about keeping it real

I realize that with all these projects I post that it must seem like I craft all the time, which I sort of do, but not every waking moment! I just have a few things going for me. Firstly my kids are old enough that they play on their own a lot of the time, of course if Brady comes out and says, "Mommy I want you to play with me" I drop everything and go. But I honestly don't like to interrupt him when he is being creative because then he looks to me to run the game, and I don't want to hamper his little ideas!

Secondly the house has a nice enough set up that I can start something, walk away to change laundry or make lunch or wipe a bum, and come right back to it. Though that leads to my house looking a little, shall we say, CRAZY, for most of the time. Especially when I am knee deep in a new quilt. I will admit, I LOVE a neat house. Too much clutter and I tend to go from 0-60 in terms of sanity. I took a few pics this morning to show what the house looks like when I am working. Please excuse the gloomy day lighting.

To the right: sewing maching pulled out so I can watch TV with Keith and sew at the same time after the kids are in bed, ironing board and iron pulled out for easy access (currently home to yesterdays's lego creations), folded quilt needing to be shipped, unfolded quilt leftover from snuggling, dishes left on the table from breakfast, toy remnants from last nights adventures strung about the room, and grocery bags needing to be folded and packed away. Oh, and don't forget three balloon pumps for Keith's Deacons to blow use to set up for the Valentine's dance.

To the left: My snuggle quilt waiting to be basted and sewn, fabric scrap basket pulled down and strewn about in the search for cute things to be made into fabric flowers and such, laundry basket of clean and ready to put away clothes, bag of a bajillion balloons awaiting the pumps, and multiple piles of fabric for various projects in the works.

In a word, a giant MESS! It only stays like this for a day or so before I go crazy and can't take it anymore. But this way there are no grand illusions of perfection over here. Sewing this much takes a toll on the house, but I am always sure to put down the fabric, step away and take care of business as needed. I think that's the most important part, and the fact that my kids go to be so dang early (have I mentioned that? I have? Ah well, it's because I love it so! Is that bad?).

Now excuse me while I go clean. Haha, no really. Must. clean. now.

about some pictures

Right now I am sewing every free minute. It's fun, I have lots of projects lined up, and since I have decided to steer this blog in a different direction (more creativity and more kids, less randomness) here are a few pics from the last few days.

This is my stack of fabrics I just picked up for a quilt a long I am doing. It's for a special someone and I just know she will love it, I guess this is kind of a sneak peek for her!

Yesterday was so lovely, but I had so much laundry to do that I set the kids up outside with crafting supplies and a picnic blanket. It's nice that we live in a quiet neighborhood where I feel safe enough to let the kids outside without me. Of course the front door and window are wide open so I can see and hear them, but I think they like the sense of freedom to really be out there alone.

Last week while Keith was at work and scouts I put together this BIG quilt for him as a surprise. We each have our own special blankets on our bed and Keith has been sleeping with a fleece one that generates LOTS of static, especially in this cold weather. Needless to say it was time for a new blanket and I had gotten my hands on this awesome bright fabric and couldn't wait to put some of it to good use. I have officially decided I like to tie my quilts, they are so much more flimsy and cuddly when tied.

Luckily he loves it. The back is a super soft flannel. He has to be careful or I may steal it back, I really love this blanket!

about me right now

Getting to know you...getting to know aaaaaalll about you (or me actually)...

1. Favorite food of the moment: Costco berries. Cheap and super delicious. Oh, and I am constantly craving Chik fil-A chicken nuggets, though I don't eat those as often as I would like.

2. Things I watch first on my DVR: Bones new and old, How I met your Mother, and Vampire Diaries (don't judge).

3. Favorite accent color: Yellow. It goes well with all my aqua/teal/brown stuff, and it just makes me so happy to see a pop of yellow here and there!

4. Reading: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Keith got it for me for Christmas and I am trying to get started on it, should be good once I can get my brain back into a semi-thinking mode. I have been reading too much fluff!

5. Loving: this mild weather! I would love to live in a place where the weather never gets colder than 60 or hotter than 80, it's just magical here right now!

6. Running: a sweatshop in my home! So far this month I have completed 3 quilts from start to finish and tonight after the kids are in bed I will probably start on a fourth. I also just got some new material (JoAnn's just restocked their shelves, SUCH cute stuff there right now!) for a girly play mat for a friend.

7. Favorite songs on the radio: Use Somebody by Kings of Leon, What do you want from me by Adam Lambert, I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas (that one just doesn't get old).

8. Very happy about: Feeling good in my skin, and knowing that I AM a good Mom, even if I yell sometimes and even if I probably get a little too excited about my kids 6:30 bedtime. Yes, SIX THIRTY! (It keeps getting earlier!)

9. Also loving: the regularity of our days. We have somewhat of a routine going now, and it helps me with my stress levels. It's nice that Keith gets home semi-early most nights, and I seem to be much more productive now that Brady is in school twice a week.

10. Putting off: doing the mountain of laundry that is threatening to take over my bedroom. I think I will make some peanut butter cookies instead!

about my thrifting finds

It's still too cold for some serious garaging yet, but Friday Brady and I had 40 minutes to kill after helping at Nat's school before we could head back there and pick her up. There is a place off Arkansas just west of Roosevelt called The Estate Warehouse, and I like to pop in there every once in awhile to see what they might have. Friday when we drove up this baby was smack in the front of their warehouse section and it just spoke to me. I knew that if it was clean and the price was right she was coming home. It was both of those things, and I was over the moon!

We just had my parents in town and Keith and I were talking about our seating, or lack thereof, and we added a chair to my list of things to hunt for. It's like it was meant to be. The chair is seriously like new, a good maker, super comfy and an easy enough design that I can slip cover it when the country blue plaid starts to irritate me. But for now we just love our giant chair! Hopefully as the weather starts to warm up I will be able to share more of my good deals, but hopefull I can also inspire some of you to get out there and get hunting! You never know what you will find!

Oh, and there's a little sneak peak for Lori of a certain quilt that may or may not be FINISHED and in the mail SOON!!

about Natalie

She's such a funny little girl I just had to share. Right now her neck hurts so she is walking around holding a tissue on it. Oh, and her two top front teeth are loose. Be prepared for some serious cuteness from her here in a week or so. I am already giddy with anticipation of what she is gonna look like!

Here she is all dressed for time warp day at school. No poodle skirt, but I still thought she was adorable.

All dressed up for mis-match day. It was fun to mix patterns, I think her clothes look pretty darn cute like this!

And for those who haven't seen it, here is her Kindergarten school picture. So perfectly Natalie! Haha!

about life and general randomness (and a very long post)

Right now life is good, very good, TOO good. You know that feeling you get when everything is going just swell, but you have a niggling sensation in the back of your mind that something craptastic is gonna happen soon? Well, I have that sensation, but so far I have been able to push it deep into my brain and not worry about it! Which makes for pretty smooth sailing.

I finally figured out the number one reason why I don't blog as much anymore. I don't like what blogger does to my pictures, when they upload they are all out of order and weird, and it takes so much time to get them the way I want them that I just skip it! I really need to start posting more, but I just love having illustrations!

Natalie taught herself how to tie her own shoes yesterday, her method is a little wackadoo, but it gets the job done. I am so proud of her, every day I ask her how her day at school was, and the other day she said, "they are all good days now Mom!" Whew! It took her a little longer than I hoped, but she has finally settled down into her new school, and made some good friends, and is learning so much it astounds me! It's funny when I look at her, I see a mini me. It's actually more scary than funny, but I have to remind myself to laugh at her rather than yell at her, and it makes life much more bearable.

Brady turns 4 in one month. I am seriously not ready for that. He will always be my baby, and though I need to treat him like a big boy more often, I think he knows that in my heart he will always be my baby boy. For the last 2 weeks he has woken up dry every morning. Of course this coincides with me purchasing some cloth diapers for him to wear to bed, so sadly they are unnecessary now, but I will just put them in my growing drawer of baby things and hope that one day I have another little bottom that needs them!

Yesterday the plan for the day was to lay around and be lazy. I asked Brady what he wanted to do and he said, "play some games, do some puzzles, have some cuddle time, watch a movie wif ya, and that's it!" Uh, yeah. I love that kid so much!

Oh, and the sewing. I am seriously running my own sweat shop over here! I am cranking out a quilt for my Step mom and have 5 more waiting in the wings. Not to mention skirts, coasters, and other odds and ends I want to try my hand on. It helps me that the kids go to bed so early, I am able to get a few solid hours of sewing done each night (if I don't sneak off to bed to watch Bones instead). Also since the kids love to color and craft I am able to find time during the day to be with them, but also creating! I do love that we are a crafting family.

I guess I should update about the big man too. Keith is working hard as normal, loving on his PS3, praying that the Cowboys will win the next game (and the next and the next!!), and taking care of us. We have really settled into a routine that has made it possible for us to have more time together and it has been really nice. Some of my most favorite times of the day are when I have dragged my sewing machine into the living room and I watch Keith play his game while we chat and I sew. Or we snuggle up and watch Bones (best. show. ever.). I have gotten to really rediscover why he became my best friend all those years ago, and it feels wonderful!

Wow, obviously I have a lot of pent up writing and blathering to do! This became much longer than I intended. And I really do want to start doing shorter more frequent posts. If I get the energy I may even post pictures later today!

about some quilting

Or how I spent my winter vacation. I finished 2 and a half quilts before the kids went back to school on Monday. Of course the two were already quilt tops waiting to be made into blankets, but still, they are done! This green one I did from scratch starting Christmas break, it's for a friend and her new wee bundle of joy. The color is a little skewed in the pics because I took them in the morning dark light of winter, but I assure you. It's cute!

I love the pieced back! It's like two quilts in one. Plus it helps use up all the extra yardage I end up with since I never buy specific amounts.

I have had this purple quilt and back sewn for ages, and so finally I turned it into a blanket. I made this with no one specific in mind, I just fell in love with the material. It's the second quilt top I made since I really started up with sewing, and it kinda shows in the workmanship (meaning the squares don't all line up), but I think the material overshadows any imperfections. Plus it was made with love!

And I love the back! I used green thread to quilt it, so it's a very nice contrast, the pictures don't really do the color justice, the purple is much more deep.