Mall of America Wrap Up

Whew! What a couple of days!

We set our alarms for 6am, hoping to be on the road by 7:00. We were in the car and rolling by 6:40, so we were off to a good start! The heat wasn't too terrible until about 11:00 and it started to get pretty stifling in the van, but by then we were close enough that the excitement overshadowed that. One girl brought a six pack of mini sodas and they opened them and 'toasted' their trip as we crossed the Minnesota border (mini sodas, Minnesota, get it?) LOL.

We stopped at our hotel hoping for early check-in to no avail. We were only a mile from the Mall so we proceeded there. We sat at a stop light with the Mall straight ahead. I turned right, as the parking garage was on the right....OOOPS...we were back on the highway....bye-bye mall! Did you like it girls?? We got turned around pretty quickly and found our way to the parking garage. Of course by this time I was so turned around I had NO idea how to find our hotel again!

Their excitement as we headed to the elevators was at a fever pitch. The side of the elevators facing the mall was windows, they practically had their noses pressed against the glass looking at their destination, now only feet away. We pressed the button for the lowest floor (not realizing we were on the side the subway was on....) and when we passed ground level out the window was girders and cement. They were so close to the window (and not expecting it) that they all jumped back and screamed, which made Ruthie scream. I have to wonder what the people outside the elevator must have been thinking!

FINALLY, we were IN the mall and settled down for some shopping! I have a friend who lives close by, she met us shortly after we got there and we set out searching for bargains.

Here is a view from the third floor, you can see the 2nd and first floor in this view. This is just a very small view, this place is enormous! The girls did some serious shopping this day, spending a fair amount of time in a few of their favorite places. I was wondering if we'd even see the whole mall in our two day trip!

My big purchase was a portable DVD player to keep by my quilting frame. I love having movies on during the day, especially when I'm quilting. I've been putting them on the computer, but then it's not available for anyone else. The portable player will also be good for car trips. I'd been shopping around online and had an idea what features I wanted and what price range I wanted to be in. We used it on the way home and listening to it really helped pass the time in the car.

Day one at the mall ended at about 9:00 pm, we went back to our hotel weary, a bit poorer and very happy. After one wrong turn and a few extra driving minutes, we were back at our hotel, checked in and the girls were heading to the pool for a quick swim, after which they settled in for the night after a bit of chatter and one more look at all of their purchases.

I don't sleep well the first night in an unfamiliar place, so after a bit of TV I finally felt ready to sleep. I woke with a start at 2:30 am, there was a storm raging outside and the power had just gone off. We had set an alarm for the morning as the girls wanted to get all dolled up for day 2 at the mall, so I lay there, expecting the power to click back on pretty quickly. It didn't. I lay there for quite a while and finally fell back to sleep. We awoke just after 8...and the power was still off. The room was warm and stuffy. Without power we had no blow dryers, no curling irons, no light in the bathroom.

I've told my husband and friends that kids' attitudes can often be molded by how they are presented with things, here was my chance to test my theory in a big way. They were a little dejected over the late start (we had the alarm set for 7:30) and not having their 'makeover' morning, so I said cheerfully "it will be ok. Anyone who wants to shower can leave the door open for light, we'll just stay over by the beds so you have privacy. You all have such pretty hair you don't need to fuss with it to look good, we can get ready and be on our way."

They perked up, took turns taking quick, cold showers. And as fate would have it, the power went back on as we were getting ready to leave the room!

Tradition (if you can call the idea of continuing something done for only two years tradition) dictates a trip to Build-a-Bear. The idea was for our girls to each buy one for herself and for the friend they brought. This was to be our first stop in the morning, we intended to be there before the mall opened to get in line and do it quickly. We got a little later start than intended because of the power outage, so I was concerned that we'd have a much longer line to deal with. We actually got in and out fairly quickly. Here is Ruthie with her new Koala bear. The bear's shirt says "shop til you drop" which was really appropriate for this trip!

My other purchase was a new pair of shoes for the Fall. I liked these right away, they feel wonderful and will go with both nice slacks and dresses for church. They are black, actually, they look navy in the picture. I have visions of a nice black dress, textured black hose and these shoes.

Another thing on the agenda for day 2 was riding the roller coaster. We made a quick trip to the car to drop off our purchases and headed to the amusement park. Time was starting to run out, so while they were waiting in line for tickets and to get on the ride, I quickly went to the last store that I wanted to see. I got back just in time to see them on the ride.

We spend the last couple of hours having a meal before the ride home and making one last visit to favorite stores or seeing missed stores that they just had to have a peek in. Before we know it, the whirlwind two days are over. One of the last things they do is to get in a photo booth to take pictures. All four of them cram in there for one last tangible memory of their trip.

Now our thoughts turn to the beginning of the school year. I'm looking forward to less heat and humidity!

Today's agenda includes several small chores, driving a friend to the doctor's office and, I hope, lots of quilting. The same will hold for the rest of the week. Our oldest three are going on a camping trip next weekend and will be gone from Thursday morning until Saturday dinner, so I hope for a very relaxing, quilty week overall. The frame quilt is just about ready to come off and then I'll have to quilt the outer row of blocks in a hoop. I'm optimistically hoping to have the quilting done and be able to bind it at my quilting bee next Tuesday night.

So off to quilt I go, still smiling from our very enjoyable Mall of America trip.

We're Leaving on a Jet Plane.....

(anyone else remember that song??) Ok, well, we're not really leaving on a plane, but rather in our full size van with broken air conditioning.

My girls and I are making our 2nd annual trip to the Mall of America. We're bringing two of their friends on our foray into the wild world of oversized shopping malls.

My husband and sons hunt, so have a long weekend away every fall. He calls this our hunting trip...which is actually a pretty good description of shopping, especially in a place with 3 floors, hundreds of stores and accompanying 4 teenagers with an eye for bargains...ours just ends with oodles of packages and not gutting an animal in 20 degree weather.

We're spending one night in a hotel near the mall and Rachel (15) said "packing for this trip is so easy, it's like going to a sleepover." While her list may contain only her makeup, purse, a change of clothes, her swimsuit and some pajamas, mine is considerably longer! Packing for an overnight trip isn't much different than packing for a few days for me.

We eat our breakfast and lunch in the car on the way, to save the girls money on food and leave them more for shopping. We also eat our own food for breakfast in the hotel and we bring snacks for the car trip home. With Ruthie coming along, we need a stroller and all her paraphenalia, too. I've learned a lot about myself over the years and know that the more work I do ahead, the more I can enjoy a trip, especially a short one. So yesterday I did the grocery shopping (usually a Thursday job), baked cookies and gathered up as much of what is going on the trip as possible, leaving only the final packing for today.

Also on my agenda today is as much quilting as I can squeeze in as there will be little, if any, time to do any while we are gone.

So think of me over the next two days, in a van full of giggling girls in 90 degree heat and no air conditioner, walking the biggest mall in the world, getting swollen feet and entertaining a two year old along the way...and know I'll be having just as good a time as they are!

Bag-o-mania!

I was really inspired by Bren and her bags!

I love bags...all shapes, sizes, styles and colors. I have a book on how to make a few different styles and am always drawn to books on bagmaking.

In the last couple of weeks, I was toying with the idea of making a new bag for our Mall of America trip this weekend, but dismissed it as unnecessary as I have many bags!

Seeing Bren's new bags got me thinking about it again, so I went to the store and got some supplies and dove in.

I had to do a couple of things I'd never done before. When first talking about this bag, I told my husband I needed a grommet setter, that I had no idea how much they cost and where to find one.

He said he might have one among his Dad's tools that were given to him when his Dad passed away 18 years ago.

Since I had no idea what I was looking for and I really didn't want to bother him to search for something I didn't need at the moment, I filed away that information and decided that 'someday' I will make this bag, but I didn't want to invest in a grommet setter if we have one here somewhere.

In searching for a tool for our son, what does he find? The grommet setter and a bag of grommets (isn't it weird how if you say a word enough times it starts to sound really odd? grommet, grommet, grommet....I'm now doubting that's a real word!)

It's a much simpler tool that I imagined, and of course had no directions with it, so I ruined 3 sets of grommets while trying to figure out how the thing worked.

That left me one short as the package had 10, I needed 8 and ruined 3. ugh. I asked Rachel, who is 15, has her driver's permit and will drive me anywhere, to take me to the hardware store. It didn't take too much searching to find this 24 pack of grommets...and to find they had 2 other sizes. One larger and one smaller. My mind is already creating cute little smaller bags with those smaller grommets!

In my pattern directions, one of their suggestions for the handles was braiding together 4 strands of suede, leather or decorative cording. Hmm. I checked Walmart (where I had already found the tapestry fabric for the bag) and couldn't find anything that seemed to fit that description, though I did find some decorations that could be used around the top edge. I filed that information and moved on to Michael's craft store.

Sure enough, they had leather lacing. It's sold on a card and relatively inexpensive. I picked two colors that worked with my fabric and went in search of something pretty to put along the upper edge. I found some beautiful prestrung beads and added them to my purchases.

The only part of this project that gave me fits was braiding the handles! I've never braided with four strands before. My pattern book had instructions on how to do this and it looked quite easy! Ha! While it should have been easy, I still kept getting mixed up and restarted at least 5 times before I finished the first one. I did finally figure out how to find my place if I got mixed up in the middle and I LOVE how the handles came out.

I had some corduroy fabric that was given to me years ago in both blue and burgundy. Both colors are in the tapestry fabric and either would work with the fabric I bought (though the blue was definitely more prominent.) My fashion conscious daughter who is into matching said the blue was better (I thought so, too) so I began to cut.

I'm quite pleased with the finished product, so much so that I think it will become the every day bag when I need to bring my purse along with necessities for Ruthie and other odds and ends. I can put my purse and everything else we need in one bag and be on my way!

The other thing that I added to the pattern was a cardboard bottom for the bag...like many purses and bags have. I took a piece of cardboard, covered each side with fusible fleece and then slipped it into a corduroy sleeve. It gave the bag more shape and stability and I really like what this little addition has done to it.

Below is a side view, where the beading is shown a bit better.

I really enjoyed this little foray into bag making and have come up with some ideas to alter this pattern to make some smaller ones to be used as project bags, or even purses.

While I spent lots of time in my sewing room yesterday, only a couple of hours of it was hand quilting, so that will get my attention today.

And now, I'd better get to it, or I'll never get anything done!

My Other Love

is food. I love to cook. I love to bake. The creativity factor gives me nearly the same satisfaction level as quilting does. One of my daughter's friends decided he was going to open a restaurant someday and he wanted me to cook, LOL.

Anyway, yesterday I spent the bulk of my day baking. We're visiting with friends this evening and we take turns...one time it will be at my house, then I make dinner, she does dessert. The next time we'll meet at their house, she'll make dinner and I make the dessert.

When it's our turn, we usually make 2 or 3 dessert items. Combining the families, there are 14 of us with different tastes, plus it's just fun!

I tend to bake extra so we have some left around here for the week, my husband takes a lunch to work every day and I like to include something home baked whenever possible.

To the left is my sourcream cheesecake. This recipe has spoiled me for any other kind of cheesecake, including that found in nice restaurants. Sometimes I make my own graham cracker crust, but I find I really like the storebought ones as well. When I buy the crust, the filling will fill two of them as opposed to the one 9 inch springform pan cake I get otherwise.

A favorite of both families is frosted brownies. These are made nearly every time because if someone doesn't like the other choices, they always like these. I'm almost embarrassed to say (after going on about how much I love to bake) that these are made from a box mix (2 actually) but they are so good! When I bring these places no one knows they are from a box unless I tell them.

My friend's husband's favorite is pineapple upside down cake. I have a wonderful recipe for this that is moist and delicious. The big secret is saving the pineapple juice from the can of rings and using it for the water in the cake (a bit of water has to be added to make the full amount needed). This adds a moistness and an extra hint of pineapple flavor that really makes the cake. I also add extra cherries dotted around the cake...who doesn't like cherries?

I bake cookies nearly every week, in triple batches or they never last around here, with my husband dipping into the cookie jar each time he's in the kitchen and my kids' parade of friends in and out of our house. I ringed the cake with cookies for an easy way to bring a few and to fill out the edges of the platter.

In addition to my baking yesterday, I was able to squeeze in a little over 5 hours of quilting time. I used this time to baste the next quilt to go into the frame as well as quilting at the frame.

Today I'm "free" until we leave at 5:00. I have a bit of finishing cleanup in the kitchen from yesterday's baking and should do a couple of loads of laundry, but without dinner to make here, I should get some quilting time in for sure. I plan to bring a bit of hand applique tonight, my friend is a quilter, too, and we usually have handwork with us when we visit and play cards. Our husband's have raised card shuffling to an art and we can usually get some stitching time in while they shuffle and talk!

Happy Quilting!

This and That

Thursdays are busy days in my house. I rarely think of them as 'quilting' days as I run my errands in the morning, then my husband is home for a while, and in the evening I've got some kid running to do. Yesterday was no exception. While the 'schedule' of the day was different than it usually is, it still didn't seem to leave much solid quilting time.

As it turns out, I got in nearly as much as the day before. Partly because I made a concentrated effort to do so. The timer is helping me to spend some focused time on my quilting rather than randomly sitting to do it.

I was all geared up for a mostly quilting day today when I realized that I have to bake for tomorrow. This should still leave me a fair amount of time. I often have baking days, and I usually end up frittering away the time while things are in the oven, today I hope to be more diligent as the frame quilt is calling my name.

My piecing has taken a back seat this week. I'd planned to both piece and quilt, but the frame quilt is now getting so close to coming off the frame that I can't make myself work on anything else. If I want to have a quilt ready to go in it when this one comes off, I'll have to baste this weekend because I anticipate only a few more days of work before the switch can be made.

I'll still need to quilt the outer blocks, but that will be done in a hoop. I'm guessing another week or so of quilting once it comes off the frame.

So while my desire is to park myself for most of the day at my frame, the reality is that the quilting will happen in fits and starts today, amid baking two cheesecakes, a pineapple upsidedown cake, brownies, and a triple batch of chocolate chip and nut cookies.

If I can finish all that baking today, though, tomorrow (in theory) will be free to quilt until we meet up with our friends.

So now I've got to run and get the first goody in the oven or there won't be enough time in the day to finish! I will leave you with another teaser from the frame quilt.

Have a wonderful day!

Looking Ahead

As the frame quilt approaches the end of it's time there, I find myself looking ahead to what I want to accomplish for the rest of the year.

I already have a quilt picked out to go into the frame, it will be basted soon...possibly even today depending on how my time goes.

After that I'm finishing two UFOs as Christmas presents. If I have the time figured right, this should leave me plenty of time for other small projects as gifts. I'd love to try my hand at beading, but I tend to put off learning something new (it's easier to just spend the time doing what I know and love.)

So while sitting at my frame, my meandering mind is mulling over Christmas. What I can make that is different, but not too terribly expensive or time consuming. How much I want to stretch myself in the skill department. I have one particular thing I'd love to try, but it involves putting in zippers....something that has given me fits in the past.

While I could sit here and let my mind wander some more, tapping my thoughts through keys on a board, what I need to do is start my stopwatch and let it wander while pulling the needle instead. Something about thinking while quilting makes things seem clearer to me.

And the bonus is I accomplish something at the same time!

The Timer is Ticking!

Better get to work!

In talking to Bren about time spent quilting, she told me of some ladies who keep track of how much time is spent each day/month at their craft.

I liked that idea, I think it will make me feel more accountable for my time. There are days I have a lot of time now, with my youngest 2 1/2 and often occupied with her older siblings, but I often spend a good part of that time sitting at the computer. While I don't feel it's wasted time, I think it's sometimes too MUCH time.

So here's my attempt to be a better steward of my time and to increase the amount of time that I actually spend quilting and not just thinking "I should be quilting"

I was thwarted for a few minutes as to how to keep track of this time. Checking a clock and writing down times every time I sit down and get up again would never work as I often don't sit for long at once. I remembered the stopwatch on my cell phone, made sure I could stop and start the time without it resetting and was ready to start timing.

I'm excited about this latest challenge as I'm coming up on the time where I need to really buckle down on my quilting. I have a quilt nearly ready to go in the frame and after that one will be two for Christmas presents. If I can focus and spend more time quilting and less time thinking about it, those will be done early enough to make some other things as gifts also.

I've also decided to list my finished tops and completely finished projects in my sidebar. I started keeping track last year during the top challenge that Bren and I did and decided to keep that going each year. I'm glad that I did because trying to recall what was done in months past was pretty difficult, I like having that tangible evidence of work finished.

So after a few adjustments to my blog page, my timer will be ticking....and hopefully getting quite a workout today!