Tuesday, August 23, 2011

First Day of School and Other Things!

Yesterday was the first day of school for my two oldest.  While I have to admit it's definitely easier to get things done around here, it's also a little quieter than I'm used too.  Today I was even a little bored without them.  They on the other hand are loving school.  Both really like their teachers and I think it's going to be a good year. 


I'm not sure when she grew up so quickly.  I swear I was just dropping her off at Kindergarten the other day.  Not sure where where that pretty face came from either.


Hmmm........I think he was more concerned about getting to class on time than an embarrassing picture from mom.

By the way these cute first day of school signs came from HERE and they were free.  It's a super cute blog if you haven't already discovered it.

Even one of the neighborhood dad's wanted in on the fun!  (Sorry Jason, I couldn't resist)

Some other good news is my twin sister is here with her family visiting us from Canada.  She used to live just up the road until she turned on us and moved to another country :)  It's so fun having them here.  I'm loving spending time with her sweet kids who have grown up so much.  We both have 4 year olds who are pretty spunky (that might be putting it mildly).  We took bets on how long it would take them to get into a fight (is that bad?).  It only took about 24 hours.  They love each other though, they will both cry when it's time to say goodbye (so will I).  

My husband also started a new job a couple of months ago.  He now works in the middle of nowhere (I'm not kidding).   The commute is about 1hr 45 min.  Luckily he has found a van pool to ride in.  He leaves around 5 in the morning and gets home a little after 7.   It's good to have him in  a STABLE job that he enjoys but hard having him get home so late every night.  

So there ya have it.............what we've been up to.  My friends keep saying I need to post pictures of my house.  I guess I'm waiting until it's more decorated, but lets face it - that could be a while.  I will try and get some pictures posted.    

By the way, I'm not sure if many people read this anymore - seeing that I took like a year long brake.  Leave me a comment, let me know if your still around!!!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Two post in one week - I'm on a roll!

First off - yes I'm feeling fine.  I guess I'm just in a sewing mood lately and my house is paying the price.  My neighbor just had a baby, so what a perfect excuse to make another quilt.  Can you tell I really like this strip quilt.    I just love this fabric by Moda, it's so sweet and perfect for a new baby.

I  used some ric rac (of course)  and used a few of the decorative stitches on my sewing machine to add a  little more to it at the seams.  Sometimes I sure miss my old fence, it was perfect for taking pictures.


I had some of this satin fabric that is flannel on the other side.  I was a little nervous about using it but it worked well and washed up even better.  And yes I was a sweaty mess yesterday because I got brave and decided to quilt this one also.  This stitch went a little better than the stippling but still needs A LOT of practice.


It's all wrapped up and ready to go.  Maybe I'll even get to hold a sweet new baby boy!


Sunday, August 14, 2011

I Know, it's a Miracle!

I know, it's taken a really looooong time, but I've
finally did something crafty.    Remember this little
guy that I blogged about in my last post, well I read 
about a fundraiser that they are doing for him and
really wanted to contribute something.


I've had this fabric forever.  I bought it to make a 
scripture bag for a girl that  babysits for me.  Well, I
waited too long and now I think this fabric is a little too
juvenile for her. But it worked perfectly for this quilt.


I love how people put a little strip from the 
front onto the back so of course I copied it. You 
can't see it very well, but there is some rows with
ric rac also (I love ric rac).


Have you ever really wanted to be good
at something, but no matter what you 
just were not.  Well, that is how I feel when
it comes to stippling.  I took a class on free hand
quilting on the sewing machine, but I just can seem
to get stippling down.    It probably doesn't help
that I'm a nervous wreck the whole entire time.


I got it off in the mail yesterday so hopefully
it will raise a little money for this sweet little boy.
Reading their story has made me want to better
mother. It's hard to complain about your kids being 
little stinkers when this mother would do anything
just to see her baby be healthy enough to play.



I'm not gonna lie though.  I am looking forward
to school starting next week.  I know I will be sad
when next Monday comes, but my kids are so 
excited and I'm ready to have more of a schedule
again.


By the way this quilt was super simple.
 I had 8 or 9 coordinating pieces of fabric and 
I just cut a bunch of different size strips I'd say 
between 2 and 4 1/2 inches wide.   The finished quilt
is about 40 x 40 and the strip on the back is
about 4 inches wide.   It was so fun to 
make I even bought some more fabric so make
another one.

Oh and if any of you quilters out there have 
some advice for stippling I would gladly take it.