Search This Blog

Saturday, April 28, 2007

The Blazer Project - Round 2



I've dyed the blazer a 2nd time. Read about Round 1 . I wanted to tone down the blue, make it darker AND less bright, plus even out the color. Again, I used a 5-gallon bucket. I didn't take it out of the bucket this time, which made it easier to slosh around when I added the soda ash. It was also MUCH easier to rinse. I poured off the excess fluid, let the jacket drain for 15 minutes or so, then was able to move it from bucket to washing machine with minimal mess.

When I took the blazer out of the dryer, it looked good! The color was beautiful and it looked even. But! Take it out into stronger light and YUCK! This color looks horrible in the sunlight. When it isn't in full sunlight, the color and shade are what I want, this picture shows that I have some work to do. The white threads didn't dye, and after some discussion of Sharpies on QuiltArt, I'm hesitating about using them. My best argument for using them is that when the halo effect starts to happen 10 years down the road, this jacket isn't likely to be around.

Back to the dye bucket!

Friday, April 27, 2007

100 Things About Me

I thought it would be difficult to write down this many tidbits of information about myself. WRONG! In no particular order:
1. I'm short for my weight.
2. I learned to read before I started school.
3. I love baseball and the Cincinnati Reds.
4. I have four kids, all by C-section.
5. I like both cats and dogs.
6. I started dyeing my hair in high school.
7. I can quilt, knit, sew, crochet, x-stitch and bead.
8. I am very good at keeping secrets.
9. I am a collector (trolls, crayons, fabric, buttons, baseball cards, blank books, McD toys, yarn, postcards, chiles).
10. I'm a very private person.
11. I love math.
12. I have been known to hold grudges.
13. I listen to my intuition. When I don't, I regret it.
14. I think potatoes are the perfect food.
15. My favorite color is pink.
16. I am a middle child (2 sisters & a brother older, same younger).
17. I knew everyone in my graduating class of 110, almost everyone in the high school.
18. I like to be alone.
19. I've watched The Young & The Restless since 1982.
20. I converted to Catholicism in 1987.
21. I dream every night, in color.
22. I talk in my sleep.
23. I always wear my seat belt.
24. I am very stubborn when necessary.
25. I like living in the city.
26. I have a beautiful smile.
27. I never had braces.
28. I think a pedicure is a wonderful luxury.
29. I always go home from a haircut/style and redo my hair.
30. Comics I always read: Baby Blues, Zits, Sally Forth, Non Sequitur.
31. Foods I dislike: cooked spinach, olives, sardines, lima beans.
32. I don't like to cook.
33. I had a Top Secret security clearance in 1975.
34. I am a great navigator. All I need is a map and a street sign!
35. I love electrical storms. Lightning! Thunder!
36. I'd rather be hot than cold.
37. I have an electrical engineering degree from Arizona State University.
38. I don't like the Designated Hitter rule. Pitchers should bat!
39. I like to sit in the back row in movies, church, school.
40. I've been married 3 times, divorced twice. 3rd time's the charm.
41. I like antique furniture.
42. I like to fly kites.
43. I like to water ski.
44. My favorite car is a Mustang. I've owned two.
45. My favorite album is Jackson Browne's Late For The Sky.
46. I went to college on the GI Bill.
47. My first job was as a waitress at the Red Bird Restaurant in Russells Point, OH.
48. The hardest job I've had is being a mother.
49. I jumped off a high dive board ONCE - to prove to myself that I could.
50. I wear glasses.
51. I recycle & think everyone else should.
52. I love purses, bags, totes.
53. I like to wear funky socks.
54. I make lists.
55. I caught a luna moth on summer night at my grandmother's house.
56. I got my 1st pair of pants (shorts) when I was in 5th grade.
57. I get carsick.
58. My favorite video games are Tetris and Ms. Pacman.
59. I was the first 4-Her to show goats at the Logan County Fair (mid-60s).
60. My favorite artist is Amado Pena.
61. In church, I won't sing any song written after I was born.
62. I can type almost 70 wpm.
63. I dropped out of college (Ohio State) after 1 quarter, walking away from a full scholarship.
64. My favorite desserts are ice cream and cheesecake (not together).
65. I've hiked in & out of the Grand Canyon several times.
66. I eat steak medium rare.
67. I saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (live!) in the late 80's with my oldest daughter & Taylor Kirkman.
68. Sometimes when I look in a mirror, I see my mother.
69. I prefer Diet Pepsi to Diet Coke.
70. I love chocolate.
71. I'm a morning person.
72. My drug of choice is caffeine.
73. I have season tickets to the College World Series after being on the waiting list for 11 years.
74. I don't like to fly.
75. I don't have a favorite holiday.
76. I like to do jigsaw puzzles.
77. I hate to shop.
78. I use commemorative stamps.
79. I do not want a tattoo.
80. I have naturally curly hair.
81. I have very low blood pressure.
82. I have O- blood.
83. I've never broken a bone.
84. My favorite dogs are non-shedding: Chows & Mini-schnauzers.
85. I love to run, but my knees don't!
86. I'd rather deal with an ugly truth than be lied to.
87. I like to have my bed made.
88. I like to drive a stick shift.
89. I love to sing.
90. I have a very high IQ.
91. I have very good fine motor skills.
92. I was named after both of my grandmothers.
93. I like keeping a diary, a journal, a record of events.
94. I keep score at every baseball game I attend.
95. I have trouble going to sleep without a TV on.
96. Cigarette smoke gives me a headache.
97. I've eaten more than one worm from a bottle of tequila.
98. I was standing in line at the end of the day in my 3rd grade classroom when I was told that JFK had been shot.
99. My person mantra: Success is in continuity of purpose (Benjamin Disraeli).
100. I love roller coasters.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Opening Day


It is the end of The Void, the beginning of a new season. The Boys Of Summer are back. The Reds are in first place. Oh, I can dream! My afternoon will be spent watching my Cincinnati Reds take a whupping stick to the Chicago Cubs. Oh, I can dream!

Reasons why Opening Day is one of my favorite days of the year:
-- My playoff fantasies are still realistic.
-- The Reds game is always on tv.
-- I get to sing my version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame (and it's root, root, root for Cincinnati, if they don't win it's a shame!) during the 7th inning stretch for the first of many times this year.
-- I will take calls from my sisters (Margery & Patience) who are celebrating Opening Day at Coors Field.
-- I will win the first of many squares in my baseball swap.
-- Winter is truly over (I hate snow!).

The day could only be better if I were actually at the ballpark. Play ball!