October Musings

So here we are in mid-October and I am finally getting around to another post.  It has been an eventful month so far.  Some cooking, some home renovation, a quilting retreat, and lots of sports.  My nephew participated in the 2012 Gorge Kids Triathlon.  This was his first tri ever (not bad for a 6 year old), and one of the coolest kids activities I have seen in a long time!  It had a swim/wade, a bike, and a run, and Reney did it all by himself - a born DIYer... makes me proud!

Reney showing off his hard-earned t-shirt, and more important, the Subway cookie that he did not have to share with his Mom!

The bathroom is coming along... shower floor is in and Mike is starting on the tile on the walls.

 In this picture you can see how the shower floor has come together with the curb.  Mike has included a brushed stainless tile trim on the curb where the shower doors will go, and I think it is looking great!

No grouting has been done yet (that will go in a dark grey on the floor and a sand color on the walls of the shower), but you get the idea.  You can see in this last photo the diamond shaped cut-outs that Mike is including in the upper row of tiles.  Small diamonds of the floor mosaics will go in there to help tie it together.  This will look pretty cool, I think, since the tile above the shower has the diamond accents in it as well.  I would love to take credit for this design, but it is all Mike.  ;)

While Mike was hard at work on the bathroom, I was out gallivanting around Hood River with my quilting friends for our annual quilting retreat.  The last couple of years we have gone to a great bed and breakfast in Astoria and rented out the whole facility for our group.  This year we decided to do something a little different and rented a vacation home in Hood River for the weekend.  The place was fantastic, and we had a lot of fun!  We did some wine tasting, some eating, and lots of quilting!  I am working on a tree skirt for Christmas time.

This project has incorporated quite a few "firsts" for me:  my first angled cuts (9 degree, in case you are interested), my first ruffle (gathering is not fun, emphasis on the NOT), and the first time that I have layered it in such an odd order... apparently (according to the directions) I will sew it all together leaving a small opening, then pull it all through the opening and it will magically be in the right order.  I am skeptical, to say the least.  ;)

I think, though, that since it is turning out so beautifully, I should share the link.  This is a free pattern that I found on the Sulky website, and I have been having a lot of fun with it!  I will post the finished product when I am done, but in the meantime, for all you DIYers out there... here is the link:
http://www.sulky.com/project/treeskirt/