Wednesday, April 22, 2009

So many options!

I have spent a couple of hours this morning looking at quilt patterns I own. I have some quilts in the back of my head that I would like to get going on, as well as finish up on a few things I have in process already. Working in a fabric store has stirred all kinds of creative juices in me and I would give anything to have a functional sewing room up and ready to use! It's a step by step process though and is going to take time, no matter how we look at it, to get things organized and user friendly. In the meantime, though, it's nice to dream. I would like to make a quilt for my niece for her graduation from high school next year; I have the perfect pattern for it, a nice blend of fussy cutting/piecing, applique, and practicality. But I would need fabrics for it, especially for the background pieces. I also looked at the pattern I bought a year ago in MN and the fabrics I started collecting on the quilt shop hop... (which is again coming up in MN the first weekend in May--the first one I will miss completely since their inception!). I still love the pattern and I love the fabrics I have picked for it--it's just that they are more muted than I remembered, and while wonderful, need some "zing" to them. They are also going to need to be prewashed and ironed as some of them make me think they'll bleed. Wouldn't want to go through all the work of sewing something together and have the colors run the first time I wash it or something gets spilled on it!

I'd also like to make a quilt for Jesse and Liisa's wedding. I have a bit over a year to get it made, as they are looking at August 2010 for the wedding (and Jocelyn's graduation is next June, also 2010... Man that would mean I really need to get cracking on making quilts!), but at this moment I have no idea of what pattern I would use. I will be honest here (and have already been so with my husband) that I am really bummed we are not going to make a trip to Paducah this year. I had really been excited to know that we are so close to the National Quilt show, but it starts on Thursday and runs through Sunday, and Eric is working each of those nights (he took on Thursday night as an overtime shift). Our plan (during the dreaming stage) had been to drive down tonight--three hours away, spend the night, spend the day wandering the exhibit and merchant hall tomorrow, and drive back home late evening. It's not possible to do this year though. We don't feel comfortable leaving our pseudoadults in charge of the younger kids overnight, we don't feel comfortable leaving the younger kids in charge of themselves, and, there isn't a spare vehicle capable of making the round trip so that I could go on my own (not that I want to go alone anyway. I did in MN for our annual quilt show and convention, but then I also was a member of the guild and knew people there). I spoke to a number of customers at the store who were making the trip though and they were all so excited to be going. On the plus side though, at least I am working myself on Friday, and by choice on Saturday, so that will take some of the sting away--and perhaps I may even browse some of the quilting fabrics as I put things away from the cutting table...

Eric is talking about taking a term off from school again for the summer. I have mixed feelings about it, which I have shared with him. On the one hand, it would be lovely to have all his time off be his/ours, so that we can focus on projects here at home and doing things with the kids, but on the other, the money he gets from the GI Bill is very helpful right now, and the faster he gets done and graduated, the faster it'll be he can be considered for other (more challenging/better paying) jobs he'd like to do. I have left the decision up to him, as I recognize his heart really isn't in school at the moment, and as he has said (and I know from personal experience, both with my undergrad degree and my grad school classes) it is really hard being a dedicated student, working full time, and being a parent too. It has it's rewards, but is very challenging. And if your heart isn't in it, that makes it all the harder. He is at the midpoint for the term, so things *may* get more difficult before they get easier. I will support him however I can, but ultimately, it's his decision.

I have promised the kids we will get a season pass to Mascoutah's pool, and I plan to use it faithfully too. I think the pool was one of the factors in the plus column for moving down here, and I really like it alot! Unfortunately I am not as "bathing suit" ready as I had hoped to be by now, but meh, I have a man who loves me and that's what matters most. It's not a beauty pagent after all... Besides, grandma's are supposed to be soft and cuddly! Right???? The kids are already planning that that will be a nice treat after they get done with summer school classes, and I figure it will also be a way to get them out of Eric's hair so he can sleep during his two months of mids late summer (hopefully June and July will be primarily day shifts!)

I think I will grab my Baltimore Album Quilt border, and my cross stitching, and head out on the swing for awhile. Cliff is sleeping on the couch in the living room and it is dim like a cave down there; and I am tired of being in my bedroom despite how bright and welcoming it is up here! I need a change of scenery! Oh--I got a bell shaped seed ball and put it on the tree out front--the birds have found it and are devouring it! Makes me very happy!

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