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.