Looking Back, Moving Forward

I've hit a wall. A real creative block. It almost always happens after I work super hard on a big project & it comes to an end. I have spent the week cleaning, playing with kids, baking, cleaning, taking kids to & from school, cleaning & I joined a gym. I did everything BUT create. Maybe I was just exhausted by the new schedule of having all the kids in school. Maybe I was just physically tired from being soooooo out of shape & finally getting my but kicked at the gym. I honestly don't know. I just couldn't get myself motivated.

I saw a painting today & I physically felt a twinge in my heart. I love quilting & sewing but at that moment I realized just how much I miss the physical act of drawing & painting. I miss the smell of paint & the process of making something from a blank piece of paper or canvas. I wonder sometimes if I haven't pushed myself enough. Maybe if I tried just a little harder I could be further ahead in my creative dreams. Maybe if I could just focus a little better I could actually be a better artist, mother, wife & friend. Or maybe I'm just being too hard on myself. Or maybe I'm burnt out. 

I'm wondering if my lack of motivation is because I haven't been allowing myself to enjoy all aspects of creativity? So instead of wallowing in my self pity & frustration over an artist block I decided to make a plan for myself. I'm going to try to allow myself to do more painting & drawing. I'm giving myself permission to enjoy the process of creating. I'm really hoping that by doing more art along with my quilts I can find an even balance to my creative frustrations. Only time will tell. Until I figure out a good creative flow I plan on organizing my art area. It's a mess. I also have several projects to finish up. So I made a list of what NEEDS to happen over the last few months of this year. My last goal is to blog a little more. Crossing my fingers that all of this pays off. That's a pretty silly thing to say. The only thing that will really make a difference is if I'm ready & willing to do the work. I better get to work, lol, I've got a lot to do. Hope you all have a happy Labor Day weekend!

Big Top Crib Quilt

The front

The back

I had a lot of fun making this little crib quilt. Like I mentioned in my last post this little zigzag may just become my go to pattern for future quilts. It's super quick & easy to put together & I think it looks adorable when finished. It's easy enough for even a first time quilter to try. The stitching followed the lines of the quilt. I was worried it wouldn't have enough crinkle but was pleasantly surprised when it came out of the dryer. I have three more of these panels & already bought the fabric to make two of them in a girly color way.

After spending the last two weeks working like lightning to get everything ready for my first craft fair, dealing with sick kids & the crazy first week of middle school I treated myself to some fun fabric the other night. I purchased 2 yards of Guising by Lizzy House to make a Halloween quilt with. I also bought the cutest super hero fabric so I can make some more boyish tooth fairy pillows. The last thing I bought was the most adorable Japanese fabric with a scene from the fairytale The Emperors New Clothes. I really don't know what I'm using it for yet but I couldn't help myself & had to get it ;) Every once in a while it's fun to treat myself to something I wouldn't normally splurge on. Helps me get my creative juices flowing again.

I am taking the rest of the afternoon off to spend with the kids but I'll be listing a ton of new stuff in the shop tomorrow. Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday weekend!

A Little of This & That

These last two weeks have been a little crazy. All four kids sick......check! Husband thought he was having a stroke......check! Two visits to the ER.....check! The list goes on but I'll save you the bore of sharing every little thing. Cause there were quite a few more I could have thrown in. Even amid the craziness there were moments of such amazing beauty & happiness that I couldn't help but know that My Heavenly Father was showing me just how much he loved me. A little reminder that I am not alone in my suffering. He does know who I am & just what I need.

Like Omri & his obsession with all things Yo Gabba Gabba! He loves this show & interacts with it while watching it. Omri's language is really taking off too. He's mimicking everyone & everything. He has also picked up a few more signs. He's added car, airplane, please, thank you, sorry, coat, train & milk to his sign language repertoire. He's also started signing without prompting. A huge step. It's not uncommon for him to come up to me & sign "help" then lead me to what he needs help with. He's also connecting word together such as "mamma's shoes" or "dada's car". It's a fun & exciting time for him & it makes my heart sing knowing a whole new world is opening up to him. The other exciting news is he no longer needs OT! We are just down to speech & so very grateful for Mandy & all she is doing to help him along in this journey.

Aris LOVES kindergarten! She loves her teacher & her classmates. She loves the homework. She also has hit a stage of wanting to fix her own hair. It got very quiet one afternoon after Aris had come home from school. I walked into her room to check on her & this is what I found. She had dressed herself in "fancy" clothes & fixed her hair all by herself. Even the hair in the back. As crazy as it looks she did a better job than I could, lol! So cute & she was so pleased with herself. I love this new found sense of independence. I only find it mildly annoying in the morning before school when it comes to picking out what she wants to wear. If she had her way she'd wear snow boots with a skirt & a dress & a tank top with a vest. Her look boarders on bohemian meets homeless lady on the street corner. When we are hanging out around the house I don't mind. I don't even mind when it comes to the occasional visit to Home Depot. I figure the people there take one look at her & think Dad was the one to pick her ensemble. When it comes to school I want her to look neat & tidy. I have some very cute clothes for the girls but you'd think I was trying to torture Aris every morning with the crying & moaning when it comes to getting dressed.

It does make me wonder what the teenage years will bring if we are already having wardrobe fights, lol! 

Dean bought me the slicer attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. It's AWESOME! I've already made a ton of zucchini bread with it & I'm looking forward to using it for cooking and canning.

I'm still juicing. I make mostly mean greens for me & fruit juices as the occasional treat for the girls. What we are really enjoying are smoothies. All different kinds of smoothies made with spinach. They are very healthy & refreshing. I also started walking & riding my bike again. I hurt my ankle last month & although it's still swollen I feel like I can exercise without much pain. It feels so good to get moving again.

More tooth fairy pillows are coming to the shop on Monday!

I finally broke down & bought the 5 pounder last weekend. Aris calls it "fluff". With all the tooth fairy pillows I'm making it just made sense to pull out the big guns. I feel all official ;) 

 This is the newest quilt I've been working on. I found the tutorial on Pinterest. It was super easy to follow & the sewing went quickly. It could easily become a go to pattern for me on upcoming projects. It turned out pretty cute & I'll be posting pictures of the finished quilt very soon.

Last but not least I've been working like crazy to get ready for my first craft fair this weekend. I'm a little nervous but super excited. Whatever doesn't sell this weekend will go in the shop on Monday.

See with every storm there is a silver lining. The craziness of life could get me down but I will choose to see the good in all that happens. Life is too short not to. Here's to hoping you all are having a great week too!

Feather Quilt

This is my sister Cristin. Isn't she beautiful? I adore her & miss her so much. She lives in Boston & some days that feels farther away than others. She called me a few weeks back & asked if I could make her a quilt. What an honor! I asked her what she wanted & she said whatever I decided. So I told her a few ideas I had & decided to go with a feather quilt.

I thought about what my sister might like & I kept thinking of her tattoo. I wanted the quilt to fit her personality. I think it does & I hope she likes it.

 I am sure you have seen a few feather quilts popping up here & there. Susannah made one & when I saw it I knew I had to make one for my sister. Zana had seen the beautiful feather quilt that Anna Maria Horner had made & then came up with her own pattern. Susannah was so helpful when it came to making the actual feathers. I asked her quite a few questions. We did things a little different. She paper pieced hers & I didn't. I learned a lot from making these & I feel like I could possibly even try my hand at making some of the more complicated picture blocks that I have seen on the Internet. I used some scrap fabric from my stash for the feathers & a blue tiny pin dot fabric for the stem of the feather. Maybe I'm silly for loving muslin so much but I love using it for quilts as a filler fabric. I think for this quilt it really allowed the feather blocks to stand out.

Since I wasn't using an actual pattern I put all the feather blocks on the floor where I wanted them & then cut & pieced the muslin fabric together. It was a little tricky but I was so happy with the outcome.

I decided to keep the quilting pretty simple. Straight lines with a little squiggle every 6 inches or so all the way across.

For the back of the quilt I used some awesome vintage fabric that a friend of mine had given me. The apple fabric & blue pin dot fabric (used in the stem of the feathers) are both from Hancock.

The cute poppy fabric that I used as the binding is also from Hancock.

Here's the front finished!

& The Back

This quilt measures 57"x65"

::UPDATE::
Today Anna Maria Horner released her PDF of her Feather Bed Quilt pattern! It's a free pattern & you can find it ::here::

Water Babies

Thanks for the pool Bumma!

We've been spending a good portion of each day splashing around in the pool. This has been one of the hottest summers we've had out here that I remember. Each day after Oblio gets up from his nap & I've picked up Mozers from school the kids put on their swimsuits. Then we jump in & swim until it's time for dinner. Sometimes they swim all morning too. Sometimes I get to join them if I'm not working on projects. No matter what I have made a promise to myself to join them at least once a day in the pool. Not always because I want to but I know it's the right thing to do. I know this is the last summer they will be "this age"  &I don't want to miss a minute of it.

Every once in a while Dean gets home early enough to join us. It's so much more fun when daddy is in the pool. He can throw the girls higher & does bigger cannonballs.

Sloan & Zoe are swimming around like little mermaids! This year Aris has taught herself to swim too! She loves being able to keep up with her sisters. Even Oblio is getting better at swimming. I know by next year he will be swimming around with the girls. 

When it's time for me to get out of the pool to fix dinner, the girls stay in until their fingers look like raisins. When bedtime rolls around they are asleep before their heads hit the pillow. I'm loving these last few weeks of summer. The next few weeks will be filled with as many fun water adventures as we can have.

I know this is silly but I couldn't help myself! Lol! What have you been doing to stay cool this summer?