Quilting Right Along

Another Ticker Tape Quilt is done. Sorry for the dark photo - I really need to go back outside and take some more now that the sun is out and shining. This quilt seemed to take longer than the last one - not sure why unless spring break had something to do with it. That could be it. I love that these quilts make use of the tiny pieces that I was otherwise sticking in the kid's drawer or just tossing out. Kudos to Amanda Jean for such a great idea and tutorial!

While this was fun, I'm looking forward to getting back to the sheet quilt that I've started cutting and piecing squares for. I thought it might be a good picnic quilt, but I imagine that once it's done, I won't want to put it on the ground... or let kids eat over it.... or let anyone else touch it or use it. We shall see. First it has to get finished though.

Bingo!

Have I mentioned that I play bingo? Now stop your laughing and hear me out..... A group of friends, who all happen to have motherhood in common, have gotten together for two, maybe three years now to play bingo one Saturday night a month. Sometimes we lapse, we don't always all make it, but it is good fun. We all bring a wrapped $10 gift to serve as a prize for winning a game, we have a potluck dinner and eat really good food, have really good drinks, pause for dessert and then we play a "blackout" round and the first person to cover a board wins the "kitty" into which we've all put $5. Are you laughing so much now? Are you still laughing when I tell you that last month I went home with gardening gloves, a gardening tool, and hand thrown pot made by one of the mommas, and $45? No, I didn't think so.

So bingo was tonight. At 2:30 this afternoon I still did not have my gift and was planning to run into Target on my way and pick something up. But that felt like I wouldn't be putting much thought into it and really, I've been so stoked about the pot I won last month that was hand made. So....I had these blocks already made (minus the muslin sashing) and thought I could put them to use. They're rejects from the quilt I was making for the Mister and me that I am not feeling the love on. On their own though, I thought they'd make dandy potholders and so that's what I did with them. I added the sash, sewed them right sides together with a layer of cotton batting and insul-bright in there, turned them right side out and closed the seam and then quilted in a square spiral, following the block's pattern.

I think they turned out kind of cute. I kind of wanted to keep them for myself. I think they were well received.....hopefully pot holders are not a totally lame gift to go home with. Thank you for not saying it, if they are.

The Weekend

It may not look like it, but we've got a busy weekend ahead of us. Lots of friends and getting together, so it will be fun, but busy. Taking some quiet time tonight to sew the binding on another Ticker Tape Quilt this evening. This one is a gift for Sarah's preschool teacher who will be having her first baby this summer. I'll share the final results once it's done.
Happy weekend!

What We Do For Kicks Around Here

OK, so I have a confession to make. Yesterday's post....I did it last night so that I would have something creative between the hair cut posts, seeing as this is not a hair cutting blog. But really, I am excited about that quilt and made almost 20 blocks last night! But today is about my girl and her second hair cut (in seven years). Back in August 2008 she had 12" cut off and donated to Locks of Love. Just a year and a half later those 12" were back and she was back for another opportunity to donate.

This time she went a bit shorter (Rachel's decision) and I think she ended up with almost 13"!

And now I have this gorgeous girl to look at who looks about three years older than when she walked in. And somehow the hair cut even made her eyes look bluer!

She loves it, I love it and she's excited to show off her new look at school tomorrow. Plus I have this sweet photo to make me smile. It's been a good day.

Faith in Fairies

I've done it. I've done what I've had a really hard time getting myself to do. I've gone and started cutting up my awesome floral sheet collection. As soon as I cut into my favorite, I had this horrible thought that I may never find an awesome old sheet for $1.39 ever again. It was not a good feeling. My trip to the thrift store this morning did nothing to allay my fears, as I left empty handed. Still, I have to have faith that the floral sheet fairies will not turn their backs on me and will continue to throw little treasures my way.

So what's a girl to do? Get on with making herself something pretty then, I guess. Five squares into the quilt that was to be fabulous and beautiful and for the Mister and me, I stopped loving it. Actually, I haven't loved it at all. That's been a road block for me the past month (or longer) - I want it to be done and wonderful and nothing about what I'm doing makes me think it will be that. So for now I am going to work with 2.5" squares and make some 9 square blocks with white centers, sash the blocks in white and whip me up some old sheet loveliness. It seems like just the sort of task I need right now. Fingers crossed that I keep on loving it because if I don't, I've going to be crying over a bunch of sheets that are no longer suitable for beds.

Growing Up

Somebody went for their first hair cut today. She has been asking for one for ...oh, about a year now, but her Momma couldn't bring herself to let it happen. Finally, the curls had become such a tangled mess that I knew the time had come. So today was the day and boy have we been excited about it!

The initial cuts went well and she even asked for it to be shorter (to match her best friend at preschool).

All her golden locks fell to the floor. Bye bye baby hair, she's got a full head of big girl hair now! Rest assured, there is a perfect little curl in an envelop in my purse right now.

She opted to have it blow dried a bit straighter on top, but wanted curly ends. So now the mystery is....what will it really look like when it dries on its own? Do curls really disappear when you cut hair? Will the curls get curlier now that her hair is shorter and lighter? Who knows....I guess we'll have to stay tuned. For now though, we are all loving sweet Sarah and her adorable new do that seemed to put an extra spring in her step and maybe even (heaven help me) a bit more spunk into her.

Birthday Girl

Of all my treasured possessions, this one ranks right up at the top. My girls. My babies. This photo is now five years old, as is the sweet 9 lb. bundle in the photo.

Her hair was brown and straight when she was born - not so any more. Her blue eyes stayed, as did her sweet face. We had her party today. Last year's celebration was low key as we were in the middle of kitchen construction, so this is really her first party to be excited about - and excited she was. She has been preparing and planning all week and just to break our hearts, last night she told her daddy, "Tomorrow friends are coming and they will play with ME!". (Yes, I harbor guilt over her having second child syndrome). And play they did. Lots of squealing, lots of running around, lots of fun. Thanks to the friends who helped celebrate with us!

And the final installment in birthday cakes - Sarah's horse cake. I looked at hundreds of pictures of "horse cakes" and saw so many incredible cakes with edible horses modeled out of all sorts of things, but in the end I did as I knew I would do and used toy horses. So much faster and easier. This cake came together pretty quickly and easily, for which I was thankful. I used the Wilton buttercream icing recipe (this is so bad for you!) on a chocolate cake to which I added a pack of chocolate pudding mix and an extra egg. The cake was moist and good and the icing was a hit with the kids.

Now, back to the sewing....and I'll take a pie for my birthday!

I have no idea why the text is showing up in two different fonts unless is has something to do with the fact that my "double u" key doesn't work and every time I need to use one, I have to use the paste function to insert it. As if that isn't annoying enough - two fonts show up. I give up.