Sprechen Sie English??

Ax asked me for a quick tutoring session in German, since one of his shipmates is fluent and he just wants to dick around with the guy once in a while. But the kicker is I had to write it down phonetically. VERY very difficult! I gave him the super basics like counting to 10 (and how to say 11, 12, 13, 14, etc.), yes/no, how to ask where the toilet is, how to ask someone's name (and say his name), how to introduce someone, and of course, how to order a beer. LOL.

He'll butcher the hell out of the language even with my phonetic spellings, but hopefully this guy has a sense of humor and can understand at least a little bit of what Ax says.


With that said, I wanted to show the rest of the boat blanket I was making for him. It's done! He loves it! I think it's utter shit but it's also my first completed quilt and full of flaws. I will say it is SUPER freakin' comfy though. If we still lived in WI, that could probably be an emergency blanket for the car and you'd never freeze under it. Wool, cotton, fleece, and flannel.

My husband agonized over the layout for hours. I'm not even joking. Here is the top that he picked out. If you'll notice, there is a row that is backwards...I ripped the seams and fixed it. Someone was quite agitated about it--BUT he helped me piece the rows together so he can't complain!

Because Ax is so damned tall, I added another row. The very top row in this picture are extra blocks he didn't use, flipped around to the "wrong" side with some embroidery-ish stitching on them in the square pattern. There was some concern on his end because now the cornerstones don't line up but I told him to shush or I'd cut his legs off. HA.

Here it is laid out on top of the fleece "batting" (two throw blankets sewn together for length--5$ total at walmart). The excess length is folded under to help keep his feets warm. Ax has shitty circulation in his feet (despite being entirely healthy otherwise), so hopefully this helps!

I hand quilted the blanket; the couch became the workstation so I could watch netflix and have a comfy seat...our dog, Simon, thought the part I wasn't sewing on at the time was a great pillow.

All quilted, now it's laid out on the living room floor to be trimmed and bound!

In addition to being a pillow, it also makes an excellent doggie playmat?? (sigh.)

The first two edges bound; Ax picked out the flannel backing. It's a baby blue/brown/gold zigzag. It bunched up on me a little bit as I was quilting, poo.

Binding the rest on the machine!

Having the feeling that submarine laundry facilities are rough on fabric, each edge of binding has three separate stitch lines. Also in this photo is the kind of "U" shape I quilted.

After two washings and dryings, here's the finished boat blanket! It's somewhere between a lap size and a twin size. We have a twin size bed in the guest room and it doesn't quite cover the entire mattress.


And there you have it. My first completed project as a quilter, and the reason I haven't updated since the beginning of the month--every spare moment was spent working on this! I have Ax's OTHER quilt (a queen size, roughly) spread out on the living room floor right now, trying to baste it together. Simon thinks this is also his personal bed and chewing space...oy. and it's not like he's on the other side from where I'm working. No, no. RIGHT next to where I'm stitching. Or he steps on the thread. Or he tackles me trying to get me to play.

DOG. Please stop. go chew your bone quietly ON THE COUCH OR SOMETHING PLEASE KTHX. lol. He's a goofball and just loves his mommy, so I don't really get too mad.


Before deployment started Ax and I went to the beach. We walked probably a good two miles, collecting sea shells and people watching. There was an adorable setter running around digging holes and playing in the surf. I'll find a nice day and take Simon just to see what he does when presented with moving water (instead of bath water or rain water) and sand. We didn't take him with originally since we weren't sure if the beach was a dog-friendly one or not. Anyway, it was a great time with him. We made sure to do something special before he left.

So here Simon and I sit (well, he's laying but whatever). I gave up on this queen quilt for now--the minute I go sit back on the floor and work on basting he'll find a way to be exactly where I need to be. LOL. Tomorrow if it's not raining we'll go for a walk and maybe to the pet store to get a special treat for him. For now, more South Park and maybe I'll work on my Super Mario Galaxy puzzle my brother bought me for xmas.

Fast quilts, halfway boxes, and Friday fill-ins, oh my!

That title was more clever the first time I read it. Less so the more I stare at it. Oh well. Screw it.

Where to start...

Well, Ax wanted a blanket to take onboard with him since subs are apparently awfully cold. Especially in berthing. I don't understand why exactly, but he knows best. So I started whipping up a quick quilt for him. He has to leave soon so this has to be FAST. 

I had some wool that my grandma gave me..it's imported. I have no idea from where, but regardless,  it looks nice and warm! Then I have these colors to go with, since the wool is a dark blue color. To make it piece together fast, the wool is cut into 10" squares; then I have some 5" squares of the above, and finally the 2.5" ones in the picture. Sew (more like applique, but who cares?) the 5 onto the 10, then the 2.5 onto the 5....ta-da! A block done. I don't think I have enough of the wool, so I'm just gonna go as far as I can with what I have cut and then figure it out. I bought spray-baste to help move it along!

Since subs are tiny spaces, and Ax only has a small rack to store his belongings, the batting for this is going to be two fleece throws that I picked up at walmart. I'll have to sew them end-to-end to get the length, I think. I may pick up two more for the backing; I haven't decided yet. I have to get the front done first!!

Ax also gets to take a halfway-box with him on the boat. Each guy can have one shoebox of halfway goodies that they bust out halfway through the deployment. Right now I only have a shoebox that a pair of flats came in, so adding stuff from Ax's family may prove challenging. That said, here's a quick tour of his goodies:

A card to open that night, and some tins of Skoal. While we both think it's gross, lots of the guys use it and Ax can use the tins as a bartering tool or something. I dunno. I don't know a damned thing about tobacco so I have no idea if any of the guys will actually use the type I picked out. I figure if they're desperate enough to have their fix, they won't complain. ;)

Another card to open later on. A box of crayons, one of those itty-bitty Lego sets with the directions, a coloring set consisting of a few tiny markers (hence the extra crayons..) and coloring pages from Cars. Chapstick, as I have the feeling it's gonna be awfully dry on the sub.

Some gum for those who don't use tobacco but still need an oral fix. Ha. Swedish Fish, cherry Twizzlers, AAA batteries (for his alarm clock!), a bag of almonds, and a bag of peanuts.

Ax is a sucker for Oreos. I'm sneaking the rest of the mini-packages into his backpack. Hahaha.

A pile of Wint-o-green Lifesavers. I've found that they're awesome for dry throats, stuffy noses, and slight nausea (which mint is supposed to help relieve anyway). If nothing else, they could be makeshift poker chips. LOL.

And somehow, I have fit it all into this box which used to hold scrap fabric. I'm hoping I can find a regular-sized shoebox; then I know the Oreos won't get as squished.

I still haven't decided how I want to decorate it though. Hum.

On a different note ENTIRELY, here's a Friday Fill-In, courtesy of Wife of a Sailor!

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed?

Being locked out of the house and the lacking money thing. That was just ridiculous. Ugh.

2. What was your favorite thing that happened in January? 

Hm. I don't know. Just spending time with Ax, really.

3. What are you looking forward to in February?

Our one-year anniversary is in a few days; after that just looking forward to getting this damned deployment started already! The waiting seems to be worse than actually having him gone!

4. What are your plans for Valentine’s Day?

I think we might combine it with our anniversary (they're like two days apart), so in that case just a fancy dinner out someplace. Probably some cake. Spending time together before deployment!

5. What is your best advice for a MilSpouse whose spouse is deployed for Valentine’s Day?

Can't offer much here because this is my first deployment; I will say that sitting around moping won't help you any. If you guys actually celebrate Valentine's Day, go out and do something silly for yourself! Buy yourself a bunch of fake (or real!) roses. Eat an obscene amount of chocolate. Get a manicure, or whatever your treat to yourself is. Lounge around in sweats all day if you want! Don't forget about your spouse...if it's possible to call or email them, do so! I'm sure they're busy but I'm sure they're thinking of you!

And with that, now Simon and I must go for a walk before I lose my feet from him chewing on them. ahahah.