Brendan & Tiffany Sullivan

Mom’s Quilt is Finished!

tiffany — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:37:46 +0000

As of Tuesday evening, I completed my mom’s Mother’s Day quilt. Woohoo!

Doesn’t it look lovely?

I love you, Mom!

When Mom was here visiting us, she picked out a lovely red backing, black binding, and asked that I quilt it with creme-colored thread.

Isn't it striking?

I quilted by straight stitching a 1/4″ from my blocks’ seams.

my machine quilting job

I love the contrast of the red and creme and perfect grid design on the back.

It looks a little pink, but I promise it matches beautifully.

My mitered corners:

Thank goodness for YouTube tutorials since Grandma is so far away.

All it needs is a little bow and a Happy Mother’s Day card.

Now I’m off to get started on Mother Sullivan’s gift.

Love,

Tiff

P.S. When Mom was here, she and Rich tried out the quilt top and deemed it just right.

Thanks for the pic, Nette.

You know, that quilt looks really good in my living room…

Sewing Must be Contagious…

tiffany — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:00:18 +0000

In Brendan’s most recent post he mentioned sewing some sand bags closed for use at the gun range. I, of course, just had to snap a few pictures of my rugged man stitching at the dining room table.

Mr. Sullivan sews

He used my clothespins to temporarily seal the bags. Don’t they look cute?

love the polka-dots

I think Brendan looks pretty cute, too.

Mom Sullivan raised a wonderfully tolerant and talented boy.

I love him so!

Love,

Tiff

Sewing Circle II

tiffany — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:23 +0000

Saturday was the second time I met with my sewing girlfriends from work. We had a blast sewing adorable aprons!

It matches perfectly with my Sunday outfit!

I went with my friend, Lelia, after school to Hobby Lobby to pick out the fabric. I can’t decide which print is my favorite.

The apron has darts, a lined waistband, and an adorable pocket.

pocket and pearls

The ties are pleated and have a pointed edge.

Brendan tied a pretty bow, didn't he?

Look at how well these beautiful fabrics coordinate!

eye candy!

The little polka-dot band fills me with glee! See my dart?

I just love the ruffle and this rickrack (purchased ages ago on clearance with no plans) matched perfectly!

gotta have my rickrack fix

Can you tell I’m reading for Spring?

We are eagerly planning Sewing Circle III and discussing making potholders so that we can practice our quiting skills on a small (and manageable) scale.

Love,

Tiff

P.S. I finally began quilting Mom’s Mother’s Day quilt. Hopefully, I will finish soon and be able to post.

The wonderful smell of gunpowder in the morning

brendan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:00:43 +0000

I will not be posting about every trip to the range in time It really isn’t that exciting for most people, but aside from working, that’s about all I do anymore; I shoot lead in one form or another out the end of a gun of one type or another. With the variety of shooting disciplines available at ORSA, it is very easy to spend many hours on a Saturday there as I did this week.

Tiff and I woke up Saturday morning to the expectation of a full day of fun for both of us. Tiff had her sewing day with her friends from school, and I planned to go to ORSA and shoot as many rounds of clays as I could take, then do some benchrest with my Savage 340, and I had Emmett’s Marlin 60 22LR to play with on the plinking range.

I ended up shooting 4 rounds of skeet and 1 round of trap. Trap at ORSA is fairly hard. The clays are launched over a ridge that seems to channel the breeze in such a way as it can toss those clay targets in some wild paths. Very, very challenging, but very, very fun. The lowest skeet field (Skeet 1) actually suffers from the same problem to an extent; The high house usually flies the same path, but I saw elevation differences on the low house of ~15-20 feet at the center stake due to the breeze coming off the ridge. Regardless, I’m still more consistent at the low house than high as I keep forgetting to make sure my cheek weld stays consistent on those left-to-right swings. Practice, practice, practice.

Sadly I’ve let my shotgun ammunition stash dwindle. I used to try to buy 100-200 rounds a week to at least keep up with what I was shooting, and hopefully build the stash a bit. Over the winter though I ended up shooting a lot, and not buying much and was down to 50 rounds left after yesterday’s shooting. I thought I was going to go again today with a friend from church, but then forgot that the “Polar Bear League” shoots on Sundays (today was the last week of the league though), so we had to postpone. Regardless, before I remembered that, I bought 200 rounds of cheapo Winchester ammo so I had something to shoot I am being fickle about my reloading plans. I really need to seriously save towards that equipment as it will cut my ammunition cost/box in half. Reloading metallic rounds for my rifle(s) is even cheaper to get into equipment-wise, AND has a higher percentage of savings (about 75-85% cheaper to reload than buying retail).

Meant to shoot the Savage 340, but the benchrest range was pretty full, so I took a bunch of 22 ammo over to the plinking range and ran about 100 rounds through the Marlin 60, shooting some old bottles and other such random targets as people had left out there. I’m impressed with the accuracy of that little gun. Even with just regular open sites, it was trivial to hit a 20oz coke bottle at about 30-35 yards. Made for a fun hour of nailing it, popping it up in the air, then finding it again where it came to rest to do it again… Reactive targets are so much more fun. I think that’s why I like clays so much!

Our small arsenal of guns is about to grow again. I ordered a Savage MkII 22LR Bolt-Action target rifle for Tiffany. She loved target shooting with my SKS even though the 7.62×39 round had a lot of kick. She has not shot my Savage 223Rem at all yet, but she’d probably like it. That said, 223Rem is still pretty pricey ammo to “plink” with at about $8/box of 20 rounds… also ORSA does not allow center-fire rifle cartridges on the plinking range, only benchrest/competition/high power ranges. So the 22LR is much more versatile. And cheaper. And it hardly kicks at all. The Savage is a nice high-quality rifle and the MkII line has the adjustable AccuTrigger for a nice light, crisp trigger pull. Hopefully with a nice scope it will be a tack-driver.

I still haven’t decided what scope to put on it. I just put a Redfield on my Savage 340.

Redfield 3-9x40 on Savage Model 340 Series E 223 Remington

The elevation and windage adjustment “box” on the scope was too large for the original Weaver sidemount, so I had to put a “hi-mount” set of rings on the gun. The problem is (found out after buying the new rings and putting them on….) is that they offset the scope from the centerline of the barrel, so it’s going to be interesting getting it sighted in I think. We’ll see how it does, but my current thought is I might either put the Redfield on the 22LR (overkill) and put a cheaper “thin” scope on the 340, or just accept the non-ideal mount for the time being and maybe trade the 340 for a different bolt-action down the road that allows for normal Picatinny rail mounts for the scope. We’ll see. I haven’t had a chance to do anything more than bore-sight the Redfield on the 340 so far. It’s an absolutely beautiful scope for the money though. It’s definitely going to stick with me no matter what guns get traded/sold/acquired.

One final “project” for the weekend…. I made myself some sandbags for benchrest shooting today. My friend/mentor, Bob Hedrick, from church gave me some empty lead shot bags this morning and I filled them with sand and “sewed”‘ them shut Ruined one of Tiff’s needles in the process… oops. Here’s the result of my $3.64 of sand…

5 "new" sandbags for benchrest shooting

It’s something you take for granted at “commercial” ranges, as they tend to loan them out when you’re there, but being a non-profit club, I’m finding all these little things I’m having to bring for myself. Thankfully none of it is really expensive… like these bags….there’s not $5 in them, and they should last quite a while.

More later when the new Savage comes in

Here’s a few more pics to keep you occupied…

Savage Model 340 Series E

Fabric for our Bedroom Quilt

tiffany — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:07:31 +0000

I am beginning to hate my first quilt. I made it with clearance fabric since I was a novice and didn’t want to spend much money on it. Thus the colors and patterns aren’t ones that I normally would have chosen and it really does not match the beautiful, soothing green walls of our bedroom either. Sewing my mom’s quilt has made me realize how important the fabric choices are. I loved working on it because I loved seeing the beautiful fabric coming together and coordinating so nicely. Therefore, I decided that I needed to buy fabric that I love (and would match our green bedroom walls) and make a new quilt for our bed.

Brendan and I spent a portion of Wednesday evening at Jo-Ann Fabrics looking for material for our new quilt. Here are the fabrics that we ended up choosing:

*My apologies for the poor quality of the photos; I did not have the patience to wait for good lighting. Please know that the colors are much more rich and worthy of our love. Just visit us some time and you can see for yourself!

pretty fabrics!

We started with the green pattern as it matches our beloved wall color:

green! (my favorite color)

We then chose a paisley that has the same green in it:

pretty paisley

Brendan picked out the black fabric and this gorgeous “crackle” design:

"crackle"

Brendan has a good eye. This fabric has gray, the same green in my first selection, and the most complicated-to-match color present in the anchor pattern (the paisley).

I love this gray fabric. It looks so full of texture and reminds me of a stone:

gray "stone"

Finally, I found this “complicated-color” pattern to match the last color in the paisley:

final piece of the puzzle

I know it doesn’t look like much in this photo, but it really was a devilish color to match. I really like the little leaves!

Well, there you have it. I am in love with this fabric, Brendan likes the fabric, and it matches our bedroom!

Doesn't it coordinate with the wall quite nicely?

I’m excited to get started and will be keeping you posted!

Love,

Tiff

Finally got my gun club membership

brendan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:35:08 +0000

Well, as of February 25th, I am FINALLY a member of the Oak Ridge Sportsman’s Association. Tiff and I went to the orientation meeting @ 6:30pm and that wonderfully entertaining presentation lasted about 2 hours. Honestly it wasn’t that bad for me, but I’m sorry I dragged Tiff with me. It was mostly technical stuff, don’t do this, range is open these hours, don’t be a retard with a gun, blah blah, etc etc.

Entrance to ORSA

Sunday afternoon Tiffany and I went to the benchrest range and shot the rifles a bit. I borrowed a 22LR from Emmett so Tiff could shoot with me. I shot my “new” Savage 223Rem. The scope on that gun is horrible….the gun hits about 8 inches high at 50 yards and I can’t get the scope to adjust out. It’s just a cheapo Blaser 4×32, so it’s no huge loss.

Me Shooting the Savage 223

Tiff shot the 22LR (an older Marlin 60) that Emmett let me borrow so she’d have something to shoot. When we stopped at Gander Mountain to buy targets, they had packs of squirrel paper targets (for legitimate target practice for squirrel seasons) and bought those for her to shoot at. I got a pack of the fluorescent yellow targets so I could try to sight in the gun (which was sadly not too successful as you read above). Tiff was hampered by only having open sites on the 22, but she still did pretty well shooting her squirrels at 50 yards.

Tiff's squirrels

No shotgunning today as there is a league that reserves all the clay fields for use on Sundays. I normally shoot on Saturday though, so that shouldn’t normally be a problem. I have a lot of guys telling me to reload the 223 so I’m saving my brass. Metallic reloading is significantly easier to get into than shotshell…less equipment and I usually only end up shooting about 20 rounds per trip, so it’s not nearly as high volume as what I’ll need to do for the shotguns.

Anyhow, I’m excited to finally have my membership active and can shoot just about any shooting discipline there. I’m looking at getting some small rimfire rifle for Tiffany next. I really want a 17HMR, but the ammo is a little pricey for the gun’s intended purpose of higher volume target practice and plinking. 17HM2 is an option, but it hasn’t caught on and all ammo/guns would have to be mail ordered. Sooo, all that said, I’ll likely end up getting a Savage MKII in 22LR with a heavy barrel and put a decent 4x or 6x scope on it. I think I’ve decided on a Bushnell 2-7×50 for my 223. We’ll see.

More next weekend I’m sure, though I’m about out of target ammo for the shotguns. I need to build up my stock of ammo again.

Hawkins Computer Services has an office!

brendan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:28:23 +0000

Well after almost 2 years of working from home, we at Hawkins Computer Services finally have a real office space! About two weeks ago, Emmett went on a hardcore search for a good office space in the area that would suffice for the 3 of us. In the span of a week he signed the lease, got internet and phone installed, bought desks, computer equipment, etc, and generally got the place setup.

Entrance to Office

The couple of days before we officially moved in we brought equipment over and Jennifer, Ray, Emmett, and I got the new desks built, painted the walls, put up decor, ran networking, etc. Thursday was our first official day over there and we’re getting settled in. I can’t wait for our first full week over there… should help us all be more productive and improve our communication with each other and clients.

Left: My desk ~ Right: Ray's Desk

Ray and I occupy the front room of the office. We’ve got our desks facing each other and have all the power/networking stuff between them. Not that pretty, but a reasonable solution for now. I think we’re going to put a printer against the wall under the “square” on the wall.

My desk, desktop, laptop, etc

I have created my little corner. Emmett bought chairs and desks and monitors. I brought one of my spare desktops over to use for the time being and I’ve been bringing my laptop for…. well I don’t really know what… I just find it’s useful to have two computers sometimes

Kermit's Office

Emmett got the back office…there are a couple of chairs for clients on the opposite wall.

Contents of my top drawer

This is Tiffany’s favorite part. The contents of my desk drawer. CDs, network tester, tools, and a stash of taco sauce in case I get lunch one day and want some taco sauce. Not sure why that’s so hilarious, but she insisted on taking a picture.

Saturday: A Walk in the Park

tiffany — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:11:08 +0000

My family came down from Ohio for a quick weekend visit. Brendan and I took them to Springbrook Park where we like to take walks.

fountain!

The park has a lovely fountain, made even lovelier by the presence of my family.

Mom and Dad Knapp

The beauty of the park made us all contemplative, especially Jeanette, who channeled The Thinker.

Jeanette

There are several little creeks like this crisscrossing the park, as well as a little waterfall:

waterfall

One of the most interesting things about our corner of the park is the random bamboo copse:

bamboo

close up

I think the bamboo made us all think of Jeremy and Kristin. The whole family was together in spirit!

Mom and Dad again:

the Knapps

My handsome husband:

Brendan

After our walk, Mom and Jeanette had some fun on the seesaw:

playground fun!

Brendan and I had a great time with my family, but it was too short!

Love,

Tiff

Saturday

tiffany — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:16:54 +0000

I spent the majority of Saturday cleaning the apartment and doing laundry in anticipation of the arrival of my family this coming weekend. However, after the cleaning drudgery, I felt the urge to do something creative. I’ve finished Mom’s quilt top, but don’t have the needed supplies to complete it (batting, backing, binding) just yet.

quilt top

I love the patterns.

While I’m anxious to finish Mom’s quilt, I decided to stick around the house and do something fun with things I had on hand.

I ended up with this:

clothespins

In our house, we use clothespins to keep our cracker/chips/whatever bags closed. I decided to give them some pizazz with the help of my trusty hot glue-gun.

I bought the little bucket at Target for $1, along with the ribbon, and had no idea what I would do with them, but they had cupcakes and thus HAD to leave the store with me.

So now this little bucket sits on our kitchen counter filled with these adorable clips to keep our Goldfish crackers fresh and crisp.

cheddar, yum!

How could I resist this ribbon?!

This super-simple craft fed my creative craving. I highly recommend this quick and simple project for near-instant gratification. Look at all the options! It makes me want to open up every package of foodstuffs in my cupboards!

too cute

Love,

Tiff

Mom’s Quilt: Progress

tiffany — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:23:06 +0000

I’ve actually made some progress on Mom’s lap quilt. I bought the fabric over a month ago and cut out the squares a few weeks after that. The little square stacks were sitting on my desk looking sad and neglected and today, I finally started sewing them together.

My desk as the work began unfolding:

messy desk

My progress thus far:

8 of 12 rows done!

Why did I stop, you ask? I had to take another hiatus for a legitimate reason:

Gutermann 22 is empty!

This is going to be a small quilt for Rich’s chair and will be Mom’s Mother’s Day present. The finished dimensions should be 48″ X 60″. I just measured a blanket that I have in my living room for my dimensions.

I’m really enjoying this quilt top so far. I’ve even discussed with Brendan how it matches our house better than my mom’s . . .