Sun, fun, and quilting!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial day weekend. We have really taken advantage of the hot sunny days and Nick's 3 day weekend! I may have partook in a bit to much sun as my shoulders are a bit on the pink side!

We spent Friday evening through sunday evening out camping with Mike and Jodie (Nick's Dad and Step-Mom). Payton loved getting to have a bit of freedom (some friends were camping with their little girl a few sites down on the same side of the road) and that he got plenty of undivided attention from mom and dad!

Naturally, we had to plan a few projects for our time. Some went over great, some not so much lol that would be kids for you, think they'll love something and 2 min. in they're done with it.

We did:
Reeses s'mores- huge hit! Adults and kids alike loved them. I prefer them with reeses but I'm a peanut butter fan.

Water color paints- Surprisingly not a big hit, Payton drew one pic and was bored! I was amazed since he askes all the time if we can paint, ah well to many kids to play with I suppose!

Fly a kite down at the beach- Interest in this lasted about 5 min. and then his dad and I were flying the kite and he had talked Grandma Jodie and Paw-Paw Mike into walking with him down to the water. Not so much a surpise there since it was about 95 out.

SuperSoaker Squirt Gun- ....... no input needed! He loved it, unsuspecting parents and grandparents....... not so much hahahaha....



I did manage to get some quilting done. There are now a total of 3 flowers finished for the hexi quilt!
It might have been mentioned before but I also got more hexies and ordered 12 charm packs from Connecting threads, 4 each of their 3 new Batik collections! I don't think all will be used in the hexie quilt (could you imagine how massive that would be!!!) . There may be a cathedral window quilt in my future with these or maybe another pattern will jump out at me!

I set them on the background fabric so maybe they will read closer to the finished product :)



Carlos is jealous that the bin of fabric is at max capacity and he missed out lol.
Onery things are not supposed to be laying in my fabric anyway!!!

This is the Rich and Muted Batik charm pack from Connecting threads.
Well you can't tell but it's actually 4 of them and I already sorted the colors into piles.

Summer Batik from Connecting threads, by far my favorite, I just love the bright colors.
There are a couple that I might just have to get yardage in!

Light and Bright Batik charm pack from Connecting threads.
Lots of pretty shading in this one.

I See Quilting In My Future!!!

A quilter seeing quilting in her future. Not much of a surprise, huh? 

What is a surprise is that I have a new and improved sewing table thanks to the most amazing Daddy-In-Law ever!!!

 We have two dining tables, one for eating and one for me :)

We carried mine downstairs and loaded it up in Nick's truck and took it over to Mike n Jodie's house.
 It turns out the insert was the perfect size to create an area for my machine to drop in ande be flush with the table. Yay!!!

This also means that if we need it to, we can take the insert out and have a regular table again.

Payton occupying himself while we work :)

So we got there about 3:30 and by 7 I we were loading up my new and improved table..... What was that? Did you just ask if I took pictures? Yes, Yes I did :)

Here's Mike finishing up the first cut

Mike and Jodie. The are such great people :)
You might notice that the bolts are longer in this pic than the final product
Nick and Mike cut them off so there would be less trauma to my knees!

Here's my Nick. You know I really love this guy
he drives me nuts same as I do him but
I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Mike is putting the finishing touches on the insert!!!

I don't have a picture of it all together and finished yet, I forgot to snap one when we did the final fitting to make sure all fit perfectly and it was past time to get Payton home, bathed, fed, and in bed for school today!


So I took it today in it's spot with the machine in ; )

Here she is!!!

I like that we used double bolts so she is adjustable up or down, if needed.

Here's the long view, I'd hate for you to think I'm really neat!
I still have things finding a home and cleared off the tablefor the picture,sooooo it's all on the bed :)

So the only thing I need to do to have an amazing area for practicing free motion quilting, per Leah Day's blog, is the slider to keep fabric from catching on an edge not smoothed down enough. It's going to wait until we have some more extra *the bit of extra we did have went to nick's glasses and contacts and the charm packs and hexies all on their way here*.

So it may be a bit because next up for something that they want is Payton and there's a good possibilty it will be a pool in some form or another, I'm not betting on it being a regular size one more like one a kid can enjoy and a parent can pull a chair up to and put their legs in :)

I can't wait to start playing :) There are so many projects with deadlines or requested by people that I really just want to do a small project that is fun and stress free! I should get to work and not be so selfish though, there will hopefully be time to play after deadlines are met.

Is it just me or are deadlines easier to deal with if you get paid, which I do not! I still consider myself a beginner with intermediate tendancies and not at all OCD enough to fuss over every intersection meeting perfectly, though I try to make as many as possible perfect. Therefore not experienced enough to make money doing what I love....  there may be a flaw in that thinking lol

Random Fact: Did you know that I have always wanted to be a writer? I read lots of books, before the quilting bug hit I would read 1book every day unless it was more than 300 pages, and still get the daily things I needed done. Now it's more like a book a week lol. I have actually written a few short stores and who knows how many poems, poems were from writing classes in college and were required. Come to think of it, some of the short stories were to.

Great Day!

Until today I haven't had anything "post worthy".  My Aunt Chris and Uncle Donald came to town today so I got to give them their wall hanging!

I'm so glad they liked it. Payton had a ball game yesterday at 6 and one today at 1! He's been doing really good, needs to watch the ball but hey he's 6 :)

The new movie theatre in our town opened last night and my amazing, wonderful and thoughtful hubby is taking me to a movie tonight!!! I'm so excited! Avengers is the planned movie.

If you can't tell we don't get to do many things together without Payton. Actually, there don't seem to be many things that we wouldn't feel "guilty" about going to without him. So it's really a special evening for us *bouncing with excitement*.

I have the binding sewn onto Aunt Gracie's quilt and about half of it folded over waiting to be sewed.

I don't know if it will pan out our not, but I was invited to put some of my quilts, if I can finish any that are not promised to someone, in a storefront and sell them. There is alot of hesitancy on my part for this.

Cons

1) I don't know what I can make in a short time that will work.

2) Pricing isn't a strong suit here!

3) I don't want to make things up and possibly have this fall through.

Pros

1) Possibly making some money for new fabric!

2) Having the opportunity to learn what people in my area are interested in

3) Getting business experience

4) Making more time for quilting due to "necessity"!


Nick and I went and he got new glasses and contacts. I ordered 4 charm packs each of the 3 new batik collections from connecting threads. I also ordered another pack of 1,000 one inch hexies. Will be on the look-out next week for some more black batik fabric since I'm expanding how many flowers are in the hexie quilt there's probably going to be a need for more of the black fabric in between!

Here's the link with the black fabric.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I'm hoping to have a great evening and get some quilting done tomorrow!

2 Quilt Tops Finished and Ready to Mail Home!!!!!

I believe a few posts ago I promised to post pictures of the two cross quilts I pieced for Charisma in trade for her Quilting on the Black and White quilt for my Aunt Gracie. Just finished the boarder on the last one this afternoon :)

 They are both the same pattern in different Amy Cornell  fabrics. This is the darker one

 Another of the darker one, My dad was trying to help me get the borders in better lol.

Here's the second one. Dad held it up for me. There's a glare through the center where the sun was bright but you can see most of it and the borders :)  *To clarify on the boarder trouble, it's not eased in and doesn't have any ripples and the corners are the correct size and square. I had to piece some on to make it the correct length. Had measured and thought there was enough.......fast forward and I was wrong, hence the piecing!!!!

 I had some issues  making the borders long enough and this was a BIG learning curve for me. I'm used to purchasing the fabric for quilts I make and ensuring the yardage is at least 6 in. longer than I estimate the longest side plus 2 borders so the piecing on the border is not how I'd like it but it did work out. I hope Charisma is ok with it! The dark one I was prepared for and the boarders are sooooo much better. (Normally I'd rip it out and fix it to my standard of right but she needs them back by the middle of may so they need to go in the mail tomorrow for her to have them in time.)

Life is good, bad and busy :)

The title says it all today! The last week has been really good, except for the bad, and extremely busy!

The Good - there has been a lot of fishing and quality family time going on, I just love that! I've gotten to spend lots of time with my wonderful husband and equally amazing son. Also, got to spend time with my Momma. We went to a cook out at our friend's house and Payton got to meet and play with their kids, it was a really fun time to. Nick and  Payton had a waterbaloon fight on Sunday after church while I did some quilting (Sue and I went to Sally's so I worked on hexies and still need to tackle the very last boarders, actually planning on that for tomorrow while payton is in school)

 

I'd suggest turning down the audio :) No bad words or anything just normal catch a fish chat!

(If it doesn't come up I'll work on fixing it after Payton's game, the camera battery needs to charge more and won't upload on the computer and charge)

 My guys with their fish

 Payton thought it was amazing!

 Nick had to get one of me...... Thanks babe ;)


We are tentativly planning on a weekend vacation with Payton in June. Not sure if we can make it happen or the exact dates but, we really want to take him to the Shedd Aquarium, Skydeck Chicago (also know as sears tower), and I'd love to take him to either the Children's museum there or the Museum of Science and History. No way would we be able to fit all of that into one weekend, so picking the best one's will be tough since we've never been. If you ever had, please let us know what you thought of it, we would love the input!

The Bad - The worst was when he started his allergy shots yesterday. I fest so bad for him :( He didn't throw a fit but he tensed up alot and they hurt him, poor thing cried for about 15 min. and complained about his arms hurting for an hour and a half. (He got ice cream for doing so go, that's right I'm not above bribery when I feel guilty for something that's necessary!)

When we got in the car after his first set of allergy shots (He's allergic to grass pollen, tree pollen, and dust mites) So it's all seasonal but they are so severe that they recommend the shots. He gets 2 every Monday for roughly the next 3 years...... not fun

Payton is still getting into trouble at school! Some of it is normal kid stuff, not listening the first time somethings said and having trouble following directions for things he already knows. In short, he's still bored and acting up. It doesn't help that he's a year younger than his classmates lol. The really bad happened on friday...... he punched a kid in the stomach..... he has been soooo very grounded. (He got a very long mom lecture and extra grounding through the weekend.) We're still reminding about keeping our hands to ourselves, a lot. That one just caught me off guard.

By no means are we perfect parents, far from it! We're young parents (I'm 25, til June, and my Nick turned 28 in January) and let him get away with a bit to much or let him play some games he really shouldn't, we let him play and do things that my mom says will give her a heart attack lol *you'd have to hear her say it to really get the funny from it* . All-in-all though we are pretty good parents. We don't beat him and I can count on one hand the amount of actual spankings he's had in his life *even those were pretty easy, I mean when my mom spanked me I cried and couldn't sit comfortably for an hour at least, he doesn't have such problems*. So, I didn't understand why he would even think it's ok to lay hands on another kid at school. Actually, even if he did have a reason I wouldn't have been ok with it!
Moving on......

The Busy - I mentioned I spent some time with my Momma this week. Most of it has been in her yard. Helping her put some river rock in and make new areas. (I'll have to post some pictures).  We also went to a Fairy Garden workshop at Garden Gate Greenhouse! I love that place, we both do. :) Payton had a couple t-ball games and anotherone tonight as well. Working on some housecleaning today, Elizabeth and I tackled Payton's cave, dum de dum dum duummmmmm!!!!! I'm thinking no more food or snacks in there until he remembers where the trash is!!!

Here's the Fairy garden I made at the workshop.

It actually ended up going over to moms house and is now happily living in her garden (She has this neat ability to keep plants alive for years) I have no such ability, sadly I love planting them but can't keep them alive for longer than a month if I'm lucky!

Busyness, Venting, Quilting and Fishing

Holy bananas! Today has been crazy. I took my cousin to Wabash for an appointment he had, I used the hour he was busy to go to Wally World (Walmart for those not used to my oddness ). Wally World yielded some stabalizer for the two wall hangings coming up next and also some new fishing line, hooks and sinkers :)

Can't wait to go fishing again, there's a 15-16 lb catfish that got away just waiting for a rematch!!!! ( I know the size because it broke the line just as I was getting it on the bank :( boo!) Lol, It would have gotten throw back I just needed it long enough to snap the pic! Darn, survival instinct.

Moving on..... So after Wally World and picking up my Cuz we headed back to town. What happens after I drop him off and go to pick my kid up from school. Someone was in more trouble than he could get out of! Payton lost all of his chips today and was one infraction away from going to the office! Apparently, he was having touble staying focused and on task. Messing with other kids things, trying to be the "class clown" and  all that normal kid stuff that is unacceptable in school. Ok, I can handle that. All kids have a bad day, or a few over the course of the year. Grounded from games and doing some cleaning of his playroom on top of regular homework. Well, he was being just as onery while outside waiting for me to get there. Opening the letter his teacher sent to me and getting out the shoelaces she had cut and twirling them in the air ect. The teacher that was outside let me know what happened.

(for those interested in what actually happens at home when something like this goes on. First, all games are gone for the day and in this case for an entire week since it is the second issue this severe in the last 2 weeks. Second, there are extra chores for him, not that he has a bunch on a regular day, he is now cleaning up his playroom that only he has destroyed! Homework is already done. There is no T.V. but if he listens and follows directions we will let him watch a movie later this evening before bed as per the normal wind down routine. There is no going outside to play, it's actually raining so he wouldn't have got to do that anyway. No sweets for snacks, we have a snack drawer that he gets to pick a snack out of and there are things like gummy snacks, oatmeal sandwich cookies, snack/bite size candy bars, and there are always apples and bananas available. Bed time will actually be about an hour and a half earlier which is why the movie option is still there since him actually sleeping isn't really possible.)

The sad thing is he Knows exactly what the consequences of his actions are at every step. All of this is the steepest we have. I don't spank or lay hands on him in a negative manner, we actually use more postitive reinforcement on a daily basis rather than consequences.

Now, I think I'm like most parents. My kid is misbehaving, I need to know. So when a teacher or responsible adult is letting me know I appreciate it. This different teacher outside with the car line, I did not appreciate her..... She has me really "cheesed" off! I am not a child. I am not stupid. I am actually a pretty darn good Mom! That woman gave me the third degree and talked to me like I was standing there holding his hands and making him act up! Then proceeded to continue to chatize my son in the back seat for his behavior. I'm sorry, but that is not ok. Letting me know is one thing. I will then handle the behavior and consequences from that point on.

I suppose my point in that little rant is "How Dare She Treat Me Like I'm a Bad And Inept Parent Because My Kid Was Not Acting How I Raised Him To Act"

Thanks for letting me vent! Letting it go to move on to better posting topics.

Moving on.... I did get some quilting done the day before yesterday. Do you remember me mentioning Charisma's Quilts? I have one completely finished and the other needs boarders and is done to!!! Woo-Hoo!!! I'll post pics as soon as they are both done and I can find a dry, pet hair free, environment in which to snap em :) 
My MIL (Sue) and I had a marathing quilting day *7 hrs* and watched 3 movies! Abduction, amazing movie by the way, was by far my favorite!

Hopefully, as soon as the boarders are attached I can bring my sewing things back home and work on things here again. Life is much more productive when I have my quilting at home :)

So, I hope you all are having a better evening than I am! Tomorrow should be much better :)

Happy Quilting