Halloween

Nothing scary here. I spent the day working on my version of the class quilt. I have four options for the side triangles. Which one do you like? I also swept the apartment and boiled three dozen eggs. The new glass container I bought seems to leak, or at least isn't watertight. I had redbeet juice everywhere. I had to wash the kitchen rug. Ugg! I also cut PVC to make a shelving system for storing fabric. Now that I have the rungs made, I need some shelves. I can get them made at the arts and crafts center. I was able to make enough for one of the three partitions of the closet. For the other two, I wanted to buy the PVC over the internet. It is so expensive here. But who will ship PVC pipe? The t-joints are easily found and amazingly inexpensive. But they don't fit the pipe here because its metric. Chris and Michele played with the voices again today. And it rained, which seems to be a rare thing lately. But it was warm enough to wear shorts!

My other day off

Friday is my other day off to stay home and sew. Well, after finishing yesterdays blocks and making a set of 6 inch blocks today, I was at a good stopping point. I had a goal of 4 blocks a day and I have met that. I cleaned the stove, which was good since Chris came home just after lunch with leftovers from the office. When he went back, I went with him and he dropped me off at the Px. I wanted a glass storage container for pickled eggs. I don't trust plastic for that. Well, all I could find was a 2 quart measuring cup with a plastic lid. So I got it. I also got a pack of 220v lightbulbs. Then I caught the bus back to my gate. Chris came home early so we moved the cutting table in my sewing room to make room for the stacking cabinets I bought Wednesday. The vegetable man made his daily rounds and I went down to get some cherry tomatoes, bananas and persimmons. I took some of the recyclables down with me to drop them off. For supper I had office leftovers. Chris wasn't hungry and Michele wasn't home. I did a little straightening in my sewing room and ordered some supplements online. When Michele got home she told us there was a Halloween party on the third floor. I wanted to go but didn't have a costume.

Unfinished blocks

I spent the early morning working on my scrap blocks. Then I walked to the thrift shop. There weren't many books or other items to shelve, so I weeded through the software, CD games, etc and labeled the sections so people will buy them. I also marked a bunch of CD's down to $1 to make room for the ones in the back. At 2 I left and went home. I worked some more on my scrap blocks until it was time to go to quilt class. I didn't get there as early as I had hoped. But Cathy had just gotten there and the room was already set up. So all we had to do was bring in irons, cutting tools, and a few machines. At 8:30 we packed it all up and left. I drove home. I wanted to finish up the blocks but got sidetracked by the computer. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.

Wednesday is SUPPOSED to be my day off...

Well, first of all I slept in a little, having made Chris' sandwich the night before. But I had to meet Chris at the gate at 9. I got up so late that I only had time to drink a protein shake before I left. He was there early of course. We went to the thrift shop to pick up the two cabinets. Then I drove him to work so I could have the car. I parked at Gate 19 and walked to a Korean office supply place. I investigated prices of colored paper which the thrift shop uses. I bought some small packs to see if they were the right thing. Then I went to Gate 17, to a little hardware store. I wanted to buy PVC but didn't have enough won. So I went looking for a bank. Not finding anything but an ATM, I asked a lady on the street. She pointed back the way I had come. With enough walking I did find a bank. I handed the teller a $20, and she asked for my passport number. I tried to explain that all I wanted was won, and I showed her all kinds of ID, but no. Finally she got one of the guards to walk me to an underground money exchange. It was a funny place to find one, but the rate was excellent! I went back to the hardware store. I got T joints, two 4 meter poles and a cutter. Well, trying to cut the poles in half with the tiny saw was almost impossible. I took it back inside and she sold me a hacksaw. It was still awkward, so she did it for me (lots of practice I guess). Then I took the poles and saw back to post. The gate guard did not blink an eyelash. Next stop - thrift shop. I brought them the paper and they were glad to see it, but still wanted bigger packages, which my shop did not have. Then I took Chris' car back to his office, spoke to him briefly, then left. His co-worker was just coming back from lunch so I spoke with her for awhile, too. Then I went to the DHL to cash a check and walked home. Actually along the way I stopped at the commissary to buy something in a glass jar. I wanted the jar for holding pickled eggs. But the only jar big enough was a pickle jar and, though it looked and felt like glass, it 'tapped' like plastic. Bummer! I'll just have to check the PX sometime to see what they've got in glass.
Back at the apartment, I checked out e-mail, then finished up the blocks I started yesterday. I was calculating the next block, but by then it was supper time. We had chicken and radish soup. (same radish, almost gone now) Michele came home upset at a bad grade she'd gotten. But later she was busily working on a costume for a Halloween party at the university tomorrow night.

Ah, fabric storage

Tuesday is thrift day. I did a little work first on my purple scrap quilt, then hung up and folded some laundry. AFter a shower, I was ready to go. I walked to the thrift shop, which was full of volunteers getting ready for tomorrow; although tomorrow is nothing but a regular open day. Book donations were light and I finished shelving all the books and DVD's and computer software. I still have a pile fo CD's that won't fit on the shelf until the other ones sell. Two white cabinets were donated today and I bought them for $8 each. Chris will help me get them tomorrow with the car. I hope they will fit in my closet, but if not, I am sure I will find a way to use them for fabric storage.
Returning home, I quickly ran through my e-mail, then went to my sewing room to cut squares. I am working on another set of blocks for my scrap quilt. I currently have all the squares cut and half-square triangles sewn for five blocks. The number of blocks now exceeds my design wall. Hmmm, what to do?

The class we were dying to take

This was our big day. I met Carina at the gate just before 9. We drove to Gate 19 where we met the other ladies who signed up to go. Not everyone showed up, but we left at 9:10. We took the subway to Sungshin station.
There we were met by a student from Sungshin University. She guided the nine of us to the campus, then to the room. The tables were set with large bowls of color, wet fabrics, and samples of the materials that they boiled to get those colors.
The professor dyed one sample in each color to demonstrate the process, then hung up the samples to dry. We were eager to try it ourselves. I did my first scarf green with a hint of yellow. Then next one I dyed purple, then tied knots in it and overdyed in red. The teacher gave me two dyed handkerchiefs as well. The president of the university stopped by to welcome us and tell us what high hopes he has for future classes with people from post. And there we were dressed in our worst clothes! After class we were invited to eat in the faculty lounge guest room. Fancy! Then we were given a tour of the university museum: one room showing arifacts from the lives of women long ago. In the picture you can see the colorful petticoat of an unmarried woman and the plain petticoat for after marriage.
The campus photographer took our picture with a statue of the founder. Then we walked back to the subway and came home. After clearing out my e-mail, I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening working on my scrap quilt. I finished the blocks from yesterday and made four more of a different kind today.

Sunday and sewing

Unfortunately we slept a little late this morning and just missed church. So I started ironing all the fabric I had washed yesterday. Much of it had dried, but a few pieces were still wet. Putting them away afterwards was a bear. I simply must have more room! Chris went to the commissary for groceries. Michele and I carried them up in the elevator. While checking my e-mail, Cathy called to ask if I would come over and help her finish longarming the quilt top she is teaching the class about. I didn't feel like spending the time to walk, so I drove. It is the first time I have driven to post. Luckily traffic wasn't bad. When the quilt was finished, I drove home. It occurred to me that I should have done some rotary cutting there, because I haven't the room here. There is fabric everywhere. I cleared a small area and cut squares for the scrap quilt. I wanted to cut 12 1/2 inch squares for the quilt class Cathy is giving, but need to be able to spread out a little more. I was finally able to cut enough squares of different fabrics to make four quilt blocks. Its hard to believe it is time for bed already. I didn't take any pics today, so here is another picture of fabric in Dongdaemun.