Get that Dog a Quilt...

Ginger, the diabetic cake eating dog, is skinny as rails and has no body fat.  She frequently snuggles under, on top of, or up to anyone and anything she can.  I took the sofa cover off today to wash it with her inside.  She wouldn't get out and I felt bad when I had to make her move so I got a replacement blanket to cover her up with.  I think she needs her own quilt....

I would be almost done with this quilt and met the deadline, but I decided to add borders.  I went for blocks since I didn't want to piece fabric strips because I don't like how that looks and I didn't have enough of the purple paisley left to not have to piece.  I don't want to spend any more money on this quilt except for the batting so I'm making do.  I really wanted to add a small border of a fabric and then add the border of blocks, but that would have made the border block sizes and the MATH way too interesting.  The border blocks are Bow Tie blocks.

Sarah still likes it and C, too, but I'll keep my comments to myself.  (I see a possible fight brewing.)  Those that are thinking what was she thinking with those fabric choices and the pattern choice.... are probably right.

The Lantern Project

Too many times I say I want to make a quilt for charity.....and then don't!

Maybe this little project is more my speed?

10" blocks with yellow fabric.  I can do that!!

The Lantern Project

Too bad the color isn't purple.

Purple Haze

I'm seeing purple in my sleep....

The parts are all pieced.  I've promised myself that I will not move any of the blocks around.

Pizza Wars

I seem to have a lot to say lately......  It's a good thing for me to write.  A lot can happen in just one day.

And, you thought you were done hearing about cake.

M did replace my cake.  He went to another King Soopers.  What is it about bakers?  The past couple of years I have tried to get what I want after years of birthday cakes with frosting that I scrape off so I figure why not just get a plainish cake.  I like white cake with whippy frosting.  That's it!!!!  No decorations, colored icing, candy, sprinkles, roses....NOTHING.  When my mom ordered my cake last year, the bakery person did everything they could to talk her into putting something, anything, on the cake.  My mom won to the baker's chagrin.  M tried to do the same thing and ended up first with a cake with the wrong kind of frosting.  The second time he ended up with a cake that had been airbrushed with pink stuff, candy, balloons, and purple edging frosting.  Oh, well!

I had to lop the edge of the cake off this afternoon because after having a bit of a snack, I didn't push the box back far enough and hide it behind something so Ginger helped herself to it.  I won't be eating any more off that side and am reserving it for M.

I offered to fix dinner last night, but no one was interested in the chicken I was going to cook.  M offered to splurge on pizza.  Easy, right?  OF COURSE NOT!  All of the kids like different pizza..... and just about refuse to eat certain kinds or eat with complaint.  I'll eat any kind if it means I don't have to cook and there is a deal.  Last time we ordered, C got her way with Papa Johns.  We always do carryout so as not to wait for delivery and save on tips.  Our Supreme pizza went flying in his truck and was almost inedible when he got it home.  Papa Johns is also farther down Broadway so the pizza is never hot when he gets it home.  Z has been wanting Pizza Hut.  This is my least favorite type.  M took forever to get home.  We ordered three large and M came home with six mediums because they were out of large dough and mushrooms.

The pizza was pretty icky.  I don't think our pizza cooked long enough as the dough was gummy.  No one was happy.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just all like the same pizza and get good pizza without going bankrupt?  We had over three pizzas left, but the kids ate some today.  They'll eat anything eventually if they get hungry enough.

I worked some more on the purple quilt.  I have a week to finish it.  Maybe it will get done.  I'm too lazy to piece the blocks as recommended even with the shortcuts for piecing the snowballs, etc so I'm paper piecing them.  I have the extra step of cutting the blocks after sewing and more fabric waste, but I think I'm quicker as I don't have to cut all the little squares, draw the diagonal lines, and sew accurately.

By Any Other Name

Par for the course.....

We had a bit of a birthday celebration tonight.  C is at her Winterfest dance.  M wanted to take us out to dinner, but I didn't feel like it and asked to save it for another time.  S wanted steak so I ended up cooking dinner.  We had steak that I cooked under the broiler since the grill isn't up and running at this time of year, baked potatoes loaded up with all the good stuff like bacon and cheese, and grilled asparagus.

Here's the bad news.  M ordered my cake a couple of days ago and picked it up this afternoon.  White cake, whippy frosting, etc from Kings.  He didn't notice that the cake was wrong and neither did I until we cut into it.  The cake had buttercream frosting on it!  We looked at the order form and he ordered it right, but the bakery idiots either didn't follow instructions or forgot to make it and gave him that cake instead.  I think the latter is what happened as I looked at the box and it had a tag on it like a cake would have that was premade and ready for those that need a cake at the last minute and a name can be added to order.

I'm not surprised as stuff like this always happens to me.....  Wrong cake, wrong food order, etc.  I was disappointed.

M took the cake back even though I didn't ask him to.  He was pissed.  The clerk couldn't understand why he returned the cake and what he wanted?!  "We can't refrost it...."  "No, $*#%!  Give me my money back.  You ruined my wife's birthday.  This is not what I ordered."  I guess I don't get a cake this year because he didn't reorder it.

Onward


I've not talked about music in ages....  I'm still listening.  I hadn't listened or attended to my Ipod in ages, but a couple of weeks ago I pulled it out.  I reviewed my playlists, took out some songs, and added some new songs.

I can usually tell the first time I hear a song whether or not I like it or hate it.  I also become attached to certain artists because I really get attached to their voices.  I took in a bit of the Grammy's.  I was thrilled to catch Rhianna and Eminem first and then him and Dr. Dre with a female singer.  I was very taken with her voice!  I thought I recognized it.  Thank goodness for the Internet because I found out who it was immediately.

It was Holly Brook, but she had changed her name to Skylar Grey.

I think I'll just change my name.  I won't have to do anything official.  I can actually just change my blog name whenever I want.

I do have a quilting thing to talk about.  What the hell is up with mug rugs?!  LMAO  Mug rugs are the new????  Everywhere I go...  I made a mug rug.  Look at my mug rug.  I made a mug rug but I can't bear to use it.  Let's have a mug rug swap.  Here's my mug rug tutorial.  It reminds me of candle mats of a few years ago.  It's freakin' quilted coaster, people....

I occasionally check in on a blog called Things I want to Punch in the Face.  (I particularly like this entry.)  I think there are a few quilting things that could be featured.

Embrace the Chaos

One of my favorite actresses, Amy Adams, was asked in a recent interview how she was managing motherhood and her busy career.  (I never really take anything famous people say seriously because how real can their situations really be as compared to people like me.)  I did take something she said to heart, though.  She said she had received some great advice from Annette Bening:  embrace the chaos.

I've been trying to do this and have been trying to get in this mindset.  It's helping me a little.  I'm the type that frets over everything that is wrong or that I'd like to change to the point where I start procrastinating and becoming paralyzed with inactivity.

I never thought I could do it all.  I just wanted to be able to do more.  I'm trying not to expect so much out of myself and my family.  I don't think it's the best way to go because I can see that nothing is really getting done and the kids aren't learning how to be solid citizens, but the other ways weren't working either.

I still have a ton of anxiety about just about everything, but I have anxiety whether things are going well or utter crap.

I'm very curious at how things will turn out!

Appreciation

I'm now officially 41.  I never been one to lie about my age, but I feel like I need to start.  I don't like that I'm over 40 now.  I'm not embracing my maturity.

I'm tired of being such a b*%#h.  Sometimes it's fun, but it's getting old being one 24/7.

I'm so busy being mad at people that don't want to be friends with me that I don't appreciate the ones I have, including my mom and my husband.  (Yes, these people are my friends.)  I'm so wrapped up in all my issues and perpetuating them that I ignore the good people that I have in my life.....

In  no particular order.....

1) My mom who makes a special effort every year to make sure we celebrate my birthday even when I don't want to.  She makes sure I get my King Soopers white whippy frosting cake without any unnecessary decorations that I would just scrape off anyway.  She fixes my special birthday dinner which is very labor intensive.  This is just the tip of the iceberg as she helps me out everyday....  I can't tell you how many times she's bailed me out!

2) My friend Peg of 10 years who always sends me an online card.  We don't talk much anymore because I haven't made the effort, but she never fails to respond when I send out an S.O.S.

3) Elizabeth who visits my blogs and almost always leaves a comment.  I don't feel so alone in my crazyness and that's all I need to stop me from going over the edge never to return.  We only met in person a couple of times, but I think we share a real bond.  I owe her big time and it shames me that I haven't held up my end of the bargain.

4) Dianne who keeps me in stitches (and Melissa, too.)  She is one of the most thoughtful people I know.  For instance, I received a wonderful care package yesterday with Twilight items and CADBURY EGGS!  I think one of the definitions of friendship is when another person recognizes your obsessions, never makes you feel silly or guilty for them, and even FEEDS them....

5) My husband.  Despite everything he loves me.....

I appreciate you ALL!  I will try to show it more!

Shannon Mom M.D.

M took the kids to the doctor's this afternoon.  Day #3 of sick kids with no improvement and Z worse.  A actually went to school today.  I was at work.

It's official.  They all have the flu, Influenza B, including A or should I call him Typhoid Alex since I sent him to school today?  The recommendation is that they all stay home the rest of the week since rules say that people should be quarantined for at least 48 hours after their fevers break.

Just call me Shannon Mom M.D. as I was pretty sure we had the flu and that there wasn't much we could do about it except ride it out.  I've been monitoring fevers and other symptoms to be sure they stayed within the non-alarming range.  However, we decided on taking them to the doctor.

We have the letters to prove flu from the doctor and to provide to the school district if they should ask.  (Yes, a couple of months ago I received letters for S and A about their excessive absences in the first semester and a possible need to provide doctor's letters should they have any more....)

They're all off Monday for President's Day.

C's main concern is if she will get to attend her dance on Saturday.

My plans for frivolity tomorrow have been dashed.  (I was going to treat myself to lunch and a discount showing of Harry Potter since I haven't seen it yet.)

Yep, should have gotten a flu shot.  Oh, yeah, right.....  M is the one that brought this home and was sick first and he was the only one who did get a flu shot this year.

Lemons, No I Meant LEMMINGS

What's that word when you're a follower to your detriment?  Lemmmmm....on, no LEMMING!

I frequently give over to better judgment and become a figurative quilting lemming.

You know as defined:

Any member of a group given to conformity or groupthink, especially a group poised to follow a leader off a cliff.  (Wiktionary)

or

Lemming is now slang for fierce and loyal avid supporters of someone or something who are narrow minded and foolish. These types of people mindlessly follow even if it means their own destruction.

(Blurtit)


I've been known to force myself to like a new quilting style, fabric, tool just to be a part of a group.
 
Mindless, that's me.
 
It's no secret that I've become really jaded about the quilting world.  I didn't always use to be this way.  Quilting has never been about the quilts and that is the problem!  But, identifying the problem has never been the road to solution for me.
 
I started quilting because I loved fabric.  I had limited sewing experience.  I had no family tradition to call on. When I started learning to quilt I was unfamiliar with the Internet and didn't even have regular access until 1998.  I learned as much as I could about quilting on my own, but my love of the craft grew as my sewing skills improved and I reached out to others online at places like World Wide Quilting and Yahoo Groups.  I participated in Round Robins and Block Swaps routinely.  I did so because doing so filled a gaping social void in my life.  I was rarely with the things I worked on and, in fact, was usually frustrated by the craptastic stuff I received back.  I got annoyed but chalked it all up to the price I paid for belonging and having quilting friends.  Everything was fine as long as I didn't gripe to much and went along with the crowd.
 
The quilting world is just like high school all over again.  The Haves and the Have Nots.  The Haves are leaders of groups and Bees and have blogs with a mass of Followers.  Everyone looks to those to see what they're working on, which fabric they've purchased, which tool they're using, which Blog Tour they're a part of, the Giveaway being hosted.....  You could be appliqueing a giant vagina on the ugliest fabric imaginable as a 12 month free BOM, but everyone would be clamoring to participate because a Quilting Have was hosting or sponsoring it.
 
Yeah, I'd be a Quilting Have in a heartbeat.  For now, I'm just a Quilting Lemming.

The Purples

I've got a case of the purples....

We're all experiencing illness at one stage or another at my house.  Z is starting his round even though he's finishing day two at home.  He thought he was sick until really getting sick tonight.

I'm pretty sure it's the flu and once again I'm kicking myself and accusing myself of child abuse for not getting flu shots.

I felt well enough to sew tonight.  Hey, I had to have something to do while watching Westminister Dog Show.  (Yay!  The Scottish Deer Hound won...I was afraid the Tribble...I mean, the Pekinese would win.)   I started the purple quilt for this month's challenge.  I don't know what I was thinking picking this pattern or the focus fabric, but I don't have the energy or inspiration to change either at this point.  I'll even have to make things worse by buying more of the focus fabric.  It's not that I don't like it.  Most of the other fabrics are from my stash so I'm compromising.

S, who is still not so patiently waiting for me to bind the owl quilt, is trying to figure out how to lay claim to this one, too.  She likes purple and thinks that this quilt should be hers.  Whatever....

What's with Giveaways?!

It seems like I can't visit a blog anymore without an author hosting some type of giveaway every other day.

Giveaways celebrating something like their 38th post or not even celebrating anything at all.

My favorites are the ones that require you to become a follower.

I've even been guilty of hosting giveaways in hopes of bribing people to visit.

gag me with a spoon

Creeping Crud

The creeping crud has infected my body.  M was sick last week.  C and I are sick now.  It's a good thing I took the day off yesterday because I would have been home sick anyway.

M scheduled a bunch of errands today so instead of me feeling sorrry for myself in bed, I have to get up and take the kids to swimming lessons.  I wanted to slap him when he told me that the warm, moist, and chlorinated air would probably do me some good.

The owl quilt still isn't finished.  The binding is waiting for me to hand sew it onto the back.  I don't even have the energry for that.

I'm also preparing myself for the big b'day week of pondering my existance.  My birthday is next Thursday.  Family is coming over on Sunday for homemade egg rolls and cake.  I tried to talk them out of it.  I'm at the point where I'd rather not have anyone over because its such a production, but my birthday now means more to other people than it does for me and I'm seen as even more of a bitch if I don't want to celebrate.

This doesn't mean I still don't like gifts.  I'm hoping the replacement crock pot  (somehow my crock ended up cracked) and new frying pan that M brought home last night really aren't my b'day gifts from him....

I know what I won't be getting this year.  A gift certificate from Great American Quilt Factory.  I've been dying to check out the going into retirement out of business sale, but I can't.

Socialization

Some people check into rehab for drug and alchol abuse.  Some people have an interventions for the same.

I need some type of rehab for people absent of social skills with a little bit of hatefullness thrown in.

I think I need to be resocialized.


This brings up images of me being put into some type of camp and brainwashed like a political prisoner of old in some type of regime or maybe in a dystopian society (like is so popular in many YA novels these days).

Don't laugh...it could work!

Quilted

I finished quilting the quilt tonight.  I just wanted to finish it so I didn't bother trying to do anything other than more meander on the outside border.

S wasn't understanding what I meant by binding.  I had to show her.  She kept asking me what fabric I was going to use.  I'm pretty sure that was a hint she wants to pick it out.  I'm going to give her some choices tomorrow.

I'm going to try this tutorial from Flourishing Palms to place the binding.

If I take this quilt in for show and tell, I will get 10% off of my purchase at Wooden Spools.  I used a bit of fabric purchased there in the quilt-- the brown for the owls and one of the greens for the leaves.  I also purchased the batting there--a very nice 80-20 sold from a floor stand roll which I loved because packaged batting is always so squashed and wrinkled.

I could get this finished by the weekend!

It sucks that its only Tuesday and very cold.  I'm taking Friday off, though, because the kids are off so I should stop whining....  Not much doing since I'm broke until next Tuesday.  Paying off my outstanding obligations really sucks, too.  I thought I was broke before....  We'll just stick close to home.  I have the weekend to look forward to because we're supposed to get out of our deep freeze and hit 50s.

M got us passes for the Rec Center this week.  I'm supposed to start walking.  He took the C and Z Monday morning before school to work out.  They all came home tired and sore.  They liked the hot showers there since only one person really gets a hot shower at home.  I guess this is the year we're all going to get moving.

*&%$ Free Motion Quilting

I don't think I'll ever like free motion quilting.  I know I've complained about how bad I am at it before.  I would just like to be able to do it a little better...i.e. not have my quilt look like a drunk quilted it.

I've got the machine speed and movement thing down.  I understand the concept.  I have some tools like gloves and a Supreme Slider for my sewing machine bed to help me maneuver the quilt with more ease.  I could be better and my stitch quality is only okay, but unlike most other things with quilting I'm not demanding perfection on that front.  (I did have a bit of trouble finding a thread that would work and not give me tension issues on the machine I use for quilting.  I ended up using the Auriful that I've been using for piecing.)

I can't figure out the design aspect.  I tried a simple meander on the owl quilt and it doesn't look right.  I get so hyper when I quilt and I forget to slow down and work in small sections.  Before I know it, I've backed myself into a dead end, gone too far, or quilted in circles when I didn't want to.  (**Part of the problem with this quilt, too, was that I used a really light thread and I had trouble seeing the completed quilting.  I used it because it's all that would work in the machine and it was the only color of that thread that I had.  I am wondering if I would have done better having been able to see where I had quilted.  The fact that the quilting was invisible was supposed to be a good thing because my stitch quality wouldn't be so glaring, but I guess it's a trade off.)

I know it's like doodling, but I'm still not good at that.  I can't train my brain to do it.  The only thing left me to do, I guess, is to try to draw on some type of medium that I would attach to the quilt but remove upon completion and quilt around it, through it, or over it.

My other option is to have someone else quilt for me which really isn't an option because I can't afford it.....and would mean I'm a quitter.

I have only the outside border to quilt and then the binding to sew.

I guess the good thing is that S think the quilt looks great, is impatient for me to finish it, and that she doesn't care how it looks---isn't so picky like her mom.

Adventures with Evil Me

The devil in me is alive and well.  I can't leave well enough alone.  I informed on someone recently and they came out smelling like roses.  I totally admit to having an intense dislike for this person for recent events and can't say that my reason for informing was not 99.9% rooted in my desire to get them in trouble or embarrass them.  The other .1% was from my belief that one shouldn't be able to do a tutorial from a pattern that is so detailed that it was almost like a pattern itself with diagrams, pictures, and measurements.

She did have to take the tutorial off her blog, but the kicker is.......

The person was given free products for a giveaway and asked to be a pattern tester.

This person must be truly blessed.  I'm not kidding the pattern company is run by two religious-types and the blogger just happens to be one, too.  I'm not imagining that this had something to do with how this all turned out.  When I first emailed the company, they actually thought I was the blog and tutorial author.  Before they determined that the tutorial was an infringement of their copyright, I got two emails from one the owners absolutely gushing about the blog and the fact that they were of the same religion making life grand.

Me, I'm blessed by the devil.

And, why do I even admit to it here?  Because I want people to think the worst of me, of course.

Aspirations

I want to be here.

QuiltLit

I have no less than six stories running through my head, but I haven't worked on any of them.  They're all stuck in my head.

One of them is even called Quilter's UFO.  Yes, a story about quilting and real UFOs and not the Unfinished Object we quilters are so familiar with.

Great American Quilt Factory CLOSING?!

I got a very sad email today.  The email was sent yesterday, but I didn't open it until this morning.

Great American Quilt Factory is closing in only a few weeks!

I'm stunned.  The store has been one of my favorites for years.  It was the store I shopped more often than others from the very beginning.  Their I Spy quilt was the reason I wanted to learn how to quilt.

I have had some suspicion that something was up for about six months.  I have noticed that the amount of fabric on their shelves has decreased and selection hasn't been as good.  The First Saturday Sampler was only a couple months long instead of its normal length.

I know the amount of purchasing I do has decreased significantly.  The reason given is retirement, but I'm sure business has declined....  I know there have been quite a few closures over the past year of so of shops.

I guess I'm just most surprised by the abruptness.  An email on the 4th to say that the store will be closed from the 5th-9th and then will reopen on the 10th to sell everything off.  I was just in there on Wednesday and had no clue....