The Latest Creation...

...has left the station! And I sure hope it makes it to it's destination, because, in the words of Eliza Bennet, "the address was written very poorly indeed!" (by me..and that may or may not have been a made-up quote)


I had a moment or two when I was very over this quilt, so I was left with 2 choices. I could either abandon it or pony up the dough for a really pretty backing. I think it paid off.



Notice my {diagonal} lines are not precise. Because that would be both hard and boring. Really, even this (very tiny) amount of precision takes a lot of work. I've been using my 6 1/2" quilting ruler to lay out my painters tape...you guessed it - 6 1/2" inches apart. I sew a straight line on either side of the tape, using my walking foot, with the stitch length at a whopping four.

Then I pick up the tapes and center them in between the rows I've already sewn. I just kinda eye-ball it...sew down both sides of the tape again....then repeat. Easy. Brainless to the point of boredom (if I weren't so excited about the results!)



After I tape it, I get to roll it up like a sideways burrito. Maybe that's why torillas are round rather than square?


This gives you a tiny peek at the other things I'm working on too...and the cuteness is something fierce!

Pros and Cons

There are a lot of benefits to taking the ferry home. Beautiful scenery. Built-in potty break for the kids. Sewing break for me. I finished sewing my binding on during yesterday's trip to and from Snohomish Co.




The cons:

My Day on the Farm

I think it's wonderful when people are willing to share their knowledge and experience...and milk sheep. My Dad's friend Gretchen spent today giving us a lesson in cheese-making (though I suspect she may have been bribed with honey).

It was very generous of her, and I learned a ton....and learned that there is a ton left to learn. Specifically, I need to figure out what the best cheese would be for me to start with, given my limited resources (no sheep or goats), at home. I think my next step is the library.

These are a few of the Fresian lambs headed off to their pasture.


Lance watching the sheep milk heating.


The whey separating from the curds...just like in the movie! I'm not sure why it's so amazing when something works...but it just is!


Gretchen, show us around "the cave", where the cheeses are curing.


The cheese was great....

...but I think this is the thing I really need...



Nest update: We're up to four eggs, and, so far, no one has trodden on the nest.

Lightening-Fast Update

Here's a quick update for you:

Watched The Young Victoria. Liked it. It made me FIRST: Grateful for the lack of royalty in my family (the only royal ancestor we had ran off and married her French tutor...he was French, I don't know if he taught her French. Anyhow, that's more my speed.) I think family relations and sibling rivalry are hard enough without all that posh. SECOND: It made me want to Watch Victoria and Albert again...when I have the time...because it's stinkin' long.

I'm going to learn how to make sheep cheese tomorrow...assuming my childcare issues resolve themselves. I will try to document it if my hands are free and if I remember my camera.

I've nearly finished a quilt. (The grey one, in case you're wondering.) I hated it, but it's won me over. They always manage to do that somehow? One of my kids told me that I quilt too much. Rude. I don't tell them that they read too much...which I'm sure that if I did read that much - they would tell me! It isn't as if I've been neglecting my motherly duties: cooking, cleaning, and all that jazz. (Well, maybe the cleaning, but that is hardly anything new.)

Will post pictures soon.

Wildlife Update

A pair of swifts took care of the wasps in our bird house and moved in. We've registered our nest (a Dark-eyed Junco) with Nest Watch (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).

Backyard Wildlife

We've been trying to attract some wildlife to our backyard. We have planted flowers, put up a birdhouse and various feeders. The birdhouse has a wasp living in it (...which I need to take care of...and not in a nurturing way).

So where did our little birdies make their home? Under a pile of sticks the kids had made into a kitty bunker of sorts (stuffed kitties, of course).


We did recently read that most birds like to nest in low bushes or on the ground, but this just seems a bit foolhardy. Have those birds not been observing my children?


Still, how sweet. I hope they survive to hatch...nestlings in our backyard!

We're There!

It's freshly washed and puckery nice! I just love a finished quilt.


...and it's amazing how nice EVERY quilt looks in my living room. Still, I had to deliver it to it's new home.


I only had fleeting thoughts of hiding it in here and...well...hording.

We'll get there when we get there!

I know! This Road to Spring is taking a super-long time (through no fault of it's own).

First, my sewing machine tension got so entirely out of control that I couldn't free-motion quilt on it. Grr.

So, I avoided and stressed until it finally occured to me to try the walking foot that has been buried at the bottom of my sewing box for years. ...and, what do you know!...it worked great!


The only hard part was figuring out that the little white arm thingy went on top of the needle-screw-in-spot. (I hope you aren't confused by my overly technical language.) You don't need the feed dogs or anything! The needle going up and down lifts the little white arm and makes it "walk". It's like a miracle, I know.


Then I remembered Crazy Mom (who I miss so dang much...and am so glad is coming back!) showing how to use painter's tape to do evenly spaced lines.

To sum up, it finally got quilted...but I didn't finish sewing the binding on in time for the wedding...it should get washed tomorrow...unless there's more puking (pukey stuff gets top priority).

Thank goodness I got distracted and made this pillow, so that I didn't have to show up at the reception empty-handed.


Pretty teal zipper. Oh, yeah, I'm daring.


Someday soon I'll have to make this chair a pillow of its very own (instead of just displaying "gift pillows" on it)....after I finish the Road to Spring...of course.

Dolce and the Blehs

I indulgently bought myself a Dolce charm pack and have lately been putting it to good use. I've divided it into two different color groups, for a warm and a cool version of the same quilt.



The cool version....


...and this picture doesn't come close to doing it justice. I was going to do the warm quilt's sashing in orange...but I chickened out. It'll be gray too. ...and I guess they'll be twinnier that way...so I think I've come to terms with it.

Aside from that quilt top, we've mostly been doing this lately:


Being sluggish, eating saltines, watching stupid movies, and hoping no one else throws up on the carpet.

Romero Birthdays are Harbingers of Doom

It may sound crazy, but I think I have reason to worry (especially considering that we have two more birthdays to go this "season"). My proof:

On the morning of Cozy's birthday, one of our guests got into a lovely car crash...on the freeway. Bleh.

The night before Annika's party, Coze puked every hour on the hour. (I may be exaggerating slightly, since I was in a sleep-deprived haze while it was happening.)

Sofia swears her birthday party will not bring doom or destruction...or puke. Dare we? Sadly, I think we must.

Aside from the pukey night preceding it, Annika's party went pretty well. Since the BBC network has re-enamored us all with Robin Hood, Annika wanted a Robin Hood birthday party.

We crafted these lovely invites, telling all of her friends that we "Sher-Would" like to have them attend. (Yes, I know. We're silly.)


Annika "of the Hood" arrayed in her green, armed with dollar-store, suction-cup arrows. She was horrified that someone might think this was a Disney Robin Hood party (oh, so grown up!), so I probably should have gone in a different direction for the hats...but these ones were just so dang easy! Joanns even had packets of red feathers to stick in them!


Her band of Merry....girls...lining up for the archery contest.


Target cupcakes. Mmmmm. It makes me want to go shopping.


Happy Birthday, my little Outlaw!

Well, that was a quick year.

Cozette is one, and I think that may have been the fastest year of my life. I'm trying to celebrate it (instead of crying about it).

Here's how Cozy's day went:


Sleeping in (more of an every-day treat than a birthday treat.)


Trying to eat Mom's plants and popping bubbles.


Wondering what the point of this candle thing could be? Why would anyone defile my cupcake in that way? ...and the sing about it?


Naked strawberry-eating on the table. It sounds so risque, I know.


Checking out all of the lovely, thoughtful presents. Thanks, everyone!

Elise's Quilt

Another little retro quilt with a traditional pattern. I think it turned out swell.


....and it's already in the mail.

We {love} Laundry!

....making it...and letting it pile up in the laundry room.

So today, in the midst of washing sheets and other sundries, I decided I was going to spruce up my laundry room.


I dug out some pretty fabric I got on clearance ages ago (Pop Garden, by Heather Bailey) and found a tension rod.


...cutting...well, that looked weird...


....more cutting.....and splicing....and being cranky at kids....


...and there we go! It's not perfect. It isn't exactly wide enough...doesn't entirely cover the tension rod. Oh, well. Maybe my next home will have a super-tiny window somewhere.

Still, it draws attention away from the laundry, right?


...and I stole some of the scraps for my 9-patch!

Patterny Goodness

I got my fabric from Fresh-Squeezed (of "I have to say..."! It's Joel Dewberry's new "Modern Meadow". I was really excited when I saw this line, because...

Sofia wants a blue quilt. I suggested a nice turquoise blue. She said, "No, I want it like the colors on that sign." The LOWES sign. Great - my quilting dream come true. Royal blue and red. Could she come up with an uglier color scheme? I was thrilled that she was ok with the deep blues in this line.

The browns? We'll see. Wouldn't they make a nice baby boy quilt? Too flowery?


Randi threw in these charm squares! {Thanks!} I immediately cut them up for my 9-patch. You thought I forgot all about that quilt, didn't you?


I purchased this basket of clothes at Clash of the Titans...oh, I mean, while my family was watching Clash of the Titans. The littles made it through the first ten minutes, and then we retreated to Goodwill (before we all got kicked out of the theater).

Can you tell how I do my thrift store shopping? I walk down the eisle, looking for nice prints, preferrably in cotton. I pull it out...and hope it's in a size that fits someone.

Hmmm. This picture makes me want to make basket liners.


I'm almost done with the pillow, but the quilt I have to finish...


It's basted and rolled up in my room.

Cozy Curls

When Coze has her hair freshly washed,...


it springs into little curls that we all love...


...even when they're being slightly naughty.


Isn't there a rule about children not being allowed to climb until they're at least one? Oh, well, I guess 2 weeks wouldn't make that big of a difference anyhow.
(These pictures are for you, Mom!)

Other things wonder-baby is doing lately:
-Saying No-no (and often!), Num-num, Mam-mam (that's me)
-Reaching up and pulling papers off of the computer desk. Not good.
-Enjoying rowdiness with the other hooligans.

(Which, by the way, Sofia seems to have finally come to terms with the title "hooligan" and has stopped looking offended whenever I use it.)

One of my least favorite acts of rowdiness: Anthony spins her around until she's very dizzy and tries to make her walk. She stumbles all over the place. They both think it's hilarious. It makes me crazy.