say it ain't sew

For the first time in a long time, I didn't watch the Gator game. I couldn't bear to sit there and feel frustrated for a fourth week in a row. So I took to my sewing machine to work on a few projects Saturday afternoon instead. This is what I created:


It's my newest bag in a long time. And I LOVE it! I usually make my own patterns based on old bags and the things I want a bag to hold. But this time I followed a pattern called buttercup by Made By Rae. It was very easy to make, thanks especially to the pictures provided in the pattern. I am obsessed with this fabric by the talented Amy Butler. My favorite detail is the oh-so-adorable pleats:


Of course I had to personalize it somehow. I added more pockets to the inside to hold my must-get-to items. I'm not really sure I love the interior fabric, but it's hard when the outside fabric is so BOLD:


Note the magnetic closures on the sides above. I'd never used those before and can't believe how easy it was! Another thing I'd never tried was sewing the bag handle on after completing the bag. I usually hide it within the lining when I sew the inner and outer linings together. But I really love the look of this square:

Unfortunately, the bag is a tad small. The pocket I made for my phone was certainly big enough, but when I added my phone and snapped the bag shut it fell out. :( And my wallet * just* squeezes in. I'll have to make another one after I tweak the pattern a bit to make it larger.

Of course I didn't actually give up on the Gators. I listened to Mick Huber on the radio and tuned in and out as the game got exciting. It was much better for my blood pressure to just listen. I did run into the Florida room to watch the game winning kick by punter-turned-placekicker Chas Henry. How exciting!

Happily, my new bag wasn't the only thing I finished yesterday. I also hemmed a few dress which I'll try to get up in the next day or two.

it's great

to be a Florida Gator!!

football is everywhere

Saw this on an endcap at Publix last weekend. Printed fun Pop-Tarts sound cool, but I'm not sure college mascots are really playing to your target market. Unless the Pop-Tart target market is college kids. Hmm... Well I guess maybe that does work.

In other news, Tim scored us tickets to the Rays' first-ever ALCS game. They'll play the BoSox Friday night at the Trop. Our tickets are perfect: in right field next to the Rays' largest heckling crowd. Should make for an entertaining evening. Go Rays!!

Oh yeah, and we still don't have air conditioning. It's been 7 school days. The A/C crews have promised to get things running countless times. We've had fits and starts of A/C here and there, but they never last. There are 12 classroom affected. Parents and labor union have been called in to help. Let's hope one or the other works soon.

times are changing

I was a little sad when I read this story today. After SEC and MLB baseball (of course!) I have a huge passion for SEC football. I grew up in this small college town only 8 blocks from Ben Hill Griffin -- so close you could hear the crowd roar through an open window and watch tailGators enjoy the pre- and post-game festivities on the street outside. I learned all about football in high school when my father and I would go to as many home games as we could -- back when the Gators were still just trying to win an SEC Championship. When they were on the road, we would watch them on TV. This gradually led to me watching more and more football until I reached the point where I watch almost every SEC game on any given Saturday (about 3 games a week, give or take.)

The noon game was almost always reserved for the Jefferson Pilot Game of the Week. Everything about the JP broadcast (which was bought out by Lincoln Financial and then apparently Raycom) was second or third rate. The announcers mispronounced names, the camera crew had trouble following the ball on the field, and they never, ever had timely updates on other SEC games (you'd have to switch to ESPN for those.) You made fun of them, but eventually the telecast grew on you. It was regional sportscasting in an age of big media. Some might call it quaint.

All that will be over come the 2009 football season. The SEC signed a contract with ESPN to pick up any games not chosen by CBS. Up-to-the-minute stats will replace Excel-style graphics, a crisp HD picture will most likely stand in for grainy '80s-highlights-quality footage. It will be different. A cookie-cutter version of a beloved southern pastime. I will make it a point to watch as many JP telecasts as possible this season and enjoy the last bit of regional flair in SEC sports. I will be sorry to see them go.