Oven Mitts

I got the sample mitts made for my class.  I picked fabric to match my kitchen, but then realized that I wouldn't be able to use them until the class is over in November.  Oh well.  Tamsin said she can bring hers to show, too, so I am hoping lots of people will sign up to come sew with me.   

 

   

The army green fabric is from Amy Butler's Belle.  The blue is from Walmart markdown.  I think it was $1/yard.  It is rougher and thicker than the quilting fabric, but I really like the pattern.  I am going to get more for a library bag if they still have it.   

 

This is what I had for lunch.  Spinach, fig, prosciutto, and fetta cheese salad.  Salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, and some olive oil, and it is just delicious.  Pretty filling for a salad, too.     

This is what Kai accomplished while I was sewing... a long line of cars on the ironing board.  "Are you going to blog about it?" he asked with a proud smile, so I couldn't help taking a picture.       

In the Groove

The Christmas quilt is mostly cut out, and I started to sew some pieces together.  The cutting is my least favorite part of sewing, so I feel like the quilt is mostly finished.  It is looking just as pretty as I had imagined, and I am having a lot of fun with it.            

Here is a close up picture of the part I started sewing.  I love how the small red blocks pop in the corners.   

I didn't want to spend $13 for the pattern, so I drew up my own.  As it is usually the case with things like this, it probably wasn't worth the time I spent on it.  At least it was fun.  I also got Jerome's attention.  He liked all the shapes and calculations I was doing, and thought I was really smart.  That was worth it.      

Here is a picture of Quinn for my mom.  He is ten months old now.  He pulls things off the table, opens drawers and cabinets for treasures, and loves to eat crumbs off the floor.  He routinely checks the bathrooms just to see if anyone had left the toilet lid open.  He gets lucky about once a week, which is enough to keep him coming back.  He also loves any cuddling up he can get from his siblings, and lives for any smiles he can get out of them.   

His hair is still quite a bit lighter in color than his siblings as you can see in the second picture.  

Well, that is it for now.          

First Day of School

Jerome and Asha started school on Wednesday.  It was raining, so Asha got her wish granted and I drove them to the entrance of the plum path behind school.  

Back home, it was nice to give Kai some one-on-one time.  We read some books and then did work around the house together.  Kai was happy and good all day.  It is nice to know I can keep him out of trouble if I teach him to work and keep him busy.      

The farmers started harvesting.  I am sad to see the golden hills disappear.

Here are a couple pictures of the living room.  We spend a lot of time in there as you can see.

A girl in the enrichment committee of our ward saw this blog and asked if I could teach a sewing class on oven mitts and pot holders.  I feel honored and also very excited.  If you have any suggestions regarding teaching sewing classes, please let me know.  It is my first time, and I want to be as prepared as I can.  I am planning on sewing up some samples this week.  Yes, it is about time I have a sewing entry, isn't it?  Christmas quilt, star quilt, and Whirlygiggling quilt to follow.  

Have a great Labor Day!   

Feeling normal again, almost

I always have a goal to finish putting the house together in two weeks.  That was last Thursday, and I am almost finished, but not quite there yet.  The last five boxes are tricky.  They are full of random junk I gathered from other boxes.   

We love the house.  My favorite part is the view out of the living room.  The rolling hills started turning colors from deep green to gold the week we got here, and now it is all shiny gold.  So pretty.  We saw a rainbow yesterday during dinner.

  

  

Jerome and Kai, despite our many warnings, had to try out the steep driveway on their wheels.  Jerome went first on the Plasma car followed by Kai on his trike.  Scott ran out the door as soon as he saw what they were doing, but it was too late.  Kai got a big scrape on his forehead.  Jerome was fine, but he went down a second time on his skateboard with Kai on his back, and they both came back scraped up.  Everything with wheels are locked up in the shed at the moment, perhaps until we get a padded gate at the end of the drive way.    

We bought so much on our first Costco trip that our cart looked like this.  A few minutes after the photo was taken, we gave up and got another cart for Quinn's safety.    

Time to check out the fabric shop

No, I haven't moved in.  No, my sewing machine is still in PODS.  But I can still buy fabric, right?  While Jerome was at a second cousins' birthday party and Asha was grocery shopping with Aunt Tamsin, I dropped into a cute fabric shop in the down town area.  The inventory was down from when I was there nine years ago with my Mom, but i still managed to pick up a few things.  

Christmas fabric from Moda, Winter.  I have always wanted a Christmas quilt, and I think this is the year I will get one.  I am going to use this pattern as an inspiration.         

Deals from the clearance rack.  Blue and pink ones were 50% off, and the white was 40% off.  

Scott came into the shop after he checked out the bike shop around the corner.  He was surprised to see Mr. McGrath there behind the counter.  It turns out that the owner was his fifth grade teacher.  He and his wife had bought the business 11 years ago and had hired people to run it while they both taught school.  Last year they both retired and started to run the fabric shop themselves.  I'm sure this is the kind of thing that happens a lot in small-towns like Pullman.   

Vicarious House Hunting

Our offer was accepted, and we are putting a rush on all parties involved, so we can move in as soon as possible.  The sellers have moved out already, and now it is up to the lender.  Maybe next week.  We are so excited.

After driving into town late the night before, we went to see the house the next day.  The realtor and inspector in tow.  It sits on a flag lot on a little hill, quiet and private, with an open field/park behind the property.  The main floor has an eat-in kitchen that is open and spacious, and a front room with large windows that look out over the rolling hills of the Palouse.  The main floor also has a half bath.  We like the garage, which is 2-car-sized, but extra deep so there is room to store things.  The daylight basement looks like it will be a good space to use for sewing and the tv.  There's also a bedroom and full bath down there.  There are 3 bedrooms upstairs, as well as 2 bathrooms - hall and master. The master bath is laid out in a strange way, but will be fine for now.  The only other drawback we've noticed is the long driveway, which will have to be plowed if it snows too much.   

Scott's mom found the house and had described the whole thing to us over the phone.  The funny thing is that the house she found and recommended for us is the one we ended up picking.  We didn't even look at any other houses after arriving in town.  We just went to look at it and signed the papers 30 minutes later.  We knew a lot about Pullman before we moved here, but I'm still impressed that Scott's mom found us the right place without us even seeing it in person.

So, I finally got on the band wagonand read Stephanie Meyer's first book, "Twilight".  It was a lot of fun, and I kept thinking how I would have enjoyed it even more if I had been able to read it back when I was in high school.  I attended a private magnet school in Japan with a rigid curriculum.  I was always staying up late studying, and I never had time to read anything besides my required literature.  There were no dances, and what's more, boys and girls studied in different buildings.  I was lucky I had brothers and church friends.  Some of my friends hadn't even talked to a guy besides their father for months.  An American high school story would have been a lot of fun to read for me and for my friends.  Regarding the book itself, I was glad I took my friend's advice and waited to start it until the move was over.  It grips you right away and you won't be able to put it down until the end.  A good explanation for my lack of blogging this past week.  Check out the t-shirt my friend, Kimberly, made.  She is so hilarious!          

Travel, Wednesday and Thursday

A few more pictures from the trip...

Kai walking out of the Olive Garden in Eugene, OR.  Note all the stuff he is trying to leave with, including the mints in his mouth.  

Redwoods.  We walked the little trail behind the Paul Bunyan to admire all the trees, and then rode the gondola up to the top to enjoy the view out to the ocean.  It was the perfect way to enjoy nature without serious hiking.  The trail ended at the gift shop, of course, where they sold homemade fudge for $12.00/lb.  Worth trying if you ever go.  

Scott and I woke up on Thursday in Medford, OR, and decided to drive straight to Pullman.  Mapquest said 10 hours 19 minutes.  It sounded like a lot in one day, but we were getting impatient about house hunting.  We stopped at Barns and Noble in Eugene to get a book on CD for me and some books for the kids.  I also pulled out the dry roasted edamame (soy beans) from the back and had it ready for munching.  A few stops for meals, nursing and bathroom took longer than we thought, and it was past midnight when we got to Scott's parent's house.