November

Well hello there!  I totally missed all of November here on the blog!

I better get caught up! Let’s start with the end of October.  Here are our jack-o-lanterns that we carved.  We had a my little pony pumpkin, a Cinderella pumpkin, and just a cute face. Halloween was a scattered evening for our family, everyone having different things to do that night.  But we had fun carving pumpkins together a few days before.

The marching band once again took top honors at the final band review.  Go AJ!  We love spending the day once a year at this exciting competition. It looks pretty dry here, but we were definitely soggy by the end of the day from all the rain.

Miss K is turning into such a lovely lady…here she is at the Evening of Excellence at church.  She has worked so hard to improve her life and she is incorporating wonderful values in her life, and she sees the benefit they are making!

Card exchange group for November produced these fun Holiday cards:

And I participated in the Bitty Block Committee’s Winter/Christmas and Fall 3.5 inch block swaps.  Here are my contributions:  Ribbon Blocks and Fall Leaves.

I’ve got more to show and tell, but that’s it for now!  Hope you are having a wonderful December!

Summer

What a fun and busy summer. I’ve just been focusing on my kids and enjoying every minute. But now as we are winding down our summer and getting ready for school to start I’m looking forward to getting back to the sewing machine and to this space as well!

The Bitty Block Committee swapped trees in July. Here are mine. They required a special trip to the quilt shop to pick out this sky and water fabric.

And these are my July blocks for my sampler class. Bowties with inset seams. Fun!

And since school is starting and band camp is underway, that means it’s time to sew color guard flags as well!

Hope to see you again soon!

Priorities

Summer has changed my usual routine.  The kids have been home and we’ve been doing summer things: trips, camps, swimming, beach, playing with friends, and just spending time together… so needless to say, I’ve been away from my computer. And I’ve been away from my blog.

Here are some pictures from my phone to show you a little of what we’ve been up to:

biking and geocaching

swim team and playing in the pool

Camps

and beach days.

And my oldest has been in Europe on a band tour, and is back now.

I can’t believe it’s August!  Orientations, Registrations and Band Camp are almost here. 

I will miss all the fun, but I’m looking forward to getting back to my sewing and regular exercise, and more of a routine!

Promotions

We have 2 Promotions in our house this week.  Miss K from 5th grade.  And our son from 8th. 

We always like to hang streamers in the bedroom doorway to celebrate birthdays and such.  So here’s what I did for Miss K.

She was happy to wake up to her graduation streamers.  She has been at the same elementary school for 8 years: 2 years of preschool and then K-5.  She’s always reminding us!  So I made a sign for each year and a graduation hat and scroll for each year.

For our Son I did a different graduation cap and letters spelling congratulations going down the streamer.

 

Hopefully I didn’t wake him up taking a picture :D

Blogger’s Quilt Festival

I love Amy’s Blogger’s Quilt Festival.  Thanks Amy for setting this up for us!  You can be sure I’m cruising around the Internet checking out all the fun quilts!

Here’s my entry…but first a little history.

This is my fourth year having the tremendous opportunity to help out at the elementary school by making a quilt!  My favorite way to “help”!

2007 – 2nd Grade

Every year each of the classes create a wonderful piece of art which is auctioned off the night of Open House.

 
2008 – 3rd Grade

The funds raised go directly to the classroom and the Educational Foundation at the school.

2009 – 4th Grade

This is my last year at the elementary school.  My youngest is moving on to middle school in the fall! So this was my last quilt to make for this annual event.

2010 – 5th Grade

I had 31 kids artwork blocks to work with this year, so I had to be creative with the layout.

I’m happy with the layout and even happier that I got to use fabric I had on hand that I had received from an amazing seamstress that passed away last year.  It was perfect!

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I had fun with the quilting too, wavy lines and bubbles added to the whole feel of the quilt.

I’m sorta sad for this chapter of my life to end.  I’ve been a mom at that elementary school for 12 consecutive years.  But at the same time, I’m excited for what the future holds for my family.  Two in high school next year: a senior! and a freshman.  And my youngest starting middle school.  I’m sure I’ll have many more years to help out by making quilts…I’ll make sure of it!

April Swaps

I've joined up with the Mini QT Swap on Flickr.  We are matched up with a partner (each month that we want to participate) and we send a quilt between 6 and 12 inches to each other.  Each month there is a theme and April's was a mini coin quilt.  (remember March?)

Here's my mini coin:

My partner lives close by again, but we weren't able to get together to swap.  I just heard from her and she says that she received it and loves it.  (yay!)

This is the sneak peek she showed me of my quilt...can't wait to see the whole thing!

There are also other options.  One is 3.5 inch blocks.  So I signed up for that too.  And the theme was "camping".  Here's my interpretation:  roasting marshmallows!

 

Nine of us signed up, so I made 9 blocks.  I've heard from a few recipients and they seem to be happy with them.  So I'd say it was a successful month :).

I signed up for May too, but just for the 3.5 inch blocks this time.  The theme is black and white plus one color, we were all assigned a color and I got green. I squeaked in as the 16th member of the group.  So I'll be making 16-3.5 inch blocks in May.

My other May project is getting Miss K's class fundraiser quilt put together.  I've got the blocks the kids made, so now I just need to figure out a layout and get started!

Monday Monday

Well, my neglected sewing machine is getting some use.  Miss K's class is making stuffed bears for charity.  I've been sewing the fronts and backs together so they can be stuffed. 

These were the bears from yesterday.  Luckily I listened to that little voice in my head that told me to get them done right away in the afternoon. 

We went to get our Christmas tree last night.  We got it home and set it up in the house.  While I was putting the lights on it I managed to cut my thumb pretty bad on a broken light I was trying to fix!

Off to the emergency room I went and ended up with 4 stitches.  I don't think I would have felt like sewing after that!

Other Monday news:  My oldest passed his drivers test and is now an official California driver!  Watch out!

Music To My Ears

Still not much sewing going on around here.  I looked back and it's been since early October!  Maybe I just needed a break?  I'm feeling like it's time to get back to it though!  I've missed the creative outlet.

Meanwhile...

I had to capture this moment:  my kids practicing playing their saxophones together.  Actually big brother is helping out his little sis and supporting her in her practicing.

We get to go to a "Jazz Cafe" on Friday where his middle school jazz band will get to play with the high school jazz band.  And then on Saturday I get to go on a "date" with him to see a high school play with the other Moms and sons his age from church. 

I'm always glad for opportunities to pay a little extra attention to my middle child.

Marching band season has ended for my oldest.  We got to go on Monday for an end of the season celebration. What an amazing band program our high school has.

We are so blessed to have these exceptional music programs and opportunities for our kids.  It's great to see them all enjoying music so much.

Big Sigh of Relief

We finished our 2nd day of school and all is going well! I'm so happy.

And what did I do with my first day of freedom??? Fabric shopping...of course!

These should keep me busy for a while.

The boys are off to scout overnighters this weekend...

And we're going out to eat to celebrate a good start to school.

June's Nine Patches

Nine patches all ready to mail tomorrow for Anina's Three by Three swap!

Miss K starts diving lessons tomorrow.  Hope she likes them!  Summer school continues for the High Schooler.  Luckily it's mostly online, he just has to go in once a week to check in and turn in assignments.  Middle child is mostly home being bored when he's not getting together with his friends.

A visit to the beach is most definitely on the agenda this week!

Miss K has a sleep over tonight, I'm off to play games with the boys...

Catching Up

It's been a busy couple weeks leading up to Youth Conference which is this weekend! 

We're doing a Pioneer Trek this year and I'm part of the organizing and carrying out side of it this time.  Now rain seems to be in the forecast...so we'll see what will happen!  We've got about 230 youth ages 14-18 coming.

Yes, we'll even be dressing the part.  I decided I needed a little bag so I could carry things I might need along the trail.

 

I've also been working to get the class quilt done.  It just needs a label, which I'll take care of on Monday.

Everyone pray for dry weather this weekend for us!

Time Flies!

Wow, I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted.  This has been a busy week getting back to school after the break.  It's always a bit of an adjustment for some.

On Saturday I was able to participate in a project my friend put together.  A bunch of us gathered at church Saturday morning and put together some bereavement kits for a local hospital.  They are for the families of babies that don't make it to full term.  We made cards for the nurses to give to the families and we sewed up some little kimonos, blankets and hats for the kits.  I had wanted to knit up some hats, but didn't get my act together in time.  But I decided I'm sure they would accept them anytime, so I finally found a pattern online and made one up. 

It's sad to think about it too much, but after hearing the nurse talk about how much these kits mean to the families, I am even more glad that my friend got this organized and we were able to help.

I've been doing a lot of computer work lately.  We are planning a big youth conference (230 kids) and I'm working on the database of names and keeping them all organized.  Fun (really...I enjoy that sort of thing too), but it's keeping me from my sewing projects!

Here's a quick picture of the class quilt I've been working on.  I wish I had more time to devote to it...hopefully I can find some time after today.

I've got another black border to put on it, and then I can get it layered and start the quilting.  I bought some multi colored thread to use on the black...we'll see if it was a good idea or not once I start the quilting.

Hope you're finding the time to get to the things you want to do today!

Spring Break

We just got back from a couple days at Grandma and Grandpa's. We're enjoying our Spring Break this week. I found Miss K's cousin quilt tucked away and got it out. She was excited to see it again and wanted to work on it. It was all pinned and ready to quilt, so she sat right down at the machine and got it quilted. I prepped and sewed the binding on. She is now working on hand sewing the binding down (a first for her). She only works on it a little at a time...so it may take a while. But she's getting there. I wonder how her cousin is doing on her little quilt...

I've been working on my DQS6 doll quilt. Here's a sneak peek:

Lots of other things I need to be working on too, but I'm trying to take a little time off this week and play with my family. (They're all sleeping right now...that's where I should be!)

Son #1 is in New York this week, and will be back Thursday night! He had the amazing opportunity to go with his high school Wind Ensemble and play at Carnegie Hall. They've also been able to see the sights, go on a dinner cruise, and to a play. Can't wait till he's home. Hopefully he'll tell us all about his adventure! I've gotten a few texts (in response to mine) and some quick pictures from his cell phone.

Tomorrow my wonderful husband is taking the day off from work, so we'll get to spend some fun family time. (I'd better get to bed or I'll be too wiped out!)

March Updates

The Sailboat quilt sailed off to it's new destination on Monday. I'm so happy with it. Except for that boat that's bottom center. Not good contrast there. Oh well. Once I made it, I didn't want to leave it out. I like the one next to it, the one that's going the opposite way from the rest of the boats. The full picture is for Trisha.

Here are the ATC (Artist Trading Cards) that Miss K Designs received from the swap she participated in. She really enjoyed receiving these in the mail from all over: Dubai UAE, Ohio, Australia, Germany, and Missouri!

Here's a peek at our football quilt we're making for a school fundraiser:

The blocks have actually been colored and the kids helped sew colored strips of fabric around each block. It was really fun to go to the school with my machine and have the kids try sewing for the first time (for most of them). They did a great job, and found out it wasn't as hard as they thought it was going to be! I'll take some pictures and post them soon.

I received an awesome package all the way from Australia, my 4 Seasons Quilt Swap Mono quilt from my partner....Jackie!

I'll take some pictures of it tomorrow and post them. All I can say is, it's AWESOME!!!