The Virtual Wren

On the agenda today-

Take Emily to the doctor and have them check for strep. Take me to the doctor and have me checked for strep.
Take the recycling in.
Sweep the house.
Wash my bottom sheet again because Pixel had an accident on the sheet after I put it back on last night (I washed them yesterday).
Call back supervisor at my insurance company to complain about their handling of Eliz's case. Apparently she doesn't seem to understand the 'I work until 4' part of my message.

I also might stop and get an oil change and clean the bathroom today- it depends on how much time I have and how I feel after we get done at the doctor's. Dinner will likely be pizza and ice cream because I don't feel much like making anything else.

In quilting news, I have finished the star on Don't Go Out A-Lone Star and am starting on the spiderwebs. Emily had a great idea for a way to sign it in the quilting design. She mentioned Charlotte's Web and that I could sign it in one of the lower squares in the spiderweb which I think is a fabulous idea! She's so smart.

In bookbinding news, I got tired of waiting for Brazen Device on etsy to message me back or relist the book press I was interested in. He said it would be up by the end of the weekend two weeks ago and I still haven't heard back. So alrighty then- obviously my money is not wanted there. Instead I bought this one from Phyllisann:



It's not as pretty but I am sure it will work at least as well (maybe better) and I know that she will send it to me- I'd be dubious about ordering from Brazen Device anyway since he's been so slow to answer messages. I'd be worried he wouldn't ship it for weeks and weeks. Plus this one is less expensive and has free shipping- saving me about $100. Phyllisann doesn't have a lot of feedback on etsy but she lists the same things on ebay where she has over 2000 feedback- 98% positive.

Also? I finished all the signatures except the title page and contents so I'll start sewing as soon as I read it through and make sure there are no glaring errors and I'll need a press pretty soon.



80s called last night and was badgering me to say that he's smarter than I am (oh please, you seriously think that?) and kept after me (calling and calling even though I was letting it go to the answering machine) until I was thoroughly put out with him. I was sick last night too and let him know it- my mistake. I wonder how long, if I never pick up the phone when it is him, it will take for him to get the message I'm not speaking to him and stop calling?

The funny thing about that is that I don't actually think I am the smartest person- I can think of six people I think are smarter than I am off the top of my head (that I know- I'm not counting people like Steven Hawking) and not one of them has ever called me stupid. He just isn't one of them.

One of the best things about being a grown up? You can have ice cream for breakfast if you want to!

Yesterday was National Quilting Day and I had planned to do nothing but quilt-related things all day. It didn't quite work out that well but I did get to spend a significant portion of my day doing quilty things.

I cleaned the sewing room, spent more than a few minutes wondering how I could organize all the fabric scraps better so I could find them when I want them and came to the conclusion that what I need to do is work up all the quilts I have designated fabric for and then go through each and every piece of fabric, trim and what all in the sewing room then. (There should be a lot less.) I also need a system for organizing fabric and scraps but I haven't found one yet that I actually like so I will spend time while I am quilting or when I want to quilt and can't thinking about that instead of coming up with new quilts.

I've also decided that, while the plastic bins were a nice idea, I'd rather have wooden drawers between my shelves. More esthetically pleasing and sturdier too- the bottom bins are starting to burst with the weight. I also need to get rid of everything in there that is not sewing related- notably all the stuff that I used for the decanting supply business that is just hanging around being useless and all the stuff for making hairsticks. I still have several I want to make but once I do, I can get rid of all the stuff to make them with.

After I finished cleaning up my sewing table, I put Granny's Quilt on the frame- with a some help from 80s- so I'm ready to start quilting on it as soon as I finish Don't Go Out A-Lone Star. Then in the evening, I quilted on Don't Go Out A-Lone Star and watched some TV with 80s- and went moon-gazing at the Super-moon for a little while.

I didn't get as much quilting as I would have liked done- but it was still a lovely quilty day!


(Not my picture- credit goes to Ben Birtchall from Glastonbury England)

I think I'll make sure I can spend the day doing mostly quilty things in my sewing room!

I'm better this evening than I was this morning. In the main because I have spent the day getting things done.

This is the last tree I will complete until I am ready to finish this quilt for me. Now I can get back to work on things I wanted to finish before.


I also made Groundhog Cookies. Isn't he the cutest little cuss?


And I have been doing a little reading:
#11.

#12.

#13.

Today is a good day.

It really has been, mostly, inspite of starting out wrong footed. My Jeeves alarm clock went foz-watts this morning- fortunately at the time I was supposed to get up.It turns out that the batteries I thought I recharged fully were out of juice due to the battery charger acting up. So clock is, I think, fixed and no need to return it or get another one.

When I got home I was spinning in circles from all the things I wanted to do today. So instead, I popped in the DVD for loosing weight via hypnosis. Oddly, it took an hour and a half out of my day but instead of putting me behind, I actually got almost everything I wanted to do done. Bank and post office will have to wait until Friday and Saturday, respectively, and I didn't get any work done on my quilt although I did get work done on Robert's.

I also got a nap- FTW!

And I fixed the dryer vent- again- because Shredder lives up to her name.

Exercises got done.

Dinner was herb crusted chicken with mushroom risotto and brussels sprouts (made with walnuts and raisins instead of pecans and cranberries because that's what I had in the house) and plain yogurt with blueberries for dessert. I did not have time to make the tofu spread I meant to but there's rice and brussels sprouts left over so I'll take that for lunch tomorrow and make the spread over the weekend. Um- where did I put the sprouts???

I also watched Briggadoon. Not something I really plan to keep. It was fun, once, but I'm not so thrilled with it.

I had planned to watch the video of stopping smoking as well but since I have to listen to a CD for 20 minutes every day to reinforce the hypnosis suggestion, I'll wait until I've got the weight loss firmly entrenched before I go making more changes. One thing at a time.

I think I may have mentioned that I plan to put a diamond paned window in the library. Almost everyone I contacted about a window to my dimensions wanted $2000 - $3000- except for Jay at Orca Glass. He says he can do it for under $600 and, while the shipping is ghastly, I can manage it.



I'm not asking if I should do this or not- I am doing it. But I am asking the f-list about curtains. Right now I have a white linen frill at the top and a half panel that covers the bottom. Privacy is not an issue (the window faces the forest and if there are any peeping tom deer out there they are welcome to watch me read all they want) and I don't want to cover up a window I'm having custom made. Should I just add side drapes to the frill? I have plenty of linen- I could put curtains up in most of Windsor Castle before I ran out- so I can do anything I think of. Should I remove the curtain all together and frame in the window with wood or stone? (Kind of liking the stone idea- but how to do it...) Suggestions requested!!

Okay, I have to get the cabinet doors finished this weekend and no more fooling around and procrastinating. And then I have to put my tools away and clean up the sewing room- except for the papa-san chair that I will be taking to Eliz as soon as she and I can get together on our schedules.

Why the rush? I have been commissioned to make a quilt for a man named Robert. He's offered to pay me enough to make it worth my time to make him one (!!!!!) so I'm working on a design right now. And he wants it before cold weather next year- a king sized quilt- yes, I'm in a rush! I'll post as much as I have tonight- I still need to decide on borders and how to turn a square quilt (based on a lone star) oblong.

This pushes me to clean up the sewing room so I'll be able to find things and have a work area I like working in. I've already cleaned up the library so this will be the last trouble spot I've created for myself. I'm also going to try to get the rest of my projects lined up so that when I can't sew any more and have to take a break, I can work on one of them instead of sitting down at the computer. Also to get all the mending done so it is out of my way.

Quilting all done on a pretty how town!!!!

Now I need to mend the binding on Witchery and see if I can get Don't Go Out A-Lone Star basted up so I'll have it to work on at work.

Yesterday I went shopping. I had to have new shoes (ouch, price!) for work. And then we stopped at one of the malls because they wer advertizing a "Arts and Crafts Show".

Um, yeah. Not so much- there were like six vendors selling custom embroidery and team beaded bracelets, one candle lady and one silversmith. It wasn't a complete bust since the silversmith mostly had charms and I picked up a couple for me and several for Em for Christmas and birthday. He was very helpful too- keeping Em from even noticing I was buying anything :D

To make up for that disappointment, we ran by Sew Bee It, the best quilting store in reasonable range. (And possibly anywhere- they're amazing! The only place I've ever heard of that comes close is Keepsake.) I found an apron panel that I had to have- "Coffee Drinker Anonymous- Charter Member" as well as some fabrics in the same line- Red and brown and coffee. I'll make something for the kitchen out of them probably but I don't know what yet!



I also found some orange silk with embroidered butterflies to make a pillow for the sofa. We all take naps on the sofa and silk is so lovely and soft... and this is perfect colour.



Plus an awesome bit to work into my Storm at Sea quilts.

And, just so I have it jotted down somewhere I can't loose it, I've been thinking about hairsticks again. Hobbit hair sticks and The Hairsticks of Inara and I should really make myself some sewing hairsticks.

I think a spool on the top of one would be great and I'm not sure how to work in a needle and thread... possibly as a dangle with the other end of the dangle being a quilt block and maybe topped with a thimble. No reason I couldn't use a real needle, spool and thimble- just a very small one. The thread would need to be something more sturdy than actual thread, I think but the quilt block could be fabric. Or maybe One of the hairsticks could be silver metal and look like a really BIG needle and have a tiny quilt block dangling from it..

I've got a quilt in a contest here:

http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/42665/voteable_entries/5709969?order=votes

Please go vote for me!

It seems that Kaylee has gone on- she went walking from here with a pedestrian and hasn't come back. I am unsurprised- she was just too friendly to be resisted.

I got simply nothing done on the floor this weekend- too tired and too depressed. I hate that and I mean to fix it. Some things I can change and some things I can ignore- I have a bad habit of falling into a mental loop that just spirals downward if I don't break it somehow.

I did work on the Yellow Submarine quilt while watching Dexter. I'm working on the Sea of Science block and I realized last night that it's going to have at least 81 pieces in it. What! How did I do that to myself? No wonder I didn't make as much progress on it as I thought I should have. Oh well- it's the only really intricate block in the quilt so I can deal.

I do have to discipline myself into working on anyone lived in a pretty how town. I'm not making any progress on it because I'm not picking it up.

Bitsy's stitches are healing well- I don't think I'm going to bother taking her back to the vet to take them out. If I can take stitches out of people, surely I can take them out of her.