Halloween Mini Quilt

I had every intention of posting pics of all the neat projects I finished up last week. Truth be told I only finished up one. This cheesy little mini Halloween quilt. Do you ever have those projects that you start & things just don't "fit"? This was one of those projects for me. It just didn't feel right the whole time I made it. Because of that it took me forever to get it done. I tried several layouts & nothing seemed to work. The night before I had to take it to the Gala I HAD to finish it. They were expecting it. So I put together what I had & dropped it off in the morning. It's my least favorite thing that I've quilted so far. I think having a better selection of fabrics to choose from might have helped. It's slim pickings when it came to finding Halloween/fall fabric. Lot's of fabric for other holidays but Halloween.....hardly anything. 

Note to self:: Buy cute holiday fabric when its in season because it's really hard to find when it's not.

The good news is they liked it & the package it was put in sold in the first few minutes of the auction. My sweet friend Melanie made a purse for the package too (One of the projects I wanted to make but ran out of time). I sort of felt like I had a fairy godmother helping me out on Friday & Saturday. Melanie helped with the purse, my friend Marielle did my makeup & my sweet friend Rachelle fixed my hair. Dean gave me money to find something to wear. I even had a little left over to get a pedicure. My feet still feel relaxed! We had a blast at the dinner. Deans boss Mike & his girlfriend came with us. It was fun to listen to the band they had playing & the dinner was really yummy. I really enjoyed visiting with everyone. I'm not quite sure how much money was raised total this year but the live auction raised close to $100,000. Afterward we went across the street to the Silver Legacy & listened to another band play cover songs from the 70's. There were some super interesting people at the casino. People watching proved to be super entertaining. I'm so grateful that so many people come out to support JDRF. My hope is that a cure will be found very soon.

Sloan's First Concert or WE SAW THE SHINS!!!!!!!!

So by the most amazing stoke of luck a sweet friend of mine had a friend that didn't want their tickets to see......wait for it........the SHINS!!!!!!

So after some brief craziness & some shuffling around my sister & I took Sloan to her very first official concert! The Shins has been one of my favorite bands for years & I love the fact that Sloan enjoys their music just as much as I do. We heard they were coming back in January but tickets were so expensive. It's hard to justify spending money on concerts when the budget is tight. Seriously, going to this concert meant so much to us!

To say Sloan had a blast would be an understatement! Have I used enough exclamation points yet? We had the best seats in the house. In short we were standing right by the stage. 

The Shins put on an amazing show. They played a good mix of older work & songs from their new album. 

The keyboardist was our favorite. He was very entertaining to watch.

I took almost 100 photos so I really skimmed it down but couldn't help myself. I just had to post my very favorite. Susannah & Cristin these photos are for you. Wish you could have been there. It's the only thing that would have made this even more perfect than it was. 

Brennan & Sloan after the concert.

We ended the night by having a midnight snack at In-N-Out. 

Sloans thinking:: My mom ROCKS for taking me to see my first concert!

Teehee! So happy that all three of us got to go together. My little sister is heading to college in just a few short months & although she is so excited about her new adventure we are going to miss her so much. Especially the kids. Omri won't even pay attention to me when she's around. He just wants his Nennan. I really hope Sloan remembers this night for years to come. I know I will.

The Past Few Weeks

It's been a busy last few weeks & here are a few pictures to prove it. We loved having family visit two weekends in a row. Getting back into the school routine has been super stressful this time around. I don't remember it being this tough last year. I think it's because the kids are older & are able to roam more freely around the culdesac. The days are longer & it gets harder & harder to coax the kids inside for dinner let alone bedtime while the sun is still in the sky.

We have been fortunate enough to have some really amazingly warm weather. All our fruit trees are blooming & the garden is starting to pop. The girls are begging us to fill the pool. It snowed here a little over a week ago & now it's warm enough to turn on the air conditioner. It is supposed to cool down again this weekend so the pool will probably have to wait. That's Nevada weather for you :)

I have five projects to finish up before Thursday for the JDRF Gala this weekend. These were added on sorta last minute. I will share them with you as I finish them. It's only Monday & it's proving to be a crazy busy week. Wish us all luck!

Going On 16

She'll be 12 in just a few short months but I know we'll be "here" before we know it.

His First Hair Cut

Our little man was starting to look a little shaggy. I haven't wanted to cut his hair. I thought maybe he could have that hippie free spirit look until he was older. then it happened. Two times in the last month. What a cute little girl you have, only they weren't talking about my girls they were talking about Omri. It was time to trim it up.  Dean asked me on Saturday if it was time to cut his hair. I hemmed & hawed a little. Sniff, sniff, & then gave in. We did it together. & he sat so still while I trimmed away.

He looks so handsome now. I do think it makes him look so much older & that makes me a little sad. Mostly because he's my baby. My last. & it's all happening too quickly. Slow down little guy!

 Aris & Omri are such good friends. She insisted that I take their picture together. I love it that they are so close.

What a little ham!

School starts again tomorrow. We've had a really fun break but I'm grateful the break is over. The kids are getting bored & I'm ready for a normal schedule again. The kids are on a wonky sleeping schedule & I have a ton of projects that have to be finished up by this coming weekend. It's going to be a crazy week around here but getting back into the swing of things is just what the Dr. ordered. I'll be posting pics throughout the week as I finish projects up.

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Be Happy!

Happiest little pillow just listed in the ::SHOP::

My Brother in law & his sweet wife visited this past weekend with their little daughter. We had so much fun visiting with them. Kristin is amazing when it comes to making $. She has a very successful eBay store & has been making a good little side income from it. She encouraged me to give selling online a try again. While she was here we took off for the afternoon & headed to the thrift stores. It was fun to get out & shop just for the heck of it. We both found quite a few things to sell. I will be listing several things into my Etsy shop & my eBay shop all week long. It was fun to see how she buys stuff & makes a profit. She gave me all sorts of pointers. Now all I have to do is take the photos & post the listings. My goal is at least 1 a day until I get good at it again. If I can add more I will, we'll see how it works out. I figure opening my shop back up is a fun way to spend money on things I think are cool & don't necessarily need but can't bare to leave behind. It's a win win!

Giant Log Cabin Quilt Finished!

Front

Quilt measures 51"x51"

Back

Well, here she is in all her glory! It only took me a little over a year to finish. I started the top Last March & then set it aside. I sorta have a bad habit of doing this & that is the reason I'm trying to finish up all those projects that have been haunting me. I am happy with it for the most part. A little disappointed that the log cabin part wasn't a little more square. It really stretched even before I basted & quilted the top. I really have no idea what I did wrong. Another thing I noticed is I still had two tiny spots on the back where it pucked ever so slightly when I quilted. I really flattened it out & don't know why that keeps happening when I quilt. You can't tell quite as much once I washed it but still I'd love to get to the point where this isn't happening. If anyone has any pointers I'd love to hear them. 

I used the French General line of fabrics for this quilt with a few other lines from Moda on the back. I also used cream colored muslin on the front & the brown floral fabric on the back I purchased from Hancock. I was super nervous washing this quilt because of the mini quilt fiasco. So I went & purchased some of the Shout Color Catchers & decided to give them a try. Those little sheets were magic! Magic!!!! The quilt came out of the wash perfectly! I was super excited & relieved. This quilt is going to be auctioned off at the upcoming JDRF Gale. All proceeds with go to finding a cure for diabetes. A cause that is near & dear to my heart.