Sewing at home

Because I didn't have to go anywhere today, I didn't. It was raining. I stayed home, checking e-mail, working on the binding of the floral quilt, and finishing the spirals on the dahlia. I did take a break to boil the 2.5 dozen eggs that I bought last Sunday. When Chris came home, he had a box that I think is from Joanns. but I forgot to open it because I have a high priority on finishing the quilts.
** I didn't take any pics today, but here is one from the market yesterday. Anyone know what it is?**

Hot and naked

Now that I have your attention, let me explain. I called Julia to see if she wanted to do anything today. Tuesday is her day off and I have my hours in at the thrift shop for the month of March, so I could skip a day. She had planned to try a spa she discovered near her apt. That sounded good to me, so I got on the city bus website, found that I could take a bus to Seocho subway station, and then ride the green line to Julia's apt. The great thing about riding the bus was that the stop I wanted was right after a sharp left turn, so I would be able to identify it even though I can't read any of the signs. And it was faster than taking the subway from here and changing lines twice. So that's what I did. I also packed a bathing suit, but it turned out that they don't allow them. Julia took me to the spa which was 7000 won for as long as we wanted to stay. There were three heated circular pools, ranging from 104 to 113 degrees. I discovered that the rectangular unlabeled pool in the back was ice cold. They also had a steam room and a sauna. It was labeled at 97 degrees Celcius, which is almost the boiling point of water. Yes, I was a little self-concious in a place where no one was wearing clothes. But not as badly as I feared. There was a heated mud hut, pyramidal, with a TV. We sat inside for awhile, but all that sitting on the floor got to me and I had to go find a bench. We talked for hours, then had another dip in the pools, showered, and left. I don't have any pictures of it for obvious reasons. We walked through a market where I was able to buy organic sunflower seeds and Julia took pictures and footage of his nuts, I mean his cart full of nuts and seeds. We wound our way to the front where we stopped to have kimbap and ramyen for supper. Then I got back on the subway to retrace my route. Well, it took longer to ride the bus at 6 than it did at 10:30. Maybe the subway would have been faster at that time of day. Anyway, Chris and Michele were home, having had supper. So we relaxed for a bit, watched a DVD and then I was tired and laid down for awhile. I also fell asleep and didn't post to my blog.

QOV

After making Chris' sandwich, I went back to bed. Luckily Michele sneezed loudly a little after 8 and woke me up. Otherwise I would have overslept. I got ready as quickly as I could, not having time to take all my supplements. But I did get the cheese ready for lunch, and then was on my way to post. Pam picked me up at the gate and we went to the SPC. Toniette was already there, having set up the tables and was washing them when we arrived. We didn't have the large crowd that came two weeks ago, but everyone who came worked. 10 baby quilts were tied and packaged. The rest of us worked on QOV. Cathy took one assembled top home to add borders. See pic. While the others cleaned up at the end, I quickly used one table and machine to sew a binding on the quilt from Saturday. Sure is nice to have a big table for that job. Pam drove me back to my gate, then she had a few errands to run. At home, I checked my everpresent e-mail. I decided to do the handsewing of the binding while listening to some of the interviews in my e-mail. But when I called them up, they were repeats, so I just put on some classical music while I sewed. Chris came home and we had leftover bean soup and twice-baked potatoes. Michele had some too, when she got home. We watched "War Games" on DVD. Then it was time for blogging and bed.

Palm Sunday

We got to church just in time to join the procession with palm fronds (Yes, Chris, technically they were cycads, not palms). They handed Chris a line to read in the service. It was for the centurion. After church we had the usual snacks. Then we stopped by the AnC center to pick up the batting I left there yesterday. Next stop was the commissary. I bought celery to try the juice. Michele left before church to go to college to work on a project. She still wasn't home when we got back with the groceries. Chris put some pork, cabbage and onions in the crock pot. We drove to gate 19 and walked to E-Mart. We bought a tea ball, kimchi, eggs and seaweed. I wanted to color the eggs, but they were all brown ones. Back home, I checked e-mail briefly then worked on the dahlia quilt while watching TV. Michele came home in time for supper. She had finished her project which was to make a movie that didn't need words. She said she was the star, showing how to buy stuff in a convenience store. We had the pork, rice, asparagus and rice pudding for dessert.
I did not take any pictures today, but here is one I took yesterday, trying out the new camera.

Practicing my longarm skills

I got up about 9 and needed to be at the AnC center by 10 to help Toniette with her quilt. So I had to hustle to get showered, dressed and fed. I also whipped up a quilt backing and grabbed my floral top. I was a little late, but she had stopped by the Chosun to shop so she never knew. I cleaned the longarm and oiled it. When she got back, we tried to pull up her saved project from last time, but only the borders were saved. So she decided that she would rather have Cathy help her so she can quilt this one exactly the same as the first one. That meant that I could get mine on right away, and she stayed to help me do that. We also rolled the big batting onto the bar under the longarm (moving the cpu out of the way). It made it much easier for us to use it. Cathy stopped by just after 1. When my quilt was finished, we went to her house to see some fabric she got. She is in love with Kaffe Fasset, but I do not have fabric envy on that score. She had to be back at the SPC by 3, so after she left, I went back to the AnC center to pay for the batting and thread I used. That's when I found out that the reason the AnC staff didn't put the roll of batting there was because their quilt teacher perferred it to sit across several chairs. How is that easier than pulling it off the roll? Oh well, I'll tell them Toniette did it. Then I went to the PX to buy another camera. The pic here is the last one from the previous one. This year's model was cheaper - only $145. The great thing is that I can use the same batteries, cable, memory card, and software as the old one. And I already know how to use it. Also, the guy at the camera counter took the old one and even though I don't have a receipt, he thinks Canon might fix for me under the one year warranty. I also bought a scissor sharpener. I stopped by Four Seasons and got some tomato seeds and seed starters. It was almost 5 by the time I got home. Chris had bean soup on the stove. It was good, and when I put some kimchi juice in it, even better. I trimmed my quilt, and cut the binding strips. I did a little bit of work on the dahlia quilt. And now it is time to blog and go to bed.
I learned from the internet that celery juice has no calories but is supposed to give you energy. And that rhubarb is a colon cleanser.

Project finished

After making the sandwich, I went back to bed, but not for long. I remembered my project that was due by noon. So I had breakfast and then got on Facebook to look up info for the forms. What I didn't find on Facebook I found in the AFSC member directory. I finished about 11:30. Then I worked on my dahlia quilt all afternoon. I have four spirals of the petals sewn onto the center. I keep resewing patches to make them fit better. I should have been making the backing for my floral quilt which I hope to quilt tomorrow after Toniette's quilt.

Focus

After making his sandwich, I went back to bed. When I got up, Michele had already left for college. (It's nice to have a grown-up child.) I did e-mail and traced some templates for my dahlia quilt. Then I walked to the thrift shop. There were only 4 books to shelve, but they found a few other things for me to do. 2 hours later, it was rainy and people were talking about snow, so I called Chris for a ride back, which he agreed to. I cleared out some more e-mail and cut out the quilt pieces I had drawn this morning. I went through a bag of donated fabric and pulled out those pieces that were large enough for the class project. I made sure I had extra thread for topstitching and a sample. Then I cut more quilt pieces. Chris came home and we talked for a bit, then it was time to grab my stuff and head out. It was about 6 when I got to the SPC. I grabbed tables from the rooms across the hall. I hated to take their tables but couldn't find any others. Then I pulled tools and machines out of the storage closet. People started showing up then and helping. A lot of people came, including several kids and a husband. I showed them how to make a basic tote bag. We all had a great time, and many finished the project. Unfortunately, my camera decided focusing was too strenuous. I have a feeling that another piece must have fallen off of the front. Anyway, it was a fruitful evening. Several ladies decided to be creative and change the project (of course wanting me to explain how to implement their ideas). AFterwards, I drove home, to find more e-mails in my inbox. But I have a few forms to fill out that are due tomorrow at noon, so I can't spend all night following links (or writing this blog post). The blog police did notify me of an error in yesterday's post. I will have to correct it.