Four!

My firstborn turned 4 on Tuesday and we had a great time celebrating! She got her long awaited quilt and her very own birthday crown. The crown has a charm for each of her four birthdays that goes along with the theme of that year's party.

The quilt was the log cabin pattern from the Patchwork Style book. Each square was pieced and quilted directly to squares of batting and then those quilted squared pieced together. The fabrics I used are mostly scraps from other projects and about 6 fabrics my daughter chose from the store. (Although those were the ones I felt never really fit into the style, but oh well!) The backing is a really soft sheet and I used some of the fabric strips pieced together for the binding. It was my first time doing a binding hand sewn with a blind stitch on the back. I think it came out very well and am planning on making a queen sized version for my sister's upcoming wedding. It was lots of fun to make.



We had a great day at Disneyland with Grandma & Grandpa too! The day was just about as perfect as could be. I think she felt very special and loved. As she is!

I did finish the crocheted dress on Wednesday, but haven't gotten a good picture yet.

Fathers Day & Vacation has begun

We had a fun Father's Day, despite the fact that we drove straight from Long Beach to Chico starting Saturday night at 6:45 pm and arriving at 4:35 am on Sunday. The girls were so excited to see their cute "new" room that grandma had fun decorating that it took a little while to get them back to sleep once we got there. But we eventually did and had a VERY leisurely day. We gave daddy the handprint art we made. Then we took our first family of four bike ride with one in the bike seat and the other in the trailer and mommy riding for the first time since she was pregnant (about two years - I'm not so coordinated, so never wanted to chance it) We rode from the house to downtown and had bagels for breakfast/lunch, stopped by a used bookstore (where I bought The Shack and couldn't find Breaking Dawn), and a park with playground. Then mom and dad took turns taking naps and watching the girls, followed by a late afternoon swim in the pool.

We are officially on vacation! Some ways I can tell...

1) The watch is off my wrist!

2) The afternoon cup of coffee has been replaced with an afternoon nap.

3) I considered getting up after feeding the baby at 5:40 am to do some sewing while the house was quiet because I knew I would get an afternoon nap. I considered it...then went back to sleep.

4) I have actually been cleaning up after myself and my kids because I'm not rushing to get somewhere else.

5) I have been going to bed before midnight, because I can!

I have been working on my crocheted basket. And finished the outfit I made for my neice due to be born any time now. I used this pattern and you may recognize the fabric from our Easter dresses. I actually originally bought the fabric with my new niece in mind, but got lots of it to make something for everyone because I liked it so much. It's supposed to be size 1-3 months, but looks a little big to me. I'm hoping it works, because from October on it's pretty cold in Buffalo, NY. I think my favorite part of the outfit is the little gathered sleeves, they kill me they're so cute. I really wish I had a better camera and was a better photographer. My pictures never look as good as the real thing.

We're heading out to Lake Tahoe tomorrow to go camping with friends. It is my first time there, though I think we've "planned" a Tahoe trip every year since we've been married. (7 years next month) I'll let you know if we actually make it there this time.

Thoughts on Thirty

My 30th birthday was Saturday May 30th. My husband put together an awesome day for me. I was on cloud nine all day. Here are the highlights

-Awoke at 7:30 to find out my sister who is a massage therapist was there and ready to give me a massage. Sweet way to wake up!

-After getting dressed I have some of my favorite ladies show up with beautiful flowers and a fabulous breakfast of quiche, french toast souffle, and orange mint tea.

-We then all headed out to get spa pedicures. (And stopped by Starbucks afterwards.) In the car we sampled the fabulous CD my friend put together with one song from each year of my life, which was lots of fun.

-Then drove down to the beach in Newport (after taking the ferry across, which is always fun) and the guys had set up a lovely little beach spot complete with chairs, blankets, umbrellas (wind fort, cause it was kinda windy) and snacks. I assumed this was going to be a family beach time-then all the guys left with the kids and we ladies were left to relax and enjoy (it's been a long time since I was able to actually relax on the beach!)

-We drove back home to a barbeque with more friends and family. Where my husband and brother in law had tri tip, hamburgers, chicken, spinach dip, hummus, chips & salsa, salad, etc... put together. Impressive! And my very favorite type of cake with fruit, from a chinese bakery called Diamond bakery. It was fun to see everyone, watch the kids play, relax and be celebrated! Yeah!

The funniest card I got said this - You know you're turning 30 if...
...you ever had a mullet, "tail" or side ponytail
...you have used a Commodore 64
...you owned a Trapper Keeper
...you can name all the members of New Kids on the Block
...you remember when fast food burgers came in styrofoam containers
...you had a crush on Zack Morris or Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell
...you receive a card like this wishing you a Happy 30th Birthday.
I'm sure this is most appreciated by people who are about 30.

My advice to anyone who has not yet turned 3o is to hang around people who are older than you and when they find out you're "only 30" you feel like a teenager. It's pretty sweet.

Because everyone knows my obsession with creating I got some sweet books which I'm sure projects from them will be up and coming, including Quilts by Denise Schmidt, Patchwork Style by Suzuko Koseki, Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori, Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. My first project is going to be the little dog out of Sock and Glove. I also got two paper cutters (from the two people I usually borrow one from, ha ha).

Thank you to all the special people who made me feel so very loved on that day!

Lastly, a poll question for anyone to answer. I was shopping for clothes the day before my birthday and suddenly wondered, when are you too old to shop in the Juniors Department? I did get a dress there, then headed to the more "mature" section and didn't see much I liked...

Valentine

I know Valentine's day is past. But I like to stretch out holidays whenever possible. Just when I'm getting in the spirit of things, it's over. I just pulled out my Valentines towels and decorations a few days ago, and had a Valentine's themed dinner last night. Anyways, I wanted to post the Valentine's cards Eva and I made this year. It was inspired by the purl bee blog, which had a project for making pins. I thought at 3 Eva and her friends were a little young to be using pins, so I made them into magnets instead. I stuffed a small round magnet in between the layers of fabric before stuffing them, and then sewed them shut. A few of the heart magnets we made are shown below on the fridge. I used felt and upholstery weight fabric scraps that I had (the dots & strips are scraps from the curtains in the girls' room). Then I stapled a couple paper clips to the back of a card to hold the magnet on, outlined the letters to spell Love and let Eva color them in. On the back side of the card, I covered the paper clips with a picture of the girls and wrote the personalized message. We had fun. But had to do it over several days as her attention span only allowed her to color about 3 cards at one sitting. I look forward to doing more projects with her as she gets older and her abilities and attention span increases.