Brothers Christmas Quilt

Inspired by a bathroom in Silver City, I came up with this quilt idea. I decided to make this my brothers Christmas present, since I knew I wanted to do a black and white quilt for him. It all sort of just came together on this trip. (which was awesome by the way!)

My friend Renee invited me to Silver City for our first mommy's weekend getaway. Our first weekend without children! Awesome! We stayed at an amazing bed & breakfast called the Bear Mountain Lodge. Our room was titled the Georgia O'Keefe room. It was nice, cozy and spacious.  The bathroom was large (the pipes smelled old, not that I go around smelling pipes, but I could smell the 'old' from my bed. Yuck.....) anyway, it had quite a beautiful tile job. From my husbands eye, I could see how tedious and awful it would have been to lay all this tiny tile down, ALL OVER that large bathroom. I felt for the guy that had to do it, and several times noticed his flaws. He did a great job, in no way am I saying I could compare. The pattern of the 'floating squares' was all over. On three of the four walls and the floor, surrounded by white tile. I liked the look of them just being suspended in this mass pallet of white. My quilt turned out nothing like this, but it is lovely all the same.


The tile was inspiring. I really loved that
 Bed and Breakfast.

Here are my scribbles and notes for the quilt.  Now that I am done with it, even to me they are nonsense and look like giberish.    

 I was not real pleased with this portion. I like it, but it was not what I had hoped/expected. I think I should have stuck with a little more bold colors, solid blacks and whites. Though I was afraid 'real' white would be too white for Kai. I may have to revise the "tile" pattern and try a again for a more satisfying top.

     

SO BIG! It was quite intimidating to think of putting this in my sewing machine!

                     This is the back, I really love the way it turned out. More then I did the front.

 I picked the backing material up at a thrift store in Silver City. It was really cheap and the fitted sheet to a full size bed. I late found out the pattern is from the Movie: How To Train A Dragon. I have not seen it, but I like the resulting sheet patterns!

And its done! Being the largest quilt I have sewn to date, it was not that bad. Intimidating and scary to quilt at first, but once I put it through the machine, my fears quickly melted. I think it may have been the most fun I have had quilting. I basically made it up as I went along, had little expectations and a lot of experimenting. I know he'll love it!

Birds of A Feather Flock Together

 It has been a LONG time since I have seen a flock of birds in formation flying south. A LONG time. It made me realize how grateful I am to be outside so much. I have been cooped up in an office or school my whole life. Probably the last time I saw this was when I was in middle school or high school. Or maybe even elementary? Who knows, I don't remember. Anyways, it was a beautiful sight. It makes me so thankful to be where I am right now. Able to stay home with my son and go outside whenever I want. Or to the zoo. Or whatever. I am not confined to a space against my wishes. I mean, money is nice, but who REALLY want to be in an office all day?

 I am very lucky.      

Halloween

I had a last minute idea tonight for our (toddler) Halloween party Monday.

Not thinking too far ahead, I had not prepped much decoration for the event. Tonight I found myself scrambling to see what was available to me. Tucked away in a corner we had a LED paper lantern. We have a bunch of these I bought for our wedding. It was too windy and we never even used them. :0(

Anyway, 'what a fantastic jack-o-lantern that would make' I thought. Took me less then an hour from start to finished, including cleaning up. I hope I can incorporate it into the photos without it being destroyed by toddler zombies!

Address Numbers

So it seems people are having a hard time finding our new house. (Even though our address is written on the sidewalk like everyone else's.) so I wanted a creative (and cheap) way to display the numbers.

My husband just happened to be trimming the trees out front while I was contemplating ideas for this, when I noticed the core of the branches were a beautiful reddish color. There were my new address numbers.

First: I cut a nice large log from the branch. 

I then cut it in a little over a inch slices with the miter saw. 

After letting them dry for a few days I drilled small holes to hang them with, 

and used the wood burner to carve the numbers.

Super easy, super cute. 

I stain/weatherproofed them with rust-ease exterior clear finish. I don't know how long they will really last. But they will work, took just a few hours total to make, and mostly free (only bought the varnish). 

Saweet. 

I'm new here....

My 18 month olds ability to count is quite entertaining. As we go up the stairs he skips the first step, then counts, 'too, fwee, eweven, naan, fouw, too'. Its the most adorable thing I have ever heard.

I am not sure what exactly this blog will be about just yet. Mostly to share the things I make, I think.

I run a small home daycare to be able to stay at home with my son. I love it and would not change it for anything. I am able to love him and teach him all day, while also being able to get the things done I never could while working. I love to sew and be crafty though, I am a seasonal seamstress and only get the urge when the weather turns cold. I like making quilts and clothes and fun things for my son. I also like scrapbooking, building, constructing and have a new interest in baking.

I don't like politicians, onions, rap, metal or new country music. I could make this list A LOT longer but I will spare you. =o)