Making progress!

So, last night I stayed up LATE (well after midnight, which is not good for a woman with three small children who get up by 7:00) and finished the top for one of the quilts. I am very pleased with how quickly these are going together, but panicked at the same time. I MUST get these done before we pack up to move for two reasons: one is that Lucy will need bedding for her new beds when we move and the other is that I just won't have time to work on this after we move and I'm busy cleaning/painting/organizing and settling in to the new house.

Here is a little peak at what the fabric looks like (those are what I have done for the 2nd quilt top):

And my lovely little stacks of blocks:

I'm really happy with how these are turning out. I only hope I can get them done quickly enough to do the fun stuff, too, like the decorative pillows and shams I'm itching to make!

Eh...re-thinking the house hunt!

So, house #1 didn't work out. Oh well. I had my heart set on it, but we didn't get it. That is okay...we'll figure something out! I guess we'll be making another trip to SC soon.

On a cheerier note, I'm thoroughly enjoying my quilting project. I have all the squares cut out and am ready to start sewing the pieces together (I'm just waiting for a new foot for my sewing machine which will make it easier to keep my seem allowances at the proper spacing). I have one of the backing pieces sewn together, too, which was a bigger project than I had anticipated. I choose to use one of the busy patterns on the front on the entire back (to help mask kid dirt). It was difficult only because the pieces of fabric were so large that they were really hard to lay out and line up. The pattern on the fabric matches almost perfectly. The pattern is a polka dot pattern (a series of large and small rows). The last 18 inches or so of the seam have veered off ever so slightly. I'm contemplating tearing out the stitches, but I'm inclined to let it be. For one, when I lay the fabric out it isn't really noticeable. A more compelling reason is that I don't really believe I'll make it better by messing with it. I think I could spend hours tearing out stitches and re-aligning the fabric and end up with the same result.

So, while I wait for my new machine foot, I've decided to take a stab at making a pillow like this:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67951758/custom-made-ruffle-rose-pillow-small?ref=pr_faveitems

I love it! I'm just working with the scraps I have from the quilt to see what I can whip up. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it a round pillow or use one of the several dozen square toss pillows we have sitting around the house already.

I really should get out my camera and start taking some pictures of this project...maybe tomorrow!

Quilting lesson #1: Abstract Prints Rock!

And geometric prints are a total pain in the patooty. Ugh...why didn't I think of this before? Of course, I love the fabric I picked for the girls quilts, so I suppose I wouldn't do anything different. I just wasn't prepared for the fact that it would be difficult to fold the fabric and cut it so that the patterns lined up well and didn't end up crooked (of course, I SHOULD have thought of this). That all being said, cutting the pieces out for the quilt is proving to be a much easier and quicker process than I had anticipated. I have all but three yards of the fabric cut (and one of those yards is still on its way -- boo on back orders). Rotary cutters are the bomb!

The best part of this project? I'm getting lots of time to catch up on old movies. Today I broke out "Anne of Green Gables". It makes me think of middle school and my friend Elaine and how we could watch the two movies in the series over and over and over. It also made me realize how much better DVDs are than VHS tapes (something I don't think about because I NEVER watch VHS tapes anymore). It took me 20 minutes to get the movie going because our VCR would spit the tape out instead of rewinding. Not sure if the problem is the tape or the machine, but I'm definitely not replacing the machine at this point. I'm having the urge to re-read the series now, even though it is seriously an inappropriate reading level for me. Of course, I've read them probably 15 times already, but the last reading was probably 14 years ago.

New beginnings...

Yep, I know it has been a long long time. But, I'm back and ready to start journaling some of the events going on in our life right now. Our current house in under contract and we are set to move out in early June, we're writing an offer on a new house at the moment, Jeremy is negotiating a practice purchase and I'm learning to quilt (yes, the last isn't a big thing, but probably what most of my posts will be about).

Lucy has never had her room decorated -- it is the same boring beige walls and hand-me-down bedding that her brothers had. I've been chomping at the bit to decorate it since about 2 minutes after we brought her home. Jeremy made me wait until we moved. So, I've been obsessing over exactly what to do for her room (and also Hannah's, as they are likely to be sharing a room). I've been completely unable to find exactly what I wanted for bedding, so I've decided to make the quilts myself. The driving motivator in this is that I really want to be able to accessorize the room out with matching cushions, curtains and pillows.

So, a couple of weeks ago I finally purchased a new sewing machine. I've only test run it on scrap fabric, but it is FABULOUS! I can't believe I've been suffering through with my grandma's old 1940's Singer all these years, when the new machine only cost $109. Seriously, all that cussing wasn't worth the money I "saved"! I can't wait to use it!!!

The first of the fabric arrived today. My plan for tonight is to break in my new rotary cutter. I'm scared, though...the fabric is so pretty and I don't want to mess it up!

New pics of Laney!

While I was in Ohio last week, I had fun photographing Laney. I really think being a children's photographer would be so much fun. I could spend hours upon hours taking pictures of kids and be totally content. I love trying to catch different expressions, especially when they aren't paying attention to the camera!

Laney is a real doll -- such a happy, easy going little girl!

Here she is modeling the dress I knit her.

Here she is modeling the hand-me-down hat I knit for Lucy.

I'm totally a freak for black and white right now!

And this is my favorite!!! I can't wait until we move so that I can have this one printed!

Whew!

January (and the beginning of February) have been crazy months around here! I've been very frantically trying to get the house ready to put on the market. Originally I wanted the house on the market by January 1st. Then we revised our goal to January 15th. Then we revised again to February 1st. Now I'm just praying we can get it done by next Sunday. I'm not sure...things are starting to get dropped off the list at this point and I still don't think I can get done what I feel needs to be done.

I really, REALLY, don't ever want to move again. That being said, I think everyone should act like they are going to move once every 4 years or so. I can't believe how much stuff (and dirt) has accumulated around here. It is a relief to get a lot of the stuff that we don't use anymore out of here, plus I think a clean house is therapeutic.

So, I've painted and scrubbed and organized and tossed and donated and, well, you get the picture. I'm just tired of it. I would really like a break from the projects. I know that won't happen anytime soon, because we'll just have to do this all in reverse when we move into our new house.

To top it all off, I spent last week traveling to Guam and then Ohio to help my sister. Her back "went out" (for lack of a more accurate description), she needed surgery (that she couldn't have done in Guam) and couldn't lift her baby. So, I flew to Guam, helped her pack, flew back with her & the baby to Ohio (after being in Guam for 36 hours) and then stuck around for the week to help. The bonus was that I got to see Hannah while I was there. It was a LONG week (not that I mind...I'm glad she felt like she could ask me to do that for her and I was glad to do it, but it was just a lot of traveling). So, needless to say, I really would just like a few uneventful weeks. Not that I will get that, but a girl can hope, right?

Ross turns 4!!!

Last week Ross celebrated his 4th birthday. Somewhere in the last year the last traces of my baby has disappeared and he has turned into one very ornery little boy.

He requested polka dots on his cake this year and I went into his cake project with no firm plans. Poor kid...one of the downfalls of having your birthday right after the holidays is that mom is totally ill-prepared (and just a wee bit burnt out) for your party. I'll admit, his cake turned out a bit feminine in color, but he liked it, so I'm happy.

Lucy "helped" with the cake. See that in the picture below? Yep, she stuck a knife in the finished cake...twice. Sigh...I think I'll pass on the kitchen help next time I need to bake something!

I took a lot of pictures, too, trying to get a good 4 year portrait for Ross. He wanted nothing to do with a normal picture, but had a blast hamming it up for the camera. He was so much fun!

This one is my favorite!

And I like this one, too!

But this one totally captures his personality.

And this one is pretty good, too.

Don't you just love the ears here? He totally reminds me of my dad in this picture!

And I love that his tongue is in focus here, but not his eyes!

His attempt at a nice smile!