arrow quilt

Here is the quilt I'm currently working on.  A lady at work is pregnant and is having her 3rd boy.  Her theme is planes and trucks with a vintage feel and she likes darker blues, brown and green.  The pattern idea came from the Moda Bake Shop pattern On the Go.  I really, really wanted to do the white backround, but then thought with a little boy that might not be a good idea.  Here's what I have so far.

It was really hard to find anything with airplanes or trucks, believe it or not!  Everything baby boy at Joann's is like puppies, dinosaurs, robots.  Which all are fun but not trucks or planes.  I took a trip last Saturday to the quilt shop in Merrill (20 minutes away teeny little town) and found a bunch of the prints you see here.  Only one that had planes.  Two with trucks.  The rest I thought would just kind of  "go" for the vintage-y theme she likes.  Like the typewriter keys.  I don't know, what do you think?  I also had a few of the more solid and the oranges on hand.  This is, of course, not the final placement of the squares.  Oh, the squares.  So the tutorial was my jumping off point but mine is much simpler.  I just made a 4.5 x 9 flying geese for the point and then 3 rectangles for the base.  Easy.  Each square is 9 inches.

Oh man, today started out at -2 degrees!  Yikes.  Friends, that is COLD.  But, inside it's toasty warm and the pooches are so snuggly that it's easy to just pretend it's warm out with the sun shining like it is :)

Today I did something to indulge my inner child!  My inner ballerina to be more specific.....Charese and I went to ballet class!  It was completely humbling being surrounded by children and being stared at not knowing at all what I was doing.  But, also kind of fun.  There were other adults there but they also obviously had been dancing for years.  There are so many things I want to try, this was one of them, and now I can cross it off my list.  I may go back......or not. 

I am working on a couple of projects right now, I don't have pics yet since they are in progress.  I've got a table runner, a baby quilt and several other quilts all started.  And I've got the itch to knit.  I kind of feel like that pressure where my head might explode from all of the ideas I have and all the things I want to do, make, see!  Do you ever feel that way?  Like every second counts and is slipping away and I need to make it matter and productive?  huh.

Did I mention that I'm participating in the Scripture Memory Verse thing again this year?  Basically you pick a verse on the 1st and 15th of every month for the year and memorize it.  My first verse of the year is James 1:22 - "Do not merely listen to the word and therefore deceive yourselves.  Do what it says." (that was from memory!)  The completely amazing thing, to me, is that there are 11,035 other people (at least) who are also participating through Beth Moore's blog.  I just think that's great that that many people are going to try and memorize scripture all together.

Not much else is going on.  I am sort of reading "The Scarlet Thread" by Francine Rivers.  Sort of means I read the beginning, then the end and I'm skimming through the rest.  I can tell it's a good book but not sure I want to get too close to the story.  I don't know how to explain what I mean.  I'm listening to "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan on cd while sewing.  For book club we are on the 5th book in the Chronicles of the Kings series called "Among the Gods".  I've already read it, so that's a relief once book club night comes around then I just have to review a little.

knitting and quilting gifts

Okay, before Christmas gift making was null and void for me.  After Christmas?  It's on!  LOL  not sure why that ended up that way but it has.  So, first up is an ear warmer that I made for Sherry, we have been in bible study together and used to work together.  At the last study before Christmas Joey was wearing this pretty white ear warmer and Sherry said she would love to have one and so I found a pattern on ravelry, well, more a combo of this and this pattern.  I totally did not get the increases at first, yikes.  Still not sure that I got it but it looks okay so I guess that's what matters.  You can't tell really from this picture and the yarn I used but it is a knit-purl rib pattern all across.
I've already finished another one for Charese except for the flower.  I need to make that tonight.  I like to knit or crochet at night while watching tv so that my hands are busy and I'm not tempted to snack!  Hers is black yarn that has a thin piece of shiny thread woven throughout and I found a pretty red rose button to go in the center of the flower.  Oh man I literally spent like an hour in Joann's today picking out buttons! 
And, here's the runner I made for Jan for Christmas. She said she loved it!  She decorates her house in "who-ville" colors and theme so I wanted something sort of traditional but not entirely. Here's a close up of my two favorite little "trees": The top fabric with the little birds was a fat quarter that I got at the coast in September with my Mom. I just love that fabric, so fun!  I really had to hurry through the quilting because I started it on Sunday morning and I needed to give it to her on Monday - Christmas eve!  Talk about putting it till the last minute! 

Today I finally made some persimmon cookies!  This is awful but I took some persimmons from a lady at work and 2 of them went bad while waiting for me to get on with making them!  Luckily they need to be really ripe for my recipe.  They turned out delicious! 
Yesterday I got my nails done, not something I normally do, but I had some Christmas money just burning a hole in my pocket!  I'm trying out shellac which is just like regular nail polish except you put it under these lights and it turns super hard!  They are just beautiful, really shiny like freshly polished nails except they don't chip or smudge or anything at all!
P.S. I almost forgot ~ I went to church today and actually sang out loud even though I'm sick and prolly sounded pretty retched!  My Mom will understand why this is important!  I'm making progress :)

and so

Yesterday this was the view in the back yard. We had even more snow over night and today. Yesterday I went out just for a bit to the store and the library. Right before I left the mailman had given me my mail. Turning onto my street last night at almost 6pm there was a van sort of close to my house with it's flashers on and I thought it strange. It drove away before I actually got onto my street and when I got up to my house I could see a little parcel on my porch! I wasn't expecting anything, I thought. Look what it was! I knew I had ordered it but didn't think I'd get it until well after Christmas! Yahoooooooo! I've done the scripture memory before with the siestas at Beth Moore's blog and I saw this post where she announced that they are doing it again this year.  And there's a fun spiral notebook that she is selling to go along with it.  If you're like me you need all the fun incentives you can get to get me excited and looking forward to memorizing scripture!  It's a cute little spiral, which I didn't think to get a picture of (!).

Today I finished up a table runner for a friend as a gift for Christmas.  Um, sort of last minute!  I've been meaning to get to it since like last year but couldn't quite wrap my head around my idea.  I finally decided to just get to it already.  It still didn't turn out how I had pictured but I do like it.  I'll show pics after I give it.

I came to a funny realization about myself the other day.  I don't know if I'll be able to explain it properly.  I've realized that there are certain books that I just HAVE to have on my bookshelf.  And if it's not there I feel quite panicky about it.  The other day I just wanted to read a certain part of a certain book and I don't have the book!  I did borrow it from the library just to read that part but now I know I have to buy the book.  Like I have the Harry Potter series and will never get rid of it, and the Twilight series and now I have to get the Hunger Games.  Jane Eyre is one.  There's a book that I don't know the title of that I had when I was growing up and I don't even really remember much about it except that the main character's best friend could knit a sweater in a few days.  That book I would read over and over because I just loved the friendship and that the friend could knit like that.  What a curious thing.  Anyhow I've realized that if something strikes me a certain way I'll just have to hold onto it.

reflecting

Oh man it's almost Christmas! I was telling a coworker the other day that for whatever reason it sneaks up on me every year! Every.year. I know it's coming. I decorate my house. But I don't do anything else really. I just made cards this morning. So, um, yeah they will be very late. This time of year, especially December, is a very reflective time for me. It's my birthday, Christmas, and anniversary month! I sort of retreat for a bit. And then it's New Year's, when it's acceptable to be reflective of the past year and make resolutions. I usually just start about a month early. During this time I think about the resolutions I made last year and where I've made it or fallen short. I don't think I've done too poorly this year in the resolution dept but there are many things I'd like to work on! I need to be a better steward with money and saving and paying things off. I would also like to work on making more traditions. I need to continue losing weight (down 14.8lbs!). I did way better last year with praying and I'd like to continue that and also work on being more consistent with praying for others. I need to read more books! Last year I read an average of 1 a month. It looks like it is definitely going to be a white Christmas!

let it snow

Could it be a white Christmas this year? I don't know if it will stick around, but here's the view for today: I've been doing a little re-organizing this snowy day. Last weekend I got to visit my Mom for my birthday which was awesome! As always, I come home with some cool stuff. She sent me home with some plastic tubs for storage so that I could rearrange and put things out of my way, like summer clothes, seasonal decor and fabric. I've got most of my summer clothes and shoes packed away for next year, I haven't even gotten to the craft house yet. I also scored a cute little table that I plan on painting white when the weather gets a little better! I'm going to put it to use first though :) And you know how it is, once you start cleaning one area then you find like 10 others! I didn't get any picts of all the fabric, but trust me, there was a ton! It's in the wash so that it will be ready for use.

old and new

Last night the boys and I were chilling out on the couch watching movies.  I was curled up under the first quilt I made, and I realized that it's the one I always grab when I want to be cozy.  It's backed with flannel so that probably really helps. But I was also realizing that I had picked this quilt apart, literally and then after it was finished finding the mistakes I had made. But now, hmmmm 3 years later (?) it's my favorite to snuggle under and I don't even notice the mistakes really. When I did seam rip it apart I really did need to because the squares were all unevenly sized and nothing lined up at all. And, even though I really do love bright, bold colors, and white....I really do love this color combo too. Anyways, no point there just appreciating the old. Which brings me to the new. I made this Christmasy tomte yesterday so I can take it to work. I really wanted something to add some Christmas cheer to my desk and I think this will do nicely.   What do you think?
I added some tiny poms down the front like buttons and I really like the effect!  As you can kind of see I've put out my Christmas decorations at home.  I'm so glad I did.  Changing out the decorations also forces me to dust!  lol, not my fav.  I'm not putting up a tree again this year though because I'm pretty sure George (my cat) will climb it and ruin it and scare herself to death in the process! 

Oh, hey I have some news!  Last Wednesday was the first night of our new bible study!  Sherry put it together and we're doing the James study by Beth Moore.  It's 3 of us from our old study and 4 new ladies, a nice mix.  I think you already can guess how happy I was to get back into a study!  Love. it.