Needles and Pens

Well, here it is Friday again, and though I've been sewing my poor fingers to the bone this week, I haven't quite finished the quilt for the guest room bed (and since my daughter took off for the weekend with the only working camera in the house, I couldn't share a picture if I had), BUT I do have one other little project in the works, and a tiny sewing finish was involved this week. When I had my first child in 1987, I was fortunate to inherit the cradle my grandpa slept in when was he born in 1890. He had many younger siblings, who most likely slept in it, too, but at some point it was stashed away someplace and forgotten. Thankfully someone had the foresight to hold onto it, and though it skipped two generations of use, it did stay in the family. The original stand was missing (probably why it was never passed down), but when I brought the cradle home, my husband's grandpa (who has since passed) was kind enough to build a stand so I could use it. I'm su...

So, once again, life has completely obliterated my attempts to blog. But, I'm back! For today, at least. LoL This is the first time I've even looked at a blog in over a month, and since it is Friday, I decided to go over to Amylouwho's place and see if she was still hosting Sew & Tell Fridays . Come to find that, just today, she posted the post-holiday "secret gift edition" of Sew & Tell. Apparently I'm not as far behind as I thought! Unless, of course, you take notice of my unseasonable Fall blog background... oh, well. I'll be caught up again, all in good time. December was even more hectic than usual this year, what with juggling a new "part-time" job (which became suspiciously "full-time" during the holidays) along with all the normal Christmas to-do's. Ironically, working at a fabric store really makes a person want to sew, while simultaneously sapping all extra time from their day. Still, I did manage to squeeze in a...

Now that Christmas is over and the gifts unwrapped, I can finally share all of the projects I've been working on. Lots and lots of Christmas gifts! I've decided that doing things at the last minute is just... the way I do things. I get some kind of adrenaline rush from it all, and I really surprised myself with the number of gifts I was able to finish in just a couple of weeks: Nine dinosaurs, for all the little boys in the family... Eight little dolls, for the girls... Six sets of flannel pajamas... And at the very last minute, a quilted floor pillow for Emily's "black and white" room... And a Christmas quilt for baby Aaron... My sewing machine was smokin'! And it didn't get much of a break. My grandson is being baptized this Sunday and today I started sewing his baptism outfit. White satin -- not my favorite fabric to work with, but it's coming along and I'm sure he'll look adorable. After all, he's adorable no matter what he wears. ;o)

Yesterday we celebrated Emily's 14th birthday. It was very, very... zebra. She received so many wonderful gifts - and there was definitely a strong zebra theme. Right down to the socks on her feet: And some really great things for her new room, like this cute zebra wall hanging, made by her sister: More original art, by her little brother: And of course, new bedding and curtains: I felt like I had really splurged to make the curtains (the fabric cost around $40) until I found some almost identical zebra panels at Target that would have cost us $100 to buy. I can't take credit for the bedding, though. It's from the Seventeen Posh Collection at JC Penney, where my older daughter works. It's absolutely perfect for Emily's room! What a great day! Many thanks to her grandparents, aunties and uncles, brothers and sister for giving Emily such a fantastic birthday!

I way overdid it today in the tackling department, but I guess that makes up for yesterday, which I spent wandering from one room to the next, trying to decide where to start and never actually starting anything. I really needed the Tackle it Tuesday motivation and, apparently, the exercise. Man, are my legs stiff tonight! Several random ideas kind of culminated into one big tackle today. We had our first frost last night, so we pulled in the "summer outdoor" plants last evening before clearing a place for them inside. So Tackle One was to do some rearranging and find a home for the plants. And, ta-dahh! I even got motivated enough to clear off the "bottomless" clutter pile on the kitchen counter. Note the treadmill missing from the corner above? That would be Tackle Number Two. My all-or-nothing weight loss goals of earlier this year did indeed come to... nothing. In fact, I've gained back the fifteen pounds I lost, plus a few more. Ack! The diet has been p...

I'm back from my " Tackle it Tuesday " hiatus, in need of a little extra motivation on this basement project that seems to be taking me forever . I've been trying to rid out unnecessary clutter and organize stored items into one storage room. The ultimate goal is to make the main area more like living space, less like a junk yard. So my tackle for today was just to make a dent in this corner. Check it out! Before: After: It's the magic of Tackle it Tuesday! Eventually this will be a sitting area, so there are still lots of things to shift into place. In fact, I still have a long way to go on the decluttering -- behind me is a huge mess that includes a pool table heaped to the ceiling with stuff to sort -- but this was some major progress for one day. I have a sense of accomplishment now that'll hopefully propel me on to the next corner. LoL Thanks for the motivation, Carolyn! Just two more tackles to go today -- dinner and a soccer game. ;o)

Got the borders on my quilt top yesterday, pieced the backing, AND got the whole thing layered, pinned and marked for quilting. So far, so good: Meanwhile, my house was transformed today into "baby central." On a hot garage sale tip, my daughter and I were out bright and early this morning and scored a really nice Medela breast pump, complete with leatherette carrying case -- very professional -- for only twenty bucks. Perfect for when she goes back to work. This inspired us to start pulling out all the great baby things that people have been passing along to her lately, and get everything washed and ready for baby. I can't believe there are only six weeks to go! I adore the bassinet (here, with the vibrating infant seat, car seat bases, a Boppy pillow and Diaper Genie): Baby swing, stroller and two car seats (one attaches to the stroller): And there's more in the basement yet. She still needs a highchair, though there's plenty of time for that, and is determined ...

Believe it or not, I think I've had enough quilt journaling for awhile. All the little bits of paper are cleaned up for the time being, and here's the page I finished last night for my daughter's graduation quilt (Think I went a little overboard with the flower stickers?): I dutifully put in some time today mowing the lawn and sorting through about half of the clothes in my 10-year-old's room, so I think I deserve a little time in my sewing room. I'd like to start setting together the quilt blocks for my grandbaby-to-be, but first I need to finish up another project I've left hanging. It's to be a Quilts with Love quilt for the troops, made from some of those bazillion 4" squares I cut out of fabric samples. Here's a photo I took awhile back, of the top in progress: As of today, the rows are sewn together and I just need to add a border and get ready for quilting. Border strips are cut, a path is cleared to the sewing machine, nothing can stop me no...

The thing about scrapbooking is, once you get started it's so hard to stop! For one, it's messy, and I hate to clean up until I'm finished scrapping for awhile. Secondly, it's just addicting, plain and simple. Again, it's the reason I limit scrapbooking to my quilt journal alone. Once I get it caught up, I have to make more quilts -- so I can make more pages. LoL Here, three more pages completed yesterday. A tribute to my adorable new great-niece, Sophia (and her quilt, of course!): The "Paws-itively Wild" Bear Paw quilt for my son, Timothy (my favorite part is his thank you note, "Thank you for the awesome quilt, Mom. It is paws-itively amazing." ): Remembering a favorite teacher -- and our gift to her this year: I have one more page to go, then I think it's time to clean up the mess and get back to work on my latest quilt. No wonder I have a hard time getting around to the housework! LoL

Last night I started working on a brand new quilt journal/scrapbook, since my last one holds three years worth of quilts and is, well, stuffed to the gills. I've been collecting all kinds of little stickers and other goodies to start journaling my latest quilts, but somehow it's been difficult getting started on that first blank page. And yet, despite my apprehension and rudimentary scrapping skills, I have finished page one, "A Box of Chocolates." "Chocolates" was my first finished quilt of 2008, donated to Quilts with Love for the troops serving in Iraq. I've made several quilts and tops for Quilts with Love, journaling each one, and so I've run out of new ideas to include on these pages. The new addition this time, a miniature copy of the Certificate of Appreciation that was awarded to the group last year. I love to fill my pages with pictures and pretties, so I often forget to include the details of the quilt, the size, the fabrics, how the idea ...

I woke up this morning with the overwhelming feeling that I have SO much to do in the next few weeks, how will I ever get it all done? It's a panicky feeling that just hits me every so often, generally first thing in the morning, and the only thing that calms me is to make a list and get all of those nasty little details out of my head and onto paper. So I did. And it helped. After all, I'm here writing, aren't I? The one thing I keep telling myself I have no time to do! Yesterday was my daughter's 19th birthday, and also marked the end of her 33rd week of pregnancy. I can hardly believe there are only seven more weeks until her due date. Of course, to her, time seems to be standing still. (Note the intensely forced smile that was preceded by, "Mom, stop taking pictures of me. I feel enormous!") She's nesting, which is hard to do when you don't have a home of your own. Much of my own to-do list involves helping her create a nest within a nest, in our p...

Second year, the clematis is thriving... A profusion of lilies... Purple Coneflowers... and the view from the chaise lounge... "All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today." ~ Dale Carnegie