preparations

I'm attending a quilt retreat with members of my quilt group, the Ham Lake Piecemakers, soon.  Actually, today I realized that it is 1 week from today!  That really snuck up on me!  I have to move it up on my mental calendar and get my gear lined up.  I am taking mostly projects that are already started and really need to be finished.  But I do have one new project that I just started, and plan to teach for a winter class.  It's called Mini Rings by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  It requires a special ruler, the Mini Quick Curve Ruler.

I'm making mine with a different color combination--

Strip sets to be cut into arcs.

Lots of scrap curves.

All of my pieces cut and organized for a ride to retreat!

A sample block sewn to test the pattern and my skills!

Last week I shared some pictures of the squirt gun art.  Today I had time to play with an idea I had to use some small pieces of the paintings.  This is a frame that floats the paper between 2 sheets of glass.  Place on a painted wall in a medium gray shade, it looks like something very likeable!

Thank you, Ian and Jack!  Love you!

artwork by grandsons that I'm sure Picasso would admire!

Not a lot of sewing has been accomplished lately.  Other things have been keeping my attention focused elsewhere.  I've been missing my sewing time, and when I've felt like sewing, there hasn't been much time.  I have found myself up in my sewing room, removing papers from half square triangle blocks that I have stacked up for a quilt that has been inching along slowly.  So at least I can do the papers and press the blocks when I need a fix of fabric!

I do have a fun little art project that I did with my 2 grandsons.  They are visiting for 10 days from their home in Charlotte, NC.  They are 2 and 4 years old.  My friend, Debbie, had done this with her grandsons, and although they were older, I borrowed her squirt guns and water color paints and gave it a try.  It's an outdoor project, but it was rainy the day we did it, so the garage had to do.  I draped a big sheet of plywood with a plastic drop cloth and leaned it up against the wall.  Make sure the drop cloth runs all the way down to the floor with a little room to make a "gutter" at the bottom.  Tape up some sheets of watercolor paper, pour the paints into squirt guns, and stand back!  They quickly got the hang of pulling the trigger, and I just helped with a steady hand to keep the paint going in the right direction!  They liked it, and any paint that got on our hands came off during bath time.

After drying, I cut the papers into pieces to fit on some blank cards.  I glued them in place and pressed them between heavy books to keep them from curling.  I have to say, I think they turned out great!  Without even trying or thinking of a plan, the painting was wonderful.

As soon as the rain stopped, we were outside.  So much energy packaged in these 2 little guys, especially when cooped up inside!  Digging in the garden was fun, I had planted some beets but had a crop failure with them, so we pulled up the tops that survived and dug around.  I did get 4 little tiny beets, and some greens, to add to our "Super Juice".  I don't know what I should have done differently with those beets to get them to grow better, most just had a fat root under the ground and not even nearly beet-like.

Jack did have one day feeling under the weather with a mild fever and attack of irritability that was only helped by being cuddled.  This followed a bee sting, so we aren't sure if it was related to that, or just one of his frequent little viral episodes that pop up.

Sad face when a little guy doesn't feel good.

Bob and I took care of the boys while their mom and dad went to a wedding in Lutsen, MN.  They had a great time up there, riding the gondola up to the chalet for the wedding and reception.  We had a great time back at home, in spite of the rainy weather.  Grandpa dook the boys out to pick kale during a shower.  They were wearing their little black hats that I got at an Amish store last spring.

The kale went into out Super Juice, and the boys got to help drop things into the chute.  We have been preparing the juice for a supplement to our normal diet, although sometimes I have it instead of a regular meal.  This batch included: 2 varieties of kale, beets and beet greens, romaine lettuce, apples, oranges, pineapple, carrots, celery and cucumbers.  I started this juicing after watching a documentary called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  There is a short version of the video on that website, or a longer one on Amazon and it's free with Prime.

Just a few more days with these little boys before they have to leave, so we have many things to do!  I hope everyone reading this can feel the joy of time spent with little kids.  It's a good thing!  And then I'll get back to my sewing and quilting!

putting the puzzle together again

I am thoroughly enjoying the state of my sewing room! It is sort of in pieces, and I am taking my time putting it all back together again. I showed you some pictures not long ago that depicted the "before". Then I left on vacation, not quite sure if this would be something that Bob would be interested in doing without me. Well, I can tell you that I have the world's best husband! Not only did he carry out the original plan to repaint, he also ripped out the old carpet and laid new laminate wood flooring! This DIY project started out with the need to hang my fabulous Vanishing Design Wall, a gift from Bob for Christmas (which shocked my socks off that he remembered I liked it from some brief conversation awhile back, I guess he really does listen sometimes!). Here is my new design wall in place:

When I decided which wall I wanted it on, we took down some shelves and knick-knacky stuff and posters, etc., on that wall. That left some big screwholes on a basically ugly sponge painted wall. The original blue was Dan's request when we built the house in 1989, then added the white overlay about 10 years later when the room became my "studio" and Dan moved to his new kingdom in the remodeled basement. So it was due for an update. That brought me to decide to just continue with the removal of "stuff" and picked up a bucket of pale gray paint for the walls. Since the closet was all full of built-in shelving and bushels of fabric, I decided it didn't really need painting like the rest of the room and just left that all there. I departed on my trip, and Bob and I chatted on the phone about the state of the paint. To my surprise, he decided this would be the time to change the floor, too, which I totally agreed with but was a little leery that this would be a long project, plus I wasn't home to pick out color and type. Well, I needn't have worried because when I got back home there were only about 2 board-widths left to be laid! And it looks maaah- velous!

I am taking my sweet time with putting things back in there because I wanted to cut down on the clutter and distraction that was in there. So it looks kind of bare, but that's OK for now. Because the flooring needed to extend into the closet, Bob had to clear that out and remove all the shelving units, which was a daunting task. The only downside for me is that he ended up handling every bit of fabric that I had tucked away in there, bringing him to the realization that there was enough to keep me going for a long time! Ooops! I am sorting and weaning the collection down a bit as I make my way back through it, and thinking about the best ways to organize it that might be an improvement on what I did before. The drawers hold my small cuts (fat quarters and less) and are sorted by color. That part is done.

There's a bit more to go.....

But I was inspired to add a saying to my wall to reflect my thoughts--

No heavy hearts allowed! Now back to the sorting!