Author: JodiLea

I don't pretend to be who/what I'm not. I will be honest here unless I publish under the category "This could be news," which is 99% fiction and a wee bit sarcastic. ;-) I want readers who come here to have as much fun as I do. Not all subjects can be fun, but most can be funny if I do my job right ;-) My inner child is reflected in my logo and will change at a moment's notice.

Searching For Perfection

~ JodiLea ~ 2 Comments

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Dearest Reader,  please forgive any blurry headers, sidebar alterations, weird colors and fonts you may find here. These changes will be temporary, and the next time you visit it will probably look different – again. Not Pretending (to be sane)  is “under construction” for an unknown amount of time. I have trouble making decisions. Especially decisions that involve me personally, like this blog.

Not Pretending  is my “baby” and I want it to look perfect. Easy on the eyes, professional – yet fun. I don’t even know if that’s possible, but it’s what I’m going to strive for. Tonight’s new theme is pretty. Maybe too pretty and sane for me…

That being said, I plan to keep writing and even posting, if I write something worthy. No promises though. My multitasking skills have begun to deteriorate since I retired 7-months ago. And next week I’ll be out-of-town with hubby’s family, so I may not post. Then again, family can be quite entertaining at times.  Winking smile

March Madness?

~ JodiLea

February is over.

Sooo…  I have put together the official March observances to keep us (myself and you, dear readers), in-the-know. March is another observance-full month – even with the religious holidays omitted. It’s not that I’m being politically correct here. I figure the religious among us already know when they are, and the non-religious don’t want to be reminded they may be going to Hell.

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March 2013 Observances

Mar 8:  International Women’s Day

Mar 10:  Daylight Savings Time Begins

Mar 14:  World Kidney Day

Mar 17:  St. Paddy’s Day

March 18–22:  National Youth Violence Prevention Week

National Association of SAVE:  http://www.nationalsave.org

March 20:  National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Awareness & Education: HIV/AIDS Prevention Project:  http://www.happ.colostate.edu

or National Native American AIDS Prevention Center:  http://www.nnaapc.org

March 22:  World Water Day

RC International Water and Sanitation Centre:  http://www.unwater.org

March 26 (fourth Tuesday in March):  American Diabetes Alert Day

American Diabetes Association:  http://www.diabetes.org

March 27:  Kick Butts Day

Campaign for Tobacco–Free Kids:  http://www.tobaccofreekids.org

March 30:  National Doctor’s Day

American Red Cross Month

American Red Cross, National Headquarters:  http://www.redcross.org

Brain Injury Awareness Month

Brain Injury Association of America:  http://www.biausa.org

Hemophilia Month

National Hemophilia Foundation:  http://www.hemophilia.org

National Colorectal Awareness Month

Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation:  http://www.preventcancer.org/colorectal

National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

The Arc of the United States:  http://www.thearc.org

National Eye Donor Month

EBAA, Eye Bank Association of America:  http://www.restoresight.org

National Kidney Month

National Kidney Foundation:  http://www.kidney.org

National Nutrition Month

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:  http://www.eatright.org

National Poison Prevention Month

Poison Prevention Council:  http://www.poisonprevention.org

American Association of Poison Control Centers:  http://www.aapcc.org

 National Professional Social Work Month

National Association of Social Workers:  http://www.socialworkers.org

Crazy Quilt Crap

~ JodiLea

For those new to Not Pretending, you may not know that I am often the victim of life’s improbable and sometimes ridiculous events. In other words, the craziest crap happens to me.  Sometimes the crap is humorous. Sometimes it’s caused by my clumsiness or stupid thinking.  Occasionally, there are outside forces at work against me. Like today.

I got a “kit” to make an easy level crib quilt and I decided my beginner skills could handle it. All I had to do was sew two borders around a solid panel, then find a fabric for the backing and some batting for the in-between layer. Then I could quilt it and finish it.  Piece of cake.

What I forgot to factor into this venture, was that I was the one doing it.

The first thing I did was open the kit and look at the fabric. The Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore panel, that was 90% of the quilt, was cut out crooked. At first I blamed the quilting store. Then, I noticed the pattern of little holes running down the sides of the panel. Someone had attempted to make the quilt before I got the kit.  Mmmm…

Probably the same person who cut the panel half-assed, I told myself. I will just trim the edges and make it square up. 35 minutes later it was as good as it was gonna get. On to cutting the fabric for the borders!

The border fabric was cut crooked as well – what a surprise!  Now to sew the 1st border fabric to the panel. First I ironed the pieces, then I lined the right sides together and pinned the fabrics where I wanted them to be when I sewed. This took up a lot of time. I used my rulers and marking pencil, as I was taught and still I had somehow cut the border pieces a bit “off”.

Oh well, I said. The outside borders would make up for it, and I plundered on.

HA!  Ignorance is NOT bliss. The outer border matched up even worse. Now I had a mess so obvious that I would have to start over.

This is what happened to the quilter before me. After ripping out all the stitches, she packed up the kit and returned it to the store. I am on to you, lady. You ruined my happy sewing day.

I’ll start over tomorrow. I’m in the middle of a good book. The book at least has squared up corners  😉

PoohQuilt
Looks good from a distance
QuiltCorner
The worst corner