Friday, February 26, 2010

Long-arm Quilting

I found that it would be cheaper
to start quilting my quilts myself.
Of course it makes them more special
but let's be real,
the motivating factor is mostly financial.

My local quilt shop has a long-arm
machine that you can rent for $15/hr.
You are required to take their class
-their 5 hour class-
to learn how to use it
and off you go!

So here's the Welcome Home quilt
loaded onto their machine:

It's a Gammill longarm machine
(quite a steal at $16,000!!!)
and it only took me
two hours
to get it set up!

See that space to the left of the machine?
Between the machine and
the quilt hanging on the wall?


Yeah, that space was not really
big enough for me and my
7 mos pregnant condition.

I'm sure they loved me.
I broke just about every rule.
I used a sheet as backing material.
I didn't pre-wash anything.
I didn't iron anything.
I didn't use quilt-store fabric.
I didn't practice my quilting pattern
before going for it on the actual quilt.
And it wasn't because I didn't have
my practice quilt-sandwich.
Yes, I'm sure they were thrilled
but I think it all turned out fantastic!


Finished quilt:


With the instructor Steve:


He was such a dry guy!
He was so helpful the day of
and talked through things with me
but he would not crack a smile!
Every now and then he'd walk
into the quilting room and question
where I was in the process
and what I would do next.
At one point he walked in,
sort of picked a fleck of fuzz
off the quilt and muttered,
"good, good"
and left!
My jaw just about dropped,
I think that's about the highest
praise I could get coming from him!

Not sure when I'll go back.
My next quilt is the
Paintbox Quilt-Along Quilt
and I am not even attempting
to get it done before Baby Four arrives.
But it was fun!

So if you're interested,
look for a class at a local quilt shop
in your area!



Thursday, February 25, 2010

Welcome Home!!!

Guess what's in this bag?



It's the Welcome Home Quilt!!!


I love it so much!
Those borders added
so much to the quilt.
I'm really glad
I added them.
They really made it pop
and turned it into something
I was proud to give.

The back is a light green
and I quilted it with a
meandering pattern.

I used a green thread
that was a few shades darker
than the backing material
so it would actually show
on the brown borders.


I did the binding all by hand
using Old Red Barn Co's tutorial.

Then I threw the finished quilt
in the washer and just look
at all the puckery goodness!


Welcome Home my friend!
Congrats on your first house!


Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Kid Achievements

One sewed on a button!


He visited a history museum
with the scouts.
DaddyMan was shocked
when they handed out
regular, sharp pointy needles
to a group of 5 & 6 yr old boys.
Seemed dangerous.

Don't know why.
They had them shooting guns
last summer.

I guess it's a matter of opinion
as to which one is more dangerous.

:o)



Monday, February 22, 2010

Excuses, Excuses

Sorry I've been absent.

This one has had pneumonia:



This one is getting in three of his molars:


Fun times at our house!

I've been finishing up
the Welcome Home quilt
and trying to keep it top-secret
from here on out to resist
tempting my friend to look
now that it actually looks
like something!


I'll be back soon!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sunday

An action shot this Sunday:


I especially love it because this
is what happened next:
(totally worth it to click on the picture to enlarge!)

One took off with the ball.
Check out that look on Three's face
and the attitude on Miss Two!
Oh my! I love it!


Tuesday, February 16, 2010

17 mos & a haircut

Three turned 17 mos last week!

At 17 months, he's:
*started walking backwards (for fun, not for getting around!)
*able to drink small amounts out of a real cup
*might actually weigh 21 lbs, or is very close (still under chart)
*has switched to drinking half & half rather than soy cream,
with only slight worsening of his excema
*is so close to running
*taking 1-2 naps a day

And he also got his first haircut!

Here's the before:

Not the best picture but you can see
how long and thin it was,
resulting in scraggly, fly-aways.



He got to pick this cute chair:


Ready to go!





Ta da!

He would not look at me afterwards!
But I thought they did pretty good,
much better than I could have ever done
with a squirmy 17 mos old!



Sunday, February 14, 2010

Valentine's Sunday

It's so hard to get all three kids
in the same picture!
(Mostly b/c Three is a runner.)
And that's not even considering
that I would also prefer to have
them looking, if not, dare-I-say-it,
smiling.
Wonder what these pictures
will look like when there are
four to contend with!


Of course, these two are always
game for pictures, especially
if funny faces are allowed!



Happy Valentine's Day!


Saturday, February 13, 2010

Valentine Week, Day 5: Scratch -n- Sniff Paint

Did you know that painting with kool-aid
gives you scratch -n- sniff paint?

I picked out what I hoped
would be pink and red:


Added a little bit of water
to about half of each package,
and used water-color brushes:


Two wanted me to draw shapes for her.



And that's it!
When the paint dries,
it's scratch -n- sniff!



Thursday, February 11, 2010

Valentine Week, Day 4: Valentine Ballet

Two was supposed to wear
red, pink, or white
to ballet this week.

An excuse to craft?
Okay!

So first I started with this:
This was my first time using
that E-6000 glue.
It was amazing!
But be warned, if you live in CA,
(which I don't)
it might cause cancer
so make sure you use it outside.
Even if it's freezing cold
and you were too lazy
to put some shoes back on.
Just sayin'.

Anyway, I used glue to wrap ribbon
around a plastic headband
(I get them here)
and a leftover felt heart
that never made it onto
last year's garland.


Here's the best pic I got
of the final product:

Throw in a tutu
that Santa made
(mostly using this tutorial):


And Two was only
slightly overdressed
for ballet:


PS. Here's how Three
spends time at ballet. :o)

I just realized that
he wore red too.
:o)



Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Valentine Week: Day 3, Kid Made Valentines

I wanted the kids to make
their own valentines this year.
They should get to join
in on the fun too, right?
I found inspiration
in the dollar bin
at Joann's.



3 stamps for $1!!!
Can you believe it?!?


Gran cut up some card stock,
we had a merlot ink pad,
had the kids stamp
the design they wanted,
and hot glued at hershey's kiss
in the center.


Those clear block stamps
are awesome for kids!
Although I must say,
my 4 yr old did much better
than my 6 yr old.
(Probably because my 6 yr old
did not want to listen to directions
because of course he's smarter
than mom... :o) )

The kids wrote their names
on the front too.



$1 stamp set
$2.50 pkg of hershey kisses
=$3.50 for 50 valentines
and some leftover chocolate for mom.
:o)


Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Valentine Week: Day 2, Green Hearts

What do you do the night before
your daughter's field trip
when you have a ton of felt hearts
left over
?

You make a matching hair clip,
of course!


This is just two extra felt hearts
that I embroidered free-hand
and sewed together
with a snap clip inside.


It perfectly matched the school's
field trip shirt:


And what's hanging out
with your best friend
without a few goofy pictures?


(I'm pretty sure I told them to be sad in this one.)



Make some Valentine
Hair Clips this year
for a little girl
....or yourself!