Mug shots of my first Mug Rug! (and other stuff)

Ok so as you guys have read already... I joined in a mug rug swap. A mug rug is a nice little place where you can keep a mug of a hot drink with your little snacky foods next to it on the same mug. So larger than a coaster and smaller than a placemat... got it? :) If you would like to participate in the next swap then please click on the link in my sidebar to the right, it will say Mug Rug Swap v.2. I would love to see what other people that I know would do. :)

So here are some shots I took of my mug rug... wasn't sure what the best shot was (these are only a few of the many I took, others were eliminated because of blurryness).


Two shots of the front...


Two shots of the back, different background... I like the blue best it makes everything else... pop! :)

Close up of my handquilting and piecing. I used 42 different blue fabrics for the middle and 6 greenish blue fabric for the "leaves" of the flower.

And no quilty project is complete without the obligatory picture with the cat. He just has to be in everything that I do.

Close up of the signature on the back.
Now this is a totally different project, this is the hexagon I made for my Hexie swap I am doing with the IFQ group online. I did two versions of this one, one with machine stitching along the outside... not giving that one away... it didn't turn out how I wanted, and then this one I did by hand. I like it better in person but then again when do pictures really say as much as seeing something in person? NEVER! :)

Hope you enjoyed my little tour of my recent quilting adventures. I have some other mug rugs I am making, they are just simple 3x3 squares and some 3x4 rectangles. I will take a picture of them someday soon once I get the binding on them.

Another Mug Rug Swap

So I am doing another Mug Rug Swap over at Sew Happy Geek. People have until June 11th to sign up and then you have until July 15th to make and ship your mug rug. The one I made for this past swap only took me a few days to do, that includes, thinking, picking fabrics, piecing, quilting and then binding. So not bad.

I've taken other pictures too, but I haven't uploaded them from my camera yet. I will be doing that this week. But this gives you an idea of the size of it. Does it look like a flower? a blue flower with green leaves and a fun yellow background? I hope so. :) If I do another one like this in the future I have changes I will do, but I like this one still.

So if this looks like fun to you then you should go check it out, other people made a bunch of cool ones that they posted on the Flickr group page.

Monday Monday ... was yesterday.

LOL So I started writing in my blog yesterday and... well I got distracted and that didn't happen.

So today is Tuesday! Woohoo! And yesterday and today I have had two cups of coffee and am bouncy! I should drink it more often, but perhaps then it wouldn't have quite the same effect. Yesterday once I got going I was able to get a lot accomplished... well a lot for me anyways. I cleaned Paul's bathroom! (all of it and not just wiping down things but like scrubbing and the floors and the trash and EVERYTHING! Even the floormat got put in the wash!) I also did the dishes! yay but I do those everyday so no surprise there. Then I did some laundry and took out all the trash! It had been accumulating in our garage and needed to be put in the dumpster, with all the rain/snow we had gotten I just didn't want to go out and get all wet. So yesterday was perfect so I went ahead and did it! Thank goodness I did it yesterday cause today is crappy again! I love the rain, I really do but I think I like Washington rain better than Wisconsin rain. Here it seems like I am always stepping into puddles or something and I really hate having wet pants, but I almost always have wet pant legs. :( Out in Washington it was rainy or drizzly... but it wasn't so bad, only thing I could complain about there was that I needed something to keep my glasses from being completely useless outside. Eh *shrug* there are positives about each place and of course the negatives so I will live here and be happy with it! :)

Not sure if I blogged about my toe a few weeks ago or not... but I had an ingrown toenail removed a few weeks ago and the doctor yesterday said it looks great and I only need to come back in if it is causing me trouble! woot! My toe is like a complete blog entry... this was the third time I had the procedure done and this time I think it's the last. Already looking and feeling better!

So I have decided a few things in regards to baby stuff... some resolutions one might say for modifying my thoughts and behaviors about it. First I am going to try to not think and worry about it as much as I have been. I don't think it's healthy for me to obsess over it, and if the thoughts do come flowing in, as they are known to do, then I will just move past them, through them onto another subject. The biggest thought lately is that I feel like I should have been able to stop the loss from occurring, like I should have done something differently. And boy do I know how unproductive that thought process can be.

So last night before going to bed, and probably every other night before going to bed, I made it a point to 1. pray the lord's prayer... which almost always helps sooth me, and 2. to pray for patience and trust in God's promises. I know that I am here to live my life, to not sit around in self pity and grief, so I am going to work on remembering that. I have a job to do, I am a wife to my husband, the caretaker of my household no matter how many people or pets or whatever are in it. So I will do my job, my calling as one might say. Yes my heart yearns for children, but perhaps that yearning comes from a desire to take care of people and to provide for someone or something that needs me. So I will focus on my husband (who definitely needs me to take care of him) and my cat (who also most definitely needs me) and then my friends and family, and will do what I can do for others.

In quilting news I have a few things that I would like to share... back a little while ago I made a block for Moda for a "just one star" program and they sent me this week a little charm pack of 2.5" squares, so cute! I love them! I can't wait to make some little thing, maybe a matching set of coasters or something. We don't have any nice coasters so those would be fun to make.

I have been doing a few swaps... one of them was an I-spy fabric swap. I got my fabric sent off and will be getting new fabric a little after May 1st, so within a couple of weeks. She's also doing a giveaway for those who sent in fabric so we'll see if I win any of that. :)

I did a mug rug swap... still need to send out the mug rug and will post a picture as soon as I load them on the computer. I really like it and it will be hard to giveaway, but that's ok.

I am also participating in a folded hexagon swap, I will post pictures once I do my first one as well.

Then when I can I am working on quilting Paul's quilt. I have almost three whole circle places done... and will be working on the fourth soon... but that only covers like... a 3 ft by 3 ft section of the quilt... still much left to be quilted! Soon!

And then the hexie flowers, which I have put together the groupings but haven't made a flower in a few weeks, will get back to doing that soon here.

Today I have distracted myself with doing stuff on Pinterest which... if you haven't seen is quite addicting once you start doing it. If anyone would like a invite just let me know, there's a waiting list unless you know someone already on it. Here's my page of pinterest stuff. :)

That's all for now, talk to everyone later!

Friday Baking

Cause I don't want to do it on the weekend!

Today I am making two loaves of wheat bread, the white bread was good, but I would like to try something not so white... I might in the future make two of each just because it's nice to have variety. Or I might just try different types of bread for fun! :)

I am also making two loaves of tomato bread. I found a recipe online and am going to try it, not sure how it will work out, but who knows, could be yummy.

Then I am making my Grandma Dot's dinner rolls, these are the best things in the world! If they are made right, so I hope I can make them without messing up. If I mess up I guess I can always call Grandma to see what I did wrong.

Also today an Apple Pie is in the makings. I know, I don't know why I am feeling so bakey bakey, but eh, oh well. Baked goods make the world happy.

At least I am stopping there, I wanted to make cookies too, but I need to get the other things done first. :) If I plan it right then I can use my time productively. We will see.

Last night I also sewed up a pincushion, now I need to go shopping for filling but that shouldn't be too hard. Will go tonight or tomorrow morning for that at the farm store. :) This pincushion was my first time appliqueing anything and I think it turned out nice. :)

Anyways, talk to you later... off to the kitchen with me!

Good morning, good morning...

We've danced the whole night through, Good morning good morning to you!

Hello Neverland!

Ok so I am done quoting things, I guess I am in a pretty good mood this morning. Not sure why, but anyways, I am not going to be upset with my happiness. Hehe.

Tuesday I made bread! and boy was it good. I think I am going to have to make more bread soon here cause we are going to probably go through those two loafs quickly considering one loaf is gone and we have cut into the other loaf. I also made Zucchini bread, and that was good too! It seems a bit softer in the middle than I would like, but it's still pretty yummy. Next time I think I will cook it at 350 for longer time. This time I cooked it at 400 for 35 minutes.

I also have a lot of tomatoes, so I think I will take a few of them and some onions and cilantro and make some salsa... or I might make a pasta sauce for eating with spaghetti... not sure yet. I think Salsa is probably a better idea. I will have to google salsa recipes and see what else I could put in there, need some kind of spicyness. I don't think I have any though so it might call for a trip to the grocery store. Not sure though.

Got our CSA box yesterday... got Carrots, lettuce(green and red leaf), beets (they were huge!), cucumber, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, larger tomatoes, cucumber, Lemon cucumber, cilantro, potatoes (red and white), corn, walla walla onion, and garlic. I split it with my sister in law. :) We usually cut the lettuce in half so that we get a variety of greens. I need to make salad with that today, although I still have a lot of salad left from the other day... we need to eat our salad! :) I will probably cook the two beets I got, they really were huge, size of baseballs, the last few we have gotten have been between baseballs and golfball size. I got the onion this time, and Katie took the cucumber and two of the corns, I got one corn on the cob, I might put that in the salsa. I also got the garlic and zucchini and Lemon cucumber and 3 carrots. Mmm these foods are good. I have really been enjoying the beets over the last week or so, definitely like candy! I could eat them for desserts they are so sweet! Can't wait to try the walla walla onion, cause I think that might be very very good. I still have green beans and green onions from last week that I need to chop up and do something with. We also still have peas... lots of peas. I put those in the freezer.

As of October 5th I will be working. :) I have a job babysitting Paul's cousin Phoenix. She's such a cutie pie! I am really looking forward to it, having a baby around will be fun, perhaps dangerous for that biological clock that's ticking, might set off the alarm something fierce. Oh well. I look forward to all the rocking to sleep and the snuggling and talking and cooing that gets to be done. Watching her learn new things, crawling and walking and eating new foods. I am very excited. :) Will let you know how that goes as we get closer to the date.

Got a sewing machine from church, so I can give the other one back to Paul's grandma. The one from church is a Singer model 401, made in the 1950s and 60s. :) It works great! I am really enjoying learning about it. I have found a manual online for it that is free, so that is good. I will probably need it.

Sewing stuff... well let's see, yesterday I helped my sister in law and her mother in law hem up some of my sister in law's scrub pants. :) Does that count? I also looked through a Kaffe Fassett quilting book and fell in love with many of the quilts in there. I love colors and fabric and shapes! I really need to start sewing together some of the projects that I have. If I don't I might go crazy. So I am setting aside the strip quilt that's for mom and going to work on one of the baby quilts I want to do. Probably the one for the girl. I have to figure out what kind of quilt I am going to do for her, but once I get the fabric it probably won't be too hard to figure it out. I have a bunch of little girl prints that would probably look great on a quilt, just need to get them out and figure out what to do with them. I have a few books with some great baby quilt ideas, so I am excited to try them out. I also won a giveaway for a little dress for a baby girl so I am excited to send that to my cousin and hopefully they will love it as much as I do. It's blue and wonderful! :)

I am reading a lot of books lately. Have you ever heard of the Elm Creek Quilts series? Well they are books written by Jennifer Chiaverini. They are very good! The stories are about quilters, and yes they quilt and talk about quilting, but it's more than about quilts. These are people and you learn about their lives. People say you can read them in whatever order, but I really like the published order.

K, well time for me to go and do dishes I think. :( housework, ick. I think I might be allergic. hehe. Who knows what I will do when I have kids... are they good at doing housework? I guess they are only as good as you teach them... from the time they are born till Kindergarten I will teach them how to clean! Hopefully they enjoy it. :)

Oh and it's been 50-70 and raining the last few days! Woohoo! finally! Brown grass go away!

A couple of things...

So I added Google reader shared items thing on the right there... so I can share with you what I am reading that I find cool. That last one about freezing eggs... interesting and interesting. :)

I also want to make a list of people I want to make things for... projects that I would like to do. So here I go...

Mom - need to finish quilt that I am making her, cut more strips to add two more rows of blocks, that should make it plenty wide enough for mom and dad's cal king waterbed. :)
Lukas - making him a tumbling block rag quilt, and really want to get it done, all the pieces are cut and freezer paper is on them. I have sewn together 4 sets and only have like 50 more to go. Then I need to cut batting and start sewing each grouping together and quilt them. Then piece together each grouping... anyways, lots to still do.
Paul - he wants a quilt, which makes sense... cause quilts are awesome! I have a few ideas, I have some squares I bought at a thrift store thing, all different sizes... might do something with those, haven't decided yet. Ponders. I also want to do a sampler quilt for Paul and I, so I might do that instead. We will see though.
Katie - There is a little thing I want to make her, I know what it is, just need to start it. Will probably be done by hand since it's a mini thing. Can't post pictures or anything until I actually do it for her.
My cousin's baby boy - have some ideas but nothing planned yet. Just want to make a baby quilt for him.
My other cousin's baby girl - have some cute fabrics just need to find a quilt pattern.
Mia - told her on facebook that I would make her something... so should do that. I haven't decided yet, she loves Bono and Dragonball Z and hmm... Might make her a cute bag or something... maybe I can make her a stuffed Trunks... that would be totally unique... or a stuffed Bono. Still thinking. Any good ideas? She is a unique person and definitely needs something interesting.
Grace - A friend from WoW and told her on facebook that I would make her something... I saw a dead cat bag the other day that I can't get out of my head as an idea for her. I might have to really do that, it was an interesting idea. Still thinking though.
For myself I want to make skirts and shirts. I am tired of going shopping and having a hard time finding clothes to wear. I am thinking of reusing some of my jean pants to make a jean skirt that I like... and I have an awesome shirt that I love that I want to make more of... so I am going to try to copy that. Anyone know of any comfy shirt patterns? I love the short sleeved button up shirts that fit loosely everywhere, cause tight clothes really are not my thing (my psoriasis hates it!).
My sister in law Katie - I want to make her a Tea Time Quilt... my own name for it, but I have a tea pot pattern, called Tea Hee Hee and I want to do a Tea Party kind of thing, and do a quilt of Tea like things... so I might do a lot of Applique of Tea things. I got the perfect fabric for it... she collects blue willow and I found some blue willow fabric! how awesome is that! So I am going to make the tea set on the quilt out of the Blue Willow fabric! I will have to post pictures sometime later.
Paul probably would like a tea party quilt too, so we will see.
My brother in law Dave - is a gnome and I will one day make him a gnome quilt.
Dad - needs some kind of quilt, but I have yet to find one that just says... Dad! He's really into lawn care and softball and basketball... and well just things. He likes doing stuff and being busy... maybe I should make a nice relaxing quilt for him. Perhaps a Water, Grass, Earthy kind of quilt.
My cousin's wife Katie has a quilt she wants made, so I will eventually do that.
(did you notice how many Katie's are in my life! That's not even the end of it... I have a friend named Katie ( would love to make her and her husband/daugther some kind of quilt but we will see how far in quilt making I get before I give up... I hope I never give up on this though, I do enjoy it so much.)
Lady at the Thrift store - want to make her a cobbler apron... anyone know of a pattern? I keep buying fabric and she asks me if I am making an apron... and then says she wishes she had one for work... and stuff, so who knows, might end up making her one. :)


Um I guess that's my list for now... if you don't see yourself on the list, please don't be upset because it's just a thing and I am tired. If you think I should have had you on that list of projects then let me know... :) I wouldn't want to leave someone out. I would have put my grandma's on that list, but they are both not really needing anything new to have around since they are both giving away things to the rest of us. So I will just make things to show them. :)

Well it's time for sleeping... :)

Bye!

More thoughts on family stuff

Well if you have been reading my blog, you know that Paul's sisters are both Jehovah Witness's, and you know that Paul was one 4 years ago and then he stopped and joined the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Well you would also know that on April 17th, 2009 his younger sister came to the decision to stop hanging out with Paul. Another thing you would know is that his younger sister and her husband are our bestest friends and the only place in the world we would want to be is near them. Pre-April 17th, 2009 we would hang out at least 3 times a week since we had moved here in mid March, so about a month of hanging out all the time. Now it's been 3 months and no changes have happened. If anything they seem to be moving on pretty well by being content in just being with themselves and with hanging out with other Witness's. Great, they aren't upset about not talking with or hanging out with Paul. Great. :(

This morning it just hit me the wrong way reading a twitter that my sister in law had posted. I have decided to not do my twitter account anymore, that's really my one connection to his family and it upsets me to read twitters about how happy they are and content they are with their lives that are clearly missing Paul's company. The best thing about that first month we were here was seeing how happy Paul was to be near his best friend and his sister who he loves so much. I think about our kids and I wonder how well they will know each other when we have them. The nephews and nieces that Paul won't know because of this. I don't think I mentioned that they are still talking to me, but it's hard to go over there, hard to see them without Paul. I do it out of love though. People keep telling me that I should stop talking to them until they start talking to Paul... well yes that's my first instinct, and it would be something done out of hate and revenge, and not love as God tells us to behave.

I don't know why this hit me today so hard, most days I just go on and don't even think about it. Today I am having a hard time coping. Unfortunately I can't just sit in my misery, I need to somehow get past this today and work towards being able to see them. We are sharing a CSA box so I will have to see them on Wednesday when we get it... maybe by then I won't be so upset. I will pray and trust in the Lord to bring the truth of his word to my family(Paul and I included in case we are reading incorrectly).

Slightly different topic... I can't believe we have already been here 4 months. It seems like yesterday that we were packing up the truck and getting ready to leave Wisconsin. So far I like it here, we haven't had a lot of good Washington weather. Although yesterday and today are great, overcast and cool. :) I went to wal-mart yesterday and it was sooooo hot in there. I felt like I was in a sauna, it was not fun. One awesome thing about my wal-mart here though, is that they have a fabric section! Hurray! I love going in there and seeing if they have any cute cotton remnants for sale, yesterday they did, 4 of them. Interesting enough they two of them matched each other as well as the other two matching each other. All four of them together would have been bad, but I see a potential quilt one day out of these. I need a better way of organizing fabric... right now everything is in my closet, which doesn't seem to be the best way cause I am running out of space. I think I will try moving my "real" clothes down to another location and just having the shelf in my closet just for fabric. That might be the best choice.

Ok so anyways, I've managed to distract myself with fabric talk... lol. I suppose that's a good start to feeling less miserable about other situations. Hope everyone else is having a great Monday. Time to play Monday Monday... :)