this little girl

This little girl loves oatmeal. And peas, prunes, and sweet potatoes.

This little girl has a beautiful smile. And an infectious laugh!

This little girl is grabbing anything she can get her hands on. And then sticking it in her mouth.

This little girl loves tags. So much so that I made her a litle lovey (not shown) that has tags and ribbons on the sides. I introduced it during our trip and she loves it! She seems to find the tags on everything and focus on them. I had started cutting them off her toys but when she discovered them I had to stop!

This little girl has the most beautiful blue eyes. I've been watching them transform over the last seven months from a really deep blue to a lighter shade with a ring of dark blue around the edges. Mesmerizing! (I know this photo was in the last post but you can see her eyes so well! Plus the tag blanket I made is peeking out of the bottom left corner.)

This little girl speaks! "Da da da da da da dadadada". "Ahhhhhhh GAH!" "Ay yah yah yah ahhh da!" She has opinions and she wants you to know them!

I love this little girl.

Dang. I knew I was going to cry.

there's no place like home

We've just returned from an eleven-day trip away. First we flew from Denver to Orlando and stayed at a beach house on New Smyrna Beach with my dad's side of the family. It was so nice to see him and my sisters and brother... and it was my dad's first time meeting Emma!

We took her to see the ocean and I dipped her feet in the water. She lasted about fifteen minutes on the beach before she'd had enough!

After about five days in Florida, we flew to Massachusetts and stayed with Hubby's parents. They came to see us a few weeks after Emma's birth, and then again in December, so they marveled over how much she's grown. We also spent time with my brother-in-law and Hubby's paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother, both of whom were excited to meet our little (but getting bigger every day) girl.

Emma was a trooper during our trip. She (naturally) didn't sleep well on the trip and our routine was all out of whack, but we did our best and things went pretty well. She's an excellent flyer, though! All giggles and smiles during all three flights, except when she was really tired.

We didn't buy her a seat but were lucky that the flight wasn't full between Denver and Orlando so she got her own seat and slept nicely in her car seat for about two hours. We've learned our lesson there! Buying a ticket for a little one is definitely worth the money!

Our trip was nice... and it was wonderful to see our family, but it's SO good to be home! Even with dirty laundry and grocery shopping and other chores to do, I love sleeping in my own bed with my own pillow, and being in our own space.

mod star mini

I've had this idea for a quilt design floating around in my head for a few months... I decided to make it into a mini quilt to enter into the Modern Mini Challenge that is currently being hosted by Ellison Lane Quilts.

My idea is based on a star-within-a-star motif... I'm sure someone somewhere has done this before but I haven't seen it. I think it would be awesome in a black and white combo, or red and white. I wanted to work from my stash, though, so here we go!

So I look at the calendar yesterday (early afternoon) and I realize that the deadline is today! Whoops. I got busy working out measurements for my mini quilt and pieced the top. Today I was able to (between naps, baby feedings, and a Target run) quilt and bind the top. It's about 27" square and I'll use it as a stroller/car seat quilt for the baby.

I used various Kona solids, as well as a Mini Mike's print (because I ran out of the teal, oops!) for the top. The back is Ruby and the binding is an unlabeled fat quarter from my stash. :)

Now that I know the measurements for the stars, I think I'm going to use the same pattern for a baby quilt.

finish it up friday... the scrap attack edition

I really thought this ticker tape quilt would be a quick finish. After all, there's no measuring, no matching up seams, no repeated ironing. Just cut the pieces from my scraps and put them together like a puzzle, right?

Wrong. Wrong, wrong wrong.

It took forever. I was way too picky about where prints went... not wanting too much of any one color in a spot, or two pieces of the same print too close together.

But finally, finally, it's done! I'm pretty pleased with the end result, too. I backed it in a DS print from JoAnn and bound it in a print I found at JoAnn that incorporates most of the colors.

Now all I need to do is wash and dry it, to get that wrinkly softness that I love... then it's off to a special baby!

 I'm linking up with Amanda Jean at crazy mom quilts for Finish it up Friday, and with Rachel at Stitched in Color for the Scrap Attack Quilt Along (link to be added to the SAQA when the linky party happens!).

ETA 3/26/12: The Festival of Scrappiness is happening over at Stitched in Color right now!

emma {six months}

It amazes me every day how much my lil pumpkin has grown! She's getting smart AND sassy, lol.

We did a little photo shoot for some Valentine pictures for Daddy.

I finally had to take the paper away to get her to pay any attention to me.

OH YEAH!! The sweetest picture ever!

So then I put a new sign next to her and tried to distract her...

but then she saw it... baby attack!

I love this kid. :)

At six months, Emma, you are rolling from your tummy to your back. You're sitting up with assistance and getting stronger every day. You're grabbing anything you can get your hands on (see pictures above) and have learned how to put your pacifier in your mouth by yourself. Actually, everything is starting to go into your mouth.

You are enamored of your feet and love to grab them and kick and do all sorts of fun moves.

You are eating rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, squash, and zucchini. You love the oatmeal best! Peas, squash, and zucchini, not so much.

Emma, you have a happy smile and the sweetest dimple! You think we are hilarious when we play peekaboo or make funny faces at you.

You used to smile at anyone who smiled at you, but lately you've been a little skittish around strangers.

I love you dearly, sweet Emma, and I feel blessed every day to be your mama.

wip wednesday

Still cranking out the ticker tape quilt... it's taking a lot longer than I thought it would!

Did a sample block for the 4x5 Bee... and then changed my mind about it. I love this plus block, but now I'm thinking I'd like to make a Sparkle block for my hive members instead? I don't know. Waffle, waffle, waffle.

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

wip wednesday: found the camera!

Finally found the camera in a ridiculously obvious place... in plain sight in my bedroom. Apparently if I had exerted just *thismuch* energy in finding it, last week's post would have been entirely different. Live and learn. :)

I'm working on a ticker tape quilt for a friend's baby. It's my first one, and I'm super excited about how it's turning out.

I've also finished a couple of bee blocks. I used the Starflower Block tutorial from Ellison Lane.

My to-do list is getting completely out of control... I currently have 21 projects on the list, only four of which are actually in progress.

I'm linking to Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Stitched in Color for the Scrap Attack!

wip wednesday: the one where i can't find my camera

Shhhh! The baby is sleeeeeeping. So I figured I'd get myself set up to post on ye olde blog. I opened the curtains to let in some nice light, laid out some pretty fabrics and a couple of WIPs to photograph...

And that's where I've come to a screeching halt. I know that stupid camera is around here somewhere, but it's either hunt for it or post, and I chose to post. Lucky you! :)

So I'm currently working on a couple of bee blocks. Our quilt guild is doing a local bee and it's my month first! I chose Ellison Lane's Starflower Block tutorial and I'm excited to see how things turn out. Our guild is awesome, and we have some very talented ladies!

I also have a scrappy ticker tape quilt in the works for a friend's baby, and I'm gathering fabrics to make my very own Swoon! I joined the Swoon-Along on Flickr a few weeks ago... I've mostly been stalking the group but finally posted a couple of times and now the group is massive!

So that's me, what are you working on? I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced... head on over and see what people are doing!

finish it up friday

I love finishing projects. For me, it's not about the process... sometimes I find that tedious and stressful. But when I finish something and can look at it and pet it and admire it, I feel pretty good. Is that weird? I know a lot of crafters are all about the process.

Anyway, I finished a couple of things this week, one of which I reaaaaaally love. But more about that later.

I had embellished several cloth diapers to use as burp cloths over the summer, and I really like using them (as much as a person can like wiping up baby puke. But that's a whole 'nother story.). It's helpful too, because it's easier to distinguish dirty from clean. So I did a set of eight more burp cloths.

And now for my favorite. A few days ago, I finished this little pretty up for myself.

It's a travel sewing kit. I used the tutorial from lots of pink here. I absolutely adore the nesting doll fabric. That came from Laura as part of a swap and I love it! I've always had a thing for matryoshka dolls.

I made a similar kit for Penny for our MQG's Secret Santa in December, and I loved it so much I had to make one for myself! Here's Penny's: (Thanks Michelle for taking the pic! :) )

Finishing projects feels so good! I'm linking up with Finish it Up Friday over at crazy mom quilts.

2011 in pictures

When I went back to look and see what I've made in 2011, it turns out I did quite a bit... mostly baby projects, which comes as no surprise! (These are most definitely not in chronological order, by the way.)

And here are my most recent projects...

Don't even ask me about what I didn't take pictures of. I didn't take a picture of the gingerbread house I made my MIL for Christmas. I didn't take a picture of the sewing kit I made for Penny for our quilt guild's Secret Santa. I also didn't take a picture of a mini I sent to Laura as part of a swap. C'est la vie!

But, in my opinion, my most spectacular creation of 2011 is this little sweetie... and I have plenty of pictures of her!

I hope your 2011 was as wonderful as mine, and I wish you peace and happiness in 2012!