My Hand Basket Awaits ~

So ... I lied. Eh, it's probably not the first time. In my last post I made a big deal about how much I love hand applique and planned to do my next sample with just such a technique. It took me 2 hours to trace and cut out the pieces and about a minute and a half to figure out that this was not the project for beginners at hand applique. I immediately went upstairs and traced and fused the machine applique pieces in less than 45 minutes. The following day I sewed them on while in some sort of applique-ic trance. I am really thrilled with the results, but I am truly sorry/embarassed about having lied to you.

So, how big do you think this hand basket will need to be to transport me ... um ... you know where?

I may have also lied about the fabrics being bright and happy. It turns out they are more like ... pastel-ish ... and happy. But, by golly they are happy.

How about you?

A Pile of Pink Procrastination

So ... I have finally sewn something to blog about (I have actually been sewing my brains out, but I'm not ready to blog about that stuff quite yet) but it comes with a cautionary tale attached. Yesterday morning, while on the treadmill, I started thinking about what I would present that evening at the Teacher's Meeting at Bernina Connection. Most of the classes I teach are "Basics" and I repeat them each time ... hence no need to do anything but paperwork before the aforementioned meeting. However, it's nice to have something new and normally I would have been planning it for at least a couple of months ... or at worst a couple of weeks.

While thinking about it yesterday morning, I realized I had approximately 6.78 hours to plan, prepare and 'patch', that is if I chose not to eat, shower or use the facilities during that block of time. Despite those unpleasant odds, I still decided to go ahead and "whip up" as much as I could, knowing I do have a couple more weeks to actually turn the sample in.

It took me a couple of hours to pick and draft the pattern that I wanted and another couple to make this one measly block. I have a vague idea what it is I will do when other blocks of a similar nature are added to it, a point I was able to bluff my way around while showing off my pseudo-sample at the meeting.

I will say that my pinks and greens drew some oohs and aahs. I was also chided by a few close friends who held completed samples. I vowed (in my head ... not in public) to finish this one with flare and then go on to learn my lesson.

But you've got to admit that the pinks and greens and ... dots ... do make up for a multitude of personal shortcomings.

Right??

Like a Hole in the Head ...

So ... I went to Target today. To buy one of those little basket dealies that holds chlorine tablets for my swimming pool. Because the old one basically disintegrated.

I found one. I bought it. But ... unfortunately ... that's not all I bought.

I also bought this swell pillow in these swell colors which I pretty much didn't need. At all. Ever. "Was it on sale?" you ask with a bit of cynicism in your voice. Oh ... yes siree ... for a whopping 15% off. Please know that I am aware that means bumkus. It was just a start of my rationalization process that ended when the woman in front of me in line was buying the exact same pillow.

So, it's pretty clear that I was destined to buy it.

Please don't let me go to Target again.

Separated at Birth

So ... I bought a new tablecloth a couple of days ago. I have a round table in my kitchen and ... it requires a 70" round cloth and those are not always easy to come by, so ... I snatched it up at my TJMaxx because ... it was the very stunning blue that I love so much. In fact, you could honestly say that I was in love with it the minute I laid eyes on it.

Ummm, it turns out there was a very good reason for that.

It turns out that this was not the first time I had purchased this very same fabric.

It turns out that the pillow I purchased some time ago for my bed was sporting the same lovely blue in the same lovely paisley pattern.

Naturally I felt it my duty to bring them together in the same room ... or on opposite ends of the same space. It was that or cut up the tablecloth to make other throw pillows for the bed and this was clearly the easier choice.

So there you have it: Rationalization, Laziness and Memory Loss. A trifecta of weakness in one swift decorating move.

Just please tell me you have done the same thing ... sometime??

A week late and a peep short ...

So ... I just now finished my April Block for the Bunny Hill Block of the Month that I am officially addicted to. I am not unaware that this whole post would have been a tad more appropriate about 10 days ago ... so sue me. Why the delay??

A) I may or may not have tried to actually eat the chocolate bunny.

B) I had issues. One false start and one round of sewing at the same time I was on the phone with my sister. Not recommended.

C) I was more concerned during this time period with figuring out how to post my B.O.M pics on the Flickr group. Thanks to Jodi and to PDaddy ... and to me* ... I accomplished my goal.

D) I spent a great deal of time patting myself on the back for the *very small part that I did play in the techno-figuring which was time I could have spent sewing. Did you not see my Flickr "Badge"?

E) I also had two other projects going at the same time.

F) My machine went kaput in the middle of the whole dang thing.

Hey ... it's still April and I'm going with that.

So ... does anyone else rationalize as much as me and/or try to sew while talking on the phone??

I'm hangin' in there ...

So ... I got my machine back ... I finished the quilt ... I'm pretty much a happy camper.

What you need to know (because I am prone to confessing things no one cares about) is that I actually finished this particular quilt top last summer ... in fact I posted a picture of it here.

Which naturally begs the question ... "Then why the heck did you wait 8 or 9 months to quilt it, putting you in a major fix when your machine broke, because you needed to have it done ... yesterday?"

And the answer to that question would be: "I haven't a clue" ...

Or ..."I put it in the closet and forgot about it" ...

Or ... "Life's just weird, isn't it?"

Which is why I'm calling this particular quilt,
"Hangin' in There".

Because it describes my brain in bright, happy colors.

There Ott* to be a Law ...

So ... sometime back in the last century, Mrs. Gee was living at home while doing her student-teaching. We hung out a lot because ... well ... she is just a barrel of fun. During the course of that semester she introduced me to a new and all-consuming habit.

Crossword Puzzles.

Oh, it's a puzzle all right. It's a puzzle as to why I would devote valuable hours every single day to this ... vice ... that as far as I know, does not have a 12-step program to help its victims. It's a puzzle as to why I suddenly have added words to my vocabulary like ilk and alee and Mel Ott*. It's a puzzle as to why I cannot ... repeat cannot ... consume my daily dose of cereal without my daily dose of words.

In my defense I will offer two excuses: A) Somewhere, sometime, someone did a study that said that doing crossword puzzles will help to stave off Alzheimers. (What that probably means is that when I am old and rambling off about nothing in particular, it will include an imaginary conversation with Mel*.) B) I consider it a virtue and not a vice that I can walk away from an unfinished crossword, when I have reach an impasse and my cereal is gone. PDaddy cannot say the same. But then PDaddy has so much information floating around in that brilliant head of his that he seldom reaches an impasse.

Two last notes: A) I don't ... I repeat I don't do Sudoku. Don't even try to get me started ... and B) Mel Ott* played baseball for the Giants and was the "First National Leaguer to hit 500 homers".

I learned that just yesterday.

Feel free to laugh AT me, not with me.

Warning: This story is not for the faint of heart nor for the tight of pocketbook. This story involves waste and poor choices. This story involves the vision of sparks flying and possible electrocution. Needless to say ... this story involves ... me.

Remember when I so proudly blogged about my new LED tree lights? Remember how they took many hours to attach to the tree and I took a lot of Advil and in the end I didn't care? I may or may not have mentioned that I knew these lights were the kind to attach and unattach each and every year. I figured the "unattaching" portion would take less time than the "attaching" portion.

Oh ... how I lied.

Yesterday I awoke bright and early to finish the "undecorating" ... something that may actually give me more peace and satisfaction than the "decorating" part. There is nothing like breathing in all that extra space that has been hidden behind a myriad of Santa's and 15.45 pounds of Stale Christmas Goodies. I had started this process the day before and just had the tree to undo and pack up. That's all. Just the tree.

The ornaments were off in a jiffy and I started removing the lights. I had forgotten that part of my problem in the "attaching" process was that each string of lights was 50 feet long. The first strand came off with some difficulty and and the second one brought me to the brink of tears. At that point I figured out how I could recoup my investment by selling them on Ebay or pawning them off on unsuspecting friends for a fraction of the price that I paid for them. (And I'll be honest with you, I paid $9.95 for each of the six strands.) They were becoming so increasingly entangled on the tree as I tried to remove them that I got the bright idea (oh ... no pun intended here ... nor any humor in any form at all ... intended in any way) to just pull them off the branches and let them ring around the bottom of the tree. By now over an hour had passed. I now began to untangle the third strand.

At this point PDaddy entered and could tell right away that things were not going well. I told him how the lights were a complete waste and how I was not going to put them on the tree again next year. In true PDaddy spirit, he immediately pointed out that they would be much better lights for the outside of the house (and they would.) We then figured out that we would need 3 strands. In another 45 minutes, I recaptured a third strand. My sanity however was nowhere to be found.

PDaddy had left for work and I needed reinforcements to somehow rationalize what I knew I was about to do. I knew at this point that my plan would involve wire cutters and a trash bag. I knew that it was an ugly scene indeed. Most of all, I knew that I was throwing 30 bucks straight into the fire ... and I have a really, really hard time with that. Ms. VespaEsq came through (on the phone) with flying colors. She pointed out that if I had actually purchased a live tree, it would cost much more than $30 and that at this point, I would indeed be throwing it away. (My current plan didn't involve Boy Scouts, but I was able to get over that.) I'm thinking Ms. VE should start a website devoted to helping people rationalize. She has the gift.

So ... making very, very ... very sure that the remaining lights were not plugged in, I set out to snip them at the base of the tree. This part of the job was much more difficult than I had anticipated, but I had renewed strength and I perservered. I put them in a dark plastic bag and snuck them out to the trash. I felt a little like I was putting them into the trunk of my car to be taken out into the desert and buried in the middle of the night.

This morning when we took down the outside lights, I did the math and figured out that we will only need the first two strands when we hang them next year.

I'll try to keep you abreast on how my therapy is coming.