Twilight

Well, I went to the movie last night (no, it was the wee hours of this morning!). It was good, Alice is still my favorite character. Jacob was way uglier than I imagined. Loved the scenery and flying! They say Bella is a bad actress, she played Bella exactly as I imagined her, boring. Great story. I'm not ga-ga over the whole thing like the teenagers, but maybe that's why I'm not a teenager anymore. lol, have to grow up sometime!

SMTA & Mo'

I had a great day at my SMTA mtg (Spokane Music Teachers Association). After teaching on my own for 7 years, I joined this year. I am hoping to get more training, network and learn cool stuff - like today! The program part of the meeting was about a book called "What Every Pianist Needs To Know About The Body" by Thomas Mark. It is a discussion about using each part of the body most effectively for safe and efficient piano playing. It was great and totally an "a-ha" moment for somethings I have wondered about, hadn't even thought about and nothing I could say, "oh, I knew that" hehe. Nothing like having my own version of continuing education! Now, I want to get the book and read all the other tidbits and goodies inside. (wow, looking at my terminology, you would think I like to cook....hum)

Other fyi's in the family......

Not much going on but the day to day this week. We have had Logan this week and he lost the house key. Poor kid was really stressed about it, Becca was a good support, but because of the problem he missed Taekwondo tonight. Melany comes home tomorrow night. Mike had a snafu with the demo system, but good thing he's in ATLANTA only 3 hours from the home office (Birmingham) and they drove him another one. But, hence, he has to stay another day and will be home on Friday instead of Thurs. The kids and I were very disappointed. Jacob is doing well, has his papers in to the Bishop, but he wants Jacob to earn a few more bucks before he goes. He had given 2 weeks notice at Papa John's but in the meantime 2 kids 'quit' by not showing up. So, Jacob has gotten more hours filling in the holes, plus getting a nice ethical reputation. Great lesson learned, we advised him to give 2 weeks instead of walking out, and now it has paid off. I think he is going to stay on and still look for something more to fill in his time. Mallory is starting Winter Drumline - don't know what she is playing, probably end up where ever they need her. Richy is working on his grades - he's smart and I wait daily for the I'm-bored-text. Becca is getting sparked again with her piano and had over 5 hours practice time. Her time is beginning to match her talent. That's all for today. It's late, but I can't sleep. Tomorrow is late start and I'm going to make bread. Don't laugh. =)

Mallory's Senior Quilt

Well, I barely got it done in time, but she had it for her first long bus ride for band. This is the full effect. If you look carefully you can see the band instruments in each of the pin-wheels. Drums, contras, french horn (her instrument of choice), clarinet, sax, etc. Sometimes the instrument is in the center, on the point, or easily seen in the middle. It was SO much fun, I have a great friend who helps me 'see' the bigger picture. My mom was great at that but I didn't get that talent from her. I wanted to get close ups of the quilting my friend did on her long arm machine. It is a special, huge, quilting machine that can do intricate patterns and designs quickly and efficiently. You can see the horn here and parts of a trumpet in the center. The pin-wheel on the right, there is xylophone, and the very center is a piece of clarinet! On the edge is part of a trumpet.

Here is a great shot of the french horn. If you look carefully you can see a tiny eighth note that came out in the center of the pin-wheel. You carefully line up 8 peices of fabric (it needs have a repeating pattern), as you cut triangles you get 8 exact pieces, then you sew them into a pin-wheel. It's called a Stack n Wack pattern. I may do another quilt with the same technique. (christmas-theme for the living room?)

The quilting here has a saxophone in the stitching. The top is cool...you can see the tuba/contra/baritone (my kids would laugh at me, because I can't keep them straight. I'm going for the contra). And then, in the middle is a trombone, just the slide part. As I said, SO fun and cool!

Next in line for a quilt is me or Becca. I have patterns already picked out, now just waiting for the time/money. Soon. Hope you liked it! Jenn =)