WIP Wednesday - time for catching up

Summer is in full swing here and things are finally starting to settle down a bit. I realized this morning that I haven't posted a WIP Wednesday in...well...forever!  I actually have several things to share and my posting is further behind than my projects - which is nice for once!

My last update was February.  Yes, February.  I'm such a slacker...  So, I'm going to go beyond what I've done in the last week...but don't worry, I won't let the post get that long.  :)

In Progress

Oh My Stars QAL:  Yes, the actual QAL finished a long time ago, and I still only have a few stars.  I've completely changed direction here, though.  I've exchanged the white backround I was using for a dark gray.  Can't remember the color...one of the Free Spirit ones.  Still using Terrain and I've managed to create quite a stash of it in the past few weeks.  Fat Quarter Shop had it half-price and I also snatched up some at a local fabric shop.  I may qualify as a hoarder now.





Paintbox Quilt:  Squares are steadily coming in from my TwitterB group.  Only a few more outstanding.  I'm going to have to supplement with my own blocks, but I'm good with that as I need to dig into my stash to make room for new fabrics.  :)





Tangled Webs Pattern:  Still working on this, but I have made a big decision.  The pattern will be FREE.  I've debated it for several weeks and "decided" I should charge for it because of the time involved, but it never felt right.  I've grown my skills thanks to the generosity of other bloggers and I feel that my first pattern should be a thank-you gift of sorts.  So...be watching for my pattern soon.  :)

Sherbet Socks: The initial motivation for learning to knit was socks.  No matter what time of year, my feet are always cold.  I hate cold feet.  I want knit socks.  Warm, toast, colorful knit socks.  Well, I've finally (five months later!) started a pair.  I love the fun colors. (BTW - the pic is old...they are halfway down my foot now. )  :)








Sewing Room:  Work has started on finishing up my sewing-room re-do.  All of my stuff is out of the room and I hope to finish pulling border down tonight and paint tomorrow.  I made a little schematic on Monday so I could play around with furniture placement.  (I told y'all I'm a little OCD...).  The back page is the room - to scale, of course - and the top is my furniture pieces.  I then cut them out and move them around.  Like a puzzle, I guess.





Finishes

Charmed Prints Quilt:  I actually finished this in April, but haven't posted.  Pics and a full write-up soon.





Prince Charming Quilt Top:  I finished my Quilt Top last month in hopes of having the quilt done in time for Tula Pink's visit.  No such luck on finishing the quilt, but she did sign the label I made.  Now, to get to the long arm!





Tropical Tote:  This was last week's easy Saturday project.   The boys left on a two-week trip to Michigan and I needed some sewing therapy.  Tutorial will be up next week.






and finally.... Baseball!  We finished up the Spring baseball season on Friday.  Both boys' teams finished in second place in their divisions.  So proud of them and all of their hard work.  They both want to be pitchers and are well on their way.  It's wonderful to watch them excel at things they love.  :)






Would love to hear what you've been up to... don't forget to link up with Lee!!







 

date night

One of the hardest adjustments to full-time work and full-time school is the lack of family time.  While I miss it, it is easy for an adult to justify.  "Just one year," I keep repeating, and I know in my heart it's a good thing.

But my kids miss their mama.

To counter act the time, and to be sure my kids still will still know my name when I finish school, we implemented date night.  Every other week, I take one of my boys out for dinner.  Just me and him.




Last week, I took out my oldest.  He's the quiet one, so I'm actually more concerned about losing touch with him.  He's 11 now, and I know the teen years will be here much too soon.  Gotta start focusing on that relationship now.  Like, yesterday now.

Tonight, my youngest and I are going out.  He's the spunky one.




Those of us in the south are familiar with the term "talk your ears off".  As in, "that boy will talk your ears off".  That's him.  Never met a stranger, never been shy.  Pretty much says anything and everything that's on his mind - whether you want to hear it or not.

Wonder where he get's that from?   ;o)

Enjoy your night!!!

 

Rock On! - another quilt finished

My son is a nut.

Everyone that knows us just muttered, "well, duh," and everyone that *really* knows us is thinking, "and I know who he gets it from...".

About 10 minutes after I gave my oldest son his quilt last summer, Trenton asked me when he would get one.  Having learned from previous mistakes, I made no promises but told him he would get one someday.   He wouldn't let up.

Fast forward to January and I was fabric shopping (gasp!) and I came across an amazing bundle at Fabricworm called "Folk Rock".  About the same time, I found an awesome pattern in a magazine.  So I paired the bundle with some Kona solids, a Michael Miller for backing and off I went. 

The top came together quickly, even with a few mistakes.  (Always, always check the pattern!)  And I actually finished the top in early February.  One month - not bad.  But then...blammo.  Crazy kid enters the scene.

As I'm showing off the quilt top to him, he looks down at the floor and sheepishly states, "You know, Tanner got his quilt for his birthday...".

"What do you mean," I ask, slightly panicked but mostly confused.

"Well, he got his quilt for his birthday"  (Oh, thanks for the clarification, dear.)

"So...are you saying you don't want yours until your birthday?"

"Yeah.  I think that would be good."

*sigh*

Now, any smart mama would go ahead and finish, then pack it away.  After all, his birthday is in August, and this happened in February.  Not me.  Never, ever have I claimed to be a smart mama.  Nope.  I tucked it away.

Fast-forward a few months and he's changed his mind yet again.  So, I yank out the top and get back to work.  I made up some wild-eyed crazy graphic for the back, which ended up being chucked for a simpler design and made an appointment with the long-arm machine only to be turned away when I got there. (Yes, I nearly cried.)  Finally got it quilted in July; finished the binding this week.

And here it is.... "Rock On!"



Unfortunately, I don't remember what fabrics were in the bundle...other than All Star by Riley Blake.  The guitars are Michael Miller, and Trenton picked those out himself.  In fact, it was the inspiration fabric.  He doesn't play any musical instruments, unless of course, you count the air guitar.  He's a pro at that one.



You can see the simplified version of the back above; I didn't have enough fabrics from the front leftover for the back. The label is below.



The label quotes Psalm 92:1-2 and ends with a note from me, "Your exuberance and spirit bring a smile to my face and happiness to my life. May God always fill your heart with joy." And I mean every word.

Trenton always keeps us guessing and more often than not we're laughing at his crazy antics. Just last night, we go out to shoot a pic or two and, suddenly we're in the middle of a professional photo shoot. Well, in his mind anyway. "Do this", "Now silly-face", "Here's like I'm getting ready to lay down." And so on, and so on...







Do you believe me now?  ... my son's a nut.



But he's my nut... and I love him.

Atlanta weekend

This past weekend was absolutely fabulous. Some time ago, we had planned on getting together with my best friend and her family for a Braves game. Our kids are big Braves fans (as am I!) so we headed down for a game last Friday night.






Thanks to the uber-fabulous Alisa, our seats were amazing...just up from home base, on the third base side. Our only disappointment was that Chipper Jones and Brian McCann didn't play. But - we did get to see Jose Constanza's first major league hit, which was awesome.

Tanner had noticed him earlier because of his speed - the guy was booking it down the baseline! He decided that he wanted a Constanza jersey because he was impressed that he didn't back down, despite getting out at first at least twice. Right after Tanner told me he wanted the Constanza jersey, the hit came. Nice.

About the same time, the Tomahawk Chops *finally* started... Tanner had gotten a bit worried that they wouldn't do one.  I assured him that we would and, sure enough, they started in about the 7th inning.  The game had been scoreless up to that point, so it was nice to see the crowd come alive.




Saturday morning, after a significant delay thanks to my dead car battery, Ash and I headed out to Intown Quilters in Decatur, a local quilt store my friend Chris had recommended. Oh-my-word it was fabulous. The LQS's around here are good, but nothing like this. I'm now very jealous of all the quilters in the Atlanta area. Of course, I just *had* to add to my stash...who can leave a fabric store empty handed??

I ended up with four half-yards of Tula Pink's Prince Charming, for a living room quilt, a half yard of some Soul Blossoms for my ever-growing stash of that line, and a half-yard of one of Joel Dewberry's Aviary that will be part of another quilt for Matt, and four LouLouthi fat quarters 'cause I liked them.  :)   I also picked up some Aurifill thread to try, which really wasn't as crazy-expensive as I was expecting given all the hub-bub I'm hearing, some Best Press, because I can't keep my homemade starch from molding, and some embroidery needles.  Still left with a tab of under $100, which was my goal.  Score!!




After jumping my car yet again at the shop, we headed out to meet some of Ash's friends for lunch, then it was on to Stone Mountain which, unbeknownst to me, had a little amusement park. Matt and I had visited before, while on the way to New Orleans for our honeymoon. Apparently, a lot can change in 14 years...LOL.

14-years later...and still schmookies.  :)

I highly recommend the area for good family fun. It was a bit crowded, but not so much that you had to wait for hours to do things. The big hit was the Sky Hike, a contraption you will NEVER find me on. It is a conglomeration of steel, ropes, harnesses, and tracks at death-defying heights - about four stories up - that made me swoon. (Literally - I thought I'd pass out when they first got up there.)




Although Matt and Trenton got stranded by some lightning in the area, the workers let them come back later, at the head of the line, which was wonderful. The funniest part is how I could hear Trenton, but couldn't understand him. Probably a good thing, because I'm quite certain he was cussing in his own little way.




All in all, it was a wonderful weekend - even with the car trouble. The kids got along fabulously and the weather was great. We're pretty much hooked on MLB now and are already thinking about our next trip down. We even thought about tweaking our plans and buying last-minute tickets for Sunday's game, but decided it would be far too late getting home.

Thanks, Atlanta, for an awesome weekend!

take me out to the...

Ball Game!!

Last night, the boys and I went with my dad to see the local minor league team play. We got a new stadium last year and my dad had never been. Plus, he had group seats with a local credit union, so we got food, drinks, a hat and other cool things. Well, since we love, love, love baseball and we love, love, love Grandpa, we jumped at the chance for a night out.  :) 

The new stadium is wonderful. The old one was nice but, well... old.  Here's a good pic of the new one (swiped from the internet).

pic from davenportworld.com

(Incidentally - see the white, domed building in the background?  That's where I work.)

On the way in, Tanner was stopped and asked if he would like to play one of the between-inning games.  Naturally, he said yes, so they had him in the sack race in the middle of the fourth inning.  Here he is waiting to go on the field...





And here's the race!





He had a blast!

When we got back to our seats, he gave Trenton his prize, which seemed to totally make-up for Trenton not being picked for a game (we're still working on the "be happy for others" attitude with him).






We also found one of Tanner's friends who just happened to be there with one of our church groups - and rescued him, as he was the only kid with a group of adults...LOL!!





We had good seats down the first base line, but we chose to stay at the outfield table where we ate because the breeze was much better.  Last I heard it was 92 degrees at game start, and we felt a farther-away seat with a breeze was better than sitting closer in the stands surrounded by people.





We ended the day with the 7th-Inning stretch, tons of peanuts and Friday night fireworks.





Oh yeah.... and the home team won!!!

Next Friday - Turner field, baby! We're going down to Atlanta with friends. See, I told you we have baseball fever!

39.... and holding?

Today is my 39th birthday.

Truly.  Not a 39-again birthday.  But I can't help but think of how many people really do have 39-again birthdays.  I almost feel like I have to say "for real" or "honest" afterwards because so many people stop at 39 and well... hold.

But I don't think that's for me.

The last 39 years have been amazing.  I can't even put into words how much I've been blessed.  And the last decade has simply been the icing on the cake.  And if you know me, you know that's my favorite part of the cake!  :)

Thirty saw me coming out of newlywed stage with a 2 year-old.  Matt threw me a surprise birthday party and I still remember the shock nearly 10 years later.  We'd been living in this house two months when I turned 30, and we've slowly made it a home, but still aren't done.  We've welcomed another son and said goodbye to some wonderful people, both young and old.  I've cried with friends over babies who died the same day they were born and celebrated 90th birthdays with others.

I finished grad school and now prepare to go down that road again in the fall.  I started my current job and began to move up in my career, including some amazing leadership roles that I still can't believe I hold.  Makes me wonder what is ahead, though I must admit I'm looking forward to a slow-down.

In that same decade, we started homeschooling and changed churches.  We teetered through the awkward months of settling into me working and Matt staying home.  Worth.  Every.  Minute.  We found our niche at the new church and became active without being exhausted.  Such a fine line.

We started our annual Hatteras trips.  Need I say more?

We've made new friends, and stayed close with old - and I cherish them all.  A few will be at my house tonight, my birthday wish.  Really.  It's what I wished for when Matt asked me what I wanted.  I adore my friends.  They're real.  They're honest.  We share our struggles and heartaches and we share our good times, too.  Tonight, I'll just soak it all in.  I just wish they all could be here.

But with all that said, if my thirties are any indication of how my forties will be, I say bring it....I'll be ready to celebrate.  :)

Blowing out 12 candles - 3+9.  No way I was putting 39 on there!

landscaping update

So here I sit in the land of sickening irony... and governing it all is my friend Murphy.

I had this fabulous post all planned out, showing you my landscaping progress.  How I went from this...

to this..

I was going to show you my before pictures....

And talk about all the in-between pictures...

But then THIS happened.... 

Some storms came through North Carolina on Saturday...not big ones, really.  We've had much worse.  A "watch" popped up on my weather radio and I checked the radar.  A wall was moving towards us, but no warnings.  We were going about our business.  No thunder, no lightning.  Then "BAM!!".   So loud that my husband ran in and shouted, "I'm OK, I'm OK!!" because he knew I'd be freaked out.  He had been outside watching the trees and had to duck for cover.

Twenty minutes later, the warnings came out - for counties to the east.   At least they had warning.

The limb hit the corner of our roof and slid down the side of the house - knocking things off my son's wall, while he was in the room.  (Yeah - this mamma's still a little freaked about that one.)

The damage to the house appears fairly minimal, which we are very thankful for.  One of our neighbors had a chainsaw out yesterday cleaning up a limb in his yard.  Lots of old trees in this neighborhood.  Fortunately, his was only in the yard and did not his his house.

Of course, we're also super thankful that Matt and Trenton made it inside (they were both outside) and Tanner wasn't hurt given the tree just missed his bedroom window. (I was in the basement sewing, of course....LOL!)

My plants on the other hand, didn't fare as well.  This is what it looked like after Matt moved the limb.

I had planted three peonies.  One came out unscathed.  This one was hit, but probably will make it.  Just the outer stems snapped.

This little guy, though... not much hope.  All stems were snapped right at the base.  I left it planted; maybe the roots will shoot up new stems. 

Not really sure how the two below will turn out.  It's upsetting, too, because they were the ones showing the most growth.  I've cut the broken stems off now, and they are about half their original size.   *sigh*

Again, though, it could have been much worse, so I'm just frustrated more than upset.    We try to make our yards look better, but nature comes and knocks us back.  All four of us got out and cleaned up things yesterday (I have the best family EVER!) and it looks good again.  All the stray sticks and leaves are now in the burn pile.  :)

So, here's to some healthy rains and warm sun - maybe my plants will make a comeback afterall. And here's to a safe, in-the-basement, sewing room, where I can hang out and pretend that storms don't exist.  :)