Summer Doldrums and Nothing Much to Say

Just for the sake of not letting a week go by without recording that I was alive, I'll try to squeeze out a few paragraphs.

I worked slowly on Elise's quilt, and because with quilts it takes so long to see something happening (at the pace I work anyway), I needed to complete a project. My friend Barbara had given me a stack of wonderful quilting and sewing magazines several months ago (which I have thoroughly enjoyed), and she also included a little pattern for Abby's Treasure Box. I had all these charm squares that I bought last February and have enjoyed just looking at them and thinking about what to do with them, so I thought I would give this little thing a try. Zippers have always been a nightmare for me. Hate, hate, hate them. Although I know the techniques and everything about how to put them in, they never seem to look good. I've done a good many through the years and even put a few in the girls' dresses by hand. So usually anything with a zipper in it goes to the back of my project list to save for one day when zipper knowledge will come my way. But I forged on with this anyway, and surprisingly the zipper was the easiest part of this. Really there was nothing hard and I think it turned out pretty cute. What I'll do with it is not clear yet, but I'd like to make a few more.

It's funny to see how the different squares ended up. I tried not to get any two just alike next to each other, but I forgot to notice that the two ends would meet at the zipper, so there are two patterns just alike opposite each other. I guess I could pretend I planned it that way. The next one will have more planning and less hit and miss.

If all goes well today, Emily and Ryan's new town (and Karen's too): Issaquah, Washington. Can you imagine seeing this beautiful scenery on your way to work every day.

They have to work out all the details, but Emily spent a week in the area looking for a place to live, and it looks like they have found a house to rent. Not just a little cookie-cutter apartment but a real 3-bedroom house with a fireplace, nice big kitchen and a YARD. She laughs about it being 70's, but she really likes it. I think she chose it because of the pink bathroom fixtures in Karen's bathroom. We'll have to make her a Hello Kitty shower curtain. I'll post more pictures when it's actually theirs, but it's such a nice thing to have that (maybe) settled.

Now that I've broken the ice and gotten started, I find I need to work, so I'll just come back during the day with various things and maybe a few more pictures.

It's a lot of work, but lately I've enjoyed selling some of my heirloom sewing magazines and miniature collector books from the 1970s on E-Bay. Mike has asked me how much he could to pay me NOT to do this, but that still wouldn't get them out of the house. This way, they're out of my hair and I get a little extra money plus someone else gets to enjoy them. It costs me nothing but time, and I have to admit it's kind of fun watching your items as the hours pass - to see how many times they're viewed, who's "watching" them and then towards the end you start getting bidding. Most people now wait until the last minute to bid to keep the price down, but every once in awhile there's a flurry of bidding at the last minute, and you get more than you expected. Someone paid me $5.00 for the above magazines, paid the postage, and deposited the money directly into my checking account, so except for 5-10 minutes listing the item and taking it to the post office, it's a neat little transaction, especially since I've collected way too many and have about 20 more to sell.

I still haven't heard from Emily about how the house renting is going. Hopefully it will be easy. And then they have the move to look forward to. Their time here is short, and it's a little sad, but I expect lots of pictures and emails to keep me in touch with them.