The Weekend

Saturday was, for the most part, routine -- laundry, cleaning, etc.

My brother and his wife celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary Saturday evening, so we dropped by for the celebration. Two of my other siblings were there with their spouses. I hadn't seen them since our Christmas get-together in early December so it was nice seeing them and catching up with the latest news. My SIL's brother brought a photo album of the wedding and it was so much fun to see what everyone looked like 25 years ago. LOL I guess I should mention that they are actually my half-siblings and for the first 40 years of my life we had no contact, which is why the photo album was such fun for me.

Yesterday, I SEWED!! I worked on Kwik-Sew 3419. Unfortunately, my results weren't what I'd hoped for. I have definite fit issues to deal with on this pattern and I'm not quite sure how to handle them, but I'm working on it. I'm seriously out-of-practice on sewing with knits and I can't help but think that that was a contributing factor as well. The neckline on this top has a facing which I will definitely nix the next time I make it. I headed to Pattern Review before I started to read other's review of this pattern. I do think if I can get it fitted properly that it *might* be a good style for me -- we'll see.

My other great find was a podcast done by a woman named Heather. It's called CraftLit "a podcast for crafters who love books". Heather is an English teacher and her podcasts are fantastic. She is particularly fond of British Literature (so am I) so I hit paydirt in finding her blog. I have no idea how I got there. I was just browsing blogs and somehow I wound up at CraftLit. Right now, she's in the third (or fourth) chapter of A Tale of Two Cities (the link is a downloadable text version) by Charles Dickens. So as I sewed, I listened -- such bliss.

There's my weekend in a nutshell. Hope all of you enjoyed yours.

Off to work for me. :-(

Don't Try This at Home

DD was shopping in Meijer when she discovered one of those fill-it-yourself "beanbag" cubes on the clearance rack. So in she comes with her cube around (11 p.m.) and a bag of "beans" (which actually looked like miniature marshmallows). We read and followed the directions on the package and a lot of good it did -- what a mess. Those "beans" stuck to everything! I'm still finding them all over the house.

We did, finally, get the cube stuffed. But the styrofoam marshmallow carnage hadn't finished its sport with us. Nope -- not by a long shot.

We needed a ShopVac, but the only one available was in the garage full of wood shavings and I'd had enough trouble with Styrofoam, I didn't need splinter-inducing material added to the mix.

The solution: Mist everything (including us) with water to take the static out...Voila! We had it cleaned up in about ten minutes. Dryer sheets might have worked too, but we didn't have any.

DD suggested we try it outside next time. I can just see those "marshmallows" floating all over the neighborhood...hundreds and hundreds, stuck on people, vehicles, homes, floating on the lake, sticking to the ducks and geese. And oh the letters we'd get from the Homeowner's Association.

Since a picture's worth a thousand words:

Finally, Some Sewing-Related Time

I finally(!!!) got to spend time on sewing-related activities. Yay!!

I traced out Kwik-Sew #3419 (for me!) made an adjustment on the sleeves and raised the neckline. I'm short-waisted, so I still need to make those adjustments. I found some ugly knit fabric for $1.00 a yard at Jo-Ann's -- perfect to use for a muslin.

I need to get started on a dress for dd -- her Senior Prom. She chose this Simplicity Pattern. I haven't sewn an actual garment for quite some time and I've never tackled a formal dress. I'm pleased that she wants me to make her dress and I so desperately want it to turn out well. Her color of choice is Royal Blue. She's a "Winter" and looks fabulous in jewel-tone colors. If I make a mess of it, I told her we'd head to David's Bridal. ;-)

No sewing tomorrow -- I have to work all day and then I'm taking dd and two of her friends to the Pacers vs. Hawks game. The homeschool basketball team she cheered for is going to be the "Group of the Game". We'll get some free thunder-stix, t-shirts and food. Every time the Pacers hit a 3-pointer they'll show the group on the Arena screen. I live in Indiana -- the "basketball state", the home of the reigning Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts and the home of the Indy 500. All that, and I've never been to a pro (or college) sporting event. I'm hoping that since the Pacers are doing so poorly that the traffic won't be as bad. :-)

Off to bed now.

My Daughter

We received notification from the college my daughter will be attending this fall that she's been selected as an Outstanding Freshman Scholar. Great job, my wonderful girl! And a thank you to God for answered prayers.

She's a Varsity Cheerleader with a homeschool basketball team. The team has been on a tournament trip this week. I've missed her, but she's had a blast. The team took 4th place in the conference -- not too shabby. I'm glad she had a great time, but I'm looking forward to having her back home.

She's a sweet girl with a heart for God... such a blessing. Below is a the header from her blog. It describes her so well.