Sleep Study and A Winner!

I'm not sure why they call a 'sleep study' a sleep study? Because there is very little sleeping involved in it. A real 'sleepover' would have been a lot more fun. I finally dozed off and this little voice announces from the ceiling - 'good morning, it's 5:00 a.m. and time to get up'.

Needless to say, I arrived home at 6:15 a.m. and went to bed for another 2 hours. ( I had to get some sleep before going to play Mahjong.) I felt like a walking zombie the rest of the day.

We went to D#1's for dinner Friday night - we had homemade pizza that was just plain excellent.

She makes a pizza crust in her bread maker that is just perfect. (Don't tell her especially, but she is a much better cook than I am - but boy can she make a mess in the kitchen! Maybe that's my problem - I am not messy enough in the kitchen.)

I won! I won! I won!

I just won a pattern in Carrie's latest giveaway. She is just one of the most generous people I know. Stop by her blog and tell her that I sent you. She is so talented. We met online through our blogs and then met up at a quilt show last spring. The pattern is called 'Twitterin' by Prim Point and combines quilting, applique, coloring (with crayons) and embroidery. I am so excited.

Thank you Carrie and Prim Point.

Hugs - Marie

New Computer Frustrations

Big T and I got each other new laptops for our Christmas gifts to each other. So now we are trying to learn how to use them effectively without giving in and going back to the old laptops. Different keyboard, new operating system, new applications, and I feel like I am learning about computers all over again. It is taking me 10 times longer to do something that should be a piece of cake. Aaarghhh!

Forget pictures with this blog posting. I can't even find the slot where the little thingy goes. I'm doing well to just type a short message. I do not like to use a mouse - I prefer the little click pad thing on the keyboard. But no one told the little thing that it needs to behave like I expect it. It does weird things when I am least expecting it.

We have been 'iced in' for three days now. Only a trace of snow here, but heavy ice and it has not begun to melt. At least the power is still on - that's a blessing. It is so cold outside and the wind is keeping the chill factor near zero.

I have my assembly line of mug rugs down to handstitching the bindings on 11 more of them. (One is finished all the way.) I probably have about 6 hours of hand work left and then wrap and deliver. I want to get them to her this week so I don't have it hanging over me for the weekend.

I am trying to decide which large quilt I want to tackle next. There are several in blogland that sound cool right now - one's a postage stamp quilt and one's a mystery quilt AND several applique and stitchery quilts. I need to make a decision and commit and quit thinking about it. The time is past for thinking - it is time for action.

Hugs - Marie

Mixed Emotions

OK so the object of making and posting to Etsy is to sell my handmade projects, right? So - it sold and I am sad to see it go. Does that make any sense? Not only that, Big T said "Oh, I really liked that one." (He said he was waiting for it to go on sale so he could buy it at a discount.) - What's wrong with this picture?

The Dude is with us for Spring Break this week. Yesterday it was "Clash of the Titans" - I don't think they have figured out what they are doing today yet. I told Big T to take him and let him look at the car lot all he wants - he is really into cars right now (14). These Papa / Dude bonding days are really great for both of them. It's in the high 80's - low 90's this week - too bad the pool isn't open yet. He's a real water creature - loves it.

I am working on a new applique wall hanging today for the Spring Design Fling Challenge, so last night was "paper doll night" - tracing and cutting. I'm beginning to think this is good therapy. I used to play paper dolls as a kid and loved it. I would get so frustrated when they made the dolls in different poses and the outfits didn't fit. I think I had several shoe boxes full of paper dolls. (I missed the Barbie era though - I could never quite go for the "cutsy perfection" of the Barbies. Besides paper dolls were much easier to dress.)

I finished machine quilting "Morning Mist" yesterday. It is ready for squaring and binding today or tomorrow. It's fairly large (44" x 54") so it will take a little time to do the binding - good quality "on the porch work" (except for the pollen). I found a coordinating green w/ blue dragonflies for the backing and binding. Absolutely perfect. Sometimes it's worth waiting to find that 'just right' piece rather than 'making do'.

Check out Christine's neat journal giveaway. She has a really cool blog that's worth visiting.


Hugs to all of you. I'm off to see what trouble I can get into today - with the two males in the house it won't take much.



Marie

Happy Birthday Dude!

It's The Dude's 14th birthday. Do you remember back to "14"? What a year he has ahead of him!! Happy Birthday, Dude!

Ok, so the trip to Joann's to get batting was interesting - the shelves were so bare it wasn't worth the trip. I did get the batting but am seriously thinking about just doing the Joann run via the net from now on. They only had a very small package of WonderUnder and a limited selection of #10 needles. About the only thing I can say is - I got a lunch out with Big T.

I just found out about 'self-threading needles' from Melody at FiberMania. What a great invention, especially for burying threads. Thanks, Melody. I owe you one for this one. If you haven't been to Melody's site, please stop by and check it out. She is a magician with colors.

My second quilt block for the jelly roll challenge is finished. I will post it to Flickr today. Both blocks are displayed on my design wall waiting for block # 3 which won't be announced until April 1st.

I spent yesterday playing "paper dolls". I drew the patterns, cut out the templates, ironed the templates on WonderUnder and fabric for my butterfly garden. I made VERY SURE this time that I used only WonderUnder for fusing. It only takes one fiasco to teach me a lesson (usually - sometimes two). So today - I cut fabric shapes, fuse to my background and THEN I can machine applique. Now you know where to find me the rest of the day. I will either have a photo of it tomorrow or you will never hear about this project again.

Hugs to you all for sharing this part of my life with me. You are all treasured highly.

Marie

Disaster and Completion

An early movie and a dinner out afterward - it doesn't get any better than that. A nice end to a day that started with a dental appointment. Maybe that's the way to schedule in the future. Gives me something to look forward to instead of something to dread.

I worked on my applique 'adventure' last night and am ready to scrap it this morning. Somehow my fusibles got mixed up and I did not use what I wanted to. As a result, my sewing machine started skipping stitches like mad (gunk buildup on the needle) and it quickly became a disaster. Of course, I did the routine 'rethreading', rewinding the bobbin, cleaning extra thoroughly, changing needle (that's when I noticed the gunk) and then read the manual again. My piece of applique looks like an absolute beginner with huge needle holes and lots of skipped stitches (blanket stitch) - well, maybe a little better than when I was that beginner. Needless to say - there is not much to salvage from that project.

Now on to the next project. But for today it is a day away from the sewing studio. Other things take priority today.

On the positive side, I did get my puzzle finished (minus one piece). Big T swears up and down he did not take it. So I have one 999 piece puzzle completed and ready to put back in the box. I think next time, I am going to count the pieces first.

I also finished my block for the jelly roll challenge from Moose on the Porch Quilts. I love the shades of hot pinks and the chocolate browns. This is my first time to participate in a challenge. I can see where if you don't stay on top of it - you could easily fall further and further along.

Have you checked out the Spider Web quilt at Melody's Fiber Mania site? She definitely raises the bar for quilt art. I love her use of color and the total lack of inhibition she displays.

Hugs to all! Thanks for staying with me as I discover what I want to do when I grow up? :)

Marie