Scattered Bliss

I've been posting my crafts over on my other blog and tried to keep this one just
family stuff and my late night babbling (which I really should avoid!).  However, I just had to share this baby quilt with all of you!  If you've followed this blog for long, you know that I started quilting in 2010.  I love to look at the traditional quilts, but I really have no personal desire to make a quilt using those patterns.  So, all but one of the quilts I've made have been my own design and are all pretty simple.  This one is my favorite so far!  I started with a jelly roll of Bliss by Moda.  I LOVE this line of fabric.  I've even made Emma an outfit with it (that outfit can be found in this post).  I designed the quilt on a piece of graph paper and took it from there.  It was so satisfying to watch what I could see in my mind come to life in front of me.   

Aren't the colors amazing?

This was also my first attempt at stippling (or free motion) quilting.
All of my past quilts have been quilted with straight lines, usually using the masking tape method.
I felt that this one needed something more ~ and it wasn't so bad after I got the hang of it.
Now, if anyone has an extra long arm quilting machine sitting in storage that they'd like to get off of their hands for cheap, please give me a call!  I can't imagine stippling anything larger than a baby blanket on my little sewing machine. 

Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic

We got up bright and early this past Saturday and headed down to Ann Morrison Park
for the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic.  We'd never seen hot air balloons up close ~ they are amazing!  Here are some pics of our favorites.

Everywhere I look, things seem to be changing.
As the calendar changes to September tomorrow, the kids have already been
back in school for a week.  Dusk comes earlier in the evenings as the crickets and frogs work together to create beautiful music.  Tonight, at 9 p.m. it was 74 degrees rather than 94.  The windows to the house were open all day, and the A/C was not missed.  Emma's music class has started back up; Scouts will soon follow.  Our house is full of the sounds of music between Emma's piano and Ryan's saxaphone.  On my morning walks, I've noticed a couple of trees trying oh-so-hard to change colors.  And our house, oh our house is so very quiet during the day.
~~~
Over the past while, when I've imagined my days with both kids in school and Bob at work, I just imagined...well...a bit of freedom.  Freedom to do anything I want, when I want while everyone else is being taken care of elsewhere.  I've been home with the kids since Ryan was 20 months old, and, as all of you moms know, there really isn't any time off.  You're the one the kids come to when they feel sick at night or have a bad dream.  The evenings?  We still have to cook dinner, clean up after dinner, put the kids to bed, etc.  The weekends?  There's still plenty to do.  So I'm a bit surprised with how the past week has gone.
~~~
My dear husband has never, not even once, made a comment about my housekeeping/cooking/organizing skills.  If you've ever dropped in, you know that our home is rarely spotless.  And that's how we've wanted it...it's a home, not just a house.  We want our kids to know that they can truely live in our home without worrying (too much) about their mom freaking about about toys, etc on the living room floor.  So it was a bit of a surprise for me today to realize that I haven't sat down for more than fifteen minutes a day over the first week of school.  Something inside me is so worried that Bob is going to think I'm sitting in the hottub all day eating bonbons (ahhh...if only we had a hottub...and some bonbons).  He laughs when I tell him this...
So today, I took it a bit easier.  I still worked, but I spent most of my time preparing to start my business.  I spent part of the day reading up on what it takes to start a small business in our state and several hours teaching myself how to free-motion quilt (stipling) a baby quilt.  Getting back to working with something I enjoy helped me to slow down a bit...literally take a few deep breaths.
~~~
So now, along with all of the other changes that are happening around me, I need to change.  I need to slow down, mix a little fun in with the necessary work, try to get used to the quiet days here at home.  I need to get used to the slightly different role I'll play in the kids' lives.  Someone else will spend a good portion of their waking hours moulding them (although I'll be there once a week to keep an eye on them!).  Their friends will have more and more influence upon them.  And me?  I'll be here at 3:58 p.m. when the bus stops outside anxiously waiting to hear about their day and making sure they are still on the right path.

Kitchen Wall Progress

A while back, I asked for suggestion on what to put on this wall in our kitchen.  One of the suggestions was to cover canvases with fabric...resulting in an almost-quilt look.
Since I love fabric and what it can add to, well, just about anything, I thought I'd give it a try.
I practiced first with scrapbook paper to get the layout.  With Ryan's help, I came
up with this.

I happened to come across these fabrics at JoAnn's last week...two of my kitchen walls are the light yellow on the second canvas.  The accent colors are the ones found in the bottom canvas.  Perfect!

Here they are on the wall.  I'd like to put a rub-on in the middle, but I can't decide on what it should say.  This one I just happened to have )"May all who enter as guests, leave as friends."  Another option is "Kitchens were made to bring families together."  Any other ideas?

Here's the view showing the green that's on the back of this wall and the inside of the arches and the yellow that's on two of my walls. 

First Day of School

It's hard to believe, but here we are again!
The kids started school day.
With a forecasted high of 101, we're pretty glad that it's a half day!
Emma is now in first grade.  Last year, she went
for just three hours, so this is going to be a big adjustment for her.
I anticipate a very tired child getting off the bus until she's used to it.

Ryan starts the fifth grade!  I cannot believe that
my little boy is in the fifth grade!  When they say that the years fly by, they ain't a kiddin'!

Emma woke up this morning crying from a bad dream...so she
was a bit off this morning.  She was crying when I left her.  Someday she'll understand that it just about broke my heart to leave her when she was sad.  I'm hoping she'll come home happy!

Ryan has a bunch of his buddies in class with him.
His teacher has my sympathy.  HeeHee

To be green or not to be green

I've been wanting a comfortable reading chair in our bedroom for quite some time.  I had an old rocker...but it was small and didn't have any arms.  It was not the most comfortable chair for sitting and, therefore, became a clothes hanger!  I was very excited to find this chair at a local consignment shop for just $35.  It's solid wood, in almost perfect condition and, well, green.
What do you think?  Should I leave it green?  Recover it with something else?  Leave it green but lose the skirt?  I need opinions!

Meet "Bubbles"

and "Hopper"
~~~
The kids' end-of-the-summer pets that I promised them.
I'm a tad bit concerned though.  Ryan's very excited to have his frog, but he's also
very excited to dissect him once he dies.  Hmmm.....

35!

If you ask some people, I entered middle age on Monday.
After much research, I've determined that this is NOT so!
The average white woman lives to 79, which means that middle age starts
at 40!  Whew!! 
~~~
Anyway, we celebrated with my sister-in-law and nephew on Sunday night since we were driving home on Monday.  Doesn't that chocolate cake look delicious?!  Lots of yummy, fudgy frosting.

After getting back home on Monday, Bob, the kids and I went out to dinner.
It's so nice to occasionally not have to cook!
Then we headed over to Max and Amanda's for dessert.
They live on a golf course, and the kids love their backyard!
It was beautiful evening ..... we sat out on the back patio while the boys and
Emma threw the frisbees.

It seems that, as you get older, your birthdays last longer!  :)
Last night, a few of the other moms in the area left their kiddos at home with
the daddies, and we headed to The Crepery for dinner and dessert.  Ever been?
It's delicious!!  Here are some photos of the dessert crepes we demolished.

I have to say that it felt very good to exercise this morning!  whew!!

I have some very crafty friends!
Look at some of the cards I received for my birthday.

{This looks just like the old machine that's in my living room!}

This one is not handmade, but I thought it was beautiful!
I'm gonna try to duplicate it with stamps...once school starts...A WEEK FROM TODAY!!