A Helper

Yesterday I had my nephew.  While he was playing with toys, I started working on Abigail's quilt.  He was fascinated by the rotary cutter, sewing machine, fabric and most of all...my fleece design "board".  As with all of the kids (and teens) that have been to my house, it's their favorite thing to play around with.  I keep a basket of old scraps next to the board for them to design with.  This was his first time playing with this, and he had a blast! He fell in love with this one scrap lol! He kept saying it was his favorite & wanted to hang it on his wall at his house.  Next thing I knew, he crumpled it up & tried to sneak it in his pocket haha!  I told him he could keep it :)

It's a girl!

Her name is Abigail Grace.

Abigail = father's joy

Grace = God's favor, grace, love

It's only been 2 years...

It's only been 2 years since my last post?  It feels like ages.  So much has changed, so many new beginnings...both out of choice and circumstance.  Sadly, not too many quilting/sewing projects completed in those 2 years, but I hope to change that beginning now.  My main goal for this blog is to have a virtual diary of my life, accomplishments, failures (without them we cannot grow), and everything in between.  My kids are growing up way too fast and even though I'm here, I still feel as if I'm missing out on so much!  Hann is now 15 and a sophomore in high school.  Elijah is now 10 and in 4th grade.  I have another on the way, due 8/3, and still have to convince myself it's not a dream.  I've always wanted more kids, but knocking on 40's door, honestly I thought it'd be via adoption haha.  This pregnancy is easier and harder in different ways than my other 2.  Either way I'm excited to have another baby running around.  The kids are excited too.  Monday is the big appointment where we find out the gender.  I hope that the baby cooperates haha!

Here's what I'm currently working on...

My kids

Hannah was so hyper when I picked her up today.  She asked for my video camera then she & Elijah went off and created this start to finish. I only uploaded it when they were done.  They are definitely without a doubt my kids! Love you guys!!

Christmas and the New Year

For some reason, Christmas just didn't feel like Christmas usually does.  Maybe it's because it was my first one as a single mom.  Maybe it's because the weather was unseasonably warm.  Maybe it's because my budget was almost non-existent.  Maybe it's because I worked so much, I just didn't have the energy to put into it what I usually do.  Maybe it's because the kids weren't here to wake me up uber early like they have every year since they were born (they were at their dad's).  I don't know, but Christmas is my favorite holiday, yet this one I was ready to see it go. 

At work, we had a secret Santa exchange, and my person wanted Christmas ornaments.  Being on a super tight budget, I bought one and made one.  Well, the one I made (although the letter is really crooked) got me into the mood to make more for my family.  I made photo books on Snapfish for each of the families and tied an ornament on the package.  I used all scraps from my stash and ones my sister gave me, and didn't use a pattern, but I think they turned out pretty cute...

 Pillowcases for my niece & nephew's bdays...

Let's Play Catch Up

Wow, another year! This year was busy with all kinds of things like a new job, family adjustments, wedding engagements, new babies, etc so I didn't make very many projects. Here are some that I was able to work on...

1. Charity quilt (adapted from the Charm Squares Baby quilt pattern from Sew, Mama, Sew!)

2. Baby quilt for Lilian Rose (Elephants on parade pattern from fat quarterly issue 2)

3. Baby quilt for Kolton (inspired by a quilt that was made by QuiltDad)

4. Fabrics for a new quilt for my mom.

I don't even have pics of the ones in progress...I'm afraid 2012 will be starting out with quite a few UFOs.

Playing Catch Up

So....deep breath...here we go...


My sister, brother-in-law and niece & nephew came to visit us from Arizona a few weeks ago. We had a blast! We went on Ripley's Ghost train tour, which was as expected...cheesy but fun none the less. We didn't find any "apparitions" but it was fun watching my EMF (?) thingie going off when my cell phone would search for signal.





I thought the lady next to me was going to have a heart attack lol! I did get freaked out when we were in the Ripley museum (in pitch black) and I took this picture...remember it was pitch black and in a flash I see this image...



My mind thinks it looks like the pshycho scene where the reent reent reent song will begin at any moment lol! It's amazing how your mind can play tricks on you in the dark. I can't wait to develop our film from the tour, but knowing me it'll most likely be Christmas before I get around to it. After our tour we went to Kozmic Bluz in St. Augustine to eat. I have to say that they have the BEST cheese fries around and thanks to them I am totally hooked on Sangrias :)
Harry Potter closet at Kozmic Bluz

Eric & Jer Hammin it up
Me & Diana

We all loved Eric's flying story, but not as much as Diana! :)


And now for meanie faces:

Hurricaines and Colorado

We're really glad that Ike is not heading for us, since Fay did so much flooding damage. However, we're not really out of the woodwork yet, since he still could turn towards us (eastern side of the state). I pray for safety for all of those that are in his path.

Thanks to my awesome mother-in-law, we got 4 tickets to fly out to Denver, Colorado week before last. It was so much fun! We didn't stay around Denver, but went about 2 hours out all the way around in just a few days. We weren't sure that we would even be able to leave Jacksonville, since Fay was hitting as we were leaving. Luckily our flight was the last one out before the airlines started to cancel flights. Unfortunately, it was one of the scariest, jerkiest and bumpiest take offs I have ever experienced. I was actually holding a vomit bag. We got there safely and the next day started to explore the dinosaur museums, went fishing, attempted to see the fossil beds (funnel clouds were spotted, so they didn't reccommend we try it), went camping, and had a lot of fun. Once we got home, the kids were ready to pack up their stuff and move out there (I am right there with them). Maybe in the next year or so Woodland Park, CO or Manitou Springs, CO will be our new home town. :)

The Baby Shower

What a fun tea party baby shower! It was at a tea room in Mt. Dora, FL and wow! They served pomegranite iced tea with lemon slices and mint leaves, finger sandwiches, home made strawberry whipped cream and cranberry biscotti...Words can't describe how cool that place was, so here are a few pics.

New Binkie and the Park

Yesterday was a great day. I took my son and niece to the park. Unfortunately it was already super hot when we got there, so the slides and most of the equipment were too hot to play on. They did take advantage of the sandbox though. :) Today was really beautiful as well. Elijah is my money saver. He'll save until he has enough to buy what he wants. Hannah will spend it as soon as she gets it, for fear that it will literally burn a hole in her pocket. I took Elijah to the dollar store to spend his set $2. He ended up with a neat car set (because we really need 20 more cars laying around to step on) and a "party set" as he calls it. Yep. Out of all the toys in the store, he went to the housewares section and bought a set that came with a matching plate, bowl, spoon, fork, knife and cup. They had every color imaginable. Out of all of them which did he pick? Purple. I knew as soon as he grabbed it I wouldn't hear the end of it from my husband haha! His favorite color is pink and Jeremy's having a hard time with that. I say it's just a phase and a color. He's a mama's boy...what do you expect? haha! Last year when he broke his arm, I had to talk him out of getting a bright pink cast. Another exciting day in the land of being a mom :)


I'm struggling with how I want to lay out these blocks in the quilt I'm working on. I'm not going by a pattern (they kind of bore me anyway). I always start with a pattern, then it turns into something totally off the beaten path by the time I'm done, so I figured I would just do what came to mind. I think it's because my quilting ADD usually kicks in about mid-project. :) Scrappy quilts are a bit more difficult, but I enjoy it more. My favorite is the hand quilting part anyway haha! I'm sure the layout will look completely different by the time I get done anyway, so I'll update the pictures once I actually get the rest of the blocks done and the top pieced.