Today was the first day of my four week quilting class. At the end of the class I should have an actual quilt. I don't know how big it will end up being, but it will be a quilt. This is the first square. I need to make four more of these, and then next class we will make a different square.

I love the fabrics, I don't know what I like better, the dark purple or the paisley. I have done pretty well with the sewing machine. I haven't used one in 25 years, but it is pretty easy to use. I am surprised at how well it is going, it is not as complex as I thought than I expected. Their is a lot of Geometry, so I keep trying to see if I can come up with a lesson that would incorporate the quilting. I have lots of homework to do before the next class.

First Class Update

Here it is, my first quilt square:


This took me 2.5 hours. So an actual quilt would take maybe 50 hours? The fabric will cost $50. It may be smarter to go to target and buy a quilt on clearance. Either way, I am happy with it.

First Day Jitters

I started gathering my quilting supplies tonight. I can't believe all the stuff I have had to buy for this class. I am taking a basic class tomorrow night, it is just a 2.5 hour session. The actual class is on Wednesday.

On Saturday I met my SIL Vicki at the fabric store to pick out some more stuff on the equipment list and get the fabric. I am getting all the equipment in dribs and drabs so I can use the 50% off coupons in the paper. Anyway, we spent 2.5 hours trying to find the fabric we wanted. We need a total of five fabrics, one for the back, one background and then the three main fabrics. We kept finding 2 that looked great, but finding a third to coordinate was a nightmare. These are the three I went with:

I love purple, and Maddie's favorite color is also purple. If it turns out ok, she can use it in her room. I really like the paisley, it is a bit out of my usual range, but I think that is what I like about it.

The last few weeks have been busy. My dad is coming to town later this week, and we have been busy with our after school activity. It is like a qu!z bowl competition team, and we have been involved in our playoff matches. We are in the championship match this week on top of me having two quilting classes. We are also trying to get to the school play this week, we have heard good things and we both have a lot of students involved. Oh well, it seems every week is hectic and I should just get used to it, and stop complaining.

I May Be An Old Lady

I finally got around to taking my gift from Bud out of the box today. He got me a sewing machine, I haven't used one since I was in Home Ec in 8th grade. He got it for me because my mom signed me and my sister - in - law up for a quilting class, and you need to have a sewing machine.
I am really nervous about this class, as I recall from 8th grade, I'm not so good with sewing. There was thread flying everywhere, getting all tangled up, and the bobbin would fall out. Sometimes the thing would go really fast, then slow down, then speed up, it was all crazy. So, I am pretty sure that this class will go awesome. I took out the manual, and I don't even understand half the words. There are a lot of buttons and lights and I am pretty sure I am going to sew my fingers together. ( Don't doubt my powers, I once stapled the middle of my hand)
This week I will have to find time to go buy the fabric, I am excited about that part because, fabric= pretty. I am sure I will be overwhelmed by the number of options and find three fabrics that are completely uncoordinated, much like myself.

Accessories?? Check

This is what happens when a 6 year old boy helps his sister accessorize her hair.

Worth a Thousand Words

Swine flu? To much to drink for NYE? Tired of hearing about health care reform? Why would this baby be napping over a bowl?

Well, the allergy fairies are biting us in the asses. With dairy....WTF? Dairy? That's not even funny.

Back in August Bud gave Ellie one of those wee bottles of formula that they give you at the hospital. A few hours later she started vomiting, a lot. She kept it up at 10 minute intervals for about 3 hours. We thought maybe the formula was bad, or just hard on her belly. Then a few days before Christmas I gave her some of that new baby yogurt. Then, because I am extra smart I put her down for a nap. She woke up an hour later covered in vomit. I freaked the hell out because my mom's baby brother died at 4 months from suffocating on spit up. (my mom was the one to find him, she was 8). So Bud held Ellie over the sink for 3 hours puking every 6 minutes. I sat in the corner freaking out about how I could have killed her with the damn yogurt.

Anywho, we put 2 and 2 together and figured she must have a dairy allergy. Then last week I gave her some baby cookies that she loved. Then I looked at the label and notice the 5th ingredient??? Milk. I hoped since it was a minor ingredient, and baked it would be ok. But no! No! There was more changing of the sheets, more time over the sink. So this sucks. I hate reading labels. And I get the feeling Ellie hates throwing up.

So much of my time this week has been spent googling. And I am kind of freaking out. I don't know how to cook without cheese. My people are from the midwest, everything has cheese or sour cream or butter, or best case all three. She doesn't seem sensitive to me having dairy, so I have no idea how this will play out. I am hoping she grows out of it. But do we experiment every six months, and then apologize for the vomitfest?

We will address this with her pediatrician next month, but I know he will say we have to wait and see. He so doesn't know me, I need stats about the number of kids who outgrow it, at what age? I majored in math for god sake, give me some numbers and percents. He can make em up. Just don't tell me to wait and see.

I know there are some great (bullshit) options out there like soy milk, and (gag) rice milk or whatever. I'm sure as a family we can all pull together and become more healthy by exploring some of these other options and reworking many of our recipes. But..... that won't happen. I know us, we will just buy her the separate gross milk, I will make her a different bowl of mashed potatoes, and she will have frozen fruit sorbet while we have ice cream. She will feel like an outcast in her own family, with her labeled food in the fridge. She will resent us, and probably start dressing all goth and shit. We will remind her what a happy baby she was, and she will scream about us choosing the creamy goodness of dairy over her.

Or, you know, maybe she will grow out of it.

New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year! We spent a nice quiet evening at home, this has become our tradition, because we are also celebrating when we first met.

I don't usually do resolutions but I decided I would make a few this year. Some of the reasoning behind this I will write about soon.

1) Bud and I will socialize in some fashion at least once a month. This should ideally include non-family people. We used to have a large circle of friends, but one couple moved, another couple divorced and there was a lot of drama, and the rest just drifted away. We do have other friends, but we haven't made the time to hang with them much. So I will invite people here for dinner, or we will meet at a restaurant. I am assuming some of these people will probably invite us over so I won't have to do all the entertaining.

2) I will not micro-manage my children's craft projects. Christmas ornaments made by the children should actually be made by the children, without me telling them what colors to use, or where to put the colors. (or even worse me taking the ornaments and "helping" them)

3) I will buy a bike and learn to ride the damn thing. This terrifies me. I was never good at riding a bike as a kid. I ran into the mailbox and bruised my girly parts pretty badly on the bar, I ran into a fence (I don't know how), and once tied the dog to the handle bars and went for a ride. That was not one of my better plans. But as the kids get older I would like us to go on bike rides together. I don't want to be the mom staying at home while Bud is out with the kids. I don't want my girls growing up with that as an example. So I will swallow my fear, and my pride.

I will post pictures of the scabs!