Dismissed

Today was the day I was report to Jury Duty for the first time.  I must admit, I was quite happy to see the summons in my mailbox.  I have always been interested in the whole judicial process, as well as doing my civic duty, and really had no interest or inclination in trying to get out of it.  Unfortunately for me, it was not meant to be this time around.  I was assigned to Group 21 for today’s jury selection, however when I called the clerk of courts over the weekend for instructions,  Groups 1-20 were instructed to report for duty while Groups 21 and above were dismissed…bummer.

So instead, aside from a quick little blog post, my assignment for today is to complete the title page and introduction of my research paper, as well as write my essay on the Philosophy of Nursing.  Woo hoo!

At the moment I’m taking a break and wanted to show you the four fat quarters I’ve chosen the Sew, Mama, Sew fat quarter swap.  I didn’t follow a pattern or color theme, I simply chose patterns that I really liked.  I think my favorite might be the Koi fish second from the left.  I love the colors in the flower pattern, love the aqua in the pattern on the far right, and am a girly girl at heart who loves butterflies as in the blue pattern.  In the morning I will be sending each one off to their new homes, one as far away as Australia!  I hope the recipients are happy with what I chose.

On a completely side note, I watched the Oscars last night mostly because I wanted to see Slumdog Millionaire do well, and it did.  If you haven’t seen the film yet, it’s really well worth hype and attention it’s received and I highly recommend it.

Happy Valentine’s Day

A Day off.

I’ve recently changed my work schedule to where I’m working four 10 hour days instead of five 8 hour days in order to accommodate for some study time.  I know that I’m extremely fortunate to be able to do this with my schedule and try hard to utilize the time appropriately, but it’s SO hard not to sit here and read blogs for hours about what I really want to be doing…sewing or knitting.  In fact, at this very moment I have my school book open on my desk yet I find myself blogging and daydreaming of the Kobayashi fabrics my very sneaky husband bought me for Christmas.  He saw me drooling over a post on The Purl Bee before Christmas and then ordered the exact same fabrics from that blog post.  The fabrics are Kobayashi Chrysanthemums and Flower Squares and I have 5 half yards of it calling to me today. My sister-in-law went in on the gift and added the coordinating solids to make a nice set.  I’ve been kicking around ideas for what to do with the fabrics for awhile now and have narrowed it down to a quilt in a style similar to this Caroline Quilt, also from The Purl Bee or maybe Oh, Fransson’s pattern for the Mixtape quilt.  However, I am open to suggestion. 

Also on the agenda for today is a little fancy cooking. I’m a huge fan of Thai food and I have the greatest little Thai cookbook that I cook from once a week. So far I’ve enjoyed every recipe I’ve tried of which my favorites have been Green Curry Chicken with Zucchini (ooh, spicy!!) and Five Spice Stew with Hard Boiled Eggs and Pork.  Today I’m going to be trying Panaeng Beef in Red Curry Peanut sauce.   I say anything with peanut butter as an ingredient has got to be good. 

Speaking of food…Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. This year my husband and I are going to repeat what we did last year and cook a nice meal together. Last year we made Italian food and some home made bruschetta.  This year I am pretty sure I’d like to try a chocolate soufflé for dessert but I’m still up in the air on the meal.  What will you be doing for Valentine’s Day this year? 

I must get back to studying now.  If I can get my schoolwork finished by 11:00 12:00 1:00 then maybe I can get to doing something a little more fun!

After a long hiatus…

So you’ll notice I’ve moved yet again, this time I believe permanently.  I tried to stay with wordpress but I’ve had a much easier time trying to personalize this new blog into something that makes me happy.  I think I’ve found it, so welcome to my new home. 

I believe the last time I posted at the old address it was election day. I have missed blogging terribly and was constantly formulating posts in my head. I just didn't seem to be able to find the time to post them. The last few months have been extremely busy with finishing up classes at my old school and transferring over to my new school, the University of Central Florida. I am now 4 and a half semesters away from completing my degree and I can actually see a little bit of light at the end of that tunnel. I've settled in at UCF, having started classes about a month ago, and I'm really happy with my choice in schools.

The holidays were a bit of a blur and truthfully, did not include much in the way of knitting. I've been tinkering with a few projects here and there but nothing is even near to FO status. However, I am currently really moving along on this little ditty. The pattern is the Lovely Leaf Lace Scarf and I'm knitting it in Berroco Comfort worsted weight yarn. I love knitting patterns that contain lacework in a worsted weight because for one, it's so much easier and for two, it's so much easier! I can't wait until it's completed and  I'm absolutely dying to finish a scarf. My sister Anna, who I taught to knit about 2 months before Christmas, finished at least 6 scarves before the end of December. Honestly I think it might even be more than that because she's been giving them out to every kid on my nephew's swim team. I must finish something just to get her to stop calling me a slacker!

What's been taking up most of my free time of late has really been quilting and sewing. My quilting has improved a bit and I'm now actually sewing a 1/4 inch seam vs. the 5/8 inch seams I started with. My lines are straighter and patterns are making much more sense. I truly, truly understand the importance of the iron now (we have become acquainted, he is my friend) and I think I'm getting over the initial overwhelming sensation that I used to have when studying fabrics and patterns. There was a period of time when I was absolutely too afraid to cut into anything, but that's gone and I've even become a bit adventurous. For example, here is the second quilt I've ever made.  I just winged it in the measurements and pattern, but if you look closely you'll notice some free form machine quilting. The quilting itself is definitely not perfect but what a great learning experience!  Most importantly I think I could have saved myself 4 hours of picking out stitches if I had only thought to try it with the presser foot down. The darning foot was a Christmas present from my husband and I couldn't wait to try it out. This quilt was originally intended for a shower gift but wasn't finished in time. I’m sure I’ll find a home for it but I'm kind of stuck on what color to use on the binding. I think white would look best  but will get so dirty around the edges. If anyone has a suggestion, please let me know. Otherwise I think it's going to sit on the "needs bound" pile for a good while.

I have a few more photos to share of current projects, starting with my first ever Crazy Nine Patch quilt. The tutorial I've been following is super easy.  I can't wait to finish these and  set them into the chocolate brown sashing I have planned. So far I have 18 squares completed and 18 more squares to go. The hardest thing about quilting lately has been in deciding what to work on next. 

One more project I've been working on has been in making 9 quilt blocks for the Spring Quilt Block Swap. I chose the color purple and the "Austin" block pattern from Quilters Cache. Once my blocks are completed, I send them in and the organizer will send me back 8 different blocks to go with my block. I can't wait to see the other blocks and can't wait to put them all together. More information on the swap can be found at Reanna Lily Designs.  It was a really easy block to make and has endless possibilities.  I can definitely see more of these blocks in my future. 

I really could go on and on but I think I’ve rambled for long enough today.  I’ve been wanting to blog for so long that I have lots of content planned for future posts.  I hope you’ll come back again for a visit.  It feels great to be back.