A New Toy for the Birthday Boy

My husband celebrated his birthday a couple of weeks ago and he just got his gift this week. He has always wanted a remote control airplane so got his wish. It is made of Styrofoam and has a 47" wing span and has a battery operated motor.

Last evening he got it put together and took it out for a test fly. The first flight lasted about 10 seconds before it crashed in a soybean field. I recorded the second flight which might have been 15 seconds long, again a crash in the soybean field. It is probably lucky that there was a soybean field there and that is where it went down. The growing beans cushioned it so it didn't get bungled up. It could have landed in a mud and water filled depression close by - that sure would have made the white plane look much different for sure.

It was fun to watch - eventually he will get better at flying I am sure. Of course he might want to watch the DVD that came with it as it probably shows how to run the remote and might have a few hints and tips on flying too. (You know you don't read directions or watch instructional DVDs unless you absolutely have to - his theory.)

Watch the video below of that second flight and be sure to have your sound turned up. Listen to John encouraging the plane and my voice at the end.

He can't wait to be able to fly it when the grandkids come. Haven't seen him as excited about anything for a long time. Guess we all need our toys!

Lynn

Cut, Cut, Cut......

I have cut fabric and cut fabric and have nice stacks of the different sizes of fabrics from my big tote neatly stacked in these new plastic boxes to keep them sorted, but I am beginning to think that we have a bad infestation of fabric multiplying gremlins living here as the level in the box has sure not gone down much. I have sorted out the larger pieces to keep to use for backings. Nothing is too large and backings will need to be pieced from them but it will work for a scrappy quilt. I have also sorted out and plan to throw away the fabrics I saved that are stiff, bleed when wet and fade badly.

My feeling is that this box should be nearly empty but it is not. It is about 2/3 full yet. Of course the fabrics are more tossed around and before they were mostly laying flat so maybe there looks like a lot of fabric but it is only fluffed up...hmmmmm.
I think I will cut until these small boxes are full then quit for now. It has been a nice feeling to finally do something with some of these fabrics. I just hated to get rid of them but knew they would not be in a quilt of a few colors and if I am going to make scrap quilts there is so much cutting before you can start I decided to cut the 2 1/2", 3" squares and 1 1/2", 2 1/2" and 3 1/2" strips. Did get the 9" squares cut from this box too for the workshop our guild has coming up in October.

Off to cut some more...
Lynn

Tidy Cupboard

This morning I cleaned out one of our kitchen cupboards. I should have taken before and after photos but didn't think of it until I was done. This last week I purchased an expanding cabinet shelf to use in this cupboard.

The top shelf was full of stacks of mugs, cups and bowls that threatened to fall out if bumped the wrong way. Using this shelf is like magic - so much more room for those mugs and smaller coffee cups that go with the dishes.

I want you to notice the 3 stacked lime green mugs on the top shelf - right side. Those were a wedding gift that I got to pick out. John's sister had us choose a set of Melmac dishes (a kind of plastic dinnerware popular in the 50s, 60s and 70s) and the ones I chose had lime green designs which became really ugly after a few years but you know that green is really popular again now. We used them for years but I got rid of the dishes a long time ago but kept 3 of the mugs. The reason I kept them is they are light weight, stable (they don't tip over easily) and they had a nice handle. I kept them for using with our girls or other small children that came.

Now I wish I had kept 4 of them. All 4 of my grandchildren love to use "grandmas green cups". I use them all the time when the kids are here but sadly when all 4 are here have to I get another mug out for one of them. They just handle mugs better than a glass which is always in jeopardy of being tipped over.

My husband insists on keeping his meds. and vitamins in this cupboard and I didn't like it. I was afraid the grandchildren would get hold of them and besides the bottles were always tipping over or falling out of the cupboard. I found a small plastic basket and put them in and now it resides on the new shelf way up high. He is 6'2" so it is no problem for him to reach the basket.

The blank areas are for the dishes still in the dishwasher but they will have a place to be also. Feels good to have done this and it didn't take too long to do either. Maybe that should be my goal to clean one cupboard a day and it won't take so much of my time and get done, whereas now I keep putting it off as I don't want to spend all day doing it.

Will let you know if this will be a new plan to organize the house....all cupboards and closets are in disarray. We have lots of storage space here and I sure have filled it up the 4 years we have lived here. Besides I have decided it is easier to stuff something in a closet than make a decision to get rid of it. Sometimes I think it would be wonderful to have one of those people that are on TV that do the re-organization of peoples homes come here. Would love to have an unbiased opinion and some new clever storage ideas.

Lynn

Quilt Guild Program

Gloria did a wonderful job doing the program at our quilt guild meeting last week. She had examples of the sizes she cut from her stash, blocks she made and beautiful quilts she made with the blocks. She shared tips and tricks she used and enthused us all and convinced us we could do it too. Here are the 4 large quilts she made with her blocks that she only made from scraps. She did choose a complimentary colored fabric for borders and backing and did purchase that but the rest only came from her scraps, not full uncut pieces in her stash but just scraps. These first two quilts were made with the same type of block - it is a 9 patch block divided in half with light fabrics on one half and dark fabrics on the other half. There were half square triangle blocks in two of the corners, otherwise the block was made with squares only. Gives the appearance of a log cabin setting doesn't it? Notice the borders on these quilts. The first one uses half square triangles and the second one she inserted in a band of fabrics cut 1/1/2" wide and stitched together. (I know my photos are not good of the quilts but if you study them you get the idea.)
This third quilt uses a block similar to the first two but it has the center square made of half square triangles. Gives a much crisper look to the division of light an dark. Again notice the scrappy squares used in the border.This last quilt is made of blocks with the 1 1/2" strips sewn into blocks then put into a rail fence setting. The border is again interesting.
So enjoyed her program, she made us all want to make a scrappy quilt. They were so pretty and she reduced her stash, even though she said she has lots left....don't we all.

Happy Quilting,
Lynn