No Resolutions, No Top 10

Where have I been? Damn, I have had a cold since the snotty little kid in the seat ahead of me sneezed and dripped the entire flight back from Boston. Mothers, your children are simply fascinating and oh so adorable, but can't you keep them in a cage beneath the seat? And ya know. a little dose of something sleepy wouldn't hurt either.


Since I got back, other than feeling sorry for myself and watching all 32 episodes of Law and Order, even if I saw them before, I have had one hell of a time. I went to a small new Years party with two other couples, both with handicapped children. We did manage to leave, so I could go home and blow my nose, before the two kids started their kareoke program. We were in bed by 10 and I didn't even get to channel surf looking for Dick this year. I know he didn't die because I read the whole NYTs magazine with the obits from the past year and he wasn't in there.

But, back to the kids- I don't much like kids, and certainly am not thrilled to spend party-time with them. This has nothing to do with these two being handicapped- or 'differently abled' or whatever todays' PC term might be, it's just that when I go out, after all those years of talking about kids and soccer and SATs, I never want to talk about them again, let alone TO them. And it sure was difficult to have a conversation when they would look at me with a blank stare and the mother would answer my simple questions. Felt like I was dealing with Edgar Bergen all evening. Now, if you happen to be a parent of one of these kids, I am sorry if you are offended, but like I mentioned before and you skipped right over because you were already building up that defensive steam, I basically am not interested in your kids. I have the utmost regard for the job you are doing with them, for the fights you have to endure every day to get them what they are due, but after what I went through with my own, I am way over it.

OK, so I am not quite over it:





Actually I am finding my new granddaughter-to-be a perfect excuse for all sorts of projects. I am binding the baby quilt I finished the other day, I am working on her Cow Sweater, just started the sleeve but they are small and it will go quickly. And I decided that the alpaca scraps scarf was never going to be a winner as a scarf so I felted it up and cut out some booties- a much better use of the scarf. These were so much fun I will also make a matching crown out of the still-leftover piece of felt and the long skinny scraps. I did the same sorts of things when my own kids were babies- had to keep MAKING things to keep my sanity. Remember a few posts ago when I decided I was a MAKER rather than a (ugh) crafter or a quilter? Funny, after all these years of calling myself a Quiltmaker because Art Quilter was so, I dunno, elitist or exclusionary or something.


So, more 'making' here. I had two wonderful lengths of mudcloth from the Peabody Essex museum that I have been saving forever, so I brought them back down in my empty bag as 'ballast' and they look fab in my new liviing room. First I covered my dining room chairs with the black piece, here are the before and afters:







(Now, WHY does this happen after I pull them from iPhoto in the right directions andf then Blogger sets them back the way they used to be in the camera? Duh. Well, you can get the picture, I will continue ranting. Meanwhile, just turn your monitor on it's side. I'll wait.




Next I used the whiter piece and made a big down pillow:


Never being able to leave well enough alone, I added some turquoise to one square so it has a stamp of my own. I still have enough left to make a smaller pillow but instead I think I will save it for something special down the road.