Picky Eaters

It is raspberry season!  Hazel asks multiple times a day if we can go pick raspberries, and I'm usually happy to oblige.  Last night Oliver learned how to  pick them too.  More than once he tried to bite a berry directly off of the bush, but I didn't get any pictures of that.  Luckily he escaped without any stains!  It's a miracle!

New Quilting Blog

I finally have the internet at my house.  Yay! 

I had a job interview two weeks ago that would have involved me working one Sunday each month.  We decided that it isn't really a necessity for our family for me to have that job, and decided I would jump head first into my quilting business.  Because I have the internet, I can now do that properly.  So I've started another blog specifically for that purpose.  You can check it out at http://thequiltingmill.blogspot.com for details.  My sister is helping me design a business card, I should have my official business license within three weeks, and I had my first consultation with a client tonight.  I'll be doing a mini human genome quilt, quilted with a design that looks like chromosomes.  I was scared of the idea at first, but it is going to be awesome.  I should be starting on it next week, and I'll be posting updates on the other blog.  It should be cool. 

I still plan on using this blog for personal stuff, but now that I'm on facebook I'm sure I won't keep up with this like I should either.

Short-arm Machine Quilting by Me!

If any of you have any quilts that need to be quilted, and you want a simple, all-over design, I'm your gal.  I've recently purchased a short-arm quilting system and I LOVE it.  It is fun to do and I'm getting great results.  I am limited in my design possibilities by the fact that I only have a 7" arm on my machine, but what I can do is sufficient for many quilters.  I can do anything up to 90" square and I am charging one cent per square inch, making a 45x60 inch baby quilt $27.  Batting is extra or you may supply your own, but talk to me first before you buy it.  I'll post some sample pictures sometime soon.  Maybe.  I still don't have internet at home but I can be reached by phone.  I think just about everyone who reads this has my number or knows someone who does.

Puffiest Pink Dress Ever

This post could also be titled "I can't put my arms down!"

Hazel informed me a couple of months ago that she wanted to be a princess for Halloween, so I got to work.  I come from a family whose motto very well could be "We do it the hard way," and I certainly did not disappoint.  I designed her dress based on the peasant pattern I've been using for her other dresses, but made the skirt a dramatic a-line in four tiers and added ruffles.  The fabric was 58 inches wide and I used ten strips of fabric making these ruffles, so, minus seam allowances, it was about 575 inches of ruffles altogether.  This sweet girl (who also turned three a couple weeks ago) couldn't see her feet, fit in her car seat, or put her arms down to her sides with it on. 

 I'm pretty sure she loved it though! 

Actually, we went to a "Fall Harvest Party" with Kyle's parents' ward, and when she put it on for the first time, she pulled at the neck and said it was itchy.  Great.  That's why I put the shirt underneath later, besides to help keep her warm.  Kyle was out of town for Halloween, so Grandpa came over to take her trick-or-treating while I stayed home with Oliver.  She LOVED it.  Thanks also to Grandpa who let me bring the kids and my sewing machine over for three days over UEA weekend to get it done.

I was planning for Oliver to be a dragon, but I ran out of time, and he wasn't going trick-or-treating anyway.  He did wear his orange shirt in honor of the day. 

While they were out, Oliver rolled over onto his tummy for this first time!  He could already roll the other way, but this was pretty exciting.  He doesn't like being on his tummy, so he doesn't roll over all the way very often.

I don't know when I'll be able to blog again--still no "interwebs" at home.

New Employment

I wish I could say I am gainfully employed, but so far I don't know if it is going to work out that way or not.  I started working a few weeks ago as the quilting instructor at JoAnn Fabrics in Riverdale.  I'm really enjoying it so far.  I only teach classes when people sign up, and I get paid for each person that takes the class, but each of my classes has only had one student so far.  I also make samples of the monthly projects to hang on the wall in the store, and I have to buy my own materials, so that's why I don't know if I'll actually make any money off of this.  It has been really nice to have something to do for a few hours a week so I can get out of the house and feel like an adult.  I love staying home with my kids, but I get a little stir crazy sometimes.  It has been a big adjustment to go from working full time to staying home with little kids all day long, so this is perfect.

The projects for November and December are really cute.  One of them is a placemat with a 1' wide pieced bias binding.  It was fun to make and very pretty.  Another is a little quilt with a matching pillow with appliqued snowflakes.  I'm looking forward to having it in our living room next Christmas, as it will be on the wall this year.

If you or anyone you know wants to learn how to quilt, we have an open house on the first Saturday on every month when class fees are all 50% off.  Check out this flyer in stores to see pictures too.

 

Dial-up (HTML) mode

 

Weber County Fair 3.0

This is the third year that I've entered items in the fair.  Last Monday was the day to drop off items.  I went early and entered Oliver's baby quilt.  While I was there I was feeling sad that I wasn't entering anything else, and remembered that I had a mostly finished dress for Hazel that I hadn't worked on since November.  I went home, got the kids down for naps, and finished it in three hours.  Thanks, kids, for taking longs naps at the same time.  I love it when that happens.  I was able to take it in and get it entered half an hour before they closed up for the day.  I feel silly that I was that close to getting it done and never did anything about it for so long, and then got it done in one day, but I also feel good about crossing something off of my WIP list (works in progess). 

I took the kids Thursday morning while Kyle was at work, and didn't go near the exhibit hall, so I didn't get to see how my items did until we went back that night with Kyle.

Hazel loves seeing the animals.  She wanted to pet a cow.  That kind of scared me, because I didn't want her to get kicked.  Luckily we ran into some of my students, and one of them said she could pet his cow. 

 She LOVED petting all the bunnies.

 When we went back later I saw this from all the way across the exhibit hall--what a surprise! 

 I could see the big ribbon, but was shocked when we finally got closer to see that the award was the "Fabric Arts Sweepstakes." This little dress even beat that wedding dress you can see in the background. I guess the judges liked my seam finishes. I an really picky about my seam finishes. This isn't as fancy as the dress I entered last year, but is very similar. It has an underskirt with an attached ruffle, but doesn't have the ruffles down the back like last year's dress. 

And Oliver's quilt won Best in Show for the machine quilted baby quilts category!

 This makes three years in a row of winning best in show in one category.  It's pretty exciting and I've very pleased!  I think I'd like to be a judge some day in the future.

We went and looked at the animals a little more before we left, and sprung $5 for Hazel to have a pony ride.  It was a really long ride, and she LOVED it, so it was worth the money.  She kept saying "Yee-haw!"

Here's our little man: he's getting so big!

And here's a random spider that Kyle killed in our house last week.  I'm hoping Betsey can identify it for me.  I'm glad he killed it--I wouldn't want to see this thing alive.  Kyle said it was about the size of a quarter.  Yuck.

One Month Old

Happy Fathers' Day Kyle!


Here are some shots from June 16th, Oliver's one month birthday.

He is getting cute!

Big sister Hazel loves to hold him.  This was about two weeks ago.

Hazel holding a flower from our purple robe locust tree.  I can't believe how she's growing up so much!