{Wo} Man with a Plan!

First and foremost, sorry for the crummy pictures. My house is a cave today!

This weekend, I am a Wo-Man with a Plan! On Monday, my beloved Ernst is going to the spa. (Yes, I do name my sewing machines; yes, I do name them boy names; and yes, I did name this one after the smart kid on the Swiss Family Robison because Bernina is a Swiss company!) Since I will probably be 2 weeks or so without a machine, I need to get some things done in preparation of no machine!

Most importantly, I am going to use these pink and brown fabrics (from It's A Hoot by MoMo for Moda) to make 2 Wonky Cross blocks. My amazing friend Amanda from Panda Bear Quilts is making comfort quilts for her 2 nieces that lost their father suddenly and tragically. If you want to help out, or just read about it, you can here. It's a super easy pattern, so I'll just whip them up and send them to her on Monday!

I also need to catch up on my Lucky Star BOM by Don't Call Me Betsy! The March block is the Ninja Star, and just the name cracks me up! I need to get this done before the next block comes out on April 1.

There is a slight possibility I'll get this done. It's my monster Christmas Quilt from the DMQG round robin last year. If I can just finish the quilting and get the binding on, I can do the hand binding while Ernst is away. The problem is, I'm not nearly as far along as I remembered being. Hmmm. :/.  We'll have to see.

And if I get everything else done, and if I can work up my courage to try something new, and if all the stars align, and if I can procure enough wine, I might use this pretty fabric (Modern Blooms by Hoffman Fabrics) to whip something for Miss A to hunt Easter eggs in. Maybe.

And finally, I just wanted to show you something pretty! I got a gift card to my favorite online fabric shop, Pink Chalk Fabrics, for my birthday. I bought stuff for other projects, but I had to slip this bag of pretties into the cart just for me! I haven't even opened them yet! They just sit on my craft desk, making me happy. Maybe I'll bust them out while Ernst is away!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll let you know on Monday how it went!

See ya!

EL

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!

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 :)

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!

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!

Darling . . . it's been too long

I know, I know . . .  I'm a horrible blogger. It's been, what, 2 weeks? But it's been a crazy 2 weeks. Here's a quick recap:

Went to Austin to meet this sweet girl, Riley-

Here I am with Riley. She is so sweet. She's a month old and is SO TINY! She spent most of the time sleeping in her swing, or screaming in some one's arms, but she actually slept with me. Most babies tend to freak out when I hold them, but she didn't.  My cousin says it's because she's family, so she automatically loves me. I like that. I love her too.

And Daddy (mine) with Riley.

Momma and my grandmother (Nanny-Pud) with Riley. This is her ninth great grand child!

And lots of other wonderful family members, but only so many pics can fit. Came home on Monday and saw Red for the first time in like a year! I'm not showing that picture because I look like I've been shot at and missed and sh** at and hit. It's not a good picture. Then had the week from H E double hockey sticks at work (I don't like to talk about work, but believe me, it was bad.) Then, we got to see some more friends we hadn't seen in a while. . . Rockey, Lindsey and little Laney!

Isn't she precious? She's a year old, and she is the happiest baby I've ever seen!

Then the dishwasher died and Steven's shower exploded (not really, but it did require a plumber on Monday.) The new dishwasher came today, a week after it went out. I've been washing dishes by hand (it sucks, really bad). But its here now, so that's good.

Another, good thing, the flowers are blooming.

These are my dianthus. I LOVE THEM!

As I promised (so long ago) here is a sneak peak at my latest work in progress. I keep thinking I'm almost finished, but it never gets there. This is the first quilt I've made for someone who isn't family, so they don't have to love it. I'm extremely critical of it, and I'm not really loving it, but S thinks it's cool looking, so I guess it's OK. Maybe next week I'll have more pics for you. You can tell me your opinion.

By the way,"Hi" to Mary and Fi. They both have commented on the blog, but I don't have emails, so I can't say hi back. Love you and miss you both! Quilting hasn't been the same since our Monday Night Craft Night (and blenders of margaritas)!

See ya!