Back to School!

Back to school!!!!!!

I couldn't be jumping any higher right now.    Both girls started back to school today, and I am so relieved to have some quiet in the house for a small time, that is until someone rings the doorbell and Sirius goes nuts.  The girls and I started the vacation in Orlando enjoying some Disney Magic, and ended with a soccer tournament, of which Shelly's team won.  So proud she only allowed one goal in four games!

My sewing machine was returned to me in working order.   She has a brand new screen, and is not making any grinding noises while embroidering.   The tech replaced the bobbin tension spring and a few other pieces not mentioned.   I really wish the tech would detail exactly what he did so I can keep a detailed record like they do for a car.

The first thing I tried was a little embroidery with NiteLite from Superior Threads.   It makes a really nice project.   I definitely had to slow my machine down significantly, but the end result is really nice.   Now to figure out how I want to finish the project and hang it on the door before Halloween.   I am finishing a quilt for my niece, and will post pics in the future.  

Don't forget to Black Out the Duck tomorrow at the ASU vs Oregon game.

When it rains...

When it rains it pours!

We opened up our hot tub and discovered half of the water was missing.   Most of it was still visible on the ground around the base.   The pool guys came by today and naturally the leak is on one of the sides that are next to the concrete block walls.   Now I get to see if I can troubleshoot what it might be before they get here to help save on the cost of fixing it.   They have to move it away from the wall, that is after it is drained.

I took my sewing machine in about a month ago, and managed to piece a t-shirt quilt for my niece, but when I went to embroider some fill on a piece in her quilt, there was a horrific grinding noise.   I took it into the dealer here in AZ on Monday.   I totally love one of the owners because of the terrific service she offered!    She understood that I did indeed oil the machine every bobbin change, and loved that I recorded the sound so they could tell what might be wrong.   Somewhere within the time of dropping it off and about an hour later, it was discovered the screen on the machine was broken!   Wow, I even bought the bag that was made just for the machine.  They are ordering a new screen on the dealer,  and then they can troubleshoot the bobbin noise.   I really hope she's not in too long, because I wanted to use her to quilt this t-shirt quilt.  

 

I came home this morning from brunch with a close friend, and discovered this guy hanging around the door.   I rarely see them here in the desert.   The girls and I are currently being eaten alive at soccer practices by mosquitoes.  Hopefully this little stretch of 100+ ˚ temps will kill off few of the little beasts!

My pomegranates are kind of sickly this year.   A lot of them have split and are very brown.  This is a picture of last years crop.   We just ate the last one a few weeks ago.   They keep for up to nine months in the fridge!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Long Summer and New Addition

Back to try this again......

We had a very long summer.   The girls were adjusting to new soccer schedules, and a new team.  We spent three weeks in Europe, traveling to Paris, Normandy and London.  We celebrated our parent's birthdays at the farm in Indiana the week before the kids went back to school, and then I had to start recruiting for Girl Scouts.

 Europe was an amazing trip.  We started in Paris at the Westin Vendome in Paris.   We took the most amazing pastry tour.  We walked all throughout Paris and enjoyed everything from Chocolate to Macaroons and gelato.   The Dinner Cruise on the Seine was amazing.  We got a river view of some of the most historical buildings at dusk.

We headed off to Normandy early in the morning on a train to meet our guide who toured us around all of the historical sights in the Normandy area.  We stayed briefly in America when we visited the cemetery and viewed the gorgeous marble headstone for all those who gave their lives so we could stay free.   

The Eurostar took us to London where we spent two weeks enjoying the sights and sounds of the city before they hosted the summer Olympics.   We only got to briefly see some of the venues because they closed them to the public to prepare for the games which were only a few weeks away.  The coolest part of the trip was being interviewed for a radio show in London about how far we had traveled to watch the Olympic torch run through the countryside at Warwick Castle.   

After we headed back to the heat for a few days, we headed off the Indiana to see family.  The girls really enjoyed themselves, and enjoyed some skeet shooting and a corn hole tournament before we headed home for school.

Our newest addition to the family is little Percy Jackson Finnick.  He adopted us.  It took a few days for Stitch to like him, and Sirius is happy to have a new playmate as long as he remembers to be gentle.  It has been fun watching him investigate my sewing machine after I had it in for it's yearly spa service, and brought it home and tested it.   He's not certain if he likes the sounds or not.  

'Til next time!

Long week

The past week and half have been long and full.   Both girls are finished with school testing, and Shelly hopes she keeps her current grades so she doesn't have to take the finals in her classes.  Her High School has a really cool incentive, if you don't miss more than 4 days and have at least a C in the class you do not have to take the final.  This is true for all grades.  The only exception is when she starts her IB/AP classes.  She really loves this!   Sydney finished her testing, and then went off to Disney World with her father.  Shelly and I had to stay in Phoenix, because her soccer team is still involved in the State Tournament.  Her team made it to the quarterfinals, and is very excited.  Sunday we will find out if they make it to the Semi's next weekend.  

The sewing room organization is moving along.  The more I find the more I have to do.  The Elfa drawers are located behind my sewing table and are organized by color.  I really like the way they look like a rainbow.  The small top drawers will end up holding an LED light box and my Girl Scout items.  I was looking through the Featherweight case and came across the box with the accessories in it.  Can't wait to try the binder and the rolled hem foot.  The booklet explaining how to use all of the feet was even in the case.  Hopefully I will have some down time to play a little this week.  I'm trying to find my card reader, so I can upload pics from my camera.  My iPhone doesn't always take the best pics.  Sorry.

Happy Weekend!

Freaky Friday

It's another Friday the 13th without my favorite black cat.  One almost adopted me the other day at Petco. She was from a rescue.  If she had been a boy, I would have had another cat.  Her eyes were the exact color of my Sammy's.

We have had a busy week, and are looking forward to the weekend.  The contractor finished fixing the bathroom, and no leaks!  We have one small area that needs some caulk just to be safe, because he forgot to remove the grout and put in the sanded caulking.

Shelly has spent most of the week enjoying little homework as the sophomores at school take the AIMS tests.  She did have to take the Biology AIMS, as she takes Honors Biology.  She gets a weekend off from soccer as her team prepares for the State Cup tournament.

Sydney has had the past few weeks off from soccer because her team finished the season.  They won their division and had a great season.  She is looking forward to practicing again, because she misses her friends.  Tryouts are the first week of May for her team.

My sewing room re-organization is moving along.  The hardest part has been trying to decide how to organize my fabric.  I opted for a little of everything.  Some is by color, some by Manufacturer, and some by kind.  I have managed to find all of the boxes I had from moving 11 years ago that contained any quilt related items.  WOW!  It does feel nice to have everything in a place, and an end in sight.  As soon as I finish I will share pictures.

For now, here is a picture of my king size hawaiian breadfruit quilt I am working on.   It is my watching TV project, and will hopefully be finished in a few months, so I can finish my bedroom remodel.  I opted to use freezer paper to help me keep the edges turned while I appliqué the shape down.   I intend to machine edge also because it needs to be very washable.  (We have a black dog!)

Have a great weekend!  Enjoy my Spring roses, they LOVE the Desert!

Penny Table top

Wednesday brings a couple of busy days before the weekend.

We have the contractors starting today to reinstall the tile in the master bathroom shower.  We had a leak one month after the shower was installed.  Turns out the shower pan had been installed incorrectly, and they now have their 'best' installer doing the job.  This is a picture of the first try.  They get a chance to correct the wrong grout color, and incorrectly layed out pebble tile.   Not so happy about the waterfall that was in the kitchen, but glad they are going to remedy the mistakes.

Here is one of my projects I worked on while they remodeled the shower, A penny table.

The first step was finding a company who sold the round table blanks.  I found this at a site named http://www.readytocover.com/.

The second step was to paint the top black and install the edge banding to keep the mirror coat over the top of the pennies. 

 Then I spent a couple of days super gluing down each individual penny.  If I hadn't done this, the pennies would have floated in the mirror coat.  I opted to clean the pennies once I had glued them down.  I quick clean with Maas did did the trick.  There are $20 worth of pennies on this 38" round top.  The Mirror coat is a pretty cool newer product that doesn't yellow as fast, and is harder than the typical bar top epoxy.  I really liked it.

I thought I would give you a glimpse of the new stockings I made for the new mantel.

Springtime in the Desert

Springtime!

Welcome to my new adventure!  You will catch glimpses of these two critters, and projects that take place in my world.  I hope to share the things I love about life.

Our cat is a 5 year old rescue that was covered in tar as a kitten.  We named him Stitch.  He loves to help me sew, but more importantly because he has the personality of Disney's character Stitch.

Our dog is a 1.75 year old rescue.  We have had him for a little more than 8 months.  Our girls named him Sirius.  For those of you familiar with the Harry Potter Series, Sirius is the name of Harry's godfather, and his animagus is a black dog.  The name fits, he definitely has a split personality.  He's some kind of wire hair terrier and Lab mix.  He is currently shedding like a Lab, but has the energy and wire hair you see in terriers.

The desert is just starting full bloom, Enjoy!