22 October 2010

Wonky Star Info and Ideas


Here is my version of the wonky star quilt. I have posted this before on my blog, but I am reposting it, with a few extra ideas, for my modern quilt guild. So click on the links below if you want to see some different ideas of what you can do with the wonky star.
I used this excellent tutorial by the silly boodilly. I find it's easier to use triangles (which is what she suggests) than other shapes for the star points.

I was originally inspired by Kerri's wonky star quilt.
Here is a nice one with some serious points by crazy house quilts.

I also love this one by make it modern using grey sashing.

Ashley's version of the wonky star with some flea market fancy.

A few wonky star quilts by Crazy Mom Quilts. These were charity quilts, with the blocks from all different people.

And last - Cara's take on a wonky star toddler quilt - which I really love.

19 October 2010

fun!

Well - thanks again for all your baby naming help. If you ever want a good list, ask Marianne! And thanks for all the family name ideas.

I also had a suggestion from Cara last time to email Swistle. I had never heard of her before but she does a blog just for people who need baby naming help.

So I did it - and she blogged about it today! And guess what - I think we have a name! (If you want to know the name, and you won't tell me you hate it, email me.)

Here is her post.

13 October 2010

and - I need your help again

Because we still don't have a name for the baby. I've got a long list of 1 syllable names, and nothing to go with them. So if you would be so lovely as to leave your list of favorite 2 or 3 syllable boy names in the comments, I would really appreciate it.

If you are related to me - and you know some good family names - please leave those in the comments as well.

I've never been this unprepared with a name and I'm starting to freak out a tiny bit. Just a tiny bit.

Thanks.

A new quilt for new baby 5

So I started out making one quilt, not loving it, and making an entirely different quilt. All that really matters is that I've finished it in plenty of time before the baby gets here. (I only have 4 - 5 weeks!)

The whole quilt

A bit of a close up of those adorably Japanese elephants

The back is just solid light grey. The quilting is my own design. I did it on my regular old machine. It worked out great and didn't take too long. I think I'll use this design again.



I had just enough of those cute little ladybugs to bind the quilt with them. Cute.

09 October 2010

to whoever invented legos

i love you.




All the boys have been playing with Legos for hours on end recently. When I snapped this photo they had been playing for over 2 hours with no fighting.

For a bit more info on who invented Legos click here.

07 October 2010

Cleaning


Did I ever tell you that I taught the boys how to clean the bathroom sink? And Dan taught them how to clean the toilet. And they actually like it. Sometimes.

05 October 2010

Random

Luke wears himself out. He also doesn't like taking naps. So I find him like this quite often.

We went to a place with a bunch of toy and candy vending machines. Luke picked the mustache vending machine. (I'd never even seen one, but I will be making a visit for the Christmas stockings.) He applied the mustache and wore it for quite a while before taking it off.

Does it surprise you that Dan has a small collection of fake mustaches? When he started growing this one he gave Jack the one he has on. Nice.

First day of school for Jack and Sam

Have you ever watched Man vs. Wild? It is a very cool show and the boys love it. Jack is always trying to make lean-to shelters and sharpen spears and things like that after he watches it. Of course, it helps if your shirt is off (although the host usually keeps his on.)

Dan found this butterfly lying on the road. He brought it in to show everyone and every once in a while it would move. I think it was dying its natural death at the end of the summer. Sad.

Charlie's first day of school.

Girls like to dress up like princesses. Boys like to dress up like . . . not sure who this is supposed to be but goggles of any type are always a favorite at our house.

03 October 2010

The best thing about Utah

Living here has never really been my first choice. But I love it in the fall when we can drive up to the mountains and see the leaves turning.


We usually try to get in a drive through the fall leaves before it gets too cold. I don't even remember if we went last year, since my fall was filled with other things. (For an entire history of what was keeping me down, click here). I did find photos from 2 years ago. You can look at them here.

This time we went up to Park City and went for a short hike. It was gorgeous! And I think the boys loved it. Luke especially loves going "on the mountain" and he's always disappointed if we just drive and don't get out and walk a bit.


Charlie wanted me to take a photo of him skipping rocks on the road. This is right at the beginning.
Sam wanted me to take a picture of him with every flower, leaf, rock, and piece of bark he picked up.


This is the pocket of Charlie's cargo shorts, which he filled with rocks at the beginning. He dumped them right at the end, telling me how it was making it harder to walk with them in his pocket.


Sorry Dan, this was the better shot of the two.

My favorite leaf - Big Tooth Maple. Prettiest color and prettiest shape.


Can you tell how dirty Luke's face is in this photo? He kept tripping and falling (but no crying) and it was quite dusty. He was a mess when we were finally done.

Here are the boys at the end of the hike. We hiked behind them and all the way to the right. It was really gorgeous.

01 October 2010

San Diego

So Dan had a conference in San Diego and wanted me to go with him. It was great because the company paid for everything except my plane ticket (which we had enough miles for.) We may have spent a bit more on food than the per diem, but mostly it was a free trip. Dan's mom stayed with the boys since she was already out here for the baptism. Thanks Anabel!

Can I just tell you how much I love the ocean? As soon as we got off the plane it smelled SO good. It's breezy, and not too hot, and only sometimes sunny. I really love it. It is my perfect place to live.



Dan was so excited to find the Regal Beagle. I had no idea why. Dan filled me in. Do you know the Regal Beagle?



These stairs looked so cool. They were at Serra Museum in Presidio Park, which was San Diego's first mission. It wasn't open so we just walked around the grounds.




This was a huge spider we found. I think he was building his web. He was a tad bigger than the size of my thumb (the top part, above the joint.) I didn't want to get my thumb in there to show you, in case he decided to jump on it.



Crazy face at Balboa Park. Have you ever been there? Seriously ornate architecture and tons of museums. We didn't have time for any museums, just walked around before it got dark. It was very cool.








Us.



And, of course, a flower.