Sewing project

My mom is flying in for a reunion retreat out at Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. One of the things we are doing at the reunion is having a pajama contest. Who ever wins the pajama contest gets a big surprise present from Debbie Macomber. Ms. Macomber was going to come to the retreat and be a guest but her schedule is so busy that she can not make it. So she sent a present for all of us as well as a big gift basket...

The lady who is in charge of the reunion came up with the pajama contest. I am making mine. I decided I could find a really pretty pattern to make. Now here's the thing. I have never sewn a wearable outfit...I did get a nice pattern for an oriental inspired "scrubs" which I am turning into pjs. I found a nice tan brocade/sari fabric to make "silk - like" pajamas. I cut all the fabric out and took the pattern in to see if the two people at work, who I know sew well, could give me any pointers. I also went and found piping in a dark chocolate brown and two frog closures. The top is coming along well. I have the two front pieces attached to the back at the shoulder seams. I also just made the collar (the only part with interfacing) and attached the piping to the collar. I am now too tired to actually go further without fear of mistakes. I cannot wait to finish it though as I am hoping for a very nice top and pants that I could use for a dressy outfit as well.

I also made some freezer jam in the flavor of blueberry. It's sitting on the counter gelling over night...then into the fridge or freezer. I have done this with strawberries already and that was amazing.

Productivity was average today as I got most of the dishes done as well as picked up and organized the master bedroom, except I have about four medium size piles of clothes to get put away and a large pile of laundry to do. Tomorrow I will keep myself busy until it's time to go pick my mom up at the airport. Hopefully it will make the time go faster as well as I can get quite a few things done!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow my mom flies in. I am just taking a quick minute to say I am so excited to have her here...

back to cleaning the apartment and making yummy foods.

Quilting

So I finally finished my first ever quilted piece. I finished my Minnesota Wall Hanging that I started in August of 2007. All I really had to do with it was put the binding on, sandwich it, and finish off the binding. So Friday I finished it completely! I quilted around the inside and outside of the squares and around the letters. Finally I quilted around the inside white piece.

Then yesterday I decided to continue in the mode of finishing and pick up where I left off in making this beautiful table cloth for my table. I started this last November at Quilt retreat. All I had done was the center piece fused down, the handles on the vase stitched and the other pieces cut out. Yesterday I pieced everything together and began hand stitching again.

I am now about half way done with the center stitching!

weekend day one

I am gearing up to have my mom here next weekend. I'm also having a weekend at home sewing. I have fabric ready to go for my first wearable sewing project. Mom is coming for a retreat and at that retreat we are having a pajama contest for a gift basket from Debbie Macomber! I can't wait to do this project but I am very nervous on doing something wrong.

Anyway, to get me in the sewing mood I have done all the dishes, cleaned off the table, and now am ready to get all my sewing things out for the evening and tomorrow. I am in finishing project mode...so hopefully I can have some show and tell at the next block of the month meeting.

Just checking in. I will take pictures as I can to show how things are going.

Hope you all are having a great friday.

P.S. I guess today is Talk like a pirate day 2008 so - Yarr me mateys come join me - ye scally wags of sewing!

Immediate Photo

took this from my friend Neth's blog:

the rules:

take a picture of yourself right now.
don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... just take a picture.
post that picture with NO editing.
post these instructions with your picture.

Yeah...this is me after I had been sitting outside my apartment for three hours waiting on my neighbor to return my key. Jeremy's at work tonight working on a huge project. I finally gave up and had him come home and open the door just long enough for me to squeeze in and for him to grab two soda's and leave again. Thank goodness for my i-pod. P.s. I look like I have a pained expression because I have a migraine...sigh...maybe I should go to bed.

Unwelcome guest?

I found out last night that four of my favorite quilting buddies will not be at the Quilt retreat in November when I will be there....


I think it's a subtle hint saying I should stay in Washington...well too bad guys...I have my ticket already and projects to finish...

Would any of you be up for a movie night at Tia's right after that week of quilt retreat? Kristi? Erin and SJ? Mary (I know you're out there somewhere)...

I fly out the 11th of November.

I would love to see all of you!

Dear Past Lis,

You are going to get a bug to make a brown sugar chicken stir fry tonight with all those wonderful groceries that delivered this morning...

Please, please, please use corn starch instead of baking soda...Trust me...what your food tastes like with the baking soda will make you wish the kitchen would spontaneously combust so you don't have to look at the flop of a meal you made.

Also...Your husband is amazing to take you to Arby's when you do use the baking soda. Poor guy...don't let him try the food if you forget and use baking soda.

Sincerely,
Your disappointed Future Self

How to spend a geeky weekend in Seattle

This last weekend (friday through Sunday) I went to my first convention. A gaming convention called Penny Arcade Expo. It was held at Washington State Convention and Trade Center (four stories of craziness as I like to say). Friday afternoon Jeremy, two of our friends, and I headed down town to find parking and explore the world of video games, PC games, and board games. It was a big Geek convention and I am proud to say that!

All in all the weekend was very entertaining and enlightening. I went to two panel discussions. Number one was the History of Harmonex (the guys that made Rockband) and number to was "Is casual killing core gaming?" Now many of you who read do not game as much as my dear husband does so I will explain both panels.

The first was a walk through of how this tiny company Harmonex grew from some gentlemen from MIT who wanted to make music more interactive with the general public....all the way up to Rockband and the craziness of popularity that this game has developed.

The second was a discussion about gaming companies gear more of their games towards the "casual" gamer (one who likes to play easier games that you can put down after a half hour if need be and not have to invest so much time into...). On that panel was a gentleman that
I used to watch on tv...on Star Trek: the Next Generation.... Mr. Wil Wheaton.


He is so intelligent and a wonderful speaker as well as a HUGE GEEK - just like the rest of us 70,000 people that attended. I have since become an avid reader of his blogging.

Wil's blog

He is insightful and still very funny when poking fun at geeks and himself.

So that was three days of non-stop lights, games, walking, hard to find food, waiting in lines, and happiness. (Something like one day at the MN State Fair)...

Now it is Tuesday and I can tell you nothing remotely laborious happened on Monday...I don't even know what really happened that day but lots of watching Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe, napping, and more napping.

I made an attempt at my first batch of freezer jam of the strawberry variety tonight. Check out my food blog tomorrow for the recipe and pictures...then I proceeded to find the only ounce of productivity I have felt at home in two weeks.

That means I cleaned out the fridge (scary), unloaded then reloaded the dishwasher with some dishes that had been sitting for too long, then bagged up threw bags of garbage, two bags of glass and bottles, and had Jeremy help haul them to the garbage...in the meantime cleaning off most of the table and counters. I feel very productive and tired too. This week, because I had four days off, I am working four ten hour shifts...I feel like I am living at the job this week...but it's ok because I am finally out of training and working on my own with the assistance of a mentor for the next two weeks. I enjoy the problem solving aspect of my job and helping consumer's feel so much better about our company (knowing that we rock as a company and how we treat the consumer).

so that is a random post for you...covering a few days...

P.s. My mom is coming to visit in 24 days (but who's counting!)

P.p.s... Jeremy and I found Waldo!