My most sincerest apologies

So sorry to my blogland friends for leaving you so high and dry. It's official I've been back at work full time for a month. It's been quite the adventure getting back into the swing of things, full time that is. I really like my new job and company, I mean really! It took alot for me to make the decision to go back to work full time. But not only is it a great job at a great company, it provides my family some additional financial security in these crazy times.

On top of my creative time being slashed, the Munchkins requested hand knitted scarves from their Mommy. Mommy guilt goes so far....so in a matter of 30 days I've whipped out two scarves for the Munchkins. All they need is fringe. Both Munchkins are so excited.

On the quilting front, I started making raw edge yo yos out of the remaining hundreds of 5" squares from my Quilt Guild's fabric exchange two years ago. One day it will become a spectacular wallhanging. It's a nice long term project of handwork that I can focus on while watching tv with my family. I've decided that I'm going to start another wall hanging project soon. It's one I bought from my friend Colleen at the beginning of the year. Basically, it's the fabric cutting that has me stumped. I hate cutting fabric....peanut gallery? Anyone else hate cutting fabric?

And of course, Happy Thanksgiving! It was so nice having a long weekend and relaxing (and sleeping in). The Christmas decorations are going up later than usual and I have to admit that I'm alittle overwhelmed by it all. I'm trying hard to fight my natural personality and stop working on them when it isn't fun anymore. The 14ft tree goes up this weekend, or not. I learned this weekend I don't need to set too aggressive goals...cause frankly I'd much rather spend time throwing a frisbee with the family than making sure the tree goes up in two days. It will get done.

So hopefully y'all had a wonderful and happy holiday with family and friends. Can't wait for the Man in the Red Suit to arrive...I'll have some fun pictures to post soon...stay tuned.

Workin' 9 to 5

Just a quick post to say, I went back to work full time this week. Workin' for the man, again. Not much sewing done, but I did start knitting a scarf for the oldest Munchkin. Yay! Weekend update on creative exploits on Sunday....stay tuned.

My mom gave me a penny....

Bazooka is DONE! It was delivered yesterday to my niece for her birthday. She loved it. It was a great feeling knowing that this quilt came entirely from my stash and scraps except for the Kona pearl pink cotton.

The pieced back made it a two sided quilt.
On a different note, our Halloween dinner was delicious. The roast had alittle too much Rosemary(I'll cut down on it in the future), but everything was nummy.

The Munchkins had a blast trick or treating in the misty, rainy, cold of the night.
And finally, I swore I would never be a person who dressed up my dog, but with such a cute Chihuahua how could I resist. My mother and niece say Evey has the "devil in her," so this costume was a natural choice.
Y'all have a good week!

An Autumn Dinner

So I rarely post about cooking, because there always seems like something else to write about, but today is different. I enjoy cooking and before there were other hobbies and distractions would often cook full and various meals. But life gets busy and the creative cooking falls to the wayside for quick and easy dishes that me, Hubbie, and the Munchkins all enjoy.

I truly consider today, Halloween, the kickoff to autumn. Living in the South has taught me that my fall usually starts around now, cool mornings, changing leaves, and dark evenings starting earlier and earlier.

In an effort to celebrate MY start to the season and to give the Munchkins full bellies for Trick or Treating, I'm cooking dinner.

Asian Salad - spinach, red peppers, carrots, green onions and Asian sesame dressing
Maple Glazed Stuffed Pork Roast (stuffing includes apples)
Roasted Vegetables - eggplant, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and zucchini
Cresent Rolls (for Nugget)
Pumpkin Bread for dessert

I'll be sure to let y'all know how it all turns out. Happy Halloween!

My newest addiction....

....playing with clipart and customizing it for myself. It's almost as fun as actually creating real life quilts.
Bazooka is in the sewing machine now. I started quilting it last night. Niece's birthday is Sunday so I have a hard stop!

A Shot of Quilting Mojo

After I found my Quilting Mojo, I decided I needed to create my version of a shot of Quilting Mojo. This is more my speed.
Ok, you can say it,"You've got too much time on your hands." I know. But I can't help myself from playing with clipart and photos! Quilting update to come shortly....

Quilters in Stitches - What a grand time!

Well I did it. Last night was my first paid speaking engagement to a guild. Colleen (you remember my going-out-of-business-online-fabric-store friend) and I trekked across three counties to join the lovely quilters of the Quilters in Stitches Quilt Guild. My program title, Oh My Blog!

After numerous conversations with many members of my own guild, Chattahoochee Evening Stars, about blogging and all the fantastic resources for crafters and quilters online, my friend Sheila invited me to come speak to her guild. After spending more than a year online, I love sharing all the "finds" I've found and getting other quilters excited about joining the blogsphere. These ladies were very nice and friendly, and very interested in my adventures online. So "Thank you" QIS, y'all were a great audience and I hope to find you online soon.

And on a side note, I'm admitting here that, yes, I did buy more fabric from Colleen. I swear I see something new everytime. These are some 1950's reproductions....another quilt to make, sigh.

My hair might be fake blond, but I have blond moments, too

So first of all, let me say that I know it's shocking for everyone who knows me to hear me say,"I had a blond moment." Shocking, I know. The whole "me being blond thing" goes way back to my Mother telling me I had blond hair to the moment at a restaurant when my best friend in high school told a waiter that,"It's the blond girl's birthday," and him saying,"What blond girl? Oh you mean the girl with brown hair?" So reality came crashing down that I wasn't a blond at all, I had just lived my life that way.

So onto my most recent "Blond Moment"....I'm scheduled to be a speaker at a local Quilt Guild's October meeting. This is my first speaking engagement, and for weeks I've been fussing and fretting over my program (which is about all the cool stuff that is available online for quilters.... blogs, shopping, tutorials, etc). This past Monday, I spent a good bit of my day working on my Powerpoint presentation about blogging, other bloggers, online shopping hints and tips, and virtual quilt shows. Hubbie came home early from work so that I would have plenty of time to get to the meeting and set up. I got dressed, did my hair and makeup and was all packed up and waiting by the door for my ride 10 minutes early. Then my cell phone rang,"Um yes I just got your email about the Guild meeting, you DO realize it's NEXT Monday?!" Color me embarrassed. Oh well, at least I'm prepared for next week, right?

Next up isn't so much a Blond Moment as it is a Whoo Hoo. Last Friday, I taught my first quilting class to Nugget's Brownie Troop. This was lesson 1. They worked on piecing a six square Webkinz quilt and while they were waiting on their turn on one of the three sewing machines they worked on their paper quilts. I took all that scrapbooking paper I bought during that phase of my life and cut it into 3" squares. I showed them how to make half square triangles from a square and gave them some classic blocks made up of squares and triangles. Big piece of paper, glue sticks, and a minutes later, they put together some amazing quilts. It was a huge success. This Friday they are finishing their quilts and putting together their first Quilt Journal including pictures. All the girls did a great job. I was very impressed by this group of 8 year olds. They were very attentive and careful with their tasks. I absolutely promise pictures to follow. Oh and yes, at approximately 5:30 pm last Friday I was pouring myself a big fat glass of wine.

Needless to say, I haven't gotten much sewing done. I've been "sew" busy with preparing for my speaking engagement and Brownie meetings. But it's been fun. I've also offered to Nugget's troop some followup weekend quilting classes "on the house." We'll see what happens...stay tuned.

And naturally, with all the Halloween stuff out and our own little black cat, we're celebrating. Viva la Black Kitties!
And finally, I've been really trying not bore the blogverse with "In process" pictures of the quilts I've been working on, but since I really haven't got much progress made sewing wise, here are the squares for Bazooka laid out all pretty. Remember it's going to have the pale pink Kona sashing.
Y'all take care....and talk to ya soon!

I kept my lips zipped

To start this post, I freely admit that I'm the worst gift giver. Hubbie and me both. We both are very thoughtful about what to give to people. The problem comes when the perfect gift has been thought of and purchased, and the gift giving occasion is days, weeks, or month away. I've been known to purchase Christmas presents in October and go ahead and give them to the intended because I'm so excited I can't wait until December. Last year, Hubbie bought me my iPod for Christmas in November and we had it out playing with it before Thanksgiving. These actions often bring "tongue clucking" and head shaking from Kate. She often chides me for revealing my gifts early. Well, I finally showed her.

Kate got married in May (YAY!). In the months before the wedding, various details were discussed. Fabric napkins.....wedding colors (turquoise and spring green)...wedding dresses...yada yada yada. Well, from almost the moment she became engaged, I had decided that I was going to make her a quilt. And lo and behold, what quilt was I beginning that had one of her favorite fabrics featured? And turns out contained her wedding colors? And when we snuck away for a quick girls weekend and I whipped up pillowcases, for her pillowcase I used said favorite fabric? And what quilt did I recently take to her house for her to help me lay out all the blocks? Yes, Turquoise Tulips! I didn't tell a soul what I was doing. I didn't tell Hubbie until recently. It was so hard for me not to bust out,"I'm making a quilt for you. Here are the fabrics." or "That pillowcase will match the quilt I'm making for you."

Well, finally Sunday I was able to spring my surprise and gift her (and the BOY) with the quilt. And I was able to gloat that I never let on.....ever! Mwhahahahaha!

And finally, more proof of the age old adage "If you leave a quilt, a cat will come."

Quilting Mojo

Well after my last post I got some well wishes that I soon would rediscover my Quilting Mojo. I when I read Jacquie's comment about "mojo" I immediately thought of that Austin Powers movie where his mojo is stolen by Dr. Evil. So then I envisioned a syringe full of my "Quilting Mojo" floating around out there. Now this logically leads to the question of who stole my mojo. I don't have any hard leads, but I do have my suspicions and I'm not going to name names. Yesterday I found my Mojo.
When I was searching clip art for a "shot", a shot glass, bottle, salt shaker, and lime wedge clipart came up. Frankly, those are the shots I prefer, however it didn't really work with the storyboard of my missing Mojo that I have created in my head.

Anyway, yesterday, I sat down and put the binding on "Turquoise Tulips". I think part of my problem getting this one finally done was that I was having such a difficult time of thinking of a name for this one. Believe me, I've spent hours online searching various keywords and quotes to have nothing jump out at me. And I have to have a name for a quilt before I finish it. Both for my own insane reasons and pratical reasons (I sew the label to the quilt as I'm adding the binding.) It's not that I don't love this quilt, I do. The colors are lovely and it has some beautiful hand dyes worked in with the Urban Garden by Erin McMorris fabric that I love. And I painstakingly selected a variety of other prints over the last year to coordinate. Then the magical find of the Anna Griffin fabrics for the back and binding. It all came together. It has been a charmed quilt from the get-go.
Pretty, pretty.....how do you not love the turquoise.
Now, I'll be the first to admit, that this quilt has led a "charmed" life, but I did have a couple of hiccups along the way. Remember the mismeasuring? The layout confusion? Quilting hubrus? But, honestly these all just seem like happy mistakes as this quilt has come together.

Take care, I'm off upstairs to start cutting the sashing strips for Bazooka. And maybe I'll also work on my Post Bedquilt that is the last Stake in the Sand quilt....

Happy Friday...do your best Friday dance!

Sewing slump

I'm in a sewing slump. Turquoise Tulips is still waiting for binding (but I've finally come up with a name). Bazooka has sashing strips in process of being cut. I just haven't been motivated to go sew. I know we all go through these slumps, I just hate the idea of sitting and feeling unproductive. Oh well, maybe this week I'll get things cranked up again. Keep your fingers crossed.

I'm such a total geek

Ok, so history shows that I often remark on tv shows and movies that I fall in love(become obsessed) with. Last night, Hubbie, the Munchkins, and I watched Star Trek. OMG! I totally loved it! I had been semi-reluctant to watch it because of JJ Abrams and his over inflated ego and I am a fan of the original series and the Next Generation. I was afraid it would take all the characters that I know and love and do significant harm to Gene Roddenberry's mythology. But I was not disappointed on any account. It was such a fun movie. So this post is to simply say, if you were ever a fan of the original series and get a chance to see this movie.....see it!

EEEE Gads...where's the ark?

So Hotlanta has been Soggylanta this weekend. Rain, rain go away, come again another day (at least 7 days from now).

I haven't posted any progress, cause I've been busy quilting the Turquoise square in a square. Quilting, and ripping out. Earlier this week The Quilting Gods, alerted to my quilting hubrus, read my mind as I finished the 1st quarter of this quilt. I was close to posting a braggy post about how I quilted the 1st quarter with NO tucks or pleats on the back. Well, needless to say, I was not that successful on the last 3 quarters. I've quilted and ripped out quilting and re-quilted. I'm not entirely happy with the result, however, it is acceptable. Viewing from a galloping horse, right? I'm hoping to have the binding on tomorrow. Maybe even a name...still working on that one. Then I'll be back to Bazooka, the 9 patch I'm making for my niece. And I started back on the last Stake in the Sand quilt. I'm hoping to have it done by Thanksgiving.
And cause the Munchkins have had the camera again, I leave you with a classic Pepper picture.

Quilting is stitching together an idea

“Drawing is putting a line (a)round an idea.” - Henri Matisse

I felt like using a quote from one of my favorite artists to inspire my post title.

This weekend I did get some sewing time in. Not as much as I had planned, oh well.
Here's my Turquoise Square in a Square "on the table" getting basted. Only half more to go and then I can start quilting. Maybe tonight....? The name of this quilt is still eluding me...stay tuned on that.

Also, this weekend Hubbie made a frame for me to stretch some fabric over to make a wallhanging.
It goes perfectly in my bedroom. I like being able to hang this like art. And bonus, I don't feel obligated to cut into it!
Have a good Monday!

"We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?"

Famous words from one of my most favorite movie serial killers, Norman Bates. I find that even though he was talking about dressing up as his mother and killing pretty girls, this line covers alot of the country of my life.

In this case, I'm referring to buying fabric at a good deal. Remember this post? Well my friend Colleen is finally having her "fire" sale and sent an email out to our Quilt Guild. Always being a competitive kind of girl, I couldn't let my fellow guild members walk away with anything that I might want (I love ya, but "there's no crying in shopping".) I always kinda picture myself as Suzanne Sugarbaker in that episode of Designing Women where she and Charlene win a shopping spree in the record store, I go alittle crazy for a good deal. So off I headed the whole 10 minutes from my house to shop Colleen's stash again. I mean $3/yard?! Seriously, who could miss it?!

So here's what I bought. Don't ask if there is a project that these are destined for, there's not. They are going directly to the stash after I pet them. Sorry about the pictures, the morning light and camera were not cooperating.





Hopefully I'll have a good sewing update at the end of this weekend. Happy Weekend everyone!

Sewing Progress

Cause I'm a show 'n' tell kinda girl....heh heh...here's what I've been working on this week.

Continuing my "Viva la 9 Patch" period, here's some of those lovely pink and purple scraps I cut up. If you're rockin' the 9 patches right now and want to join my support group, let me know.....I'm obsessed!
Naturally, my impatient self, I "HAD" to preview on the Pearl Pink Kona I bought for this project. And I haven't even finished all the squares, I still have some lovely lime green coming. Now comes the fun part, figuring out how to sash them. I know that I'm going to have 8 rows of 7, but how do I space them.....don't want to do them equal-distant, more like the spacing on Jello Shots I think. And I have an exciting idea for the borders to use up the "last drop" of these fabrics. I've decided that I'm going to give this one to my niece, and maybe name it something with Bubblicious or Bazooka in the title. For some reason it reminds me of:

"My mom gave me a nickel
She said go buy a pickel,
I didn't buy no pickel,
Instead I bought bubblegum.
Bazooka, zooka bubblegum.
Bazooka, zooka bubblegum."

As always, suggestions or singing along from the online peanut gallery is welcome :)!

Next up is a project that was part of "Stake in the Sand" that didn't get done. Well it's good it didn't. My clearance rack obsession paid off with the PERFECT backing and binding material from Anna Griffith that I purchased from Sweet Peas and Angels last week. To climb up on my soapbox again, there are great deals to be had out there in cyber world, you just have to look! I've done business with Sweet Peas and Angels before and they have great service and deals, check them out!
This is only a third of the blocks. The rest are sewn, but just need to be trimmed. Now I have to cut the setting triangles and borders.....stay tuned. Kate and I have scheduled a Sewing Sunday on Monday the holiday so I might have this top done (cross your fingers). I have two ideas for where this quilt is going to live. Selfish Me - "It will live here with it's maker." Generous Me - "It should go to a good home of someone you love." Hmmmmm, decisions, decisions....

August 29th

I could not bring myself to post anything about my Dad on Saturday. I was determined to make the day not the anniversary of his death, but a celebration of life and love. So I spent the morning at my first little boy football game (I don't have boys so I adopted my best friend's so that I could go cheer "my" boy on, he's QB1). And I spent my afternoon with Hubbie and the Munchkins. And spent my evening with my sister celebrating her birthday. We drank a margarita and toasted Dad and then went and cleared out Ann Taylor LOFT's clearance rack, he would have been proud.

Hello...back from the brink of illness

I'm back...still snuffly and the lurking occasional cough...but I'm back.

Just wanted to post a quick things...first I've been cutting more scrap fabric for more 9 patches. I'm obsessed I know it. This set is using up almost (and I mean almost) all my pink fabric left over from various girl quilt projects. The other color you can't see is a bright limey green that's underneath the stack of 9 patches. Once I got them all organized I couldn't bring myself to unshuffle them for a photo. I bought some very light pink Kona for the sashing.
I'm also working on a boy version with frog fabric that I had left over from a quilt I made for a silent auction. I'll use a light green Kona for sashing on that one. It already has a home. Christy actually won the original quilt I made for a silent auction, and with two boys in her house it is a frequent point of discord, so scrappy frogs will go make peace at her house. Picture of fabric to follow.

So to my next very important tip.....if you are quickly becoming a Kona Cotton freak like me, you'll love this shopping tip. FabricShack! They have a WIDE selection of colors, more than JoAnn's for $3.99/yd. And their shipping rates ROCK! Like try $5 for a purchase up to $75! Awesome! I just got my order today and everything was super duper. They even enclosed some Starlight mints and some Handquilting Needles as a Thank You! So if you like a bargain and love online shopping check them out. They have tons of other fabric too!

I have a cold...sniffle...it must be school season again

Yes, I had all kinds of great plans of progress for the weekend....sewing...finishing cushions....some cleaning (gasp)....but I've caught Nugget's cold. For the record, I did continue with the exercise plan on the treadmill, but I'm definitely lacking the energy today. Here's to a good night's sleep and some cold meds.

Life imitating art

My close friends know that "a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" I was a Fine Arts major in college. While many of my friends bemoan the Art History classes they took, I relish (sober and a tad drunk) discussing the importance of art. I have saved my Art History textbooks and occasionally will take them out and look through them. In fact, one of my favorite college memories entails a trip to the National Gallery, the 19th and 20th century galleries specifically, right after an extensive essay based final exam in 19th and 20th century art. I TOTALLY freaked out the security guards, as I squealed at each work that I recognized from my exam, and approached to view closely to see the brush strokes--I'm that kinda girl.

So anyway over the years, friends have remembered me and gifted me with lovely coffee table books about art in one way or another. Several years ago I received a truly thoughtful gift, "Impressionist Cats" by Susan Herbert. In this book the author takes classic Impressionist paintings, and reinterprets them with cats instead of people. Crazy I know, but everytime I look at them I chuckle.

One of my favorite paintings is "Olympia" by Manet. One, because I think it is just a wonderful painting. Two, because it caused an uproar when it was shown because of the female nudity and the sexuality it presented (seems very innocent these days).

"Conservatives condemned the work as 'immoral' and 'vulgar.' Journalist Antonin Proust later recalled, 'If the canvas of the Olympia was not destroyed, it is only because of the precautions that were taken by the administration.'" -- Wikipedia .

So back to my Impressionist Cats book.....imagine my delight the first time I was flipping through the book and found this.
This cracks me up every time. The original was deemed vulgar due in part to the nudity, right? The cat above is nude in her fur.....a naked cat.....get it?

Now finally, the "life imitating art" bit....today while innocently reading emails and blogs I look over and notice the dog resting in a familiar position.
All that was missing was black kitten Pepper hanging out in the background! Oh well...still I think it's funny (but then I'm easily amused.)

So there ends your art "lesson" for the day. Hope you have an awesome weekend....I've been dancing to my Friday happy music all day!

Thursday!

I'm warming up the Friday dance music! Whoo hoo!

As promised days and days ago, here are a few fun things.

First, the non sewing project. Let it never be said that I don't follow through on good ideas. 3 years ago.....ahem...when we moved into this house and we went through the punch list with the builder, we discovered these cabinet doors had been damaged. When the cabinet guy came to replace them, he offered to let me keep the discards,"I'm only going to throw them away." And since the damage was minimal I packratted them in the basement. There were several times Hubbie asked what they were? What was I going to do with them? When was I going to get to it? Could he throw them away? To be honest he really didn't nag, just nudged me occasionally. Well, the fire under my ass got big enough this weekend for me to do something.

(Sorry about the lightingof the photos....long story)
Now of course, I'll be the first to admit that the stencils I used, I bought when we lived at our old house to refinish a table I no longer own, but hey they worked perfectly here. I stenciled my foilage and then hand painted on top of the base paint with the green mixed with copper and metallic copper paints. I'm very pleased with the results. Now all I have to do is put some picture hanging hardware on the back and decide where to hang them!

Next is a fun find. Realize I'm sharing this information with you on the solemn vow that y'all will NOT run to your local JoAnn's today and buy them out of all this fabric. Last year when at the Nashville AQS show I bought Grammy Kathy a panel of Alexander Henry's PinUp Halloween Girls. Imagine my surprise when purusing JoAnn's that I found this morsel of goodness.
(I'm sorry about the orientation of this last picture. It's landscape, honest, but blogger is fighting me)

Alexander Henry Halloween Boys! After picking myself off the floor from laughing hysterically I tucked this bolt under my arm and when and purchased some for pillowcases for a couple of friends. Mwahahahaha! I know it's sexist, but hey, I'm a Cougar now! I'm 40 and can do and say inappropriate things, remember!?

Still standing...no cushion covers!

Yesterday I spent several hours working on my first cushion cover. I didn't get it finished because I actually took Hubbie's advice to step away from the sewing machine when I get frustrated. I'm sure they are going to turn out lovely, but I couple of learning curve missteps later I was fried and sweaty. BTW, does anyone else sweat when they sew? My sewing studio is air-conditioned but I swear between the iron, sewing machine light, and stress...I'm a sweating fool. Maybe it is another one of those lovely turning 40 things......

On that topic let me just say that turning 40 was like flipping a light switch in a myriad of ways. Lots of women had warned me .... "just wait, when you turn 40...(fill in blank here)". So far most of them have turned out to be true. I won't share too much information about my personal tribulations. Still lovin' 40 though!

Next, I'll be posting pictures of another project I've been working on this weekend. Not a sewing project, but a creative crafty one that I've been meaning to do since we moved into this house 3 years ago.

And finally, Hubbie and I just finished Season 1 of Dexter. I LOVE THAT SHOW! I LOVE DEXTER! In fact, I'm going to make myself a Dexter groupie tshirt.....I've got to come up with a good tag line. I had to make a promised to Hubbie that I wouldn't watch any episodes of Season 2 without him.....can you hear me hyperventilating?

Well y'all have a good Monday...I've got to hit the ground (or in my case, treadmill) running today....lots to do before the Munchkins return home from school.

Queue scary music

So I've been bragging and boasting about how I am going to recover my sectional sofa cushions as soon as I find fabric at my price point. Keep in mind I've never done this, but I have read several tutorials. Well last week I found the precise fabric I wanted at my price point on fabric.com. I nice chocolaty brown chenille with taupe threads. So this weekend I'm going to try recovering my first cushion. What seemed like an easy task now is terrifying me.....stay tuned I may need some support.

Weekend work completed

In the last few weeks, I've found an old college friend on Facebook. We had lost track of each other over the years. Turns out we now live within about 10 minutes of each other. It also turns out she's expecting her 2nd baby in September. So naturally, that called for a baby quilt! I was going to buy some fabric, but then went shopping in my batik stash. I found these and since I'm in my "Nine Patch with white sashing" period, here's what materialized.
I'm so in love with this. I named it Sunset Roses (there's a Rose print batik in there). I was so excited with how it was turning out, I took it to lunch Monday unbound to show my friend. She loved it! Now it's bound and labeled and will be heading to it's home soon.

And final "Stake in the Sand" update....I only completed two of the quilts I vowed to have done by yellow bus time. Oh well, they'll keep me busy this fall, cause I'm so totally ready to have them finished and move on to some new projects.

What I had for dinner

So much cutting and slicing later....more marinated salad.
I made a double batch since it went so fast this weekend. It's always better when you let it "soak" overnight, but I just could not wait. Throw some arugula in there....yum. This will be lunch tomorrow (minus the wine unfortunately).

To quote my favorite tiger,"Ta Ta for now."

Sigh, the first day of school and tears

Tears, you say? Well it certainly was not the Munchkins. When I stumbled into their room at 6:15am this morning for their wake up call they both popped up ready to get dressed. Nugget even started talking immediately (seriously who is this kid? I swear they switched babies in the hospital!) Then when I was putting Nugget on the bus I got misty eyed thinking about my Moose baby in 3rd grade. What really sent me over the edge was a mom putting her Kindergartener on the bus and then walking away sobbing. I remember those days.
Also, this weekend the Oldest Munchkin and I enjoyed the summer fruits of others labor. My bestest friend Christy's father grew tomatoes (some special for the Munchkin cause he thought it was funny that she ate them like apples) and we acquired our tasty jewels Friday. I made a marinated tomato, mozarella, and fresh basil salad. I would have posted a picture, but after a day of marinating it wasn't so pretty to look at, but it was tasty. Fresh tomatoes, fresh mozarella, fresh basil, black olives, pepperoni, capers, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and a hint of fennel. YUM! We ate it all. Didn't share with Hubbie or Nugget. I'll be making more this week.

And finally, I should have a quilt picture soon. I'm almost finished with a last minute baby quilt that I started Saturday....stay tuned.

The last Friday of Summer Break

Well we did our final running around today to get those last minute things we need for school on Monday. We did it today, because I hate going to any store on the weekend. I have crowd issues.

Anyway, I also manufactured these backpack ID tags today. When we went backpack shopping, imagine the horror of the oldest Munchkin when Nugget put her "Wizards of Waverly Place" backpack down and picked up the exact same one as her older sister. After many words of convincing...different schools....blah, blah, blah the oldest was convinced it was ok. "But Mommy what if we get our backpacks confused?!" Solution....individualized ID tags. Super Mommy!

Yikes, Tuesday

First off here is the product of slammin' hours of quilting labor yesterday. I was motivated by the fact I had a quilt guild meeting and wanted to take Jello Shots for show and tell.
This was the 9 patch a day from Crazy Mom Quilts. I loved the idea of making one 9 patch block a day. Of course, mine was more like, 10 block every 15 days to catch up. Once I got making these I really came to like them. I'm thinking of a twist on this for a block exchange for my guild.
As an advocate for best buys on quality fabric, Kate can attest that I'm constantly trolling websites looking for awesome fabric at superduper deals. Lo and behold, I found out that Kumiko Sudo, the lady who has written all those fabric orgami and folding books is designing fabric. I got this super lovely fabric designed to look like Japanese watercolors for a deal on clearance for less than I would pay at JoAnns per yard.

As far as the 9 patches go, I'll definitely be doing this again. It was so fun. And even though I thought that I would be making a dent in my scraps....hahahahhaha.

Then today we had a kitten calamity. Pepper fell from the landing in our 2 story family room. When I finally located her (by following her heartbreaking wails) I found her bleeding from her mouth. Long story short...she's fine...bloody nose. But let me tell you I was FREAKING MY SHIT the whole way to the vet that I would have to tell my oldest Munchkin that another one of her cats had to be put down.
And finally, a "found" picture on my camera tonight. I love how the Munchkins are thinking about backdrops and composition.

Mondays call for coffee

This is a short post to say "Mondays call for coffee."

I've been fortunate enough this summer to spend lots of time at home (either working remotely or spending time with the Munchkins). And neither of those things required the early wake up time of before 7 or 8 for most of the summer. Today marks the beginning of the rest of the year of the crack of dawn alarm clock awakenings. I brilliantly made my boobie squishing (mammogram) appointment for 8:00am this morning(I really don't know what I was thinking). So I had to roll out of bed and get dressed and be out the door squirrely early (to quote the youngest). I didn't have time to make coffee. And school starts next week, so.....

Thankfully, there's currently a pot brewing and I'll be downing some of that fab stuff in moments. I've got laundry, treadmilling, and sewing to do today. So who knows, this might end up being a two post day.....we'll see.

Fabulous Friday!

I'm so excited I got the Jello Shots top done. Now I need to piece the back and baste. I'm hoping that I'll be quilting this one this weekend. The forecast is mostly rain.

Also, I said if I cut the squares I would sew them. So here are the leftovers from Jello Shots. I haven't decided what it will become. I'll take suggestions.
And in closing another photo from the Munchkin photogs.
Catzilla! Run people of earth before she nuzzles you to death. Seriously, this is how I get woken up nightly. It would be unbearable except she's so dang cute.

Quilting Update

Two posts one day...what's a reader to do?

Here's the finished quilt for Nugget.

And finally the finished wallhanging for Kristin.
It doesn't look like it's hanging straight, but I promise it is.

And TADA the largest quilt I've ever quilted on my sewing machine. 72"x84"! No puckers or pleats on the back! Whoo hoo! Old Red Barn's Quilt Along.
Here's the backing fabric. I got it as a sweet deal on super sale. I love the cherries and paisleys.
And naturally, a quilt on display attracts the feline of the house. At least I know she's staying true to the feline/quilt form.