Friday, March 24, 2006

It's Friday! Yipee!

I am so excited for the weekend to come. I get to go to a soccer game tomorrow and see my kid play goalie. I get to play tennis on Sunday. My mother-in-law is in town for the weekend. I get to go shopping with her tomorrow. She is staying with one of my brothers-in-law because our spare bed has been moved to the new house. It is going to be a nice weekend, even if it is cold... Oh, and we are having a cookout with my husband's brothers and their wives tomorrow. I am making potato salad. I think I make a great potato salad.

If you want to see a wonderful quilt, visit Debra's blog. I love this quilt.

I had a doctor's appointment this morning. I arrived in the area about 30 minutes early. You can never tell how long it will take you to get somewhere in Atlanta traffic. I decided I needed a Starbucks hot chocolate. I couldn't find a Starbucks. So they aren't on every corner. I didn't need to spend that $3 anyway...

Traffic has picked up at the old house. Hopefully it will sell soon. Two other houses in our neighborhood are under contract, both listed by our realtor. Keep us in your prayers.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

People are Bugging Me These Days

I think I am becoming more intolerant with every day. I realize being hormonal is making me worse, but I am not sure that is the whole reason. I think I am over stupid people. I have had to stop reading two quilting forums that I used to read because I cannot stand to read what these people write. Even in the quilting only sections, people write the craziest things. I am glad Debra created the Quilt Studio on Delphi forums. I am learning a lot from these women.

I need to do my March journal quilt. It will be late. I am working hard on my first Art Image Challenge quilt, which I am determined to keep small. I am also determined to use some metallic thread on it, which I have never done before. Keep your fingers crossed.

On a totally different subject, I have joined a neighborhood tennis team. I am having a blast, although every once in a while I want a beer with the rest of the girls. That won't be happening for a number of months. My tennis is getting better. Maybe I will win a match in the next 6 weeks. Who cares. It will be fun anyway.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Snowflakes

My son and I made snowflakes yesterday. I made them out of fabric and he used the paper from the fusible web to make his. It was great fun until I realized that we had run out of trash bags and had no where to put the "droppings." Well, many of them vacuumed up and the rest we put in a grocery bag. Then we went and bought trash bags. The snowflakes are not perfect, but they are a lot of fun.

This is my first Art Image Challenge, and I am a little intimidated. I think I am probably one of the youngest and least experienced quilter in the group. That said, this group of women seems nice and supportive. Anyway, I have a lot of work to do before Tuesday...

On my agenda for tomorrow is to get my printer/scanner/photocard reader/etc. back on a computer. I miss being able to download pictures from my camera at the click on a mouse. Hopefully I can get some pictures of the snowflakes....

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Fusing

I just realized that I haven't posted in a long time. My life has totally turned upside down in the last couple of weeks. But I have a handle on things now. So back to my regularly scheduled life...

I started working on the Art Image Challenge for March. I decided not to go with the discharge dying and go with fusing instead. I have this insane need for snowflakes to have strict six fold symmetry. I think it is the engineer in me. I took classes in both undergraduate and graduate school about x-ray diffraction. X-ray diffraction is a technique used to study crystals. Many solids are made up of crystals, including metals and ceramics. X-rays are beamed at a surface, and the angle and intesity at which they bounce off gives a lot of information about a material. You can also difffract electrons. Anyway, symmetry is very important in using diffraction to study a material. Symmetry also plays a huge role in material properties. So the fact that snowflakes have six fold symmetry may seem like a trivial thing, but to me it is not.

I could not get the precision I wanted with the discharge dying. Perhaps if I took a lot of time and perfected the technique, I could get the precision I want. So I decided to just make snowflakes and Wonder-Under them. (I did a lot of reading on Melody Johnsons's Fibermania about fusing.) I am not a fuser, so this is also new to me. And I need something to keep me occupied over the next couple of days while my oldest is on his first overnight field trip.

I have learned about a new store called Fiber on a Whim that I am wanting to visit. I am planning a trip to see the quilt show in Roswell at Bulloch Hall this week. I have never been to that one, but a friend asked me to go with her.

Ok, some little hands are wanting to help me type now, so I will stop.