Okay, I'm hanging my head in shame. Can it really be May 21st? Anyway, it hasn't been as long as last time since I blogged. Not really sure that I'm cut out for blogging, but I'm trying.
I'm thinking of changing my house around. I need to do something to make it more appealing to myself. I used to love being in my little house, and puttering around, and I don't anymore. If I'm home alone (which I used to adore), I am usually doing laundry, reading in my room or working in the garden. I don't even move my stuff (meaning my collections) around anymore. So naturally I thought, "I should change the furniture around." Which led to, "I think I will move my sewing room back out into the den." Which led to, "I need a bookcase for my bedroom." So I guess this is what I'm going to be spending my vacation taking care of. I was going to go out of town for a couple days with mom, but I don't think I will since Brett will be leaving the following weekend, and I will miss him so much that I want to spend the time with him. He's pretty awesome.
In the spirit of making my house more appealing, I've been making a huge mess sorting through stuff in my bedroom. Why does this ALWAYS mean I have a bigger mess to clean up than I originally had? I really need to ruthlessly cull out my closet and dressers (that's right, I said DRESSERS). Ruthlessly. I also need to organize the absolutely ridiculous amount of shoes that I have accumulated. Ideas and suggestions are welcome.
A proposal that I and a coworker submitted to present at the Florida Association for the Education of Young Children was accepted so I will be shopping for a decent suit and sexy shoes soon. I'm kind of thinking red. Or purple. We will present a workshop on Implementing the Project Approach Across the Domains in September. This is a pretty big deal, and I'm pretty pleased with myself, I must say.
This weekend I will be working on building my potting bench. I have a bunch of reclaimed wood just waiting to be made into something wonderful. Why haven't I had the motivation to just do it? It won't even take that long, I think. I just need to do it. Maybe getting the house in order will inspire me. One can hope.
Well, I KNOW it's been a long time since I posted. And I KNOW that I should post more often. Work is stressful, home life is stressful, family stuff is stressful, do I need to go on?
Never mind, this post is going to be full of good news.
1. I paid off my car. This is wonderful because it will give me some financial ease that I've been needing.
2. Hand quilting--I'm at it again. I decided after finishing my yellow quilt that I would go back and finish my Hawaiian quilt. After all, who starts a ridiculous project like that (and I've STARTED several!) and doesn't finish it. Especially after researching all the traditions and superstitions about Hawaiian quilting; they are all so fascinating! So I looked and looked and LOOKED AND LOOKED some more for my quilt that I partially hand quilted (a yellow and white hibiscus quilt), and could not find it. SURELY no one would have THROWN IT OUT!!! I don't know what the heck I did with it, but I can't find it. I'm sure it's stashed somewhere super safe. So, that left me with no project to work on. So I did what all good quilters do...I started a new project! I made my own Hawaiian quilt pattern of the plumeria, which is my favorite of all the Hawaiian flowers. When we lived in Hawaii, we had a plumeria tree in our yard and it smelled like heaven. No exaggeration. So I drew out the pattern, and found a gorgeous green batik (I wish I could have found a pretty pink one, but the green is so pretty) and cut it out and basted the pattern on the background. I'm now working to hand applique (yes, that says HAND APPLIQUE--by HAND!) the batik onto the background. In accordance with Hawaiian tradition, I only work on it when I'm filled with good feelings because they get stitched into the quilt and stay there. It's kind of like my "putting good things out into the universe" theory. Can't wait to start hand quilting it, but I surely am enjoying the applique.
3. GRANDBABIES! Is there a more beautiful word in the English language? I think not. Pictures of my gorgeous girls to come.
4. Lasagna--I made the best lasagna of my life this weekend.
5. Brett is home. I miss him so much--I forget how awesome these people are that I made from scratch. He's funny and obnoxious and I adore him. And his wife.
6. I have a lovely vacation coming up. I took a week off of work, and I'm going to go to Leesburg with my mom for an extra long weekend that week.
That's all I have time to write about for now. More to come--much sooner than last time, I promise.
What is lunch with a fun friend worth? How about a friend who has NO reason to, but still comes to visit your preschool class wearing crazy socks to read a Dr. Seuss book (which we ALL know are completely difficult to read!) and then takes pictures of every child in your class and adds a Dr. Seuss App (see below) just to make the kids laugh? AND... lets everyone there call her Chicken Noodle? I'm one lucky girl.
Anyway, I finally finished the quilt, including binding it, that I have been hand quilting. It was so comfortable for me to take it back up. I'm looking for another project--maybe I will finally finish my Hawaiian quilt, who knows?
These are the pictures of the quilt. In the first one, you can kind of see the yellow blocks, then the gold ones at the bottom of the picture where she ran out of the first fabric and kept making them with another one. I added the other photo to show the hand quilting a little. I love this quilt. I feel a real connection with whoever made the top. I bound it with this weird yellow striped fabric that I had. It wasn't perfect, but I think the original maker would approve. She wouldn't have wanted me to go out and buy fabric to match.
I really need to think about how to make myself more organized. Or maybe I mean more efficient. I come home from work exhausted, which is not a surprise since I chase after 20 three-year-olds all day, eat dinner, then do a couple of things around the house, read a little, and go to bed. I'm missing out on getting a lot done during the week, then I have a lot to make up on the weekends, and this is not efficient. I've cut my cable out to just local channels, which I think is a good thing, so I'm not spending much time watching tv at all. I do love Netflix though. I just need to get a schedule maybe. Food for thought.
I'm going to be really busy for the next few weeks at work, which gives me a headache to think about. Note to self: TAKE TIME FOR PEDICURES!
As you may or may not know, my classroom is a magical place, at least for me. I might be the tiniest bit competitive (THAT WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT!), and I like to feel like my class is pretty wonderful. It may not be the very best, but I love it. It's pretty uncluttered as preschool classrooms go, and I think our centers are pretty awesome. It's my own personal Queendom, and I'm totally comfortable there. I wanted to share with you a picture of the art wall that is on display right now. We are learning about Great Artists and how they create their art. We have so far learned about Picasso and Monet and will be learning about Anne Geddes, Andy Warhol, and Henri Matisse. We will be trying out all their types of art also, but here's what we've done so far.
This is the art that my little pumpkins (3 YEAR OLDS!!!) did. They totally get it. Maybe because nobody has told them that they can't do things yet. They just do it. I think they make masterpieces.
I've been hand quilting in the evenings lately (I probably posted about this last time), but what I'm working on is an old quilt that I bought at a yard sale maybe 16 years ago in Texas. I got it for $4 and it's kind of twin sized, in solid yellow and muslin. The woman I bought it from said her grandmother made it "a long time ago" and never finished it. It's very graphic and I love it. When she ran out of the yellow she was using, she still had a couple of blocks to go, so she got some other yellow, more gold to finish it up. Very thrifty. I smile every time I work on this quilt. I had started quilting it a long time ago, and put it away, but I sure am enjoying it now. I have about 2 1/2 blocks still to quilt, and a little of the border, and it looks pretty good. When I take a picture I will post it.
I suck as a blogger. It's a good thing I'm making my living elsewhere. I do love to write, but I don't remember sometimes. Sue me.
Okay, that wasn't much of an apology, but since I only have one follower anyway, I don't think it matters too much--I know she'll forgive me for my bad behavior.
On to the real information. . .
It's Valentine's Day and I'm very happy today. My little valentines were so sweet, all telling me how much they love me and it was a lovely day. We even had a healthy snack that they made themselves--Valentine's Trail Mix. Heart Healthy. I got LOTS of chocolate, which I don't need, and LOTS of hugs, which I do need. Kaleigh is out with friends so I'm spending V-Day with the person I love most in the world--ME! (Not sure this is really true, but poetic license and all that.)
I've been thinking about this year, and what it means to me, and I think it's going to be my lucky year. It is the year of the snake, and I was born the year of the snake, so that means it's lucky for me. I need to wear red a lot. I also had a ladybug land on my shirt yesterday on the playground and it stayed there for a long time and then flew away, so that is good luck too. Also, I am going to MAKE it my lucky year. I just have to decide what that looks like.
I have been hand quilting for the last week or so, and I forgot how relaxing it is and how much I love it. I'm not going to do that again. I also forgot that when I hand quilt, I don't have to feel bad about watching trashy tv (Honey Boo Boo) because I am actually accomplishing something. I'm all about the win-win. My fingers are pleasantly sore, and my thimble finger is discolored from my favorite brass thimble. (Yes, I do have a very expensive, fancy silver one with the fingernail area cut out, but the cheap brass one is my most favorite--the heart wants what the heart wants.)
In reading over my blog, I realize that I use a lot of parentheses for things I want to comment on--why do I do that? I could just comment, it IS my blog, after all.
The rain outside sounds so peaceful and lovely, there is no noise going on in the house except for Lucy licking her lips, she is truly disgusting.
I know this was a short post, but I just want to go take a bath, read and maybe drink a little wine. Lovely.
I'm a very happy girl tonight. It's Christmas night, and Kaleigh and I have had a perfectly LOVELY Christmas. We ended up having our family Christmas party at our house--Mom just wasn't ready for that kind of crazy yet--and it turned out very nice.
My big girl got married on Friday, December 21. She looked gorgeous. I wish I could have been there, but I can't dwell on that too much. Brett and her dad were there, so that's good, I guess. And Bianca, who spent the day telling her how pretty she looked. I'm so proud of her.
I still have a week off work, and I'm going to do some serious purging and organizing. Maybe a room a day. Tomorrow is my bathroom. I really need to pare down the amount of makeup I hoard... I mean keep on my counter. It's kind of ridick. I also need to weed out my old yucky towels and maybe I'll go crazy and buy some nice new ones.
I'm also going to wash my new flannel sheets that my mom (a woman after my heart) got me for Christmas and get my nice, clean, fresh-smelling new ones on my bed. Yea!
Last year was the year of embracing the Amie, what will next year be? What will be different? What do I want to keep doing? I've been thinking about this, but the thoughts just roll around. I can't make them gel. I guess I still have a few days to think and process my ideas.
I can't believe it's been a month since I posted. Forgive me. I have lots to say about Kaleigh and her trials and tribulations, but not today.
It's the end of Thanksgiving weekend, and my lovely week off from work ( and it was LOVELY!), and I'm ready to get back to my regular life.
This week didn't really work out the way I intended, I started out by ALLOWING MYSELF to get all stressed about Christmas and what I DON'T have (an unlimited amount of money) instead of what I DO have (a huge stockpile of fabric, quilt tops, yarn and general craft know-how). I was unhappy that I couldn't go out and shop on Black Friday, of all things. I do this to myself every year, stress over the gifts and how I can't visit my ducklings, etc., and every year I swear this year will be different. So I was very disappointed with myself for letting myself do this and not putting a stop to it earlier. This is not what Thanksgiving and Christmas should be about.
So around Tuesday or so I decided that I needed an attitude adjustment, and I would spend some time in my sewing room making things for presents. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! I'm feeling so much better--let me give you a run-down of all that I have piled in front of me here. I'm not a materialistic person, so I don't know why the holidays stress me this way, but it's stopping now.
I've already been knitting stockings (smallish ones for my work study students), and I will add spa things to them. (My idea is fluffy socks, nail polish, bath teas, and maybe some peppermint foot scrub.) They are pink and sparkly at the top--truly fabulous. My camera isn't really working right now, I think I need a new battery so I will try to take some pictures tomorrow at work and put them on here then. The bath teas are already made with herbs--lavender and rosemary--that I dried earlier in the season (with no idea what I would use them for), and sewn into little fabric pocket bags. You just throw them into the bath and take them out when you are finished.
I kept knitting the stockings since they are so easy and now I have a whole set for my nieces and nephews to fill with dollar store stuff--they will be thrilled.
While my mom was sick, I've been working on a quilt for her, it's hearts and snowballs, and it just needs to be quilted, and it's ready. She swears she's hosting the Christmas Eve party as per usual, so I will have it ready then. No picture until quilted.
I had already made some fabric alphabet letter sets for my grandchildren, so I will send those out along with a few little other things for them.
Hillarie requested a Christmas tree skirt in 30's fabrics, so I whipped one up for her with a pink ruffle as requested. It's truly gorgeous. I asked daughter in law if she had a nice tree skirt and she said she had a cheap store-bought one, which will never do. They all (Brett's family, Hillarie's family and Tristan) already have quilted stockings from me from last year, so I am making her a tree skirt with plaids. The top is done, I just need to quilt it. This one will be so much easier since it has no ruffle (I HATE RUFFLES!).
I found a crap-ton of antique quilt blocks that I am really never going to use, and a few other not-so-antique blocks so I decided to make potholders out of them. They are so cute. I will give these to my friends, my assistant and my sister, along with some homemade treats that Kaleigh and I like to make and maybe a small cookbook or kitchen towels.
In addition, I have a bunch of bags that I made from vintage (not sure about the statute of limitations on vintage, I'm using the term more for descriptive purposes) pillowcases that I've found at Goodwill. They are adorable.
I promised my oldest grandson a gift card from Barnes & Noble for Christmas after he told me how much he likes to read--far be it for me to argue with that!
I am also working on knitting some market bags for gifts, but I need to figure out how to finish them--they are pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Below is a partially knitted bag.
So I'm feeling pretty good tonight, I will continue to work on little things, and I'd like to find something that I can make for Kaleigh, but she wants so little that I can't come up with anything--maybe pajamas.
My house smells awesome, I'm making turkey stock with the turkey carcass (such a lovely word) and a ton of vegetables, and I have some of William Sonoma scent simmering on the stove too. The tree is up, and Christmas music is playing quietly in the background. Am I a lucky girl or what? Now THAT, my friends, is an attitude adjustment. I think I'll go knit for awhile, and think about how thankful I am that I didn't have to go out on Black Friday.
