I Love Mondays!

I love Friday afternoons, because I know that we have the weekend to hang out as a family.  But I love Mondays because the kids are back in school and it’s quiet.  And you know what?  They’re usually ready to go back.

I had a really nice 45th birthday.  These showed up from Honey:

We went to the first service at our church, which we don’t often do.  Nobody here moves too quickly in the morning, including the dog.  I thought it was interesting that the sermon was on “Purpose”.  As a mom, that’s been an ongoing question for me.  I know my purpose is to raise my kids to be decent human beings.  But does laundry have to be so boring?  So I’ve been questioning my purpose a lot lately.  At 45, my life is probably half over.  The flip side of that is, I’ve still got half of my life left.  So what am I going to do with it, besides take up space?  I believe God has some things for me to do, and I’m trying to be more open-minded about what those things might be!  I’m pretty lazy, and I like my life to be simple.

OK, that’s about as philosophical as I get.  I don’t do serious very well!!!

I started something.  Oh, get over it!!!  I can if I want to.  It was only a sock.

The pattern is Loksins.  The yarn is Hazel Knits, colorway Beach Glass.  I purchased it from Woolgirl.  I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love ordering from her.  Everything comes wrapped in bright tissue paper.  It’s such a fun package to open.  And she ships quickly too.  I’m also in her sock club.  But I really don’t spend much money with her!?!

I also worked on my Swell quilt.  I cut and sewed the borders together.  There are three borders, which total 1416 inches, or 118 feet, or, better yet, 39.3 yards.  Here’s a sneak peek, because I’m still not done.

This may end up being my all time favorite quilt.  The gingham just makes me smile.  The fabric is Moda Swell by Urban Chicks.   I ordered mine from Fat Quarter Shop. The pattern is mine.  It’s such a difficult one…not!

I also got an awesome birthday gift from Honey.  He ordered a piece of artwork for me.  I love oil paintings!  I’ll post a picture as soon as it shows up.  I think you’ll be surprised!

Thank you to all of you who left comments wishing me a happy birthday.  It was!

Today, it’s back to real life.  Quilt to border, laundry room to dig out, sheets to wash, dinner to make, and sunshine to enjoy.  Oh, and one kid needs to go to the eye doctor.  She can’t see!

Oh, I also forgot to tell you about the wood floor in my sewing room.  What wood floor?  The guy came on Tuesday and put in half of the floor.  On Wednesday, he moved my cutting table to the other side of the room and scratched the whole floor.  He had to rip out all of the wood he’d put in and start over.  He also had to order more wood.  It will be finished tomorrow.  Therefore, I’m sewing in my dining room.  I don’t need to tell you what a mess I’m making there.  Our whole kitchen, dining room, and family room area is open, so it all just looks messy!  I’m just messy!

I’m off to wallow in my messes!

Oh Say Can You See?

If you can’t see this one, you need to rush right down to your local opthamologist!

It’s kind of a dreary day today, so this was the best I can do for photos.

This quilt is pretty wild, but I like it. The fabric is Red, White and Bold by Sandy Gervais for Moda. The pattern is for a new book by Heather Peterson of Anka’s Treasures. The book isn’t even out yet, but Heather, kind soul that she is, slipped me the patterns. The book is called “Let the Good Times Roll”. Watch for it in just a few weeks. All of the projects in this book are made with a jelly roll and border fabrics. I’ve made two quilts from the book, and I’m ready to start another one. The name of this quilt is Cafe Au Lait. Needless to say, the fabric Heather used is much more muted. I can personally kill any pattern she produces!!!

Isn’t this fabric fun? I’m using a great big floral for the backing and a diagonal red stripe for the binding.

I’m knitting, but the repeat I added to Morning Glory doesn’t really make it look any different.

I also have a cute puppy picture today.

I swear she loves anything handmade in this house. She loves my knitting. Today I was working on my Swell quilt. It was laid out on the floor and she managed to climb under it and go to sleep. I just have the borders left on this quilt. It may be my all time favorite quilt. It just makes me smile. More soon…..

And last but not least, I’m celebrating my @^&#th birthday tomorrow. My big plan was to watch the Nascar race in our motorhome. However, my plan encountered a glitch. There’s no Nascar race. So, we’ll go to church, and then I’ll probably do what I did today. Work on a quilt. Oh, and I think there’s a new knitting project on the horizon. I want these.

And now, back to those quilt borders!

Cracking Me Up

I just have to share this with you, because I think it’s hilarious.

I occasionally look to see what searches people use to get to my blog. Yesterday there was someone who got here, to my knitting and quilting blog, by searching “growing crack”.

How did that link to me? I did this post last summer about the flowers growing in the crack in my sidewalk. (With my dumb sense of humor, I still think that post was funny!)

Do you think this helped them much???

I’ll be back soon with photos of the quilt top. You saw all the pieces lined up on the bar in my kitchen.   It’s almost finished, and it’s pretty wild!

Same Old Thing

It’s the same old thing! I should be cleaning up messes. I’d rather be knitting and quilting.

So today I knit. Kid 2 got her cast off. I had lots of time sitting in the doctors office. So I worked on my Lace and Diamond Socks. I’m using Reynolds Sea Wool.

Obviously I didn’t get a pedicure at the spa.

Did you know that it’s human nature to want what you can’t have? I can’t get in my sewing room right now because there’s a guy in there. Don’t worry. He’s just putting in my wood floor. So what do I do? Haul my sewing machine, ironing board, and assorted junk to the dining room. Crap! That means I just created another mess.

This is what I cut out today:

Doesn’t that look like fun???

Now I’m going to have to sew all day tomorrow so I can get at my countertop. Shoot!

But before I start sewing, I have to run to the grocery store (at 10 PM) because we’re out of bread and milk!

Bye!