Quilt Shows and Little Girls

So on Friday after I taught a CPR class and met hubby for a lunch date and picked up the younger girls at school, we picked up Grandma to go to a quilt show.

Now Shekinah was sure she didn't want to miss this.

She really didn't know what it was. After we visited the first few vendors her feet were very tired.

They were even more tired when I told her that we probably could not buy anything. 

Tho' it looked like a yard sale they certainly weren't yard sale prices.

Then one of the stands had a drawing for a sewing machine and they told all of us to enter. They also had a little mug on the table with caramels. "Sure please take one!" the lady said....

A few booths later she was "patiently" waiting while Grandma watched a stand holder explain the intricacies of stained glass window quilting and a neighboring stand holder handed out some Tootsie Rolls.  Suddenly this quilt show wasn't quite so boooring!

As we walked into another room, a man at another stand (another rarity, not many men go to quilt shows) saw Faith and Shekinah and asked if they are sewing yet? They answered with shrugs and nods. "Well you go over here and each select a fat quarter for free. Here put it in this bag." The stand had about a 1000 fat quarters. For those of you that don't quilt...a fat quarter is a piece of fabric that is 1/2 a yard long and 21" wide.  The choosing was fun and of course mom had to buy a coordinating piece for each of their selections because we are going to make zippered pencil pouches!

Then my little group walked out to yet another stand and they were selling quilt magazines. My little second-grader could not see the magazines so she looked around and noticed a cute pen in the man's pocket. "I like your pen,"she told him. He paused a bit when he noticed her unique hand formation and bless his heart if he didn't simply pull out his pen and show her how it was a stylus on one end and a screen cleaner on the other....then he gave it to her!

It was high time to get out of there! She stopped at one more stand and found a mug with starlight mints, but the lady said she can't have one because they were "adult only"....BUT she had something in her box. After a bit of digging she came out with some gummy candy packs.

Not sure what I learned from all that, but...it was fun.

Those cards that Shekinah is stitching were a great snowy day project.

I simply drew a picture and poked holes with a needle every 1/4". I then had them stitch around the design. 

History is repeating itself here...reading the newspaper while holding a little boy.

Sharing the last drips of someone's coffee drink.

Ahh spring...

13" of it.

Kitchen Reveal

Ok I had to go back a piece to get a "before" photo.

Those wooded cabinets were/are decent quality especially the doors. They have been in this house since we built it in 1986. The flooring of the cupboards needs to be replaced.

The paint color looks a bit greenish on this photo, the one below is more accurate.

I really love the "tiles" They were my husband's invention.

We didn't think the "stick-up" tiles seemed high enough quality for what we were 

going to need to pay.
And real tiles were just too expensive and scary to install. So after some brainstorming he came up with a tile made from 3/8" MDF (medium density fiber). He machined an edge to simulate tile. Then painted each one by hand with the best  glossy kitchen and bath paint we could afford. We were going to apply a non-yellowing clear gloss, but it gave- you guessed it- a yellowish tint to the light gray paint.

I need to put up my knife rack so I can get rid of the purple container I'm using now, and get a new paper towel holder.

Oh and the kitchen counter is Typhoon Ice from Home Depot. It was a pre-fab counter, came in three pieces. We were very happy with the ease of installation. The corner comes pre-mitered and you get special bolts to pull the corners together. The miter wasn't cut as straight as we could have wished, but in the scheme of things I don'  think it is noticeable. Cutting the hole for the sink bowls was a bit nerve wracking but a sharp blade on the jig saw made for  good results.

I really like that there is no seam between the counter and the short little backsplash. Our old one cracked and warped there and looked awful...that is why we decided to go with the prefab counter instead of painting the old one.

We ordered a 10' right miter and a 6' left miter and a 4' rectangle countertop and our cost was about $300. I don't know if it will last another 30 years...but probably I don't care.

The one thing that needs changed is the light fixture. One globe is broken and of course finding a match is almost impossible. Replacing all eight of them costs almost as much as putting up new fixtures.

Kitchen Update, Snow Days and Book Club

I need to clean off the kitchen sink and take good pictures. 

The "tiles" are in! We just need to paint the range hood and maybe paint the kitchen chairs.

Tho' it might be easier to buy new chairs.

I just won't take pictures of them.

Nothing like a new project. I decided to do a ministry-type project.

Economy weighted blankets - I don't give many fabric choices- saves my running around all over the place. I will probably do a limited number, but after crunching the numbers for tax time I think

quilts really don't have a very high hourly wage.

Caught Shekinah manning her vegetable stand- not sure 

why she needed a mask.

Then someone had an 18th birthday....that is 17 + 1  as we did not have an "8"

candle. Shekinah thinks we'd better take care of that before June.

We did the hibachi grill thing for supper again.

If you ever want an interesting art project. Have your child draw an animal...imaginary or no.

Then allow them to dig in your scrap box and select the fabrics. 

And see what you come up with.

He was wearing sun glasses then...

Zeke helped her decide that it needs eyes.

This is the project that was tabled until a later date.

I'm thinking that if you are going to make a crazy quilt, you should make it for yourself

or for someone you love.

It is very hard to make color decisions for a person

who simply "wants a crazy quilt". 

She has changed her mind a number of times in the past two years.

I kept pushing the order to the back of the line.

This is the best pattern selection she has come up with but still....

The photo copy she sent is not in actual color...so here we go...

She supposedly is going to do her own embroidery. 

This will give her something to start on, I might never hear from her again!

I like this kind of snow day.

Well behaved snow...it only lays on the grass and very little on the driveway.

Since it is a snow day. Someone decided that playing zoo is lots of fun.

Tho the monkeys are housed in the bathroom and you need a zookeep to open the door for you.

Lest you think our house is just humming along like a top.

I joined a book discussion group

for this book.

QOTD:Shekinah:" I know what I want to be! A teacher, because then I can look at the answers."