God Bless Our Troops

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Happy Ash Wednesday everyone,

I have totally fallen out of my routines the last couple days.

Yesterday was supposed to be a Ben day, but Harold called from Lansing to tell me there was a huge storm coming.  Chicken that I am, I switched Ben's day to Thursday.  No storm, no nothing.  Soooooo, since Harold was gone, I spent the day in my quilting room.  I worked on the guest room quilt for a while with no problems. It is coming along nicely and I am getting quite proficient at maneuvering it around the quilting table.





 Then I switched projects, broke a needle, changed the needle, and then the bobbin thread kept breaking on me. Removed the HUGE, HEAVY, quilting machine from the table.  Trust me, this is no small feat, looked around for my cleaning brush and started brushing lint out of the bobbin case holder.  Don't know if that was the problem, but it seems to be running okay again.  Note to self, dedicate a small plastic container for screw driver, oil, and cleaning brushes.  I swear, I waste more time looking for things when having a place for everything makes life so much easier.  (Yes, I am slowly finding homes for things.)


I pulled out a couple of UFO's and started quilting those, cleaned a couple of shelves next to my cutting station, cleared the area next to Lena so I could close the closet door - big difference.


I also started Meghan's Frozen Quilt.   I am so stinkin' proud of my perfect pinwheels.  But take a close look at the picture.  See anything wonky?  I will use those two for the other border.




Monday was my usual soapmaking day.  I have been eager to try a new fragrance.  It's titled Mardi Gras, but the scent reminds me of times spent at my Grandma and Grandpa Caputo's house.  In my memories it is always late winter or early spring - usually Lent.  My grandparents had a set of statues that Grandpa brought from Italy.  There were originally three of them, but one was broken so Grandma told my Aunt Molly to take them home with her.  Last summer she and my Uncle Tom gave them to me because they knew I had always loved them.  Uncle Tom insisted that we take them home with us after our last visit.  A month later my Uncle Tom died.  I am calling the soap Tarantella




I love how the soap turned out.  It is swirled with lilac, green, and gold





On Monday's I also package soap that has been curing for a month.  It is another new one I call Anointing.   To me it smells just like the Sacred Chrism used in baptisms, confirmations, and ordinations.





Yesterday I received an order for a full batch and a half batch of soap.  I was so excited.  Then I realized that I had listed the wrong price on the website.  Basically, it is going out the door for the cost of the materials.  However, it is a cousin who ordered it, so that's some consolation.  You can bet I fixed it on the website.  LOL   Ya lives and ya learns.


I have been teaching Claire, Maddie, and Meghan to quilt.  When I started they were 4, 5, and 8.  We began each session with a discussion about keeping fingers away from the needle.  They have each made a small quilt.  However, my sewing room is not very big (nor very organized) and it gets crowded trying to have them all in there.  I have been looking for a small, lightweight, sewing machine that they can use at the kitchen table.  I found this at JoAnn.  It weighs about 5 pounds, is speed controlled so they can more easily sew a 1/4 inch seam, but I need to mark the bed for a quarter inch.  It  doesn't have a light, though, but I have several small Ott lights that can do the job.  The machines come in some really cute colors. I only ordered one, but if it works out, I will probably get one for each girl.  They are already fighting over who gets what color. 






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