snipping threads

There is very little of interest happening.  Can't help it.  Sometimes, life's just like that. 

It's the week before school starts and Rob and I are both thinking of taking a day off to spend with the kid before they lock her back in prison and misery and bad food...her description.

I don't know what we'll do on my day.  Something more fun than buying underwear, which was our last outing together and less exciting than, say, a trip to the Empire State Building.

One thing I think we will do, is get her a library card.  I can't afford to keep the kid in books to read.  Funny that she's such a reader; always with her nose in a book.  And, Rob and I don't hesitate to reminisce about those long and hard evenings, right after she came to us, when I was teaching her to read.  About how she thought I was magic because I could tell her what the word was that she was stumped on, from across the room, without her even having to spell it.  Now, I think she realizes that some words just come in context and so you only need to know the first letter to guess what the word is.  But, I let her think I was magic, because I missed out on most of those opportunities when kids are really little and think the things their parents can do are magical. 

She's growing up so fast.  When I was at the doctor's the other day, she was commenting on how grown up Sydney was at her last appt.  And, I bragged that we are so proud.  Almost all the time.

Rob said he asked Sydney to do dishes for me on Saturday while I was still getting back up and around and last night, miracle of all miracles, she came in and asked me if I'd like bacon and eggs for supper...she was going to cook and thought I might be hungry.  Then, I heard her go ask Rob, so we all had breakfast for supper and I didn't even go rushing in there when I heard the clatter of a skillet, crashing to the floor...though I gotta tell you, I was crouched for a leap in that direction if I'd been needed.  But, since she didn't call for help, I didn't run to the rescue. 

I spent a good bit of the day tying, burying, and snipping the hundreds of thread pairs from the red silk quilt, First, Inspired.  It's almost ready for the quilt show.  The knife edge binding is all sewn down with tiny, invisible stitches...thousands of tiny, invisible stitches.  Now, I just need to make the hanging sleeve and attach it and then I can wash it and block it.  The show coordinators are requiring all quilts be delivered in fabric bags or pillowcases, labeled with the entrant's name so they can be stacked on the floor before hanging.  I was hoping to delivery my quilts rolled, so we will see if they'll let me make a tube, instead of a bag, for delivery. 

And, I'm going to play over the weekend with quilt labels made with my Pfaff Creative embrodery module.  It's not a really fancy embroidery machine but my friend Tammy suggested I try and I've decided these quilts will be perfect for really nice and fancy labels.  But, that's also another skill to learn, and is going to take some time, so it had to come after the quilts were finished. 

The sleeve on the other quilt I'm entering is not regulation, so it's got to be taken off and redone and hand sewn back on.  Yay, me!  But, the rules are there for a reason; they level the field among the competitors for judging and since I'm a real rule follower from way back, I intend to follow the rules to a letter of exactness not seen in my sewing room before. 

I would be extremely disappointed if I got disqualified in my first quilt show for something as silly as a broken rule; a narrow sleeve or the wrong kind of bag or an incorrect label.

Today, I feel really good again for the first time in a few days.  It rained over the weekend and the sky was bright and clear blue and the air was cooler than it's been in a month.  I was excited to take the dog for a walk and I spent the afternoon yesterday making meatballs.  Two different kinds.  I'll try to blog about that soon.  Funny how I get stuck on something and can't get enough.  This week, it's meatballs.  Oh, and the carrot cake was delish!  One of the best I've ever made, except it tried to stick to the pan.  But, if you prefer taste over appearance, then this was another cake baking success; right down to the orange rind in the frosting.

Be well and take care and stay in as much trouble as you can afford.

Lane

p.s.  Random thought.  Reading is FUNdamental.

lw