Can This Be Fixed?

I just bought a brand new large cutting mat with my Joanne's 60% off coupon and was heartbroken to find that leaving it in a hot car totally warped it.  And now it's stuck in this shape.  Short of putting it back into a really hot car with heavy things sitting on top of it in the trunk, I'm not sure if this can be salvaged.  Has this happened to anybody else?  Any suggestions on what to do with it?

This was supposed to be the week we moved into our house, or at least started moving things in but there has been a delay due to so many of the subcontractors being overbooked and not coming when they said they would.   It has been 2 weeks since I've written a blog post and even more than that since I have sewed anything so I finally couldn't take it anymore. 

Cramped trailer or not, I started cutting and sewing up Kenzi's quilt.  It will be made up with nothing but 1", 2", and 3" finished strips.  Here is a sample picture of the design she wants.

And here are the strips from the fabrics she chose all cut up and ready to sew together to make longer strips.

Since the width of a bolt of fabric is only 40-something inches, I need to sew pairs of these together to make it the size I need.  We are going for a large lap size.  There will be plenty left over  after I trim down to size to make a matching pillow.  Here's my pile of chain sewed strips to make longer strips!

and then chain trimming the join seam . . . 

I'll just make up my own vocabulary as I go.  :)

  

And here are 3 inch strips (2 of each color) sewed into longer strips, seams pressed open and getting ready to tackle the 2-inch strips and 1-inch strips.  

I finished all of them last night.  Whew!

NOW . . . just to sew them all together!

And this is what happens when your kids find an unattended phone:

GOOFBALLS!!!  I love 'em to death.

OK, here's the house update.  Still lots of little details to be done.

 I think we will actually have room to have more than one person at a time in this kitchen, what do you think?  

 Here is a view of the kitchen island with granite and backsplash now installed.  Stove and microwave are still missing and they got the wrong color of faucet.  It's supposed to be burnished bronze to match the cabinet pulls.   We'll just switch it out.

There is plenty of room all around the island, but if we ever build this plan for someone else, we'll probably move the island 6 inches closer to the sink.  At least the fridge is in!

Here is the view from the living room, through the dining room, to the kitchen.  As you can see, there is a LOT of room in the dining area.  We are planning on putting  a long family dining table there.  Walton family style.  I was considering using benches but decided against it as it would be difficult for the older members of the family to navigate.  Loving that tigerwood!  It will get two more coats of sealer before we move in.  It's looking pretty dirty right now.

The door to the right is the pantry.  And here is an inside view of it.  Also dirty.

Here is a view still looking toward the kitchen but now further away so you can see the fireplace. The granite on the hearth is the same as in the kitchen.  The mantel will eventually get stained the same color as the kitchen cabinets or as close as we can get, anyway.  

Panoramic of fireplace, kitchen, and entry.  It kind of distorts the living room and makes it look squished but you can get the idea of how it looks.  The hallway to the right of the pantry leads to my quilt room, two other bedrooms and a bathroom.  The master bedroom is on the other end of the house just around to the right of the fridge, along with the laundry room and door to the garage.

Here's my quilt room with a rustic looking floor installed.  Also dirty and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Here is the entryway with the front door and tile floor installed.

And last but not least, the view from the front door this evening looking out at Lizard Butte.  Isn't that a gorgeous view?  No landscaping yet but the view is still wonderful.

Here's a closer view of Lizard Butte so you can see how it got its name.  Looks like a great big ol' lizard sunning himself.

You can barely see it in this picture but at the very tip of that rock is a white cross and every year at Easter they have a community sunrise service on the back side of that knoll.

I almost forgot to do the drawing for my blog anniversary giveaway!  There were 43 comments on that post so I asked my husband to name a number between 1 and 43 and he said 27.   Yes, Kate at Smiles From Kate, it is you!!!  I checked it twice and you were comment number 27!  Most of you know Kate is one of the first blogging friends I made when I started out so just in case you think this contest was rigged, my husband had no idea why I asked him to choose a number between 1 and 43.  It was meant to be!

Linking with:
Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Busy Hands Quilts
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Love Laugh Quilt
Cooking Up Quilts