Cubie Holes

I picked up Kim's senior photos yesterday. Don't let the sweet smile fool you. She is still grounded. Although she is speaking to us once again so maybe there is hope there somewhere.

Cubie Hole quilt top finished this morning while I was waiting to take Mason to doctor appointment. He had staples and one of the drain tubes removed. Will have stitches and final tube removed next week. So far everything looking good. He came home from appointment and was sound asleep within minutes. I haven't heard a peep out of him in hours.

Back in the Craft Room

Feels good to be back in the craft room.
Ran out of beige thread today too. Guess that is a good thing. It means I was actually getting some sewing done.

The 18" embroidery blocks finally got sewn together. I don't even dare count how many quilt tops are done that I haven't quilted. Maybe when it gets cooler I will feel like quilting.

The test embroidery of the dragon. Same fabric as Mason's robe. I wanted to see how it would stitch out. Not too bad. Mason said he wants it on the back of the robe.

Mason is doing good. No pain meds today at all. Just need to get him healed in time for classes to start the end of August.

Lonely Craft Room

My lonely craft room that hasn't been visited in over a week. Such as shame all those lovely fabrics and no one to play with them. I took a vacation day to stay at home with Mason. He is in less pain after this surgery but not as mobile as before. Mason is sleeping so I started a quick little project. But what is wrong with this picture? I ran out of brown thread. Didn't even have enough to top stitch the handles. Guess I will go work on a project that is already started.

Grounded

Kim is grounded until the end of time. For part of her punishment I have her watching over Mason so I can have a few moments of my life back.

Want to have some fun? Check out these blogs. Alexandra and Julia's blog has some great no cost craft ideas. The milk carton wallet is on my list now.
http://alexandraandjulia.blogspot.com/
http://www.amdesigncollection.blogspot.com/
http://ramblingsfromtheanimalhouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.swap-bot.com/user:LadyAmbrosia
http://jeffjessandmaxbrown.blogspot.com/
http://nisbetfam.blogspot.com/
http://lilysemporiumofficial.blogspot.com/
http://scrappinauntie.blogspot.com/
http://neomuyeppeo.org/
http://3stairs.com/

Home

We got home around 8pm Friday night. I don't think anyone expected him to come home that quick. One determined kid. Everytime he woke up he wanted to go for a walk around the floor. It was more like a slow shuffle but he was moving. So far he seems to be in less pain than the other surgeries. Plastic Surgeon is meeting us at his office this morning to remove the bandages for the first time. I am not real thrilled with having him sit in the car again but is a small price to be home a day early.

Calm

It is the calm before the storm. Just a little over 24 hours from now they should be wheeling Mason into surgery. I am trying to wrap up last minute details at the office so I can head home and wrap up the things up at the house tonight.

I did a little retail therapy at lunchtime. It worked quite well. If all goes well Mason will be home by Saturday. Doubt that I will venture far away from him for the next several days. I have great intentions of getting some sewing done while I hang close to him.

Just Peachy

Among other things we bought a half bussel of peaches at the farmers market this weekend.

Where is my sister when I need her to help me peel and cut these? I will admitt that part the box is gone already made into some delicious peach shakes and peach cobbler.

Mason's robe is wearable. I can't say it is done because it doesn't have the dragon on it yet. I am going to try a test embroidery on some scraps. I have never embroidered on satin material before I really don't want to destroy the robe. Worst case if I don't get to it before his surgery I can do it afterwards.

Ending the Week

Ending my week on a high note. David thought the paperweights were a great idea. He wants one with a photo of Mason for his mother. So I finally had a chance to run back to Hobby Lobby today at lunchtime. The full aisle of 4th of July merchandise had been reduced to just a few items. A moment of panic turned into excitement. 90% off!! I cleaned them out, bought all 22 of them for a $1 each.

Not too bad at all. I need at least 14 for my office for Christmas. I think I may stop by the location by my house on the way home and see if they have any more. That will give me spares for David's office.

Priority sewing this weekend is Mason's robe. Got to have it finished to take to the hospital on Thursday.

**Don't you love our 9.25% sales tax. We don't have state income taxes but they sure get us everywhere else.

Another Project?

Do I need another project?
Heavy glass paper weight as purchased. Not that I am not patriotic but I really think I can improve on this. It was the 80% off that really caught my attention.

I bought one to see if I could easily remove the design from the bottom. Not a problem, 20 seconds or less it was off. See the price $9.99.

All cleaned with a tiny bit of finger nail action. They were only glued with a mild sticker like adhesive on the outside ring.

They would be really cool with any fabric or decorative paper behind them but I am thinking about embroidering with names. 80% off makes them only $2 each. In my head are Christmas and birthday presents. What do you think? Good investment for $2? Should I wait and see if they down in price? I didn't see crowds of people in line to buy them. On the plus side I do have 5 months to finish them as Christmas gifts.

I just looked on etsy.com similar paperweights with decorative paper are selling for $10-16.

Confessions

I shouldn't have done it but I started a new project. Cubbie holes quilt top. 15 squares done while I waited to leave for Mason's pre-surgery appointment. These are not my typical colors or style but I am starting to really love them.

Last July I picked up some quilt blocks to embroider while I was visiting my mother. I worked on them for a while then set them aside. I knew I wanted to have something to hand embroider while sitting at the hospital next week. But this wasn't the project I wanted to take. Took me most of the weekend to embroider the last of the six blocks. At least I can start a new project at the hospital without feeling guilty.

Sushi

Mason's first attempt at making sushi. If anyone has any tips I am sure he would greatly appreciate any advice.

He was quite impressed with how good it tasted. First attempt at sushi might not have been pretty but it was edible.

Hopefully he will leave me alone for the rest of the afternoon to do a little sewing.

Real Life

Seems like I have had too much real life going on lately to do any sewing. David ended up seeing an orthopedic surgeon last week. Will try a nerve block into his pelvic bone this week. Hope to get him back to walking soon. Mason scheduled for round 3 of surgery for his pilonidal cyst. Have plastic surgeon and colon/rectal surgeon doing a joint procedure. This time he will remain in the hosptial for at least two days. Have to squeeze in bloodwork, ortho followup and eye appointment in the next 10 days before surgery.
My embroidery swap partner sent me this lovely piece of artwork. She is very talented.

Threw together a cover for David's icepack. What a perfect use for the penguin fabric that has been sitting around forever. Someone sent it to me quite a while ago. I think I need to embroider a something on it.

The fabric underneath it is for another robe for Mason. He liked the style of the flannel robe I made him but he wanted a different feeling fabric. I forced him into the fabric store and he picked out some fabulous silk fabric for $16/yd. That didn't happen. We settled on this satin. Now just to finish it before he heads in for surgery.

My embroidery partner also sent me a felt needle book and some varigated floss. Which is way too funny since yesterday I was hand embroidering with varigaed floss. A photo of that coming soon.

A few fabric scraps from another swap partner. I can't wait to dive into these and do a little applique.

Table Runner

The table runner I started last weekend is done. Binding on it and all. I didn't even go into the sewing room yesterday, so it was nice to get this done today.