Keeping Busy

 This past week has been spring break for two of my boys. Josh is currently only taking one evening class that meets twice a week, and he is still working, so it isn't a huge change for him, but Peter has had more free time than he really knows what to do with. In general he's been sleeping in until noon or so, working on memorizing his lines for the upcoming one-act play he just got a role in, and then spending the rest of the day watching YouTube videos and playing Minecraft. Sometimes he and his brothers will play a game of "Magic the Gathering", usually at night after I have gone to bed.

Earlier this year, I noticed that the quilt I made for John many years ago was falling apart, and so I decided to make him a new one. I let him choose the pattern and the colors, and I kept busy for about a month, choosing fabrics, cutting and sewing. I borrowed a quilting frame from the church and for about two days it filled our living room while I spent every spare moment tying it. I was happy with how it turned out in the end. 

Here is the front: It is displayed on my bed for display purposes. It is queen sized.

And here is the back: John designed it and told me what angles to use so it would cross diagonally from one corner to the other.

Once the quilt was completed, I missed having that project to work on and so I and started looking for other things to do. 

I sewed a dress (It is intended as a summer dress. I haven't worn it yet because it has been too cold!)

I made some earrings.

 I made a necklace pendant from clay and resin. (I copied the design from an image Hannah sent me)

I spent a lot of time learning to play the flute. Did I mention I have a flute? 

Some time at the tail end of last year, the missionaries were over one evening to share a message with the family, and they asked us to think of something we would like to be able to do better. I answered a bit facetiously, "I'd like to be able to play the flute better, because I can't play it at all!" Then Josh asked me very seriously if I would like to learn, and I responded, "Sure, if I had a flute and someone to teach me. When I was teenager I had wanted to play the flute or the harp, but never had the opportunity to learn." At this point, Josh reached down behind the recliner he was sitting on and like magic, pulled out a flute case! At the time he was still working at the flea market and would occasionally bring home an instrument, and that weekend he had just happened to have bought a flute. Anyway, he gave it to me, and a few days later he brought home a beginner flute book from the music store, and so this year I have been working to learn how to play it. I did bring it to a music store and had some key pads replaced and a spring adjusted, but it works great now and I feel like I have gone from barely being able to get any sound out of it at all, to now being fairly comfortable with an octave and a half worth of notes.

A couple days ago I was thinking I'd like to make another quilt, so after much time looking at patterns and fabrics, I've begun another quilting project. Hopefully this one will keep me busy for a little while. I'll post pictures when I get a little further along.