Happy Thanksgiving

For those in the US, today is Thanksgiving day.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Traditionally a day for eating turkey and watching football.  We are waiting until my sister arrives on Saturday for the main event, and so today was mostly a beautiful relaxing day around the house.  Sydney and I went out this morning to run a 5K.  I took a selfie before the start of the race.  At the time I didn't realize that I was catching a yawning pilgrim in the background.  As it turns out, when I posted it on facebook, I learned that he is the brother-in-law of one of my teacher friends.  We live in such a small world sometimes!

Kurt was off to pick up Anna from New College this morning and then we were all back together and settled in to watch the Thanksgiving day parade.  We even saw a bit of the dog show after, but it was making our poor puppy Lizzie go crazy. 
I then managed to almost entirely finish the transformation of the sewing studio into the guest bedroom.  I say almost because I could not resist loading a quilt onto the frame before I have to take it down to make room for the guests.  I still have an entire day to play.  It looks like the girls have mostly taken over side dish and dessert preparations and Kurt is going to smoke the turkey on the big green egg, so I might just have a bit more free time tomorrow. 

I got a good start on quilting before the first bobbin ran out.  I went ahead and used the thread that was on the machine because it seemed more efficient than redoing it all.  There is white in the top and light blue on the back which should work just fine and dandy I think.  Sydney is having two friends sleeping over tonight so that they can get up early and do black Friday shopping.  I'm planning a run with a friend and Kurt is off to volleyball.  It is nice to have a long weekend to enjoy it all.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone in the US is having a relaxing day. We are celebrating with Kurt's family in Georgia, and as we will not see them again this year, we are celebrating Christmas as well. I haven't had much time to check in with people today, but I have stitched quite a few Midgets along the way.

Table Cloth

Mom called yesterday and asked if I could make a couple of quick tablecloths for Thanksgiving.   Anna helped my draw two big circles using the good old string on a pencil method. 

I wasn't sure how to hem  round tapestry fabric so instead I made a bias fold binding. I practiced finishing the edges by machine. Though I missed in a couple of spots I can get those by hand and I think it looks pretty good.  I volunteered to bake a turkey for the teacher luncheon tomorrow so that is in the oven.  I also had to bring home the class hamster because they were smoke testing the plumbing this weekend.  I'll be quite a sight going in to work with my turkey and my hamster in the morning. 

Update on Crazy

Thanksgiving was great. We got to see all of my family and Kurt's as well. The kids all had so much fun playing with their cousins. I took some terrific pictures, but left the camera at Mom's house. I ALMOST got mom's quilt done. It is sitting near the sewing machine ready to go. I had to rethread the machine though because Anna and I are making a Kimono for her Holiday's around the World celebration next week in school. The quilt will make a great Christmas gift, right? Ryan read 23 Cam Jansen books to go to a special party in the library and got some special spy gear as a prize.
We are in the middle of a big school rezoning fight and it has become my new hobby. Who knew that taking on the school board could take so much time? There is a big meeting tomorrow and Kurt is going to speak in defense of the plan we have developed as an alternative to the really crazy plans they have put forth. Apparently there are an infinite number of ways to present exactly the same data to make it support entirely contradictory ideas. I'm not sure what the final outcome will be, but we will feel better for getting involved in the process when it is all done.
Just 5 teaching days left in the semester and then 4 days of finals. Santa is coming a little early this year and he will be bringing a new Pug puppy to our house. I've fought getting a dog for a long time now but finally caved. I guess I just need another hobby to add to the list, right?

Long Weekend Preparations

Ryan was supposed to bring a dish to a Thanksgiving feast at school today. I volunteered to make cranberries, because I had already volunteered to bring them to our neighbors house for Thanksgiving dinner along with some pies. I really object to the "Jello" cranberry sauce that comes out of the cans and ends up slapped on a plate vibrating with the can ridges still plainly visible. Instead, I make a pineapple cranberry chutney that is really simple and quite tasty. Best of all, it does not at all resemble a can of any kind. I whipped up a batch last night after I got home from the academic team competition, before writing the binding tutorial. I like recipes with nice even number because they are easier to remember. I saw this book that had all quilt patterns using one layer cake, one charm pack and 1 jelly roll. Easy to shop for and easy to remember. I;m not one to stand in a fabric store with a list saying, "I'll have 3/8 of a yard of the blue floral and 1/3 of a yard on the yellow stripe."

Recipe for Cranberry Pineapple Chutney:
1 bag of fresh cranberries (12 oz)
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1 can of crushed pineapple (14 oz)
a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and or pumpkin pie spice to taste.

1. Dissolve sugar in water and bring to a boil.
2. Add cranberries and reduce to simmer for 5-10 minutes
3. Add pineapple with juice and sprinkle in spices
4. Continue to simmer and stir until well mixed
5. Allow to cool and then chill for up to 2 weeks before serving


I also got my race packet for Sunday's half marathon. My running partner was nice enough to pick it up for me from the running store. He's doing the whole marathon, so I'm going to stick around to see the end, even though I'm only running the first half. I am feeling like such a slacker, but I'm also supposed to be doing a 20 mile training run for the February marathon, so I'll see how that goes.
I just finished up the quilting on number 29. I used random loops and even got the binding sewn on! I used another method of joining the ends, so if I have time tonight, I'll put together another quick tutorial. There is a third method that I have yet to master, but maybe I'll give it a try again. I think math is required. We just got back from a department meeting at school and the kids have already scattered on various play dates. I should go hunt up something for dinner, I cooked last night for everyone else, but never got a chance to eat. I'm supposed to run tonight, but I'm not feeling horribly motivated. I need to put all the grades into the computer that I finished up on Friday. I've been giving a quiz every day just to try to keep the kids doing something before the long weekend. I don't know why I try so hard to keep making more work for myself.