Much Ado

I am recovered from my painting experience and have scrubbed most of the paint off. 

I’m learning that parenting is a whole lot about keeping my mouth shut.  Like not saying anything when the kid spilled the paint.

Oh, how much easier that makes it.  How easy it would have been to say something during the brief periods of complaining.  In my mind, I was thinking “just shut up and go in the house.”  But, I kept painting.  Painting and painting and painting and I heard all about how boring it was, and how hot she was and how tired.

But, between, I heard about boys and the boy she has a crush on that’s crushing her back and the counselor that observed it and pointed it out to Syd.  I heard about the boy from Kansas and had to explain why I keep asking about him…”because I liked him and I want to know if that’s the kind of boy you’re going to like…or are you going to be penpal to a prison inmate?”

Not knockin’ pen pals for prison inmates.  But, I have higher aspirations for my retirement.

Funny.  I took this so much in stride that I didn’t even think about mentioning it to Rob.

I also found out that she has a backup plan if she doesn’t make volleyball team and based on how much extra time she’s devoting to volleyball, I’m not so sure that the backup is really a backup.  It might be the plan.  Photojournalism club.  Hmmm.  And, how much she wants a new camera.  Even though she got a new camera a month ago.

Never happy.

Anyway, here are our chairs. 

Not white, but a nice yellow-ey off white.  I think my next project is to make new cushions.  The old ones are faded and worn, even after a wash.

I made these chairs in the early 90’s with a co-worker and her husband.  We worked together to cut everything out and then we assembled theirs, while I was there, and I took mine home.  For years, they never got more than a coat of primer and they lived on the screen porch at my first house.  When I moved here, they sat on the deck for a while and then they moved out front and got actually painted for the first time.  Many years later, a fresh coat of paint.  They’re made of untreated pine, which I now recognize as a mistake, but kept painted, they are not showing any sighs of wear.

Don’t know if Sydney is going to stencil them.  I think she underestimated the amount of work it would be to get them this color.

And, I painted this set of shelves.

 

These are from the 80’s and were built to hold “green bar paper.”  Don’t worry if you don’t know what green bar is.  And, if you do, you don’t have to admit it.  Admission would be about the same as admitting your family kept a brontosaurus as a pet.

This is going into the sewing room closet as a storage unit for fabric.  It will stack on top of a bookshelf and the narrow sections will be for FQ’s and the big section for yardage.

Hoping that will free up some floor space in that closet.

Because I have been keeping the mail lady busy. 

First, she brought up a box from Amazon with these:

Yummy.  Leah’s new book with all her free motion quilting designs in it.  No more trying to decide on the internet.  Now, I can look through them on paper.  Great photos, Leah! 

And, 501 Quilting Motifs was a book I’d been looking at on Amazon, but when a participant in my first class brought one in, I knew I would own one soon.  Yay me!

Then, yesterday, there were two squishies.

First, Bonnie’s new book.  With an inscription to me.  Tickled me pink!

I know she’d shown us a preview of the quilts on her blog, but after I started looking through the book, my plan for a first project changed.  Now, there’s a tie.  We’ll have to consult the strings before a decision can be made.

And, my thread got here.

I had to mail order silk thread for the red silk quilt because it’s on backorder for the LQS.  And, since I was paying postage, why not go all out.  So, I ordered an expensive spool of Superior Treasure hand quilting thread to try it out and 1800 yards of Presencia 60/3 cotton because I love that weight of thread and finding it around here is impossible.  And, while I was there, I saw the “Y-knot” quilt and thought “why not?”

Unfortunately, I have to go to work today, so all my little treasures are going to have to wait until I get home.  I can see them drumming their fingers on the sewing machine now.  Waiting and waiting for me to come to the party.

7 hours and 59 minutes and counting…

Lane