Design Wall Monday

Yeah! I have something to post today.

I have the black and white quilt in the hoop. It's mine own design. That one is for the friend whose baby shower is the first weekend in Aug. The blue one is Unequal Irish Chain from Quilts from the Heart. It's for another friend whose baby is due around the same time as the first. She may be at the shower as well so I'm trying to have it finished to give it to her that day. I'm also still working on the black, white and pink log cabin for the friend whose baby was born back in Feb. Sorry forgot to take pictures of that one.

I was really hoping to have all three quilt tops finished a few days ago. Unfortunately, my sewing machine had other ideas. Notice the sewing machine in the background of the blue quilt picture. Half way through piecing two blocks together, it died. Locking up in the needle down position. At first, I was just trying to take it apart a little to try and figure out why it died and to free the quilt blocks, then it became a matter of curiosity to figure out how it's put together when it became clear that it was dead for good. It's been threatening to give out the last several months, so I wasn't terribly surprised, just a little annoyed at the timing. I had bought another sewing machine on clearance back in April (?) but I haven't had a chance to take it out and get it set up yet. I can't complain too much about the first machine. It was one of the cheapest and lasted for about 3 1/2 years. I'm pretty sure I only paid $85 for it so with tax, that comes out to less than $2.25/month. I've used it to make 7 swimsuits, at least 2 dozen pairs of pants, a robe, at least 6 quilt tops, a robe and quilted one flannel quilt on it. There's probably a few more projects in there that I'm forgetting about but I think I probably got my money's worth for it.

I have a bunch of kids and moms coming for a fun "field" day at my house on Wednesday so I probably won't get the blue top finished until at least Thursday. Because of the limited time, that one will probably be machine quilted. Speaking of which, if I'm going to get everything done, I've got to get going. I hope to post pics of the finished quilts next week.

Sad but true

I can't remember where I read this but here's a little statement about life today.

In the U.S., the number of words in the vocabulary of an average 14 year old in 1950 was about 25,000. By 1999, it was down to just 10,000. I can't imagine what it is today with the glut of sound bite media and texting mania.

Do yourselves and your kids a favor and read some old classics. If you don't have time to read, pop on a book on tape while you're driving around.

Right now, we're listening to "Pinocchio" and I'm floored at how much more advance the vocabulary is in this children's story than so much of what I've read lately. If you only know the Disney version, I think you'll enjoy the original. So, go pick a classic to share with your kids (or just enjoy on your own). It's a good thing!

Summer BBQs

This seems to be the summer of BBQs. We've gone to a few this year. This last weekend, one of our friends brought along his camera and snapped not one but two very rare pictures of dh and I together. (Usually one or the other of us is behind the camera.) Unfortunately, dh just finished playing a pick-up game of soccer in 95+ degree heat so he's a wee bit sweaty in the picture. But hey, beggars can't be choosers.

One of the three quilt tops is almost done, just one border left. The second is cut out and the third is about half cut out. I hope to finish all three tops today. The baby shower is Aug. 7 so definitely have to finish at least quilt #1 by then. Keep your fingers crossed for me that I can finish all three by then. We've got a trip to see the in-laws coming up either next month or the month after and I'd like to have all the quilts finished before we go, including the planned birthday quilt for dh. Since we'll start up homeschooling again in Aug. and Ramadan is coming up, we'll see just how much I actually get done. For now, it's time to get my backside moving, so I can finish the tops today.

Did you miss me?

Probably not.

It's been way too long since I've made a new post. Life has been happening it seems at lightening pace around here. It seems like it wasn't so very long ago that we were buried under nearly 4 feet of snow and yet, we're just finishing up a string of 100+ degree days. Homeschooling was finished for the year and now I've starting looking at resources for next year. Birthdays have come and gone. Our annual vacation to Florida is just a memory now.

It's crazy how fast life happens as we get older. When we're kids, days just seem to drag on. Now that I'm an adult with a houseful of kids, I frequently wonder what happen to my day. The running joke around here is that I ask various kids if they "ate my day."

We had to get the kids passports renewed and part of the renewal asks for height. I hadn't measured the kids in awhile and was shocked that my soon-to-be 12 year old is only 3 1/2 inches shorter than I am and I'm 5'6" so I'm not exactly tiny. That shock was preceded a few weeks early by the shoe shopping trip that revealed that both my 10 and 8 year old girls are now in women's shoe sizes (ironically the same size-6). How did these kids grow up so fast? Ah well, time marches on or perhaps sprints past is more accurate!

I've got a few quilt projects in the works (3 baby quilts, a birthday quilt and finishing the Rooty Tooty quilt) and will post pics as soon as I can.

The picture is from fall nearly three years ago, just after H. was born.