Go and visit Tonya

Okay, really short post. In between the marking and the project I'm writing, I have very little time this week.

But I do want you to go and visit Tonya here because she is celebrating her 100th post and she's having the most awesome, fabulous giveaway.

You won't want to miss it.

And I'll be back soon... I promise... just as soon as I'm allowed to lift my head from all this work.

(Don't feel sorry for me; I brought it on myself. hehe.)

Never mind the pizza delivery guy...

...I should be filing a restraining order against my husband. On Friday night, we went out for supper at a pizza place ~ definitely his favourite food. Last night he brought home Mucho Burritos. I ate half of mine and was stuffed. It's not good to be stuffed (unless you're a teddy bear, of course). I guess if I was a better cook, there wouldn't always be the temptation to eat out. Sometimes I do cook; you've seen the evidence, right? But I've been so busy lately (and I really don't like cooking) that it's been easy to give in and agree to take-out.

I'm not getting any sympathy from you, am I? haha.

I'm still exercising, though, and I eat well during the week, so at some point I should see the results of all my hard work.

Right?

Anyway... go and visit Kelee at The Katillac Shack. She needs your help!
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Lovely

Our lovely little bird house will not attract birds. It's right by the back door and, anyway, we have a cat and two crazy dogs who scare away all winged creatures. But I think it's cute and it brightens up the back entry. I painted over one of the OnlyChild's childhood creations (with her permission, of course). Painting is definitely not one of my talents; it was an experiment.

It's lovely that, even after two weeks of being under my unproven care, my tomato plants are thriving. We will have fresh tomatoes this summer.

And look at those lovely little green zucchini sprouts. My friend Cheryl says the vines will be sooooo long. I may have to thin these out, since I planted the whole darn package in one container. Hey, what do I know? I'm a novice gardener.

At the garden plot tonight, I noticed that in addition to the lettuce, there are onions, peas, carrots and potatoes sprouting. I was worried that I wouldn't know the veggies from the weeds but a lady I met at the garden reminded me that I planted my veggies in rows and weeds don't grow in rows. So, when things really start popping up, I'll definitely know what to weed out!

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Remember this tree? I was lamenting the lack of green, since Spring was so late in arriving this year. I took this picture of the lilac tree from the window of my sewing room, where I was hiding from the cold and snow in May.

This is the same tree this evening. Glorious lilacs. They were a bit late blooming this year; everyone else's bushes and trees seemed to have gorgeous, scented flowers on them about two weeks ago. We finally saw lovely purple this week.

I spent yesterday ~ all day ~ working on the BIG project for my course. It's worth 40% of the total mark, so I want to do it right. Boy, I worked hard... and I got quite a lot done, too. I thought I deserved to reward myself with some lovely sewing time. I worked on the Bunny Hill and Seasons of the Heart BOM blocks for May.

I need to do the little bit of embroidery on the butterfly's antennae, and the buttons aren't sewn down (I'll do that after I finish the quilt).

Bernice and I had a bit of a disagreement last night. She seemed to think that it was perfectly acceptable to pull the bobbin thread up to the top of the fabric while I appliqued. I kept playing with the tension, but it didn't seem to help the problem. Do you have any advice about this? I've tried different threads, different stitch lengths and widths, fiddled with the balance dial on the machine, checked the internet... I don't know what else to do.

Don't look too closely at this block. Those tiny hexagons were a pain to applique. A couple of them are not lined up perfectly. Oh well... it was late and my neck was soooo sore from sitting at the computer all day. I wonder why I thought it would be okay to sit at the sewing machine all night? Hmmmm...

I'm proud to say that I checked off every single item on my To-Do list from Friday's post. And today I did some school work ~ for my real job, not the course I'm taking. It was quite a lovely and productive weekend!

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Why do today what you can put off for the weekend?

Greetings on a rainy Friday afternoon. I'm sitting in my office at school, marking essays and occasionally looking out the window at the dreary day. The sky is grey, the air is cold, and all I can think of is... Rain! Rain is good for the garden.

I think I may be a little obsessed with this gardening thing.

I have no pictures to show you, yet, of my new green babies. By the time I got to the garden to water last night, it was almost 10 o'clock and the sun had gone down. Not ideal light for taking pictures of miracles. If the sun makes an appearance this weekend, I'll walk or ride my bike over and photograph the little lettuce leaves... and I think I saw an onion shoot last night.

The lilac tree in the backyard is now in full bloom. I cut some of the sprigs and placed them in a glass in my office. For two days, I have the pleasure of the delightful aroma of lilac whenever I walk in there. Of course, lilacs cut from the tree don't last long so I'll have to dispose of them before I leave work today. But the backyard smells heavenly.

My plans for the weekend:

• go to the gym
• start the final project for my masters course (due June 22 - I'd better get crackin' on it!)
• clean the house (always on the weekend to-do list)
• try, try, try to find time to sew my May BOM blocks. I know, it's June...

So... what are you doing this weekend?

People keep telling me to find some time to relax. Huh? I was laying in bed last night thinking sleep is a waste of time. I want to get up and do something. Then I fell asleep. Thank goodness my body is sometimes smarter than my brain!


Okay, back to those essays...
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Do you ♥ Moda?

I thought you'd say that. So head over to visit Vickie at Mid-Ohio Knitter and enter her giveaway. FOUR prizes, including Moda fabric and the cutest little pincushion! Thanks to Jen for telling me about this one.
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I wish I had more to talk about lately than other people's giveaways... but I'm just so busy, busy, busy. A couple more weeks, I keep telling myself, and I'll have a bit of time to do what I want to do ~ sewing (a dress for the OnlyChild and a dress and skirt for me), BOM blocks from Bunny Hill and A Legacy of Stitches (I haven't even made May's blocks and it's June already), the started-but-not-finished quilt, the started-but-barely quilt, and playing with the two jelly rolls and the honey bun I (naughty girl) ordered from ebay.

Oh, I have such grand plans... come on Summer Vacation... hurry up! (And all you mothers of young children are rolling your eyes... summer doesn't have the same flavour of freedom for you, does it?)

I guess I do have some exciting news to share ~ well, exciting for me... When I went to water the garden last night, guess what I discovered? That's right... there are some little green shoots sticking out of the ground. And I'm pretty sure they're not weeds. They're lettuce! Plus, there's a nice, fat green shoot poking out of the dirt in my zucchini pot in the back yard. Maybe I can be a gardener after all!

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Lanie Jane

You like fabric, right? What a stupid question ~ OF COURSE YOU LIKE FABRIC! Go over and visit Lanie Jane and you could win this bundle of cuteness. Yes, Moda fabrics by Camille and Bonnie. You know how much I'm lovin' the jelly rolls lately...

Why are you still here? Go ~ go now!

Interview with a sewing machine (and Loser Monday update below)

It's Sewing Machine Month at Sew Mama Sew and you're all invited to speak freely about the love of your life - that being your sewing machine. Check out the Sew Mama Sew blog for more information.



What brand and model do you have?

I have a Bernina Virtuoso 150 Quilter's Edition.

How long have you had it?

I've had her for 8 or 9 years now.

How much does that machine cost (approximately)?

I received my machine as a gift, so I don't know exactly what she cost, but I think it was in the area of $2000.

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?

I use my machine primarily for quilting, but I also make clothing, Halloween costumes, gifts, purses, curtains - if it can be made on a sewing machine I'll try it. I have even sewn some greeting cards on the machine.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get?

I sew every week, when I can. My use of the machine sometimes goes in spurts, depending on how much free time I have. I would say she's used A LOT throughout the year.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name?

I ♥ my machine. Passionately. She has all the features I need and more. I named her Bernice and that's how I address her and talk about her.

What features does your machine have that work well for you?

My favourite features are the drop feed dogs (of course), the 1/2 speed button, the buttonholer, and the needle down button. I have lots of decorative stitches, but I don't use them as much as I thought I would.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine?

No - none of the sewing 'issues' I have are ever her fault. I do wish, though, that there was more room under the 'arm' for when I quilt. It's hard to stuff a full-sized quilt in there.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it!

My husband bought me the machine for Christmas. I showed him an ad in a magazine of the one I wanted and he had already ordered that exact one for me. He polled my quilting buddies to find out which machine would be best. We lived 8 hours from the city so he arranged to pick it up when we were down there on Thanksgiving weekend (October in Canada). He gave me my Christmas present early because he thought it would be a waste of 2 months of warranty to wait until December. Lucky me!

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why?

I would definitely recommend this machine to others. She is reliable (only needed fixing once and it was my fault for not cleaning her properly), has all the necessary features plus more, and has given me no trouble at all.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? Do you have a dream machine?

Features, ease of operation, brand name (for reliability), optional equipment (presser feet, quilting tables, etc). Price is somewhat important, but I believe you get what you pay for. I'm definitely not in the market for a new machine right now. Bernice suits me perfectly!

Now... onto Loser Monday.

Well, you know me... I haven't had much to say about this lately. I still don't have much to say. I've tried harder this week, but there's been no change in weight. I absolutely know there are things I should be doing that I'm not (like drinking more water) and things I'm doing that I shouldn't (taking little bites of things and pretending they have no calories). I am trying not to be so hard on myself, but I'm a bit sick of wearing the same old clothes because nothing else fits me. I tried on some summer capris and had to suck in my belly, a skirt that was too big last year is snug around the waist. Yeah... I know what I have to do. Why is it taking so long for the big 'epiphany' this time? Bah!

Anywaaaaay... I hope you all have a good week. So far, mine's been a bit stressful and it's only Monday. The school year is winding down. My grade 12 students have one week to finish their course so that means tons of marking for me as they hand in assignments (remember, I work in a self-directed program so I get a lot of last-minute work handed in). My grade 10s and 11s have until June 17, so the marking will continue for a while. Plus, I have learning guides to write for the new curriculum (I have 3 1/2 done out of 10). Plus, the master's course continues and I have another project due on June 22 that I haven't yet started. I got an 'A' on the first paper I wrote for my course and all I could think of was, "I wonder if anyone got an A+." I really wanted an A+ - what a keener!

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