Sewing Room: Cutting Table

There are a few things that are not quite finished in the sewing room, but I thought if I did a reveal here and there eventually it will get there.

This is my new cutting table:


The base is made from two cabinets left over from the kitchen remodel. Charlie connected them and mounted them on feet, which makes it the perfect height for his over-six-feet-tall wife. The countertop is Aqua Boomerang Formica.


We mounted a flat panel TV to the wall and the black box stood out way too much with all that aqua and white. I put together a quilted cover inspired by a 50s tv.

When Jaxon wants to watch Ratoo-a I can pull it off and swivel the tv towards him. When I want to watch my new favorite show, I swivel it back towards the sewing machine.


The green bins were on the clearance rack at Lowe's and hold my scraps...


...and I am trying to find the perfect felt flowers for my vase.

But almost there!

"What a crazy random happenstance!"

November?? Really?

We had a fun week with trick or treat and a school party. Any guesses on Jaxon's costume? Here's a hint?

I'll give you a few minutes to think it over...

....and while you're thinking that over, I started a Halloween quilt last year, but I put the top away when it was time to move onto Christmas sewing. I promised I would finish it this year by Halloween, and sewed the last of the binding last night.


Still thinking about Jaxon's costume? The title of this post is also a clue!


I went with the loopy quilting, but I wish I hadn't quilted it so densely. It's tough to do a big quilting pattern on a home machine.

OK, give up on the costume guessing?

Jaxon is Dr. Horrible from "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog."

Jaxon LOVES Dr. Horrible, although, WARNING, it is not entirely child appropriate. Jaxon has only seen parts, like this one:



You can watch all three acts (or the whole thing at once -- it's about 40 minutes) for free at Hulu. It's well worth it!

EDITED TO ADD: I now have six volunteers to pay it forward, so it you'd like to participate check out their blogs to volunteer for a PIT of your own....
DoreyR
Rachel
Nicole
Ellen
Donna
Leah

Pay it Forward from my Sick Bed

Still recovering from this cold. Yuck! Yesterday I really needed to check in with my students. They had an assignment due and I wanted to make sure it got turned in correctly. So our facilities manager hooked up a camera in the classroom and I "taught" from home. Of course it wasn't just me:


The students particularly liked when Jaxon called them "corn dogs."
**There's a little quilty project in this photo that I haven't blogged about yet. Must get photos!

I made breakfast for lunch, one of my favorites and most comforting. Jaxon liked it, too.

Anna, like your bangers and mash, I think of this as being "British"....eggs in a basket....not sure why, maybe "V for Vendetta?"

And I finished my blocks for Sis Boom POW!



...all while grading some more papers. And coughing a lot.

Awhile ago I signed up for a Pay It Forward with Katy. I wasn't sure at the time if I should post about it at that moment or when I received something. Now I know because I've signed up with Lynz, too! So here's how it works:


1. I will make a little something for the first SIX people who comment on this post with PIT in their comments (usually it's three, but I am doing two pay it forwards). It will be a surprise and it will arrive on your doorstep when you least expect it!

2. I will have 365 days to do it in. What's the catch? To get a handmade present from me, you have to play too. This means YOU pledge to send a little handmade something to THREE readers of your blog. It doesn't have to be quilty - just handmade.

3. You must have a blog.

4. Once you comment here, you must post about your Pay It Forward on your blog to keep the fun going, with the Pay It Forward badge.

If I don't get six from this post I will keep advertising!

EDITED TO ADD: I now have six volunteers to pay it forward, so it you'd like to participate check out their blogs to volunteer for a PIT of your own....
DoreyR
Rachel
Nicole
Ellen
Donna
Leah

*Cough* *Cough*

That head cold from the weekend has moved into my chest and seems to have developed into a bronchial infection. With a prescription from my doctor in hand, I've spent the last couple of days at home. It's hard work chasing after a 3 year old any time, but especially with a cold.

I did get some grading done, and took a stab at crossing some things off my to do list. The problem is many of my projects are at that point that is less than enthralling for me. I like the design and construction.

So that means I sat down today to use up some more of those Holiday charity blocks, this time in a smaller lap quilt. It's currently about 40" by 54".


What do you think, white borders or no borders? I have plenty of white donated by my grandmother...

Also, I want to send a great big thank you to Lynda for sending me 8 yards (!!) of fabric to use as backing. That thank you also extends to Molly, Annette, and Wendy R. who all volunteered to quilt *AND* donated the batting for each of their respective projects. Thank you all for your generosity!

I was supposed to be finishing the quilting on my Halloween quilt. I found a tutorial for spider web quilting over at 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting. The problem is she makes it look much easier than it really is! I practiced a bit and decided to try loopy FMQ instead.

You can see why, right?

As usual I was on a roll and doing *okay* until I had to change the bobbin. Tension problems galore! So I popped in a different bobbin. Same problem. So I gave up. I'm not thrilled with the black thread, it stands out a little too much, but I don't hate it enough to pull it all out. I hope to get the rest of this quilted before Halloween.


Both times I typed "bobbin" in that last paragraph, I actually typed "boobin." Nice.

One bright point in the weekend: Jaxon learned to wink! Yay!

To Don't

This weekend's "to do" list:

Work

Teach myself Javascript for a project

Grade 30 midterm exams

Grade 40 response papers

Grade 15 composition projects

Craft

Finish backing for charity tree skirts and ship them to quilters

Quilt Halloween quilt from last year

Make blocks for Sis Boom POW!

Make October blocks for Quilting Sisters Bee

What I forgot to add to the list: Come down with killer cold. Lots of this and this and this.

*sigh* Now I am *really behind*

The Power!

My students are currently taking a midterm (BWA HA HA HA!) which gives me a little down time to blog!

I won two giveaways a couple of weeks ago and now finally have a few minutes to post my lovely winnings...


Rosalie gave away this lovely pattern for Leon the lion. I plan on making one for my sewing room...but Jaxon isn't so into plushies right now...after I get a chance to make him one of you might inherit this pattern!

Beth had a big giveaway to celebrate 100 sales at Etsy and 150 blog postings. I won this FAB-U-LOUS goody bag! It included....vintage trims and bedsheet fat quarters, greeting cards, an owl stamp, a pattern, Burt's Bees, Japanese animal coasters, a pad of paper, a zippered pouch, and...my favorite....


...a felt heart pencil topper!

Thanks, Rosalie and Beth! You made my week! Students are starting to hand in exams, must start grading....

Blogger's Quilt Festival

It's market time, which means for those of us not privy to the event it's time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

I thought this quilt should be my entry so I went back through my blog archives and couldn't find it...so it might just be new to the blog!


This is a doll-sized quilt that I made for Courtney. It was a lot of fun to make! In fact, I might need a full-sized version!