Day of rest??

Yeah, right!
I have these illusions of what Sunday should be like; go to church, have a big family dinner and just hang around the house doing whatever it is you feel like doing. Instead it usually includes David working in the morning, frantically making it to mass, basketball games, softball clinics and "Mom, I really need to get ______ for school tomorrow!" (today it was a copy of The Outsiders for the 8th grader), and shoving some food at the children and hoping they eat some of it.
Yesterday I started chain piecing the newest quilt. I still need to name it......... this is usually very easy.

And I even got a few squares sewn together

I got a few ideas from flickr friends regarding this future WIP

I think I may go with a crazy log cabin. thanks!
This will be for the second grade teacher as a thank you for educating my 3 girls, she's really a special teacher.
Now, I am going to curl up with a glass of wine and some embroidery.......until the dryer buzzes.
:)

week in review

This week we celebrated the Bumble's birthday. Sammy baked these brownies for him while I was at work.



Happy birthday sweetie, I love you! (so does Leo)



David (my Bumble) played Mr. Mom this week while the kids had off from school. He is an awesome wife and mom, let me tell you! The house is clean and the stress level is waaaaay down without me at the helm. Seriously though, we have both been stressing out about his pending strike and negotiations keep going on and on. So, we wait. Keep your fingers crossed, please.

I even read a book this week! I hve been wanting to read this forever now. What a great book.Next on the sewing table is a quilt featuring these fabric squares:

How was your week?

Baby gifts!

I'm heading out to a baby shower for my first "great" niece..... oy, I feel old saying that! I whipped up a basket of goodies:

Inside are embroidered onesies that I stitched last night while watching The Guardian (great movie!):

They are sitting on a soft quilt/blanket that I made in hopes of the baby being a girl

Instead of cleaning the house or doing laundry yesterday I decided to make these cute, very soft burp cloths:

Who knows, maybe this baby will inherit my love for rick rack?

February swap

"P" received her goodies so I can post pictures. February was all about red, Valentine's Day, and a handmade item no larger than 4"x4". Great crafty minds think alike because we both made needlebooks for each other. The one I received is of much better quality because "P" never slaps anything together!
The fabric:

The needlebook:



other goodies:

That was fun! Thanks for all of my great fabric, I love it all.
Kid news-
Sammy is healing nicely after her trip to the oral surgeon, in fact she played in one of the championship games last night (they won again!).
We had Italian Carnivale at school yesterday and Julia won first place for her handmade mask

and I actually saw Gabby dancing and having fun because she didn't know I was looking!
Craft news-
Baby shower tomorrow. I have lot's of soft flannel so stay tuned for pictures tomorrow.

what a week!

Snow, sleet, rain, ice, no school, delayed openings, science fair, dentist, orthodontist, oral surgeon.
Poor Sammy. She had braces put on Monday and on Tuesday we discovered an abcess on her gum (unrelated to getting braces). It has deteriorated the roots of one of her top permanent teeth. The one in between the front and fang tooth. It has to be pulled out. Hopefully the ortho can work some magic and fill in that spot. How does this happen?? She was in excruciating pain until this morning, poor kid.
On a happier note, I received my february swap package from "P". Check it out:

chilly. brrrr.

You know it's cold when the cove freezes over!


Actually, the ice was melting yesterday. It felt like spring although it was in the 30's, we had wind chills of below zero for over a week. Brrrr.

fresh off the hoop

I needed a little mindless project while I think about my next quilt.

I think I like the idea of cupcakes more than I like cupcakes, they are just so cute.
I really love to do embroidery work, it's so calming, portable and interruption friendly.
I'm going to spend a few hours cleaning and then I'm going to think about what the next project will be.
Have a nice day!

Goodies from Mesa!

Leeanne had a garage sale and I bought a few things from her.

Leeanne, being the sweet and generous soul that she is sent me lots of extra goodies. I even have my own flower doll......

........well I had it for 45 seconds before Julia claimed it for herself.
I love the enamel bowl and it matches my kitchen. There are napkins, candy, cute yo-yo flowers , a felt heart ornament and I can't wait to stick my nose in these books tonight!

Thanks Leeanne!!
xoxo

weirdo

1- I get dizzy enough to fall over whenever I lift my right arm above my head.
2- I get dizzy enough to fall over if I bend my head down below my waist.
3-Thinking too hard about infinity can send me straight into an anxiety attack.
4-The feel of a popsicle stick is like fingernails on a chalk board to me, it freaks me out to see anyone chewing on one.
5-I went for a chest xray for bronchitis 2 years ago and found out that I have a broken back and am 1 1/2 inches shorter now. I have no clue how or when it happened.
6-I can never pay attention to the weather part of the news. I zone out every time and have to rewind with Tivo.

7-Doors or cabinets that are left ajar make me batty.

8-I can't stand lights on during the day, it makes me feel queazy if the sun is out.

9-I am allergic to shrimp shells but not shrimp. If I get pricked by a shell my hand swells to twice it's size.

10-I will hold pee for a very, very, very long time in order to avoid a public bathroom.

11-I can remember how people take their coffee from 20 years ago. If I ever bought you a cup of coffee, it's a good guess that I will never forget how you take it. I also remember way too many ancient phone numbers and zip codes.

I'm sure there's a lot more, but this is enough for now.

I hereby tag whomever is reading this!

Warning******* Bragging ahead*****

Sammy's basketball team is going to the state championship with a 12-1 record and one more game to play! These girls kick some serious butt on the court!

Happy Birthday Deb!

Today is my sister's birthday! Debbie has become one of my biggest cheerleaders in the past few months and I wanted to thank her with this quilt.

This is my Amy Heather Butler-Bailey quilt....complete! These are some of my favorite fabrics made into a quilt for one of my favorite people. The colors remind me of Florida (not in the tacky plastic flamingo way) and I think she will love it.

I had to sign it in a hurry and can't get a decent shot of it, it looks much better in person. In true Carol fashion, I was working to the very last second to finish so That I can send it out overnight.

Happy birthday big sister, you are an amazing person and I will continue to look up to you for the rest of our lives.
I love and miss you.
xoxoxo

moo

I know, I know, I owe you a finished amy heather butler-bailey quilt and yet I am posting this cute new cow quilt instead.

I made this for no other reason than I saw all the fabric, it matched and it was kinda cute. I cut and sewed the top last Saturday and I machine quilted and binded this afternoon. I have no idea what I will do with it, but it's done! I think Leo really wants it.

Sorry about the crap pictures but I am out of natural daylight for the day.

I'm sure you have read "6 weird things about me" at the other blogs, I will tell you one weird thing about me. I'm afraid to tell you all of them because you may not come back!
I can't hand quilt unless it's night time, can't do it. It makes me squirrley to sit down during the day. Oh, I want to but I am just not able to let myself relax while the sun is out. So, it's only machine quilting for me by day!
I have way weirder things that I will save for another day.

look what I got!

I received my awesome package from "P" last night. I always tear at the package to get to the inside because she sends me great stuff. January was no exception:

Such a cute little (Japanese?) bag filled with gorgeous fabrics. I wish you could really see how well made this bag is. "P" is all about perfection. It's lovely.

I love them all but I especially love the cafe fabric and the one to its right. She even made me a super cute crafty bracelet:

I love everything, thank you!!
I can't wait for "Red February"!

Molly Dolly

Molly already thinks I'm half crazy so she will appreciate this little going away gift.

She's leaving the company tomorrow and I am going to miss her especially because we share an office. Molly is our fashionista, kind of like a lifesize brown haired barbie doll.

One of the highlights of our week is when OK magazine comes and we dish about Brittany and the rest of them over lunch.



*sigh*
I'm going to miss her :(