It was a short weekend, but it was nice.
After some chores in the morning, I took a walk around the Butterfly Pond with Kate & Kai on Saturday afternoon. We usually go out there in the morning & it’s not too busy. On a nice autumn afternoon? BUSY! and slightly annoying! There were so many families getting portraits done, we were dodging photographers, dogs & toddlers everywhere. We’ve been hearing family photo shoots happening almost every evening from home for the past few weeks… there are a few paths, a creek, and a nice backdrop of foliage at or near the edge of our property. The photographer is very enthusiastic & seems great at directing!
On Sunday, I scooped up Ginny & Davy to accompany me to Lowe’s where I bought a new mini-fridge for the basement* and a bulb planter thing for my gardener. We looked at every single Halloween & Christmas decoration on display, and hit all the “try me” buttons, too!
All the kids migrated over a little later and, while Davy occupied himself with building blocks & Malina with her dolls, I helped Ginny put together her 9-patch quilt square with the fabrics she chose when we went to the textile arts event at Heritage Hill in August.
Well, mostly those fabrics… somehow, I ended up short when we laid out her design, so she chose another pattern from my scrap pile to fill in.
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but one of my favorite features on my sewing machine is the ability to set a speed limit — slow, moderate, or fast. “Slow” is perfect for learning to sew!
We talked about different ways she could “quilt” her block, but she’d noticed all the other stitches available on my machine, and chose this leafy cluster & the green thread.
We added some batting & backing and it turned out to be a nicely sized coaster-ish type thing. Is it perfect? Absolutely not — the mistake on the one corner that’s all zigzagged over is on me! Did my granddaughter say, “I like sewing?” Yes!! That made my day.
Next up, Malina’s turn with her square. And then we’ll probably make some pillowcases!
It was pretty windy yesterday, but a little less down in the backyard. We sat down there for a while to admire Rusty’s handiwork — he re-did the small brick patio over the last couple of weeks — and this amazing clump of cosmos still putting on a show! Seems like it got a second wind or something.
Speaking of Rusty, he’s been very busy cleaning out & packing up his studio over the past month or so. He’s rented the spot above the coffee shop ever since Ali took over — almost 18 years ago — and though she’s sold both the business & the building over the past few years, things didn’t change for him… until now. The new owner wishes to reclaim the whole second floor. I don’t think he’s going to return it to the original design (which was really cool), but he does want to make it all one living unit again & add bedrooms for his boys.
We’ve known this for a little while, and also knew that moving in the fall would be far preferable than winter (end of December when his lease would be up, technically), so have looked around & considered any & all of the cheap/suitable rentals (there aren’t many), considered making a studio above the garage (it would have been very small) (not to mention very expensive), and had pretty much deciding that he’d move it back home, taking over the living area at the front of the house w/storage in the basement. His studio was in the back of our house, in what is now our bedroom, for many years, and my workroom/office was known as “the studio annex” for a few of those years, too.
Luckily, at practically the last minute, Rusty became aware of a former school building in Appleton that an artist friend is divvying up into artist studios. The building is part of a church property & he had been aware of it, but wasn’t too keen because he also knew that it was going to be razed at some point — but that has been pushed off for at least several years. It’s a nice spot — not ideal, because his studio has always been so close & within walking distance — and the price is right! He teaches in Appleton a couple of afternoons a week, so it’s somewhat convenient — only a few blocks from where we lived when Ali was born — so he can walk around and rediscover the old ‘hood, too.
Anyway, yesterday was the BIG moving day! He has half of a large classroom (no one has rented the other half yet) with good light from a lovely bay window. He’s looking forward to unpacking & settling in, especially now that the heavy lifting is over, and excited about starting some new work! I haven’t visited yet, but I will soon… it can easily be “on my way” home from work.
*The old mini-fridge will be going to Rusty’s new studio! It’s very small, so perfect for his needs, and we could really use something a bit larger for our overflow at home. Win-Win!
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