Counting the Days Until Christmas

The picture isn't that great, but my first* holiday craft of the year is done.  And just in time too!
You can't really tell from the picture, but each number square is a pocket.  We haven't decided yet what to put in each pocket.  Maybe this year it will just be a Christmas scripture or story each day, and we might ultimately combine that with a little nativity piece for each day.  Or maybe we'll do something different each year.

*Oops, just realized that this isn't quite true.  Razor's Christmas outfit was the first.

Santa's Little Helper

Now that Halloween is over, Razor is looking forward to Christmas!

Sampler quilt

Here's yet another quilt project that has its origins with Aunt Betty.  I got the lightest green and light pink fabrics from Aunt Betty's stash.  Almost from the minute I saw these fabrics together, I knew I wanted to use them in a single piece.  Then after looking through one of Aunt Betty's quilt books I found the pattern I wanted to use: The Good Old Days quilt.

It's a sampler quilt, which means that each block has a different pattern.  I selected 25 of my favorite of the 44 suggested block patterns.  It took me about 18 months to get the blocks assembled.  Last fall I finally got the quilt top and back put together (all assembled, it's 8 feet x 8 feet--easily the largest quilt I've made), and I asked Marty's mom to long arm quilt it for me.

Another bit about this quilt.  I started this quilt shortly after I decided to work on the Personal Progress program (and actually finish it this time around since I didn't quite get it done when I was a teenager).  I planned this to be my Divine Nature value project--to make something for my current or future home and then record in my journal how being creative is part of my divine nature and how sharing my creativity has blessed others.  As I worked on the quilt blocks I thought about how we as children of God are like them--each completely unique, but each with divine qualities--made of the same fabrics, but organized in different ways.  And when brought together, they accent and enhance each other.

Once I have the completed quilt back, I'll post more pictures.

Chenille quilt

Back in January when Boss posted about making this for baby Emma-Clair, I added a chenille quilt to my list of projects to try someday.  In August, Marty's Mom gave me the the mother-load of all stash builders--about 4 big plastic tubs of fabric and other assorted items (Thanks Mom!).  Among the bounty was loads of flannel and a chenille cutter.

Now that I basically had all the supplies just handed to me, I figured it was time to give it a try.

I layered 3 different flannels together (a pink, blue with pink flowers, and a generic baby-themed print with pastels).  I paired that with this Hushabye by Tula Pink for Moda that I got on clearance.  After a few days of sewing lots of (mostly) parallel lines, and then using the chenille cutter on the flannel layers, it was just about done.  I bound it with the same flannel as the middle layer and washed it several times.

Then we started the quality control analysis--this mostly involved snuggling with it on the couch while watching TV.  Marty gave it high marks (I asked him if he wanted to keep it, but it's a little too feminine for his tastes, I think).  I really like the end result.  Thanks for another great craft idea, Boss!

Myrtle Beach

A couple weeks ago Marty and I were able to spend time with Mom, Dad, and various aunts and uncles at their sibling reunion in Myrtle Beach.  We had a great time!  The weather was perfect; the beach was lovely; the food was good, and we enjoyed just getting to visit with everyone there.  Here are a couple of group shots.

Thanks for a wonderful time Uncle Peter and Aunt Maura!

Cracked

I was out of town last week and I got a call from Marty.
"You're gonna kill me," he says.
"What happened?"
"I broke your laptop."
"How?"
"I dropped it on the tile floor."

The new look of my laptop screen.

Razor and her dolphin

Hot!

It's HOT!!

National Geographic

Tonight we were watching a National Geographic special on lions and hyenas. I've never seen Cher so interested in watching TV.

My Bag

I've mentioned my affinity for purses and totes before.  When Boss posted about making her purse/diaper bag, I immediately starting making a plan to create my own bag.  But it took me a while to actually get to it.  One of the main things I wanted was a bag that has flexibility--when I just need a purse for my purse stuff, it works; if I need to tote my laptop (work or personal) along with me somewhere, it works without requiring another bag; if I want to carry my padfolio or church lesson manual, or that sort of thing, it works.  One bag to rule them all, sort of.

Most of the hardware I recycled from another purse that was ready to retire--the feet, the rings for the straps.  I even salvaged the pocket panel I added to the front of the magazine pocket.  I bought the hardware for the key fob at my Ace Hardware down the street.  I made custom pockets for my wallet, my sunglasses, and a paperback or my little writing notebook.  The pocket panel already had a pocket perfectly sized for my phone, a few pens, and a mini-D ring to clip on my rewards card fob.  Rather than use foam core in the bottom of my bag, as per the tutorial, I used a piece of plastic canvas between the layers of fabric (the feet are attached through the plastic canvas too).

Several months ago it was mostly done, but there was an issue that I still hadn't resolved--the closure.  Diana's bag had one long loop that had flexibility to act as a single strap or two straps, and in the process, close the bag. I decided I'd rather just have 2 straps, which left the closure issue up in the air.  I salvaged a magnetic snap from the old purse, but with the flexibility I wanted in usage for this bag, I also wanted similar flexibility in a closure--something that would work just as well when the bag was more full as when less full.  What I eventually envisioned was something like jewelry for a bag--a button-type thing on one side, with a bracelet-like slidably beaded attachment on the other side.  Today I finally turned my imaginings into a reality.

I also made a matching laptop sleeve (which happily fits either work or personal laptop).  And as long as I was making modifications today, I took an idea from Ree's Bag, and made one of the pockets into a custom depth pocket for my lip balm.  Before the pocket had just been odd shaped and now it's perfect.  Overall, I'm very pleased with the whole thing.  I wish it had a little more structure (I guess I should have used a heavier weight interfacing), but maybe that's something I can still adjust (spray starch?  iron on another layer of interfacing? other ideas?).

Materials:  Green outer fabric- a wonderful heavier weight fabric leftover from this project.  Cream lining fabric- added to my stash from Mom's stash; I think it once was a table cloth.  Interfacing- I purchased a bunch of this at last year's Stash Dash and had plenty available when I was ready to work on the purse.  The zipper, golden yellow lining (not shown), and batting used for the laptop sleeve-- all just hanging out in my stash, waiting to be used (I actually quilted the layers together on the laptop sleeve).  Plastic canvas- this is another thing I just happened to have lying around, and it was just the size I needed.  Key fob hardware- purchased from Ace Hardware for about $3.50.  Feet, rectangular rings, green pocket panel- recycled from old purse.  Yellow trim inside bag- leftover from this quilt.  Materials for custom closure, purchased from Michael's for about $10.

JC Raulston Arboretum

On Sunday evening we took a trip to NCSU's JC Raulston Arboretum.  This is a treasure that I didn't even know about until a few weeks ago, and it is just a few minutes from my work and not much farther from our house.  It was a picture taking field trip.  Some of my favorites of the pictures I took are below.  To see a couple of the great ones Marty got, click over here.

I love this magnolia.

I wasn't sure how this picture would turn out because it was a little shady.  This is a lacecap hydrangea, I  like how the outer flowers look like butterflies around the inner flowers.

Maybe someday

**Found this among my draft posts.  Time to post.**

The other day Marty and I were out and about.
I was talking about how when Pooka and Harvey are here we might go to the zoo, or maybe the aquarium, or maybe both.
"I like zoos. Someday, can we own a zoo. With elephants and hippos and lions, and baby animals?! Oooh! And an aquarium!"
Marty: "You want an aquarium? We can do that. Maybe not right away, they're kind of expensive."
Me: "Um, I want the kind of aquarium that can have dolphins. And whales. Not goldfish. I don't think our house is big enough for that kind of aquarium. Thanks anyway."

From planning to final product

Another baby, another quilt.  

In March, my good friends from high school, Ray and Yael, had a baby--Auden.  I started planning out Auden's quilt months ago--getting feedback from Ray and Yael on their preferences*, creating a mock-up on the computer, pulling out the crayons, letting it sit while I considered the design (and made sure I still liked the idea after a week), and making calculations on fabric requirements.  

And finally, I went shopping--deciding on 3 green fabrics and 13 blues.  I kind of felt like a maniac as I pulled out bolt after bolt in the fabric store.

It seemed like a bad idea to have the backing be completely white, but I wanted to carry over some of the white from the front onto the back.  I did this by repeating the thick white border from the front.  I also used a fabric with a larger scale pattern on the back.

In thinking about how to do the actual quilting, I considered several options--tie it with yarn, hire a long arm quilter, or machine quilt it myself.  Ultimately it was my friend Julie who convinced me to "stitch in the ditch" machine quilt it, which I think was a brilliant suggestion.

I love this quilt.  It's one of my very favorites to have made--partly because it's beautiful and partly because I made it for dear friends.

*I liked Ray and Yael's input because it gave me the perfect opportunity to try a couple of things I've been thinking about in quilting but never done before, like the white background, incorporating cornerstones (the smaller green squares) instead of continuous sashing, and using a simple color pallet but many different fabric patterns that fit the pallet.  (Plus, sorry all the pictures have a green haze in the middle--looks like I need to wipe something off my phone).

Scented Crayons

Back in the mid-1990s Crayola made scented crayons.  One of those crayons was a light blue crayon named "Fresh Air," and many times when that crayon was used, within a few minutes someone would ask, "Is it raining?"  Because somehow that little blue crayon captured the scent of a rainy evening.
That's what tonight smells like--that "Fresh Air" crayon.

5 years

Spring!

This is from my backyard right now.  I love Spring here!

Sweet Asha

In mid-February, our dear friends Emily and Jonathan were chosen by a birth mother to be adoptive parents.  Such exciting wonderful news for some amazing people!  I was honored when Emily asked me to help her with a quilt to give to the birth mother as part of a "Celebration of Women" gift basket.  Emily chose a pattern for the quilt top*, we did some fabric shopping, and then we got together several evenings to work on it.  Now, Emily will downplay the part she played and say all she did was iron things while I did all the real work.  But that's not true (I'm not calling her a liar or anything, she just did a lot more than she'll claim).  The one part that I told Emily I would just take care of is the binding.

Top: birth mother quilt; Bottom: Asha's quilt

Once I finished that up, I took the quilt over to Emily and Jonathan's place where Jonathan tied the final yarn in place and it was done.  Just in time too--the very next day Emily and Jonathan were on a flight to meet their new baby--Asha Scout Wade--who was about 10 days early.

While they were out of town, I worked on the next part of the project--the coordinating quilt for Asha.  The family of three came home to Raleigh yesterday, and we were lucky enough to meet sweet Asha (and visit with her parents) tonight.  I love that baby--I could just gobble her up.  (Sorry I have no pictures of Asha, I was too distracted by holding her to think of that. )

*She decided to use the same pattern as this quilt.

Weekend Quilting

*Side note: I posted this last night, but then I discovered that there was a problem with the pictures in it.  So here's hoping this works.

Over the past few years I've enjoyed listening to General Conference while doing some sort of crafting, often quilting.  This year I didn't have a specific project to work on when the Saturday morning session started, so I went to my stash to get things a little organized.  In doing this I found a project that I'd been planning but hadn't gotten around to yet....

Several years ago when Mom was sharing fabric from Aunt Betty's collection, I became enamored with 5 blocks that Aunt Betty had used for practicing machine quilting. I thought about place mats or otherwise individually finishing them.  I also considered trying to incorporate them into a quilt, but since they were already quilted, I wasn't sure how that was going to work.  That's where this project got stuck for the past couple years...there and in the back of my fabric closet.  Also in the back of the fabric closet were two pairs of old ripped up jeans.  I realized that the heavy weight of the denim would balance the weight of the quilted squares.  By the end of the morning session I had the quilt top assembled.

Between sessions Marty helped me pick out (from my stash) the fabric to use for the quilt back (the same fabric as on the binding).  I also happened to have a perfectly sized piece of batting.  During the afternoon session, I tied and finished the quilt up.  It's not a very big quilt, only about 1 yd x 1 yd., but I love the way it turned out.  I love the artwork of Aunt Betty's quilting.  I love the mix of colors and designs.  I love the contrast with the denim.  I'm not sure what I'll *do* with this quilt other than add it to the other quilts in the house--and, of course, treasure it.

Pocket Wallets

I got the pattern for this wallet about a year ago.  A friend at work was so complimentary toward the one I made for myself that I volunteered to make her one.  Then she was showing it off to one of her friends who asked if she could get one.  So, I agreed to something that I haven't really done before--to make these and sell them.  I'm not sure I'll make a habit of it.  But another coworker keeps telling me about a big craft fair that she thinks I should participate in.  Something to think about at least.

Quick and Dirty Baby Quilts

I have another baby shower to go to in a couple weeks--this one is for a friend of mine who is pregnant with twin girls.  So I made twin baby quilts--they are a lot a like, but not exactly alike.  The squares are a mix of leftovers from other quilts and hand-me-down fabrics in my stash.  The other side of each quilt was made from a pair of curtain panels.  I even had a single piece of quilt batting in my stash that was perfectly sized for these.  All in, each one took about 4 hours to make, with the binding easily being the part that took the longest.

The differences?  The color of the binding and the yellow squares are different materials on the 2 quilts.  And I think the arrangement of the blocks is a little different.
Oh, and they aren't really dirty.

Copycat Caterpillar Crafting

I've been invited to a shower for my friend who is adopting a 16 month old.  What to give?  Why not copy Boss's cool and crafty gifts?  I love the way it turned out, and I had everything that I needed already in my stash.

More crafty things coming soon...  But it's bedtime now.

Prior Authorization

I know.  I know.  I've already written a bunch of posts complaining about health insurance companies.  Here's another one to add to the list.
Effective January 1, our insurance company put a supply limit on one of Marty's maintenance medications.  The limit-- 13 tablets per 365 days.  Now, as I mentioned, this is a maintenance medication--he takes 2 pills a day.  According to a letter they sent us "the supply limits apply to lower strengths that are typically only used at the beginning of a therapy to allow adjustment time before your doctor increases the dosage strength of your medication."  Marty has basically been on this dosage for 4 years.  I wouldn't call that just the beginning of his therapy.
The work-around for this supply limit is that Marty's doctor needs to call the insurance company, answer a bunch of questions and jump through their "prior authorization" hoops.
Marty's doctor has done this TWICE.  And TWICE they have told him that no prior authorization was needed.  Yet they still won't cover the stupid refill at the pharmacy because the doctor hasn't done the prior authorization.
Fortunately, the pharmacy has been somewhat understanding--First they gave him a few pills to carry him over.  Then they filled the prescription and only charged us the co-pay, assuming the insurance company would eventually get their act together.
So far they haven't.