Making bowls

I did NOT get a chance to get to BestBuy to investigate a new keyboard. But guess what - today, the keyboard is behaving (more or less). Seriously I think it's my brain synapsis not functioning properly and not sending the right messages at the right time to my fingers!!!  BUT I did find $45 worth of coupons that I can use at BestBuy so I might just wander down there today to see what I can find. I did find a nice keyboard online that I really liked so I'll check out the feel and go from there.

Why didn't I get to BestBuy? Because I don't have a car! I took the car in for servicing - regular maintenance and change the tires. I got THREE calls from the dealer - they could NOT find the lug nuts for the tires. I have fancy ones for my fancy summer rims (like everyone else).  Seriously?? They were in a cloth (white) bag RIGHT BESIDE the tires in the back of the car. I know because I had touched them while putting the tires in the car. Tires on a rim are VERY heavy by the way!

The first call - I told them the lug nuts are in a cloth bag in the back of the car and were right beside the tires. I get a callback. Nope - the lug nuts are NOT in the car. Yes they are, I insisted. A white cloth bag. I get a callback. Nope - they searched the entire car and couldn't find them. Now I'm getting frustrated. THEY ARE IN THE CAR. I never remove them for fear of losing them and I had TOUCHED them that morning. I get a callback. OH - they were in a cloth bag, not a plastic bag. DUH!!!  That's what I've been saying. And it was the dealership who put them in the cloth bag when I first bought my winter tires!!!!  How could you miss a HEAVY, LUMPY white cloth bag RIGHT beside the tires?  I think they should install my tires for free for that!  But that won't happen!!  That took HOURS to resolve. The first call was at 10:37 and they finally found the lug nuts at 2:43.

It's now almost 3 PM by this time and they say that I need two new tires and front brakes are almost gone. I guess they won't have it done by 5 PM when I needed to leave my house to teach a class. NO. I borrowed DH's car - thankfully he had taken UBER to his conference yesterday. So that was a bit of a weird service call, to say the least, and it's going to cost me a LOT of money. But I don't think that I've ever had the brakes done on that car and there's over 150K on it. Still, I could have bought a lot of fabric with that money, but I don't need the fabric so I guess that's OK and better to be safe!


Yesterday I taught a class at Oh Look Fabric on fabric bowls using the clothesline cord. Always a fun class. I've made several items in the past including this HUGE tote bag. Gosh, that was years ago as I remember doing the bag as a sit n sew at Cockadoodle Quilts.

My clothesline tote bag

To refresh my memory on techniques and to try a couple of different things, I worked on a new bowl yesterday as I have a LOT of clothesline cord that I acquired from a guild garage sale.

Making a new bowl

Finished bowl

How cool is that!!!

There were four in the class. One of the ladies has a relatively new sewing machine and it took a bit to get the hang of what was happening.  She made good progress on the bottom and was just starting to turn the bowl.

Just starting to turn the bowl

This one is also going to be bigger. I love how she used a very subtle color difference on the OUTSIDE and that gives the bowl a really nice textural look.

Nice textural look on the outside

This one is finished and has a slightly contrasting colored thread on the top three rounds

One more bowl - DONE

 And this bowl got finished as well. This time the contrast on the top is much greater.

Another bowl - DONE

 And here are the students. I think they did a fabulous job with the bowls. The sky is the limit with the bowls. Now that I've made another one, I so want to make more!  I've lots of different techniques to try out but alas, there isn't time. This would actually make a great project to take to the retreat. I may just throw a section of clothesline in the retreat bag. Oh sure, along with the squirrel quilt that I cut out yesterday because I came across that half cut project when I was prepping for the bowl class.  SQUIRREL!!!!  It is actually a quilt with squirrels on it!!!

The happy class!

This is Andie's bowl (Andie is the shop owner).  I stole this from her Instagram feed - sorry! I forgot to take a picture last night. Aren't these bowls just the greatest? And there are so many options.

Andie's bowl

Now here is something that makes absolute sense.  I came across this article and it's so true. This is what I want to do when I get older.  If you're in the position of looking for a new home because you're now on your own, this is something to seriously consider.  Imagine how fun it could. Yes - there would have to be ground rules, but to add 10 years to my life?  You bet!!!!

Just got a call. The car is ready and they will come and pick me up! 

The bad news about today? It's gorgeous outside and I can hear my lounge chair calling. BUT - NO!!!  I've too much work to do inside. I've got a quilt to load on the long arm - a HUGE one. I've got patterns to write and quilts to design. I can no longer put them off. They need to be done. But I'll have a few breaks outside for sure and I have a bunch of errands that need to be done. There was NO fruit to go with my oatmeal this morning. I managed to find some slivered almonds in the cupboard and that worked just fine to give it a bit more flavor and texture.

If you're interested in the bowl class, there is another one scheduled for June 22 (Friday) at 7 PM.  Call Oh Look Fabric to reserve your spot.

I forgot to do some hand stitching yesterday. Not even five minutes - but I'll get to it today. I have a meeting tonight and that's the perfect place to hand stitch.

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!