koalabra!

No, it is not my new magic word. It is my new name for the bizarre creature that I finally finished knitting on Saturday (1/3 zebra, 1/3 koala, 1/3 gym sock from the 80's). I thought about holding off posting for longer, as I am still not in a good place to get a picture of this crazy thing, but didn't want to hoard any longer.

Also, I have a short plane flight tomorrow morning and some yarn with me (though I may have left the knitting needles at a friends house, humph!), so hopefully I'll get in some more work. But what to make??

2 hours, 35 minutes.
Catherine

Update 11/24: Here are pictures!

Hoarding!

I finished the frontal in time. I have a picture, but I'm not where I can attach it at the moment. Alas.

I worked on it from about 1 pm until they kicked me out of the church at 7. There were breaks in there, so I'll say it was 5 hours of work.

So there is it. I went home for our Dad's birthday last weekend and didn't touch the sweater I brought along with me to do. Poor little neglected sweater. On the other hand, Catherine was there too, and I don't think she worked on her projects either. Phew!

5 hours Oct. 23, 7 hours total.

Margie

Work!

So...I broke out the sewing machine tonight to work on, of all things, a frontal for the altar at our church. For those not in the know, a frontal is a lovely cloth that covers the front of the altar. Sunday is Covenant Sunday for us, the day that everyone turns in their pledge cards so we can set the budget for 2011. I'm in charge. I asked the Creative Arts Guild at our church to help me and they turned me down, so I'm making the frontal.

It's going to be like a Martha Stewart ribbon billboard so that we can tuck note cards on the frontal. I finished the body tonight and need to put all the ribbons on tomorrow. It has to be finished by around 6 tomorrow so that the church can be all set for Sunday morning before Sunday morning starts. No pressure...

I'll take a picture when it's all set up in church. I think it will be verry nice.

Today at work, I got to babysit a photographer and his assistant. It made me tired, and not very appreciative of whiny grad students.

2 hrs. for me!

Margie

The end of an era

The good news since I've last posted is that it seems I have a new coworker. I don't want to jinx it, but the wheels are turning. What does that mean? I will get to go home at normal hours, and not have to work all weekend, every weekend. It's hard to imagine.

What does that mean for you, seester? You're in trouble. Less work + more football = a sewing extravaganza. :D

I'm also feeling extra happy with myself because I finally made some real traction on a project that's been on my desk for far too long. I've rewarded myself with a few minutes (45) of cutting squares, though I'm running out of white and I need to wash my new greens. Then I started sewing one up but I got bored. Isn't that fantastically exciting??

So, 1 hour, 35 minutes for me.

Catherine

In praise of pasta

Today I brought some work home, because I have so, so much to do. Instead I made lasagna and sewed up the last two quilt squares that I had cut last week (which took 35 minutes). Good for my sanity, not so good for the people who are waiting to hear from me. But look at this cutie square! And I've included some pins that got smushed, all in the name of quilting. They may be hard to see, but they're on the right.

I would also like to add that my mom's recipe for spinach lasagna is so awesome. You don't have to cook the noodles beforehand - you just throw everything in at once. And, it's spinach, so it's so good for you! And, the recipe uses cottage cheese, not ricotta, which to me makes all the difference. I have also discovered that if you just make regular noodles and sauce, and then throw in some cottage cheese, it's kind of like instant lasagna. That's my secret for the day.

My other secret is that I may go to sleep, even before the football game ends. I'm tuckered out.

My secret for tomorrow also has to do with straight pins. It's quite an epiphany.

50 minutes for me!

Catherine

An homage to Hillary

Today's post is in honor of my friend who, because I had arranged to meet her for a morning run, got me up out of bed for what turned out to be a mostly productive day. I put away my laundry, cleaned my bathroom, went to the grocery and a sewing shop (more green fabric and some stuffing), and did some other things. I even sewed one of my quilt squares, which took 15 minutes.

I also have a new idea about how I'm going to motivate myself to sew every day. At the moment, I just have 'sewing' on my to-do list, which is an endless and vague thing, so I don't do anything. Instead, I should write 'sewing - 30 minutes'. And then that's a reasonable amount of time to spend. And, I imagine, once I get going, I might end up doing more than 30 minutes.

But for today, I'm exhausted. More soon!

0.25 hours.

Catherine

D'oh! That time already?

Well, with all that's been going on here, I haven't done a lick of work. Well, not true. I did knit two rows on the sweater sleeves a week ago, and I did knit a little more at the newly formed Crafty Girls' Night, but that's once a month.

So, I bow to my less-slacker sister for her motivation to beat me. Extra pitiful hours we racked up this time. Sigh. Not sure it's going to get better here.

Tell me your salsa preferences, oh quilty one!

Margie