Quilting and Vacuuming

When I was at the fabric store, I found some fabric that I thought would make great table runners.  And I was given directions for a quick to make table runner.  So this is the result:

It doesn't scream Valentines, but there are little pink hearts on the red fabric.  I like it!

Then I went to my monthly Groovy Girl Class, and we were making table toppers.  I didn't have time to pick fabric from my stash (bummer) but found another set of black and red fabrics.  I'm not really a black and red person, so go figure why I'm picking out black and red. This table topper is "round", and will work great on a round table, or even a rectangular one.  It came in three sizes, and I made the small.  (The large is almost 4 feet across.)  Again, I don't think this screams valentine, but it was fun, and took about 6 hours to make and finish, including figuring out how I wanted to quilt it, and getting it quilted.  Both of these are on my floor for being photographed, and the wood strips are about 2 inches across, so you have an idea of size.

Now vacuuming does not sound very exciting, but I have a new "toy".  First, if you have not discovered "Woot", you need to if you do any on-line purchasing.  Woot is a site that sells one thing a day, except for the days they have "Woot-offs".  My new toy is a robot vacuum.  Like the Rumba, but this is a Neato.  The reviews I read, people who have had both machines like the Neato better.  And the Neato has more of a plan in it's vacuuming.  It does not just bounce off and go the other direction.  I've run this little gem twice now.  And it REALLY works.  Now my house has a great room, with furniture on the sides, and recliners in the middle.  The Neato tries to recognize doorways, and it thinks some of the areas between furniture are doorways.  So it does the first little "room" first, then on the the next "room" and so on.  It is not quiet, but not that loud.  When it has done every room that it can get into, it turns off it's vacuum, and works it path backward, and finds its recharging station, and carefully backs into the recharger.  I can program it to run at night, but have not done that yet.  I'm watching to see where it has problems in the house.  But so far, it has not had any problems!  So now that I've bragged about my little vacuum, I bet you want to see pictures.  Oh, it also makes it up onto throw rugs, and vacuums the rugs.  It does have problem with the two rugs I have that have an extra cushy no-slip mat under them, but it gives moving onto them a try, and then goes about it business elsewhere when it can't climb the height.  Now for pictures:

 Above, it is working along the wall and below it is getting under the toe space in front of the sink (sorry, I think I should have rotated the picture first!!).

OK, I can hear the comments "yea, it's cute, but does it do anything??"  Well I'm almost embarrassed to show you the results.  My story (and I'm sticking to it) is that I have two dogs, and it had been about 4 days since I vacuumed.  But this is it's dirt bin when it was finished the first day:

And I had already emptied the bin about half way through (there is a pause button).  Yesterday when I ran the vacuum, I got about this much again!!  WOW!

And the best part?  Yesterday, I did a load of laundry, vacuumed the floor, and made dinner all at the same time!  I think my little Neato is going to need a name, don't you??

Fabric and Houseplants

I brought a lot of fabric and trims/zippers/sewing tapes/craft items home on Thursday from my two girlfriends.  It's still sitting in my living-room!  I have started through the crafts stuff.  Actually the craft stuff is good timing.  My scout group will be making sculptures and art creations in the next month.  I'm sure lots of the craft stuff will be put to good use.

So what did I do today?  Well, the quilt store has fabric at $2.50 a yard today only.  So I purchased 18.3 yards!  So I'm not doing too good in my plans to reduce my stash.  But I got stuff that I have vague plans for.  There is fabric to make 2 winter scarves (they might make gifts next year), and a couple fabrics that I think will make a really nice purse.  After I came home, I helped my husband take stuff to the storage locker, and then he helped me transplant two large house plants.

One plant is a fig tree, about 6 foot high.  The other is a bocarnia otherwise known as elephants foot.  When I purchased the bocarnia, the bulb at the base was about 1 inch in size.  It is now 5 inches across.  I love that the long narrow leaves gracefully curve down to the floor.  In the new pot, the leaves are 1-2 inches above the floor.  And I've gotten all the dirt swept/vacuumed up too.  (Just can't re-pot plants without making a mess.) LOL.

So, after dinner tonight, I need to start again sorting the fabric and craft stuff.  The fabric goes into three piles. One that will go to the charity quilt group at church, one that I will keep, and last time, my third pile was stuff I didn't need to keep, but was partially completed projects that the charity group wouldn't be interested in.

My hubby says his TV show if over, and it is time for dinner.  I'll report on my fabric sorting later.