Loss

Yesterday evening, I found out that my husband's great aunt, who I met on our trip to Germany last year and immediately loved, unexpectedly passed away.



She was such a sweet and wonderful women, full of life and joy. She helped make me feel so comfortable when we were there, like I had been a part of her family forever!

She will be missed by many, and we send our love, thoughts and prayers to all of her immediate family dealing with this tragic loss.

Dr. Suess

I sooooo want this fabric!



Isn't it too cute!?!

I can't believe it...I won!!

I signed up for a giveaway over at Fat Quarterly and I won!!

WooHoo!! Robert Kaufman Fabric!!



I can't wait to get the fabric and get started on the project!!

Plus they are having another giveaway, so head on over and see if you can be the lucky winner this time!!

Busy, busy Labor Day weekend!

Well, I wanted to post some pictures from our full Labor Day weekend, but I am having camera/computer connection issues...so I will just talk about it for now and hopefully post some pictures later.

I did get the baby quilt finished Thursday night and gave it to Keith on Friday morning at work. (I did the binding by machine...Let's just say that I really need to practice that process. It wasn't horrible-I didn't pick it out-but that may have had to do with the fact that I had to have it done that night!!)
Friday night after work I spent HOURS at Joannes shopping their Labor Day sales and getting some quilting/sewing goodies for my sister Kelsey. (She got a sewing machine for her birthday from Mom, Dad, Betsy and Mare!)

Saturday I met my sister Mary in Marietta Square for some shopping (they have a farmer's market on Saturday mornings, and they were having an art show) Mare ran to dance practice and I ran a few errands, then met Kevin at REI and Dick's Sporting Goods to check out their end of season sales. We each got a wet suit (on clearance) so that we can hopefully enjoy our jet skis even as the weather starts to cool down. (Since they haven't been working for the warm weather time!!) Mare met us there and we walked to Borders (I got Kevin a new Bible he thought looked interesting) then we all met the 'rents for dinner here and some more book shopping at Barnes and Noble. (I just can't get enough!!) Saturday night Kev picked up the wood I needed at Home Depot and we finally got a headboard made for our king size bed. Now we just need to get it attached to the wall! (We were up until after 2AM!)

Sunday we got up early and drove up to TN (we picked up Mare and the 'rents) and met Kelsey and Travis to go down the Hiwassee River. It was nice to have our own life jackets so that we didn't have to use their stinky ones (I always forget how nasty those things smell until I get there, and then I wonder why did I want to do this again?!?) After a run in with a huge tree branch (I think Kevin was trying to get rid of me, but I survived and came out with only a few scrapes and bruises) we made it down the river (It really is a lazy river, so we try to make obstacles for ourselves so that Kevin has fun, which is why we then got caught in the one place there was a bit of rapids and pushed under a big tree growing over the river and I, being in the front, got the tree branch in the arm-thankfully I did get down flat so that I didn't get it in the face!!) and helped Kelsey and Travis load up their canoe and went to their house for a cookout and to celebrate Kelsey's birthday.
After dinner we helped her work on the final design placement of the blocks for the quilt she is working on for Travis. (It was funny when she told me about the fabric for this quilt because I bought some of the same fabric as well ages ago, but I haven't made anything with mine yet!!) That was a fun day, but it was another late night since it is a long drive home from Ringold!!)

Monday we got to sleep in a little bit, but then we were up and getting everything together to go out on the jet skis. We were able to spend about 2 hours on the water and with no major issues! What a relief!! It was so much fun!! Then we went over to Kevin's mom's house for dinner and a nice visit. (And we ended up playing canasta, I didn't do very well, but that is a fun game!!

Tuesday morning came too fast and I was not ready for work, but work was ready for me, so now we are back to the regular daily schedule after a full and fun long weekend! (Although I am working the early shift all this week and next since my boss is out of town, so maybe I will actually get out and hike a couple times over the next week or two and try to get my energy level back up...I am tired all the time lately!!)

I hope to get some pictures on here soon!

A baby quilt

I did the quilting on another baby quilt earlier this week. (I am thinking baby Ava will get this one. She is one of my co-workers brand new little grand-daughter! She is so tiny-she was quite early-but is at home now and growing every day.)



Now I just need to get the binding ready and sewn on. (Hand sewing the binding down is a love/hate thing for me. I really enjoy doing the work by hand, but my neck and back are always killing me when I finish because I slump over while I am working on it-and I pretty much always end up drawing blood or scratching myself pretty bad on the pins holding it all in place!) I think my goal is to do that part tonight when I get home from work so that I can get it to Keith tomorrow before the long weekend.

My body is actually already sore today (so this may not be a realistic goal to get that quilt binding done) since I ACTUALLY exercised yesterday!! I think it has been literally 6 months since I have done ANY form of physical activity that would produce sweat!! (Scary, I know!!) My mountain walking partner text me on Tuesday night, and so we hiked Kennesaw Mountain yesterday after work. It was wonderful and miserable at the same time! I really can't let myself get that out of shape...I thought I was going to black out for a moment near the top when I got light headed and super short of breath! She is doing a 5k run the first Sunday of next month, so I think I am going to have to see about joining in on that and so it will keep me motivated to keep exercising and get into better shape!

The Flag Quilt is Finished

I did all the hand sewing of the binding yesterday when I got home. It took pretty much all night...I went upstairs to read in bed for awhile when I finished it and fell asleep instead!!






I love how it turned out. A part of me wishes I would have had time to hand quilt it, I love the look of hand quilting-especially in a quilt with "country" style fabric, but I still love it and am quite proud of myself for how quickly I was able to get this project turned around. (I have OVER a week to spare from when it HAD to be completed by!)




I hope G&G Binks like it! After I finished it Kevin asked if I was sad to give it away, I am a HUGE fan of all things Red, White and Blue, but I am excited to give it to someone else who loves RW&B nearly as much as me!

In other news...here is some more fabric I recently picked up.





I am in LOVE with this animal print! Isn't it adorable!?! I am going to try a pattern similar to this one from Allison Harris at Cluck Cluck Sew.



I just love picking out beautiful new groups of fabric and dreaming up wonderful ways to use them...now I just have to work on actually getting some of these projects done!!

Weekend sewing

My weekend was busy (as usual) but really fun!!

I finally got to visit with my fried Rachel and meet her little boy Jonah! He is four months old already and an adorable little guy! (With some scrumptious little rolls in his arms and legs-I love it-too cute!!) It was great to catch up with her (and her mom) for a couple hours.

Then I got some info I needed from Stonewall Manor and saw everyone. They were catering a reception at the Booth Museum in Cartersville. I wish I could have been a part of that one, I haven't been inside that museum yet! I've got three weddings coming up in September, so it is time to get to work on the details of these and make sure the brides are ready for their big day!

I did some shopping and errands and did some sewing that night when I got home. (Kevin spent the afternoon and evening out. He had worked on the Jet Skis and so he took them out on the lake with Tim and they seem to be doing better...still not where they should be...but at least both of them were actually running!!)

Sunday morning I went to my first ever sewing class. It was at Tiny Stitches in Marietta. It was the first class that the AtlMQG set up and we had a pretty good turn out. It was fun sewing with everyone and although I didn't get a block completed, I was working on several at a time, so I have a few blocks in different stages.

Melinda taught the class...she is showing off one of her amazing quilts here:

Here is my start...

moving right along...

My messy work station! (That awesome half cutting board/half ironing board is one of my purchases from Saturday...I had a Michaels coupon so I picked it up! It was nice to have it right there at my station where I was sewing!)

My fabric (I picked it up the night before...I decided to go with a fun Halloween theme for this project!)

Some of the scraps from today's class-I sifted through these and took a bunch home!! I just love scraps!!


I also got some FANTABULOUS scraps from Nicole!
I LOVE them and I am so exited to work with them!!


Mary came over to hang out Sunday afternoon and we watched some movies, visited, sewed and had a great time together just chilling!

Here is the owl quilt I am making for her from all the blocks I got in the owl swap I did.


And here is my flag quilt I am making for G&G Binks. It is almost finished! All I have to do is hand sew down the binding and I am done!! Yipee!! I hope they like it! It is one of the biggest quilts I have ever made...even Kevin was impressed with this one!