I'm baa-aaack!

Here is my scruffy boy at 7 months old. I love his little fuzzy self. He's been a pretty good dog, all things considered. I need to get his hair cut but I love it scraggly.

I've signed up for two swaps on Craftster to get my crafty mojo agoin' again. The lap quilt swap, where I will send fabric to people they send to me. We all make a 12 1/2 inch block out of the fabric we receive and send it back. I'm heading to the cutting table to get it all fixed up for mailing and will post a pic of my choices when it's ready.

The other swap, which I'm incredibly excited about, is a Christmas stocking swap. I'm paired with the amazing kittykill, who I adore. I swapped with her in the bird swap and loved it. I have a huge list of things I want to make for her. The stocking will be for her DH and it is already designed in my head. I can't wait to get started. I need some projects to take to all these football practices and games.

Speaking of football, OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN! My oldest son's high school varsity team is 4-0. FOUR AND O. They played a killer game last night and the score was

At one point the score was 6-7 and it wasn't looking too good for our team. Then we had an incredible push to the endzone and our tough defense held off a touchdown by the other team. My ol' ticker can't take much more of this! This is one of the best starts by our school's teams in many years. So much fun to be a part of it and feed the boys afterwards. I love 'em all and am called "mom" by many. Cheesy I know, and I love it.

My big guy is #78

My other guy't team is 1-1. He is number 77 on the left of your screen

He plays both offense and defense and rarely gets a break in the game. He loves every minute, except when we lose like the last game. Their first game was awesome, and they won a tough battle in the last minutes.

So proud of both my football players!

The girls are both in college. Oldest dd is home for the weekend. She met us at her brother's game last night and we are going shopping soon. Younger dd is three hours away! ug, I miss the little darling. Her daddy is on his way there today. He decided to design his own "Dad's Weekend" since Miami doesn't have one like OU does. I made pumpkin muffins and chocolate chip cookies for her and her roomies.

Off I go to put together lap quilt packages and make Christmas surprises! The first set of goodies will be crocheted. Shhh, no more hints though!

Peaceful piecing,

Jenni

Slacker!

Such a busy summer! I have no pictures to post today. The puppy is 6 months old now and looks completely different than the picture posted last. Since I last posted:

• My daughter graduated from high school and we had a huge party at the house
• My other daughter moved out of the dorm and into an apartment and started summer school
• Hubby and I went to Las Vegas with his sister and her hubby
• We took the kids whitewater rafting in West Virginia for a weekend
• Hubby and I celebrated his birthday weekend in Put-in-Bay with some great friends (and missed the ones that didn't make it horribly)
• Hubby had back surgery (and is recovering nicely - going back to work today)
• My dear niece got married in Michigan to a fabulous guy. The kids and I went so hubby could recover from surgery and had fun seeing family and cousins and dancing the night away
• We went to a big family reunion for hubby's side and got to visit with his sister and her hubby, son and DIL.

Hubby goes back to work today, finally. It's actually only been two weeks, which is hard to believe. The first week was rough for him but he's doing well now and can walk pain free. His neurosurgeon is a superstar!

Hubby bought a "scooter". I can't tell how it differs from a motorcycle, but oh well. He can't tell my serger from my other machine, lol. I'm not letting him ride until he gets the okay from his doctor. He can't play golf for a few months so I hope he can ride before winter.

The boys are playing football, therefore so am I! As a team mom I am helping feed the high school boys almost daily during two a days. So far injuries to the team have been minimal. We had a huge group of football players and friends here Saturday for "the fight" on HBO. I would further show my ignorance if I tried to explain what the fight(s) are called or are about but I really enjoyed having the kids here and keep realizing that I'll only have them for a little bit longer.

My baby girl goes to college in 10 days. MY college, the one I hold dear sweet memories of. Where I met her daddy. Where her grandpa and her uncles went. I'm so excited for her to begin this phase of her life but I miss her already.

I'm gonna cry.

Craftwise the only swap I've done is a "44 cent" swap on craftster. We had to fill an envelope with craft supplies and homemade goodies and have it weigh less than an ounce and be PO machine friendly. I hope mine make it. I'm sorry to say that I'm not as overly excited and consumed by swapping as I once was. I'd really like to swap with people that do more fabric and fiber things like quilting and felting I think. Must be time to get over it and move on to other types of swaps or do more projects just for me. I think I'll look for some fabric ATC or some quilty ones.

Off to feed the team. I got my embroidery module for my machine for my birthday and haven't used it much. I won enough money in Vegas to buy a laptop to hook it up to. Yeah! Now when school starts I hope to practice a little more. I'd like to make some early Christmas things.

Off to feed the team. My no-bake cookies didn't come out right this time. I must have been off on the boiling part. Oh well, they'll still eat them. It's so insanely hot that I think I'll take a box of popsicles too.

Here's hoping someone is stitching and I can get up to my sewing area soon to do the same!

Jenni

Cricket is here!

We've had the little dickens for a couple weeks now.  He is 10 1/2 weeks old and keeping me pretty busy!  Happy, our 8 year old lab, is very stressed about his existence.  She is constantly growling at him to keep him in line.  Good thing I watched Cesar Milan of the Dog Whisperer!  What an amazing person.  I love his show.  I've definitely learned a lot by watching it.  I think he is so kind to the owners and great with the dogs.  I've learned enough to know that my little stinker's growling when he has to have his paws wiped needs to be nipped in the bud NOW before he gets aggressive.  Housetraining is getting there.  We go outside MOST of the time.  He is doing well in his crate.  We also have a doggie playpen, a portable thing that he can go in when we can't watch him constantly.  

The cat is getting a lot of chase time.  I was initially worried until I saw her come back for more OVER and OVER again.  When he is in his playpen she hisses at him at teases him.  He learned to go UP stairs by chasing her.  Still too little, at 5 1/4 pounds, to come down.

On the crafty front, I made more houses in the chunky swap.  I had a flash of inspiration and made them all from neckties.  It was much less involved than the last sets, other than prepping the bases for them, but I loved the results!

Here are the houses I made:

I used the labels as doors and the tie ends as chimneys.  Here are the ones I received from my partners:

I just love them!  They are from stunnedbanana, WYOKrista, playswithneedles and alteredmommy.  They are really different and look great on my mantle.

I also made costumes for my youngest DS middle school play.  They did a "jr" version of Willy Wonka.  I gussied up a jacket I had for Willy (a girl in our version) by making it bigger and adding sparkles.  It was an old silk jacket I had dyed purple years ago for oldest DD to wear in horse shows.  I also made squirrel tails and ears and the giant blueberry suit.  Unfortunately the suit was stuffed with newspaper and used in between scenes as a bean bag chair by the other cast members.  The only pic I have is of it squashed down with the paper fallen to the bottom and not distributed evenly.  She only had a minute to get into it off stage.  It worked and all was well.  Here is a somewhat blurry shot of the Violet in the blueberry suit and Willy in her jacket.
The kids were great and I helped do makeup which was fun.  My son was "Mr. Bucket", Charlie"s father.

The most fun I've had in the last week was playing with MY NEW EMBROIDERY MODULE! Hubby got it for me as an early birthday present.  The dealer was offering them half off so I took advantage of the sale.  Now my Bernina 440QE can embroider too!  There is quite a learning curve and I need to take the classes but I managed to make a little doggie embroidery to make a bed for Cricket and made two hooded baby towels using a tutorial I found on the net. I already gave them to the momma to be without taking a good pic, unfortunately.  The momma is my dd #2's friend and is having a boy in June.  Oh, speaking of DD#2, she is headed to Miami U, my alma mater!  Hubby went there too, as did my dad and two of my brothers.  She is very excited and I'm proud of her for getting in.  Now we're planning the high school grad party and gearing up for her first year of college (sniff!).

DS#1 got his license!  It's a mixed blessing. He can take his little brother to football and to school but I don't see as much of him!  Good thing he's always hungry - he finds me when he wants to eat!

I'm looking for a laptop now so I don't have to haul my sewing machine from the third floor (my sewing area) to the first floor where the computer is.  My machine needs to be hooked up to the computer as it embroiders.  I also am starting to finally get my serger in operating order. I took a class at the Sewing Expo in Cleveland last March and it inspired me to take it out of the box (three+ years after I got it, shame shame!).

Gotta take care of my new baby.   Peaceful piecing to all!

Jenni

Chunky Houses two

Here are the fronts of the little quilted chunky houses I made for my partners on Craftster for the chunky house swap.

And here are the backs of them.

I used different techniques on each house. The green on the left was pinwoven on the front and then stitched. The black and white was kind of a mismash of things to get the ying yang affect I wanted. The little hut had a roof woven of ripped fabric strips, that was fun. The one on the right was pieced and then I loved the idea of the backyard tree with a swing. It was made on a very cloudy blah day when I was yearning for spring weather.

(Yes, I really wrote "yearning"!)

I received some lovely houses as well. The swap gallery is well worth a peek if you have some MORE time to waste.

I'm also posting a pic here of the quilt I made for a flickr swap. It had to go to Australia and I'm really not sure if it made it through the fires or if the mail REALLY takes 6 weeks!! Crazy! The theme was favorite things and my partners favorites were red, yellow, ricrac, birds, flowers and trees. (If I remember correctly). I'm not happy with the quality of my handquilting but I thoroughly enjoyed the process. I love love love stitching!

I hope it makes it to its new home soon!

In other news, I keep looking at the picture below (it's our background on the computer and on my cell phone). I've fallen in love with that ootsy cootsy widdle face. (Puppy's bring out the baby talk, sorry). We have a list of names on the fridge. My son still likes "Cricket" even with major opposition on most fronts. I like "Gus" and "Rudy". Time will tell. We will visit the little bugger again when oldest DD is home on Spring Break. We can't take him from his mama until the 4th or 5th of April. In the meantime I have learned that his black and tan coloring is called "phantom" coloring and am slowly bringing in supplies we need for him. (And many we don't!). We still need a crate and maybe a playpen type pen to keep our things safe from him and him safe from Happy until we know if she will accept him. I'm still convinced he will be "her" baby and she'll love the company. Dream on Pollyanna!

SPRING is coming! I saw a Robin last Thursday. It was the morning of the funeral service for one of my best friends' dad. He would have loved any extra celebration of his life and would have appreciated the Robin showing up at that moment. I know I did. RIP Ed!

Off to work on projects of the non sewing variety, unfortunately.

Peace and piece! Jenni

New addition

We will be adding a new member to our family in April!  Today Mac (youngest DS) and I went to Croton, about an hour away, and put a deposit on a cockapoo.  They were only 3 weeks old and the momma was the sweetest most gentle thing!  She didn't mind us handling her babies at all and was very lovable herself.  Mac, in true Mac fashion, fell in love with the first little critter she put in his arms!  It was hard to choose but that it "his" new puppy, and he is naming him "Cricket".  He can't leave his mommy until he's 7 weeks old which will give us time to get things ready and get a crate, food, dishes, etc.  We also need to study up on introducing a puppy to an older dog.  Happy may not be so happy when she has competition for our affection!  Mainly my affection I think.  Anyway, we researched that cockers and poodles are not really territorial and don't get "little dog" syndrome where they try to be the leader or the boss.    I think Happy will be fine.  DH thinks we just put a deposit on a very expensive "Happy snack".  He said the same thing about the kitty last year at this time, that she would be a snack but they very peacefully coexist giving me hope that puppy and Happy will do the same.  I personally think she will love having something to baby.  I hope I'm right!  Anyone with any tips, they're welcome!  

Amaryllisroze wanted a sacred heart quilt in the craftster IYP swap we were doing. The only twist, she wanted it in the immaculate heart style, with a knife through it. I enjoyed the challenge and had lots of fun coming up with this version. I made the heart separately with lots of trims and stitchings couched to it, then finished the edge so it could have stood by itself. Then I made button hole type openings for the knife, which was sewn to heavy peltex stuff. A few roses, some embellishments and there you have it! I had wanted to make a fun border with crazy quilting or charms in it but ran out of time. The background was reverse appliqued but I did a crummy job so I ended up zig zagging it. Everything was from my rather extensive stash, too.

A close up version of the flames

And of the handle:

And a picture of the great triptych she sent to me:

Isn't it great?! It matches my living room well. I love the little paper doll clowns on strings.

On the diet front, I had a lot of "fun" between Christmas and February. So much that it added up to gaining 15 pounds since Thanksgiving! I decided to join Weight Watchers with a friend. We go to meetings on Thursday nights so today is weigh in day. As of last week I had lost 7 of my 15 fun pounds and am hoping I had a good week this week, too. I'm still trying to follow the basic principles I learned in South Beach, mainly eat lots of whole grains, fiber, lean protein and fruit. I'm trying to avoid sugar, the devil's food, because it usually sets me off and makes me want to eat more of it. I need the portion control and points counting of Weight Watchers PLUS I like that you can allow yourself some of the good stuff once in a while, as long as you account for it.

Being a grown-up and accountability. Bleh. I need to get my big butt moving, too. Happy and I have been trying to walk more. It will be easier when it stays warmer. Here she is sporting the same "Hey I just wanna lay here" attitude that I have!



I'm off to make some more chunky houses and get my hair cut today.

Piecefully,
Jenni

Chunky House Love

Oops, I originally posted the chunky houses I made for the first chunky swap but realize now I did that earlier so I've taken them off. Sorry!
See below for the houses from the last chunky house swap on craftser.org. I am currently working on the houses for the next swap, which are due to go out Saturday (yikes!).

Anyway, I did two mini quilts for the 6-12" mini quilt swap on flickr. The first hasn't been received yet by dearfii in Australia (it takes forever for the mail to get there!). They've had all those terrible fires there, I hope it survived! Here is a sneak peek (DON'T LOOK fii!)

And a gees bend inspired quilt for cecysg, which she HAS received.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the wonderful triptych I received from amaryllisroze and the quilty (which I hope she gets by then) I sent her.

Off to work on more chunky houses!


Piecefully,
Jenni

So January is gone and most of February with out a blog post!  I so stink at this but really would like to get better!!

Let's see, since the New Year youngest DS has been in several basketball tournaments with his 6th grade team.  His last one is this weekend.  He also tried out for the school play "Willy Wonka" and will play the part of Charlie's dad.  I'm not familiar with the part but I'm sure it will be great!  I'm going to the parent meeting in a few minutes to try to get on the costume committee.  Who wouldn't want to outfit Willy and the Oompa Loompas?!!

Older DS has been working out for football (yes, ALREADY).  They had a powerlift competition last Saturday and he got fifth place (and there were more than five in the class!).  He also sang a beautiful solo (Yes I'm biased) in the solo and ensemble competition and received a ""1" which is a "superior" rating for a class A (most difficult) solo.  I'm proud, he seems to care less.  Typical almost 16 year old, right?

Younger DD has finished swimming, got accepted to Bowling Green and their school of Business and received a partial scholarship as well!  Very proud of her, sad she's graduating soon.  Seems impossible in a lot of ways.  We are starting to look for prom dresses and planning her graduation party.

Older DD is back at college and working hard.  She was home this past weekend for some R & R and family time.  I suspect part of the homesickness was also related to no clean laundry!  Both girls had pneumonia the week before Valentine's day so I'm very glad they are feeling better!

I'm off to the play meeting but will be back soon to post some quilt and chunky house pictures!

Piece out, Jenni

Time is running out!

Here it is already folks. The end of 2008. I did okay on my resolutions I guess. I mainly wanted to keep my weight off which I successfully did until the last two weeks! I have a biiig list of resolutions I'm working on for 2009. Mainly to stay fit, stretch my creativity and get some stuff done. I will post it in January.

Sitting on the edge of your chair just waiting with anticipation now, aren't you?! lol. I wonder if anyone reads this anyway! (I bet my mom and dad do!) Love ya!

Anyways, above is a clock I made last year from a cd and hair clips. The atc's were also tags for a 12 days of Christmas swap I did. I need to make another of those clocks! It's based on one made by my good friend rackycoo. I'd love to make one for myself and my girls both want one.

I finished some hand applique on my quilt for dearfii and our flickr swap. It is almost ready to go but I feel guilty that I didn't get it mailed in December. It will go out Friday though.

Friday is the open house of the new Studio 202 for Susan N and Susan S. They are moving locations and I can't wait to see it. What a dream, to have your own studio to work in daily!! Very cool.

I'm off to try to find the rick rack I misplaced and to try to clean around 5 sleeping teenagers that are crashed in my living room. Tonight we go to dinner with our friends and come back home to ring in the new year. My kids are all doing something elses. Em is celebrating her boyfriend's birthday (tomorrow, happy bday Mike!), Jill and Jake are hanging out with their boyfriend and girlfriend and Mac, poor guy, is babysitting for 10 kids. Oh well, he's 12 and doesn't know better! The parents will all be next door so it SHOULD be okay. Probably his first and last babysitting job and not worth the fifty bucks!

Be Merry!

So, since I get a bit nostalgic at Christmas time, here is the Christmas card photo of my kids from December 1999.

And here is this year's photo, nine years later.

I know it's a bit of a cliche' but SERIOUSLY, where did the time go?  When did I get old enough to be their mother!  Why did they have to quit humoring me that they believe in Santa?!!

On the quilty front, I made one small one as a gift that I forgot to take a picture of and have sent it the recipient.  I've started on a cute mini for my flickr partner, dearfii.  The theme is favorite things.  I've also VOWED that 2009 is the year of UFO finishing and destashing.  (Nevermind that I was shopping online for some cute new fabric I saw on another blog.  I closed it before I actually bought it).

I'm off to make some Christmas goodies.  I spent the day yesterday looking at recipes for Christmas eve and Christmas day and grocery shopping.  Apparently everyone else in town had the same bright idea. It took 3 1/2 hours to get everything and get it home.  That was AFTER I cleaned up the 12 pack of Diet Pepsi that exploded in the back of my car from the cold.  It was a mess, all over the windows, the ceiling, the carpet.  I got it up as best as I could.  I cried.  I think it is the holiday blues.  My best friend's dad had to go to the emergency room yesterday and it doesn't look too good for him right now.  That made me miss MY mom and dad, six hours away, even more.

Life is precious people!  Enjoy it to the fullest!  

Wishing you peace (and time to piece),

Jenni

Once again I am way past due to update.

We had the best Thanksgiving EVER!  My kids got to see all of their aunts and uncles and first cousins and grandparents on both sides of the family.  We live in Ohio with one Grandma and aunt.  The rest of our family lives in Indiana, Michigan, Massachusetts, Florida, DC.  On thanksgiving day we had hubby's side of the family, plus our "adopted" friends that are like family at our house.  16 people for dinner and I loved every minute.  My kids were troopers and cleaned like fiends to help me get ready.  (Wish it still was clean but you can't have everything!).

Here's a pic of the family at my house.

The day after thanksgiving we packed all 6 of us in the car and drove to South Bend, Indiana to see my parents and brothers and their families.  It was WONDERFUL.  If, by any chance, anyone is reading this we love you all!!  Here's a pic of some of the cousins in a group hug

And one of me and one of my brothers.  I love it because it makes me look more "petite" if possible.  I'm 5'11" so I rarely look like anything but a giantess unless I'm with my family!

I really have been sewing.  This is something I made my SIL a few years ago that she had displayed at her house.  I found the pattern and enough fabric to make myself one when I cleaned my sewing room.  I need to get on that!

Chunky houses for craftster swap.  First up is the gnome one I made for knickertwist.

The back:

The front:

Here is the one I made for amaryllisroze.

This is actually the back:

The front:

The back of alteredmommy's house:

Bad scan of the front with a "five" for her "new" age:

The back of the little Christmas house I made of IllusionsOfNormal

ho ho ho!:

The front:

Sew, I have been sewing some but now it's time to get the holiday cards out, do laundry and get the decorating finished.  Oh yes, and wrap presents before the kids start peeking in the bags.  Maybe I should finally finish the stocking I started when I was pregnant with my youngest.  He's 12!

My wonderful hubby has already spoiled me by getting me an early present, a blackberry curve!  Probably got tired of all my "Craaaaackberry" comments when he is on his.  At least now I can check my email when the kids are home.  They have a knack for hogging both computers.

Peace and joy to all!  Jenni

Chunky page and Thanksgiving

Seamstress chunky page , originally uploaded by gingerquilts.

I thought I would show a pic of the chunky page I made for crafty_dame in the IYP (invite your partner) swap. I wasn't happy with the arms, wishing I had done something clever for hands but I ran out of time. I love those little boot beads I got at Hobby Lobby.

I cleaned my crafty room! I cleaned my crafty room! We can actually go up on the third floor and not leave with floss, thread and fabric bits clinging to the seat of our pants (or worse). I'm not ashamed now for the kids to take their friends up, either.

Until I start the next project, anyway.

I can't wait until my partners receive their chunky houses I did for craftster. I'm very pleased with the ones I made and can't wait to see what I receive. If you add me as a "friend" on flickr you'll be able to see them early.

Feeding my family of 6 PLUS 10 more for thanksgiving. I'm off to pick up all the goodies. The turkey is defrosting in the fridge and I'm anxious to get the pies made. Hope everyone has a fabulous holiday!

Sacred Heart Quilts

Here is a picture of the sacred heart quilt that I sent to crafty_dame for our Invite Your Partner Swap on craftster.org.  I hope she loves it as much as I love the bag she made me in my last post.  I've made several sacred hearts.  My first was a postcard I sent as a thank you several years ago.

I also sent another sacred heart quilt to stifflersmom.  

I really should make one to keep around here sometime!

Still fighting my cold but feeling better after the antiobiotics have started to kick in. I'm going to go spend some quality time in my craft room to try to tame the beast. I am far too embarrassed to show before pics. I think I'm going to have to clean up better as I go and quit collecting oddball stuff for things I want to make "someday"! I have a lot there to keep me busy for the entire year of 2009. I feel a New Year's resolution coming on!

Piece and Peace to all,
Jenni

Vinyl Bird bag looove!

Vinyl Bird bag from crafty_dame, originally uploaded by gingerquilts.

Look what I got from crafty_dame! It's gorgeous and I love it. She also sent me a checkbook cover and some yummy canadian candy. The candy didn't last long with me and my two boys!!

I haven't been too crafty. I am cleaning and organizing my craft goodies and all my ufo's (oops, I didn't realize there were sooo many!). In between dragging it all out and spreading it all over to organize it my cold kicked in. Probably aggravated it with all the dust. Anyway, I've been sick enough to not want to budge or do anything. DH finally succeeded in getting me to go to our local First Care (doc in a box) and I got antibiotics. I had really hoped they would have worked in one day (imatient, I know) but I really couldn't do much but sit on the couch and drink mass quantities of tea and water. I'm sure I'll be perfect tomorrow and ready to conquer the crafties AND thanksgiving. I did make it to the turkey farm yesterday to pick up a 22 pounder. That ought to feed the 16 folks we have coming.

I am in a chunky houses swap on craftster.  I have two sides done, a front and a back but have four total houses to make.  Hopefully I can make a little progress tomorrow after cleaning MY MESS.

Speaking of craftster.org, I am honored that my Big Mac costume was mentioned in the craftster.org blog as a notable costume.  I know my little "big mac" loved it!

Off to get more tissues and tea.  I hate being sick.  I've decided not to do it anymore.  If only it were that easy!

Piecefully, Jenni

Want Fries with that?

Cheeseburger Costume, originally uploaded by gingerquilts.

I made my son a cheeseburger costume to wear to school for Halloween. His name is Mac. He's a "Big Mac". Get it?!! I also made a couple little quilts for craftster swaps. Batgirl has received but crafty_dame hasn't. I will post some pictures of them when they have both received. You can check out my flickr site for more cheesburger pictures and a mini tutorial. I also posted it on Craftster in the DIY costume challenge. Such fun!

Here's a bad pic of the quilt I made for batgirl 

Alive and Kickin'!

Here's a picture of the tree that fell across my stree a few weeks ago during the windstorms we had after the big hurricanes.  It took out a power pole and left us without power and cable for a few days. We lost some food in the fridge and freezer but were lucky that was all.  Another huge tree fell by the schools my boys attend.

I'm still here, and still living the "football mom" life.  I also have a senior daughter and one in college so there is college prep and college "pep talk" time, too.  Three more weeks of football  games then maybe some "all star" games for youngest DS.

I'm thinking lately that "gingerquilts" wants to be "gingerknits".  I received some "knitpicks" yarn from a swap partner last December with some koolaid packets and some dying instructions.  I really want to learn to knit socks that fit my lovely long (big honkin') feet.  I'm thinking a "dye job" might be in my future!

In crafty notes, I have started two swap projects for my Craftster partners, batgirl and crafty_dame.  I can't show them yet, to avoid spoiling the surprise, but it is good to be inspired and spending time in my crafty space.  I have been loaning my big table to the football quarterback club so I only have a small table to work on right now.  Our last home game is Friday.  Hopefully we will remember to pull it from the shed so I can have a larger space for sewing!

I was bad and bought some yarn from ebay this week.  I want to make some felted purses.  I hope it will even felt!  It's 100% wool so I'm thinking it should.  I've only knit some straight boring scarves before.  The last thing I need is new project materials and tools.   I have enough fabric and ideas for hundreds of sewing projects.  I have several rooms that need to be painted.  My kids need to eat EVERY DAY! lol.

I wanna knit.

I must be nuts!

Shame, shame, shame

Yikes. Over a month since my last post! I've been doing the very busy mom thing and no quilting or sewing other than mending this and that for people. I have three back to school, two in high school and one in his first year of middle school. The college student is busy packing up. She goes back to school on Saturday. Next Monday is reserved on the calendar for SEWING all day! I need to get everything set up again so I can go sew whenever I have a few minutes. My DD takes over the third floor (my sewing area) when she is home.

Let's see, what has been going on since I last posted?

• Football - DS1, a sophomore has played two JV games. He gets to dress for varsity. He just told me he will play on a special team for Varsity on Friday! (Kick return). I'm so proud. I keep telling the other kids I need a cowbell to take to the games but they won't let me have one. He dresses on Friday nights and plays on Saturday mornings.




• More Football - DS2 is in 6th grade and his last year of biddy league (thank goodness!). He has had two games, which they won, and is looking forward to the rest. He gets to play offense and defense this year, which apparently is the best thing EVER (next to the new cell phone). Life is good when you're 12! He plays every Sunday. That's right folks, football every Friday, Saturday and Sunday!!! Two weeks down, eight to go. DS2 will probably play all-stars again which will prolong the season.




• Decorating-DH went on a bike trip to Canada last week and I decided to redecorate my bedroom. Four kids, a dog, a cat, school starting and football, football, football and I decide this was a good idea! Reserve my room at the "funny farm" please. I was up EVERY night until 1 am but it is done, and beautiful. It used to have magnolia wallpaper everywhere. Now, after painting the ceiling, woodwork and repapering it is white on white. I put up some pretty slate blue curtains I found at Pier 1 to complete the look. Now I just need a quilt. Or two or maybe even three.

Ugh. I tried posting a picture but my photobucket picture won't behave correctly and I'm clueless as to what to do. I'll try to post a picture of the "before" and "after" as soon as all 400 of the football pictures I took last weekend load onto the other computer.

That reminds me! I bought a new camera!! It is a digital Canon Rebel XT. I had an old Canon Rebel 2000, a 35 mm film version and loved it. My good friend is a photography nut and was upgrading her camera to the newest model so she sold me hers. I can use my old lenses but am researching new ones. I don't really want to spend too much money since I just bought my fancy shmancy sewing machine and have been adding new feet every month. I used the money from selling my old viking sewing machine to buy the camera.

I'm off to do laundry for DD1 to help her get ready for college. Otherwise we'll either never be ready or will be packing at 2 am on Saturday. I'm going to miss DS1's JV game but will hear all about if from DH I'm sure. Maybe I'll let him use my fancy camera for the game!!

Wish I was piecing. Hope you are!

Jenni

Summer Fun

Above WOULD BE  a shot of the boys in the pool at Put in Bay  but the picture won't post!  We went with 9 couples to celebrate DH's 50th birthday.  Such fun!  We had a great time.  It's still hard to get back to the real world.

Two a days start Thursday for DS1's football.  DS2 is at summer camp this week.  DD2 and I went to look at my alma mater last Thursday.  Sniff, I can't believe she is a senior this year!  DD1 is busy working at her internship at the health clinic.  We jokingly call it her "big girl job".  It has been a wonderful experience and she is very motivated to go back to school in the fall.

We are spending a few lazy summer days before we gear up for back to school shopping, etc.  My youngest DS has outgrown everything.  Much bribery will take place next week to get him to try on clothes and shop for new.  I don't think we have too much that still fits other than ratty t-shirts and gym shorts.  His outfits of choice, I'm sure.  We will have to shop for football cleats this weekend as his practices start on Monday.

As far as quilting and sewing go?  I'm dreaming of it, but not much else.  My sewing area is on the third floor of our old house.  My DD1 has her bedroom there.  Everything she brought home from college is spread EVERYWHERE.  I moved my machine to the kitchen to do some mending but haven't had a chance to do any quilty projects.  I plan to practice with my BSR foot this afternoon so I can start quilting the star quilt.  To pin baste I usually tape the backing to the carpet, spread the batting out and then the quilt on top.  My vaccuum burned up last Friday and is at the repair shop.  It's an Oreck and I love it.  One black lab and one calico cat equal too much hair to lay out a quilt without vaccuuming daily.  Hopefully it will be ready for pick up today.

I'm off to the store to buy mass amounts of pasta salad ingredients.  I agreed to make pasta salad for 100 hungry players and coaches for the first two-a-day meal on Thursday.

What was I thinking?!!

Piece all.  Hope you're being quilty.  I do SEW miss it!

Jenni

Bor-ing!

Boring, that's me.  To me Boring = No sewing.  I've been doing things like taking the laundry to the laundromat because the washer can't be repaired until Monday and cleaning my MIL's carpets.  I did manage to see some movies with the kids this week.  Youngest DS and I saw the new Indiana Jones movie and Older DS and oldest DD and I saw "Wanted".  Both enjoyable.

DD2's friend brought over a dress for me to alter for her little sister who is a flower girl in a wedding.  Sigh, couldn't say no.  I'll be sewing up the sides tonight and then both girls are inviting friends over to have a late "chick flick" movie night with me.  We are watching 27 Dresses and 2 others I have already forgotten the names of.  I haven't had a chance to start quilting the star quilt yet.  I did show it to DD's friend because I can't keep a secret.  She is very excited.  I need to get it done before her next hospital stay which, sadly, could be soon.  Busy weekend with a sewing class at my Bernina dealer's and another fundraiser for DS1's football team.  Who knew football was a year round sport and if the KID plays, the MOM does, too?  Seems like it anyway.  The mom's had a meeting this week to plan how we will feed the boys for 2 a days in August.  Football is a grueling effort, for sure.  I admire the commitment these guys have to it.  DS2 will start playing his last year of biddy league football in August.  Next year he'll move to jr. high.  This will be his 5th season.  It's amazing what happens to incredibly kind, sweet boys when they get football pads and helmets on and the testosterone starts flowing.  It still takes some getting used to for me!

DD1 and I went shopping for "business casual" clothes today. Her current wardrobe is "college casual".  Lol.  She starts working full time at the local health clinic on Monday.  She will work 40 hours a week until school resumes in the fall and will also work on her breaks from college.  She wants to be a physician's assistant so this should be good training and give her some idea of what the job requires.

Here are the dotee dolls I received in the Craftster swap.

Love them!  It was a fun swap.

Time to sew the flower girl's dress before it's time for "Chick Flick Night".  DD2 doesn't get home from her lifeguarding job until 9 p.m. anyway.

Happy stitching!  Hope someone is making something wonderful out there.  I hope to, SOON!

Jenni

Dotee Dolls

In between running around like a madwoman and packing for Myrtle Beach I got my Dotee Dolls sent to their new owners. Here is a group shot of their little faces. Hopefully my partners on Craftster aren't blog readers but if they are, sorry for the spoiler!! The dolls were fun to make but I definitely would do them differently next time. I plan to show them in their full glory once they make their way to their new homes.

We're off to the beach! I'm not sure if I'll be able to post much from there. We will have wifi but I'm not sure if I will have access to my dd's laptop. I have lots of summer reading and some hand applique all ready to go.

Have a great week everyone. Sew something for me. If you need a project to do there's a sadly neglected Orange Crush quilt in my sewing room . . .

Piece!! Jenni