Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Science.... zzzzzzzzz

I have a 13 year old who LOVES Science. I often find myself the victim of his endless science facts and long explanations. And usually, these conversations end about 1/2 way through when my eyes gloss over and I start to snore.
 
But there are times when I am intrigued... Like this last week. He had an assignment to make a Cell. But the Teacher said it had to be edible.
 
So, he made a list of things he needed and off to the store we went.
 
His Cell is a 1/2 a Grape, inside 1/2 a peach.. inside 1/2 a Honeydew Melon.
 
 
Then we used various candy for the other parts.

 
His teacher told him she had never seen one made from fruit in all her years. Kids typically use a giant cookie, or a cake.

 
He was surprised that he was the first to use fruit. He told her "Really? Because fruit was the first thing that came to my mind." And she told him she was impressed with his "out of the box" thinking and gave him extra credit!
 
He didn't even wait to tell me he had an "A+".. he called me from the bus.

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Monday, October 29, 2012

A Blanket for Baby

There are so many quick and easy blanket ideas when you are in need of a quick gift.
 
I made this sweet little blanket for my Mom's neighbor. They are a 'younger' couple and recently had their first baby.. a little boy.
 
 
All I did was take a 36x36in square of flannel and a 36 x36in square of Orange Minky, basted them together. And then added flannel binding.

 
It's so soft and hopefully it will be enjoyed for many years to come.

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Sunday, October 28, 2012

My FNSI Results

I had a very productive Friday Night!

A few months back, I joined the Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Block of the Month. I joined late so they mailed me 4 months to catch me up. Then I received Octobers block in the mail and as I stared at my pile of 5 pkgs... I knew if I didn't get caught up now, I would be in trouble.


 
So, I spent Friday Night making all these...

 
Now, most of you have been around the FNSI for awhile. So you know that I am a true believer in preparation. During the days before FNSI, I cut all the fabric for each block so it would all be ready Friday and all I would need to do is just sit down and start sewing. If I hadn't done that preparation, I would just be showing you a pile of cut fabric.
 
I was a little shocked to see how much fabric they send you for these block of the month clubs. I definitely have enough fabric to make 2 of each block. I just might do that over the next few months.
 
Aaaah.. it feels good to be caught up! Now I'm off to see what some of you worked on!
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Thursday, October 25, 2012

October FNSI Signup... Finally!!

Finally, we are posting the Signup for tomorrow night! Yes, I said TOMORROW night. We are sorry for all these delays. But it has been a crazy month. I have traveled weekend after weekend for various events. And in between all the miles, I've been a working fool. We have 5 openings in my dept at work... Pretty much says it all. My husband is working out of town. It was an unexpected trip. One of his coworkers was in a car accident (he's ok) and couldn't go, so my husband stepped up and left me alone to hold down the fort. And since I don't have family locally, I hired a college girl to pick them up from school everyday. She's been a lifesaver. But enough excuses. I have had some downtime this week in the evenings. I have sewn the last 2 evenings. It's been relaxing. And I will definitely be joining in on Friday Night. So who's with me??

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Thursday, October 18, 2012

We have an unexpected delay!

We have an unplanned delay for the October Friday Night Sew In.

There has been some long work hours and an unexpected trip that have contributed to the delay. We are just moving it out one week.

So now you have one more week to plan those projects. 
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Saturday, October 6, 2012

Kindness of Strangers

Sometimes I am truly amazed at the kindness of people.
 
First the back story - I work with people every day that I never meet. I am a "remote" employee and I spend a good portion of my days on conference calls. Usually with the same people hundreds of miles away. And because of the nature of these "faceless" meetings, we sometimes find creative ways to get to know each other.
 
Anyway - one day in a meeting as we waited for the meeting to begin, someone asked "If you could do anything for a job and still get your same paycheck and benefits.. what would you do?"
 
Well, that's how I found out that someone I speak to all the time is a quilter! Her answer was that she would quilt all day long. We've talked fabric a time or two since that day.
 
So fast forward about 5 months to a couple weeks ago. She sends me a message and says. "Heidi, would you be interested in a long arm quilt frame and sewing machine?"...
 
FOR FREE??
 
My answer "Um.. YEAH!!!"
 
The only catch, we had to come and get it. She lives in Minneapolis but would bring it to her cabin in Wisconsin. Only an hour drive southeast from my house.
 
So me and Mr Heidi hit the road! Not only did I get to meet my coworker for the first time but we brought this baby home!
 
 
It is way better than I expected!! It is a Grace King Size Frame and Janome 1600P. It has a stitch regulator and laser guide along with all these wood templates. I'm still in a state of shock. It's so big we had to set it up in the basement.  

 
Bobbi helped me name her. Her name is Lucy and I will be loading fabric on her tomorrow and taking her for a spin. I need to watch the video on how to do that first. But she's all set up and ready to go.  
 
Anyone want to come help me figure her out?
 
And receiving this amazing gift has given me a very strong urge to "pay it forward". I'm just not sure what I'm going to do yet. I'm open to ideas!
 
So what would your dream job be?
 
 

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