I ran into
Rebecca at the doctor's office the other day and she wanted to know if I had gone underground. And then I posted to
Debra's blog and she wanted to know where I have been hiding. I have been enjoying the saga of
Rian's new house, and am glad Jim is feeling better. So, here is what's up...
We moved into the new house three weeks ago. Boy is it great, although still predominantly purple. The boys rooms are blue. (Thank goodness for professional painters!) The house is much bigger, which means the kids can spread out. The ceilings are higher, which means more stairs, and a tighter behind from climbing them. (Don't I wish?) The sewing room is a huge mess. I would post a picture but I am not sure where the digital camera is. I WILL spend some time down there this weekend getting things organized and quilting a quilt top that has been done for ages. (I hope I can find the basting spray this afternoon. The top is basted to the batting, but not the backing, yet. Oh crap, I have to find the iron, too... Who wants to iron when it is 97 degree outside?)
I have been hiding at soccer camp and swim team practice. My boys went to soccer camp for a week. It was local, so it was a day camp, although my younger son wanted to spend the night at the Y. The 5 year old's camp was 9-noon, and the 11 year old's camp was 9-4. Needless to say, he was wiped at the end of the day. Swim team has been going on since before school let out. It will be over next week. Except the week of soccer camp, we have been at swim team practice every week day. The week of soccer camp, on the swim meet night, my oldest played soccer from 9-4, and then jumped in the pool for warm ups at 5:15. In between, he ate a banana, a bagel, a power bar, a Snickers bar, and drank 32 ounces of Gatorade. I was very proud that he swam the IM ( a lap of each of the four strokes nonstop) without drowning or even coming in last. So, I have been really busy with the kids.
We also had middle school orientation this week. Am I old enough to have a kid going to middle school? I guess so, although I bet I was the youngest parent in the room at the orientation lunch today... This orientation program is unique to this middle school, as far as I can tell. It was 9-12 every day this week. They did activities to get to know the other kids. They also worked on some study skills and learning about the school. I think it was a great program to help lower the anxiety level of starting middle school. And, since we only paid $10 for the entire week, which included lunch for the entire family today and a snack for my son every day, I am pretty sure the teachers did this out of the goodness of their hearts and did not get paid. So thank you to the teachers and staff.
I have broken out the EQ5 that I got for my birthday. I have been having fun designing a quilt for one of our swim team coaches. He attends the Univeristy of Georgia, so I am working on a red and black quilt. Being a Georgia Tech alumnae, this task has been interesting.
This picture from EQ5 looks pretty bad. I don't think I have the hang of things, yet. I mean, I like the quilt, I just don't think I have the exporting pictures thing down. Oh, and it has a solid black border, too.
Well, that is the news from here. I am going to try to get back into life now. I still have boxes everywhere. Some of them will stay packed until all of the painting is done. Some may never get unpacked. Some get unpacked as we need them.
One more thing... The day my daughter was born, one of my friends, whose son is our swim team coach, died of ovarian cancer. I recently discovered that the day my daughter was admitted to Scottish Rite Hospital this spring was that friend's birthday. My daughter's life was saved by a miracle that night. I think Linda, my late friend, is her guardian angel. My daughter has always loved our swim team coach, and still goes to him, even though she is going through that stranger anxiety thing. There is a definite connection there. It is that coach for whom the UGA quilt will be made...
I never did get Dave to bring my rolling chair down, so I brought down a lightweight folding chair. I really need the rolling one to be comfortable to quilt for a long period of time...
When I got to making the snowflakes, it reminded me of my senior year of high school. I worked in the school's writing tutoring center one period a day with a bunch of friends. We were the students that were going to schools like Wellesley, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Smith, Williams, and some of the better out of state state schools. So needless to say, that winter was a nailbiting time for many of us. (Not me, I got into the engineering program at Virginia Tech at the beginning of October, but I was still nervous for all my friends.) So we would sit around second period and cut out snowflakes to decorate the room. We didn't do drugs, which were prevalent in our school, but we made snowflakes. I went to middle and high school (and part of elementary school) during the Reagan era. He decided that ketchup could be counted as a vegetable for school lunches. Of course, I am sure he was advised by many people that it would be ok. Most of us were liberals and campaigning for Gore's primary run at the time. Although we had a few Republicans who were working on the Dole Primary Campaign. Anyway, the title of this piece came from an essay someone wrote during that time.
My son's teacher has been busily making hats and scarves on one and the hats and scarves are adorable. Since they were on sale, I picked up a set. I made a cute little hat for my son. He loves it. It is totally mindless, although I am thinking of adding some design elements now. I just need to get more yarn.
Continuing the water theme, here is my February Journal Challenge Quilt. The picture in the quilt is from our visit to the new Georgia Aquarium last month. It was taken in the coral reef exhibit, which brought back great memories of snorkeling off St. John two years ago. I printed the picture directly onto the fabric using the Printed Treasures fabric sheets. I am going to get some Bubble Jet Set to try next time. Although it does not show up in this picture, it is quilted with a varigated rayon thread that mas the colors of the coral reef--greens, pinks, yellow, blues...
This is the back. I stamped fish onto it using acrylic paint. I have used rubber stamps before, but never in a quilt, so that was new to me. My kids had fun helping me with this part.
Next month's piece is going to have to be about change...
I also love this office area/laundry room/mud room off the kitchen. This built in desk will be great for a computer that I can check my email on during the day.
Now, here is a close up of the wallpaper in the kitchen. First let me say, I am sure it is beautiful wallpaper. I am sure there are many people out there who love it, or the wallpaper company wouldn't have made it. It just is not my style.
Here is the dining room chandeliere. This fixture will be replaced as soon as the painting is done. No need to have a new one in there while we are painting.
This picture actually does not do it justice. You cannot see all the spikey branches. Also, it has been painted gold. Gold is not its original color. I am not a gold fixture person, so there are a lot of fixtures in the house that need to be changed including all the door knobs, cabinet pulls, faucets, and shower heads.
These peacocks have a lot of detail on them that you cannot see in this small picture. I cannot imagine having turkey in a room with these on the wall. However, I am beginning to see how they could be used in a quilt... Too bad there is no peacock fabric on the drapes...
And here is the ceiling...
I just don't know about having people on the wall in the powder room. It seems like it would ruin any sense of privacy. 