Another day older and deeper in debt!

Thank God (thank you, Lord), this month isn't one day longer than it is. I think 28 days is plenty long for February. Yes, sir... plenty long.

March will enter like a lamb...considerably less blustery than the better part of February (90% of it), and the most intolerable portions of January. Come to think of it, January was mostly intolerable this year, so scratch that last bit. For their part, January and February were total choas...wreaking havoc with my attendance and arrival time at school.

As the weather predictions are looking for the weekend (our exit from February and our entry into March) it is going to be a fairly chilly, wet, and snowy next several days, but it remains to be seen whether this will will the "lamb-y" side of March, or the "lion" side. The one bright spot temperature-wise is that the prognosticators have gone out on a weather limb and announced the highs on Monday could be as much as 44*!

Not for nothin', but...I just wanted to take the chance to get an entry in on the only Leap day for the next 4 years. Yes, I know that's why it's called "leap year".

I am looking forward to the snow turds and ice mounds in the streets disappearing soon, so that I can go outside and begin walking in the fresh air again. Frustrating to be cooped up like this.

Come on, Spring!

Been too long...here's some fluff

Hey, Mom, if you're looking for those photos I said were in the blog (and it turns out I was wrong), here they are! It seems I have been slacking on the blog lately. The pics are fairly self-explanatory, but I will elaborate a bit, for those who wonder how you get started.

I first decide which pattern quilt block to construct, generally with a color scheme in mind...or a theme of some sort. In the last couple of wall quilts, it has been animals - most specifically, dogs and cats. You find a base fabric, and then identify other complementary fabrics to fill in with.

Sometimes it does work better in the reverse - having the group of fill materials and then attempting to find that one great object material...but more often than not, you are working with a topic (main) fabric and finding the rest to support it. The most general exception is if you are constructing a scrap quilt, then there are very few rules or "restrictions" (especially when it's your imagination and colorful desires).

In the case of the first cat wall quilt, I found the first pattern I wanted to use to be too small to accomodate the cat print material - so I found a better-suited pattern to use. The colors of that material dictated the brighter primary palette for the complementary materials selected. Also, I had been looking at (and working with) the dog material on the much darker quilt for a short while, so making a brighter quilt next seemed almost necessary (to break up the color dolldrums I was suffering mentally).

Yes, I will be making a cat quilt using browns and or greys to hang with the nearly completed Dogs1 project. You can see the darker cat material in one of the photos in this set. Actually, if you click on the photo of white materials, you can see the darker cat material for the planned brown quilt in the upper right corner.

So, to date, you see the progression of the cat quilt (the first in a series) in planning and preparation, and below are a few of the first squares constructed from the many pieces cut of whites and creams and primary prints and solids. Soon, I will add a photo of the brown dog wall hanging in it's state of morphing - I began the quilting several days ago, and have a bit to do before I can begin to bind it for completion. My hope is to take it to a veteranarian's office (as a set with a cat quilt) to hang, and eventually sell. Whether the vet buys them outright, or allows me to hang them for viewing and for sale to a customer there is inconsequential. Just show me the money!

People have asked...

"What is that behind the quilt squares?"

The question is regarding the multi-colored wall behind the partial dog blocks (and behind the Sun Bonnet Sue quilt). If you look at the photos loaded into the February first entry, and click on any of them to enlarge and navigate around in them, you will see that the colors are, in fact, other flatfolds of material. This is what is referred to as a 'quilter's stash'.

Yes, I admit it may look as though I have an eensy problem with self-control...but ain't it purdy? And my diligence and dedication to the craft has helped me find just the right colors for my projects because of my (somewhat OCD-like) zealous habit of purchasing those fabulous fabrics. But hey! Some of those - no! A LOT of those are never going to be printed again, and I have them for when they are needed. So there...nyah!

Thanks to Mark (another RTV 09-07 classmate), I have the perfect way to see and use my calicos (and other sewing needs/tools) - as well as store them! He works at Ikea in Canton, and granted me the honor of sharing a shopper's "meca" discount pass during one of their 'friends-and-family' 3-day ordeals last fall. It was incredible...and as you can see, afforded me a way to bring all of my beautiful material in from exile [storage/damage] in the garage, to where they can be used and enjoyed.

Mark, I hope you can see that your generosity was put to good use.

I also hope to finish installing the wood floor in a corner room of the lower level this week/weekend, so that I can also assemble and use the fabulous wardrobe/closet piece I bought with the same discount pass. A photo will be posted soon, just so you can understand what it is I am talking about.

'til then, hugs all 'round, and happy thoughts to everyone. Here I come, Mr. Sandman.

Uh-oh, here comes another Valentine's day

...ah, but this year, I have 3 little Valentine greetings from three gentle, generous classmates at school. This is the first time in over 14 years that I have received a Valentine from someone! So tah-dah...my streak is broken! LOL

I am relishing the thought of my morning tomorrow...opening my eyes, and opening the little gradeschool-like greetings!

So thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to my sweet friends at Specs. You made my day!

Sometimes, one smile means more than a dozen roses.

What!?!?

A friend brought over a bag of r-e-a-l-l-y dark chocolate Dove mini's, and we had fun (all of us) devouring the darned things. But, have you ever noticed that the foil wrappers have fortune-like sayings inside? Some people never take the time to observe...so I can imagine the candy being liberated from their wrappers, and the foil being discarded without so much as a glance at the saying hidden inside. Poor wrappers. Sad little wrappers.

Oddly enough, I was reading my wrappers this weekend (because I am diligent and somewhat compulsive regarding such simple things) when I came across the saddest excuse ever, that could only have been written by a man. I can only imagine that the man who wrote this little ditty was looking for some weak-knee'd, slack-jawed, Hallmark-sort-of-way, to let himself out of a (sorely needed) butt-chewing -- most likely for forgetting an anniversary, birthday or meaningful event.

Yes...you guessed it, ladies. It was: "Sometimes, one smile means more than a dozen roses."

A smarmy little hominy meaning 'I didn't feel like stopping on the way home from hanging with the guys, to grab a raggedy handful of four-day-old wilty roses from the cooler at the neighborhood Kroger. Heck, why should I, when I know one of my smiles is worth more than a dozen roses.'

Have you fallen on the ground and smacked yourself silly?

Seriously?

If you didn't fall on the ground and smack yourself silly, please, allow me. I am in a smack-someone-silly-just-for-the-pure-pleasure-of-hearing-the-sound kind of mood.

Smackety-smackety-smack-smack-smack! C'mere you coward.

Sometimes a smack means 'I forgive your cheap *ss'.

Lazy, lazy Saturday

Goodbye to Q3, and goodbye to tests and quizes and panic-study reads of notes. Why did I put myself through that? I knew the materials...my sons reminded me all the time: "You can do it... you know the stuff." I would just get so worried - like yesterday, sitting in the classroom...droolingingly numbed by the fact I couldn't remember the phrase for the first edit of B-roll in an SOT. Couldn't have been any easier. I just had to take [several] deep breath[s] and let the words smack me between the eyes.

GAK!

Even now...hours later, I cannot bring myself to look over my study guide to see if I wrote down the correct phrase. However, I am bouyed by the prospect of the coming week off before the last quarter. The final 8 weeks. [I do catch myself wondering if I should have gone Audio instead of TV an awful lot.] Those Radio (a.k.a. "Audio") kids look so, happy and are having a bunch of fun in the audio labs, studios and grown-up radio booths. They certainly didn't have to contend with having PSD and FCP shoved down their throats in a fast and furious 4-week period (with craploads of interruptions to the schedule...) that's for sure.

Oh my gosh, I can't tell you how severely disappointed I am at not having gotten more out of the short, SHORT training time; how bitterly dis-illusioned to not feel competant enough to touch the doggone FCP equipment; how ill-prepared to say on my resume I "know" FCP (or Photoshop, for that matter) well enough to ask for a job where I actually may need to use the programs/SW.

So, I am enjoying my lazy, lazy Saturday (knowing I still have to go back to the building Monday to take a final exam that was missed due to bad weather and road conditions this past Thursday).

I have had two instructors ask to keep copies of my assignments from Q2 and Q3 as examples for their coming students. That is a compliment in itself, and I am honored they think the work is good enough. Very cool...I have made a mark on Specs in my own way.

While writing this, I have been drifting away from the PC to do other little things - sort a pile of bills, or make a cup of tea, pin a sash side onto the dog quilt, start a load of laundry. The most interesting thing I did was to make a list of things I would like to accomplish, or at least, get a start on, during this week off. All do-able tasks...all necessary...all possibly things I can accomplish. You know the sore spot though will be not taking too long to do any one thing, so that others never get looked at or worked on. Argh!

Some days, I wish I had multiple personalities to help achieve the unachieveable. QUIET YOU!

More photos this weekend. Take care 'til then.

Yabba Dabba Dooooo

Just felt like saying it...no reason other than I think it sounds funny.

"Ointment" is another word that causes me to giggle.

Oh, and any word that sounds - or syllabically reminds me of 'phenomenon' - gets me humming a tune that I remember from a skit once done on the Muppet Show. Ask my kids, they'll hum it for you (so will I, for that matter).

"Rectum" has had an odd place of honor in our household of late. You really had to be there. Suffice to say, playing the "rectum game" was hours of fun over the weekend, and still manages to pop in and out sporadically. You 'recties' will understand.

Note to self: start list of titles, cuz they was funny.

Oh my gosh! It's February!

Well, you have to love these unexpected (unscheduled) extra days out of school. A "snow day" for the grown ups - wahoo! Although, it did impede my ability to get signatures on the necessary paperwork for unemployment compensation to cover the past two weeks. [Sigh] Payment will be somewhat delayed, but I think everything will be alright.

Happily, the first (yes, that's right, the FIRST) restitution payment from the crackhead who broke into my home in 2004 showed up in the mailbox this week. Talk about your good timing. Thank you, God. Although it is a pittance compared to the overall amount awarded by the judge, I can use it every penny right now, so I am very thankful. I think it will be another year before anything else gets here from that source, and I haven't been holding my breath for anything all this time, so needless to say, this is a great thing.

The skeezer jumped bail the first time he was arrested...if he had been a good boy, I could have been paid the $1400 plus way back when. Ah well. There's a reason and a purpose to everything that happens, so let's strap ourselves in and enjoy the journey and see what's around the bend.

I began another small wall hanging as I was finishing the Sun Bonnet Sue quilt for a classmate - I came up with a funny thought/idea I hope pans out $-wise. There are numerous vet offices in the area (not to mention daycare centers and pediatrician offices), and JoAnn Fabric has quite the selection of animal prints on their shelves (and I have a good assortment of child-oriented prints in my collection), so why not make wall hangings and walk in 'armed' to see if one of those places may buy one for use in the outer office in place of artwork. It's worth a shot.

Anyhow, as I said, I began a new quilt top, based on dog print material, and all but finished assembling it today. Will apply the borders and attempt to stretch it on a backing piece before the weekend is over.

I also picked up cat material - though the pickings are slim in the non-cartoonish patterns for the feline set. The dog prints are rendered very realistically, but their ideas of "realistic" cat prints suck. I will do what I can with what I have, and will also start assembling quilts for the pediatric offices. Smaller quilts have a better chance of selling, so I will 'work small' for a while and make the best of the miniature palette. A fun challenge.

I have photos of the finished Sun Bonnet Sue (which really turned out beautifully), and pics of the interior portion of the dog blocks...all of which I can finally share, but the PhotoShop SW on the PC is screwing up the ability to use my Pentax card reader to download photos. Karl and I have worked out a routine whereby he downloads the pics to his PC, then to a flash drive, then onto this PC. A definite hassle, but at least it's a work-around. Will have to work out the kinks now in the system. I have posted a few - as you can see - if you want to see more of these or other quilt tops, please ask.

In the meanwhile, I am away from the keyboard and back to the needle and thread.

My love to all, and hugs and shiny thoughts all 'round.

Oh, and welcome to 2008, February.