This moment . . . (a little late)

via soulemama .

I have much to say, but rarely the free hands to "say" it lately. We're having busy, messy, chaotic times here right now friends!

This moment . . .

It was one of "those" weeks -- full of sibling conflict and mama frustration. So glad it ended like this.

For more moments, go to soulemama .

Quilt Bug

Quilt Bug
Originally uploaded by pamelalong

Found this photo on the "Fresh Modern Quilts" Group. The photographer says its from a quilt show in Oregon. Isn't it fabulous?

This is What Happens When you try to follow "expert" baby advice . . .

So, at Emma's age its supposed to be good to put them in front of a mirror so they can look at the "baby" in the mirror. Well, I tried. She looked at Aaron

And the book crate

And the quilt

And the big white flowers
Ah well. Can't fault me for trying.

Well, I am in the midst of sewing Aaron's quilt blocks together, but at the back of my mind I kept thinking about this set of blocks sitting in my WIP drawer. So once I got all 90 sets of squares ready to chain piece, I threw this up on the design wall:

Great, isn't it? This is Emma's quilt. And the best part is that I didn't make a single block for it. These are all the work of the International Stash Busting Bee ladies. I sent out the floral fabric you see featured in all the blocks, and I got back this wonderful quilt! All I have to do is stitch them together and finish the quilt! This means I might get her baby quilt done some time soon!

The other thing I just picked up fabric for is curtains. I need to make some new curtains for our big front picture window. The boys finally destroyed our vertical blinds -- they won't open or shut anymore -- and it faces the street so eveyone can presently see in our house, especially at night. After an agonizing two and a half hours in the fabric store trying to find something I liked while wrangling three children, my eye kept getting drawn back to this fabric:

At first I thought it would be too bright and crazy, but I kept coming back to it. So, despite the skeptical looks the lady who cut it gave me when I asked for 8 m of it, I bought it. And when I finally got it home and draped it over the window, I discovered it just lit up our very drab living room. I am kind of relieved the boys finally trashed those horrible beige blinds, really. At first I thought I was going to do tab top curtains, but after considering the logistics of that on about 200" (that's 6m or so) of curtain, I thought I should look for some grommets instead. Anyone know where I can find some of those big, 3" curtain grommets? I'm wondering wether its worth another trip into the "city" to go to Fabricland, or if I should order some online.

When I got this fabric home, I realized it must be a colour scheme that's on my mind, since it co-ordinates with these three metres of organic duck cotton I bought to make fabric baskets:


I have more to say, but I think I may be out of time. I'm not getting a lot of free hands for typing lately. If you want to see the awesome quilt I made for Kris (my fellow Clever Mama )'s new daughter Olivia, you can check it out on Flikr. I may get around to posting about it eventually, but with the way things are going I might not.

Thanks for hanging in there, friends.

Ug, how did this happen?

I really try to only do one major project at a time. In the midst of a big project, I will stitch some mini quilts or quilt bee blocks or soft toys just to break up the process, but I try not to have too much going on, or I start to get scatter brained and feel like I'm overwhelmed and going in too many directions at once.

Right now, however, I have a baby quilt top that needs to be stitched to a backing and a stack of quilt blocks ready to be assembled for a quilt to go on my wall (to brighten it up in the winter, although the winter will be done before this quilt is at this rate)

Plus two stacks of virtual quilting bee blocks waiting to be assembled (these are my lovely Stash Busting Bee blocks -- think I need to make three more to balance them out)

Plus this hanging on my wall, ready to be sewn together before the boys knock it all down. This is Aaron's I-spy quilt. I promised Aaron that his quilt would be next, because he kept asking, "Is this MY quilt, Mommy?" every time I've finished a quilt in the last 6 months. So finally, I am doing his big boy quilt, even though Emma doesn't have a quilt yet.

I think it needs some red, but I don't have any red novelty fabrics, so I'm thinking I'll bind it in red.
Plus, since I've been sewing like mad, but not having time to tidy up between projects I have a giant pile of scraps to sort through
And a few fabrics I've pulled out for various projects that need to go back where they belong:


I just remind myself that one day I will have more self sufficient children and more time. But by then I'll be back to work and embroiled in the kids' lives, so I'm not sure if it will be better or worse than it is now. Ah well. I'm abseloutely NOT going to start anymore major projects until I have these all done . . . except maybe a baby quilt for Emma.

I Think My Head Is About to Explode . . .

I just got all three of these in the mail today. Oh, the projects I want to make! Oh the mind-blowing Japanese goodness -- new techniques and great style! Oh the amazing applique floor pillow! Oh the simple wrap skirt and blouse!

Now, if only I had time to finish all the other things I've started . . . .

This is some little toes peeking out of baby legwarmers snuggled inside my sling. Emma is not a huge fan of the sling, but she does like to sleep in it in the afternoon -- once she falls asleep in my arms. She would prefer for me to just carry her for her two hour nap, but I do have a few other things to do.

We made it through February and the dark is receding. This afternoon the light was warmer and less harsh, which is a first sign of spring around here. The weather has been extra warm, and there are signs of grass, but I'm trying not to take it to heart, since we don't usually melt until mid-April.

Now the goal is to make it through March. March is always hard for me, since everywhere else I've lived it is turning warm and melting, but here we have another month of winter ahead. I think the key is to find a warm hat that Emma is comfortable in (she's not fond of hats -- finniky little thing) so I can take everyone outside.

Our other computer died a few months ago, and Dave is needing quite a bit of computer time these days, so forgive my long absences. I have things to say, and photos to show, but no time for either.