Rant and backing

I finally made it to the fabric store today to find backing for the baby quilt I am going to try to sell on Etsy.com.  It was a rather frustrating experience....I walked in and the clerk said, "oh, you made a quilt." I said, "yep, and now I'm looking for backing." Sounds pretty simple right? WRONG!! The clerk proceeded to lead me around for an HOUR "helping" me.....uh, did I ask for help? I. Don't. Think. So.  I know she was trying to be helpful, but she had absolutely no eye for color.  If I had been looking unassisted, I'd have been in and out in 20-30minutes. 

Anyway, I ended up with two peices for the backing and now I can't decide which one to use. It's hard to see the print of the dotted looking one, it's actually small triangles and tiny dots. That's the one I think I want to use as backing, the stripe was what I had planned on using as binding(that was before I found the backing). My other backing is the same white/cream I used in the background of the quilt. Any thoughts?

Thanks for "listening" to my rant. 

Fast Moving Train

This train, called life, is moving so fast I'm just now catching up.  I dawned on me last night that my husband and I have now been together just over 20 years (we will celebrate our 19 wedding anniversary in June).  We are the parents of 2 TEENAGERS!!! How and when, exactly did this happen?  Maybe it's my upcoming birthday that made me think about this. Of course, just last week my kids had to remind me that I will be 43 NOT 44...YIKES, I'm aging myself faster than I need to!

The Boy is now passing ALL of his classes!!! YAY for him!! He's also agreed to try some of the organizational ideas that I have been reading up on. 

No quilting got done over the weekend and probably none today. My duties as a homemaker are calling.....

Here's my little bag made from the Kaffe Fassett fabrics I picked up last week. I think it's cute, but that's also the problem. It's too cute. I actually carried it the other day and felt pretty dorky.

In other news....great news actually, my son has one of his F's up to a C.  AND he's being a little more responsible when it comes to the homework.  I think we just might make it to the end of this year! 

I am, however, even more disillusioned with the public school system.  I talked with the school counselor about summer school if the Boy should flunk a class.  She told me that he wouldn't necessarily have to attend summer school. It depends, in part, on his standardized test score(which are average or above). Now, I ask you, what kind of message does this send to a student who already just does the minimum to pass?!?!? Is this not simply encouraging that very behavior that we are battling against? We haven't told him that he could get an F and not have to go to summer school. We are just praying that he at least gets passing grades so that he will continue to think and F means summer school.  Oh, the joys of raising children :-)

Where the wind blows......

Well, here she is......A-1....the first block of my Dear Jane quilt.  As you can see, I haven't squared her up yet, but I'm happy to have finally gotten started.

We had a rough few days last week with "the boy"--he's been failing two of his classes. He's a smart kid, just doesn't turn in the homework that he actually does.  One of his teachers told us his only problem is that he is unorganized.  Well, guess what, he's not alone.  I've been doing some reading and boys are simply not wired to multi-task.  Boys in middle school have to be able to do that.  So, we will begin to help him learn how to be organized.  Oh, boy!!! This will not be an easy task for me as I am not the most organized person around.  Maybe unorganized is not the right term for me...more like unscheduled.  I think I could use a secretary or boss who tells me when to do what....as a stay-at-home mom with no kids home during the day, I am my own boss.  No schedule here...just go where the wind blows me.  And the wind is now blowing me to my studio.......

One more time....

Let's try this again. I had an entry written, picture up and then picture disappeared and so did my entry!!!

Yesterday, I found a new-to-me quilt shop.  I was THRILLED to discover they carry the Kaffe Fassett line of fabrics.  I have a couple of his quilt books and they are phenomenal.  He uses so many patterns and

colors!  I picked up these:

They have more pink and green than is showing up here-took this with my phone(I won't be so lazy in the future), but I like them. I found a small bag that will use three of them-not sure where the rest will go.

I am still here. All week I kept thinking I'd get something finished and post a picture....well, I haven't finished anything this week.  I have, however, finally starte my Dear Jane quilt.  I've got three of the four rows done on the first block.  I've never had as much trouble with a block as this one.  It's so simple, but three times I've had to rip and re-sew. UGH!!!!

I also started  a shade for my bedroom.  I was zipping along with the sewing, hung it (that took 1/2 a day) and then HATED  it.  So, off the wall it came and I am re-doing my Swedish shade and making it into a Roman shade. I've made five other Roman shades.....said I'd never do another after the last one. Never say Never-I guess.

Other than that, not much going on.

Unemployed again.....YAY!!!

Yep, I'm unemployed again an happy about it.  Since October, I had been babysitting a 2 year old a few hours a week while her mom went to school.  Her mom's class load increased and she decided it would be easier to put the little girl into full time daycare.  I am both sad and happy. 

Sad because I will miss spending time with her and because I have very strong feelings against daycare. My apologies if I offend anyone. I have been a stay-at-home mom since my oldest was born and firmly believe that the best person to raise a child is his/her mom.

Happy because now I will do a better job of keeping my house in order and will have more time to.....

finish this quilt.  The top has been sitting in my ready to quilt pile for over a year. This one gets hand quilted. It will be a slow process as my shoulder can only take 15-20 minutes at a time. This one is for my daughter who loves penguins as they remind her of my dad, whom she is very close to.

Now, I need to figure out how to make a little money selling my journal covers.......