Lazy Couch is Lazy

I'm absolutely terrible about keeping up with this blog. I get so caught up in what I'm doing at school that I just forget to write about it.

But lots happened since my last post! Like Thanksgiving! And Black Friday! And my anniversary with Flash! All good things.

Thanksgiving was crazy this year. We all packed up and headed to Pa's parent's house, with his wife, Boo, the girls, and the dog in tow. Flash came down to celebrate with us too, which was very awesome. 

Holidays are always a bit crazy and tensions usually flare. This year was no exception. Everyone had fun, for sure, but everyone was a little tense and frustrated at one point or another. I feel odd saying it, but it's nice to be back at school and in the swing of things.

I headed out for my first Black Friday shopping experience with my Grandmother. We went to JoAnn's around 11 or so, and it was PACKED even then. They had a huge sale on flannel fabric and fleece, so I made sure to pick some up. 

My local apartment bear is here modeling my purchases. 

First, some cozy fleece for a christmas present for a special someone.

MOOSES AND BEARS. And coordinating colors (that are not good quality flannel, but that's what I get for $1.49 a yard). 

And some crazy snowmen!

They had some AWESOME mustache flannel that I almost got (with Flash in mind), but they were selling it in 8 yard bundles and I didn't need 8 yards. I wish I had though, I could've made Flash an entire bedsheet set of mustache flannel. 

I took advantage of my grandmother's sewing room and cut the squares for Flash's nephew's baby quilt, too.

SO EXCITED.

New Project

Thanksgiving break is here! I've been home for a couple of days now and have been taking advantage of having nothing to do.

The last week of school was busy. I had a quidditch tournament at CNU last weekend (which was REALLY fun, a lot more fun than Regionals. And we beat UVA too, which always feels nice). The drive was long, and coordinating three cars of hungry QuidKids to a restaurant for dinner was a pain in the bum. But overall, a really nice weekend. It was good playing quidditch for fun for a change, rather than for blood and glory. Classes were rough though. I had a big test on Tuesday and I burned out in studio on Wednesday. I just couldn't motivate myself to get my work done. 

It took me a day of stepping back and doing nothing, then I was good to go on the design front. I've finalized the floorplan of my building, almost finalized the roof, basically finalized the windows, and other odds and ends. I'm making good progress.

But now I'm home, and I managed to get out to my local quilting store. I'm making Flash's sister a couple of baby quilts, and I FINALLY got the fabric. I'm really excited! The color scheme was originally going to be orange and green. But I found this collection with elephants, giraffes, rhinos, and stars that was absolutely perfect. So I added yellow and a splash of blue, and the whole thing is going to come together very nicely. 

The colors! Greens, yellows, blues, and orange. I love those green stars.

I tried to pick fabrics that would work well for both a toddler boy and a baby boy or girl. We've got leaves, stars, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, bubbles...

And robots. I couldn't help myself.

They also had a wicked awesome collection of viking themed fabric. I REALLY wanted to get it, but I have to remind myself that I am poor and need to spend my money on food, not fabric.

I decided that, for this quilt, I'm going to use minky fabric for the back and forego batting. It'll make for a nice lightweight, fuzzy quilt that can easily be carried around the house by tiny hands. For the toddler's quilt, I got a nice fun patterned minky fabric. For the baby, I picked yellow. Partly because I love yellow, partly because it was cheaper :)

Now I just have to wait until I go to Nashville in December to start work on them!

Nothing...

It's been over a week since my last post. And yeah, I've been busy, but I haven't done much of anything interesting.

That's a lie. Halloween happened, and the Mid Atlantic Regional Quidditch Tournament happened, and studio always happens.

Me, quidditching. I'm a beater.

But I just haven't felt motivated to write anything.

Halloween was fun, my apartment building filled with people, and my roommate and I danced on the balcony with glowsticks in hand.

Finder dressed as a creepy guy, and I threw together a construction worker costume. It was very last minute, but it worked out. I'm  lucky I keep a hard hat with me at school.

The quidditch tournament was insane. We played six teams during pool play, and we had high hopes of going 4-2, maybe 5-1 if we played really well. However, we went 3-3 in our pool, not as well as we had hoped, and we didn't get a Division 1 spot at the World Cup.  At the time, I was really, really, upset when we lost the match that bumped us out of the World Cup. It was absolutely heartbreaking- we played the Carolina team in pool play, and lost in overtime by 10 points. Then, due to our seeding, had to play them again in the tournament bracket. They bested us a second time, and our dreams were shattered.

You can't tell in the photo because of my facepaint and smile, but I am crying. Actually crying.

I hold the successes and failures of my team very close to my heart, and I felt like I had failed my team. I pour hours into the team every day, and the team is practically my child. And it really hurts me when we don't do well. I feel like I let everyone down. Flash pointed out to me, though, that quidditch is more than the sport- it's about the relationships and the friendships that are created. And when I realized that my entire team was excited about how the weekend went and I was at home, sulking, then I snapped back. And it's true, the Quidditch community is far greater than the sport. We come together to celebrate and we come together to mourn. And as soon as you get off pitch, you're friends with everyone. We're hardcore bros with VCU's team, and we have mad respect for UVA (even though they're a bunch of trains who play very aggressively). 

The sport has changed, though, even in the past year. It has become very physical, and people hit each other without restraint. The rule changes this year allow people to tackle from behind, as long as the tackle is initiated from the front or side. However, it's just burred the lines even more, and people are just steamrolling each other. I was originally proud of how I could take a hit, and how resilient I am. But after this weekend, and watching my teammates get flattened by people who, frankly, didn't give a damn, my opinion has changed. The safety of my team must come before any desire to be the best. I'm not about to sacrifice people on the journey to the top.

I refereed a match where one girl was knocked down by an opposing player and wrenched her knee. She was behind me, screaming, and play was still continuing. I was yelling at everyone to stop playing, but no one could hear me, they were still wrestling for the ball. After what felt like eternity, the head referee finally noticed and called play. But I can't get that girl's scream out of my head. I felt completely powerless, and it's not a feeling I enjoy. 

We made the decision after this weekend to switch from D1 to D2, where the physicality will hopefully be less and the fun will be more. I think it's a good step for the team in a positive direction, let's just hope my teammates feel the same.