I rocked the zipper

Every other month, my modern quilting guild does a swap: each person (who wants to participate) makes a particular item.  Then we throw them all in a pile in the middle of the table and draw names.

This month was zipper pouches.  There were several linked patterns as resources, but each person chose their own pattern.  It was fun to see what people came up with--no two used the same pattern.

I used this tutorial (but didn't do the striped piecing) and some sewing themed fabrics to make this:

I'm pretty darn proud of how it turned out and how quickly it came together.  I might be over my fear of zippers.

There's one other woman in the group who always seems to be just a few projects ahead of me--as in, she'll bring in a completed quilt for show and tell, and I'll exclaim, "I just started cutting the fabric for exactly that same pattern!"  And as the luck of the draw would have it, she drew my pouch and I drew hers.

I think she used this tutorial from Noodlehead--not because we discussed it, but because we look to the same blogs for inspiration.  :-)

She got all ambitious and added pockets to the lining:

I like the zipper jewelry she added--just the kind of detail I would never have thought of.  That's what's fun about these swaps--seeing all of the different ways people interpret the same assignment.

Special Delivery

Two UPS men carried this baby up to our door a few days ago:

Wait, you don't buy your hot water heaters from amazon.com?  I guess most people don't want to install their own tankless water heater--but if you're as crazy as we are, I entirely recommend checking them out.  The selection was far larger than what was available at Home Depot, at far, far lower prices.  (Not a paid advertisement.)  And let's just say they definitely qualify for free shipping on orders over $25.  :-)

Here she is in all of her unpacked glory:

P was hoping to get her mounted on the wall and some plumbing roughed in today, but some classic project creep took over, so now there are several other things he must accomplish first....

Overwhelming cuteness

Can you believe I got through an entire post on our recent trip with barely a mention of our two and a half year old nephew?

I'm sure his grandparents can't either.

The little guy loves his Uncle P.  I mean, loves.  (And I totally agree.)  And Uncle P had a special surprise planned for him this time.

The little guy's Dad runs a landscaping business, and has a lot of commercial equipment.  There's a famous family story of how, several weeks ago, the little guy backed his tricycle up to a 20 foot trailer, looked up at his Dad, and announced, "Hook me up!"

After we finished laughing, P got to thinking.  And then he hit the wood shop.

He didn't have time to completely finish before we left on our trip, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Because there are few things the little guy loves more than getting to be involved in a building project.

Friday and Saturday, the trailer sat in the living room.  The little man had great fun playing in and on it, but he didn't seem to view it as a trailer.  I put his truck and tools in it once or twice, and he emphatically removed them.  They were not part of his plan.  Which is fine--we're all about imaginative play, and who says he has to see this the same way we do?

But once Uncle P moved the trailer and the tricycle outside together, he suddenly got it.  He enlisted Uncle P's help to hook the trailer up with bungee cords.

Look at that happy, proud face!  (None of these pictures are posed--the kid wouldn't have the first idea what that would mean.)  He wasn't so happy when Uncle P disconnected all of the bungee cords.  But Uncle P had an even better idea of how to "hook him up."  And soon enough, the little guy was so fascinated by the construction that he forgot he was upset.

And my, he was happy when the project was complete!

I brought his favorite dump truck outside to put in the back of the trailer--just to get a few pictures to show off P's handiwork.  Since the little guy had shown no interest in playing with truck and trailer together before, I didn't expect him to react any differently this time.

Boy, was I wrong!  As soon as he saw the two together, he loved the idea!

And repeat, for at least half an hour or so.  Right now, he loves hooks and closures, so the hook and eye P gave him to fasten the tailgate is a favorite feature.

Wondering what that box up front is?  Why, that's where he stows his tools!

We're hoping this is a toy that can grow with him.  Right now, he's loving playing with it as a toy in its own right--opening and closing the tailgate, sitting in it, hooking bungee cords through the holes on the sides, trying desperately to remove the S-hooks that Uncle P so cruelly crimped closed, etc.  I think that later he might begin to use it in a more utilitarian way, to transport stuff across the yard.  We'll see!

Weekend "getaway"

P and I spent the weekend with his brother's family down in Georgia. 

On our drive down, we pulled off a random exit to get some dinner.  Instead, we were greeted by this scene:

We had seen the pictures of last week's tornado devastation on the news, but it was quite a shock to see it in person, when we least expected it.  Eight particular people were killed in this town.  One sign from a business blew nearly 120 miles to land near our house.  Somehow, those little details bring these things home to P and I and make us feel all the more thankful that we survived the storms unscathed.

It's becoming an annual tradition to crash my sister-in-law's Mother's Day.  Last year, she spent the weekend at our place while her husband dragged all of our belongings out of our storage locker. 

This year, we tried to make it up to her.  Over breakfast Saturday morning, P innocently pointed out a patch of repaired, but not yet painted, drywall.  "What happened there?"  he asked oh so innocently.  (That's his version of the story.  I'm always skeptical of his ignorance.) 

Turns out it was from a cable routing job.  I helpfully offered to put on a second coat of spackle, P obnoxiously pointed out that there would still be a glaring white spot in the pumpkin colored wall, so I offered to paint.  To paint whole kitchen, that is.

P and his brother were still reeling in shock as my sister-in-law and I piled into the car to pick up paint swatches.  (You know, it would have saved a lot of driving if I had just brought my fan deck with me.  Maybe I should be sure to bring it along on every vacation from here on out.)

To make a long story short, we went from this on Saturday (sorry I didn't get any pictures before cutting in--I was too carried away!):

To this on Sunday:

Sorry we didn't have a chance to get things all staged and pretty--we wanted the paint to be good and dry before we starting putting things back where they belong.  Even so, what a change, right?  I love the color she chose (Olympic "Raindrop")--it really helped to (in P's words) modernize the kitchen. 

Since they have a two year old, we went with the Olympic Premium zero-VOC paint.  I hadn't ever used it before, and after one coat, P and I were pretty skeptical.  But the second coat did wonders. 

P is wondering how we take one weekend off from demolishing our own house, and end up demolishing someone else's.  But I was so glad to get a paint brush back in my hand again--it had been months!  Months!

April 2011--month in review

We got more serious about tearing things apart this month.  But the progress has been slow--who would have thought it would take P three weekends to rough in the waste plumbing lines for our new utility room?  Not us!

Guest Bedroom

• hang pictures
• reupholster antique chair
• install closet doors
• fix hinge-bound door so it will actually close

Office

• make and hang curtains
• reupholster footstool
• put laminate on top of craft table
• paint and hang door

Hall Bath

• skim coat walls a little more
• repaint walls
• really, really scrub grout--and if that doesn't remove yellowing, try one of those grout pens
• hang at least one picture/piece of art
•  install closet door knob
• install hooks where I can hang my work clothes 
• install new light fixture

Hall/Living Room/Kitchen/Dining Room

• knock down walls to make these all a single space
• install structural beam to replace structural wall 
• patch existing oak flooring where walls were removed
• make new attic hatch
• replace textured ceiling in kitchen--texture is gone, but it will be a while before we're ready to make it pretty again.
• remove wood panelling and replace with drywall
• remove vinyl floor in kitchen, and lay new hardwoods there and over exposed subfloor in dining room
• commit to new kitchen plans we've got the general idea down.  I think we'll be figuring out the details (e.g., exact size of cabinets, placement of lights and outlets, etc.) as we go along.
• build new kitchen cabinets (at least the lower ones)
• get/make new countertops
• install backsplash
• run plumbing for gas range
• install new sink
• remove windows in dining room, and replace with french doors out to backyard
• buy fireplace screen and make the occasional fire    
• replace hearth tile
• make living room curtains (purely ornamental)
• figure out window treatment for front windows that will maximize both light and privacy (plantation shutters?)
• install new baseboard and crown molding
• install doors on coat closet
• fix draft under front door
• install lots of new outlets to bring house up to newer codes for required number of outlets per room
• install new lighting

Utility room

• build utility room--we gotten a start here--have uninstalled all the kitchen cabinets, shelves, etc, and are concentrating our efforts here for the time being 
• buy and install new tankless water heater--got a lot of research done.  Next need to call the water company: tankless water heaters need a 3/4" diameter feed line, but our lines are all 1/2".  What do they recommend we do?
• run plumbing and install utility sink--P has all the drain plumbing installed, and has begun work on the incoming water lines 
• run plumbing and vent lines for washer/dryer--again, drain lines done, and incoming begun.  One of the things that slowed work down this month was that I waited until P had the new drain lines in place before asking "where will the dryer vent go?"  Rerouting ensured.  Some times it is one step forward, two steps back.

Master bedroom

• lay hardwood flooring over exposed subfloor

Master Bath

•  give ugly medicine cabinet a cosmetic face lift

  Crawl Space 

• complete encapsulation 99% of the way there....
• test house for radon
• enjoy running lots of plumbing and wiring for new kitchen/utility room/great room in new, dry, clean space--begun!

Garage

•  fix roof leaks 
• continue to work to make this a functional wood shop for P (so he can spend lots of time out there building me new kitchen cabinets!)

Exterior

• paint foundation to complement new stair color
• figure out how to make exterior brick look good after we cut into it to install afore-mentioned french doors
• paint front door a more lively color (it should be easy to beat white)
• work with P's brother A, a professional landscape designer, to come up with an actual design for our landscape
• remove a few more azaleas
• add more plants and beds to continue moving toward cottage garden look seedlings had a rough  month, and I'm terribly late on the direct-sow ones, but summer will arrive eventually!
• grow a tomato that doesn't rot before it ripens I pretty much killed the tomato seedlings.  :-(  Might just buy plants.
• try to agree on privacy plantings for west property line, and plant them so they have some time to grow arguing with our landscaper....  I guess the customer isn't always right when she's your sister-in-law  :-)
• buy and plant Yaupon hollies on east property line  see above

Slow and steady wins the race, right?