Chem 101

"One of the first rules of chemistry - always make sure liquid is in the vessel before turning on the heat source." ~ My Dad

Here is the practical lab showing why you don't want to test that lesson.  

Kids, do not try this at home.

I was making noodles to go with dinner, wondering why my water was taking so long to boil.  Lift the lid and find that I had forgotten to fill the pot with said water.  So it has been on the hot burner, dry, for about 10 minutes.

I take the pot off the stove and in about a half second think:  Is this a good idea?  Pot's metal, not glass.... all the rest of dinner is ready and I don't even have the water in the pot yet....at least turn the water on Hot instead of Cold.....

I hold the very hot pot under the running water and EXPLODE instantly boiling water out the top.  Then there's a strange hissing noise in the sink, and find I have blown the layered bottom completely OFF the pan!  By some miracle, and with the help of our large, deep sink, I wasn't splashed a bit.  My dad said that was a good example of a very violent expansion and contraction.

Enough chemistry for the day I think!

Start of the Second

I love the start of a quilt.

Isn't that a pretty stack, Ann?

Pulling the fabrics, cutting them up.

And sometimes doing a chain or two.

 Happy Birthday to me -  yesterday I spent the day sewing!  

It was great and I made this fun, sunny block. 

I love it so much I formatted it as x-large!

It's about 22" square, and is based on Aneela's quilt in the first Fresh Start issue.  

I'm making two auction quilts for the preschool Gala next month.  This one will be a 40" child sized quilt to go with the auction of a personal night story time visit from our awesome director - that's always a very popular live auction item.  Thought the fairytale themed center would be the perfect match!

 

And this little guy may have won some brownie points as favorite child.  He ASKED for a sweater last week, looked for one I had hand knit, then WORE IT the WHOLE DAY.  Then asked to have it washed to wear again the next.  Finally, a child that will wear my knit sweaters without screaming, "The Fiber! The Fiber!" and tossing it down after 5 minutes.  I may have to pull out my knitting needles again!

Florida Cathedral Window Gift

Another Catherdal Window pillow as a gift for my friend's birthday.  I'm definitely on a roll with these.

She was in nice, warm Florida during her birthday, so I was thinking of that as I chose the colors for her pillow.  I liked how happy the blue and yellow ended up.

I love it when my corners come together so nice and symmetrical.  It's so satisfying - like checking stuff off a list.

I added a fun little VW guy I thought she would like.  

And you can see in the center bottom, I folded under the raw edges on every inset piece.  That was a bit of a project, but didn't know if she would like raw edges.  It did make for a very neat finish.

Becket was funny and started directing the photo shoot.  He dragged over another quilt and arranged it on the couch, then posed himself next to the pillow.

Oh, and I have to link up for the fun pillow party!

So - I was working on my tutorial for you.  But then it got changed just a bit.

I started baking it......you won't have to wait too long!

The Snow ate my Days

Snowpocalypsepaloozageddonicane pounded Chicagoland and dumped 20" last week.  Lines of cars were abandoned mid commute on Lake Shore Drive.

The hurricane part of the blizzard left 4' drifts against the house.  We had to dig out before using the snow blower.  And the boys had two snow days last week.

We were cheering for the Steelers last night. 

Appropriate for all the Cathedral Windows I'm working on!

I finished up a large pillow for my Mom's birthday - but I only took this one picture!  Pillows are so hard to wrap.  So I left the insert out of the package. I'll have to get some good photos next time I visit them.

Confined to the house, I also finished up my February blocks quickly.  This one I paper pieced for a Project Linus scrap quilt put together by Sew Fresh Fabric.

And one last block for the Vintage Sheet Bee.  

These are going to make a fun vintage rose garden!

snow

Doom. 

We have been warned by the weather service.

... DANGEROUS MULTIFACETED AND POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING WINTER STORM TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY...
... FINAL PREPARATIONS PRIOR TO THE STORM SHOULD BE COMPLETED THIS MORNING...

Good thing my preparations are complete for staying inside!