Kite Construction

Nathan had a long nap today, so I was able to get the sashing and outer border of the Kite Quilt done.

Productivity Makes Me Happy

Amy's Challenge got me going and I finished both baby girl quilts AND got a block done of my Kite quilt.  I love it when I'm actually productive- it always seems to be when I'm the busiest, too.  I don't know how that works, but hey, I'm not complaining.  Happy Monday, everyone!

 Here are the previous posts for full pictures of the Lady Bug Pinwheel and the "Cotton in the Log Cabin" quilts.

A Movie & Some Quilting

Last night my hubby and I watched Eat, Pray, Love, and it was not one of his favorites (he said he couldn't empathize with the main character because she kept just giving up instead of working on her relationships- among other things- I'm sure if you asked him he could go on and on about what he didn't like about the movie).  Anyway, the good news is that the movie was long enough for me to get the binding completely finished on the baby girl quilt.  Here she is:

Lady Bug Finishes

This week for Amy's one-thing-one-week-challenge I wanted to finish the binding of Emma's quilt and start the binding on the second baby girl quilt.  Despite a crazy schedule this week I found time to quickly bind her quilt.  Joel had Monday off, so he put together the baby bouncer and bassinet.  We're just about all set for our baby girl- although let's be honest, we're perfectly content to wait until she's due in April.  No sense in rushing the newborn madness.

I'm hoping that when things settle down a little this weekend that I'll be able to completely bind and finish the other quilt.  We'll see how it goes.

Mormon Bloggin' Mommies

I read this article today called Why I Can't Stop Reading Mormon Housewife Blogs and it seriously made me laugh....for a couple of reasons.  1- I'm Mormon, 2- I'm currently a stay-at-home mom, & 3- I love blogging.  However, most of the stereotypes don't really fit me.  I guess they think of Utah moms that are married at 18, under-educated, uber craftsy, and have a rose colored life of perfection.  I got married at 27, have a Masters Degree (that I've used in the real world), grew up on the East Coast, and have only recently started staying at home with my son.  While I do love to quilt and cook- these are all relatively new hobbies of mine and those who knew me in high school know that I was not even remotely close to being a June Cleaver meets Betty Crocker meets Wonder woman (can you imagine what she would be like?).
I do confess to absolutely loving my husband and son, and for the most part I have no complaints about my life- It's definitely not perfect, but I rather enjoy it.  I liked working and I like staying at home - I don't think there's anything wrong with either.  One day I would like to teach again, but until then I find ways to stay up to date in my field.
Meanwhile, I blog mostly just to amuse myself.  If nobody read it except for me I would still do it, because it's a fun way to chronicle life.  I figure I might as well share about it while I'm experiencing it.  So, for all of the people that left crazy comments under the article about polygamy and that type of "happiness" not being real, I am here to tell you that it is possible to actually be happy with your life and still be a Mormon Stay-At-Home Mommy.  And no, my husband does not have more than one wife. I don't think he could handle any more than just me.  :)

"New" Batting Options

One problem about quilting is that it can be an expensive hobby.  My friend yesterday told me a really cool thing- back in the day women used to use their old quilts as the batting of their new quilts.  You can actually use any old quilts or blankets for batting- just cut off the binding.  My friend had this old quilt for me to use.  I was really excited to try this.  It's even already technically quilted, so I don't have to worry about how close my top stitching is on my quilts. 


I used it for my two baby girl quilts.....it gives it a little extra texture and thickness.  So far I'm a fan (and my wallet is as well).

Mind Boggling Dreams

I'm usually a Jane Austin- British drama sort of girl, but every once in a while there's a movie that just messes with your mind and just blows you away.  Inception is one of those movies.  My brother and dad had been talking about this movie for a while, so we rented it and holy cow, I don't know how anyone could be creative/twisted enough to come up with this plot.  It just kept getting more and more complex.  We even stopped the movie a couple of times to make sure we were following it completely.  The ending even leaves you hanging.  If you like intense, twisting plots with a lot of mental exertion then this movie is for you.  I don't think I'll ever think of dreams the same way again.  This movie is a secular version of Hugh Nibley. :)

Gender Unknown

I have a number of quilting projects in the works right now, but I have to be a good girl and wait until payday next week to get the batting I need for Emma's quilt and the white fabric for the kite quilt (I cut all of the other 2" squares this week).  In the meantime I have a couple of other quilts that I can start.  My trainer from my mission in Spain is having a baby, and the funny part is that her due date is only 2 days away from mine.  Of course my "momma" from the mission has a special place in my heart, so it's time she gets a quilt.  This is their 3rd baby and they have one of each, so they're waiting to find out the gender.  This presents a slight problem for me, because usually I would just wait until she has the baby to make the quilt, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be busy with a baby of my own at that point.  Uni-gender quilts are pretty hard to come up with, so I have decided to avoid this problem by just making 2 quilts -- one for a boy and one for a girl.  I know that it won't be long before the other quilt will be needed by someone else.  

 Today I put together the quilt front of the girl quilt.  (Nathan had a couple of sweet naps and my husband was engrossed by football playoffs, so I was one productive chiquita). 

 I love these fabrics.....I had to do a couple closeups, because you miss the details when you show the whole quilt.

Pink Spots

My mom used to say that if you have anything nice that you should just expect your children to ruin it.  It doesn't matter if it's furniture, carpet, antiques, or the house itself.  The normal everyday whirl wind of childhood will terrorize your belongings and just when you think it's safe, you'll have grandchildren that continue on in that same tradition.  Nathan's destruction has been limited so far, but as he gets bigger the harm potential rises exponentially. I had an amusing example of this over the holidays.  Nathan ran across the front room with a peppermint flavored-chocolate pretzel in his hand.  It disappeared from his hand one minute (I thought he had eaten it) and then all of a sudden a couple minutes later it reappeared in his hand.  I started scouring the carpet looking for pink spots.  I was relieved to not find any only to later see that my slippers were curiously pink.  I don't know if he has great aim or what, but I owned these slippers for less than a week before he was able to mark his territory (ironically enough, they were supposed to be a Christmas gift from him).  I think they only cost about 7 bucks after sales, so the worth really isn't the point, but it's a good preview of years to come.


A little review- we went from here.......

to here.........in a matter of minutes.  The picture is a little muted, because they are actually a lot more pink than that even after trying to clean them. :) 

Business in Front - Party in the Back

Last night Joel and I were discussing the old school videos from Church like Together Forever and Our Father's Plan- they have great messages, but they seriously need a remake, because it's hard to get past the 80s clothes and hairdos.  This discussion spiraled down to a discussion about mullets.  Yep, we all love to hate them.  From there you have to talk about femulets, and of course, my favorite is the permed femulet or in other words the perfemulet - aka - Poddle on top - Party in the Back.  Just for fun I looked up pictures of these beauties this morning.  Here's a couple of my favorites:

I think the cigarette makes this picture a classic.

This one comes from a website that explains different types of femulets.  How can you beat the clothes combo with the hair in this one?

You can even find instructions on how to cut it yourself on this site, so if you're feeling adventurous here's an option for your next haircut.  Just promise to send me a picture if you do. I always like a good laugh.

Resolutions for Goal Setting

I've been reading a lot of people's goals for the new year and their reminiscences about 2010 on their blogs, and I thought I would add my two cents- well, more like one cent.  I don't so much want to share my actual goals.  I'm more interested in the process of keeping goals this time around.  Joel and I always set goals as a family, as a couple and as individuals.  We actually made a lot of goals when we moved here to Ohio.  It seemed like a good time to start anew and try to make some improvements in our lives.  I found those goals a couple of weeks ago (the first time I had seen them since we had written them down).  We managed to achieve a couple of them and then some of them I hadn't even remembered that they existed at all.  It was an "oh ya" moment.
This year we have posted our goals on our bathroom mirror, and have decided that we will be having "Quarterly Evaluations" of how we're doing throughout the year.  A follow up, if you will, to see how it's going and see if we need to alter or amend them as the year progresses.  My "goal" is to actually remember what it is I am trying to achieve and not be surprised by it come January 2012.  Hopefully that way I won't be setting the same exact goals yet again next year. :)

Quilting Plans

Ever since I won this fabric from the Quilter's Festival in the Fall, I have been trying to figure out a cool pattern to use.  Today I decided on this block pattern: Kite Tails

This is the line up of fabric for my diagonal rows (I'm altering it slightly, so there's less white and more differing fabrics used).  Each block has 144 two-inch pieces, so I may be working on this quilt until the Millennium comes, but I'm feeling up for the challenge.....of course I haven't actually started it yet, so we shall see.

Sugar Be Gone!

I love Sugar!  It should be its own food group.  Joel prefers fried foods, but not me - give me sweet any day over greasy.  Sadly, my body doesn't always appreciate my enthusiastic sweet tooth.  During my first pregnancy anything remotely sweet made me really sick.  This occurred the second time around during the first trimester, but I found out right around the holidays that it wasn't making me sick anymore and well, let's just say I was a little too excited about this.  I started craving chocolate- pure chocolate.  I don't usually crave much during my pregnancies, so it was a little bizarre. 
The long and the short of it is that between holiday celebrations and chocolate cravings I have OD-ed on sugar and it's time to do something drastic.  Aka- I'm giving up all sweets for the month of January. (Since I didn't want to be alone on this endeavor Joel has been cut off from all things greasy and fried as well). I have to stop cold turkey to get all the cravings out of my system, so that I can eventually go back to normal- limited consumption.  I post this to make sure I hold myself accountable.  January is going to be a cold, bleak and sugar/grease free month at the Thompson household, but it must be done.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile, Happy New Year's and Happy 30th birthday to my brother!

Blast from the Past

Here's a picture of my family that my dad emailed today.  Hee hee. 

 

My dad said: "Here's an oldie for yin's.

Taken the Christmas of 1991 in Hershey, PA a week prior to moving to

NY. Please note Dan's suspenders. lol

Very funky!"

My husband says it's a good thing he didn't know me back then (he was very taken with my glasses- my dad also said, "When I first saw those specs I thought, 'How did Becky get a hold of the Urim and Thumim?')  - aka-  Those were the dark years of middle school.  Contacts, braces, and lack of perm wouldn't occur for another 2 years.  Ugh.  How could they let me out in public like that?

Meanwhile, I can't believe how much my son looks like his Uncle Daniel in this picture.

Low Key Celebrations

Joel and I ushered in the New Year quietly at home.  We ordered Chinese and made homemade Cookies n' Cream ice cream, and had a marathon night of "Lark Rise to Candleford." (Side note- if you like Jane Austin or Elizabeth Gaskill this BBC series is right up your alley.  It's fabulous!)

 I managed to finish Mike's baby quilt while watching.  I kept the scrap theme going with the binding.  I'm proud to say that this entire quilt was made out of my scrap bag.  It's just a cute little tummy-time quilt made just in time for the arrival of their baby boy.  He's due this month.

 It's one of the smallest quilts I've ever made, but I really enjoyed the "creative process" of combining all kinds of different fabrics.

Happy 2011, everyone!  Hope your year is starting out well.