Spend the first day of the new year doing what you hope to do all year....

There's a quote somewhere, to that effect, but I can't find it. I've spent more than enough time googling for it, so I'm giving up.

Our new year's day was very low key: Matt brewed a batch of beer and in between A's naps I worked on the Christmas quilt that I had every intention of having finished for this past Christmas (I hadn't even started it yet).

In the late afternoon we went up to my IL's for dinner. It was a great day! Just relaxing, spending time with A, and putzing around with our hobbies.

"If I stitch fast enough, does it count as aerobic exercise?" ~Author Unknown

I've been working on something....

I've done a few different things with this quilt...things I've never done before with a quilt.

1) I hand tied the quilt (if you click on the picture you can see the little pieces of thread (which is embroidery floss) ). I've never done this before and I must say for a small quilt it was easy and I really like how it finished the quilt. I don't think I'd be willing to do this for a quilt larger than this one (42" square).

What I did was tape the backing to the floor (making sure it was TIGHT), then I centered the batting over that, and then put the top over that. Once the "sandwich" was made I safety pinned the quilt every 5 inches. Then just made a loop stitch through the fabric layers and tied knots in them. Very easy and I really like how it came out.

2) The second thing I did differently was using flannel as my backing. I must say, I really, REALLY like how that turned out. The flannel adds so much weight to the quilt and it's so soft and cuddly. Matt wants to know when I'm making one for him :-)

I'm happy with how it came out....plus I did it really fast. I was thinking when I cut the stripes, but I wasn't thinking enough lol I should've cut it the other way so that the 1/2 blocks would have looked like the flag. Oh well.

I'm still happy.

I finally got something finished.....

Yesterday I spent 2 nap times and 2 movies (about 4 hours) finishing my mom's birthday quilt. I was tired of looking at it on my table and needed to get it done and out of my house.
To answer Kristin's question below. I'm much more of a traditionalist when it comes to quilting. I like traditional colors, patterns, quilting....I see a lot of modern quilts and they do nothing for me, but show me a civil war quilt and I'm head over heals :-)

To see more of my quilts click here. You kind of have to sift through them. I keep meaning to organize all of my quilts (at least the finished pictures) into one place...hasn't happened yet.

"Quilting is a lot like tiling" or "Why I should've tiled the shower myself"

The contractor that we have finishing our shower is helping FIL build their new house. Since it's fair week and FIL isn't working on the house he "loaned" us his guy (we're still paying for him) to finish our shower: GREAT! It will actually get done.

He's done a great job thus far. Matt and FIL were planning on finishing the shower themselves in March, until they ran into the issue of unsquare walls and a floor joist running right where the drain needed to go in the floor. Suddenly they just stopped...and it's now been 5 months. Yesterday he showed up at 7am and by the end of the day he had the plumbing run, the pan in place, the plywood on the walls and the tile backerboard up: WOOHOO!

Today he started tiling. We debated having someone else do this as I'm really particular. I know Matt was going to fight me doing it, because I didn't want just tiles slapped on the wall all in the same direction with a border in the middle. This guy had talked about running them vertical on the bottom, the border, then on point at the top: Cool! Just what I was kind of thinking about. Actually what I was thinking about was something like this...or some other type of pattern as a focal on the back wall.

I'm a quilter, and by being such I'm ridiculously perfectionist when it comes to things being square, symmetrical, lined up, aesthetically pleasing, and otherwise creating an image with nothing that draws the eye to imperfections or away from the overall design, unless it is to highlight individual aspects of the design in an intentional manner.

Well I deliberated about having the guy do the tiling, but decided that I'm not comfortable with cutting tile and didn't want to waste money on breaking tiles or otherwise not being able to do (or finish) the job...so I decided just to let him do it. I do want this room done.

Well. Just from the little bit I've read/watched about tiling, have learned myself with construction, and know from quilting I think I should've done the bathroom and maybe just had the guy cutting the tile for me. I'm spastic about things being level...if things are not level I literally have to tear whatever it is apart and fix it (same for square)....well I did.

I came home tonight and went in the bathroom and looked over the tiling he'd done so far (halfway up the walls and the border). The border was not level...not at all. The backwall wasn't too bad, but the other wall was OH MY GOODNESS. Fortunately the glue hadn't set up...so I tore the tile off the wall and fixed it. And you know what? I really liked doing the tile!

I love creating a pattern from the different colors I have to work with...obviously whether it's fabric or stone doesn't make a difference to me. I tore one whole side down and retiled it myself...then I noticed that on the border on the other side the tile doesn't match up. To me, a border should be uninterrupted and it shouldn't matter if it's going around a corner or not. Well on the one corner he just started another section of border, without any thought as to whether to angles matched up....I tore that down too.

Now I feel like I have to explain to him that the tiles should be leveled and centered on the wall (another thing I noticed....everything thing I've read says to start in such a way that when you get to the outside edges if the tiles need to be cut that they should be the same measurement on both sides...again the symmetry).

My MIL asked me how it was looking and I told her to hire a professional to tile in her house: "Oh he's doing that good of a job?" No...he's doing the job, but not the way someone who does specifically tile for a living would do it. Of course, now I'm nervous about the diagonal tiles...I hate to be a nit picker, but if it looks like $hit it's going to bother the bejeezers out of me.

Alas, tomorrow morning I have to tell the contractor that I took down part of the tile, because I didn't like how it looked. We'll see what he has to say about that.

Mom's 50th Birthday Memory Quilt

It's BACK!!!! The quilting lady finished it and I got it the other day in the mail :-) I haven't put a binding on it and with the shape of my dining room it's not happening before tomorrow night's surprise party.



Unfortunately not a lot of people are coming to the party: I think we have around 25 people...We invited around 50. Hopefully it's still a great time...I think my mom knows...at this point, it's not going to be about a surprise party, but 1 of the people who will be there (my mom's friend from high school that she hasn't seen in 18 years) and the quilt.

It's DONE! I cannot tell you how glad I am to be done with this :-) It's been impossibly hard to do, not because of the 4 month old, but because of the renovations. I did most of this quilt on the kitchen counter. I think it's because of this that I am reluctant to put another border on.

The other border was going to be the dark beige, but Matt said he thought it looked good without it; I'll use that as my binding. I haven't measured it, but I think the quilt is about 65x75...pretty decent size. I don't know what my mom is going to want to do with it: Hang it, use it, store it...I don't know. We also have to pay extra to have it quilted for the quilt, meaning instead of an all over pattern, the quilt is actually quilted for the design of the quilt...much more time consuming (and expensive).

I just have to measure out my batting and look at the backing. I found the duvet that I'm going to use. My grandmother brought it with her when she came to the US from Germany. The center is batten-burg lace...I just have to stitch part of the back of the duvet against the front of it, since the diamond does open on to whatever blanket is underneath. I'm going to send it with the quilt and tell the lady, if she can do it great, if not we'll just go with a muslin backing.

I do really like this pattern. I may have to use it again some day for a regular quilt. The pictures are an awesome part of this quilt, but the finding them and the collaging them in photoshop was more time consuming than the quilt.

Bottom line is I know my mom will love it.

First Glimpse

I'm sorry the photo quality stinks...normally I have my quilts on the floor and can stand far enough away to get a good picture. I had to do this on our guest bed. Here it is though...the rough layout of my mom's quilt. If you click on it you should be able to see it bigger.

This is actually the first time I have even seen it all "together": I think I really love it!
There is one block missing...the center one. I haven't finished working on it yet, but so far it says:

Daughter. Granddaughter. Sister. Friend.

Loretta Margaret
May 8, 1960

She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
Proverbs 31:27-29

Wife. Mother. Oma.

A few good things....

I hope you all had a Happy St. Patrick's Day: Our's was crazy! I baked quite a few loaves of Irish Soda Bread to sell in the store and I cooked most of the dinner for everyone since they were working all day.

I'm not really a corned beef person...I've actually HATED it the past few years we've had it. But this year, my dad made his own corned beef to sell in the store and let me just say OH MY GOODNESS! It was absolutely delicious! Especially with a little bit of horseradish sauce...mmmmm.

I've worked steadily on my mom's quilt. I think I may actually make my deadline: YAY! I have 2 more photo blocks to finish (the center block and my sister's). It took me quite a while to get the cuts right for the framing, but I think they came out good. Now next week I can go up to MIL's and stitch them all together and get the top finished (then I'll have pictures).

I just have to figure out the backing. My mom gave me a duvet (to cut up) that my grandmother (her mom) had brought with her from Germany in the 1950s: I want to use that (there's all batten-burg lace on it) as the backing. I have no other use for it and think that would complete the thing. I think I may be asking MIL to help me out on that one.

I think my mom is getting suspicious or something. She's been telling us for the past few years she doesn't want a party...we were ignoring her and throwing a surprise party. Well the other day she informed my sister that she maybe wants a party...my sister flipped on her and I think shut her down. My sister has planned a spa day for her and my mom...she started going off on my mom about how much she's looking forward to this etc etc.

The other thing is...MIL knows this quilt is a SURPRISE, but she mentioned babysitting A in front of my mom. My mom knows I NEVER take A up to the IL's. She asked me yesterday what I was doing all morning. I told her stuff, but she kept asking "What kind of stuff?" GRRR! Woman!

Just to leave you with a fun picture: My sister asked me to do this for her.

Procrastination!

A is up at my MIL's and I'm home....supposedly to work on my mom's quilt. I'm down to doing the pictures blocks. I have to figure out each block so that once I add the borders they finish it 9 1/2"...so I'm procrastinating, because I have no idea how to do this.....

A Whole Lot of Something....

There's a whole lot of little things....the littlest of which is...we have a MOUSE in our HOUSE! I was sitting on the couch with Ave this morning when this furry little critter decided to walk out of the bathroom and into the living room: EEK!

Now before you think..."wow, she's really calm about this". I am SO NOT CALM! I HATE mice, but not as much as I HATE RATS! See, Matt tore the wall down between the cellar hallway and the bathroom[see picture] (our cellar is a cellar in the deepest, dankest sense). I had been wondering whether any critters would decide to enter the upstairs via that opening, but none had...until today.

I immediately called Matt...he told me to "let the dogs back in and put a few traps out"...ummm....the mouse hasn't touched a trap and the dogs are oblivious. I told him he needs to rebuild the wall on the cellar side TONIGHT! My house is trashed, but I refuse to share it with a mouse!

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The bathroom is c o m i n g a l o n g s l o w l y. . . . Unfortunately there is no way for me to speed the process up. Last Wednesday we made a trip to Lowe.s specifically to return the shower door and get a new one. On Saturday I'm looking at the receipt and think to myself "Why does it say 48" door?" I get home and check...the Lowe.s guy loaded the WRONG door into the cart (and it was 9:15 at night and we didn't think to check). Back the door has to go (just a reminder....Lo.wes is 45 minutes away, one way, from our house).

Well here's some pictures of what has gotten done in the bathroom. We're still no where near me being able to start working in there, but it's coming along.

Ok, here's the layout of the vanity and the shower....at the end of the shower, closest to you, will be a full wall, then the toilet. Unfortunately while doing all these things for layout and spacing we found out that the walls are not square (Surprise! No.) So Matt spent most of yesterday sanding down the 100 year old studs to try and square the wall.

We pulled the toilet out yesterday, can I just say that was disgusting. The floor under it is rotted out and I don't think it was ever installed correctly to begin with. We are re-using the toilet, but it will certainly be getting thoroughly scourged before it goes back in the NEW bathroom. AND, Matt discovered why it wobbled...they failed to attach the toilet to the actually floor on the one side.

The other thing that Matt did get done yesterday was the boxes installed for the electric...the electric was run prior to sheet rocking, but not hooked up. He's hoping that this week one evening he can run all the wires and "plug" them in...hopefully we'll have lights soon!

I somehow don't think this bathroom is going to get done with the only 4 Sundays left before A's christening :-( I guess as long as it's livable by then...oh well. My uncle will just have to deal (he's the one staying here).

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Other things...

Daylight Savings time is working out well for us with Ave's sleeping. She goes down at 8 (was 7 before) and wakes up in the morning at 7:30. Now, before you get all excited...she is still waking up at 12:30am and 4:30am...I can NOT figure out the 12:30 thing. I've tried not giving her a bottle and just soothing back to sleep, but she genuinely wants a bottle and takes 4oz. At least she is going right back to sleep though after her bottles...rather than wanting to play.

We tried the rice cereal again the other day and she actually was eating it. She wasn't doing the pushing the food out with her tongue thing as much and was opening her mouth up for more. Matt got in on the action and fed her for the first time too. We don't have a high chair yet (no room until the bathroom is done and the swing is gone), so we use the exer-saucer as her feeding station.

Tell me that isn't a self-satisfied grin :-)

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I'm still plugging along at my mom's quilt...I have two weeks left. I have all of the star blocks done, but I still need to stitch all of the photo blocks (and finish printing the photo blocks). Here's my goal and time frame: This week...all blocks need to be finished (I'm going to ask MIL to take A for a couple of hours on Thursday); next week the quilt needs to get stitched together. It's not an impossible time frame....hopefully I can manage it.

I'm still waiting on my brother to mail me pictures. I asked him a month ago where his baby album was..."In my closet at home". I looked...it's not there. I finally caved and asked my mother where it was and she said "he has it", so she called him and asked about it. Then I had to call his wife and ask her...she said she'd have them to me this week. I'm praying she does.

I've emailed a couple of times, but I don't want to be a PITA, but if I don't get the pictures by this weekend...there will only be little kid pictures of my brother in the quilt...no baby pictures.

I'd love to show you pictures of what I've got done, but I have absolutely no CLEAN place to lay the blocks out to take a picture...you'll have to wait until next week (I'm planning on finishing the quilt at my MIL's)

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Anyways...I think that brings you all up to speed on some of the things going on :-) I hope everyone is doing well and deep in preparations for St. Patrick's Day!

I'm in love....

with this fabric line. I always love Nancy Halversen's fabrics, but these.....*Swoon* I may have to go buy some tomorrow.

Garden Song Panel Golden Item #: 0428033B Old Item #: 4280-33	Lily Pond Almond Item #: 0428107B Old Item #: 4281-7	Lily Pond Petal Item #: 0428112B Old Item #: 4281-12
Lily Pond Daffodil Item #: 0428130B Old Item #: 4281-30	Lily Pond Willow Item #: 0428140B Old Item #: 4281-40	Lily Pond Water Item #: 0428150B Old Item #: 4281-50
Primrose Almond Item #: 0428207B Old Item #: 4282-7	Primrose Peony Item #: 0428224B Old Item #: 4282-24	Primrose Golden Item #: 0428233B Old Item #: 4282-33
Primrose Willow Item #: 0428240B Old Item #: 4282-40	Primrose Water Item #: 0428250B Old Item #: 4282-50	Regal Almond Item #: 0428307B Old Item #: 4283-7
Regal Petal Item #: 0428312B Old Item #: 4283-12	Regal Daffodil Item #: 0428330B Old Item #: 4283-30	Regal Willow Item #: 0428340B Old Item #: 4283-40
Regal Water Item #: 0428350B Old Item #: 4283-50	Bamboo Almond Item #: 0428407B Old Item #: 4284-7	Bamboo Rosette Item #: 0428410B Old Item #: 4284-10
Bamboo Petal Item #: 0428412B Old Item #: 4284-12	Bamboo Willow Item #: 0428440B Old Item #: 4284-40	Bamboo Moss Item #: 0428444B Old Item #: 4284-44
Bamboo Water Item #: 0428450B Old Item #: 4284-50	Bamboo Teal Item #: 0428474B Old Item #: 4284-74	Bamboo Mocha Item #: 0428496B Old Item #: 4284-96
Dew Drops Almond Item #: 0428507B Old Item #: 4285-7	Dew Drops Peony Item #: 0428524B Old Item #: 4285-24	Dew Drops Golden Item #: 0428533B Old Item #: 4285-33
Dew Drops Willow Item #: 0428540B Old Item #: 4285-40	Dew Drops Water Item #: 0428550B Old Item #: 4285-50	Dew Drops Marigold Item #: 0428578B Old Item #: 4285-78
Fences Petal Item #: 0428612B Old Item #: 4286-12	Fences Willow Item #: 0428640B Old Item #: 4286-40	Fences Water Item #: 0428650B Old Item #: 4286-50
Showers Almond Item #: 0428707B Old Item #: 4287-7	Showers Petal Item #: 0428712B Old Item #: 4287-12	Showers Daffodil Item #: 0428730B Old Item #: 4287-30
Showers Willow Item #: 0428744B Old Item #: 4287-44