almost autumn

The calendar may say it's Autumn, but here in Texas we're still seeing some warm days.  Granted, upper 80's is not as hot as 100+ degrees, but I'm ready for highs in the 60's or 70's.

My neighbor wanted the twin bed frame I refinished, so since that's out of the way, I now have a new twin bed.  I may get a headboard at some point but for now like the flexibility of putting it wherever I want it.  I started out with it away from the wall, then decided flush against the wall is best for now for when Elise sleeps over.  I'd like a chenille bedspread, so that will take some looking.  In the meantime, I've got a quilt over it for a cover. 

Since it's that time of year, I made a couple of pumpkins for decoration.  Only have one to show, because Elise took the other one home.   This was really a stash buster...used a piece of fabric about 10"x20".  Click on the "pumpkins" link if you think you'd like to make one.

You may remember that last couple of years I've participated in the 12 Days of Christmas swap over on the HGTV quilting/sewing forum.  I debated whether to do it this year, and decided I will.  I've gotten a good start on it, and still have a few weeks to get finished.  Of course I can't tell you what I'm making, but you'll be seeing pics of everything around Christmas.  I like that I should be able to complete all of them with fabric I have on hand.

Guess that's it for now.  Have a good week all.

more stuff

I decided I wanted to paint the bedroom that Elise sleeps in, also known as the toy room, and for a long time my "office".  I painted it a few years ago, but can't say I was ever completely satisfied with it, plus I didn't like the popcorn ceilings. 

Since Elise has a bit of a claim to the room, she helped choose the color...purple.  So in the color family, I chose Behr's Lavender Bouquet for 3 walls, and an accent wall of Lilac Bloom.  As it turns out, the accent wall was just a shade or two darker, so it's not really a noticeable difference unless you happen to paint a bit on the other wall by mistake (ask me how I know).   

Elise wanted to help, and she happened to be staying with me for a couple of days shortly after I scraped the popcorn ceiling and got some cutting in done.  We got her set up with a brush, and she enjoyed herself. 

Previously it had been yellow, and most of the wall accents were in wood stains, or darker colors.  I decided I wanted it air-ier, and painted most of them white.  I have a bulletin board on another wall that will eventually get painted.  I lucked out on the curtains, finding 4 sheers hanging in a closet that I had forgotten about.  The clock was a garage sale find that I also painted.   Nice to have this project done.  And I won't be scraping anymore popcorn ceilings. 


I forgot to post a picture of a storm cloud that came up on my trip to Arkansas recently.  Shortly after I took the picture just outside of Greenville, it poured for several hours of my trip.  I've always said that I can count on a rain either coming or going when I go to Sue's.  I thought these clouds were amazing.

Ashlynn had her birthday party last weekend, 7 years old!   It was fun, and while I didn't get any particularly special pics, I got enough to get a feel of the activity. 

Elizabeth sent me a picture of one of Elise's adventures.  She went with a friend, and took a ride just sitting in the chair...it had a video and the chair shook at appropriate places.  I don't know that she knows quite what to think of it!

Well, that's the "stuff" in my life this time around.  Have a good week everyone.

tying up loose ends

I've been trying to go through a few things in the sewing room, and it's an uphill battle.

I've had a plastic tub that held purchased patterns (in their little plastic sleeves), those printed off the internet, and odds and ends of little notes.  Its a nice little catch-all, but got so that I couldn't find what I wanted without pulling everything out and making another mess.  So I pulled everything out one more time.  Using a three ring binder, I've been able to corral the printouts and notes, and its nice to be able to thumb through the book for what I want to see.  For now the patterns in sleeves are back in the tub in a neater fashion, but that's subject to change as I progress.   And yes, I do have a lot of project instructions saved on the computer, but sometimes I just want to access them easier.

And you may remember I mentioned my printer not working like it should.  Well, I realized for the bit of printing that I do, Staples office supply store is my new friend at 10 cents a page.  Each page is on good quality paper, and I don't even have to think about ink running out.  I take in my little thumbdrive, along with a list of what I want printed, and its done.

In going through things in another part of the room, I came across the blocks from a swap that ithinksew (we all have our board names) hosted on the HGTV quilitng and sewing forum. This swap had to have been at least 5 years ago, so I thought it was time to do something with them.  I made a quick trip to a fabric store and got a yard for the sashing, and got started.

ithinksew made 2 blocks, and I also have blocks from solidgolddancer, quiltnanny, needprozac, byabasket, LisaP8, myjack, nr4crafts, and ball63. One block was the squares and triangles to make it, for us to assemble ourselves. At first as I was laying out the swapped blocks, I thought I was one short.  Then as I read the little note included, I saw her comment about finishing the one ourselves.  Its possible someone dropped out, but this worked out fine.

ithinksew gave us specific colors she wanted used in the quilt, such as apple green and purple, along with kind of a royal blue and deep red, all on a cream tone background.   Her last sentence in the little note mentioned that she would really love to see our finished quilts.  Sadly, ithinksew died almost a year ago.  I think she would have liked it.

While this ufo is not completed yet, I do feel better that it has progressed to this point from being a bunch of squares in a bag.  :)

Will I ever get my sewing room completely squared away?  Who knows.  I've already got another project going though.  Can't stifle my creativity when it decides to come visit!

Have a good week.

I learned a bit this week

Since I disconnected my U-Verse because I thought it was messing up, only to discover my television still doing the same thing afterwards, I knew it was time for a new television.  Things have changed quite a bit since the last time I bought one, and I'm so impressed with the flat screens being light weight enough that I can handle it.   David came by this morning and got the old tv out of the house for me, and I took it from there.

When I started on this journey, I only knew of the term "plasma" tv.  As I talked to a few knowledgeable people, I learned that for my needs (i.e. very few bells and whistles, I just want to get local channels and watch some dvds and Netflix) the choices were plasma, LCD, and LED LCD.  Plasma would be good for fast moving action, like a lot of sports activities.  The LED LCD is the newest technology, and of course with that distinction comes a higher price tag.  I didn't want to spend an arm and leg on this, so LCD worked out fine for me.

I thought of the 40" or 42", but quickly learned that compared to a 32" I would be spending 75-100% more.  Since I had a 32" previously and it worked fine, I decided to stay with that size.  Granted, the screen is now rectangular rather than square, so the picture is a bit wider and not quite as tall as what I was used to.  Overall though, I think it will work just fine for me.

Here's what I got:

See that little black rectangle on the side?  That's the antenna.  Things have changed from the old rabbit ears.

After I assembled this (all by myself!), I've watched a bit of local tv and one movie this afternoon.  I think it will work out just fine.

I mentioned previously that I got some shredding done earlier this week.  This morning I shredded another couple of bags, and tossed some miscellaneous papers

Next week I'll start keeping Elise again for the school year.  She stayed here Wednesday while David played golf with his dad, and we both liked the feel of being back in our routine.  While she was here I was able to finish a little top that was already cut out.  I've got a bit of adjusting to do on the straps, but it came out cute.



So that's it for now.  Have a good weekend everyone.  :) 

Ramblings on Sunday nite

Sigh. I've got a couple of nails in my tire, causing it to be low enough to trigger a sensor in my dash. I noticed the indicator light Friday, so when I left work I swung by a convenience store and put air in. The light went away, and I forgot about it over the course of a busy weekend. Then this afternoon, I noticed it was on again as I was coming home from Lily's birthday party (which was a lot of fun, by the way). By the time I stopped at the drug store and got back in my car, I forgot about it ... again. So tonite, a Sunday nite about 8:00, I remember and go out to see what I can find. As I aired up the tire, that's when I noticed the nail...then I noticed another one. Sheesh. Just let it stay aired up until 7:00 tomorrow morning when Wal-mart auto express opens.

Speaking of Lily's party, it was held at the Pump It Up. Young and older alike jumped up and down in the air bags and zoomed down the air bag slides, and a good time was had by all. I was able to remain unscathed as I designated myself photographer and stayed at the outer edges to try for the candid shots. A lot of the shots had red-eye, I don't know if it's because it was somewhat dark in there. But here are a few pics to share the fun. Ashlynn's party was Friday nite, but I didn't have my camera handy for that one.

I got more painting done on the outside of the house. Now I have the peak over my bedroom and the trim around the garage to do. I'll be really excited if I can finish it next weekend. Elizabeth was a big help in assisting me with the peak over the garage. I was hesitant to climb on the ladder for the tallest part since the driveway has a bit of an incline, so between the two of us and the extension on the paint handle, we got it. In other house news, I'm making inquiries on changing out the flooring. I'd love to have these two projects done and over with by September 1st. That's my intention. The flooring will be a biggie, because ideally I'd have some interior painting finished by the time it would go in. It will come together.