Odds and Ends

School starts for teachers the day after tomorrow.  I am soaking up each and every last minute of vacation and using it to cross all the odds and ends off the list.  Productive things like detailing the mini van and polishing the hard wood floors.  Also fun things like finishing quilts and whipping up small sewing projects.

 I ordered some slipcovers for our tired and torn kitchen chairs.  They came with nifty zipper cases.  I hated to throw them out, but I'm on a roll right now with clearing out.  Instead I harvested the zippers and used them to make four little zipper cases for silverware or pencils.  There never seem to be any forks in the teacher workroom, so I'm going to put one of these in my mailbox and stash one in my desk for lunches.  Anna has one for college too, as she is supposed to provide her own silverware for the cafeteria.  They are very environmentally aware at her school and don't like disposable silverware. 

I added one more row to the framed four patches.  

Then cobbled together the back out of leftover four patches.  I might like it a bit more than the front honestly.  

 

More four squared blocks were next out of the bin of bagged WIPs.  I used extra fabric from the back of the framed four patches to create the alternate blocks and then webbed the top together yesterday afternoon while binge watching an entire season of Grey's Anatomy in the background.   

There is enough of this brown fabric for a border and matching backing.  

That frenzy let me cross the first three projects off my list.  I think that the next two might be doable as well, after that it looks like more effort might be required.  We'll have to see how far I get. 

Sewing in the New Year

 I have been frantically sewing for the last two days, but not on a project that I am ready to share yet.  Instead, here are the leader and ender blocks that I have accomplished along the way.

 There is always a stack of 2.5 inch squares sitting next to the machine, and eventually, they turn into bigger blocks. 

At some point I will put these together into quilts, but for now, I will just let the collection grow. 
This morning I went to the dentist and had to scrape ice off of the windshield!  I don't have an ice scraper!  We tried to buy one once for a fiend moving to Colorado, but no luck.  So I used my handy library card.  That and a few minutes waiting for the defroster to kick in had me on my way.  Hard frost doesn't happen here very often, so it is always quite an event.  We had to bring the tortoise in and I'm sure the palm trees are not happy. 

Here is a photo of our recent ski vacation.  We were waiting for our time on the tubing slope.  I think that might have been everyone's favorite day.  Kurt is back at work this week, so it is just the kids and I bouncing around the house.  The girls want to see a moving this afternoon and Ryan has a potluck party to go to.  I will wrap up my sewing and be on my way.