my apologies for bellyaching about it!

So moving on to my new monthly goal.
To recap my monthly goals- January was housekeeping and February to make a quilt. My housekeeping is still a priority though took a bit of a back seat the last few weeks b/c of the sick. My quilt is not totally finished but I am really pleased with my progress and looking forward to finishing it up.

March. I've thought a lot about March and here is what I have come up with, March is budget month. We are keeping a tally of every penny we spend and there will be much cost comparison. The goal is to determine where we can shave off some dollars and to develop a savings plan. We have savings already for retirement and education but nothing for things like clothes or home furnishing. It's getting a bit desperate in those departments! We spend a insane amount on groceries and it will be the most studied.

This idea comes from Mother of Chaos, (I'm not the only one getting ideas from someone else's blog right?) she's working towards a year of living below their means. I loved the idea but wasn't sure I could handle a whole year. The plan is to start small. I was also introduced to The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn, a wealth of ideas for scrimping and saving. Some of the ideas are totally outrageous but lots are very practical and just require a little elbow grease.

As I make my way through this text of home economics I've been pleased to discover that I am, in fact, thriftier than I thought. So I thought to kick off my month of fiscal responsibility I'd encourage a little sharing.

What are you doing to say a few pennies??
I'll start, 'K.

Almost all of the books we read are from the library or borrowed from friends
I make bread
I rip bounce sheets in 2, only using 1/2 a sheet per dryer load
Pizza night is always a homemade pizza, with homemade dough
We use compact fluorescent lightbulbs, and turn lights off when not using them, which is reaaally hard for me
Buy some of the kids clothes at the second hand shop, especially stuff to play outside
Most of our bills are paid online, saving the postage to mail in a cheque
Buy in bulk when I find a good sale, I also shop at bulk food stores
We bake all our muffins and cookies and but very little prepared foods

Anyone else want to play?

I swear I passed algebra and calculus and geometry...

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:09:00 +0000

Again the great mathematical beast has thwarted my best efforts. When I last posted my 'sampler' quilt, I was going to adjust my squares so they would be the same size. The pinwheel square was too small.
And now...

FYI- 3 + 6 + 3 does NOT equal 9.

So I trimmed, though of course not evenly. Whatever!!!

Did I mention that I haven't been feeling well and my patience for accuracy is mostly non-existent? And it is really just a trial quilt so it is all about learning.

I also finished the quilt top for Laila's quilt.

It wasn't really all that much work. Again much room for improvement.

Clarabel tested is out. Quilt tops are also good for twirling.

My local fabric store is having a big sale this week so I am going to pick up the batting and backing. Though they will sit in my cupboard for a bit, I'm taking a quilting break. We are leaving for my parents for almost 2 weeks and I am only bringing my Kauni. and my scrapbooking. and a few books I got from the library...

Go and see what my great friend Mandi sewed up for me. Thanks Mandi!!

Oh I see, Your collection

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:21:00 +0000

My collection...here it is...

I have a collection of recipes.

This is my big black book. Attractive, non? It contains all the recipes I have enjoyed from magazines and online. Lovingly organized in page protectors.

See.

Also have a few cookbooks.

Most used are Giada's family dinners, Anne Lindsay's new light cooking and Beyond the Moon by Ginny Callan, though it is vegetarian and I'm a meat eater now. Eat, Shrink and Be Merry is brand new and I have high hopes!

I have completed my very last patch for the quilting month's patch along at Sew, Mama, Sew!

A Pinwheel. It is considerably smaller than the other squares and I fear much math will be involved in figuring how to sort that out.

I leave you with my youngest darlings newest obsession.

Just checkin' in

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:51:00 +0000

Thanks for all your kind words about my mom. She's doing great, her blood index (INR, RNI??) is reached the target and she even got a day off today from the blood tests and shots. Today was also my dad's first day of retirement. When I talked to them they were camped out in the basement figuring out their new washer and dryer (Hallelujah!!), shredding the mass of paper clutter that my dad dragged home from his office and trying to figure out what they were going to do with themselves for the rest of their lives.

The cold that plagued me last week has worked its way through my family. Clarabel being hardest hit during the late night drive to my parents and resulting in a detour through Brockville searching out an all night Shoppers. I believe we are all on the mend, though I suspect I might lose my voice shortly.

If you are keen for a contest, visit Sarah. She's interested in collections. Quite fun really. I am dusting my collection off and will play along.

Down and Out

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:52:00 +0000

I've got the sick. I am not happy about it.

On the upside I have many meals ready to eat. My team met on Sunday to cook.

Turkey pot pie. That's reading Heather flashing her fancy apron. Isn't it cute?

A Mexican bake.

Juile kneading the pastry for the pot pie. We also made a tortellini sausage bake and a chicken ragu pasta sauce. Usually we are 8 and aim to make 5 recipes but Sunday we were only 6.
It was a good news day. Sewing Heather got a new job, Julie passed a board exam. YAAA!

The latest installment in the patch along. The log cabin.

I struggled with the math but it turned out ok. One more patch this Friday. I think I will make a little doll size quilt with these sample patches to practice the quilting part.

We are heading out tomorrow night to my parents. My mom is out of commission and going a little crazy. She broke her ankle a few weeks ago, then started to get a serious pain in her leg under her cast. It was a blood clot. She has to go to the hospital everyday for shots and blood tests. Scary. She is slowly responding to the medication. So we are going to keep her coming and maybe do some laundry for her.

A day in pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 01:36:00 +0000

Just a little fib

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:58:00 +0000

It would appear that I am not entirely done with knitting.

These are my monkey socks. I am on the fence about whether or not to actually go with the monkey pattern. It has been freezing the last few days and I'm not really sure I need socks with yarn overs in them.

Notice my fancy knitpicks. My sister went to great pains to order the dpn sock set for me for xmas. They are heavenly.

Last week I braved the 407 to join my best Knitter Connie (Hi Con!) for her guild meeting. Sally Melville was speaking. I took a few pictures but they weren't all that attractive, it's not easy work getting a good shot of someone chatting up a storm.

The next quilt patch in the patch along. I believe it is called Shoo Fly.

I am not crazy about the fabric I chose and I did not enjoying cutting the triangles.
Next I am going to give a disappearing 9 patch a go. Turns out it isn't nearly as tricky as it looks.

Great Valentine Day sale at our in house fabric store.

Store hours are 6 am to 7 pm. We are looking for someone to supervise the 6 am to 7 am shift.

I am so over this idea

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 01:13:00 +0000

The last 2 weekends I've spend a whole lot of time freezer cooking. Preparing meals to freeze. Tama over at The Den of Chaos was talking about Frozen Assets, cook for a day eat for a month. I checked it out of my library and gave it a go. I did chicken last weekend and ground beef this weekend. I certainly did not prepare a month worth of meals, maybe 12 meals with leftovers for lunch.

I'm not sure I like freezer cooking. It's a whole lot of work. I get together with my team of greatest friends once a month in a big church kitchen and cook our hearts out for 3 hours. It is a lot more social and I don't have to do the dishes all by myself.

Course I will likely really enjoy the meals.

A few FO's to share

Ken has been freezing in the night and he has to get up 14 times to put on more layers and it makes me crazy. So I sewed up some flannel jama pants. He enjoyed the photo shoot.
He also also started wearing more clothes to bed.
That's Laila's head, she's trying to get her mitts on the camera. She's working very hard on walking.

And special for Clarabel, a Valentine's Day dress. It also twirls. She insisted that the she model it with her pajamas.
I had some trouble with this. I didn't have enough fabric so I had to make a smaller size, it just fits. The shoulder has buttons and I had a whole lot of trouble with the buttonholes. Also I didn't hem the bottom, just left the raw edge cause I think it looks cute. Is that ok?

More Snow, More Fabric

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:16:00 +0000

I've done it! I've made a quilt patch. It is not bang on perfect but you know I'm just learning.

Clarabel is presently using it to wrap presents as we play birthday. Which really means she just wraps up toys and brings them to me and I say "Oh! That's just what I've always wanted." Then I do my best to encourage her to put the toy back where it belongs. Sometimes I am successful, sometimes not.

I am aiming to have Wednesday as sewing day, yesterday it worked out great and I got a lot done. Definitely not a fan of cutting out patterns. It's kinda fiddely.

While I sew, Clarabel enjoys playing fabric store.

Fun game. I was mostly unsuccessful at encouraging fabric store manager to fold up her wares and pack them away.

Major snow last night. Ken shoveled out before bed and then again this morning.
Birds are fed though!

I am Learning Already

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:40:00 +0000

It is a good thing that I am starting my quilting experience slowly because already I have learned a very important lesson. I will share my new wisdom with you. 1inch + 1inch + 1inch + 1/2 inch DOES NOT equal 4 1/2 inches. (I suspect this it true with other things like centimeters, apples and kiwifruit but have not tested the hypothesis yet!)
Oh well, I was cutting pieces for the block along, so they will just be an inch smaller.

On Saturday, we suited up to locate our friendly neighborhood quilt store. (LQS?) I spent my allowance on some accessories. It is lovely.

These are some of the funnest craft supplies EVER! They are like the swift and ball winder of sewing. Thus making it really easy to cut a whole lot of fabric in the a short time before you even realize that you are cutting the wrong size.

Moving on...

We will be back to the quilt store soon. Out of a store full of fabric and stuff, Clarabel was able to locate princess fabric in 3.7 seconds.

Thought I would flash you my ancient Singer. Notice my pink magnetic pin cushion, another fun notion. My sewing basket in the background.

I really thought that this machine was finished. I was preparing to throw it out. Change of plans because it works great. Here's what I think happened. I think it was broken and I think my Nana Ferne found Mr. Singer, up there in sewing Heaven and gave him a piece of her mind. She was good at that. Likely he got jumping and sent his sewing machine minions to sort this machine out. As I said it is what I think happened.

P.S. I can't get my spell check to work.

Twirly Twirly Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Kristin) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:26:00 +0000

This is my front step this morning.

Well, not the step but the greenery on my step. Obviously.

We had a bit of bad news this morning. Ken and Clarabel went out to shovel and Ken came right back in to tell me that the passenger side door was open on my car and the car was full of snow.
Oops. Then it occurred to me that Ken would have seen the open door and closed it when he came home from work. As I was telling him this, we both realized that our new car stereo was likely missing. Indeed it was. Nuts! Then I was extremely cross that some jack$#& broke into our car, took our stereo and didn't even have the manners to close the door so the car wouldn't be full or snow and soaking wet. Really!

I was up early this morning to finish Clarabel's Twirly Skirt so she could wear it to a party.

It does some serious twirling.

On the way home from the party, she said "There wasn't any dancing." I guess she thought everyone would be twirling.