Playing with Fabric

After a long dry spell, I got the urge to do some quilting again. I picked up this book, Happy Hour, at the Houston Quilt Show last fall and decided to make the quilt pictured on the cover with the Three Sister's Shangri La fat quarters I had. The cutting took some time, but the blocks sewed together really quickly. Here is the result:


I haven't sewn the blocks into strips yet. I think I am still playing with the block arrangement. I tend to over think this part and should probably just throw them together randomly.


Looking ahead to the next project, I promised Anna we could work together on a quilt for her using the above fabrics. Aren't they soooo cute??? She really wants to sew something since her big sister, Claire, finished a quilt top over spring break. Come to think of it, I need to post some pictures of Claire with her quilt. Let me go see if I can find some........

I WANT this quilt!

I have recently discovered Simplify, the blog of Camille Roskelley. She started a quilt pattern business a year ago called Thimble Blossoms, and I just love her designs. They are very fresh and pretty, and her quilts are just so cheery and fun. She is giving the above quilt away as part of her design business's 1 year anniversary. To enter, just leave a comment on her blog. There is also a better picture of the entire quilt in her giveaway post. Go take a look and see all her fabulous patterns and quilts. Such a talented young mom and quilter. GOOD, GOOD stuff!

Today is Earth Day!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!

What Not to Wear

I mean, Stacy and Clinton would have a field day with these gals, no? These are two of the American Girl dolls that currently reside in Anna's room. Kit is on the left and Molly, the right. I don't know what kind of scenario my girls put these dolls in to dress them this way, but every time I go into Anna's room, I can barely stand looking at them. (I know, anal much?) I mean, was Molly on a cruise and dressed up for "formal night" when the ship inexplicably started to sink? "Molly, quick, grab your life vest and run for the tender. And be careful with that ankle you sprained while participating in the limbo contest this afternoon on the Lido deck! I told you not to have that 4th margarita!"

I don't even know where to begin with Kit. A black turtleneck sweater with gauzy spring pants? Huh? Really. Really? This is why I still get final stamp of approval on what my girls wear to school.

So anyways, I was taking a basket of clean clothes up to Anna's room yesterday and could not ignore this travesty any longer. I HAD to redress those dolls. Anna and I drug out the bins of American Girl clothing we own (thanks Grandma) and sat down to make those dolls presentable again. We dressed Molly and Kit both in their school outfits and I for one, think they look much better.So end of story, right? Not really. You see, we own eight AG dolls and seven of those eight reside on a long shelf in Anna's room with Molly and Kit. Sooooo, Anna and I had to redress all the dolls.

Much better now.

And that is how I spent my Sunday afternoon. I think Stacy would be proud.

Cousins

I haven't heard from my brother as to whether or not it's okay to post pics of the kids, so I am taking that as consent. If I am wrong Scott, let me know and the pics will disappear.

Here are the kids when we all met at my mom and dad's place in Bandera over Spring Break.

The girls: Meg, Anna, Ashley, Claire and Molly

Brian, Claire, Meghan and John in the foreground

Meghan and David

David and Anna

Anna and Ashley

I thought it would be awkward for the kids when my brother's clan arrived because they hadn't seen each other in so long. (And they were just meeting Brian and John, who are my brother's stepsons, for the first time.) It was so not awkward though! Scott's kids are all very outgoing and they had my girls talking in no time flat. They all enjoyed each other's company.....so much so that the kids convinced me to let the girls play hookey from school so they could stay an extra day in Bandera. I am so glad they convinced me. Memories made with distant family members trumps school any day of the week.

Uh. yeah. I basically suck at (blog) life. Oops. See y'all on April 27.

And a shout out to my nephews and spunky niece. Let me know if your padres say it's okay to post some pics of you peeps while in Texas.

One Month Later

How not nice of me to start a blog and drop off the face of blogland for one entire month! Sorry kiddos, that was completely unintentional. Let's just say this particular tale started with the flu infecting our household at the beginning of the month and ended with Tracey's routine becoming non-existent! I will try to make amends by uber-posting in the month of March. :)

Spring is beginning to emerge here in Houston. We have had some beautiful, sunny days. Yesterday was one of them so the girls took full advantage of it and played outside. I snapped this pic of Anna in our Crepe Mertle tree in the front yard. I had no clue what a Crepe Mertle was when we moved to the south and that first winter I was horrified to see people hacking off the delicate branches leaving all these sticks jutting out from the trunk. It took awhile for me to figure out that this is how you prune them and encourage blooms. We don't do this to the tree Anna is sitting in, but we have two smaller ones in the back that Jack mercilessly hacks away at after the holidays. The trees have clumps of floral blooms in the spring that are so pretty. I will try to remember to snap another photo of the tree or the ones in back in a month's time when everything is in bloom.

The girls are due home any minute, so I will see you all again March 27......psych! See you soon!