Friday, September 30, 2011

Friday finishes!

I got yesterday off for Rosh Hashanah.
I got up at the usual work time to sew.

I want to give a quilt to my dance partner of at least 7 years.
She's facing surgery Tues for lung cancer. I know she's going to need lots of sleep, so I wanted something lovely for her to snuggle with...and for her to feel loved every time she wakes up.
I started Wed (and probably would have stayed up all night but I was worried I wouldn't wake up Friday for messing with my sleep cycle).
This took me most of the day Thurs.
Etana's quilt

It's so beautiful. The more I work with them, the more I love batiks.
Etana's quilt
Etana's quilt, back
It reminds me of images of space.

I decided that since I was handsewing already, I might as well keep going.
I bound and finished my girl version of the Across the Sea QAL.
It's going to a colleague (with my same legal name) who is having her very first baby.
I think she's picked a wonderful name (the same of one of my best friend's daughter...who I adore).
Finish!
quilt back
Although my quilting wasn't perfect, I love the crinkly goodness.

I think I have fabric picked for my Pretty Little Pouch fabric.
pouch picks?

I have a plan. I want to see if she likes any of them more than others first.

I wish I had another full day of sewing available...
Still left to do (will be attacked in this order):
1. Japanese scrap bag challenge finish
2. finish 100 quilts for kids quilt
3. Pincushion
4. Pouch
5. Bee blocks
6. Hoopla

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Just because...

I realized I never posted pics of my completed FTLOS package (the one I sent).
It was the first thing I have ever designed.
My idea was to create a pair of pillow, kind of a mod design.
I wanted the white space on one to be the color space on the other.
I like rectangles, and, since I'm not too experienced on curves, I stuck to what I knew I could do.
IMG_9803
For the Love of Solids

Here they are together:
IMG_9804


I had to do math! (which I thought I was better at..*Cough*teaches math*cough*)
I didn't hear much back from my partner, but I know she got them and I hope she liked them.
Now I still have to master zippers.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Projects I've been working on...

I feel like I'm playing catchup.
Though I'm not sure where I'm trying to land.

I quilted the Across the Sea QAL quilt today. I was going to do echo quilting...and maybe that would have been a better choice. But I decided on straight lines.
I really hate my machine.
I didn't really have much in the way of choice...as I can't FMQ on it. As it is, I had a horrible time trying to feed it through the window bit. Clearly even the "lap quilt" is too big for it.
So, my lines aren't always straight...and the fabric bunched and shifted.
But I wanted it done.
and I'm hoping it gets a bit better in the wash as it's a gift.
For the boy version, I'm DEFINITELY not doing a pieced back along the lines of the first one.
I love the crosses on the back, but it was a b*tch and a half to try to get them to line up in my tiny tiny basting area.

Other projects:
I'm working on a quilt for the 100 quilts for kids. When it's done, this one will go to Project Linus.
100 quilts for kids WIP

I've selected some Wrenly for a Xmas present.
wrenly for wip

The Pirate helped me assemble this shelf thingie from Target over the weekend.
NEW craft place!
Now my fabric has a place to live....and the guest room is in theory usable.
(I still have a bunch of stuff to stuff in the closet should there be an actual guest.)

Still not done:
Skill Builder block
no progress on Hoopla
quilt for dance partner (layout done...sewing yet to begin)
Haven't decided yet on design for Pouch swap

Scrap Bag Challenge...

A while back, I made it past round one of PingsandNeedles Japanese Scrap Bag challenge.
I got my fabric about two weeks ago. It took a while to cross the ocean.

I used a pattern I'd had for a while but had never made...Tempest's Corset Belt.

I was terrified to cut into the fabric.

I tried making a prototype.
prototype

Then the concept of applying 80 grommets total made me throw that out the window.
(I still may go back and finish the red belt at some point.)

I spent most of my free time (Saturday) sewing and grommeting.
I cut up my fingers fairly well.
(This is why the bra is still in need of embellishment. I can't handsew til Friday or maybe Thurs if I get work off.)

The finished belt and unfinished bra:
belt and unfinished bra
corset belt

I still have to pick music. And I am thinking of black dance pants and possibly a layer of a fringe belt under it...
I do promise to display the full costume by the deadline (most likely with me in it). Brace yourselves. And let me remind you right now that folks of all shapes, ages, and sizes bellydance. (Don't be expecting a 6 pack, unless I'm holding it.)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

my poor fingers...

Well, I got the Across the Sea QAL pinbasted.
Not a good idea after cutting up your fingers from applying 40 grommets the day before.
My fingers are owie.
Hence, no work on the Hoopla today.

Still to do tomorrow:
Skill Builder block
Quilt the Across the Sea quilt?
lace up the bits of my Scrap Bag Competition piece
Make binding for bra edge
Start sewing quilt for dance partner (I want to try to get it done this week before she goes in for surgery)
TAKE PICTURES OF STUFF

Still on the to do list, just not tomorrow:
Finish quilt for 100 quilts
Start pouch design for Pretty Pouch swap
Pincushion for Sewn Spaces swap
Hoop for Hoopla

I just need to put off hand stitching for a few days til my fingers heal.
Owie.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Dad's quilt...

My dad loves color. He's got an eye for it, as does my mom.
How does that translate?
They collect art, and, art collections aside, their home is fabulous.
Right now, mine is just a mess.

But since the quilting bug bit hard this summer, I thought about making dad a quilt, a sofa sized one to curl up with.
See, he likes to nap on the sofa, usually sitting up.
But he claims he's just "resting his eyes."

I asked him what his favorite colors were to look at.
Interestingly enough, he picked my favorites: reds and purples.
I decided on some batiks and tried to decide what else to add to the mix.
It came down to a rich, fall palette....golds, reds, burgundies, and purples.
My favorites.
close up of back
Dad's quilt, close up
I'm going to have a hard time parting with this one.
dad's quilt
back of dad's quilt


It also seemed a fitting submission to Celebrate Color over at Stitched In Color.
Celebrate Color
Wish me luck. Dad's gonna love it regardless.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Hi, my name is Ella, and I'm a chronic project starter....

Because I'm not overcommitted at all...*Cough*
I finished dad's quilt. I need to trim up some loose threads and take pics.
That's on tap for tomorrow.
I'm starting my hoopla tonight.
I won a charm pack of Lola's Posies on Tea Rose Home and decided to make a quilt using Made by Rae's tutorial for 100 quilts.
Apparently, I need to sew to clear my head.
I decided NOT to pin baste the Across the Sea QAL quilt today...
see it was stressful and I was discombobulated all day.

This morning, I saw dark spots on the kitchen ceiling. I prayed the Pirate had somehow sprayed sauce there.
Nope.
Water marks. Soft spot.
See...now I'm stuck. It could be the roof (since it rained crazy yesterday) which would be the Association's responsibility...or it could be the plumbing on the floor above me, which would be my responsibility.
I can't find any wet spots in any of my plumbing...which I know doesn't completely rule out the plumbing issue.
But the spot doesn't seem to be getting larger.
Needless to say, I've been stressed all day, juggling phone calls.
Why does the universe always hit me with this stuff on a Fri?!

Also, any prayers/healthy wishes you want to send my dance partner's way would be much appreciated. It looks like lung cancer, but it appears to be confined to the spot on her lung, a quick growing tumor. She may or may not lose a lung...but her scan results at least look less bad than they could have. (I know, it feels weird viewing one tumor as a positive, but that's where we are at this point.) She gets booked for surgery soon. I've pulled fabrics to make my favorite disappearing 9 patch. I'm trying to get it done in the next two weeks. I love sewing, but I'd really much rather give friends quilts for presents on holidays rather than presents for healing. This will be my second quilt for a friend in treatment since the summer....

Tomorrow my main challenge is making my scrap bag challenge item....and at least grommetting some of the pieces.

And, I promise...pics tomorrow of dad's quilt. I want to get it in the light.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

not a lot to report today...

I'm still fighting whatever I've been fighting for almost 3 weeks now. I just feel congested.
Gave in and signed up for the Pretty Little Pouch Swap.
Chose my design (I think) for the Hoopla.
Handsewed about half of dad's quilt.
Went to the chiro. Finally got praised for not waiting until I was too tense to move.

On tap for tomorrow:
finishing dad's quilt and entering it into the Celebrate Color Sept listing
work on layout for Scrap Bag challenge, test a couple of ideas.
pin baste the Across the Sea QAL

Sat:
get all the piecing/sewing done in the Scrap Bag challenge
Clean
Start grommetting.

Does this seem too ambitious?
I also have to grade a crapload of papers, do laundry, and all those sundry everyday life, non glorious things.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

WIP Wed 9.21.11

I hadn't planned on actually sewing today, but I got home earlier than expected from work...and dad's quilt is begging to be done.
So....I pinbasted it.
Then I quilted it...just straight lines.
I stopped for dance class.
Then back to quilting and and sewing on binding (the machine sewing part).
I pooped out before hand sewing.
That's on tap for tomorrow or Friday.
Here it is sitting, calling my name:
Dad's quilt

I'm trying to keep up with the Across the Sea QAL...but it (and the Skill Builder) may get tabled til I get the Scrap Bag Competition piece finished.
My dance teacher lent me a grommet plier thingie...I'm hoping it might be easier than a hammer.
We'll see...
so far, the design decision is to make each corset belt panel (there are 5) be themed by kind of scrap. Layout planned for tomorrow.

Happy things came in the mail today!
Color Wheel charms:
Color Wheel charm pack
and a win!
win!
which is totally begging to be made into a kid quilt for charity....

Also, *cough* I may or may not (shifty eyes) have entered the Pretty Little Pouch swap.
I also have a pincushion to make for the Sewn Spaces swap and a hoop for the hoopla.
At least I have a plan for both of them.

Monday, September 19, 2011

It's a Monday.

I started today off by oversleeping.
I made it to work on time, but just barely.

I had to leave work early to go to the dermatologist. New theory. It's eczema. New medicine. Praying it works...so tired of being painfully peely and itchy.

I bought some supplies for the Misfit Quilters Hoopla.
I have yet to ponder a design.

When I got home, I pieced together the girl version of the Across the Sea QAL.
It took a while, but I really like it. I wanted to pin baste that sucker already, but it may have to wait until Friday.
quilt back

Kraken had fun sitting on it. (She was actually begging for dinner. Bad cat mom was late on a meal.)
Quilt back and Kraken

I was properly admonished.

I worked on dad's quilt.
The top is totally done, save for pressing.
The back is now pieced, but needs to be pressed and sliced open.
I also got the binding tape made.
See, here are the bits:
Dad's quilt top
dad's quilt back (pre-slicing)

I'm actually dying to pin baste it and get to quilting. If I can finish this week, I'm going to enter it in the Celebrate Color show.

On the to do list:
*Finish dad's quilt (pin baste, quilt, bind)
*Baste Across the Sea QAL girl version
*Choose a design for The Misfit Quilters Hoopla
*Choose a design for the Sewn Spaces pincushion swap
*Make the belt pieces for the Scrap Bag competition (I may or may not bother finishing the prototype...I kind of feel this will either work or it won't...plus all those grommets are making me blue.) Any advice?

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Playing catch up...

I spent much of the day hand sewing a block for the school quilting group.
I sewed circles til I just couldn't take it any more.
See...they weren't raw circles...we had to turn under the edges and try to hide the sewing.
It wasn't fun.

Bee Block for school

I think the quilt will be fabulous, and I'll be a raffle ticket or two to try to win it, but it didn't wow me as an introduction to the school quilting group.
I only got to hang out with the ladies once...and the project was a lot harder than it felt like it should be. I know there will be another quilt coming in the winter. Next time I might try to find out the sewing requirements before I commit.

I worked on the blocks for the back of the girl's Across the Sea QAL quilt. I still have to cut them down to size, but they're done.
blocks for back

This one is my favorite:
block for back

My plan tomorrow is to piece the back and finish the top and back of dad's quilt.
Wish me luck!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

I'm back...

still not completely recovered from the trip.
My allergies don't like nature...or apparently, square dancing, as I ended up covered in hives from touching folk wearing cologne.
Ugh. The dancing part was fun, the post dancing itching, not so much.
I'm sorry I don't have any pics to show you, but I didn't end up seeing the sunrise as I had camper duty on those who didn't want to go.
And my phone kept dying due to trying to find a signal.

I got home to find these things waiting for me:

My swap package from the For the Love of Solids swap:
From This Crafty Fox!!!

I LOVE the colors, the pillow cover, the squirrel...the miniquilt. I giggled with delight. Seriously.


My scrap bag for the scrap bag challenge:
Eternal Maker/Pings & Needles scrap bag material


I started working on the prototype today:
prototype

The idea is to make a bunch of these and then lace them together.
What I've learned thus far: setting grommets sucks. It took almost 2 hours for 12. My prototype will have 40, as will the final project.
I also learned from my skill builder block (see below) that making fabric is fun, but that I'm going to have to be SUPER careful when making the actual belt's fabric out of the scraps.

I tried to catch up on Skill Builder today:
Block 11 Beacon Light (my block #12)

Still to do:
The school bee block (due Mon or Tues)---lots of handsewing on hand tomorrow
dad's quilt (fabric is here, going to try to finish the top at least tomorrow)
back of Across the Sea QAL (may table one and just try to finish one on the deadline set)
Mosaic for pincushion swap
Research design for a hoop swap

Debating the following:
joining SewHappyGeek's miniquilt swap
joining a bee that just lasts for Oct

Glad to be back, but, man, do I feel behind and that the catch up has a time lag.

Also, in other not so happy news, I'm personally not a huge prayer, but if you are or feel like sending happy thoughts to a friend, my dance partner of many years is facing surgery to see if she has lung cancer or not...not good...please send any healthy wishes/prayers her way. She's one of my favorite peeps and is the mama of two girls.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Heading to the Carolinas...

Tomorrow.
To camp for 3 nights.
I'll be on duty with my students for 24 hrs for 4 days.
I am NOT an outdoorsy gal.
It's pretty look at and all, but I don't want to sleep in it. My skin is already a mess without mold allergies factored in.
I have chosen to live in major cities for most of my adult life.
My knees don't like hiking.
Again, I'm NOT an outdoorsy gal.
Blarg.
So...I'll be offline til Fri. I'll miss y'all.
I'm hoping some luscious packages come in my absence.

My poor kitty's bald spots on her feet bottoms are getting bigger.
:(
Poor itchy girl.

How am I going to sleep without animals and the Pirate smooshing me?!

And no sewing for 4 days. I may go nutso.

I still have to finish the handsewn block for the school bee quilt...it's due next week.
I think I'll be doing a LOT of sewing this weekend.
What with having to finish the backs for the Across the Sea QAL x2 and that block.
Plus dad's quilt.

Blarg.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

thinking about family...

I spent part of today thinking about my family.
See, 10 years ago...my parents were flying to visit family abroad. My brother was flying across country to meet them.
And I was headed out to the camping trip with my kids.

I didn't know what had happened til I got there.

And then I didn't know where any of my family were...or if they were safe.
Thankfully, someone else took over for my class...and another teacher (the one who teaches next door whose daughter I've danced with and loved as she's grown up...the one who is now really good friends with the Pirate) stayed with me until I could get a hold of someone.

That took several hours. And that someone turned out to be my mom.
They were on the tarmac when the planes hit and all the flights got grounded.
But they were all ok.

I didn't get back to home until Friday, when the trip ended. It took me until Saturday to track down all my friends in NYC. (I lived there for several years.)

Anyway, I thought about my family today.
And it seemed like a good day to work on my dad's Xmas present.
So I sewed.
Here's what I've got so far:
quilt for dad

It's a disappearing 9 patch (my go-to favorite lap quilt).
He likes reds and purples. The colors make me feel like fall.
It's going to have a black border and back.
(I still have to get some more fabric.)
I'm going to do a mixed batik binding. If I have enough batik left, I'm going to do a strip of blocks (like stacked coins) on the back.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Rolling along...

and trying not to itch.
See...coughing and sometimes just being sick...trigger hives.
Yup. I'm an itchy itchy girl.

I've gotten some things done the last two days.

My New Bee on the Block for Sept.:
New Bee block for Sept.

This is actually my second version. I had a 6th book but it just looked wrong, so I took it off and added some more grey.

I cut up dad's quilt fabric. I'm going to have trouble giving this one up.
I'll try to post a progress pic up later.

I got some fabulous gifties in the mail.
I won some Storyboek. Just petting it feels great.

I also won a HUGE bag of charms from thimble + bobbin.
Out of print Heather Ross fabrics. I literally oooooohed and aaaaaahed as I opened up the bag.
I'm going to have to come up something super special for these.

Sooooo not into this upcoming camping trip with the cold and hives.
Meh.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

I've got a cold in my nose...

and hopefully continuously fixed AC.
The repair guy came out today (forcing me to get a sub at work) to replaced the broken drain pan in the AC unit.
It appears to not be leaking now. (PLEASE, UNIVERSE, LET IT STAY FIXED.)

I accomplished little...other than grading and planning for the camping trip.
I had intended to sew, especially after I thought my dance rehearsal was cancelled.
I got ONE block done...for something I can't post about yet.

I was going to cut up dad's quilt fabric.
Then I got the confirmation that rehearsal was still on.

While I had a blast with the ladies, I kind of wish I had been able to just sew.

WIP:
Monkey Quilt (rows still need to be sewn together)
a Prayer Flag charm pack quilt for me (blocks sitting in a baggie)
2 Across the Sea QALs (which are caught up)
Skill Builder blocks (caught up)
Sew Bee Blissful blocks (waiting for fabric to arrive)
New Bee Block (hopefully designing tonight, as I need to sew and mail it off this weekend)
Billboard QAL (designed once, needs to be redesigned, currently sitting on back burner)
Dad's quilt (fabric selected, not cut yet)
Mom's quilt (IN NEED OF A LONG ARM QUILTER'S SERVICES...or I need to suck it up and hand quilt it)
School Bee block (I think I have 3 out of 11 circles sewn on...why oh why is it hand-sewing circles...circles that are supposed to be unraw...and sewing that has to be invisible?!)
The Scrap Bag Challenge at PingsandNeedles (pattern, check!, still waiting for bag of scraps to arrive)

I really really want to sign up for more swaps. Yes, I know I'm crazy.
I have signed up for the Hoopla at Misfit Quilters. I can take something for that with me on the camping trip, I think. Which will only work if I know and can stalk my partner by Mon. Hrm.
Anyway, I have a really cool (at least I think it is) swap of my own in the works...I'm just waiting til the camping trip is over to announce it.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

It's Wed!, WIP 09/07/11

I got some sewing today.

It was a mixed bag kind of day.

I have to say how much I love and appreciate The Pirate.
Warning for the squeamish....skip ahead to the ****
I thought I saw a cat hit/dead by the side of the road yesterday. I wasn't sure if it was a cat or a possum.
I passed it (it was across a 4 lane highway) on the way to school, and I wondered if it would still be there when I went home.
It was.
And I wanted to cry.
Because I wondered if it had tags and if it's owner knew it was dead.
So, The Pirate humored me...and we went with my phone (to call the potential owner), trash bags and gloves to retrieve the body. Well, I carried the phone and held the bags, but he did the actual retrieval. No tags.
So, no one to call. We removed the cat anyway.
And, I was at least glad I had tried. Because if it was my kitty, I would have wanted to know.
And The Pirate (who hates dead things) tried to help me.
Anyway, it was kind of gross, but I went home and could sew without worrying about the cat owner.


****Here's what I sewed today:
Monkey Quilt
Monkey!!! quilt
The rows are sewn, but still need to be sewn together.

I've cut pieces for a doll quilt and will be designing a book block for a bee tonight. Hopefully both will be sewn tomorrow.

I finished the second top for the Across the Sea QAL:
Girl version
Version for a girl

I still have to clean up the threadies and press it (and the boy version).
I'm not sure I'll be able to get the next step done in time as I have the school camping trip next week. *dread*
I'm just not an outdoorsy type of gal.
I'm clumsy.
I have wicked allergies.
Bugs like to eat me.
I won't be able to eat normally for 4 days bc of my food allergies and cafeteria food.
The last time I lived off of cereal for breakfast, rolls (whenever I could get them) and carrots and chickpeas or eggs at lunch and dinner.
Argh.

Monday, September 5, 2011

I got some things done today.

Despite flinching and waiting for the power to go out, what with storms and tornado watches most of the day.

I'm super stuffy.

Here's what I did:

3 blocks for my first ever block lotto entry
block lotto, 3
I love love love batiks, so I'm kind of hoping to win this month.

I think I picked a layout for the girl version of the Across the Sea QAL:
Layout #1
I haven't sewn it yet. Just sewing the boy version (after squaring up all the blocks and having to cut borders and more edging bits) took longer than I estimated.

Here's the finished top for the boy version. (It is still in need of pressing.)
with Kraken:
Kraken and quilt
sans Kraken:
Across the Sea QAL, top done!

It's a really cute quilt. I'm praying I don't mess it up with the quilting.

I picked 2 (because I apparently have to do everything twice) palettes for the Dead Simple QAL:
Palette#1:
Palette #1
It's WAY out of my comfort zone with colors...YELLOW, ORANGE, AND PINK.
I'm trying to come to terms with them....plus, I think it will be nice to have bright colors going into cooler weather.
Palette #2:
Palette choice
I'm thinking of making just a lap quilt out of these.

I'm making another disappearing 9 patch kid quilt...I've decided this is my meditative action. It's easy. I get a result quickly...I have lots of people that could take it. I'm coveting the monkeys and birds on this one. I bought batiks this weekend to make one for my dad. I haven't cut into them yet.
Here's the layout of the monkey quilt:
Layout #2 THE WAY TO GO

I'm still trying to decide what to do with Mom's quilt. I contacted one pro-quilter for long arming, but she wasn't local and she hasn't responded. I'm ok with mailing one off. Does anyone have someone to recommend?

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Blarg.

I decidedly have a cold.
I started to feel crappy Fri but chalked it up to the whole AC stress. (Which is still not working right....it's still leaking but purportedly a new drain pain will fix it, which will be ordered on Tues when the office is open again. In the meantime, The Pirate has to shop vac it at least twice a day. As a result, my dermatitis flared from the stress and I'm a blotchy/itchy/peely mess. He tells me he still loves me...and that I apparently snore as well.)

Nope..not allergies. Not just being tired.
It's a full fledged cold.
I shall look like Rudolph by Tues. Well, Rudolph with some sort of pox thanks to the peely patches. Ugh.

As a result, most of the plans for the weekend have been shelved.
Yesterday, we were going to go to the big Dragon*Con parade downtown. I love Dragon*Con. We went one year when we were doing the back and forth long distance thing. It's a hoot. But exhausting.
And rather expensive. I'm kind of glad we didn't splurge on weekend passes for the 25th anniversary and wind up with me drooping the entire time. That said, I'm sad I don't have ridiculously geeky/sci fi-y pictures to post. (To give you an idea, the parade has, among other things, a section of Harry Potter fans, a Star Wars section, a Star Trek section, Xmen and other comic characters, a Stargate section, and an anime section....a rocking Steampunk section... I'm leaving tons out. Instead, I slept (and apparently snored) until after noon.
Then around 3, I went to Joann's in search of some batiks for a quilt for my dad and to stock up on some fat quarter bundles I plan to use for some kid quilts.

Anywho....today we were going to go to the Decatur Book Festival. It's awesome and free, but I just don't have the attention span to focus long enough to enjoy it.

I *still* haven't finished my Skill Builder block from 2 weeks ago. I started it last night (late) and realized I didn't cut all the pieces out.
I also sewed up the blocks for the second quilt from the Across the Sea QAL. I still have to press them.
And I still have to square them all up. I'm terrified of cutting them wrong. How do you keep all the seams lining up?
Anyway...I'm also thinking of entering into the Block Lotto for this month, since I love batiks.
Here's what I did yesterday:
2nd Across the Sea QAL block batch
girl quilt, closer
3x6 angel block (done a while ago, just photographed before mailing)
3x6 angel block
I also did one of three Block Lotto blocks, but I am waiting to take a picture until they are all done.
Why does this feel like a puny amount of work for one day?!
I think it's because I had grand plans and just lacked the get up and go.
Ditto for today.

Soooo....we may or may not be going to get thread and head to mini-golf....maybe stopping for Suno (an icey Asian dessert type treat).

Friday, September 2, 2011

Trying to hold on...

because the second half of today got stressful...but I had this moment last night...well, you'll see.

The kids were wired at day's end. Not surprising. Three day weekends tend to do that.
My knitting class didn't make, so it got cancelled. Honestly, I was hoping it would happen but I wasn't surprised because I had to move the day it was held. I knew there'd be some drop off.

I had to take The Kraken to the vet; poor kitty is missing fur around her eyes. Trust me, being itchy ain't fun. She ended up getting a steroid shot. Verdict seems pretty strong in favor of allergies for her, too. And....as I was rushing home to grab a bit and snag the kitty to take her to the vet, I discovered the AC was out. The catch pan was full of water.

While this might not phase someone else, I was ready to sit down and cry. You see, despite the fact that my AC unit is less than 2 years old, I have had a bevy of problems...which resulted in learning about 2.5 months ago that the unit was not installed properly and the source of the coolant leak that had been getting progressively worse over a year (resulting in unit freezing, melting, and turning off) was a bad solder at the connection point. At that very last visit, it had worked for less than 48 hours before it froze. I was ready to call it day.
But I didn't. I called the emergency service. They promised to try to fix it today.

Then I headed off to the vet. The Kraken was very good, lovey almost. Even when she got her shot. Yes, folks, she's a weird weird cat. The AC folk called me during the vet visit (despite the fact that I had asked for a note to be put in that I was gone under 6:30 or 7 at the vet). It was about 5:20. *sigh*
Got home, waited for tech.
He arrived. He said it wasn't a coolant issue. Instead, it's a drainage issue. The drain plug/hole/thingie is cracked. It make the seal fail and dripped water into the pan instead of the drainage pipe. So he rerouted it. But I might need a new drain pan. *sigh*
did I mention that this unit is less than 2 years old?!

Anyway, I'm trying to hold on to a moment.
That I had last night.
Because it's one of THOSE moments.
The ones you get (if you are lucky) as a teacher that carry you through.

I went to see a student show last night because a batch of my former 6th graders were in it. Some of them are seniors now. Anyway, it was odd/a bit surreal to see them older, to realize some of them are almost done.
I sat there, enjoying the music...taken by surprise at times by kids I had never really heard sing before. (One stole the show in a Hairspray number.)
Anyway, sometimes after shows, I run...especially if I'm tired. Because I find being with/interacting with so many people tiring. I'm not shy, but I only have so much reserves.
This time, I decided to stay. Mostly to thank the senior who had come by my class to invite me (and who had made sure there was a ticket waiting for me at the box office because I'd told him I'd come but couldn't get up the HS to get a ticket). While I was hugging kids and gushing, one of my old students...who I think is a sophomore (and who was BRILLIANT in a piece from The Putnam County Spelling Bee)...came up to me and hugged me...and said,
"Thank you! You know, you started this all for me. My first real time on stage was the class play. I haven't stopped since!"
See, I write a class play for my kids every year. It's a labor of love. I give up time with my family over Xmas break to write it. I sweat blood (and one year, tears) trying to crank out an hour long show for approximately 30 kids. It's me...my heart...my personality...my sense of humor...on the page. Then there are rehearsals for a month and a half, designing and sewing costumes, building props, and fretting.
And I got my glorious moment.
A sophomore boy, with a big hug, tons of talent, and a thank you.
Most teachers don't get a "Dead Poet's Society" moment.
And I'm going to hold on to mine...

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Did I really?

do all this in August?

3 x 6 blocks, Hive #1, 3rd quarter The Kraken approves?For the Love of SolidsQuilting for Kids blockBlock 8, Skill builderStar of VirginiaIMG_9749Sew Bee Blissful, Aug block #1Sew Bee Blissful, Aug block #2
Modern BOMMom's quilt top-finished!test block for Sew Bee Blissful (Aug)3x6 blocksvery 80's quiltSkill builder in progresscompleted top


What I didn't do was sew yet today. I came home, ran errands, slept a bit (I was dealing with fretty animals and fretty me because the Pirate had to go to a sleep study last night for apnea), and I'm going to see some alums in a few.
I might sew some when I get home....I might not.
I'm cutting myself some slack.
The Kraken has to go back to the vet. Her eyelids are balding. She's itchy and cranky. And I don't know why, but I don't want her to be itchy for a long weekend (and I'd love some insight).
So, it will be vet manana instead of the fabric store.
Blarg.

Also, linking up here:
Fresh Sewing Day
and here:
Small Blog Meet