Am I crazy?

Am I crazy? Maybe I am. But I haven't been feeling like I've had much of a chance to express the creative side of me for about six months. I think it's time to begin again.

I was lurking around on people's blogs today, and came across a quilt-along, a free motion quilt-along at that. I debated with myself for about 1/2 an hour -

"Do I really need ANOTHER project to be working on?"

"Don't I have enough already in my life with an almost 4 year old redhead, a 10 year old daredevil, a full time job, a busy church commitment, and a house to (try) and keep clean?"

"My free motion quilting sucks - do I really want to put it out there for people to snicker at? And on solid fabric too??"

"Do I really want to spend my hard-earned allowance money on more fabric?"

But, as I looked more and more at the requirements page, I decided I just need to do it. And, I have to say, the 15% off from Pink Castle Fabric was a nice incentive, too!

So I've got fabric coming in the mail, I need to peruse my stash for backing material, and start putting my scraps of batting together to use up all those small scraps I've got! And, hopefully sometime in 2012, the Smith family will have a new quilt to love and snuggle with.

I like the process pledge on the bottom of the Quokka Quilts website. Basically it says that instead of just showing the finished project, us quilt artists need to show the process, good or bad, in getting to the finished quilt. So, you can look forward to posts here on the ol' blog showing the progress made on this quilt...and get a chance to do a little laughing in front of your monitor at my attempts at free motion quilting. At least I won't be able to hear you, thank goodness! :)

Class of 1986

OK...does it mean I'm getting old when a song from my high school days is played on the "oldies" station????

Hot!

I guess I didn't have to bring the winter coat to Utah - It's hot here!!

We're here for Brent's Father's funeral. Not a fun trip, but a necessary one. We'll be back to cool Salem in a while!

Sad.

Our family is experiencing a bit of a crisis. Brent's father is really, really ill, and is now on hospice care at home. We know he will soon be gone from this world. Brent hasn't lost either one of his parents, so this is especially difficult for him. Also, his father's passing will be the first of that generation, meaning that none of Noel's brother or sisters have passed yet.

Brent was able to make a quick trip to Utah to spend some time with his father and to help him get some affairs in order. He said the highlight of his trip was having a father's blessing given to him by his dad - even though his dad was weak and barely able to hold his hands on his head. He was able to give a blessing to three of his four sons, and that was special for Brent and Braden to be a part of that.

Brent took Braden with him, and was able to spend some quality time with him, besides Braden being a safeguard against falling asleep at the wheel. They broke the new car in rather nicely.

Having this situation come up has made me rethink the circumstances of my own father's death. His was a quick passing - one minute he was here, the next he was gone, without any warning to his family that he would be leaving us. So, now our family gets to experience the other end of the spectrum - the parent who leaves in stages. They are both painful in their own ways.

So, I guess that's it. Not exactly a happy post, I know. Sometimes it's good to just write it all out. Our hearts are heavy here at the Smith home, but we know we will see our loved ones again, and that is a blessed comfort. Endure to the end...that is our challenge. I have faith we'll make it.

Giving Comcast the boot?

Did you receive your cable bill today? I did...and noticed Comcast is once again raising prices on just about everything. Including internet prices.

So, has anyone out there had experience with Clear or Century Link and their internet services? Any suggestions on who to research...or suggestions on who to avoid?

Seen around town...

At 17th & State:

Love it!

This is ADORABLE!



Go to: SnowyBliss to learn how.

Anybody have a cake pop maker I can borrow????

Dear Baby Oil,

Please tell us what you're made of. We're almost too scared to ask.

Sincerely, Vegetable Oil and Corn Oil

This is awesome!

Click here

Day Camp

Hey! Got to spend a fun 1/2 day with my favorite Cub Scout at Cub Scout Day Camp this morning. What a awesome fun time we had!

I'll post some pictures later today!

Happy Father's Day!

:(

Well, here we are. The calendar says it's June 15th. The quilt for my naked bed was supposed to be finished by June 5th. A lofty goal, since I only had 1 month to make it happen.

I didn't make it.

I did, however, buy all the fabric (hand dyed-pretty!), set the color with color fixative, washed it, ironed it, cut it into squares, paired them up and sewed them to make 1/2 square triangle blocks, cut them apart, and actually did finished three whole blocks.

And now, all I have to do is finish up the rest of the blocks - square them up, which means cutting off teeny tiny slivers of material to make the square square, then sewing 16 of them together to make a block. And repeating 53 times.

So, no, I didn't get my quilt done by the time the contest ended, but I am well on the way. And, with any luck and some free weekends ahead of me, I will have a new quilt for my naked bed before the rainy fall weather arrives. That is, if summer ever decides to arrive! But that's another story...

So silly!

My mom just sent me a news story about a guy that has a teenaged son. The son's bus route goes right by their house, so the dad decided he'd wave to his son in the morning...in a creative way each day.

Here's the blog if you'd like to review the costumes:

http://waveatthebus.blogspot.com/

And, here's an article on the Deseret News website:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705374377/Embarrassing-waving-dad-has-gone-viral.html

Happy World IPv6 day!

What is that? Click and read the below link:

IPv6 here

Then come back and test your connection by clicking here:

Test IPv6 here

Interesting!

While I'm busy working on the quilt top for my naked bed...here's some eye candy for you to look at instead. Oh wait, I bet most of my blog readers are female. Well, here's an interesting site to look at: Before/After Pin up girls.


Found this site via Epbot (see my list of friends) Interesting to see how the artists drew the models and changed a few things to make them decent pin ups.

http://imgur.com/a/mc1fT#bSCRY

Luke Skywalker Day

May the "fourth" be with you.

Link


(But what I really want to know is there a Han Solo day?)

I'm committed

OK, I've got a goal! Time to get working!!

Today, I read a newsletter that came from my favorite fabric store (Cotton Patch). One of the things I like about the newsletter is Lauren's links. She posts quilting links she finds around the internet. She posted one today about a naked bed - what? How interesting! I had to click on the link.

The naked bed challenge is simple - sometimes, us quilters, are so busy quilting for others that we never get our own bed dressed (I'm so guilty of this!) This challenge gives us 2 months to get a quilt top done for our own bed.

A bonus contest is for those with artistic flair - if you design your own quilt top, you get entered into a second, larger contest.

So, now, I'm committed. I added my name to the list. Now I need to get cracking. Updates here on my blog as I go ahead!

whizzing right along...

Life has been SO crazy lately! Haven't had time to quilt, post on my blog, clean house, or do anything, I swear! :)

I did, however, find the greatest blog, and have been enjoying reading it. Their posting on the "bedlamites" is hilarious! Especially since I have a red-headed one of those living in my house.

Enjoy along with me: http://www.sistasinzion.com/

Update: Just got an e-mail from my mom reminding me that SHE found this blog first, and had forwarded an article to me from it. Sorry for the slight, Mom. I didn't mean to not give you credit - I just got so engrossed in reading I forgot where it came from.

Again...

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. My sinus infection is back again, and I'm on round 2 of the antibiotics.

I haven't felt well enough to do anything except take care of the kids and sleep. You should see my house! Well, maybe you shouldn't.

More to come on our new exciting adventure with the Spanish branch...

Pretty!

Did anyone else see that beautiful rainbow yesterday?

I was in line waiting to pick up Braden from school, when it began to rain, then hail, then rain again. When I drove around, I saw the most beautiful triple rainbow. Two of them were very close together, and the other was above.

Unfortunately by the time I got home to my camera, they had almost faded to nothing.

Still, they were beautiful to see!

:(

Oh, Amazon, I adore you about 95% of the time.

This is one of the 5% that makes me frustrated!


Why, oh why, did you have to damage the book I wanted to keep as nice as possible for as long as possible?

I bet if I had ordered "Our Best Bites - Mormon Moms in the Kitchen" from Deseret books, this wouldn't have happened!

It's confirmed...

I'm sick.
Sick.
Sick.

Today is the first day all week I've actually felt well enough to sit up and type for a few minutes.

Went to the doctor this morning and got anti-biotics.

Should be up and around again in a few days.

Thank heavens for visiting teachers that know how to make really yummy chicken noodle soup, and aren't afraid to bring it over! I'm so thankful for her!!

On my mind...

We rented this movie this weekend.

I can't get it out of my mind! My mind keeps thinking of all the different levels this movie twisted and turned, and at the end, I'm still not sure if it was all a dream, or reality. Maybe that's what the director was hoping for. Brent and I sure were on the edge of our seats for this one.

Have you seen it?

What did you think about it?

?

Is it OK to let your daughter wear her pajamas and ballerina tutu dress all day? Especially if your daughter requests it??

Another project - Love this one!

Well, here it is...finally completed! My 2011 addition to our Valentine's decorations - a table runner!

About two weeks ago, I won a charm pack from this blog: A Quilting Life Out of 592 commenters, I was the winner!!!

I absolutely adore charm packs, and love creating with them, because I'm really enjoying the scrappy look right now. I have a Little Charmers book I've been dying to work out of, so when I received the charm pack, I got the book out right away and began planning...
I like the way it turned out, except for the binding...I may pick it out and do it all over again, but probably after Valentine's day! Love these color combinations - especially the pistachio green - who would have guessed it would look good in a Valentine's project??!

Thanks, Sherri, for hosting in the Be Mine blog tour - I had fun playing along!

Happy Ground hog Day!

If this is too small for you to enjoy, please click on this link: Groundhog!

And, Phil, did NOT see his shadow this morning, so according to the folklore, good bye winter, hello early spring! Which should come as a relief to all those poor people on the East Coast experiencing the worst storm ever!

Yay!

I can post this now! This is one of the things I was busy with at the beginning of the month, but couldn't post about until now. Here's my version of the Charlotte skirt that I tested:I had fun with this skirt! I was actually able to use material I already had in my stash (yeah!) I went out to buy elastic, and the pom-pom trim saw me and began calling my name "Charlene...buy me...I would look great on that skirt...please take me home with youuuuu....." I gave in, and brought it home with me.

A close up - this skirt featured pull-ups for a fun detail on the hem.

It was perfect for twirling, too!

So now you know what Alexia will be wearing for Valentine's day. :) I'm sure you'll be able to ask her to twirl, and she'd be happy to oblige!

Squiggly Twigs Designs

Special Night!

Oh, wow! What a special night we had tonight!

Braden was awarded his Wolf Patch at Pack meeting. Yay, Braden!

It also was the Pinewood Derby tonight. Braden and Brent worked on the car on Saturday, I helped Braden paint it yesterday, and today Brent and Braden put the wheels on, and added some wood screws for weight to get to 5 ounces.
His car won the "Best Hardware" award!
Oh, and what's this???Is that Braden's name in first place??? Why, yes, yes it is!

His car set a new track record - 198.2 MPH. It was a special night, indeed!

So funny....

My mom showed me this video...so funny! Enjoy!!

Gnocchi Fail!

quilt...

One of my resolutions for this year is to finally work on all those UFO's I have in my sewing room - you know, UnFinished Objects?


Well, I guess for me when I make a resolution, I'm either tempted right away to break it or given an opportunity to keep that resolution right away!

One of Brent's co-workers is having a baby next month. They held a baby shower for her today at work.

Brent came home on Tuesday and told me about the shower. Oy! Luckily I had the blocks for this quilt already cut out and arranged in groups to sew. They just needed to be stitched together, sandwiched, quilted and bound. Not that much, really, right? (snort) I knew I had to get it finished Tuesday night because we had plans for Wednesday evening and I wouldn't have time to work on it then.


I had two and a half hours before scouts to work on it, then the evening after 8 pm to finish it.


I finished sewing the quilt top together by 5:45 pm, ran to buy a backing material, raced home to eat dinner, then jetted off to Scouts. I came home, sandwiched the batting between front and back, and quilted it quickly by running straight lines down the colored diagonals. Because of time crunch, I decided to do the cheater way of binding, and brought the back around to the front.


I learned a few things on this quilt. Number one, when using minkee fabric for the back, if you bring it to the front, remember to use the walking foot on your machine, otherwise the binding looks icky, and there are unwanted gathers and puckers (sorry, baby). I also learned to check the seams well before quilting the quilt, because I'm always going to have a least one seam that didn't catch both layers of fabric, and then I'll have a hole I'm going to have a hard time fixing once the quilt is all together.

All in all, I'm happy with how the quilt turned out. Could have been better with the binding, but I'm counting on the fact that the baby won't care, right? :) That's the fastest quilt I've ever put together - 5 1/2 hours all together.

Thanks to Brent for single parenting our kids while I sewed my heart out. Love ya, hon.

New Year...

No, I haven't fallen off the planet.

I've been busy!

Details to follow...

shoe envy...

(via http://www.shopplasticland.com/)

I would love to be able to rock these shoes! Where's Santa when you need him?