this morning, i logged into my facebook account and saw my hubby's post an hour earlier.
"Sign In to Houston Modern Quilt Guild - Houston Modern Quilt Guild"
he joined the guild yesterday, to the delight of some of the ladies. and this morning, he posted a link to his page on facebook. you've just gotta love that.
the houston chapter had it's first meeting this past saturday at my house (and for some reason...we did not get any pictures). after suffering from such a nasty cold, asthmatic bronchitis and the rib injury, i was beginning to wonder if this was just an act of kindness to get it started or an act of insanity. it was a great idea. there were 8 members present for a meet-and-greet type meeting, where we pretty much just talked. we did get down to business and discuss some things we wanted to learn or get out of the guild and some of us showed past or current work.
my hubby sat in during the whole meeting. he laughed. he smiled. he had a great time listening to others talk about how their husbands won't get out of the car if they have to stop at jo-ann's. he drives me there without me asking or even needing...but of course, i won't turn him down! and he searches for fabric to go in projects. i head down one aisle and he goes to another. just don't take the cart away from him.
so here's to our first male member of the houston modern quilt guild!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
BSA star blocks
a few weeks ago, i took 9 blank white kona cotton squares to my son's cub scout den meeting, along with a few packs of fabric markers and a finished QOV. boo was the first in line to pass out the squares backed with freezer paper and markers. he knew what was coming and couldn't be more excited.
i opened up my QOV; a sampler/bee style quilt made with the help of the ladies from quilt block exchange and the 6-12" mini swap groups, my son and my husband and of course my own hands. eyes lit up at the quilt.
from there, i did my best to explain our country's wounded servicemen and women, the veterans and touch on PTSD. i asked each boy as they arrived to the meeting to draw colorful, happy pictures on their blank cotton squares, pointing to a complete sawtooth star on the quilt as an example of how this square would be finished. they did great - we have military themed blocks, several with monster trucks, trees, stars and even a t-rex eating it's lunch.
last night, i finished sewing together the sawtooth star blocks from the 9 7-year olds. luckily, it's the 100th anniversary of the boy scouts of america and i found some cub scout fabric to use as the star points. i think they look fantastic so far. my plan is to use red, white-ish and blue fabrics to make simple blocks that the stars will be scattered around randomly. the stars will float in a way and the yellow stand out, but not be too obvious that it's cub scout fabric. subtle. nice.
my wish is to find a local vet, either through one of the VFWs or the local chapter of the purple heart, to present this QOV to. i want to show the boys their finished creations and the steps along the way and how to be kind and generous in a way they're not used to. boo understands the general idea of what we're making - he's seen 5 other QOVs finished and 3 sent to the navy for presentation. he's seen the video and pictures of me presenting the one. one day, these impressionable minds may look back and realize how important they were that particular moment.
on a side note: do all 7-year olds write their "sevens" backwards? there's a few that way in here... i think it's cute.
i opened up my QOV; a sampler/bee style quilt made with the help of the ladies from quilt block exchange and the 6-12" mini swap groups, my son and my husband and of course my own hands. eyes lit up at the quilt.
from there, i did my best to explain our country's wounded servicemen and women, the veterans and touch on PTSD. i asked each boy as they arrived to the meeting to draw colorful, happy pictures on their blank cotton squares, pointing to a complete sawtooth star on the quilt as an example of how this square would be finished. they did great - we have military themed blocks, several with monster trucks, trees, stars and even a t-rex eating it's lunch.
last night, i finished sewing together the sawtooth star blocks from the 9 7-year olds. luckily, it's the 100th anniversary of the boy scouts of america and i found some cub scout fabric to use as the star points. i think they look fantastic so far. my plan is to use red, white-ish and blue fabrics to make simple blocks that the stars will be scattered around randomly. the stars will float in a way and the yellow stand out, but not be too obvious that it's cub scout fabric. subtle. nice.
my wish is to find a local vet, either through one of the VFWs or the local chapter of the purple heart, to present this QOV to. i want to show the boys their finished creations and the steps along the way and how to be kind and generous in a way they're not used to. boo understands the general idea of what we're making - he's seen 5 other QOVs finished and 3 sent to the navy for presentation. he's seen the video and pictures of me presenting the one. one day, these impressionable minds may look back and realize how important they were that particular moment.
on a side note: do all 7-year olds write their "sevens" backwards? there's a few that way in here... i think it's cute.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
be kind challenge: day 11
these arrived at my office today. totally unexpected and completely a random act of kindness.
so for today's be kind challenge, i'm sharing acts of kindness from others again. the strawberries came from one of our guys here at work. he sent a box of humongous strawberries to all three of the girls, thanking us for all our help and wishing us a happy valentine's day. how sweet and thoughtful is that?!
at the same time, i got a box from my hubby containing beautiful red tulips and blue irises in a red vase. it's sitting right in front of my face on my desk so i can enjoy their beauty.
both came at such a wonderful time. i'm still sick... the bronchitis is now asthmatic bronchitis and i cannot stop coughing. during the night, i had such a coughing fit that i was in intense pain from what i thought was a bad muscle spasm between the ribs. then when i got up, i saw the swelling and a faint bruise forming. the pain was still bad and i was trying to hold back tears. figured i cracked a rib coughing. how lovely is that?
so my sweet hubby takes boo to the church day care early, comes back for me and whisks me off to the ER. good news: not a cracked rib. bad news: i separated the cartilidge between the sternum and the ribs from coughing and it's just as bad as a cracked rib. it'll take 6 weeks to heal, once i stop coughing. i'm loaded up with a stronger antibiotic to kick it out of my chest and a prescription for vicodin to help with the pain and hopefully keep the coughing down....nope... i'm still coughing up a storm and i think i just separated the other side of the sternum now. intense and horrible horrible pain.
and i'm at work. my boss is once again trying to send me home, but i took the vicodin a couple hours ago, so i have to wait to drive. what a fun weekend i have ahead of me.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
be kind challenge - day 10...
i'm still sick. i feel awful and had to go back to the doctor last night. he gave me even more meds to take...and my lovely upper respiratory infection had to spread. my left eye was jealous of all the coughing and swollen lymph nodes and achy body, so it decided to compete and take on the infection all on it's own. pink eye. really?! i've never had it before in my life.... argh.
but, i'm here at work again because i absolutely need to be here. i came in for longer than i expected yesterday, otherwise i'd have 30+ people forming a lynch mob for their paychecks. today, i have bank deadlines and have to get out the rest of the stuff on time. i took 2 full days off with the weekend inbetween those days. i'm not contagious anymore unless you stick your finger in my eye.
to be nice to the office, i brought in a cheese danish cake. i love danish. i love cream cheese. no, i did not make it to infect the office with pink eye. i purchased it, all nice and sealed up, at the grocery bakery this morning on my way in. just a little something to ease the tuberculosis sounds going on down the hall in accounting.
but, i'm here at work again because i absolutely need to be here. i came in for longer than i expected yesterday, otherwise i'd have 30+ people forming a lynch mob for their paychecks. today, i have bank deadlines and have to get out the rest of the stuff on time. i took 2 full days off with the weekend inbetween those days. i'm not contagious anymore unless you stick your finger in my eye.
to be nice to the office, i brought in a cheese danish cake. i love danish. i love cream cheese. no, i did not make it to infect the office with pink eye. i purchased it, all nice and sealed up, at the grocery bakery this morning on my way in. just a little something to ease the tuberculosis sounds going on down the hall in accounting.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
leah's quilt [be kind challenge day 9]
my best friend became a daddy the last week of january. i'm so excited for him and cannot wait to meet the little girl that is his daughter (but they live halfway across the country....)
so i made this quilt for little baby leah, finished it on the weekend and labeled it monday afternoon. it was wrapped and boxed and happily made it's way into the postman's hands yesterday. all they know is that i have a gift for the baby...but if they know me well enough (they do!) then they'll probably expect a quilt or at least something handmade from me.
this is the absolute girliest quilt i've ever made. can there be something girlier? but it should be perfect for a baby girl and has enough turquoise to balance out that pink. :) quilt dimensions: 48" square.
so i made this quilt for little baby leah, finished it on the weekend and labeled it monday afternoon. it was wrapped and boxed and happily made it's way into the postman's hands yesterday. all they know is that i have a gift for the baby...but if they know me well enough (they do!) then they'll probably expect a quilt or at least something handmade from me.
this is the absolute girliest quilt i've ever made. can there be something girlier? but it should be perfect for a baby girl and has enough turquoise to balance out that pink. :) quilt dimensions: 48" square.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
be kind challenge...day 7
i'm sick this weekend, so i'm not doing much in the random-act-of-kindness category other than staying away from super bowl parties so i don't spread the germs. well, i did get my friend to pick up my mom on friday to take her to the ER (which didn't turn out nearly as well as we'd hoped) since my dad was at his own dr. appointment and we couldn't get in touch with him.
so....while i'm sad and pathetic, my hubby is the "be kind challenge" participant. he makes me hot tea before i'm out of bed and gives me a nice kiss on the forehead. he goes and picks up food since he doesn't cook things other than sandwiches. and he's doing the laundry. plus, yesterday, he installed the new light fixture we bought as a surprise for boo's room. boo will be excited when he comes home today and sees it.
that's all until i feel less puny.
so....while i'm sad and pathetic, my hubby is the "be kind challenge" participant. he makes me hot tea before i'm out of bed and gives me a nice kiss on the forehead. he goes and picks up food since he doesn't cook things other than sandwiches. and he's doing the laundry. plus, yesterday, he installed the new light fixture we bought as a surprise for boo's room. boo will be excited when he comes home today and sees it.
that's all until i feel less puny.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
be kind - day 4...
it's day four of threaded basil's be kind challenge. i'm participating...really! 2 days ago was my anniversary and despite being super crabby, i cooked a lovely dinner of filet mignon, a pasta/broccolini dish and yummy kalamata olive bread with zorab's spice mix into the dipping oil. mmm... that and i gave snappy his quilted wallhanging. last night, he told me he really loves it. we just need to rearrange things to figure out where it should go.
to go along with the challenge, i figured i'd share a sweet drawing made by boo. it was completely random, as my 7 yr old is quite a bit, and very welcome. i love my rainbow colored hearts and i taped it to one of my many file cabinets in my office. now i can see it every time i look up from my monitor.
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