Fair Enough

I've been on a blogging vacation of sorts. Well, I've really just been much too busy to write about any of the things I've been doing. This can be my catch-up week.

Quick summary: making things for my sister's charity auction (Bald for Becky!), spending every morning at swim lessons, getting entries ready for the county fair, attending county fair, getting house ready to sale, trying to scrape this year's school work together, walking with husband, visiting family....it goes on. It may not sound like a lot, but I really haven't had a spare moment (that wasn't consumed by obsessively reading The Hunger Games - yes, I admit, blogging comes after reading on my priority list).

We did ok at the fair this year. I was pleased that the kids wanted to spend lots of time looking at all of the crafty entries. Legos. Woodworking. Jewelry-making.

It took us forever to find some of the girls' entries - They were hanging from the ceiling!


Aren't Annika's pansies sweet! ( We tied this the morning entries were due!)


You can't see Sofi's free-motion-quilted horses in the photo, but they got a blue ribbon!


Which made her feel better about the red ribbon her shirt got.

Tony was able to come with us this year, but Anthony was still happy to take his little brother on lots of rides for me (fullfilling Boo's dreams of flying in a relatively risk-free way).


I even shared my elephant ear. Next year I'm going to get one while the kids are off on rides. :)

Peterson Farm

Huh? Where's that? You know that scenic spot just north of Silverdale Mall...to the right of the Trigger exit? Well, it's a giant farm. We hope it stays one.


So, we went to the "Save Peterson Farm" event last Sunday. Peterson Farm is nearly 180 acres - the largest farm left in Kitsap County. Since the owner recently passed away (and it's a difficult farm to purchase, due to its size), a couple of community organizations are working hard to keep it a farm (instead of a housing development) and help it into a new, farming owner. They are raising money to buy the development rights - something we're happy to chip in for.


In exchange for our proverbial buck, we got a hayride (complete with lecture on water rights, ditching and watershed - I was happy the kids were a captive audience for that one!) and a tour of the property.


I think we'll shoot for something just a tad bit smaller for our first farmable property.

National Mamalia Self-Appreciation Day

I just read Paige's List for "National Women's Self-Appreciation Day" (did she make that up?) and thought I'd make up a list of my own. While I'm pretty sure that I could do an equally long (or longer) "things I don't like about myself" list, why dwell on such things?

I like that I am a generous person, even though my first instinct is not to share.

I like my curvy figure. (It's gotten even curvier. This was 4 or 5 years ago.)


I'm proud of how I take care of my babies (with love and respect for their wants/needs)...and that I make the cutest babies in the whole universe. :)


I like that I've learned to give people the benefit of the doubt and try to see where they're coming from. I try to cut people the slack I'd like. (That's the golden rule, right?)

I like my short hair...and that I'm not very attached to it.


I like that I'm educated without being a big snob.

I'm proud that I've learned how to make a pretty garden and sew some useful (and beautiful) things.


So, Ladies, what do you like about you?

To Tillamook and Back

We used Tony's last few days of leave to make a quick jaunt down to Portland. It was a very spontaneous trip, so Sarah got as much notice as....well, as long as it took us to drive there. She's such a generous hostess! Fed us yummy food and showed us a good time.


We hiked to a lovely waterfall. (Which ended in tears, from the kids, and craziness, from Tony. The kids were bickering, so he declared an official end to all fun - forever.)



Then he was nice enough to take us all to the beach anyway.


...and to the cheese factory, where we were amazed by giant blocks of cheese/modern machinery...



...and hugged cows to thank them for their contribution to the yummy ice cream.


To top it all off, I got a super-fun belated birthday gift! (It seems to me that I'm the one who should have left a gift...other than the big mess we made.)


Oh, that silly thing I made? Curtains. Little curtains. For dolls. I know - I need help.

I lied. Leaving town. Show you later. :)

More of the same

Since this doll quilt was made from a bunch of feedsacky charm squares, I didn't have anything exactly matchy to make the pillowcase out of.



But I think I found cuter than matchy with this 30s-ish fabric. It makes me hungry for an olive assortment.

Doll pillowcases are pretty tiny, so my quarter-yard left plenty of fabric to play with. ...and I made something a little silly. I'll show you tomorrow. Don't laugh. And try not to think that I'm dumb.

Miss Maddy Sews-A-Lot

We love spreading the joy that is sewing camp, and, since my niece got her very own sewing machine this year, she had to join us for camp. Mandatory. (Thanks for letting her come, Becky!)

She made...


...a placemat...


...a nine-patch pillow...


...a purple sewing-supplies tote, and that adorable, pink cherry fabric is her nearly-complete pajama pants!

We're so proud!

...and while I'm here....


What do you think of these, Sarah? I wanted to get some green ginger blossoms too, but they were fresh out.

Going Somewhere?

Whenever we load up the hooligan wagon, I look behind me and get a warm, fuzzy feeling.I just love seeing my little kidlets all together, ready to set out on a new adventure.


...then I start driving and the horror begins.

Me: Stop fighting or we'll go straight home. (A total lie and they know it.)
Anonymous Kid: We're not fighting - we're playing!
Me: Well it sounds the same, so stop it!

OR

"I'm not hitting Annika with my shirt...it's Booboo's shirt."

OR

I just keep turning the radio up louder and louder until the kids notice that I'd like them to be quieter. If they're really bad - it's "learn Italian in 10 minutes a day".

Sham - Wow!

I know - that title makes me sound way too impressed by my own handiwork...but I couldn't resist it. This sham is to go with a quilt I gave one of my little nieces.


Zipper at the back...that would be hidden if I had bothered to iron it after it went through the wash. Oops. :)


Cute quilted details on the ends. I only added these because the sham was *ahem* too long...and they're my favorite part.


Sadly, I don't think I ever took a finished picture of the quilt this sham belongs to.

Stage one:


Stage two:


Maybe my Mom will get a chance to snap a photo of it for me?...so there's still hope that you'll see it some day.

Goldfinch Pillow

This pillow was finished a while ago, but it has taken me forever to wash it and buy an insert for it....both of which "finished" it.


If you recall, I made this pillow to accompany the bird quilt I got for Christmas. Where did I get the bird? I don't even know who makes that fabric (doesn't it look a bit Japanese to you?), but it came in my House on Hill Road scrap bag...


...along with the pretty brown, floral print that I used on the front and the back. Big "scrap" - I know! I love the lilies of the valley on it!


Matchy brown zipper. Same red that the bird quilt was bound in.


Voila.

Happy Seventh, Ya Crazy Boy!

Jonny had his seventh birthday on Friday. He's changed so much just since then. First off, he's super-rich with birthday money....and he's too old to let his mother kiss him. Don't get me wrong - I'm still kissing him. It's just a little awkward when I have to sit on him at the same time. My only consolation: he still looks 6.


Jon wanted brownies for his birthday. Boring. I make brownies at least every other week. So, I added a graham cracker crust and marshmallows to make them s'more brownies. Everyone except Jonny liked them. Ya' win some; ya lose some.


Also, I finished another doll quilt. This one is ownerless, since I'm not sure who would like this color scheme. We'll see. :)

Lucy's Quilt

A while back the hooligans and I listened to a book called The Silent Boy. I always have mixed emotions about Lois Lowery books. Depressing realism? Hope for humanity? I don't usually know what to walk away with, and this one was no different. However, I loved the child's perspective. It was very honest. ...and in addition to wanting to join her game of "tragedy and disaster" (where she and her friend inevitably pretend-die at the end of every round), I loved her confused, persistent questioning when her neighbor told her that his mother found their new baby in the garden, when she went out to pick tomatoes. My kids would never buy it either. (...but they might at least pretend to...it sounds like a fun fantasy.)

So, would you believe that I found this cradle in the garden, amongst the lettuces?


I didn't...but doesn't that sound sweeter than Goodwill?

It's for Lucy. Yes, I know it's well past her birthday, but I've been busy swimming, baking, not cleaning...and driving kids all over creation. Fun Stuff. I threw in the cradle to make up for the fact that her pillow still isn't finished.


This quilt (I think someone called it a Swiss Cross - sounds good to me!) is honestly one of my favorites. I may even make myself a big one to keep.


It was inspired by this project on Sew Mama Sew and is backed with a lovely bright yellow and orange floral....reminds be of something Anna Maria Horner would design...if it had stags bounding across it...courtesy of my MIL. Thanks Wanda!