CURVES!

This fabric . . .

For these blocks . . .Are Here . . . Ready to go out to my Quilting Sisters!

Blogged about Here!

TOO EXCITED FOR WORDS!

It's going to be LEGEN . . . (wait for it) . . . DARY!

See ya!

Catch Up

Christmas is in FULL SWING!

I made the first batch of Pumpkin Bread for a Christmas Party tomorrow, we've decorated the house (all except the tree) and I made a new coffee cake.

See . . . pretty, right?

To catch you up on all things non-Christmas present related . . . I'll tell you about the Bee.

I am SO LATE for Michelle . . . she was October. I blame cowardice. She scared me! She asked us to come up with our own thing, as long as it was squares in squares. I was SO SCARED! I don't do my own thing! It's very hard! So here are the ones I came up with.
I hope they work!

I'm also late for Missy, but not nearly as bad, since she was November. She asked for a wonky star!

Really proud of my first Wonky-ness!!

These will be in their packets that I'm sending out (hopefully tomorrow) with my quilt instructions.

Woo Hoo!!

See ya!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day!

Sorry I've been a little absent, but I've been plugging away at Christmas presents! I should be back after the holiday (when I need a break from cleaning, decorating, or crafting) to get caught up on blogging. (Remember, exactly 1 MONTH until Christmas!)

Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!

See ya! :)

A Birthday for Christmas!

Or should that be a Christmas for your birthday? Anyway . . . My Mother-In-Laws birthday was on October 30, and I made her what she asked for . . . a Christmas table-runner.

She's kind of a Christmas Nut . . . but that's OK because so am I. And so is S, and his brother, and so on and so on. We LOVE Christmas around here!

The runner was really simple, I used 2 charm packs of Frosted Memories by Moda. It was already kitted up for me, but I can't remember where I bought it. It was a booth at the Plano Quilt Show, but I'm not sure of the quilt shop's name. Sorry! I have found, however, that things come together REALLY easily if they are already cut! (I HATE cutting!) I put it together during craft night one night, and it came together beautifully (AKA most of my points matched! Whoop!).

I feel kind of bad, because it wasn't a surprise, but I know she likes it because it is what she wanted, so that's good, right?

Changing channels, I found this NEW Material Shop this week! City Craft is GREAT! I have been feeling guilty lately about not really supporting my local quilt shops, because I definitely think keeping these guys around is important, but I agree with Abby in her post about this. We love local quilt shops, but we can never seem to find what we are looking for, the new, modern fabrics. I spend TONS of time (more than I should, I admit) lurking on blogs like Oh Fransson and Handmade by Alissa and Crazy Mom Quilts. They inspire me SO MUCH, but I can never find the same fabrics they use. So I order them off of the Internet, and they arrive, but it's never quite what I thought it would be. It helps to see and touch fabric (part of the joy of fabric shopping, but we'll get into that later). By the time I'm ready to start my quilt, I'm guilty about not buying the fabric locally and disappointed in the actual fabric. Not a good start! But City Craft changes that! They are small, but what they have is AWESOME! They have all the modern, hip designers and the bright colors. I've already bought some, but I'll show that off later. If you're in the Dallas area, you HAVE to go see them! They're great!

Enough rambling. :)

See ya!

Make Me Happy Monday

What makes me happy today is . . .

The view from my back yard. I love the reds.

FALL!!!!

The massive amounts of leaves. S. hates these!

I love it! Sweaters, boots, scarves. I love the colors in the trees and the crispness in the air . . .

Our walnut tree!

But I especially love the FOOD!

I'm having to hold myself back from the kitchen. I made this scrumptious Apple Upside Down cake from Paula Dean (S calls it my Ya'll Cake) . . . but it was GONE before I got pictures. I'm already craving my mom's famous pumpkin bread. Maybe this weekend will be a baking weekend . . . until then, I'll content myself with leaves and sweaters (even if it is 75 degrees out)!

Our begonias under the leaves.

See ya!

Quilt Along!

The girls at Block Party are having a quilt along! It's going to be Legend . . . (wait for it) . . . DARY! I'm super pumped! Go over and check it out!

See ya!

Make Me Happy Monday

So today, what makes me happy is . . .

YARN!

And not just any yarn, but yarn from my L.Y.S. (local yarn shop), Shabby Sheep! These ladies are wonderful! I walk in at 10AM on Saturday, almost in tears because I don't understand a pattern. Perren immediately sits down with me and walks me through it. After an hour of both of us not getting it, she enlists the other 2 ladies in a search for a comparable pattern. We find one, she gets me started, and I knit for about 1/2 an hour to make sure I get it. I'm so proud of my new project! (I wish I could go into specifics, but, you know, Christmas and all!) After I am sufficiently practiced, I pull out another pattern that I need to buy yarn for, and Leah drops everything to help me find the right type and amount (at the right price, none-the-less). I was in there for 2 1/2 hours, and the ladies made me feel right at home! Even though they were busy doing a million other things, they made time for me. That is why I take the extra time to drive further than I have to (there is a yarn shop closer to me, but they were never as helpful). I guess what makes me REALLY happy, is good customer service. I LOVE SHABBY SHEEP!

Pay It Forward . . .

I'm a little nervous, I am playing Pay It Forward with Beth! I've never done this before, but blog-land seems alive with it! Since I didn't know how to do this until recently, I will share it with you, too. Here's the dish:


1)I signed up for Beth's PIF. She's making something handmade to send to me. (She has a year in which to do it!)


2)To receive them from her, I need 3 people to play with me. Just leave me a comment, and I will send you something handmade (I have a year in which to do this!). Make sure when you leave a comment, I have some way to get in touch with you, either on your blog or by email.


3)The three people who sign up post about it on their blog, each get 3 responses, and send something handmade to their PIT peeps.


4)It goes on and on (don't you feel like breaking into a rendition of "This is the song that never ends"? Ha Ha. Now you have it in your head too, don't you?)

You can only play if you have a blog, and if you promise to post about this and send out 3 more presents. I'm totally reminded of those chain letters in high school, but in this one you get fun hand-made stuff, and you don't die in 72 hours or be doomed to never get married.

You're supposed to put a button on your blog for the PIF, and it's really cute . . . I just don't know how to do buttons. Seriously, I worked for like an hour last night on it, and I can't figure it out. If you can, see Beth's post about it. Maybe you can do it!

Post quickly! I'm itching to get started!

See ya!

Make Me Happy Monday (on Wednesday)

I can't believe it! It's only my second week, and I've already missed a MMH Monday! Ridiculous! So here it is . . . two days late!

It's our semi-annual Hot Dog Day! My in-laws (parents and siblings) come over and we cook hot-dogs and brats over our outdoor fire pit!

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE hot-dogs. It's a tad crazy, but I can eat them anytime, anywhere, with ANY toppings!

But it's a fun day . . . hanging with the fam and eating good food. The weather was beautiful (perfect temps for a fire!) and the conversation was lively (as usual). It definitely made me happy!

See ya!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my mom's birthday! I missed her party this past weekend, and I miss her terribly! (For those of you that don't know, she lives a good 6 hours away . . . it's a BUMMER!) It's so funny, you think you know your parents growing up, but once you're out of the house, things CHANGE! I've learned so many things about her since I've "grown up". She loves Greek coffee, has an I-Phone, and watches Mad Men, to name a few. This is a completely different picture of her than what I had in my head in high-school, but I digress. For her birthday, we gave her a new Greek Coffee pot, because it's just hard to make it without the special pot. I also made her this:

(that's her, modeling!) Her favorite colors are green and blue, and I know she's constantly carrying things back and forth to work, and our house, etc. I thought she might need a pretty bag! (her old one was a beat-up canvas thing from the school she works at. This is MUCH prettier!) I used the Jane's Market Bag pattern from Posie. TOTALLY worth the 6 bucks! I was really worried about making it . . . I'm not very good at following patterns, and when people say "easy" but they are already experienced, I rarely find it easy! But Posie's instructions were simple (once I got up the nerve to start) and it came together rather quickly (in a little more than one craft-night session). It's a beautiful bag . . . I want to make myself one (or two, or three), but I need to finish Christmas stuff first. Anyway . . .

Happy Birthday Momma! I love you!

See ya!

Make Me Happy Monday

I've decided that I'm going to try and think about something happy on Mondays because, well, they're Mondays! I guess I should share with you as, well, you have Mondays too! So today, what makes me happy is my yard. Specifically . . .

These Lantanas. They are gorgeous! So bright and happy! They are covering this little flower bed up front that gets ALL the sun. Nothing has survived there until we planted these. I love them! Also, here are our first changed leaves! There are a lot of dead ones on the ground, but these actually turned yellow before brown! (the picture doesn't really do it justice. They really are yellow. I promise) Hurray for autumn!!!

See ya!

REALLY late B-day!

So, I'm still working on Christmas stuff, and I still can't tell you about it, but I have a few things to show you. First of all, my Dad's birthday was in August, and I made him these pillows.

I made them for his office/man cave; he's really into history, so I thought that Buffalo Bill pillows would be perfect. But my mom ended up liking them too, so now they're on the couch in the living room. I guess you can never tell what people are going to like! I'm pretty excited!

Happy Late B-day Daddy :) Love you!

See ya!

Time-out

Yes, I've been a bad, bad girl. I haven't blogged in over a month! I've neglected my correspondence with my far-away friends (sorry Mary and Red). But worst of all, I've been a bad sister! I was supposed to get my block in the mail by the end of September, but it is just now going in. I'm SO SORRY DOREY! Hopefully by Monday it will be winging it's way to you with a couple of apology gifts. Here it is. The fabrics are so pretty!

It has been a crazy month, but instead of trying to catch you up on everything, I'll just go over a few highlights. I really enjoyed the Dallas Quilt Guild in September, and promptly joined, then missed the October meeting. The September speaker was amazing! If you ever have a chance to see David Taylor, don't miss it! I have pics, but I'll have to do those later. I also missed the Garland Quilt Guild October meeting and the Project Linus September meeting. My family came down for the State Fair . . . wow, the quilts were amazing! We also got to see the butterfly house, which I had never seen before!

I'm still working on Christmas presents, but I'm behind my self-imposed schedule. I'm also behind at work, but you don't want to hear about that . . . heck, I don't want to talk about that! So all in all, I'm behind. Here's hoping I find the energy to keep up with myself! Thankfully, tonight is craft night! Dang, that means I need to clean the house . . . excuse me while I go scrub the toilets!

See ya!

Slow Demise into Insanity!

So . . . It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been dealing with sensory overload here, so the blog kind of fell by the wayside. Let's see . . . my last blog was Aug 14 . . . but I didn't tell you much about August. Let's take this one thing at a time!

I told you about the guild meeting last month, so that's done. (Imagine me checking that off the list).

I told you about my new obsession with embroidery (check).

I went to the Plano Quilt Show, and it was AMAZING! That' s part of my sensory overload . . . I was there from 10-ish to 3-ish. Ridiculously amazing. I took pics, but it's too far gone. Maybe I'll get back to them someday. (check).

Beth and I also went to a Project Linus Meeting put on by Jennifer and Abby. I'm hooked . . . It is an awesome charity and it was so much fun to meet everyone and work together! You should really check it out. I have a couple blocks done for a group quilt we're working on and I have a kit I need to work on, too. I'll show you those pics soon. (check).

I got Dorey's material for my bee . . . I'll show you the block once I finish it. (check)

I finished my Dad's birthday presents, but he won't see them until this weekend, so you won't either. But I promise it will be here soon! (check)

Tuesday night was the Garland Quilt Guild Meeting. Beth couldn't come, but Abby came and joined! Yay! Now I have a new-member buddy. We sat with Cheryl, Marie, and Sharon (again). What a hoot! Those girls crack me up! The speaker was Betsy C. and she spoke about wool. The projects she brought were AMAZING. I caved and bought her book and a yard of lovely wool. Now . . . what to do with all that? I'm sure I'll think of something! (check)

The Wacky Garland Girls (see above) invited me to the Dallas Quilt Guild Meeting this evening . . . and I'm pretty pumped. We're meeting for dinner before hand, and I can't wait to learn all about the guild. It's supposed to be awesome! (check).

Finally, I have gone crazy. I realized what kind of work making everyone Christmas presents would entail . . . and I've decided to do it anyway. I now have a "Christmas Binder" that is with me EVERYWHERE, with a 4 month schedule and multiple lists. Lets keep our finger's crossed and the straight-jacket ready, OK? (check).

OK. I think we're all caught up. If I've left anything out, try Abby or Beth's blogs . . . they do most of the exciting stuff with me. I'll also try to keep you updated on the progress of my slow demise into insanity so we won't have to resort to another mass blog (with no pictures nonetheless. Scandalous!)

See ya!

Really Really Awesome!

I read Jacquie's blog regularly, and am so inspired by her. I really love her stuff! Well, today she had a link to this wonderful place, Iraqi Bundles of Love, and I've decided to join her. I think the whole thing is amazing, and I really want to help. I'm not even going to try and explain it, you should really go see it yourself. Even if you don't want to or can't help, it's really nice to see what people are doing over there! (I'm suppose to have a button in the right hand corner of my blog, but I can't figure it out, so I just linked it.) The link talks about quilting/sewing stuff, but they also would love to have knitting stuff, too. I'm really excited and will be (hopefully) getting this together this weekend. Just wanted to get this out there!

See ya!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow . . .

So, I've met someone. I'm so full of warmth and sunshiney-ness (word?) and color. Yes, I said color. This new love, this new found happiness, this new passion . . . is . . .

EMBROIDERY!

Gotcha! Like I could leave S :)

A few months ago (like 12) I decided I wanted to learn embroidery. I bought this book. It's AMAZING! It has really cute projects, which I will probably never do, but it's directions and stitch guide are really precise and clear. It really helped. I started out by doing "drills".

(Can you tell my mother made me practice spelling a lot . . . it's kind of sunk in!)

I have also bought a LOT of embroidery thread. It's not the nicest, or the most expensive, but it was a starter pack of 150 skeins for $15. I also bought bobbins and some binder inserts to keep them organized, but here they all are, in all their glory.

I love them. I keep wanting to run my fingers through them. My color pallet is usually pretty muted, but I think I'm coming around. I especially love the greens . . . and the blues . . . and the reds . . . and the oranges! You get the idea. I'm finally in love with color!!!!! I'm so excited!

I'm already working on one embroidery project, but it's going to be a Christmas present, so I can't tell you about it. But I've decided that I'm going to make everyone a personal ornament for Christmas. I'll show you the progress on those so you can see how I'm coming along. Right now I have the thread and material . . . and some ideas. I'll keep you updated! I'm pretty pumped. S says I'm doing really well, and he's proud of my project so far! I'm off to work on more practice . . . and to pet my pretty threads:)

See ya!

Guilding

That's what I do :) Tuesday night was my 2nd guild meeting. . . my FIRST as a member :) I'm RIDICULOUSLY excited! I have a name badge and everything . . . see?

Member #207 :)! I also won a door prize to a quilt shop in Lewisville, Quilt Country. I've never been there . . . but that will be rectified soon!

There was an interesting speaker, Pebble Rhem, about applique. Her quilts were AMAZING! It was insane! I also got to see Marie and Cheryl (Cheryl is the one I forgot last month) and met Hope and some other lovely ladies. (Sorry if I misspelled your names . . . let me know if I did). Marie did the awesome Geico quilt I told you about last month. It ROCKED! (Still does, I'm sure).

The BEST PART OF THE NIGHT, though, were my buddies! The SIL came with me, and we got to meet the awesome Abby! We met online, and have been emailing back and forth . . . it was so great to meet her in person! (She let me borrow her scissors . . . I think there's a BFF in the making here;)

Anyway . . . not much else. I meant to post this last night, but the power was out ALL NIGHT! I'll be back to update you on some projects later!

See ya!

Buzz Buzz!

I'm just a little black rain-cloud . . . hovering under the honey tree!



Poo's song. It's all I can sing when I think of bees . . . most of the time.



NOW . . . I'm in my own bee! Hurray:) I'm ridiculous amounts of excited! I'm having to dash this off at work, but I just wanted everyone to know!



We are the Quilting Sisters, and I have already spoken to Mother Meagan and Sister Dorey. We'll be introducing ourselves to each other over the next few days. You should TOTALLY check it out. Now that I have sisters and a bee . . . maybe I should change my blog name . . . I'm not exactly bee-less anymore!



Now I'm singing "How do you solve a problem like Maria"!

I wanna be a will0w-the-wisp! :)



See ya!

Christmas in July! (kind of)

I wrote this last week, just waiting for pics, hence the name.

So . . . ya'll know I'm a planner, right?

OK, OK, I know. I'm a liar. Let's try this again.

Ya'll know I WANT to be a planner, right? I LOVE to make lists and piles. I even have lists of the lists I need to make! Do they ever get completed? No. Not ever.

I'm also pretty good at biting off more than I can chew. I have these grand ideas of the way things should be, but they never quite stack up. This is especially true at Christmas. Well, this year is going to be different!! (Hey, no snickering. It really is!) I have decided on a "Hand-made Christmas"! Everyone will have something hand-made. I wanted EVERYTHING to be hand-made, but I'm at least a little realistic! So, to ensure my vision of the PERFECT Christmas, I am starting now. Actually, I started a few weeks ago, but haven't made much head-way. My list is growing, my crafty supplies are growing, and my mental state is deteriorating! J/K (for now!). So I may not be able to show you much of what I am making, since I'm not really sure who reads my blog and who doesn't. I don't much like surprises, but I at least like others to be surprised.

But I need your help! I stink at thinking up presents, especially for boys! Guys are hard to shop for, much less MAKE for! So, I have a few ideas, but I am DEFINITELY open for more! I have a father, a father-in-law, a brother, a brother-in-law, a grandfather and THE HUBBY! Just a little reference, the grandfather got a scarf last year, and the hubby is getting one before Thanksgiving (I hope!!!). Ideas? Thoughts? Prescriptions to make the Christmas voices go away?

Any-who. Here is something I can show you.

It's my HAPPY QUILT! So named by S. My color choices tend to be a little darker, a little drabber, so I decided that I needed something brighter! I was totally inspired by Posie. All her stuff (house, bed, pillows, ect) are so cheerful! So I got together all my brightest, happiest fabrics. There are NONE LEFT! My favorite part of the quilt is the back. (It's also a block or two on the front.)

It's a REAL LIVE vintage sheet! It's been my sheet for a long time. It's the first one I remember, and my favorite because it's been used so much and so often that it's worn down to the perfect softness level. I don't use it any more, as I've lost the fitted sheet and the pillow cases, but the flat sheet I still have. After showing my mom, she laughed and told me it was older than I thought. She got it for her wedding in 1976! Woo hoo! My first vintage sheet! Anyway, it's really soft, and perfect for me to snuggle up on the couch with. I'm totally in love. So the points aren't "pointy" and the binding is a little wonky, it's ALL MINE! (Mua-ha-ha)!

See ya!

Let's Play!

I found this on Happy Zombie's blog. I couldn't resist!

“Let’s Play”
Let’s Play rules: IT’S HARDER THAN IT LOOKS! COPY, ERASE MY ANSWERS, ENTER YOURS, POST IT ON YOUR BLOG, FACEBOOK, ETC. USE THE 1ST LETTER OF YOUR LAST NAME TO ANSWER EACH OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. THEY HAVE TO BE REAL PLACES, NAMES, AND THINGS. NOTHING MADE UP! TRY TO USE DIFFERENT ANSWERS IF THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU HAD THE SAME 1ST INITIAL.

Have Fun!!

1. What is your last name? LAMB
2. A 4 Letter Word? LIFE
3. A Boy’s Name? LAURENCE (as in Little Women)
4. A Girl’s name? LAURA
5. An Occupation? LEMON FARMER
6. A Color? LAVENDER
7. Something you wear? LACY UNDERTHINGS (what, this is hard!)
8. A Beverage? LEMON DROP (oh yeah!)
9. A Food? LIVER
10. Something found in the bathroom? LIPSTICK (ok, stretching it, but it's in my bathroom!)
11. A place? LIVERPOOL
12. A Reason for being late? LAZY
13. Things you shout? LIFE SUCKS! LAY-OFF! LOSER! LEMONY SNICKET! LOBSTER BISQUE! (yadda yadda yadda)

Tag. You’re it.

Fam-Damn-Tastic!

Here is the pic of the whole family I've been promising you!

Good looking family, no? YES! :)

Also, here are the baby gifts I've been promising you, too. This little guy (I'm sure) needed new stuff . . . because, honestly, everybody needs new TINY stuff!

I made 2 bibs (one with that awesome owl fabric) and 2 bags. I obviously don't know what a mom needs in her diaper bag, but, in my head, these bags can be used for an extra bottle and extra diapers. I hope Little Carter likes them. It was kind of fun to make such tiny things.

Anyway, it was a LONG week, and all this rain is making my head hurt, so this will just be a short post.

See ya!

Home again, home again,

Jiggity Jig!

We had a BLAST on vacation. We went to Beaver's Bend State Park in Broken Bow, OK with my parents and my brother and his wife. The park is gorgeous and the small town is so cute! I didn't catch any fish, but S caught 4, and I think that's awesome! Here he is with his last one!

Sweet little rainbow trout!

I'll post pics of the family later this week, my mom and SIL got the best ones, so I'll show you those when I get them. For now, I'll show you the view from our bedroom. Each bedroom in the cabin had it's own personal balcony, and ours looked out into beautiful woods. It rained Sunday and Monday, but only after we had gotten in for the evening, so that was OK . . . in fact, it made for a really lovely evening cuddling on the couch!
We went on a FABULOUS canoe trip (OK, so I didn't like this one as much as last year, but it was fun.) The company that took us has several trips, a 10 mile (all day), a 6 mile (half day), and a 4 mile (3 hours). Last year we did the leisurely 6 mile, with mostly calm waters and little paddling or maneuvering. THIS year we did the 4 mile with rapids and a small waterfall. It was quite stressful for an inexperienced paddler (ME)! Poor S had to calm me down, maneuver, get out and push, maneuver some more, push again, and make small talk with in-laws. He is SUCH a sport! So with all the fast movement, getting stuck, flipping the canoe over, and stress, I didn't get many pics. But I did snap a pic of the van that picked us up. The company is GREAT! We love them so much, we vow to use them every year!
Finally, S and I stopped in a little antique shop in Broken Bow on our way out of town, and I bought a quilt. I want SO BADLY to start an antique quilt collection! Have I told you this? I have 5 generations of family quilts, 2 of which need repairs and restoration. Well, I have vowed that anytime I see an old quilt for a good price, I'm going to pick it up. I saw an old quilt for$35 in the shop and SNAPPED IT UP, without checking it out first.

Now, I knew I should look at it. I looked at the other 3 in the ship, but for $200 a pop, I couldn't afford them (but they were gorgeous). This quilt is UGLY! (In case you couldn't tell). I really don't like it! It's a Double T, a temperance pattern from the 20s, but I'm PRETTY sure it's from the 80's as there are some hot pink and navy blue patterns mixed in (bottom left corner sashing). But the way I look at it, I have an ugly, not so antique, quilt that is worn down. I can use it to practice repairs and restoration on until I'm good enough to mess with the valuable quilts. So anyway, wish me luck!

I'll be back with more pics and some crafty stuff soon, I promise!

See ya!

Preparations

We're going on vacation on FRIDAY! WOO HOO!!!!! We will be in Oklahoma fishing with the fam! We went last year, and had a blast! Can't wait for a little R&R!

With that in mind, we are preparing for the vacation (hence the title) . . . have you noticed it's more work to get ready for vacation and return from vacation than it is on a normal week? I'm so frazzled!

Last weekend we went to El Campo for a buddies' wedding. It was a lot of fun and good to see everyone. We stayed with our good friends and got to see this little man.

Isn't he a heart-breaker? We expected to see several more buddies, including the friends who are suppose to receive the gift I previewed last week, but since they couldn't make it, I guess you'll have to wait another week until the post office can get it to them!

While we were getting ready for the trip Friday night (you know, laundry in the washer and dryer and pie in the oven) our electricity went out for an hour and a half! Basically ruined the pie! It came back on around 9:30 PM, and we had to leave at 7:30 AM, so we came home to a wreck. But for an hour and a half, that wreck looked pretty good . . . see?

So now I'm trying to clean up the house from last week. My mother-in-law is sweet enough to come take care of Ralphie while we're gone . . . but I hate to have her see the house messy. She is one of those women who ALWAYS has a perfectly clean house, no matter what. I don't know how she does it, but I have YET to find a spec of dust in that house! One day, I'm going to learn how to do it, but I just can't seem to crack it. My mom is the same way, and I'm totally jealous!

Finally, I'm gathering things for OK and putting them places I hope I won't forget them. I mean, I love my family and all, but I'm going to need some entertainment! In this pile, you will see 2 small quilts I need to bind, an embroidery project, and a knitting project (some are in bags). I also have 3 books and fishing equipment . . . I mean to relax the H*** outta this weekend!

See ya!

P.S. My best friend is moving back to Texas from Hawaii in November. Screams of excitement are emanating from Richardson . . . can you hear them? Whoop for all the "Monday Night Craft Night" gals being back in the same state :)

Catching up + guild!

Well, since I have been away so long, I have a little stuff to catch up on. Not much (as I'm pretty boring) but some stuff.

First, the two helpers at craft night. My Ralphie, and my SIL's "puppy" Kate!

Next, a sneak peak at a gift I'm making. More about it next week!
Now, on the the Garland Quilt Guild! First of all, I had a BLAST! These ladies were so much fun! Actually, it wasn't all ladies, I saw 2 men there. How cool is that? Also, the show and tell was GREAT! Such a great diversity of styles! I definitely have a lot to learn from them! I'm a little shy, so I sat WAAAAAAYYYYYYY in the back. But I sat next to a lovely lady named Mary who talked to me and explained things during the meeting. She was SO NICE! She was also sewing on binding the whole time . . . it was great! She is a long arm quilter, and her quilting was amazing! Near us was a lady named Maria (if I have these names wrong, I'm sorry. I'm so bad with names) and she made this quilt.

Here's a close up.
A Geico Gecko T-shirt quilt! Evidently she works for them, and it was SO CUTE! I love it!

Finally, the program was wonderful. This lady, Joan Howes, gave a wonderful speech on the History of Quilting in the US; something I'm very interested in.
Here is a close up of her oldest quilt, an applique from around 1850.All of her quilts were amazing; I wish I had sat closer. All in all, I loved it, and I'm very glad I joined. Maybe next month I'll find a small group to join. I'm still pretty pumped!!!!

Sorry it's such a long post, but I'm pretty excited! (if you couldn't tell). I leave you with a picture of the Mighty Hunter, camouflaged in her environment.

"You can't see me, but I can see you . . ."

See ya!

Tag with Red!

Rebekah tagged me with the following game . . . I've never done one before, so here goes nothing!

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1. Oklahoma Vaca with the fam!
2. Catching another fish in OK!
3. Canoing down the river!
4. SLEEPING on VACA!
5. Finishing the UFO that has plagued me for a while! Should be done this week!
6. August quilt guild meeting
7. Carlos Ruiz Zafon's new book
8. Quitting time! Woo hoo!

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. went to work
2. commuted WAY too much!
3. ate Jack in the Crack (and got sick, of course)
4. complained about needing a nap
5. blogged (for the first time in a long time)
6. lusted over these pillows
7. Went to my first Garland Quilt Guild Meeting
8. Joined the Garland Quilt Guild! Woo hoo!

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. start my own business/work from home
2. QUIT!
3. create crafty projects instead of copying them
4. see Red, Mary, and Fi more! :( I miss Monday Night Craft Night!
5. buy a TON of fabric, no budget worries
6. clean the house in under an hour (and have it stay clean)
7. lose 30 pounds
8. be more punctual (especially with gifts, I'm bad at late gifts)

8 Shows I enjoy:
1. Top Chef
2. How I Met Your Mother
3. Pushing Daisies (it's cancelled, boo!)
4. Life (it's cancelled too, NBC sucks!)
5. Masterpiece Theater (specifically, Ms. Marple and Poirot)
6. Psych
7. Burn Notice
8. Real Housewives of New Jersey (yes, I know it's a trainwreck, I can't help but watch!)

8 Friends I'm Tagging:
1. Beth
2. That's all I know! I need more friends, too!
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

More about the guild later, when I can upload pics.

See ya!

New adventures . . . dirty house!

I know, I know, I've been neglecting the blog (and no, the house is not clean yet) but I'm reaching that lovely state of not caring anymore. I've also been behind in crafting, I'm so un-inspired lately. But I have a few things to show you, but it'll have to wait until after this weekend as they are gifts. But I am going out tonight! Now, now, don't get too excited, I'm just trying out the Garland Quilt Guild, to see if it works for me. Maybe I'll have some exciting stuff tomorrow. I've gotta run!

See ya!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

Sorry for the long absence, but we've been trying to do some spring cleaning lately. Our summer seems to be pretty jam-packed already, plus work, so the cleaning is going pretty slowly and the crafting is non-existent. But I'll get back to it soon, I promise. One thing, though, I'm trying to think of something to make the little heart-breaker in my last 2 posts. He is SO SWEET! His mama can make MUCH better quilts than I can, so that's out, but I'm not sure what he needs or wants. Any suggestions? I hope we get to meet face to face soon, but if this d*** house doesn't get itself cleaned soon, I may never make it out again!

See ya (I hope)!

Carter Johnstone Hamm . . . part duex

Here's a picture! Hurray!!!! Isn't he a sweetie!

See ya!

Carter Johnstone Hamm

I don't have much time since I'm at work . . . but I'm too excited to not tell anyone. This morning at 10:15AM Carter Johnstone Hamm made his arrival! His Daddy says everyone is fine, and I'm EXTREMELY excited! I hope we get pics to show you soon. Woo hoo! It's a baby-palooza!!!!

See ya!

My humble opinion . . .

A few weeks ago I bought myself this book.

It is a BEAUTIFUL book . . . it's now on my coffee table! The pictures are wonderful and the stories are great.  It's a difficult book to understand, though.  Maybe I'm not quite to the level that they are writing to, but the book seems very wordy (yes, yes, I know. books have words).  It just gets a little confusing sometimes. I made a quick block from one of the prettiest quilts in it.

It's just a test block, so I used ugly fabric . . . don't go thinking that this is going to be a whole quilt.  I had to quit reading the text after a while, I got so frazzled.  So I looked at the diagrams and figured it out on my own (not that hard, it's an Ohio Star, and those are everywhere now). So maybe I won't be making the quilts in the book, but it's gorgeous just the same. I'm proud to have it on my table!

See ya!