It's finished!!

Well, except for the stitching on the Northern Lights and trimming it up! But still!!

Opinions please!

What do you think? For being fabric, does this make a decent Northern Lights? There will be mountains underneath the swirl and I will be doing some free motion on top with metallic thread.

Wolves and moose and bears... Oh my!

There's deer prints on my ironing board!

1 animal footprint set down, 2 more and the Northern Lights to go!

Sorry for being MIA! Update!!

Hello all,
Sorry for being quiet recently!  I ended up getting a new job!  Full time!  So, after not working full time for the last 5 years, bed has been my very good friend in the evenings :-)  Despite, I have still managed to get a bit of sewing done!  Here's the progress on my bag so far:

The colors of the fabrics still didn't come out quite right- the pocket looks a little better than it does in the pic.  I'm working on a good way to finish it off on the side where the stem ends, but I have everything else you see fused down and ready to quilt.  Hubby is going on a hiking trip all weekend, so I'm thinking that sleeping in and sewing up a storm will be in order!  Speaking of sleep, night all!

It all starts with a plan...

And, if you're lucky enough, a glass of wine!  Now, you must understand that I, at least for the most part, have an aversion to pre-made patterns when it comes to making a lot of things.  I LOOK at quite a few, then take all the ideas I see and incorporate them into something I would use, usually with my own twist.  With that said, remember this?

Well, it's working on becoming this:

I've never been known for my artistic drawing abilities, so please forgive the crudeness of these.  Say hello to my new messenger bag!  I've been carrying around a USPS one that my parents gave me for years now.  It has served me well, but is starting to fall apart, so I think it's time to start thinking about retiring it.  Therefore, I have been working hard on the design under the direction of my fore-kitten...

She knows how to keep a girl in line!  Start to wander, and she's on your lap in a heartbeat, giving you the choice of continuing to be sidetracked and used as a heating chair for a cat, or to kick her back off of your lap and continue back to work.  No really, this is my baby.  I love having her around, even when I hate it :-) 

I grabbed my glass of wine tonight and went to work cutting out the exterior and lining for this bag...

Kind of ballerina colors, except for the darker purple.  I just needed a little pop of color somewhere, and it goes a little better than how it shows in the picture :-)  I have cut out the exterior panels, interior panels, laptop divider panel, flap, and flap back.  I will be using Soft N' Stable, which, if you haven't used yet, is amazing stuff!  I made my purse out of it and love it so much.  I'll be cutting out some pockets and Soft N' Stable and such tomorrow hopefully, then we can start sewing away and hope the little pattern in my head works out :-)

So, that's my peek for now.  I'm finally tired enough to go curl up in bed, so I'm going to go clean up and head in.  Later all!

First Finish of May!

Well, I guess I'm not going to keep you in suspense on my first sneak peek for too long!  I found the idea yesterday, bought the materials today, and finished it tonight!!  I found the tutorial that I based this on from Twinkle & Twine.  I ended up buying a premade pendant, just because I liked it better than anything I could've made, and it had matching beads to boot!  This is also my first attempt at jewelry (unless you count those embroidery thread bracelets as a kid, or wine charms).  Let me know what you think!!

A sneak peek.... Updated!

Just a couple little somethings I'm starting to work on :-)  Can you guess what they are??  Will have updates to show soon!!

March Review and New Just 3 Linky

So, last month I joined up for the TraceyJay's "Just 3" Linky.  Here's how I did on my 3 goals:

1) Finish my class with a 4.0 GPA. 
Final grades come out Friday, 5/4.  I had a 95 pre-final and projects.  Got a good grade on the final I was told, and am hoping I did well on my projects, so I'm pretty sure this one is good!!


2) Try my hand a paper-piecing. 
Well, I started a pieced project, shown HERE.  Not done yet, but I've done research on how to paper-piece, cut out all my pieces, found and printed my pattern, and am starting to get everything together!

3) Make a waterproof mat for my new plants!  
The paper-piecing project will also fill this project, so I didn't completely complete this one.  But, once again, progress!!

Now, on to the NEW for May!

1) Actually finish the waterproof plant mats.  I have everything started and ready to roll, I just have to take time to finish the project!

2) Start and finish my Alaska Challenge Block.  This should probably be first priority, so that when I pull my hair out working on it and scrap the whole thing, I'll still have time to come up with something new!  Hehe ;-)

3) Get all the supplies and materials ready for the cruise!  We leave June 5th!  That's barely a month away!  Yikes!!

So there we have it.  New goals!  I hope my hubby doesn't mind not seeing me, because I will probably be holed up in the sewing room working on all this!  Yikes!  I also start my new job on Monday, 5/7, so I'll probably be dead tired every night too!  After all, this will be my first full time job since 2007! :-x  I've had multiple part-time jobs at a time that has given me full-time length days, plus school and homework, if you count those, but accountability to just one place- nope! 

I'm also experiencing some side effects from stopping some medication, which is giving me some vertigo and what are unofficially called "brain zaps"- think of scary movies when there's a ghost that kind of shakes and disappears-reappears really quickly, usually with a static-y sound effect- well, the world is doing that to me, minus the accompanying sound effect :-)  Usually lasts 1-2 weeks, sometimes a month, I guess.  I'm a week in so far, and hoping it ends soon!  Not pleasant, to say the least!

Hope everyone else is doing well!  Go check out TraceyJay and see what other people's goals are for May!

It's FINISHED!!

My Yester-Year WIP is finally FINISHED after travelling with me through 5 states!  How exciting is that!  Now on to learning how to mount it properly and finding my next Yester-Year project!

A big week!

Hey all!  Sorry for being MIA for a while!  This has certainly been a big week for me!  Took my final Monday, and believe I got the highest grade in the class.  A 98!  Wednesday, turned in my 2 big projects that I've been complaining about forever, and that was also my last day of school until I decide if I want to pursue a Bachelor's Degree or not.  Thursday, as I was getting into the car for work, I got a call from Accountemps about a possible job.  The thing- they wanted me in for an interview THAT day.  So, since I was only going in to scan some files, I skipped work and went to the interview.  Went well, talked with the lady for over an hour.  She said she was impressed with me but had a few other people to interview as well.  Well, less than an hour after getting home, I got a call.  You are looking at the newest employee of Conestoga-Rovers and Associates :-)  I am starting out as a receptionist, but they have lots of projects going on and there is potential for promotion.  Plus, it's only a 15 minute drive!  They just moved into the old paper mill... completely renovated, but kept the original flooring and brick and ceiling.  I'm in love with all the character in this building!  My first day there will be the 7th, and they're fine with me going on my trip in June, which is awesome!  I have been enjoying my new-found freedom from homework, and have made a lot of progress on my long-stitch project- I'm hoping to have it done for my next Yester-Year WIP Project post on the 5th!  My friend Sandy and I treated ourselves to pedicures today too.  Felt wonderful!  There is something so blissful about having someone massage your feet and legs.  I'm slowly working my way towards bolder polish colors too, so I have a gorgeous medium pink on my little piggies now :-P So, that's all my big news for now!  I haven't gotten much further on my paper piecing, but am looking forward to heading on to that after I finish my long-stitch!  I hope everyone is having a fabulous day, and that this dreary weather cheers up soon!

Vets and some sewing updates

So, brought both of my boys to the vet today... and walked out $630 lighter.  Ouch!  May have to start looking into this animal insurance stuff!!  If dogs are this expensive, how much are kids??

Slade, they now think, has a *partially* torn ACL, and they want him on bedrest (read: keep your dog immobile to the extreme) for the next 2 weeks.  Ummm... right.  I'm trying, but he is making that TOTALLY impossible!  I tried to lift him into the car, so instead of jumping in the car, he jumped on me.  Tried to walk him down the steps to go to the bathroom, and he still jumped down them, taking me with him!  It's going to be a long 2 weeks, especially since they put him back on the painkillers, so he's going to have more energy again.

Augie's allergies have been getting worse, so we brought him in too.  His paws are dark red, he has a rash on his belly that's been there for months, the skin around his eye is red, and he's been itching a lot.  We've gone through 200 Benadryl with no success, so it's the doctor's turn now.  She put him on a prescription diet with exactly NO ingredients... seriously, the only word in the ingredients that I know what it means is "starch".  Everything else is a chemical.  The food is white, and about half the weight of his other food.  He's eating it much slower though!  He is allowed to have exactly NO other foods- no treats, no scraps, no sharing food bowls, and has to stay this way for 3 months.  He's also on a new antihistamine and an antibiotic.  The doc found a lot of broken skin on him from all the scratching, so we need to let it heal so it doesn't get infected.  She also thinks he has an environmental allergy, but we're going 1 thing at a time here.

So there's my doggie excitement. 

Now for the fun stuff!

I have been working on figuring out this paper piecing thing... I printed out my pattern, started on the color scheme, and cut out my pieces.  This is my first stash-fabric only project!  I also got the first 2 pieces sewn down.  I still need to press them open and trim and all, but progress is progress!

I also started gathering fabrics for my challenge block for the cruise in June.  I've had it designed for a bit, but have some tweaks floating around in my heat that may come into play when I start the actual sewing.  I think I'm going to be saying "What was I thinking??" the whole time I'm sewing the thing too.  Counting up the pieces in the block.... I'm probably bordering on around 500-600 individual pieces in a 12" finished block?  And then putting them on point... I may be redesigning (read: Scrapping and doing a complete revamping) throughout, lol.  But here's the ideas and start of the fabrics for now.  The purple is probably going to get exchanged for red, and the hideous brown is mandatory, so I'm cutting it into itty bitty pieces for the footprints in order to use as little as possible, lol.  The cream is actually white fairy frost, so it has a gold-ish shimmer, which actually helps out the brown a tiny bit.  The black is for the night sky, and the blue, green, and (future) red will be Northern Lights colors.

I also got a few new toys... I got these Easter weekend, and my "discount egg draw" at the local quilt shop was for 20% off, so I splurged a bit :-)

The color wheel is also for the cruise, although I've been playing with it and learned a few new things about color.  It's dual sided, and has some interesting info on it.  The checkered package is a "spring needle".  Supposedly, you can use this little guy in place of a darning foot while doing free motion or embroidery.  For less than $5, figured it was worth a try :-)

In other news:  I interviewed with Accountemps and OfficeTeam yesterday, and Primerica today.  Accountemps says they can place me, Primerica is a financial planning firm, so it's commission based, which I'm not quite comfortable with yet.  I'd love to learn the trade, but actually building a client base... well... different story.  They don't cold call, but you start out trying to help friends basically, and then get referred out from there.  I know if my friend came up and said, hey, lets go over your finances, I'd say.... no.  And I hate cold calling.  So, I feel already dead in the water there.  I have a couple more things to finish with Accountemps though, so I'm hopeful they may have something for me eventually!

I also only have 2 more classes of school left.  Technically, if I finished my 2 projects this weekend, I could turn them in Monday, take my final, and be done.  We'll see how the weekend goes though :-)  Well, it's quarter till midnight here, so I'm going to say g'night y'all!  Enjoy the weather, and hope it stays!

Whew!

There is something about the last few weeks of school that makes time fly by- and also keeps you super busy!  I have started in on learning how to paper piece and got my fabrics cut up, but that process has been hampered by things I will actually get graded on.  I'm hoping to take some pictures and start getting back here and to my machine more the moment school is done!  In the meantime, back to work!

Snow???

Not a fan of this white stuff falling from the sky in APRIL... Thinking the seasons got put out of order this year!!

Another Linky! 3 for 3rd!

So, was looking at 16 Muddy Feet's blog, and she is linking to the coolest party!  Tracyjay Quilts  is hosting a party where everyone can link up and come up with 3 goals for the month.  I love this!  So here goes- my goals will be:

1) Finish my class with a 4.0 GPA.  I finished every class for my associate's with a 4.0, so even though this one doesn't count towards it (even though it's the capstone class... made a deal with the head of the dept. to graduate early if I still took it ;-) ) I'd still like to maintain the record.  Plus it keeps from post-senioritis from kicking in too much!

2) Try my hand a paper-piecing.  I've found a pretty cool pattern that I'm hoping won't be too hard for a first time... from Carol Doak.

3) Make a waterproof mat for my new plants!  Just bought a new succulent pot today- 1st live plant to come into the house since we bought it- SO exciting.  I'm using a free motion quilting sample I made while learning, which isn't cutting it.  Maybe I can use my paper-pieced design :-)

 Let's see how it goes!!

Sometimes it's hard having sisters

Yester-Year and FAFF!!

Boy has it been a busy week!!  Everyone at work got sick- like fevers, bed-ridden sick- so it was just me in the office!  I'm not usually there on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but I sure was this week!  The sickies are back in the office today, so thankfully, they told me to stay OUT of the office today :-)  I'm glad I didn't catch whatever they had!  *Knocking on every piece of wood I can find*  So, today is linky parties and coffee dates!  Rough life, I know :-)  The girls are also working hard...

At catching sunbeams!!  It's been rainy and dismal most of the week, so they're soaking it up!  It's such a rough life being a cat.  The boys also got thrown outside for a while today to enjoy the sunshine.  I just love watching them sunbathe in the grass outside!  I didn't get a picture of them though.


So, back to linkies!!  To my FAFF visitors, welcome!  I'd love to hear from you, and hope you enjoy my blog.  I'm still a baby blogger- I haven't even hit 10 posts or 1 month yet!- but I love to ramble...err... talk :-)  Follow me to hear about being the mother to my four fuzzy kids and their antics, my various crafts, our house remodel, my hunt for a career, and any other topics that come out of living life! 

And for the Yester-Year WIP!  Oh boy, this project is from middle school, so... probably about 13+ years old.  It's my first attempt at long stitch.  I wasn't quilting or sewing back then (Do what my mom enjoyed?  NEVER!!!  Gotta love the teenage years :-) )  Here's what I've done so far:

It's hard to see, but it's a cat curled up sleeping in a blanket- much like my cat does.  The best part- the cat is gray!  So this will end up having a place of honor in my sewing room someday (hopefully...)  It's traveled with me from NH to AK, AK to NM, NM to IL, and IL to MI.  The instructions kind of show how old it is... I was marking off the spots I had done with a green highlighter, which has now turned a pretty sickly green...

The picture actually makes it look more normal than it actually looks in person!  Hmm... those came out upside down, but at least you get the picture!!  I haven't been able to do much on them except find all the bits and pieces associated.  I also put it in the frame, which I only got as a present this last Christmas!  Before that, I was doing all the stitching and trying to keep the mesh flat by hand.

I've been working on that project for school, but FINALLY hit a big breakthrough, and hopefully it should be pretty smooth sailing from here!  Plus- school ends later this month, so I will have more free time for fun stuff like this!  I plan on having progress before the next Yester-Year linkup!

Well, off to (try to) be productive!  Thanks for stopping by!

Presents and a Hubby!

He's HOME!!!  Here's a pretty thorough overview of what the boys and I have been doing since he said he was getting close:

We weren't excited to see him or anything :-)  Can't wait to sleep well tonight... I never sleep well when he's gone.  At least I had good company!

Typing on the computer... I type with my knees up at home :-)

Watching TV

I also got a fun present in the mail yesterday... the charm pack of Fossil Ferns from Quilt Moster in my Closet's Giveaway!  I love them!  Thank you thank you thank you!  I've been having fun going through and finding all the fern designs :-)

Plus, who doesn't LOVE getting fabric in the mail??  Yay!

Well, I'm off for a date with my hubby!  We're going to go watch The Hunger Games!  Loved the books, so I'm hoping the movie is great too!  See ya later!

Fabric!! :-D

Guess what I did yesterday?  I went fabric shopping!!  And found some cute stuff to bring on the cruise in June :-)  What do you think?

Can you tell I like stripes?  My mom thinks I'm nuts.  There's only one quilt I've made so far without any stripes in it though- I'm just drawn to them!  I think these will make some fun illusion blocks and such though, don't you?  Can't wait for Karen Combs's classes- although I feel absolutely horrible that she got all her materials stolen!  If you haven't heard that story, you can read it on her blog HERE.  People in the world, I tell ya!  I've been trying to get the word out as much as possible for her, even though the quilts and materials were stolen in Texas and I'm in Michigan.  There's no such thing as too many eyes though!

I've been laboring on trying to get a big project finished for my class too.  It's a fully written month worth of accounting for a pretend business- with all the payments, purchases, sales, invoices, bad checks, and anything else you can think of in all it's glory!  Worst part about these written projects is that if you make a mistake somewhere, it carries ALL THE WAY THROUGH, and you have to catch everything it touches!  That's a lot of work, I tell ya!  It's due in about a month from now, but the sooner I get it done, and get the other project for the class done (stock market project- ugh), the sooner I am DONE with classes and can get back to my fabulous fabrics!!  I have my braids for the living room quilt laying out, and it's TORTURE!!  I haven't touched them since the other week when I was blissfully ignoring this project and playing with them!

Slade isn't doing well again- I had thrown him and Augie outside to enjoy the sunshine and was beckoned back by ear piercing yelps!  He barely made it onto the porch again and is having trouble with walking around and such.  My poor boy!  He's such a baby though- he cuddles when he doesn't feel good, so he got some Mom cuddle time on the floor after we got back inside.

I also got some good news!  I went to the temp agency who actually originally placed me at the place I'm working now a few years back- it's a seasonal office position that I really enjoy- but they retested me for a full-time position.  I brought my score up by an extra 3 WPM, and had record Excel and Word scores!  It's nice when you hear someone tell you- "Well, you're scores are incredible- and we can send you anywhere with these scores, so we can get you a job in no time!"  They're fine with waiting the next few months so I can finish out the summer with this company- especially since they're the ones who would be replacing me anyhow- and said I should be able to be placed in a full time career position the day after this job finishes!  Finally!  Some good news on the job front!

Well, back to housework and homework.  I keep the TV on while doing homework, so I am now thoroughly addicted to Downton Abbey- and I just started watching Army Wives as well.  I'm only 3 episodes in, but I've spotted a quilt in each episode so far!  Makes me smile- I'm interested to see if it carries through!  I'm wondering if there's a quilter somewhere behind the directing and producing :-)

Anyhow, hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine!!

Time flies!

Well, it's been a fast few days! 

Wednesday I ended up at a job fair.  I'm still looking for that career job- and have already received a few calls back from the show!  I also need to talk to where I'm working now- it's a 1/2 hour drive, but I really like who I work with, and the other girl is supposed to be leaving next year, so I could potentially take her place.  We'll see.

Yesterday I didn't feel well, so we skipped our plans to go see The Hunger Games and hung out on the couch instead.  We did make it to the grocery store and grabbed some of their seasoned kabobs and some Bob Evans mashed potatoes for dinner so we'd have an easy cooking night.  It's crazy how my girls always know when I don't feel good, and how much I love being cuddled when I'm that way.  This was my leg for hours on end yesterday:

They do know how to make a girl feel loved!  Rob was there too, but playing a video game, which can get him a bit animated.  I'll stick to cat cuddling when he's playing.

Today, Rob is gone for the rest of the week for training for work :-(  I hate being home alone!  But, he gets a $2/hour raise when he gets back, so I'll suck it up.  I mean, I have to get the money for my fabric and other craft addictions from somewhere till I get that dream job, right? :-P  I'm so glad he's a tolerant guy!  He still doesn't get this whole sewing thing, but is happy that I'm happy doing it.  He gets video games, I get fabric.  Good trade, right?

Welcome, by the way, to my new followers!  I'm super excited to have you here, and hope you enjoy hearing about the ups and downs that come with marriage, pets, and craft projects!  I loved hearing from all of you!

I'm hoping to participate in more Find a Friend Fridays, and if any of you didn't participate in the Quilting Gallery's blog hop, watch for the next one!  I won a gorgeous Kathleen Murphy Designs Kindle Bag and a book in the first hop, and a 100 piece charm pack from Christine at Quilt Monster in my Closet from the most recent one.  Is that not the cutest blog name?  Thank you both for the wonderful prizes, and now that I'm out here in blog-land, maybe I'll have my own giveaway for the next hop!  Nothing like sharing the wealth!

Additionally, Christine is hosting a Yester-year WIP Challenge.  If you'd like to get more info, click here.  I do believe I will be joining this endeavor- I still have WIPs from middle school!  Thanks for coming up with such a great idea Christine!

Well, I'm off to decide whether I want to sew or do homework.  I know which one I'd rather do, and which one I should do.  The angels on my shoulders are duking it out now!  Hope you all have/had a wonderful weekend, and that everyone's been getting a taste of this gorgeous, and scarily unusual, weather!  Till next time!

Happiness & A Stranger's Smile

One of the best things about having pets is the fact that no matter how bad your day has been, or how upset you are, they can always make you smile.  My cats know that when I'm upset, they just need to relax on my lap and let me pet them to calm me down.  The dogs come to the edge of my seat and put their heads in my lap and look at me with those adorable puppy dog eyes, and the world is all of a sudden good.  But what about others?

I actually did make it to my friend's house today for a puppy play date.  Their boy has been tearing apart his room, so you know that he's been bored and restless, and my boys are always up for a good run around pretty much anywhere.  I loaded them in the Lil' Monster, AKA my Honda Pilot, and we headed down the road.  We were stopped at a red light and I was watching them behind me.  They love car rides, so Augie was looking out the back window at the person behind us.  All of a sudden, the guy in the car just gets the biggest smile on his face while looking at Augie.  It made me so happy that my boy could give that gentleman that extra second of happiness in his day.  Imagine if people did that to each other?  Think about how many faces you see in a day- at work, the grocery store, while driving, walkers, bikers, etc.  Imagine if just by looking at each other, we'd all get a smile on our face and get that extra second of happiness.  How great would the world be?  If strangers weren't these scary beings that we seem to think everyone but us is.  That'd be a pretty awesome world, if you ask me.

So, in hopes of giving another stranger out there an extra second of happiness, here's looking at you:

Happy Spring!

It's the first day of Spring!!! And 86 degrees??  Huh?  Ummm... Spring?  I think you may be having an identity crisis.  I'm working at the office in a greenhouse this summer and everyone is all in a tizzy over whether to send out lots of plants, or if it could still freeze, or to keep sending but be conservative about it.  It's amazing what good weather can mess with!  I'm glad I bought some new clothes for the cruise because it's the only reason I'm staying comfortable!!

I'm stalled on my sewing project for now.  I've been procrastinating a big, 85 page project for my class and apparently should be further along.  It's so hard to bring myself to get motivated on it, especially since the whole thing is special journals.  Ugh.  Give me a plain ol' general journal any day.  I know this is supposed to be easier somehow, but... it's not for me.

I'm going to bring Augie over to play with Hank tomorrow, my friend's dog who we've been puppy sitting for the last few days.  We didn't make it over for a play date this weekend, but I'm thinking that it'll give both boys a chance to run out some energy, and me some time to sit and work on this project.  Slade will be staying home because it's bad enough he's trying to recuperate with 1-85lb. beast, he doesn't need 2 coming at him!! 

I hope everyone's enjoying this wonderful weather- I know it's been cold in the South- it's nature's way of playing a trick on all of the Southerners who made fun of the cold up here all winter!  Payback baby!!  Just kidding... kind of ;-)

Have a great week!

Curious Kitties

Well, hubby's not feeling good today, and as anyone with a man in their life knows, boys are big babies!!  So I'm hiding out in my sewing room today!  I officially have 11 braids done now!

We are also dog-sitting, so I spent some quality time with my friend's pooch over at their house.  He's a Great Dane mix, and just realized Mom & Dad are gone for a while, so he's really bummed.  I think I may bring Augie over a bit later since they're around the same size. 

Does anyone else have curious kitties?  Anytime I leave a project for a moment, I find a surprise inside.  Anyone else have this problem?

This was while I was working on another project, which can be found on my new page- Craft Projects- but she's also been my sewing companion for the day.  Anyhow, go check out my projects and let me know what you think!

Till next time!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

A wonderful GREEN day!  St. Patrick's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays, probably because it was so close to my birthday so I always tried to keep a St. Patty's theme to my childhood parties.  My mom would make shamrock shortbread cookies with green sprinkles... my favorite!!  My favorite color is also green, so to see it running around all over for a day is AWESOME!  St. Patty's Day was the Saturday after I turned 21, so our first stop was an Irish pub.  We had several glasses of Guinness and green beer, and they had a giant leprechaun walking around and Irish tap dancers dancing all night.  It was awesome!!  Best 1st (legal...) pub experience ever!  And then there's McDonald's Shamrock Shakes... need I say more? YUM.

Slade's doctors expect him to be fine and make a full recovery.  He has the very start of hip degeneration that we found last year, so they think he may have tweaked it jumping onto the porch the other day.  He gets to be on glucosamine chondrotin for the rest of his life to help out, and pain killers for the next 2 weeks.  I got him home and let him outside with his brother, Augie, and decided it was a nice day so we could hang out in the yard a bit.  Till Augie body checked Slade to the ground and he couldn't stand up again so I had to carry him inside.  Poor Slade.  The big little brother who has to deal with this horse:

 

He can knock me over and weighs about 30 lbs more than Slade now, even though he's about 3 1/2 years younger!  Augie has way too much energy for his own good and reminds me of a toddler- he has 2 speeds: stop and RUN!!! He's a beast, but we love him.  He's been better to Slade since too.  Maybe the ear piercing yelps got through his bitty brain!

I got to start working on my living room quilt last night!  The pattern is Jubilee by Marlous Designs.

I am using Hoffman Bali Pops in "Sangria."  I think it'll really make this pattern look awesome.  You make braids, then cut them into squares and sew them together.  I can't wait for the finished product!!  Here's the braids I have finished:

I sewed 1 backward- I may have to redo that one.  I'll have to check.  I think I'm going to go work on this project a bit more!  The windows are open making it wonderful in here.  I love spring!

Till later, my friends!

Why have a blog if I don't use it??

Well, first attempt at the blog world outside of Facebook. Does Facebook even count as blogging?  I'm thinking not. I've been using this as a way to follow other blogs, but there must be something to it if so many people love blogging!  Right now I'm waiting to bring my pup, Slade, to the vet.  He started having trouble walking last night, yelping while moving around the house and can barely make it down the porch steps to go potty.  I'm not sure how people watch their kids be hurt, my heart is breaking for him!  I guess it doesn't help that for now, my animals are my kids.  All 4 of them.  And besides, how could you not love this face??

 

I work about an hour away, so they gave me the day off since his appointment is in the middle of the day.  I'm hoping I can do something fun with the rest of the day though!  It's been a long while since I touched my sewing machine, and I have 3 projects (that I'm willing to admit to) that are either cut and ready to go, or are in progress and ready to be finished.  Did I mention I enjoy crafting?  I'll put up some pictures in a future post!

Till then, my friends!