Monday, December 14, 2015

Movie Monday - 12/14/2015

Goodness - I have a long list of movies I've seen and haven't mentioned, and the list will only get longer. Maybe, I should get busy and start knocking them out in the next few weeks to catch up, while I occupy myself with watching Countdown to Christmas on the Hallmark Channel. It was a favorite of my mom's. Continuing the tradition makes me feel closer to her now that she's gone. So, on to the movies.

The Martian, starring Matt Damon, is based on the novel of the same name by Andy Weir. The movie is set on Mars in the not too distant future. One of the crew (Damon) of a manned space mission is presumed to have died while the astronauts abort and evacuate during a severe storm. He soon comes to and discovers he's been left behind. He has to figure out a way to survive. Some suspension of belief may be required to watch this film, but it was good. Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels and Chiwetel Ejiofor also star in this movie. I liked it.

Tom Hanks stars in Bridge of Spies, based on a true story and set during the Cold War. Attorney James Donovan (Hanks) is hired to defend an accused Russian spy. Later, Donovan is tapped to obtain the release of an American pilot shot down and captured, in exchange for that same spy. Amy Ryan and Alan Alda star in this movie. It was pretty good.

During World War II, the Nazis were busy stealing art and important artifacts. A group of art history and various other experts were put together to find items before the Nazis stole or destroyed them. The Monuments Men is the true story about these brave, non-military folks. George Clooney, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Matt Damon, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett starred in this movie. It was very good.

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief is a documentary based on the book by a similar name by Lawrence Wright. A brief history of Scientology is presented. Several people who were former Scientologists were interviewed about why they first joined or why and how they got out. It was very interesting.

That's all for now...

MK out.

Friday, December 11, 2015

FO Friday - 12/11/2015

Lordy, Lordy...a month since the last post. Well, finally, I have something to show everyone.

Loopy Academy is quickly drawing to a close and Momma needs to get with it. One of the assignments in the sewing division is a drawstring bag or bags. Here are mine:


I used fabrics from the Moda Be Jolly line and the solid red Kona Cotton. I used this tutorial. I made two of the bags using the dimensions given in the pattern.  I made the third as big as I could to maximize fabric usage to fulfill the fabric yardage requirement. The only modification I made was using the accent fabric at the base of the bag. I figured since the Kona is just a touch heavier than the other fabric, it should be at the bottom. I so liked the snowman print and deemed it the main fabric.

Hopefully, I'll finish my other assignments soon. 

MK out.