A Paw Up

Painting the lion has begun, but has now slowed down until new paint comes in (should be here tomorrow) - the paint I have is okay, but it's a little thicker than it should be, so it is probably a little too old and I'll treat what I've already put down as a base. Also got lots of basic sewing done - finished and put a binding on the mixed blocks I put together last week and put it through a hot wash/hot dryer and it came out great - so I think it will serve as a baby blanket quite nicely. Then I added borders and quilted a large square I put together last year to try Ricky Tims' Convergence pattern - I'll bind it this week and put it through a hot wash/hot dryer and it should do nicely as a stroller blanket. I also found a bunch of small squares I made last year so I think I'll put them together - with a little sashing in between them and a border, they should also make a baby blanket. I'm trying not to be too precious and perfect about the sewing or the binding (read that as not freaking out and getting frustrated when it's not absolutely perfect) because, as I have said before, babies don't care what they are spitting up on - I'm making useful items, not heirlooms.

A lion is born

When you spend the week in front of a computer both at work and at home, it leaves little to blog about. But, by the end of the week, work has been accomplished and we can declare the week as both happy and productive.

I did get to spend time with friends yesterday - Lu (in pink jacket) and Michelle (in pale pink) threw a baby shower for Connie's (in blue) daughter-in-law Celeste (in gray) and we all had a great time (grabbed this picture off of Connie's blog so I don't know who to credit) - several fiber arts friends were there and I got to meet a few new people as well. And since we all know that Celeste is having a girl - well, I'm glad there was no fine for saying "awwwwww...that's so cute!!!" It did make me a little wistful that I can't make it to the showers for my newest-to-be grandbabies.

This week also saw the sketch/mock-up of the St. Mark's lion completed - I think that once it's painted, it's going to be awesome. The sketch came out great...have I mentioned how much I love our overhead projector? I must say, it felt very adventurous to take a permanent marker to that freshly finished Venetian plaster wall!

Now that the sketch is done, I'll start painting on it this week in small sections. Why this doesn't intimidate me as much as clouds did is beyond me, unless it has something to do with copying and not just making something up out of my head. We also saw the latest Harry Potter movie and then, this afternoon, I treated myself to a long session at the sewing machine, turning stripes....

into blocks.... I look forward to the coming week and hope to work on the lion each day. In the meantime - stay cool!

Productive and Fun

What a great weekend we've had! The foundation preventive piers have been added to the house - poor guys; it was incredibly hot out there...here it is before they started: and here they are about half-way through (did you know we only have about 8 inches of topsoil?) here's a Men Working picture for Margaret:

and when it was all finished, it looked like we had only had someone come in and cut back the vines!

Dave finished the repairs to the tile around the tub in the on-going bathroom project and now that the Venetian Plaster wall has been finished, I've got the mark-up ready to go for the St. Mark's lion that I'm painting on that wall. Saturday afternoon we had a great time together checking out the Habitat for Humanity Restore and then going back to Lowe's and picking out the crown molding (okay, I know it doesn't sound that fun, but we really did enjoy ourselves!) - rounded out with eating out, it was a good day.

Dave got work done on his upcoming lectures and I managed to finish another section for Frogs in the Garden, as well as a small patchwork heart piece. We like it when weekends are both productive and fun. I think we're going to enjoy retirement some day.

Progress Apace

We are progressing along nicely, thank you. The guest bathroom walls and ceiling have been painted. The Venetian plaster wall has been completed. The switchplates are back in place. The light fixture has been shipped and should be here any day now. Next up - Dave will be replacing the tiles around the tub and I'll be painting the St. Mark's lion (from a 19th century armorial) onto the Venetian plaster wall. It's beginning to look like better!! I finished another section of Frogs in the Garden and I think it's my favorite so far... since I made a template for the bird, I might have to use him again on a future piece. Also finished the gill section of the fish. Next up, foundation work on the house (preventative but necessary). Now, as Jon Stewart would say, "Your moment of Zen": a shot of the edge of tonight's storm that plopped hail on us on the drive home....

Slow going

You know when you start out the day by shattering your front crown that the day should only go up from there! So now that a new temporary has been installed (God bless my dentist for fitting me in so quickly) and an appointment made for the next dental phase, I guess things are improving! This week I've worked on the embroidery/handwork part of a mini-quilt - this time it is one of the fish patterns that was a result of the Painting on Silk workshop I participated in that was taught by Ginny Eckley (see posting of 1/25/09). I was going to make pillows of them, but I don't really need pillows and the mini-quilts can be donated to the quilt auction at the next Dallas Quilt Show next March and at least raise some money for charity (even if I have to buy them myself, I suppose!). Here it is before I started the embellishment and here is the eye portion (this has taken about 8 hours to do).

(I know it's actually hard to see all the stitches....)

It will take awhile before it's finished but I have the time and as long as the air-conditioning holds out, I'm good.