Sleeping Beauty

We had a fun morning watching Sleeping Beauty, a few of our friends were performing so it made it extra special.

Pinterest

Has Pinterest changed how you spend your time on the computer? It has mine, I use to blog hop and check out all sorts of blogs, now I spend that time on Pinterest pinning stuff and reading blogs I happen upon on there. I realize I miss blog hopping but I love Pinterest so I need to find a happy medium. When I joined Pinterest I joined to pin stuff I was interested in making, baking or for future references and that's how I use it. I get a kick out of other peoples Pinterest rules and I've read quite a few. One was about how to pin for your followers-- I was like wait --I'm pinning for me and if my followers like it --yay for them! I try to use the LLL philosophy take what works for you and leave the rest when I read other bloggers post.

My one and only rule is make sure your link goes somewhere, I will say I have pinned something without looking first and later went back to find it and it was two months ago on a blog or a pin from Bing that led to nowhere. So I'm guilty. So how do you balance your computer time?

Today is my Birthday!

birthday images pics on Sodahead

I was born a long time ago...okay 48 years ago. I remember when I thought 30 was old, now when people say an older guy or girl, I'm like how old and depending on who your talking to their old is different from your old. One of my girls might say old like your age mom or old like the grandparents. Old is all in the mind and eyes of the beholder!!

I'm been working on a couple prim swaps then it's on to sewing for our Washington DC trip. I want to make a few quillows for the bus trip, a camera case, a couple bags and I'm hoping to get a Kindle Fire so I will need to make a cover for that. We only have one computer to share between all of us, and there are times I want to look up a recipe or tutorial, so I'm hoping with the Kindle Fire that will work out great. I'm not real sure if I'd enjoy reading books from it, because I love books, holding them, turning pages, paying overdue fines, along with ruined library books charges.

This is the quillow tutorial, I thought being able to fold the blanket up into it self would help on the bus trip.

Here is the Kindle cover link.

I was think something like this to corral the reusable water bottles on the bus but I don't want to be stuck carrying all the bottles around. I made a water bottle bag a few years ago like this that I will make for my younger girls. I also started (I do that a lot) water bottle bags for a friends kids and need to finish them.

Camera case-- I want something to hang around my neck, the strap on the camera is a wrist strap but I don't want one more thing around my wrist especially when I'll be chasing after a 5 year old. I could keep it in my bag and just pull it out to take pictures but I fail at that sometimes.

KU is moving on in the tournaments, I need to finish that KU t-shirt quilt. My husband was wearing his K-State Dad's shirt the last time KU won so he had to find it last night to wear for last nights game. He's funny like that about KU.

Last Friday we spent the day at Synergistic Acres, we took two stray cats we've been feeding since they were babies to be barn cats at our friends farm. The cats were not thrilled but I'm sure they will get use to it and start showing there faces soon.

We had a lot of fun visiting with our friends, playing with the chicks or begging for chicks. The pigs are no longer little piglets, they are hogs now. When we left, Elise gave me a bouquet of daffodils and they looked pretty all week.

Happy St Paddy's Day

Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers -

Miles and miles of Irish smiles

For golden happy hours -

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life through!

-Irish Blessing

Today is opening day at LiveStrong Stadium. I will be working there tonight, still raising money for the band trip to Washington DC.

St Paddy Day Sock Swap

I received this sweet swap from Michele, she was my secret partner she sent these cute socks along with this cute paper cupcake she made and filled with apple taffy along with a bag of kisses.

Thanks Michele.

A year ago or more a friend was cleaning out her sewing room and gave me all sorts of goodies. This used to be a small quilt top, she had the batting and a back on it. I found out her dog got a hold of it and ate a couple bites out of it. I cut it in half and practiced my free motion quilting on it. I saw this wonderful curly q pattern on Pinterest and it worked, I actually free motioned quilted and it looked good. I was pretty excited because previous attempts had not turned out very nice. I think once I gave myself permission to cross lines and that no FMQ police were going to show up at my door and who cares if it's not perfect, I was able to do it. Now I have a KU tshirt quilt top to quilt for my husband and it's been sitting around for 7 years.

Wool Sweater Blanket

This is the wool sweater blanket I've been talking about. The squares are 10 inches, I zigzaged around all four sides and then overlaid each square by 1/4 or so of an inch. This is the blanket that gets fought over and somebody is always wrapped up in it when it's chilly.

Years ago I read an article about Crispin Ffrench, I think it was in a Country Living magazine. That article started me collecting wool sweaters. She also has this site, and the most amazing heart quilt in her slide show header.

I'm sure I have enough scraps to make a few more blankets. I also have 15 inch squares to make one that size, I need a few more of that size to get started.

Finished

I started working on this quilt 6 years ago and just finished it, the top has been done for at least 5 years it's the quilting that stopped it. It's suppose to be Turning Twenty with each block turned and when I realized the horses and little cowgirls would be sideways I just sewed it together without turning them. My first attempt at free motion quilting was awful, so I ripped it out, then I decided to stitch in the ditch but it needed more quilting between the ditches, so I ripped it out. I finally went to a friends and we laid it out flat and I spray basted (because I had a lot of puckering going on in the previous attempts). I read on a blog about how she made a quilt using the instructions from Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts. She used embroidery stitches. I used a flower chain stitch, a chicken scratch stitch and on others the zigzag stitch method. Jaime was so excited that I finished it and you can't beat that feeling. Until she said "Dad, mom finally finished my quilt after 6 years".

We spent the day in Manhattan, Kaitlyn's sorority Kappa Delta hosted Shamrock Shootout they raised money for two causes with 80% of the profits staying in Manhattan to support the Women's Crisis Center, the other 20% goes to Prevent Child Abuse America. Our tickets bought us a smorgasbord of food from Chipotle's, Mr. Goodcents, Buffalo Wild Wings, pizza, BBQ, cake and cookies. They fed a huge crowd with lines that seem to never end. I took my camera but didn't take any pictures, our table was one away from Bill Snyder. It was a fun time and great to see Kaitlyn.

Davey Jones

When I heard Davey Jones died, I thought it was sad and didn't think too much about it. Later a friend posted this clip from "The Brady Bunch", after watching it it made me feel sadder, like a part of your childhood is gone. My husband asked didn't you watch "The Monkees Show" and I did, I remember it being goofy. I remember the Friday night prime time TV line-up (you did see I said prime time) Nanny and The Professor, The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. How great TV watching was on Friday nights! We were a blended family, my mom, brother and me and my stepdad, 2 stepsisters and stepbrother. We were not the Brady Bunch. I was in the middle so I pretended I was Jan and I loved Peter Brady. Silly things from your childhood.

I spent the day singing Daydream Believer and Girl. Davey Jones you have a place in history and my childhood you will be missed.

I couldn't embed this video but here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okQe_lmM8OI