progress

I spent the better part of last weekend painting the basement. It looks so much better and brighter down there now! I also moved 3 bookcases and their books down and put them where they'll be living. It's starting to come together! Maybe by the end of the year we'll be able to watch TV down there.

More progress - little Henry is getting himself up to standing! He's been crawling around finding every cord he can get his gums on (he only has 1 tooth that he got last week) and it won't be long before he's even more mobile. It's going by way too fast!

Crossed something off my list

I have finally put up this light (and etched the glass for it as well). Our stairwell has been without a light since we moved in several years ago and removed the horrible one that was there.

Next up: Painting the stairs. (That green is actually for the walls - but I'm not loving it - so my project has been stalled until I figure out what color will look right.) Here is the updated goal list

baby onesies and other things

I bought more than a few onesies well before Henry was born with the intent of doing some freezer paper stencils. I'm just now getting around to it! (Can you believe Henry is already 4 months old? Me neither).

These first three I made for Henry. I like how they turned out! (mostly)

These next three are for a new friend - Aiya - who was just born. (For the one on the right I used fabric to cover up some ugly stitching that said "handsome").



Henry still sleeps in his basket-cradle. I often find him sleeping with his left arm up and one of his feet poking out. Cute.


Dan regularly dresses like this - it's true - but he actually wore this to church the other day - for our ward party. I tried to persuade him to open his shirt all the way. What can I say - he's a modest guy.

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.

wedding stuff

Well - Katie got married last Saturday. To another Dan. Now we have 2 Dans. They are good for each other (Katie and Dan, not the 2 Dans). Of course, I got no photo of them or her bouquet, so you'll have to wait until I get the photos from the photographer. But I did get these photos (with my new camera, which I really like!)

Jordan, Grammie, Jack, and Sam

Jack and Jordan (Jamie's oldest) are great friends

Sam and Uncle Zach (who was lots of fun since he didn't have to coral his own kids.)

The boutonniere for the 2 dads

The corsage for the 2 moms

Dan was smart and brought airheads. Everyone was happy about that.

And we had a surprise visit from an old friend. It was really great to see Diane!

flowers!

I used to think I'd run a wedding flower business from my house. So far it hasn't really happened (although I did get an offer on a wedding a few weeks ago - I turned it down). But I have done several siblings' wedding flowers. And this weekend I get to do Katie's bouquet and her fiance's boutonniere (and that's it!) I'll be sure to show you the final results.


frog eyes waiting for the big day (they're a not quite as bright as I'd hoped)


These guys are waiting for the fridge

These lovelies are going to hang out by the window so that some of them will open up.

A few of the clippings in little bottle vases. So pretty in the kitchen window.

And I had to get some for me! Hopefully these stay alive for at least a week.

feature and giveaway!

The lovely Hannah of Sherbet Blossom is doing a giveaway for me today!

I've been working day and night making new things for my shop and there are several new designs.

I'm also having a sale - everything is 20% off - starting today and ending next Thursday (April 22). So if you're looking for something for Mother's Day or just for fun, now's a great time to get something.

Some of the new designs

how to patch a shirt

A few years ago I bought this adorable turtleneck for Charlie. The first time he wore it he cut 2 small holes in it with a pair of scissors. I vowed to fix it, but I wasn't sure how.

Finally, about a month ago, I figured it out. I knew I could applique some sort of animal shape (and what animal shape would be approriate for grey, red, and white stripes?) but I hadn't thought of the square background. The final shape needed to cover the holes AND the embroidered bear in the corner.

I was working with my friend Tabby on making some 1 onesies and had this aha moment. I also love the etsy seller moonmum and have been wondering how to use some of her designs on something without outright copying her. I tried to change her robot up a little, so it wasn't exactly the same. I LOVE how it turned out.

So if your 3 year old cuts your favorite striped shirt (I think each of my kids has done it) now you'll still be able to save it!

also been working on . . .

something that's been on my list for a while. My closet door. It has now been freshly painted (2 coats on each side) and hardware cleaned of old paint. That hardware (doorknob, plates, hinges, and all screws) was a bugger to clean. It took a few days and several toothpicks to clean out all the layers of old paint. But I am so happy with the result! And I am pleading with you all - PLEASE DO NOT PAINT YOUR HARDWARE. If you can't remove it entirely at least tape it off so you don't get paint all over it. It takes more time, but it looks much nicer. Okay. Enough of that. Now for the photos.

I love my doorknobs.

The door and doorway (which was also repainted). I'm also going to add some hooks to the inside of the door for towels and scarves.

Of course, I don't have before pictures, but this is an example of a hinge that's been painted over. This on is in the hallway. It is next on my painting/stripping project list.




These are the hall closet doors. Almost every door upstairs looked like this (with the grey inside). The closet door was the last of 9 doors to be painted (and hardware cleaned) upstairs. The hallway is the next job. The yellow on the right is wallpaper glue left over from when I finished stripping the wallpaper. It needs to be cleaned off (the white wall on the left has been cleaned of glue), then all the cracks and holes filled and sanded, then painted. It is the next house job on the list.

Next up

Now that I've finished a quilt, I feel justified in starting another one. Technically, I should probably finish another one (since I've just recently started Luke's dog quilt) but, you know, I'm just not really like that.

These fabrics have been staring at me for the last few days (because I left one of my boxes out and open and these happened to be on top). I am going to make a quilt like this one with them. It's going to be so great! I even got a few squares done today.

plumbing and other projects

For the last few weeks I've been feeling kind of blah. I DO NOT want to clean, and so my house is messy. It got cleaned up by Dan and the boys last night, so that was nice (I even helped by cleaning the kitchen, how nice of me).

I've been a little overwhelmed by my list of projects. Which means that I've been sitting here trying to decide what to start on. Which means I haven't been doing much. But I did shorten my current list a bit to just 4 projects (bed quilt, Luke's quilt, bike quilt, and church bag). Then when I'm wandering around trying to figure out something to work on, I'll pick from that list.)

While I was sitting here trying to decide what to do, I read a few books. If you want to see what I've been reading go here. I would also recommend The Hunger Games to everyone. Very good. I'll be reading the second one shortly.

I did sew on the borders to my bed quilt (queen sized). When I figure out how to take a photo of the whole thing, I will. Also - I need to figure out what to do about quilting it. I don't really want to hand quilt the whole thing. I don't really want to machine quilt the whole thing. I also don't want to take it to a quilter. Not really any other options so I'll have to pick one of those.

I just wrote a whole long thing about fixing the shower/tub. And then deleted because I realized that you probably don't want to hear all the boring details. Just know that I have put in lots of time and effort into fixing them and I am sick of it. But I still have 1 more thing to fix (because it is old and it broke while I was fixing the rest of it). Ugh. Sometimes I really hate fixing up this house.

Today I made some pillows. I've been wanting some new pillows since the last time I made some out of quilt weight fabric. It's just not sturdy enough for living room pillows in my house. So these were made from canvas (thrifted even). I LOVE this pillow and I was thinking of making an owl pillow (by copying this owl). I did it using freezer paper stencils and after I made the first ampersand, I realized I had the negative and wouldn't it be great to just have 2 opposites. I think I'll save the owl for something else. I like them (and Charlie says he does too.)

I also started working on Luke's bed quilt last week. It is turning out really cute! Which is a relief because sometimes I don't realize my ideas look like crap until I've already finished them.

Okay - one last thing. I have a lovely mantle. But I never know what to put on it. Actually - during the fall I love to put white pumpkins on it. And during Christmas I can always come up with something. It's January through September that I'm not sure what to do with it. Do any of you lovely decorating ladies have any ideas? I don't really want to make it too cluttery. I'm looking for something simple and clean. If you have any good references, please share. Even design blog ideas would be welcome, since I don't really read those.

another quilt

Are you guys getting sick of seeing my projects? I hope not. Because I am really on a roll! I'm not going to show you what I've been working on yet, but I will show you a Christmas present that finally got to it's new owner.


I made this for my parents-in-law, who have a dachshund named Libby. My mother-in-law is also a quilter but I don't think she receives many quilts. She's always giving the ones she makes away. It was a really fun quilt to make (and fast, because it's not too large.)

Henrietta's new cousin

A few months ago when I saw this pattern I knew I HAD to have it. I don't usually make stuffed animals, but is this turtle the cutest thing you've ever seen? (The turtle on the front is named Henrietta and her friends are Edna, Harriet, Penelope, Eloise, and Gladys.)

So I got the pattern for Christmas (thanks Anabel) and made a little friend yesterday. Her name is Hildegaard (Hildie for short). I think she turned out so cute (even though I did not include the little flower corsage). And the instructions were excellent. Now all the boys want one too. Here she is with Luke's chubby finger to show you her size.

p.s. that fabric in the background came from JoAnn! What a shocker. It also came in a lovely green color. So I bought a bunch. Because what I need is more fabric.

The first 2 crossed off my list!

Wow - I was feeling pretty gung ho about the list in the last week. So I finished the table runner (didn't take a photo - sorry) and the pink quilt for a friend.

This quilt was made up of all scraps. About a third of the blocks are pieced with smaller scraps (even some of the white ones). Then I quilted it with straight lines on the diagonal. It was my best quilting so far! I think because it was on the bias and there's a little easing to be done. I think I may do a lot more quilting on the diagonal. I only had 2 mini tucks! I tried to save on the binding by using the back. I DO NOT like how that turned out, so I will not do it again.

p.s. I also attemted etching the glass on my light fixture for the hallway. But it came out all streaky. Do any of you have any tips on etching glass? Ginny, Marianne, anyone?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot

For Christmas I made these. One for each boy. All the fabric was from my stash (yes, it's large). I used batting pieces I had from previous quilts and pieced them. I also tried out some new quilting techniques. Jack's has pebble quilting and it DOES take a lot of thread and a long time like everyone says. But it looks so cool and it's hard to mess up. I should have made the C and the J with darker fabric for more of a contrast, but whatever, it was a learning curve. Other than that I like how they turned out. And they all loved them on Christmas morning.