Friday Night Sew-in

I can't believe it! I forgot all about the Friday Night Sew-in. Jen usually posts something that twigs my memory and she didn't yesterday... so can I blame it on her? Just kidding.

It's okay, I guess. I was pretty tired last night anyway. In fact, I fell asleep at the hairdresser's during my appointment. She put me under the dryer for a bit and I was trying to do some reading for my course... but ZONK! I was out for the count. A good little nap!

Hey, can I list all my marking and course postings as 2010 finishes? Then it would look like I actually accomplish something.

If you're here for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, sorry about the rambling. Just scroll down to the previous post. I forgot to add a direct link when I signed up. Duh.

Hope you're having a great Saturday. It's rainy and cold (brrrr) here, but I'm just fine with that since all of the items on my to-do list are indoor activities (and the rain kind of reflects my feelings about that list today).

Back to reading my stimulating book, A Guide to Research for Educators and Trainers of Adults. Sigh. I think I need another nap...

Blogger's Quilt Festival

This is my contribution to the Blogger's Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy. It's an Irish Chain quilt I made for my friend Caroline's second daughter. I love this quilt - the colours are so vibrant and fun - but I didn't love quilting it. I did all straight-line quilting and didn't enjoy the process at all. I read every hint and tip I could find, started quilting from the middle out, used my walking foot - you name it, I did it - and still there were a few little tucks and puckers. I found the quilting part monotonous, which is probably why I tend to stay away from that now and seem to always fall back on stippling.

It was a learning process, that's for sure.

I would make another Irish Chain quilt because I do love geometric patterns. I think, though, I'd be a bit more adventurous in the quilting process next time.

Head over to Amy's Creative Side and see the other quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival! You will be inspired.

In other news, you may have noticed that my posts have been sporadic lately. I'm trying to get back into a routine and had nearly caught up on marking until I assigned an essay to my grade 12 social studies class last week, so marking those is on my to-do list this weekend. Plus, I started another master's course and I'm behind on the readings already. There has been very little sewing going on, except for a lavender eye pillow which took me all of 15 minutes to make. Oh, and I did knit another "feather and fan" scarf over the past couple of weeks. I don't know when I'll get back to the sewing machine - I'm really thinking I need to clean out my sewing room in the near future and maybe that will get me inspired.

So, this weekend will be full of marking, reading, writing for my course, laundry and cleaning (the usual) and, if the weather cooperates, some yard work. But probably no sewing, unfortunately. I really wish I had something exciting and inspiring to share. 

What do you have planned for the weekend?

A bird on the ledge is worth...?

There is a little bird family that lives on the ledge outside my office window. They're building a nest in a crevice in the wall and have been flying back and forth all day with twigs and leaves to furnish their home.

They are very entertaining to watch. I wonder if they're expecting...

Could this be why I'm getting so far behind in my marking?

Quick post and picture

I'm hoping to return to normalcy (whatever that actually means) soon. The craziness of grad is now over (POOF! - all that planning and then it's done!) but school hasn't slowed down one bit. Someday (soon, I hope) I'll catch up on all that marking and get up-to-date on the readings and postings for the master's course I'm taking. Someday.

Anyway, a quick photo of the OnlyChild so you can see her headpiece.

She looked beautiful. All the girls did. I have tons of photos (mostly stolen from the OnlyChild's friends on Facebook), but I'll have to organize them and take a better look before I post any more. Plus, we had professional photos taken the night of the banquet and I'll get them in a week or so.

It was a good time, but I can't say I'm sorry it's done. Whew.

Until next time...

Happy Thoughts

I'm a little stressed... busy busy at work with grad, crazy marking coming in, need a vacation big time! So, let's think happy thoughts, and what could be happier than new fabric?

Look at that gorgeous aqua fabric! And the other fun goodies! How about a close-up?

Love those fat quarters.

And how cute are these "Sweet Sixteenths"? Ahhhh...

More happy things:

Mother's Day roses (they kind of make up for having to cancel supper out because I was sick).

And a portable hard-drive for my computer so I can back up my files (just in case Lucille goes on the blink again - fingers crossed she doesn't!)

Plus, the OnlyChild and I made her headpiece the other night. She was quite particular about what she wanted, and I wasn't able to accommodate exactly. Luckily we were able to compromise and she's very happy with the result. I can't wait to see her wear it with her beautiful grad dress Friday night.

Not a great picture of it. I hope I get better ones with the OnlyChild actually wearing it. But I'm not making any promises - you know how it works with photos of special occasions in my family.

So... Happy Thoughts to get me through the next couple of very busy days.

Adventures and Misadventures

Did you miss me this past week and a half? I didn't think so - nobody even wondered where I was. I have been busy. Between some personal stuff (that is not worth mentioning) and grad stuff, I had no time at all for sewing or anything else last week. Then I took off for the mountains for a few days with my friend Sandi to attend a conference on Global Citizenship.

That's where the adventures and misadventures happened.

First the adventures.

Beautiful mountain scenery. We were about 4 hours from home. It was cold and snowy there (but then it's been cold and snowy here at home too).

I had another brush with celebrity.

This is Craig Kielburger, founder of Free the Children and author of a number of books, including Me to We. He was one of the keynote speakers at the conference and he was incredible! Click on the links to find out more about Craig.

We took some time to wander around in the town of Canmore and went to the Sugar Pine Quilt Shop. This is one of the nicest quilt shops I have ever visited, and the staff was so nice. I forgot to take a photo of the outside of the shop (which is unfortunate, because it was so cute), but the lady told me to go ahead and take as many pictures as I wanted inside. So I did.

Needless to say, I put a few items in my basket. I'll show you next time.

And the misadventures? Well, they occurred when we were setting out for home. I started my car and all these crazy lights came on. The manual said, "DON'T DRIVE THE CAR - PHONE YOUR DEALERSHIP!" and, being the ever-obedient girl, I did that. My dealership was useless. The technician who answered the phone didn't have a clue what to tell me and finally directed me to the Roadside Assistance Hotline. They sent out a tow truck which took us to Calgary (the nearest dealership). The service department was closed, but one of the salesmen had an inkling that the dealership here simply hadn't reset the alerts last time they changed the oil. As it turns out, that was all that was wrong. So, a lot of stress and inconvenience for nothing!

Plus, I came down with an awful something. I wasn't feeling well Saturday morning and thought I had just got a cold or maybe hadn't had enough sleep. By the time we got home Saturday night, I was dragged-out tired and sick. I spent the better part of Mother's Day in bed (and we had to cancel our dinner reservations) as well as today. Mr. P had to call in sick for me this morning; I couldn't even lift my head off the pillow. I feel much better now and will, no doubt, go to work tomorrow but I sure could use another day or two to relax and recuperate. There's just too much that needs to be done both at school and at home.

This is the week of Grad for the OnlyChild. My mother arrives tomorrow night, commencement ceremonies are Thursday and the banquet and dance are on Friday night. It's going to be another busy week!

Happy Mother's Day!

To my beautiful Mum.

xoxox

And to all my Momma Friends out there in blogland!