A Yarn of an Adventure

Jessica and I went on an adventure the other day. Dad & Michelle are out of town, out of state even, as he drove her to swim camp. So Jess & I went looking for some yarn, Mission Falls Cotton to be precise. I called down to our regular shop in Plano, The Woolie Ewe, and they didn't have it. So I started phoning around. I found a shop a few miles further south of The Woolie Ewe and I called them and they didn't carry it either, but they suggested a shop in Fort Worth yarns unique. Well, I searched "yarns unique" in Ft Worth in the White Pages and didn't find it. Hmmm. Then I tried "yarn shops" in the yellow pages in Fort Worth and there it was "Yarns Ewenique." The computer is such a slave to correct spelling!

So Jess & I drove down to Yarns Ewenique (I love that name) all the way in Fort Worth on the day that she didn't have her evening swim practice. My new nav system surely helped! I do not know my way around Ft Worth at all. The traffic was terrible! The shop closed at 5 and we were panicking that we weren't going to make it! It took us over 2 hours to get there. We managed to arrive 45 minutes before they closed. Whew!

Yarns Ewenique (Did I tell you I love that name?) is a cute shop! It is stuffed with yarn and the ladies there were most helpful. We had a lot of fun looking at and squeezing all of the skeins of yarn. Jessica found some Rowan country yarn that she liked and a new kind of knitting needle neither one of us had ever used, Daisy by Crystal Palace. It is a lightweight plastic needle. Both of us knitted with it at home and liked it. It comes in cool colors too!

I did find my Mission Falls Cotton and they had lots & lots of colors! I think I saw nearly every one. I was looking for it cuz I want to knit this baby blanket that I saw on the internet and it was done in that yarn it stripes and they left all of the ends hanging off. Then they braided the ends together for fringe. I thought it was a great idea--although you couldn't let the baby just sleep with it cuz of the fringe. Too tempting to chew on! Anyhow, the colors they chose were sorta dullish and drab. I wanted to swap some of them out and make it a little more cheery. I looked at the yarn color card on the Mission Falls website, but you just never know when you are on a monitor. So I really wanted to see them in person and choose them all together. I hope it comes out okay. Jess approved of the color choices! Unfortunately, they didn't have the pattern book I needed, so I have ordered it and am waiting for it to arrive so I can get started. Yarns Ewenique gave us the cutest bag with our purchase! It has a sheep on it knitting!

Afterwards we went to the Apple store at Willowbend to pick up a computer game for Jess that she was just dieing to get! There were actually a couple and she did not call ahead! So after fighting the traffic to get from Fort Worth to Plano, they only had 1 of the 3! She kept insisting that they would for sure have all of them as they just came out. Well, they told her that a lot of the times that means that they get shipped that day. So we made up for it at Macy's and found some great sales. Plus she needed some khaki pants for volunteering at the hospital this summer. So it was nice to find a good deal on those.

(No pics since hubby has the camera with him...)

Wasie

It's Black & White-almost

I realized I never did put up a photo of my Black & White Happy Blocks. Black & White was the theme for June. And by the way, I was one of the two winners! I found that out after I returned from London. How's that for a nice lil' homecoming?! I am busy receiving all sorts of lovely little packages in the mail every day!! What fun is that!!!!

Here's my Black & White Happy Blocks Photo:


The next month-July-has red, white & blue for the theme. But no patriotic fabrics since some of the gals are not residents of the USA, and if they win the blocks, we don't want them to have blocks with all of these US flags all over them! For example, one month a gal won from Australia. The blocks are very cool and are pictured in an album in the forum at block central.

EEEK! I went back and looked and I never posted up a photo of my May blocks! May was a pretty hectic month what with the end of school and getting off to England... Well May's theme was flowers. You know, April showers bring May FLOWERS!

Here's my 4 blocks. (I always make 3 of each: 1 for each of the 2 winners, and 1 set to keep. That way at the end of the year I can make a quilt out of all of the different blocks that I made.)








Happy Day,
Wasie

Stonehenge Rocks!

On our last full day in London we took the train out to Salisbury and traveled to the Stonehenge site. It was pretty amazing. They are still figuring out why it was built and there are many theories from astronomical to a calendar to purely religous. I learned alot about the site that I didn't know before. For example, there are large mounds of dirt surrounding the stones throughout the area and they are burial sites and both men and women are buried in them. Also at one time a wooden structure was in the center of the stones. And they also believe they have figured out how they lifted the stones upright using a system of wooden platforms. It is totally unbelievable that they went to so much trouble over so many years to work on this. So it had to be terribly important.

Here is a photo of me with the girls at Stonehenge.


After Stonehenge & Salisbury, we jumped on a train and went up to Bath and saw the Roman ruins and the still functioning waterworks. It was awesome how much of the structure was still preserved. It was also cool how the Romans had worked out the plumbing which is still being used today. The hot springs underneath still services the large pool.


The water is green now because the roof no longer exists and it kept the UV rays from the sun from reaching the water. The sunlight allows the algae to grow. In the Romans' era the water would have been clear. If you pump up the water from underground it's clear.

Here is Jessica at the Roman baths. In the background you can see an abbey that was right next door to the Roman baths. We didn't have time to visit it. Awesome architecture everywhere!


Here is part of our group on the top of the double-decker bus taking a tour around the city of Bath.


This is the "most photographed bridge in Bath." Well you can't miss an opportunity like that, can you?



Happy Sightseeing!
Wasie

Hey! The London Bridge didn't fall down!

We're back from our week-long trip across the ocean to London. I went with my daughters and their girl scout group that I assist. We had a marvelous if wet time! We saw lots and lots of attractions, but not nearly everything. So I guess that's reason to go back and to bring dad! We also went to Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace), Salisbury (Stonehenge), Bath and Paris. What's that? You thought Paris was in France? Well, it is! We took the high speed train and went through the chunnel (channel tunnel) under the English Channel. It took about 20 minutes to cross the English channel or should I say burrow?

On the looong plane trips I did manage to get in a bit of knitting. They did allow size 15 circular knitting needles. Mine were also not very long--16 inches and plastic. The flight over was 9 hrs the flight home was 10 hrs. On the way there I finished up a scarf done with tape yarn. The brand was Sensations CARLO.

On the flight home to Dallas, I made a roll brim hat using Plymouth Yarn Yukon both print and solid. It is a very bulky yarn so I totally finished it up. However, Gatwick airport in London had greater restrictions for carry on baggage and I was afraid they would not allow my little scissors this time. So I put them in my checked suitcase. That meant I couldn't clip each color of yarn so I had the skeins still attached as I went until I arrived home and could clean it up.

After I get my photos from the trip sorted -- there are only hundreds and hundreds, literally -- I'll start posting a few for ya. And tell you some stories.

Cheerio!
Wasie

Off to England

Here's a pic of a bright little flower quilt top I finished up. It's off being quilted now. I'm sure some little gal will like this one. At least I hope so!



We're busy packing up for our jaunt to London Friday. We'll be in jolly ol' England for a week! We're going with the girls' girl scout troop which I help out with. We've saved up the cookie money for 2 years to help pay for the lodging. I think everyone is pretty excited. Jessica said that she wants to meet Prince Edward! I wished her luck! It's supposed to be rainy and cold; although we've been told the weather can change quickly. Maybe we'll bring Texas sunshine with us.

Cheerio,
Wasie
;o)

A Star for a Star!

Things have been pretty hectic lately. I'm sure you know how that goes! It is the end of my semester and that is what always happens. Anyhow, I have managed to sneak in time to put together a paper-pieced star block for a friend of ours who is graduating from high school. She is a close friend and has been swimming with the girls for years. She lives in Oklahoma and will be attending college up there this fall. She is valedictorian of her class too! This block is full of little meanings for her. I chose a star because Torie has always been a shining friend to the girls. She was right there when Jessica was so very ill. And she is a "star" in many other ways as she has so many talents. The "bubble" fabric for water-both swimming (how we all met) and the Christian symbol fabric for her to remember to keep Christ by her side and to follow His lead. The colors of the block are blue and purple for loyalty and faith of which she has a lot. Inside the star are other colors too and movement for Torie is full of life and fun and has a full future ahead of her.


Remember: if you click on a photo, it gets larger.

As far as the paper piecing goes. This was the first time, I have ever done such a large block using this method. It was harder than I realized it would be to put the paper-pieced sections together. I think it takes some practice and perhaps knowledge of some tricks (?)! All in all, I think it came out fair and if i did another, I'm sure I learned from my first experience!

Congratulations to all of our graduates!
Wasie

Happy "Happy Blocks"

I managed to get my February "Anything Goes" Happy Blocks ironed and photographed for ya. I just laid them out on the floor and stood up high on stool. I hope you can see them! It was fun seeing what everyone came up with. I feel like I had an insight into everyone's personality.

(Remember: click on the photos for a larger view.)
I am not sure how I am going to put them together. I am trying to be "creative". So who knows what will come out!! Eeek! It could be scarey! So watch out!

I also managed to finish my "Bug Blocks" for the April Swap. I think they are pretty cute! I had to go and get bug fabric as I did not have any! Imagine that! Fabric I didn't have! It was fun hunting some down.



The May theme is flowers. I am sure I have some of those! So I will dig in my stash and scraps for those.

Happy Day,
Wasie

To TLU & Back...

Friday, I drove my oldest daughter, who is beginning the fun and somewhat arduous process of choosing a college, all the way down to Seguin, Texas. We did not make it all the way home. I caved in and we stopped at a hotel partway and finished the 6 hour trek on Saturday. She did help with some of the driving; although she is not fond of high traffic situations, her highway driving skills are improving as she gains more experience. Anyhow, we did survive the drive, despite a couple of creative stop-and-go situations on the way home -- where once you finally merge all the way over in stop-and-go traffic and get to your exit only to discover that a fire truck and police car have it blocked and now you get to drive across three lanes the other direction to a totally new route! Or playing stop and go for 30 minutes to move only 2 miles, merge over to the right to try to exit to find out that you are forced to merge all the way back to the left, finally get there, get up to the front, and watch 2 police cars drive off and all the lanes open up! Isn't big city driving an adventure?? sigh...

Well, back to our story... In Seguin, we visited Texas Lutheran University (TLU) and Jess just loved it. We took a tour of the campus given by a senior business major, and met with an admissions counselor. We also were able to visit with a friend of ours who is currently a freshman student there. So she was able to learn alot about what going to school there was like. It is a private school so we will have to see about paying for the tuition. I am not sure how much scholarship money she can garner. But like I told her, if you don't try you will never know or get there. She really was excited about possibly going there. She still wants to visit some other schools though, but she certainly has been bitten by the college bug! She just has to remember that there are 3 more semesters of high school first!

Before we left for TLU, I was able to finish the 3rd Cowboy Quilt top! And get it dropped off at Mary's Quilt Shop for quilting. Here's a photo of the top, held up by my hubby. Hope ya like it. The quilting in this one will have saguaro cacti in it -- it has them in the "map" print -- and stars and longhorns.

Yee haw!
Wasie

Quilt Quazy!!

Last weekend was the Dallas Quilt Celebration and my hubby and I (yes, he actually went too and is still living) drove down and spent several hours amidst the cotton and wool and carbon-based lifeforms. It was a huge show and we saw the most spectacular quilts! The winners are at the Quilters Guild of Dallas Quilt Celebration Results. BUT all of the quilts were tremendous and I don't know how the judges can pick! Paul and I had a terrible time picking one for our viewer's choice entries. We each chose a different one this year.

Paul's was nontraditional and nongeometric--very different for him.


My choice was a landscape--something I would love to be able to do myself!


I also wanted to post this photo of a stained glass quilt as we have mentioned doing something similar at church to put on the walls since we do not have any stained glass in our sanctuary. Well, gals, are ya getting inspired yet? I have some closeups and a ton more quilt photos too!


Happy Stitchin'
Wasie

Another Threshold Crossed...

Eeek! It finally happened! My oldest daughter had her first car accident! But don't panic--no blood was spilled, the car was not totalled, and all have lived to tell the tale. I think it can be classified as a "Fender Bender." As far as I can tell, (she doesn't want to talk about it much for some reason), she was on her way home from school -- and she had lost her purse by the way, thought it was stolen, but that's another story -- and was stopped by a red light at the train tracks near the high school. Well, we had taught her to never stop on the tracks, and Jess stopped and felt that she was just over the edge and thought that maybe she shouldn't be. So she put the car in reverse and, well, you guessed it, she didn't look first, she leaped, and drove backwards right into a larger vehicle. So while she was hysterical and hyperventilating, the other driver called the police on his cell phone. Of course, poor Jessica didn't have her cell phone with her, she didn't even ask to borrow one to call dad or me or anyone to come help her. She had to deal with the police all by herself, get two tickets -- her first ones, I might add -- one of which was for an expired inspection sticker that no one had noticed, ooops.... Everyone has calmed down. I don't even think dad yelled. At least the girls said he didn't, which is good for dad! The car has nearly $1800 worth of damages. But, lucky for Jessica, the other vehicle she thought had hardly any! And we have not received any calls from the insurance company so maybe it was not really damaged. We are all hoping that's the case.

Meanwhile on the other side of town....
I have finished my March blocks for the March Happy Block Swap. The theme for March is "Ocean". I ended up doing 8 blocks.
Here they are:


I had lots of fun doing these. I made 2 of each so each winner will receive 4 different blocks from me. In fact, 2 of the centers of those 4 are from the same fabric! It was sooo awesome, I had originally only purchased a fat quarter, but I had to go back and get some yardage of it, it was just too cool.

In the HB swap, everyone does their own thing -- they just have to make this 8.5" block and in the "theme of the month." I believe April's theme is "Bugs."

If you go to blockcentral.com and look in the forum; then swaps & exchanges; then happy block quilt, Louise has posted her quilt top she has been working on from the valentine blocks she won from the January draw. You can definitely pick out my 3 blocks!! [Just look for the turquoise with the pink hearts; somebody had to add some other colors, didn't they?!?]

Drive Carefully,
Wasie

More Hardware!

I think if a magnet came over this house all the loose metal in it would come flying out the windows!! And I ain't talkin' paper clips.

Last weekend was totally Jessica's weekend!
First she went to a UIL academic meet and came home that afternoon lugging 3 trophies! She received a 1st place in Feature Writing, 2nd place in Editorial Writing and a 3rd place in News Writing. We were so excited for her! I took a photo of her with all of her hardware. She couldn't hold them all nicely so she had to sit down!

She has been working on the school newspaper this year and would like to be editor next year. Although she's been told that she's "too nice." According to her sister, "they must not know her well enough!" Maybe Michelle should write a letter of recommendation for her!

Then on Sunday afternoon Jessica was inducted into the National Honor Society. We were very happy that she made it in her Junior year too. She was very excited walking across the stage, and we took many photos of her with her friends. This one is of her on the stage afterwards when she didn't know I was taking photos! (ha ha ha--evil laugh) She is so photogenic, but she doesn't like having her picture taken so you usually have to sneak one.

Hope everyone has a great weekend the first weekend of March. It is coming in like a lion here! We are getting cold weather again. No tornados like Alabama though. Keeping those folks in my prayers.

Michelle has managed to join the track team. (In her spare time...???) The coach called her the other night and asked her if she was interested. And the coach is Michelle's former coach from 5-6th grade who she just adored. So she is very excited to have her as a coach again. Coach Cruce is also going to work around Michelle's other sports aka swimming schedules and band schedules. Michelle also really enjoys running and the triple jump so maybe a change of pace will do her some good and give her a little break from swimming too. Sometimes you worry about her getting burnout.

Stay warm this weekend,
Wasie

Texas State Scoop

No, it's not a new flavor of ice cream here in the Lone Star State! I am just finally getting a-round-to-it, posting an update on the HS state swim meet, that is. It has been so hectic around here trying to catch up at work and I happened to get sick AGAIN! This time I went to the doctor. She gave me a shot and some antibiotics. She said that my resistance was probably down from having the flu a couple of weeks ago and that is why I got sick again. Anyhow it has all helped. Sooo the moral of the story is: go to the doctor.

Now, back to our story...
Prelims were on Friday. Michelle was one of only two freshman swimming the 50 free and four swimming the 100 breaststroke. She was very nervous. She swam a 26.38 in her 50 free which was slower than her seed time so she was not very happy with herself. We could not go down on deck to see her, but I talked to her on her cell phone and she was a little down in the dumps. We all tried to cheer her up before her 100 breaststroke. She swam that event later and was also a little slow: 1:11.90. These swims put her in 15th and 11th places, respectively, going into Saturday's finals.

Michelle on the block; she's in Yellow Jacket black & gold!

Michelle did not want to wake up. She was a bit grumpy. So we took her out to Cracker Barrel and made her eat a good breakfast. Then we worked on cheering her up. It must have all helped some, cuz she did swim better on Saturday. She swam 26.30 in her 50 free--a little better than Friday, not her seed time, but still an improvement. Unfortunately, she dropped a spot to 16th. In the 100 breaststroke, she started out a little slow. Her first 50 was slower than her prelim time! And she was in 5th place in her heat. We were all just screaming! Then she started to pick it up and pass people. She just didn't have enough time to pass the leader and ended up 2nd in the heat which put her in 10th overall. Her time -- 1:10.97 -- was about a second better than Friday and her second best ever!

Swimming the breaststroke at the 4A high school state meet.

I do think she had a difficult time getting excited about swimming. She said,"mom, everything was 'about getting to state' now that I'm here, I'm just here." I think she was lonely being the only swimmer from her school -- making history only goes so far!-- and it was a bit anticlimatic. But, like we told her, you just do the best you can and go with it. She is only a freshman and can take this experience and use it next year. Apparently she has big plans for next year! Who knows what'll happen then! It was nice to see the swim team get some news coverage in the papers and even on the local television. We're hoping more kids go next year, and more kids start swimming! Michelle is already working hard for next year! She's getting ready for the long course season in USA Swimming this summer. That's what it takes hard work and dedication. I think that's why she's as good as she is from all those many hours in the water. Maybe she's part fish too??

Happy Swimming,
Wasie

PS I keep trying to add photos, but blogger is not cooperating!

Well, that was a learning experience! I finally was able to get the photos in! It took for-ev-er! Then I just wanted to center the captions under the photos. I had to learn HTML code and get it inserted properly. eeek.

WOO HOO Goin' to State!

Yup! We're goin' to state! Michelle sure did it! We thought she had a shot in the 100 breaststroke, but she floored us all when she made it in the 50 freestyle too! Not bad for a freshman! And she is the first swimmer ever from her high school! So she has been in the papers and on the local TV station. They came out to the pool to tape her swimming and interview her the other day around 4 pm. But then it turns out that the disk in the camera had a scratch on it. They were able to save all the footage of her swimming but they lost all of the interview. So the reporter came to the house and redid the interview. She finished about 6 pm. The first time the spot aired was around 6:20 pm!

We're here in Austin and she's got her "tattoo" to get into the pool area. That's how they do the admission for swimmers now! It won't wash off--only comes off with alcohol. I'm nervous. Let's just hope she isn't!

Numerologists would have a heyday with her schedule! She is in events 7 & 21! Lucky numbers! And in her first event she is in heat 1 lane 1 and in her second event she is in heat 2 lane 2. And you'll never guess what room we're in at the hotel--221, of course!

Thanks to everyone for all of their good wishes. We have passed them all on. And will give her many hugs from all of you! Check the UIL website later today to see how she does!

Keep Cheering,
Wasie

Eeek! I won!

I won the Happy Blocks this month. There were 4 winners this month; they split the blocks up by 4 as there were so many participants. I am not sure how many I will be receiving, but I should have them by the end of the month. I need to get mine sent in. I'll post a photo of the blocks and then I'll make a quilt with all of them! What fun! It will be very exciting to see what everyone comes up with! The theme for Feb was "Anything Goes" so I figure I'll get quite a scrappy quilt out of this swap!

We're going to be out selling girl scout cookies as they came in at the end of the week. Here I am getting over the flu and now I get to sit outside in the cold! It started to warm up and then promptly cooled back down for cookie selling! Fri evening we sold around 45 boxes outside Belk and 6 of those were for our Troops overseas! Today we'll be at WalMart and Gander Mountain. Hope it's a warmer day.

Have a Happy Sunny Day,
Wasie

Cowboy Quilt #2

Here tis a pic of the quilt top of the 2nd "cowboy quilt". I actually have had it finished for a week or so, but have been so busy with swim meets etc. that I hadn't had a chance to get a photo up! This is based on a a pattern called "All About Me." It's 45" x 56".



The first cowboy top has been quilted. After I get the binding on, I'll put another photo up. I have to come up with a third one. I am thinking about something with stars--lone star and all. Any brilliant ideas? I have some cute fabric I want to use and I think it would be great background and I have some nice matching colors for the star points. So I am looking at star blocks. I need to get these quilts finished!

My youngest daughter went to the doctor this morning and found out that she has the flu. This undoubtedly means that I do too. Of course, it is too late to start the tamiflu medication. At least we are not doing too bad. But this is a particularly bad time for her to get it as she is swimming in the state meet in a week! She wants to go to practice tonight, but her dad & I think staying home is the best thing for now.

I stayed home from work yesterday as I had virtually no voice, and I worked on some simple blocks that I needed to get done for a swap I'm in on Block Central. It's a "Happy Block Swap." The blocks are very simple and quick to make. I needed to make three more and ended up making about 5 more. So my "new plan" is to make a couple extras each month and save them up. Then at the end of the year, I can make a scrappy quilt with all of the happy blocks from all of the different themes of the months. January's theme was valentines. February's theme is anything goes. March's theme is ocean. The rest haven't been chosen yet. Then they draw for 2-3 people to split up the blocks between depending on how many enter.

Here's some photos of some of my Happy Blocks.




Happy Day & Stay Away from the Flu Bug,
Wasie

Going to State!

I've been pretty busy lately attending the end-of-season high school swim meets. Both of my daughters swam in the district meet. There Jess, the oldest, swam best times in her 100 free and 200 free and her 200 medley relay made it to regionals! Michelle the youngest, also swam her best times of the season in the 50 free and 100 breast and made it to regionals in both of those events plus her two relays, the 200 free and 400 free. She won silver in the 50 free and gold in the 100 breast while the relays each won bronze medals. Overall, the girls team took THIRD PLACE!!

At regionals unfortunately Jessica's relay didn't make it to finals (top 8 go to finals), but she seemed to take it in stride. She was just glad to be there. If you go to regionals you get "a letter."


Michelle made finals in all of her events. She finished 3rd in the 50 free and the 100 breast swimming personal best times in each! Then the 200 free relay finished in 4th and the 400 free relay was 5th. Then we had to go home and wait to find out if she made it to state. The way it works in Texas there are 8 regions and the winner in each event in each region are automatic qualifiers for the state meet. Then the next 8 fastest times from the 2nd, 3rd & 4th place finishes get to go on the "Call-Up" list. That way there are only 16 competitors per event. Finally after midnight, they posted the list on the web and Michelle had made it in both of her individual events. She is the first person from our high school to ever go to the state swim meet! And she's only a freshman!

Here she is diving in for her 50 freestyle.


On another note, her and I both have head colds--not good. And I stayed home from work today as I had no voice this morning! I have been constantly coughing. Aaargh! This is so frustrating. I dislike being sick. I do not have time for it! I am waiting for hubby to get it and hoping that Jess doesn't!

Well, hope you are well!
Wasie

It's raining; it's pouring, and we're not snoring!

AAARGH! I just wrote this whole posting, and I did a preview to make sure the photo was correct. And then when I went back it took me to the dashboard and lost the whole thing! So I will not preview this time. I will just post and edit if needed.


It is pouring down rain here and we're hoping to be out of drought status! It is a great day to get lots of stuff done. I drove down to McKinney for the "strip club" meeting at the quilt asylum this morning. The new strip set is tans & browns. Good for me cuz it is very different from what I usually get. The pattern is appropriately named: Hash Browns. (So of course I had to have hash browns for lunch! I think it was subliminal.) You can view the completed quilt at The Quilt Asylum Clubs. Anyhow, this photo is of my strip set, background fabric (dk brown w/strings), inner border (cheddar w/little red & green) and outer border (red w/large print of gold, brown & green). Unfortunately, I can't get to it today. I have to work on the cowboy quilts. When they are finished, I can do other things. I am hoping to have the second one pretty well finished by the end of the weekend. I'm still debating on how to do the third one. I need something fast & easy. I'll see what fabric I have left.

I also attended the FROG meeting following the Strip Club meeting. FROG is an acronym for fabric reformation and organization group. Everyone just talked about stuff. Susan had made a block for the heartstrings quilt project. It is a group that is collecting string quilt squares to make quilts--or quilt tops--or finished quilts--or whatever for donation to charitable organizations. Their website is here: Heartstrings for more information and guidelines for making squares. Susan also shared with us some of her scrap quilts one of which was made with "leaders and enders." It has slews of fabrics in it with each piece finishing to 1" x 3". Here tis at: The Quilt Asylum's Blogspot. Check it out as it's awesome. It is all quilted and bound now. I am just going to have to try my hand at this "leaders & enders" thing. Now if I can only get started...

I just have to report that this past week, the attendance of my organic/biochemistry class increased by 50%! Word must be getting out! Well, hold onto your hats. Enrollment went from 2 students to 3. (It's all in how you report the numbers.) This course is only an elective for environmental science and the students don't seem to plan very well as it's only offered every other year. But just think of the individualized attention! These kids will learn lots!

Well I better get...
Back to work,
Wasie

Brrrr - An Icy Day

Here's some photos of our beautiful icy day on Monday - MLK Day. It might be pretty, but, baby, it's cold outside!







There's a weather prediction that we might even receive some snow flurries tomorrow (Wed) morning! Wouldn't that be pretty!

Today, we checked in the organic/biochem lab & Katie (my lab assistant) was a great help! We had to get all of the keys and locks worked out for every drawer & cabinet in the lab room. Then we worked out who gets what set so that the students end up evenly spaced out and each student has a faucet. I ended up getting mechanical and changed out 4 lock that I couldn't get to work properly. Those camlocks just don't hold up well in a lab environment plus they are not really made for these drawers. I think we finally have all of it worked out though. It doesn't seem to matter what I do at the end of the previous semester! It's always a chore the next. Tomorrow we check in the first section of organic II.

Hope you are staying warm & dry,
Wasie

What to do on an icy day?

We're in the middle of an ice storm here in North Texas-in case you haven't heard. We have been pretty lucky here at our house--no loss of electricity so far and we even drove to church this morning, slowly, I might add. (There were several vehicles abandoned in the medians and ditches off the highway!) The ice is pretty gorgeous outside on the trees. Tomorrow, I am going to take some photos. I decided to wait one more day as it is supposed to continue to keep drizzling and sleeting through tomorrow. However, after we skedaddled home from church this morning we definitely stayed in the rest of the day! So what's a quilter to do? Well, sew of course!

Here's a quilt top I finished that I had been working on. I did have the attic window blocks already completed.


I'm going to try to quickly do a couple more "cowboy quilts" for a family in our church that is moving to New Jersey. They have 3 little boys and 1 little girl. We'll see how it goes!

Stay warm,
Wasie

What a day

Whew. I was so looking forward to today. It was the "Family Blessing" service at church where each family goes up to the altar and receives a special prayer and blessing from pastor to start the new year. It is always special to me especially since we almost lost Jessica a couple Christmases ago. It still was wonderful except I was getting this terrible migraine. By the time we arrived home I just collapsed in bed for several hours. I had taken some of my special migraine medicine and I finally went to sleep for a few hours. That really helped.

When I finally "came to" I helped my daughter make a "little purse". It looks so easy, but it has a ton of pockets! And two zippers. We managed to get it finished so she can take it to school tomorrow, but it certainly did me in for the night! Here are some pics of the purse. Unfortunately, I couldn't manage to get any of the cute lining fabric she chose.

The first is the front.


This is the view inside.


This is the outside & back of the purse.


You can sort of see all of the different pockets!

Well, I think I will veg out for the rest of the evening. I have to go in to work tomorrow. Break is over. sigh....

Rest up,
Wasie