Fun Times!

This past week brought the arrival of the new laptop!  Yay!  B-guy is busy installing all of the software, etc. and we are almost up and running again. 

It's been a crazy few weeks with a hectic work schedule and lots of stress.  But, not to worry, I finally found time to sew a little bit and this is what I came up with:
 

These aprons and potholders make me happy.  I was looking for fast, easy projects that would use up some of my stash and I whipped these puppies out.  If anyone knows of a place that needs donated aprons, let me know.

Yesterday, B-guy and I spent the better part of the morning taking the longarm machine apart and trying to figure out the fraying thread problem.  Okay, I spent most of the morning watching the home renovation shows while B-guy got all of his tools out and had a little look-see at the machine.  Yesterday afternoon I put some fabric on it for a test and it purred like a kitten.  No thread breakage and only one small problem now . . . it doesn't like traveling from bottom to top.  Hmm . . . well, it was a practice piece of material and I think I'll save that problem for another day.

In addition, I finished longarming a small quilt (this was done when I had the thread breakage issue so there are lots of threads to bury . . .ugh!) and I am almost through hand sewing the binding down.  I'll post a picture when it's through.  I also finished another small quilt today, but I failed to take any pictures.  Oops.

So, I hope to do a bit more sewing in the near future.  This week will be another hard one at work, but hopefully in a couple weeks things will get back to normal and I can relax and get back to the creative side of things.  Ahh, sounds good.  Until then . . .

The Yoga Bag Saga Continues

Let me just say right off the bat that I don't do yoga.  I wish I did yoga; I wish I could do yoga.  Sure I can do the sun salutation (oops, maybe not) and the tree pose and the warrior poses, but anything that requires being on my knees is just pure hell.  I made the mistake of buying a yoga DVD with Jillian Michaels.  Yikes!  That girl was doing everything in double/triple time.  By the time I got down on the floor in whatever crazy position required, she was up and doing a different pose.  Turns out I bought a "power" yoga DVD.  Uh, thanks, but no thanks, Jillian!  I'm with you in spirit, but these poor knees with no cartilage just can't take the low impact.  Guess I'll stick to my run, bike, swim routines!!

But, just because I can't do yoga doesn't mean that I can't sew me up some yoga bags, right?  Oh, man, after four (yes, count them, four) tries I have failed to sew a bag for my SIL that is "perfect".  No, my SIL is not asking me to be "perfect" (although she really wishes I would do me some yoga - she's a certified instructor), but I'm on a quest now to make the "perfect" bag for her.  The first 2 were too small, the 3rd one was the right size, but the strap is about 10" too long and it has no pocket.  And my latest attempt which I copiously took notes and wrote down the approximate size of her old bag was like an inch too short.  Really?  An inch??  Come on!!  So, I'm back to the drawing board.  While I was in Kansas I made a trip to the local quilt store (shout out to the Material Girls even though they all but ignored me for the first 15 minutes or so) and I bought four different pieces of fabric and let my SIL pick which ones she'd like her next bag out of!!  I've taken me some more notes and I feel confident that my 5th attempt will be the one that conquers the yoga bag curse!!  Let's all have a moment of silence and think happy yoga bag thoughts, shall we?!!

So, I will continue on with my journey to quilt up some more fabric and produce the "perfect" yoga bag.  I think, though, that before I begin that process, I may need a glass of wine (or two) and perhaps some yoga meditation before I can actually begin!!  Stay tuned for more yoga bag updates . . . or not!!

The laptop with the camera software has not been replaced yet, so consequently there will be no show and tell (like there's anything new to show or tell).  I have just been piddling with another fabric bowl design and binding up more coasters out of my woven scraps.  Maybe this weekend I'll get some actual quilting or piecing accomplished.  yay!