Well, I've been plugging away at my whole cloth.  I'm learning to do the very small background filler quilting that makes unquilted areas really pop.  I've finished the center and am in the outer edges.  The edges have a feather motif quilted into them and I'm putting in this tiny quilting around it so the feathers will pop.  Now that I'm this far along, I've decided to add a border in a different color to the front and to the back of the quilt.  I added a border to a quilt at the last minute last year and figured out how to make it work out successfully. 

The quilt is a real test of my skills...and I'm having a ball.  I can't believe how fast it is going, even with all the ripping.  And, yes, there has been a lot of ripping.  It took me a while to figure out what filler pattern to use and so I'd put something in, hate it, rip it out and try something else.  Finally, last night I was able to do the pattern well enough and found a way to quilt it in so that it gave the background some movement and in about 45 mintues, I had filled in what was left of an 8 inch square. 

Yesterday was the kid's first day back at school and da man is sick again and staying home.  Oh, how I wish I could have stayed home with him.  I could have quilted all day, I think.  I added a link to Diane Gaudynski's website at right if you're interested in seeing examples of what I'm trying to do.  Right now, she's my machine quilting hero. 

Y'all take care and stay warm.  I'll be reading your blogs.  BTW, Riet, I sent you a message through the blog about cutting the blockcentral BOM in half.  Let me know if you have trouble with it.  Lane

Well, it's just a top right now.  I can't think of what I want to quilt in it yet, but I did get a picture taken.  This is from a kit that I bought early last summer, so some of you have seen the first pic.  There were three pieces of fabric between 1.5 and 2 yards long and each piece of fabric had four shades of a color (4 shades of blue, 4 of brown, and 4 of green).  You cut each shade strip out, then cut those strips into the pieces for the quilt.  As you can see from the quilt, the largest strips are of the darkest shades, so I have a lot of lights and mediums left over. 

And, here's the quilt top.  The colors came out much better in this photo than the photo of tyhe fabrics. 

There are 36 blocks and each block is one quarter of a log cabin block.  Because you've made the log cabin in quarters, you can substitute in other colors to make them look like the overlap.  I love it, and left it hang in the sewing room until I can decide whether to give it a border (not inclined to) and what to quilt in it (thinking about something borderlike in each 1.5 inch finished strip.)

While I was deciding what to do with that, I put together a whole cloth skills piece.  In late 2006, I'd just bought my bernina and started machine quilting and wanted to make a whole cloth quilt that was the best I could do at the time.  It's a real mess.  But, I've kept it and it stays out in my sewing room, either on the wall or draped across a piece of furniture and look at it and celebrate how far I've come.  In my cmas quilt, I want to try some heirloom quilting in the large blank spaces, but was not sure if my skills were up to it, so I decided to make another whole cloth quilt with the same quilting stencil to see what I could do.  Well, it's coming out really great and I'm thinking about hanging the two next to one another and making another one about every two years to see how much I've improved by then.  I'm down to the background filler quilting now and I've tried a couple of things and not been happy and ripped them out.  I'm going to try Diane Gaudynski and Karen MacTavish's websites to see if I can get some inspiration from their photos.  If anybody has any other quilters that are doing that type of tiny detail quilting, let me know and I'll check out their work too.

I'm back at work today.  There's plenty of stuff to keep me busy.  I'm feeling better.  It was a very slow weekend (chore a little, rest a little, quilt a little, nap).  On NY day, da man and the kid took down all the decorations.  I sat at the dining table and packed all the ornaments into the boxes.  Hey, it was a contribution, right?  They did a great job and now all those boxes are sitting in the garage floor waiting to be moved to the attic.  I put my foot down at helping do that while I was sick.  For the first time, we used all the lemons and oranges we grew this year on our little trees.  They were sliced and squeezed into tea.  But, we're all on the mend and moving slowly into 2009.  Y'all take care and we'll talk soon.  Lane

Well, I managed to squeeze one more out over the last couple of days.  I did okay so long as I sat straight up, which was awkward marking, but sitting to quilt was okay.  I'm still miserable.  It was work a few minutes, rest a few minutes, and as soon as it came out of the dryer, I was under it and snuggled like a bug in a rug.  The colors in the quilt didn't come out in the photo very well, but you can see them better in the shot of the border fabric that is below it.  The border fabric is a batik that's multi colored dye and then that black double wedding ring pattern printed on it.  I stumbled up on a bin of 50 cent fat quarters and bought a half dozen.  I wanted to use them together and I added two more.  I just ironed them and stacked them and cut them at the same time.  Then I took a stack and moved the top fabric to the bottom of the stack and the next stack, I took off two and moved them to the bottom and so on until I had 8 blocks of all the same size and shaped pieces, and no fabric used in the same shape in two blocks or a color repeated in a block (did that make sense or did my cold medicine just kick in?)  Anyway, it's going to be this year's linus pattern, but those I'll tie instead of quilting.  It was very simple. 

We've had a good 2008 and we're looking forward to 2009.  We've had the kid about 16 months and life has gone from boring routine to after school concerts and algebra homework.  We had a rough year as we all learned to live together, but I can happily say that things have gotten much better in the last few months.  I think we finally convinced her that it's worth the extra effort to be happy.  We've had two sets of birthdays, two Tgivings, two cmas's, and now, two new years.  We were a couple, now we're a family.  Funny how things change in unexpected ways.

So, here's to 2009.  May the economy get better, and may the price of fabric go down.  Thank God we're all together and I'm so glad I have this set of frinds on the blog.  Y'all take care and have a great and healthy new year.  Stay safe and stay warm.  Lane

They don't feel like quilting.  That is the true test.  And, I don't even feel like quilting.  So, I'm planning a day of still and quiet.  Fortunately, there looks to be good TV today and we all know how much I love to sleep through TV. 

Someone asked if this was our first cmas with the kid.  It was our second.  The first was fun, but the second was so much better.  We knew what to expect from one another and the only thing that worried me was that she didn't have as big a cmas this year as last.  Last year, we had grandma here so there would be someone she was familiar with over the holiday.  This year it was just the three of us and a friend and her sons for lunch.  Last year, she needed so many things and we used cmas as the chance to give her many of them.  But, this year was a more normal cmas holiday...fewer gifts and more about the family being together than the gifts. 

I got the binding on my quilt yesterday, and am cuddled up under it, but trying not to wrinkle it because I want to add some quilting in the blocks.  One more 2007 quilt to bind and then I can proceed into the new year. 

Okay, so now it's time for a little breakfast and then some more rest.  I have to decide whether to keep the kid here and let her take care of me for a change, or send her to daycare and let her play...hmmm, I need to teach her to make the lemon tea, huh? 

y'all take care and I'll check back in later.  Lane

Well, da man had it.  Then, the kid had it.  And, now, I have it.  Don't know what it is, but it apparently makes you feel like poop and has an extremely nasty sounding cough, so it's a good thing I saved a few lemons for me. 

I got my cuddle quilt quilted and am hand sewing the binding down now.  It has lots of open spaces and I've thought about filling them in with quilting, which would be very good practice on my free motion, free hand quilting...but I'm just not feeling up to it right now.  More feeling like cuddling under the quilt on the sofa and watching something so boring on TV that it will send me right to sleep.  But, the kid has a dentist appt today and da man and I have therapy this afternoon.  I'll be resting between. 

Other than the two of them not feeling well, our holiday went swimmingly.  I got a few fat quarters and a quilting book.  In the quilting book was a pattern for an apron.  To say thanks for the book, I made the apron for the kid.  She didn't take it off all day yesterday.  Hey, every new cook needs an apron, right?  I told her that it was to protect her school clothes while she learns to cook, but she was more worried about getting a stain on the apron than on the school clothes.  Hopefully the new will wear off soon.   

Y'all take care and I'll try to get some pictures of my quilt up later today.  In the meantime, have a great Monday.  I'll be taking it easy and getting ready to go back to work tomorrow...nasty cough and all.  Lane

A really big pj day!  Well, they didn't know they were giving it to me, but they did.  And, they don't know it yet, but they're giving me another one tomorrow.  I have told them I'm not cooking until Sunday, so they should be prepared.  Da man has been sick for a few days, but is getting better and the kid is getting it now, so it's been a pleasure keeping them in lemon tea, but it's still working...guess the old remedies still work.

Anyway, the pudding was heavy and dense and is probably going to get thrown away.  But, it was fun trying to get it to burn, and everyone was nice and tried to eat their piece, but I won't do it again. 

Today, I've spent the day piecing a quilt for me.  My own little cuddle quilt...if it gets cold here again.  Anyway, it's pieced, and pin basted.  I'm going to try to start quilting after while.  Remember, it's pajama day.

Lane

Hi, all.  Just thought I'd pop in and show of a couple of pics.  The presents are done and now we're listening to Aretha sing carols. 

Here are the kid's slippers.  I finished them this morning and she just told me how warm they are.  I actually had to send her back to bed to get the time to finish them. 

And, here is our breakfast.  Time to go tuck into this cinnamon, sugar, bread, raisins and walnut treat. 

And, for some reason I went insane and decided to try a traditional cmas pudding (we try out something we've always heard about every year), so this very heavy cake steamed for 7 hours yesterday, but it smells delicious.  I guess I originally missed the part of the instructions that said to make it a month ago.  They never said that in A Christmas Carol....  It always looked like she'd just taken it out.  But, we're still going to give it a try and I'm even going to try to set it afire.  If it's good, we'll enjoy it and if it isn't, we'll have a good laugh. 

Y'all have a wonderful Christmas Day and God Bless Us, Every One.  Lane

We've been discussing whether today is the first day of Cmas or the 12th day.  I'm sticking with 12, but if anybody knows, I'll have the answer next time before I stick my neck out. 

I did burn a little midnight oil, but I finished the cowboy quilt.  Yeah!!!!  Here are some pics.  We just finished a big shrimp fettucini dinner and I've got dishes to do, pull-apart bread to make and a few packages to wrap.  Looks like I might be burning a little of that midnight oil tonight. 

Y'all have a great Cmas and I'll check back in during the day tomorrow.  Lane

The quilt:

A paper pieced boot:

Some applique.  The piece this cowboy came from wasn't large enough, so I moved him to something else. 

The top border is hats, and the bottom is boots.

Well, if a busy boy is a happy boy, then I should be in ecstacy by now.  It's been such a busy weekend, getting those last minute things done.  I got most of the quilting done on the cowboy quilt.  Watch for pictures soon.  (I'm about as far as Erin, but don't have to mail this one.)  I also got my family's package all packed and ready for FedEx to drop...uhm, I mean ship.  Before I packed it all up, I remembered to get pictures of my dad's quilt.  This is a McKenna Ryan pattern, and is one block from one of her larger quilts.  I enjoyed it and have another of her patterns I want to try in 2009. 

I went through my pictures to see if there was anything I'd forgotten to post.  I made this little snowman top last year.  He was my first piece of fusible web applique.  He never got finished because 1) he needs arms and they weren't in the picture, so I'm going to have to free hand them and just haven't gotten to that and 2) the fusible makes him so stiff, I'll never be able to quilt through him (guess I used the wrong kind?).  Anyway, I like him and one day, I will get around to doing something with him.  He came from a coloring book that I traced on a clear sheet protector and projected on the wall to blow up to about 24x16. 

Y'all take care and I'll be sure and post updates on the cowbow quilt.  If you've finished all your holiday projects, please keep your fingers crossed that the rest of us get everything finished that we're hoping for.  Lane

Oh, my.  I'm ashamed.  I really haven't taken the time to learn about our new blog and when I sent a message to Shirley, I was routed back to my full inbox, so if you sent me a message through the blog and are wondering why I haven't written back, it's not because I'm a snob, I promise.  I'm working my way through them now and will try to get back to everyone soon.  As bad as I am about computers, I've stopped randomly clicking buttons and just missed this feature. 

While I'm here, there's one more picture from the village.  This one is the farm.  Of course, every victorian village has to have one, or nobody eats.  And, yes, the animals get moved around, too.  Last night, I found a bull roaming around the church.  I later learned he had escaped his pen and was scaring the carolers.  Check out the outhouse.  Both our grandparents had one, although neither one was painted red, so we just had to have this one when we found it.  See Santa, flying above the barn?

Yesterday, my work group went to two wine tastings and then to dinner.  We had a great time.  I got to taste (just a sip) of about 12 wines.  It was a lot of fun, and because a tasting is just a few sips, everyone behaved themselves very well.  I was nominated as a designated driver.  I guess I have a reputation for being the sober one and last night, found out I was selected as the second most likely to taste and then pour the rest out.  The first most likely is a wine connoisseur that doesn't drink anything cheaper than $40 a bottle.  He poured out a lot, many after just a smell.  Now, even to me, that seemed wasteful. 

Take care and we'll talk soon.  Lane

Okay, here goes.  I'll try not to be the scrooge, but no promises.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?    Wrapping paper.  We each have our own roll in a different color, so you can tell who the gift is from.

2. Real tree or Artificial?  Artificial

3. When do you put up the tree?  Black Friday (Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving).  I'm sure not leaving the house that day!

4. When do you take the tree down?  New year's eve

5. Do you like eggnog?  Not commercial eggnog.  Had a recipe where you pasteurized the eggs that I loved, but it has been lost.  Haven't had any in years.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?  Warm coveralls to go hunting with my dad when I was about 9.  I never was able to kill much, but did have some really good times over the years walking through the woods with him in the wee morning hours.

7. Hardest person to buy for?  Da man.  He has very exact specifications, so it's just easier to make him a quilt every year. 

8. Easiest person to buy for?   ME!  And the kid...

9. Nativity Scene? Yes.  My grandmother made a ceramic one for my mom and many years ago, I found one made from the same set of molds, and grabbed it.  Ohh, nostalgia.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?   I have unopened boxes and boxes to show my good intentions, but got discouraged when people stopped sending them in return.

17. Favorite Christmas song?  Oh, Holy Night.  There was a soprano in our church choir that used to sing it every year and still, hearing a great soprano sing that one accapela will bring me to tears.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home?  STAY HOME!  Why ruin such a special day with crazy people!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?  Absolutely, but only if I sing them and only in order.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?  Big red shiny pointed ornament

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?  One on the eve and the rest on the morn.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?  The pressure I put myself under to get everything done and perfect.

23. What theme or color are you using?  Every color and the gaudier the better.  It's the one time I think it's okay to be as gaudy as I want to be.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?  Ham and scalloped potatoes

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Food for every person, a better economy, and for my retirement account to recover before I need it!

Here are a few more pics of our house all decked out for the season.  We have a ceiling beam and every year, I hang a garland along it and we decorate it with red ornaments...about 150 ornaments...and I have been hanging them all from a ladder.  I put a quarter of them in a basket, climb up, hang some, move the ladder, refill the basket...you get the picture.  This year, I said it's my last year.  We're only doing this again if we can rig a pulley system that will let me decorate the garland on the floor and then lift it. 

And, here's our tree.  My mom started an ornament collection for me when I was 5 and added to it until I was in my 30's when she gave it to me.  She wrote the year on each one, so there's a record of what I got and when.  I've added to it since then, and now have enough ornaments to cover the tree.  There are angels, and drummers and carolers and glass shiny things with beads, and some styrofoam balls that are covered with red thread and then have beads from my aunt's costume jewelry pinned to them.  We started an ornament collection for the kid last cmas, which was our first cmas together.  She doesn't have 11 yet (one for each year), but we're getting there. 

Last night, I stayed up late getting the cowboy quilt basted and this morning, I got the first line of quilting done.  Hey, it ain't much, but finally it's started.  And, we wrapped a few gifts last night.  If you don't have the Scotch giftwrap cutter and the tape dispenser that fits on your hand, you should look into them.  I scoffed when I saw them, but now that I've used them, I think they're great.  We found them half price and it was definitely worth it. 

I guess that's all that is going on.  Today is the kid's last day of school for two weeks and they're going to party all day long.  And, I didn't even get a sigh when I asked her to do dishes last night, so my strike seems to have been effective.  There are just a few more pics to post.  I'll try to get them up over the next couple of days.  Take care and have a great Thursday!  Lane

Okay, so we've moved from the victorian era to the 1950's.  Of course, in the 50's, everyone was perfect.  No one got into trouble, everyone obeyed the law, and everybody helped little old ladies cross the street...Right!  There aren't many folks in this town, so there's not nearly as much to get up to.  But, I have found them all huddled around the TV shop, watching Charlie Brown's Christmas before.  There's also a little airstream travel trailer on another table, where some folks are camping.  This little village came from JoAnn's a couple of years ago and has been discontinued, so the town can't grow.  But, I think it is at least as cool as the victorian village. 

I have not had a minute to sew.  I did knit a pair of slippers for me and one for the kid to keep our toes-ies warm.  I'm already wearing mine and hers are for a cmas gift, so she's bugging me to make her a pair.  Told her to ask Santa. 

We've been having a lot of complaining about doing chores, so the other night, I put my foot down and decided that if she didn't want to do her chores, she didn't have to.  And, I wouldn't do mine either.  She lasted exactly 23 and one half hours before she caved and agreed to stop complaining about having to do dishes.  And, I went back to helping with homework.  All is peaceful in Austin again.

Take care and have a great day.  Tomorrow, I turn in my $5 quilt top to "win a prize".  We'll see what that will be.  And, after that, we have a company event for the whole afternoon.  Should be a busy day.  Why isn't there an I in TEAM?  I'd rather spend my team event sewing.  But, for some reason, nobody on my team wants to watch me.  Lane

Okay, somehow I managed to only post two of the three pics of the village last night.  So, this pic is still in that town.  And, here is a picture of the new sofa.  I'm busy as all get out at work today, but I hope to post a short note this afternoon with more village pics.  The story line is what makes the village worth it for me.  Usually, I'm looking for the fisherman, the boat captain, or the nun as they are the ringleaders in the town.  I think the boat captain is also the mayor.  And, the fisherman is always in trouble.  The nun runs the village carolers that are always out singing...always.  There are about 60 people in all, so they can get up to a lot in a single holiday season.

Y'all take care.  It's going to be another busy week and another busy weekend.  Lane

See why it was worth the wait?  We just love it.  the old one was deep and very soft.  This one is much more firm and MUCH more comfortable to sit on.

I've been on here uploading pics for a while.  I can't post them all or you wouldn't be able to open the post, so I'm going to dole them out a few at a time.  And, there are more in the camera.

I know some of you have villages.  Well, we've gone hog wild.  It started with a lighthouse my mom sent da man.  And, this is what it has grown into.  We have special cabinets built to hold parts of it that are stored in the attic between the seasons.  We've even gone so far as to buy village pieces for other holidays.  But, that was when we had disposable income for that.  Oh, and this is just one of the towns...

And, we'll visit another town tomorrow.  Incidentally, the people actually go places.  I have to keep up with the story every year as people go from one place to another, or all congregate together for a special event, like caroling.  da man sure gets a kick out of doing it and we never know what's going to happen next.

Lane

Wow, what a very busy weekend.  We did get the new sofa and the guy came and took the old one.  I finished my dad's quilt friday night and put in the last binding stitches on saturday.  Of course, it's the one thing we didn't take a pic of.  I also finished the cowboy quilt top.  Now, I just need to baste it and start quilting.  I've even made the paper quilting templates to pin on it and quilt through.  But, before I can quilt, I have to clear off a space.  I didn't think about how much it would be in the way when I put a tree on the table I use to extend my machine quilting surface.  Oh, well.  It's going to quilt quick when I get started and I'm already ahead on it.  I should be able to pin baste it in the next couple of nights and hope to start before next Friday night. 

And, on Sunday, we baked 16 jar cakes.  Half are chocolate with a praline type frosting poured in over the hot cake that soaks in...don't it just make your mouth water??? and the others are an apple spice cake that we sampled last night that was FANTASTIC!  People are really going to appreciate getting just a small serving of something sweet and this is a great way for my family to have cake once in a while (because I won't bake a whole cake and let it go to waste).  And, it will be good for single people, too.  I had a huge list of stuff to accomplish yesterday and got to everything, even the ironing and cooking.  And, all our shopping is through.

Today, I'm going to get to just sit around and work my mind.  Y'all take care and I'll leave you with a pic of the kid's pink cmas tree.  When we saw the tree at a garage sale, we all had to have it.  Her bathroom is papered in a pink rose wallpaper and this just really steps the gaudy up a few notches.  She loves it and turns it on whenever she can.  Pink tree, pink ornaments, pink topper, pink garland, pink lites.  I can't even go in the room anymore without breaking out in a pink rash.  Lane

Everybody is sharing links to stuff they've found online.  I have one I want to share.  I met this lady at a quiltshow and she was busily hand sewing hexagon blocks together.  They had her small booth smashed between two larger vendors and I thought she was working in one of them.  The kid pointed out that she and I were both working on hexagon quilts and that brought us together for a conversation.  Turns out she has this great idea where you use a rubber stamp to put the shape on the back of the fabric, cut it out, and then sew along the stamped lines to piece it together.  It works for machine or hand piecing and the stamps come in a variety of sizes.  I had already started my hexagons as english paper piecing or I would have considered her idea (I have hundreds of paper hex's already cut out, so why waste them???)  But, I'm thinking of buying her stamp to make an apple core quilt.  I know...I'm not supposed to be buying.  But, if I don't find an easy way to piece some quilts, I'm never going to use up any of my fabric and never going to get to buy guilt-free again...woe is me...alas and alack! 

http://www.bykate.com/shapes.html

Anyway, I'm quilting my dad's deer quilt this weekend.  I have to finish it by next Tuesday to get it in the mail, but I'm going to try to finish by Sunday and send it early. 

And, on a happy note, our new sofa is finally in (only 3 weeks late).  We're going to pick it up tomorrow morning.  And, the man is supposed to come by tonight to pick up the old one.  Hate to see it go as it still has more years in it than I thought before I cleaned and repaired it.  But, by the time I'd done that, we were committed and the new one was paid for. 

Y'all take care.  I know we're all going to be crafting away this weekend as the holiday approaches.  I'm also going to be baking cakes in a jar this weekend (thanks Moll!) along with a ton of last minute preparations.  Lane

Okay, anybody that doesn't want to use "when h*** freezes over" can use "when it snows in TX".  But, if you use that one, you'll have to pay off about every 8 years.  We had a nice little snow shower last night that stuck to roofs and on leaves, but didn't stick to the ground.  The car had a nice little ice over and of course, we don't have scrapers.  And, the wind is blue cold...and, of course, by the time the sun was up enough to take pictures, the snow was gone.  Ahh, Texas weather.

This north wind seems to have affected my frustration level and I spent the morning stomping around in a mood that no one wanted to interrupt.  But, I perked up and now I'm here, sifting through all the things I need to accomplish today and looking forward to a day that should pass very fast.  Then, I can go home and get some quilting done.  I think my family is going to get to feed themselves tonight and I'm pretty excited about that thought.  My boss is working on my evaluation and asked me for three things I want to do next year.  I wonder what he would think if I said, piece, applique and quilt.  Probably wouldn't get that, so I guess I better think of things they want to pay me to do. 

Take care, stay warm, quilt a lot, and enjoy Wednesday...it is wednesday, isn't it?  It had better be.  Lane

Work, work, work.  Bills, bills, bills.  Work, work, work.  It's a circle.  At least we have a hobby to break up the monotony, right? 

I'm still working on the cowboy quilt because I realized that I can't really do anything else until it is off the floor.  So, I'm knocking out the last couple of details and then I can assemble blocks.  On some of the applique of printed cowboys I cut out, I realized that I had these tiny threads of rope and the fusible was not going to keep them down very long.  So, I decided to satin stitch over them in a brown thread.  That's working out well, and after that's done, I can continue assembling.  I hope to get all the blocks together before one sticks to the bottom of my foot and ends up in the wrong column.  I guess I'm going to have to break down and make a design wall.  Ugghh.

I've been inspired to download a book to my mp3 player to listen to at work and while sewing.  I've recently seen both movie versions of Great Expectations, so I spent several hours on Sunday hunting down a downloadable version.  I couldn't find a free one that was unabridged, so I bought one.  Last night, I tried to download it to the mp3 player and guess what?  incompatible with my brand.  I'm going to have to listen to it from my laptop, so that limits my listening time to when I'm home.  Okay, still do-able.  I put another book on my mp3 for work and now am all set...if I can keep them separate in my head.

Bought a c'mas present that looks great!  It's a book called Help...I married a quilter by Mark Hyland.  I bought it off his wife's website and it only cost $12 with shipping.  Thought I'd share in case there's anyone else out there who needs a stocking stuffer that looks like it's going to be hilarious.  He redefines the quilting terms that we toss about in layman's terms and discusses the joy of fabric shopping (i.e. holding bolts while we shop). 

Take care and have a great Tuesday.  Lane

The kid picked a science project I know something about.  We had a rocky start when she started having to write things down, but she got in a better mood when I handed her the rotary cutter.  She's going to do an experiment to measure the effect of laundering on fabric dye.  We bought three pieces of rich colored fabric and I cut them in 4.5" strips and serged the edges.  We put them in a lingerie bag and started washing.  After each of the first couple of loads, we're cutting off a square, serging the end and washing again.  Later, we'll start cutting off a piece after every 5 loads.  I'll be sure to keep you posted as we go.  She got really excited when she found out it would be easy, involved sewing and the rotary, and most of the work would be done by da man, who does our laundry.  And, it only took a little leading to get her there...and maybe a little tugging.

I got all the blocks finished for the cowboy quilt and it is laying out in the sewing room floor, ready to sew together.  And, we got almost all of our c'mas shopping done over the weekend.  We decided it was not worth trying to keep secrets, so we got to pick out our own presents, that were paid for by the giver and taken for wrapping by the giver.  We get to see it again on the big day.  Da man and I did this a couple of years ago between ourselves and it worked perfectly.  We toss in a couple of surprises at the end and everybody smiles.  The kid seems to be getting into it, too, but this could lead to problems that morning...

Girl scouts didn't go over so well.  She wouldn't talk to any of the girls in the troup she was assigned to and tried to cling to me.  I stayed with her for about an hour, then some girls from school showed up and I got to leave.  Went back an hour later and they were just breaking up.  I was the bad guy because she thought she could squeeze out a few more ornaments before I got there and because I made her give some of the best ones to charity, but I survived it.  I am dad.  I am strong.  We'll see if she still wants to join in a couple of weeks when they meet next.

I'm making apple spice cake in a jar to send friends and family.  Molly, thanks for that idea.  And, I've got a few more home made gifts going.  But, I'm well on the way for someone that was so easily distracted.  Take care and I'll check back in later.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Lane