I am having internet connection issues - again. This seems to be an ongoing thing. I just don't know why, in this great age of technology, that I can't have a better connection:(

Now on to Design Wall Monday.
 I finally found the blue I wanted for the T-shirt quilt. Kona cotton Marine. It was been through the wash - twice. The color catchers came out pretty dark the first time so I washed it again, just to be sure it won't run as there are some white shirts being used.

 I have been working on another QFK quilt. They sent some very cute Pooh fabric this time.
I have this loaded on the frame, ready to quilt. It is hard to see, but the thin goldish border has honey bees on it. I am thinking of quilting it using a meander stitch with a honey bee every once in a while.

Frustration Flinging

Fair warning - if you don't want to read about my complaints stop reading now!

I have a love/hate relationship with my job. Now, just to be clear, I am VERY grateful to even have a job. And, for the most part, it has been as perfect a job as I could possibly ask for. The hours and days off match my sons school schedule. I LOVE having summers off! I get to work with children all day. Kindergarten children. They are so funny and so much fun and it is so rewarding to see the growth in them through the year. That's the love part :)
The hate part - I get to work with children. Kindergarten children. All. day. long. I mostly love that part, but some of them push to the very limit of my patience. :( And, so do some of the adults that I get to work with. My work area is a table in the teachers lounge. I don't have a desk of my own. My supplies are in big drawers built in under the counter at the very back of the room. The computer that I use is in that room as well. Often times I cannot get to the computer or my drawers because people are standing in the way, having conversations. That's fine. I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is that they just look at me and keep on talking. I try saying 'excuse me' and inch my way toward the area I need to be in, then wait patiently for them to move. I finally have to break in to their conversation and say 'I need to get ...' whatever I need. The staff also eat their lunches at these tables and I can tell you what they eat by the messes they leave on the tables. Seriously, show a little respect and clean up your mess! I did email the entire staff yesterday requesting that they do that because it is my work area. It is also the work area of anyone - ESL teachers, speech therapists, etc., visiting our building. I am concerned that I may have offended someone, but I did try to word the email nicely. I just wonder what their own homes look like.

I hate cell phones. Again, I am very grateful to have one. I am grateful that my son has one just in case he has an emergency. My husband refuses to use one. But I am not one of those people who is tied to their phone. I recently got a phone I can text with - only because my son thinks he needs to text me. He prefers texting to talking, at least with me. I know sometimes there are situations that don't work well for talking. But, he texts me when I am driving. I don't answer. Besides being illegal to do that, I also happen to think it is unsafe to text while driving. So I get several texts from him before he finally calls. Just wants to know where I am and when I will be home. I cannot leave home for more than a couple of hours without getting a text wanting to know when I will be home. He thinks both of us need to upgrade our phones. He would love to have the latest iPhone. I think $800 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a phone. I know it can do many wonderful things, but I still think it is crazy. Sorry if I offended anyone. Just my opinion. I don't need a phone that does all that. I have a basic, unlimited talk and text pay-as-you-go plan. That is all I need. I can access the internet if I need to, but it costs extra. I have a separate GPS for directions when needed. I research places I might want to go before I leave home and get directions from Map Quest. I have found that my GPS doesn't always get a signal so I want a back-up plan if that happens. Besides, I like the bigger computer monitor much better than that teeny, tiny phone screen. :)

My son loves the 4-wheeler. I do not. For him it is like a car since he is unable to drive because of his low vision. He parks his wheelchair right next to it and transfer onto the 4-wheeler. Then off he goes, around and around the yard, or the fields once they are harvested. Then, he stops at the ramp by the door and revs the engine. That is my signal that he wants to tell me something or get him something. He cannot ride that thing without stopping several times - or more. Drives me crazy.

I HATE the clutter in my house. My husband has papers and magazines piled on the floor around his chair. The dining table is covered with his stuff. He knows exactly where everything is and can put his hands on whatever he needs. I don't even try to clean anywhere near his stuff. My son has his piles of stuff. And, just to be fair, I have my quilting stuff in the TV room. I do try to keep it organized, but I feel overwhelmed and discouraged by all the stuff. I feel like 'why should I even bother to try to keep the house clean and orderly when I am the only one who seems to care about it'.

OK, enough whining!

I am so grateful that my family has jobs - me, a teacher's aide, my husband a farmer, my son through the school's work program - and are able to buy the things we really need. We have food, clothing and shelter. I know many do not have enough of these things. I am able to do the hobbies I love - quilting and knitting. We may want for material things that really aren't that necessary , but not for the things necessary to live. So, yes, I know that I am very blessed. :)

On the Needles

On my needles this week is Iced by Carol Feller. It is a free pattern from Ravelry and can be found here.

The yarn is Sensations Rainbow Classic Blue. I was going into my local Joann's store and saw this in the sale bin outside. There were 2 skeins so I thought I should rescue them! Like I need another project. This is working up pretty quickly since it is a bulky yarn. I was in need of a quick project. I have been a little frustrated lately. I have been asked to make a T-shirt quilt. The customer wants solid blue sashing, outer border, backing and binding with a solid white inner border. I found a solid blue that was the perfect match to the blue in the T-shirts. There was only 1 1/4 yards on the bolt. I need 9 yards. I was told it could be special ordered and delivered to the store. I asked if I could get it through their on-line store and was told that I could do that. I was given the number off the bolt so I would be able to identify the color. When I got on-line I could not find that fabric listed. I sent an e-mail to customer service and was told that item was an in-store purchase only. So, the next weekend I went back to the store to do a special order. Their computer showed that they had 11 yards in the store. I found the bolt from the weekend before with the 1 1/4 yards on it. I also found a bolt with a different manufacture name with that same number. I took it to the counter also. That bolt was the 11 yards. Seems the manufacture name has changed. Same number, same color name - bright blue, but the colors are not even close. None of the other blues looked right. So I went to the other 2 fabric stores in town only to find that non of the blues are what I am looking for. Looking some more tomorrow. I am afraid to order on-line since the colors may not be true on the computer monitor.

To see what others are knitting join Judy here.

Mrs. Cranky

Well, school has been in session for about a month now. Most of the kids are settling in well. Some - not so much :)
There have been a few staff changes this year. Most of that is going well. Some - not so  much :)

The kids - they are Kindergarteners, remember? - have been a little - umm - energetic the last few days. Some of my duties include recess, lunch and storytime/bathroom break.

The second lunch group was especially noisy yesterday. I had to get a little cranky with them to get them to quiet down and listen so they could clean up their trays and line up for recess. Then, later, at storytime/bathroom break they were noisy again. They kept talking while I was reading. I had informed them at the beginning of the school year that I would nicely ask them to listen, but if they chose not to listen that I would stop reading. Yesterday I had to stop reading. As I was quietly sitting there waiting for them to quiet down one of the boys said to me, "You're really nice". I told him that I was feeling a little cranky and didn't feel nice. His classmate sitting next to him said, "I think you need a cupcake"!

Ha - kids are so funny and so sweet. :)

DWM...

Not exactly ON my design wall. Still in the early designing stage.

I have been asked by a co-worker (for her mother) to make a T-shirt quilt with the grandson's high school and college shirts.

There are 21 t-shirts. Originally she wanted a lay-out of 3 across and 7 down. She wants the quilt bigger than twin size, but it doesn't have to be the size of a double bed. Big enough to cover the guy. She had pictures of how she wanted them laid out. Very helpful!! Anyway, I did some math and sent her the information. The quilt would be skinny and very long. She thought about it and decided that it could bed 4 across and 6 down and she would come up with 3 more shirts. Then she thought some more and decided that it would be fine to be 4 across and 5 down and we could remove one shirt. With 2 inch sashing and a 2 inch border and a 4 inch border I think the size will be fine. I made a new lay-out, took a picture and emailed it to her. Now I am just waiting to hear if the new lay-out is ok.
The reason for the holes in the lay-outs is that for 2 of the shirts we are using both the front and back designs.

And, as I am looking at these lay-outs I see that I have two light colored shirts on top of each other on the upper left. It seems that no matter how hard I try I almost always end up with this problem.Looks like I could swap one of the gray ones near the bottom for one of the white ones near the top.