owl finish . . .

I took optimum advantage of being laid up yesterday. The benefits?

My knee feels much better . . . and Everett's Owl Quilt! is finished! Labeled and everything!

The binding went on nicely -- you'd have never known I had trouble with two of my four corners! Thank goodness for that.

All in all, I think it looks fun, and it will be a wonderful finishing touch to all the darling nursery!

Tomorrow night Todd & I are meeting Joc & Jason for dinner. I'll bring this to her so she can put it up. She's due ONE WEEK from today! Oh gracious!!!

And since I had been holding off doing any other project until the nursery project was *completely* finished, when the last stitch was in on the label, I went straight to my orange & purple BOM and sashed it off . . .

I LOVE this orange!

I'll square these off at 12", but not until I've quilted each of the sixteen squares. I'll back & bat these soon, so I can go ahead and quilt them. And my timing is great -- I have to take these to Patches & Stitches on Friday to pick up my next two. And I got a sneak peak -- they're flying geese. Yikes!

Owl-in-owl, I'd say it was a good day!

:)

one last week . . .

Today is design wall Monday over at Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times!

I'd committed to not having anything new on my design wall until the owl quilt was completely finished. Next week, there will be something new here! Last night though, during a rousing super bowl game, I finished up the hand quilting on the owl quilt!!! And since I was so close . . .

And the binding was right there and ready . . .

I thought, "Let's go for it!" I should have quit while I was ahead. Ugh.

When you were younger, did anyone ever get you to repeat the solemn, secret, magical phrase, "Oh-waah Tah-gue Siam"? For me, it was my Pop pop who taught me this little doozy. It ran through my head over and over after I got about halfway through sewing the binding on.

I was really pleased with how quickly it was going and how nice my corners were looking. In fact, I was so please, that just before I got to my third corner, I had the desire to stop what I was doing (stitching), and admire my handiwork. So I grabbed the second corner I'd finished, went to flip the fabric over that corner, and . . .

Fail.

I'd folded it down backwards, so I stitched the binding down into itself! UGH!! Luckily it was a relatively easy fix, and just a few minute spent with the trusty ol' seam ripper.

Finally, the binding is all stitched on (the right way) and ready to be pressed and hand stitched. But I decided I needed to put it down for the night. I never really do my best work after 9 pm anyway!

This owl perfectly reflected how I felt. Grrrr.

Oh what a goose I am!

:)

busy, BUSY day . . .

What a DAY! I am spent, but it's a happy kind of spent. Joc & I had a super productive day, and I have the photos to prove it!

First, we hit the kitchen and put up a total of 26 entrees in her freezer!

From meatloaf to pizza rolls to oriental chicken to chicken spaghetti (13 different entrees) we put up at least two of each entree (most of our recipes make for 6 to 8 -- since there's just the two of them, splitting each entree in half gave them twice the bang for the buck). It took us about five hours, and some finely tuned teamwork, but we ended up with this lovely sight to behold . . .

I know it will be a relief for Jocelyn to have this bounty after Everett's born!

And speaking of that darling little soon-to-be-here boy, after we finished cooking, we headed right up to:

Everett's room!!

First, we plopped the pillows in the rocker and got the curtains hung . . .

Isn't this a cozy little corner? I love the orange table lamp! We needed hooks for the ribbons on the curtains. She said she'd get Jason to put those in.

Next, the biggest labor of love -- installing the skirt and the bumper pads.

They look pretty darn cute (if I do say so myself)!

And here's Everett's bookshelf with lots of fun things.

And his closet is already filled with fun toys, helpful mommy tools, and cute, cute clothes!

And just because, here's another shot of the crib. LOL! I love her woodland creatures mobile!

Everett's Aunt Jenna, who is an incredibly talented artist, painted this darling owl . . .

And finally, the changing table. Isn't the vinyl decal on the wall just darling? Joc found this on etsy. It's perfect.

She's done such a marvelous job pulling the nursery together. I'm so proud of her! I know that having the accessories in place makes her feel a little more prepared. Her due date is in eleven days!! WOW!! I'm so excited!

And this is Princess Leia. She was very curious about what we were doing in her room.

She is in for a rather rude awakening in a few short weeks!

Now, the only thing left? Four owls to outline stitch on the quilt. The binding is cut and pressed and waiting for me. Whoohoo!

And now. BEDTIME!

:)

pillow talk . . .

I can't believe that Todd and I held our ministry's FOURTH annual board meeting today! It's been such an amazing thing to see how God's moved and used us through the last several years. The meeting was a good one, and I was left with a free afternoon.

What to do, what to do?!?

The final thing I had to finish (besides the quilt) for Everett's nursery were the pillows, so that's where I got busy today! Don't laugh, but I think it's so much cheaper to go to Big Lots or Dollar General and get a couple of pillows, than to buy pillow forms. Today I got two 18" square pillows for $10.

I did one out of the same fabric I'm using for the quilt. I wasn't even paying attention to which four owls I used, though. LOL! I had some matchie-matchie green piping--enough for one pillow, anyway--so I used it on this one. I think it adds a nice, finished look.

I backed it with the flannel I'm backing the quilt with. I like to do these as slip covers, especially for a nursery -- they can be pulled off and tossed in the washer/dryer, if need be. Also, the pillows can easily be tossed and replaced.

The second pillow I just made a 4-square from the curtain and bumper pad fabrics. It's a little bigger and floppier than the first pillow. This is like the backup pillow to the focal pillow. (Did I just make that up, or what?!?)

And I backed this one the same way . . . soft and cozy flannel, slip cover fashion.

See, don't they look fun together?!

Tomorrow will be the day we put it all together! Whoohoo!!

Happy Friday, ya'll!

:)

one step closer . . .

Yay! Last night I finished up the crib bumper pads. It was no problem stitching them up, but the tedious part was slipping the new cover over the existing bumper pad. There's got to be an easier way than doing what I did!

Regardless, I think the bumper pad turned out very cute (even on the sofa) -- and look how nice it looks with the ruffled skirt . . .

I cannot wait until Saturday, when we put it all together in the actual nursery!!

Again -- yay!

Saturday, Joc & I are also going to make about 20 freezer meals, so she's not having to worry about meal preparation for the first month or so. It's the only way I managed when I was working full-time as a teacher, with a husband and two kids! Anyway, we'll put the nursery together (and I'll take pics) and then we'll prepare meals (and I'll take pics) and then we'll crash on the couch, eat pizza, and watch The Return of Nanny McPhee! Sounds like a lovely day, non?

Joc is due on Wednesday the 16th. Both she and her brother were born on their due dates, on Fridays. I'm guessing Everett will arrive on Friday the 18th (because both mine were born on Fridays). One of my sisters is guessing the 17th (her birthday) and another is guessing the 16th (because Joc is my child, and my children were born on their due dates). Jocelyn is picking the 21st. Anyone else care to make a guess?!?

:)

sweet & sweet . . .

Would you like to know what happens when your stocking stays up into February? The Stocking Elf has to switch from Christmas candy to this . . .

My favorite conversation hearts and . . .

Heart-shaped boxes of chocolates! Yay for the Stocking Elf!

Monday I spent the day with Sawyer; we had such a fun day, full of swinging and bouncy seats . . .

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner . . . he's a great eater -- he'll try anything!

Sawyer: Really, Grandma? Another picture? Mercy.

We played with pretty much every toy he has. Twice. And the horse is a prominent figure in his play-time. I remember three months ago, he didn't want to have a thing to do with that horse! Now he loves on it, all the time.

I love his concentration! He's really reading that book (no matter that it's a picture book).

I wish you could hear him as he reads. It's so precious!

I will share that the more mobile and active he gets, the more worn out I am at the end of the day! I sure do understand why young women have babies and old women have menopause. LOL!

My portion of the nursery preparations are nearly finished! I'll finish up the bumper pads tonight -- whoohoo!! Jocelyn is packing her bags and getting all ready. It's all so exciting!

:)

design wall . . . dream?

I don't have anything up on my literal design wall (ironing board, sewing table, or anywhere else) this morning. But does that stop me? Absolutely NOT! I had committed that I would start nothing else until the nursery project was completely finished, and since it's close but not quite there, I refused to put anything new on the ol' design wall.

But my mind has no such limitations, and when I went to sleep the other night, it went right to work!

I shared about our guild's mystery quilt project last week, knowing that as much as I want to play -- I've never done a mystery quilt before -- the nursery project comes first! The only thing with the mystery quilt is, I had no idea what fabrics to use as my six colors and my zinger. It's really bothered me. Enough so that I not only dreamed about it, but I got it all figured out in my dream!

In my dream I went to one of our local quilt shops and was delighted to find they'd expanded and added more space, more fabric, and (here's how you can tell it was *my* dream) shelves of CHOCOLATE! Fabric and chocolate??! Yep, that's my kind of store! It was packed, too. I'm thinking this should start a new trend.

The fabric I have decided to use, I picked out in my dream. Weird, huh? I woke up so excited, because my dilemma was solved! I think I may have some in my stash -- I'll have to check later. Now that I know what my six color fabrics will be, it'll be a simple task to find a 'zinger' fabric. I'm so relieved that's over. Talk about process!!

Check out what quilters all over the world have on their real design walls over at Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times!

Here's what I finished on Saturday. The curtains are fully lined and I must say, they look great! The crib skirt was a little different. We'll velcro it onto the mattress support -- just the front, because the rest of it is enclosed. The skirt is fully lined too, and I had fun doing the ruffle! Notice that my demo here is set up on a broom handle and the ironing board. Necessity is the mother of invention!

Here's a close up of the ribbons on the curtains. Isn't it darling? The bumper pads are just a couple of stitches away from being finished. We're putting it all together on Saturday morning, and I'll be sure to share finished nursery photos! I can hardly believe that Everett's due to be here in just over two weeks!

Today I'll spend with my darling Sawyer. We had glorious weather here this weekend -- in the 70's on Saturday! My son caught this one of my darling boy enjoying the glorious outdoors . . .

He fills my heart with smiles - I'm such a blessed woman!

:)