Kaiya.

Take care,

Thanks Martha.

 I used Martha's Girl's Shirt Dress tutorial for this project.  As you can see, she loves it.  Now to make some for all the girlies in my life.

Take care,
 kendra

Hey...

 I have no real reason for neglecting my blog lately.  I'm not going to make excuses and say I was too busy.  I was but could have taken a few minutes to update and show off some pictures.  My lists of to dos just kept getting longer and longer and I was overwhelmed.  My fight or flight response was flight...  oh well, I'm here now and have some finishes.

 I was hoping to join in the fun at i'm a ginger monkey in the "scrap vomit" quilt a long, but the perfectionist in me couldn't wrap my brain about using so many different colors of 2.5 inch squares that may or may not look good together.  I couldn't take so much time working on a quilt only to hate it in the end.  I did still , and still am, using the scraps but in a way that I can deal with the chaos, yet still have some control.  both of the above quilts are quilted and tied.

 I also utilized my scraps in making quilted journal covers for Christmas gifts this year.

 I recently got Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts: and  have most of the supplies listed in this book for various projects, but I really enjoyed the chapter on patchwork quilts.   I especially like the tied quilts as it reminds me of my childhood.  Growing up we had many blankets, some quilts,  and afghans that were made by my dad's mother.  It still amazes me especially now that I'm making them myself, that she did it blind.   I can't imagine how she was able to manuever though and complete some of the smallest details, but she did.  I never paid attention to those things when I was a kid or when she was still alive, I think I could have learned alot from her had it not been for my snotty disposition and my teenage angst.

 We still have few of those blankets, my son has one on his bed and has loved it an and cuddled it and picked at some of the tufts, so I was happy to have a very detailed diagram thanks to Miss Martha, on how to execute  the  perfect  French knot.  In doing so I realized how much I too loved those tied blankets and picked at those same tufts as a kid while I read  in that big  overstuffed chair at the old farm.  I decided to follow the pattern for the basic patchwork quilt on page 66, but using all of those 2.5 inch squares I had cut.  I first arranged them in a basic nine patch and then sewed them together and just kept going.  I have been following my " Use what you got rule"  and have come up with some great variations, forcing myself to think outside of the box.

 More finishes that were gifted:

                              

Mask love.

We got Booed.

So Cute. .  We found a bag o' treats at our back door yesterday and a paper that read:

 We've been coloring and preparing our bags of goodies to drop off at our unsuspecting friends' houses.   We taped our ghosts in our windows so the next phantom will skip our house and give it to another.  The kids had a lot of fun and they tried to guess who our phantom was.

Brian is very excited to deliver them as he will be able to use his "super spy" techniques he has been practicing such as stealth rolling, diving and invisibility.  The last one, you can imagine, has been hysterical to watch.  Great way to work as a family.     Check it out and get it started in your neighborhood.  Thanks phantom for including us in the fun.

Take care,

It's that kind of day

Today we are goofy and tired as we stayed up late watching Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief and trying to get the house ready for the contractors to come in and fix my closet ceiling which developed a big leak. Today is rainy and cold so we have buckets and towels up there to catch all the water until they fix it. NOT FUN. We are going to do some crafts and then later play puppy and most likely crash out at nap time, both of us. I'm still cutting my 2.5 squares for the quilt along and cleaned out a bunch of things, such as fabric notions and a sewing machine giving them away on freecycle. What are you doing today?

Take care,

Fun, Family & Friends at the Faust Farm.

We were invited this past weekend  help our friends on their farm.  I always enjoy things like this and I want my children to know that there is a different life than they are used to, in fact, it is more like how  I grew up as a kid.   We went for the annual chicken harvest and helped out. 

While the adults were  busy with the chickens, the kids went exploring and ran around through the woods and all around the farm.  The rule of the house, especially because the weather was gorgeous, was " get your butt outside".   Brian brought his DS, but Madison soon had him runnin' after her to play.  Kaiya was under the mistaken impression that it was her job to kill the chickens and waited around for a bit for someone to show her how.  She too, happily chased after Madison once she accepted thet she indeed did NOT have to kill chickens.  

These little pigs were new to the farm, purchased and hauled in the day before so they were still abit skittish and very leary of the kids and there supa' fast movements.  It was hysterical to watch them push and shove each other to get to the front to see us and then if someone moved an arm, all hell would break loose and they would run and squeal climbing over and pushing through each other, just to settle down and do it all over again.

It was a long day, the kids left at about 6ish  and I was there till around 8: until the last package of chicken had been packed in the freezer.  Carol and Bill treated me to " shopping in the freezer" for all my hard work.  Farm raised beef, sweet sausage, chip steak,  chicken, ground beef, BACON and brown eggs.   I went home exhausted and dirty , desperately needing a shower and happy knowing that  I'd helped out their family while making new friends and memories with the  my kids.  It was a very good day.

 

Mirror mirror on the wall....

Speedy

Fruity

 Speedy (back), Fruity (middle) and Climber

The guys.

 I love these guys crazy as it seems. 

Take care,

Wishing...



Kaiya Mae at GTF 5/10

we were with you, right now. 

Take care,

I've been side tracked for the last few days

.... working on gifts for upcoming events. I enjoy sitting on the couch with Brody at night and stitching under the glow of the hermit crab tank while they move things about in their tank. Yes for those of you who don't know we are now the proud owners of 3 hermit crabs that were saved from eminent death. More on that in another post.

I've been working on a double whipped running stitch and practiced on a sampler for a while before doing on the scrappy star pillow. It went together easily and I am quite happy with it. I did however find out that some of the greens fabric used in this star and in the "Hanna" quilt were never color set and had a lot of bleeding in the wash.



I woke up this morning upset at the dye bleed and knew that it was going to bother me and I would fret over it especially since the wedding is today and this is the gift. I went to the store to get carbona dye corrector and prayed for the best. It did take out the bleed but unfortunately it took out some dye from other fabric within the quilt and on here. Live and learn.

I've been going through all of our clothes and these next few weeks are focused on Brian's closet. I've been making panel shorts out of jeans that were thrifted this summer adding elastic waist bands, which is much easier for an eight year old. At this age he has little interest in what he wears and has no concept of what is" cool" in a surfing town... yet.

For Miss Kaiya it's all about tattoos and princesses, so we came up with the knee princess. The Body Crayon Book is a big hit with the little kids that come here to play. Today will be rainbows and butterflies before cousin Matty gets here to hang with them while we head to the wedding. The Princess and the frog movie is her choice for tonight. I'm sure the boys will be thrilled.

Take care,
Kendra