Tuesday's Truth

Some say you should spread the drama in your life around to keep the doses to a minimum. Sometimes you just don't get to choose.  Go with the flow, it will all even out eventually.

So what's that all about? I got all of my swim team drama done in one day, yesterday. One of my boys was horsing around on the wet deck and went down, spraining his wrist and chipping a bone (claims he, but the doc says he can be back in the pool in 5 days). Another of my poor misguided boys thought stealing a wallet and cell phone was a good idea, like that would improve our chances of winning?? His mother is still letting him think about it in jail today. Nothing like getting pretty silver bracelets and a cruiser ride at the end of a meet!

I have met my quota for drama for the year, its someone else's turn now. Any volunteers?

Its Done!!!

I have finally finished my new black and white quilt,

except hand-sewing the binding, but I couldn't wait to show you.

 I'm really REALLY excited.

But first....

a bit of show and tell.

Unless your name is Carrie and are having a baby this winter

and you won't tell us boy or girl.

Which made me have to make not one but two

baby quilts.

One for a girl and one for a boy.

No, you don't get them both unless you have a boy AND a girl.

So turn off your computer Carrie, and keep guessing

what baby's quilt will look like.

Just like we will keep guessing boy or girl.

Here's the girl quilt:

I think this was a Moda or a Benartex charm pack.

Check out my fancy scalloped edges.

While doing the scallops was not too terribly difficult,

sewing the binding was not a walk in the park.

Bias Bias Bias!!!!

No pic of the back, its just plain yellow.

And here's the boy quilt:

This was made from squares I cut from that fab Kona Modern Fabric

I won at the Kansas City Modern Meet Up back in May.

I added some Kona solids and a few grey prints to round it out.

Lots of fun to make, and super easy!

Here's the back:

Ok. Just took a look at my pictures of my new monster sized quilt

and I am very disappointed.

The lighting is terrible.

I will try to take more-better photos later this week.

But here she is,

Single Girl Interrupted:

I have wanted to make a Single Girl quilt for a while.

I have several MARRIED friends who have made this quilt.

Just didn't seem right that

the SINGLE girl didn't have one of these.

It's iterrupted because that's what life sometimes does,

interrupt.

So as a decidedly single girl, after an interruption of a marraige,

I needed a quilt that represented this aspect of my life.

And I quite like it.

A close up of the quilting:

What you can't see in the big photo is that there are three lines of big circles

coming down the quilt, two kinda close to each other and

the third set to the side.

I used some circle templates to draw the big circles right onto the quilt,

but to do all those gazillions of little circles

 I just kept repeating the mantra

"quarters, nickles, and pennies"

to keep the size of the little buggers the way I wanted them.

So how long did it take to quilt this monster (roughly105x105) you ask?

Well, I started yesterday at 9am, took a long dinner break, quit at 11:30pm,

and finished up with another 2 hours today.

But it was worth it.

I like my Single Girl. Interrupted.

Any suggestions on how/where to take better photos of this quilt?

Hodge poge

Issac is here in St Louis, don't know who put out the welcome mat.

On the positive side, things are greening up around here again.

The sky has been amazing with the changing

clouds and multiple storm fronts.

Unfortunately I haven't been carrying my camera,

and besides, grey skies sometimes aren't too photogenic.

I finally got my first paycheck of the year

so I'll go treat myself to a new purse thats big enough for my camera

and maybe I'll have more photos to share. 

I'm saving for a really nice camera so the quality of my photos can improve too.

Our first swim meet was yesterday and it got off to a bang.

Or a blow.

Hmm.

The meet was delayed due to tornado sirens sending everyone to the locker rooms for shelter.

But I consider the meet to be a raging success as the boys

took the second place medal for the

400 Breaststroke relay.

I'm SOOOOOO proud of them!!!!

We haven't won a medal in this meet in several years, so it feels especially good.

My friend Nancy made this keychain for me.

LOVE IT!!!

I need to find out where she got the metal end so I can make one for my school keys.

I still have that black and white quilt pinned on the machine,

just waiting for me to devote some time to quilting it.

I promise when its done I will take good pics and show you all.

In the mean time I'm enjoying a lazy Saturday after a week filled with

14 and 16 hour days.

Tuesday's Truth

If you gut the wilderness with roads, or lace it up with safety railings, you no longer permit the hard worker to achieve more than the lazy one. You even out the challenge, and everybody gets more or less the same thing for the experience (Paul Schullery). 

Is that what we really want out of life?

Tuesday's Truth

When hiking in bear country its important to make sure your hiking companion is slower than you and carries the food in their pack. Just sayin'.

Sunday, Sunday

Ahhhhh.

Such a relaxing weekend.

The weather was great, low 80's with lowish humidity.

The phone was quiet and the neighbors were too.

The mowers started (thanks Doug!) and lawn is mowed (at least the front).

Laundry is clean and smelling fresh, clean sheets and towels to start the week.

Spent a good part of the weekend working on a me project.

Remember my post on the black and whites I cut out?

Well, I have an almost finished top, just need to add a border to make it big enough

(they always want to be bigger).

Here's a sneak peak:

Ya'll didn't expect a full unveiling just yet did ya?

Hopefully the week won't be too busy and I'll have the energy to put on the borders

and get this sucker on the machine.

I'm really excited to use some of my newfound knowledge from Angela Walters

 to quilt this bad girl.

 Its not entirely what you might think, can't wait to get it quilted and show you.

After the fiasco with the blue thread on my Stepping Stones quilt

(I still have all the black and whites cut to make another, just don' know if I'll do it)

 I am already thinking light grey or white thread.

With so much focus on black and white this weekend

dinner tonight HAD to be bright.

Like ORANGE bright.

Bought these beauties at the local farm (not market, but FARM)

and had to do something with them tonight.

Toss with onions and peppers from the farm,

a bit of olive oil and my own fresh rosemary from the porch.

YUMMMMMM.

Dinner was a bit monochromatic in the orange sense

with orange beats (sweet as candy) and chicken and all those peppers and tomatoes and such,

but oh so tasty.

Check me out, more veggies than proteins.

Yes, I'm a healthy gal!

Here's to a good week for me and you!

Tuesday's Truth... on Wednesday

When you work hard and are good at your job you will be rewarded .... with more work.

School is back in session and the swim team is back in the pool. A guarenteed 12 hour day until November 2. Gee, 12 hours sounds nice right now as I haven't been home for dinner before 7:30 yet. All that wonderful learning I did this weekend with Angela Walters will have to wait to be put to use, I need to plan my Beowulf unit for readers on the 3rd grade level. Nothing like taking an Olde English epic poem and translating it to low level inner city!

I survived and came away smarter!

Its time for another round of

True Confessions (dun dun DUM).

I have never taken a quilting class.

EVER.

I didn't understand the allure of them,

AND I'M A TEACHER!!!

Sometimes, I am so stupid.

I went to my first ever, pay money to get in, taught by a talented quilter, class.

I have to admit, I don't know what the HELL was wrong with me!

So, a friend mentioned she was going to a class taught by Angela Walters.

Yep, THE Angela Walters, quilting goddess.

You know, the cute, can't be older than 22, talent coming out of her

sunshine-y hair, with one amazing book in print

(if you can find it, seems the next print release is already sold out)

called Free-Motion Quilting



And another NEW book coming out this fall (and book three already in the works, squeal!).

Anyway, that friend mentioned that you couldn't get into the class unless you knew someone in the quilt guild that was bringing Angela here. 

Hmmmmmm.

Just so happens I knew such a person, and got my self on the class roster.

SOOOO glad I did.

Angela was really personable and down to earth

and brought all sorts of quilts to show.

Then she spent time drawing out some of her favorite stitches and taking questions.

She also spent time REALLY showing us how its done on the machine.

 Amazing.

So I am no longer a class virgin. I got one under my belt and will likely go again.

I learned a lot and can't wait to put some of it to use in my quilts.

Really, you should check out Angela's blog, Quilting is My Therapy,

Lots of great advice and beautiful quilts to look at for ideas.

First full week of school and swim team, too.

Cross your fingers I survive that as well!

Still here

I haven't fallen into deep space, a septic tank, or can't get up.

School is back in session.

Which means I'm back to the 12-15 hour dog days of August.

Getting ready for teaching equals really long hours

and swim season doesn't start until Monday!

I did manage to sew up a little somethum' somethum' for myself.

 My old school bag had an unfortunate demise in Mother Nature's attempt
at turning my building into a swimming pool.
Needless to say, it had to go in the dumpster.

 So here's my new one, a Zakka Style pattern

using Essex Linen in Natural and a yummy print I picked up in June in Paso Robles

at Birch Fabrics, aka Fabricworm (can't remember what line it is, other than beautiful).

Pockets galore, with a great black and white lining.

See Floyd the cat checking it out? He only wishes he could use such a bag.

Its cooling off for a bit in steamy St Lou, house is open and the canned air is off!

Should be clear nights to watch the Persiod Meteor shower this weekend.

Only thing better would be to watch it in South Dakota or Wyoming.

If you see a shooting star, make a wish for me.

Balsamic Peaches and Cherries

One of the things I like best about summer

(ok, my favorite thing next to summer vacation)

is farmers markets and all the goodness I can create from the spoils of my visits.

St Louis has a ridiculous number of farmers markets,

so many that if I went to two different markets every week

 I still would not make it to all of them.

Today I headed west to check out the Lake St Louis Farmers Market.

It used to be closer, in O'Fallon at the ballpark, but moved

(this year, last year? I'm not sure).

So much fun to see old friends Farmer Gene and Lindaand their great meats, eggs,

 and yellow tomatoes,

and Farmer Bill and his amazing cherry tomatoes

(black and yellow, got the black this week, very meaty!)

and to chat bread with him (he makes a good foccacia) and the other bakers.

New friends today, chatted up a farming couple about their orange beets,

I suspect they will have grilled beets on the table tonight

after I shared that particular yummy prep idea.

The best part?

It was raining!!!!!

Boy do we need some more of that.

So I got home and was inspired to do something with my Calhoun County peaches

and this is what I came up with:

Balsamic Peaches and Cherries.

Super easy to make:

Combine a half pound of pitted and halved cherries with

2 Tbsp of sugar and

2 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar

in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.

While that is getting happy (stir occasionally while it boils, 5 minutes)

slice up a pound of peaches and put in a bowl.

After the cherries, sugar, and balsamic vinegar boil for 5 minutes

pour over the peachs and combine.

Then jar it up!

Because you are not really "canning" this, it will last in the fridge for about 3-5 days.

But really, it will be gone in less than two.

Soooo good over oatmeal in the morning and ice cream any time of day!

Enjoy!