Getting Prepared for Celebration

Happy 4th of July!

Two days ago, I made a big haul to the grocery store (scoring a cool 39% savings at Safeway, although, admittedly, it was for Gatorade, snacks, chips, and candy for the party), then to another store to get meat for the grill, milk, frozen foods and other necessities.  Kelly sent out invites to his group of soccer fiends to join us for a July 4th BBQ and soccer night--the Sounders are playing the Galaxy in LA and it'll be televised.  I thought it would be a great pre-fireworks show!

Unfortunately, all the invitees have declined due to other plans, so I don't think anyone's coming over, so we'll be having a quiet night at home watching the game, then lighting off fireworks.  We were invited to visit friends further south, who are wonderful hosts and delightful friends, but having done it the last couple of years, we decided we didn't want to stay out that late with the kids again and fight traffic all the way home.  We'll light off the 'works that we have, eat some good tenderloin, maybe I'll pick up some 'tater salad (I've got a coupon!!  Although I'm the only one who'd eat it, so maybe not...), some lettuce salad, fruit (can't seem to keep it stocked in the house), and s'more fixins.

I got the newsletter finished for the quilt guild...yep, Helium Hands strikes again!  Actually, I was volun-told to do it.  Since I offered the services of the Pirates for the Quilt Show, they decided to return the favor and volunteer me for the newly-opened secretary position.  Not sure why, but the secretary suddenly resigned her office last month, so I was asked by my "friends" to finish out the year.  I figured it would be fine to squeeze it in among the other things I'm doing...I think...  I got the July edition done yesterday and sent it out to the membership yesterday, with the exception of two people who don't have computers.  I find that remarkable in this day and age, but one of them I spoke to about it--she said "I'm 75 years old.  I'm not going to try to learn how to use one now."  Besides a steep learning curve, there's a lot of expense with owning and managing a computer--it's almost like owning a car.  Another reason why I think it's silly to have a bank of computers at elementary schools that need constant upgrades, maintenance, virus protection, and replacing abused/broken parts (mice & keyboards).  High school...yes...but only in the library and teachers.  Elementary...no.  Most of us didn't touch a computer until high school or later and turned out just fine.  Anyway, I have Rose's address, but I don't have Carol's.  Not that I can mail it out today anyway...but tomorrow!

I've been picking away at the pile of scraps, bagging them up, and trying to clear the decks in my creative space.  Unfortunately, it seems that the more I work at it, the less clear it gets.  WTF?  I've emptied two boxes and a grocery sack full of scraps, and the stacks just keep getting higher.  I think I have to just move some stuff out of the way so I stop bruising my shins.  Probably the yarns--I'll have to figure out a storage system for that.

I also have a quilt still on the frame that needs to get finished.  I started it more than a week ago, but the organization project put a damper on the progress...but now it needs to get done.  I have about two weeks to get this one and another one or two done before the next guild meeting so I can hand these American Heroes quilts off to Susan.  I've lost count how many of these things I've done...somewhere in the teens, I think.

In the meantime, I have a couple hours to myself--Kelly took the kids to the theatre.  Emma went with two friends *alone*, but since he didn't want her to be alone in the building, he took the younger two to another movie at the same time.  Sadly, it's a 3D movie, which bugs my eyes to watch (it's an amblyopia thing), so I'm trying to get some stuff done around here.

I mean besides shootin' the schmit with Facebook friends...

K

A few new things

Last night, Ben's cup scout troop had their end of year ceremonies, advancing the boys to the next level and giving achievements to those who worked for them.  They had a barbeque at the park, serving hot dogs, salads and fruit.  They got all the boys gathered together and attempted to keep them quiet and civilized.  Difficult to do that with some of these guys...and no, Ben was not the worst of the offenders.  Not even close.  Here he is before, while he was still a tiger.  He couldn't find his hat...it's somewhere in his room.  Probably under his bed.

After:  a wolf!  He's growing up so fast.  What a handsome guy!  I guess they usually do a whole big ceremony with face painting and stuff, but they decided not to do that.  I don't know why, exactly, maybe it was lack of patience or time.  Or both.  Either way, it was continuing to be difficult to keep their attention and keep them all quiet for the brief ceremony.  

When I have a lull in my sewing, I have time to load up and quilt a project for the American Heroes quilts.  I had this on the frame for a few days, but I finally quilted it up this morning in preparation for the guild meeting tonight.  I hope Susan is there so she can take the quilt with her.  Now I only have three of these quilts left to finish.  It's taking me way too long to finish these, and it'll be nice to have them finished and out the door.

This sideways picture (that I can't figure out how to correct) is a retirement gift from Lauri to a co-worker.  It's a very "manly" quilt, isn't it?  I love the batiks she chose and the pattern she used (paper pieced, which appears to be her favorite).  It was quilted all over using a watery pattern (although it's not pictured here...I have been having chronic camera issues that I hope will be resolved soon!).

Lastly, I finished the tunic for Tyrssen.  I hand finished all the seams so that it will withstand washing and wearing a little better, extending the life of the tunic.  I hope it fits!

K

What I did over my Summer Vacation

OK, summer vacation hasn't officially started yet, since the youngest isn't out of school until Thursday, but this is what I did over the weekend.

On Saturday, I pulled out my completed yurt frame and set it up in the driveway.  The finished size for this structure is 5' high and 12' across.  This is one of four main parts of the structure.  Jen and Darby came by and we worked on finishing their khana (which will finish at 18' across to house their family of five) and putting the door frames together.

We cut the 1 x 3 boards to 5' long and then did some fancy woodworking on the 2 x 4s to fit the 1 x 3s into them.  I was able to get one board fitted with hinges for the future door installation, and got that board attached to the 2 x 4s--glued and screwed; Mike Holmes approved--using clamps and a 90 degree tool.  The door frame is just shy of 5' high, which means that nearly everyone will have to duck to get in, but that's the way this was designed.  Once inside, everyone should be able to stand up straight--maybe not right next to the wall, but bedding and boxes will likely be on the edges anyway.  Despite his best efforts, Kelly's been helping a lot with this project; he's finding us tools and adjusting the equipment, making sure that we're using things correctly (mostly me) and not getting injured.  I'm really grateful for all his help!!

Father's day was a rather laid-back affair--I did get Kelly a Wii game (Big Game Hunter) and went to the store to get supplies to make his favorite dinner (beef stroganoff) and got him some fresh blueberries and some peanut butter cups.  I don't know a single man who doesn't like peanut butter cups--I think it appeals to their youth and satisfies a sweet tooth, but in a very manly way.  They wouldn't want to admit they like things sugary or sweet, but when it comes to Reese's, the answer is, "Hell yeah!"

Cammie's idea was to give him a gift in scavenger hunt form.  She woke Kelly by placing a note by his bedside that read, "Today you can feed my fish" and contained instructions on how to do it.  Next to the fish tank was another note that instructed him to go downstairs for a surprise.  She had made him a bowl of cereal and set out a piece of fruit for him.  It was very sweet and thoughtful.  She also had a present for him--a plastic cup that was labeled, "#1 Dad.  #2 Pencils".  I think we'll have to go to the paint-it-yourself pottery place and make a real one--that was just awesome!  She's so creative!

Ben made a ceramic gift at school. It was a container that was about as big around as a soup can, but only about 2" high.  He said it was a vase for very short flowers.

Emma saw him come down the stairs and said, "Hey."  She's a teenager.  Later, they went shopping together--a little Daddy and Me time.

I put the next American Heroes quilt on the frame.  I've had this sitting around for far too long, so I decided it was time to get it quilted up, along with the two or three others, so I can get them back "home" by Tuesday.  It's a goal, anyway.   I was given batting for these quilts, but it wasn't working well with my machine, so I let Susan know (the gal who was organizing it for this guild) and she said she'd get some new batting for me.  After a few months of waiting, I thought I'd just go ahead and use my own batting so I can get them out of my house.  I think I can use the other batting (which is WOOL) for something else--either tied quilts or costumes.  

I've also been working slowly but steadily on the new Turkish socks, adding just a few more rows.  I finished the one repeat of the sock and figure I'm about half-way or maybe 1/3 way up the foot.  The back has a basic chevron (red and yellow V shape).  I love these patterns and I think I'll be doing quite a number of these socks in the near future.  Summertime seems to be Turkish Sock time.  I remember making some at soccer camp last year...

I didn't get much more work done on the tunic during the weekend, I did get a bunch of work done just before the weekend.  I cut out the pieces and sewed them together into a tunic shape.  I intend to finish all the seams so that it doesn't have all the bits unraveling, which also strengthens the seams and helps the piece last a lot longer.  There are three more pieces of linen waiting to be turned into tunics after this one, and then mailed to Tyrssen in Middle Kingdom (that is, Chad in Ohio).

Hope you had a great Father's Day!

Karen