Hmm... lightening striking twice?

It's pretty rare that there's ever a pic of me on here, but look at this- two posts in a row! They say lightening never strikes twice, but...

I had to take a new pic for my ID at work (well, didn't really HAVE to- actually I begged the buisness manager to let me because the last picture was taken approximately 48 hours before Noah's birth and I look eerily similar to the Michelin Man). Anyways, after church on Sunday I realized my hair was clean (rare), I had make up on (even more rare) and jewlery to boot (never happens) so Joe might as well take my picture for my ID. Of course, the next logical thought was to post it on here.... right?

So in case you were curious as to who this woman who starts way more projects than she finished, always says "y'all" and has a super annoying voice on any video posted here is- here I am! Hi!

In the Photo Friday!

Meredith over at La Buena Vida recently noticed something that a lot of us moms do- we are alway behind the camera and never in front of it! For the next few weeks, Meredith is hosting "In the Photo Fridays" where we will post RECENT pics of ourselves every Friday! Unfortunately, my first one - which is the most recent- doesn't have my kid or my husband in it...

umm, does it still count?

This picture is from last week at a "work event" (teehee! man, my job is fun!)- it was ice cream night for the youth group at the church where I work - this shot is of Nancy, me (in the black t-shirt), Tim and Michelle (they are parent helpers for the youth group).

If you know me, you're probably thinking "Hey, doofus, why were you at a YOUTH event? You work for the CHILDREN'S ministry!" Well, starting in the fall, I will go from being the Director of Children's Music and Arts to the Director of STUDENT Music and Arts- I will have both middle AND high school choirs added to my job descript- I'm SO PUMPED!

So there I am. In a photo. On a Friday.

minimal-words wednesday

we like grits around here

if anyone knows where my baby went and who this big boy is, please let me know.

some new things will be in the shop tomorrow!

yeah, I must be crazy...

...to think I should go ahead and start Crazy Mom Quilt's quilt-a-long with all of the dresses, monogramming, VBS costumes and clutches that I'm in the process of making... but I did and I LOVE how it's coming together!

I'm not happy with the white cotton I chose for the background (I went cheap-o and bought crappy, thin fabric), but I think it will all work out when the batting is behind it.

Is anyone working on a fun project right now?
(you don't have to answer, Michele, I know you're finishing up growing and planning the evacuation a human)
I'd love to read about it!

fathers.

I've got a few that I love.

first, there's mine:

circa 1986

I wanted to find a sweet one of he and I at my wedding, but honestly, how could I NOT share this one of him dancing with all my friends?

Oh here's a nicer one:

he's also a HUGE fan of his grandson.

Then there's my "surrogate" dad.

I was adopted by my aunt and uncle when I was 13 years old. I still have contact with my father (^ obviously), but Jeff and Sally opened their home to me and provided me with stability that I wouldn't have gotten if not for them. They finished the parenting that my parents started and shaped me into the person (and hopefully the parent) that I am today.

obligatory grandpa shot:

Next we have Joe's daddy:

(eeek, baby Joe is so preshy!)

napping with his buddy:

and lastly, the newest father, my love,
Joe:


September 5th.


(yup, there's a baby in there^)


i love you all!

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies!

Good mail day!

Not much to say today... because I've got too much to do!

My fabric for the Crazy Mom Quilts quilt-a-long finally came today! I had to eliminate 6 of the 16 fat quarters and only choose 10 fabrics, but Joe helped me and these are the ones I'm using:

While I was shopping at the Fat Quarter Shop, I couldn't resist this fabric (on sale!):

I'm planning to make a top with it using this pattern:

... now off to sew!

ever wonder what 50 zippers look like?

well now you know.

coming up...

• These babies in the etsy shop:

Anna over at Noodlehead decided to sell the pattern for these clutches and you KNOW I snapped one of those up quicker than you can say "wee little winslow".

• I'm doing a quilt-a-long. Well, I'm already 2 weeks behind, but eh- procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday, right? It's Crazy Mom Quilt's QAL #5, which should end up looking like this:

I can't wait to get started. Yup, that's right- I STILL haven't started. It took me approximately 12 hours (and a "sleep on it") to decide on my fabric. I really liked this from Cloud 9 Fabrics- but since it's organic, it would have cost me a pretty penny to make the entire quilt. Plus I was sad that after all the chopping, that little birdy on the yellow striped background would have just gotten lost in the mix.

So I decided to go with Modern Meadow- I like how it's darker, more mature (look! no green and pink- go me!) and basically not like anything I've ever sewn with before. I think it will really pop with the white sashing, but I'm also considering a light grey maybe? Maybe I'm just talkin' crazy- we'll see when the fabric gets here!

I ordered the FQs this morning so until they get here, I'll be monogramming towels and bags for weddings, graduations and summer birthday presents. *sigh* Not nearly as fun as sewing.

at the beach, Noah...

played in inner-tubes.
had his first Chilly-Willy.

played with his Uncle Simeon.

swung with his Great-Grandmama.
sported an awesome Budweiser tat.

(thanks, Uncle Henry.)

swung some more with his daddy and Uncle Harrison.

dressed in a bathing suit every day.

ate sand.

helped build a sand castle.

WALKED around on the beach.
(holycrapI'mnotreadyforthis)

hung out with the big boys.

ate snacks in a diaper and a hat.

napped so Mommy could have a little break.

... and some boiled peanuts.

Brady's Make Life Quilt (at the beach!)

I was thinking the other day about how I really would like to name all the quilts that I make, starting with this one (the first one I just called by the pattern name, because I'm original like that). Well, this quilt was made for a baby whose parents did not want to know if it was a girl or a boy- we didn't know it's name either so I just called it the Make Life quilt.

Well, allow me to introduce you to Brady's Make Life quilt.

(Brady is, in fact a boy and was born last Friday! Congrats to Stephen and Allison!)

Brady's quilt was made with a "Make Life" by Moda charm pack and a pattern from Oh, Frannsson.

I "straight" line quilted it (it's a little wonky, but on purpose) with the lines anywhere from 1/8" and 3/4" apart- this is the first time I've done quilting other than "stitch in the ditch" and it was much more fun, but took way way longer than I thought it would.

I used the Make Life text fabric (Silly Multi) on the back of the quilt (original, no?) and bound it with the same red (Texture Apple) as in the charm pack.

I hand-stitched the binding which I will do from now on EVERY TIME (my first quilt was with a class and they had us machine-bind it- it was so uneven and I HATED the way it looked in the end). It looks so much more... classic. I love it! I didn't have any of the apple colored thread, so I did it in khaki to match the front if I poked through (which I didn't!) and seriously, if anyone's looking that close, they have bigger problems than me not using the correct thread color. :)

I also labeled this quilt using Rachel's tutorial - Sharpie and all!- and I think it turned out great! I'm not sure if I was supposed to wash this quilt before giving it as a gift, but I did because a) I think the rule is to NOT wash it, and I'm not one for following rules and b) I was just too dang curious to see what that quilting would look like all puckery!

I finished the quilt on the way to the beach, so I thought pics with the ocean in the background would be appropriate. Plus, I lived at that beach house year round instead of just one or two week out of the year, so these pics let me make believe a little.

What do you think of Brady's quilt?