memory lane

We are so excited for my baby brother's wedding tomorrow

and have a bunch of little things to do to finish getting the family ready for it.

I cannot wait to give them their quilt!!!! :-)

 Somehow,

I lost a day this week,

and my list of things that absolutely positively must get done today is quite long,

and this post is not on it.....

But - we wished Matt and Marin a 'happy wedding eve',

which led to the girls asking about Lana's wedding

(was it tiny like Tony's and TJ's? 

ummm - no - 

there were about 350 people and it was the most beautiful wedding I've ever seen.

here ~ let me show you...)

When I showed them the slideshow,

they asked about my wedding,

and well,

 we ended up traipsing down memory lane.

Matthew. My baby brother, all grown up and getting married!!!!

I go years without pulling out our wedding photos.

I don't like them.
I was so, so disappointed in them.

(which made it really important to me that my kids all have a good photographer for their weddings....)

But when Lex' asked about our wedding,

instead of complaining (again)

I just grabbed the box off the shelf

shook off (some of) the dust

and called the girls.

"Oh Momma! You were so young!

I mean, I knew you were young, but I didn't know you were this young."

"Hey - Dad looks just like Tony."

That swing back there? Horrible idea. Terrible.     Somebody, who shall remain nameless, 
thought it would be a good idea to, during the wedding,
sit on it,
while a recording of the the song Endless Love was played.
While a hundred people watched.
Do you know how long Endless Love is?!?

"That's Gramma? It almost looks like you."

"Why did you make Uncle Matt wear those shorts? Was that the style then??"

(I still think Matt looked adorable!)

Tyler looks a little nervous there, surrounded by my family... 

Nathan. My 1st baby brother. almost 9 (10?) yrs old here, a musical genius.
Well, a genius, period, actually, but for today's purpose - a musical one.
He played the piano, while Sarah, Rebekah's sister played the violin.
Except, of course, during the song, Endless Love.

I walked off after I'd chosen a few photos to scan

(or rather, have my tech guy scan... ;-)

and left the kids

(the boys joined them, of course)

to see their Mom and Pop through a different lens

(and horrible lighting, bad angles, major shadows, etc...;-)

Bad pictures or not,
I'd marry that man all over again in a heartbeat.

Lexi loses a tooth

I found it Friday, Dec 4th, 2009,

when she was about 6 weeks shy of one year old.

Her first tooth!

And just a few minutes ago,

I pulled it out.

I'll never pull a first tooth for my kids again.

*sniff*
~

She's not sure you can see that good enough, so she took a selfie:

Yes ~ there is a tooth coming in right behind it, so it really needed to come out...

Momma loves you, Big Girl!!

Sunday sewing, but on a Tuesday

Saturday night, my friend tagged me in a FB post, 

with a picture linking to this.

I commented "sweet!"

and suggested she google Natalie and Alabama Chanin.

Now, I realize I haven't mentioned AC in quite some time,

but that doesn't mean that my love for all things Alabama Chanin has diminished in the least.

I'm just waiting to get to my proper size

so I can make a proper AC garment

and wear it forever.

(which is just about how long it will take me to make said garment)

Mentioning Natalie Chanin

reminded me that I still hadn't had a chance to look at my most recent book!

I'd preordered it the second I heard about another AC being published

without giving it a second thought.

That is how much I love Natalie/Alabama Chanin

(for the un-initiated - Natalie Chanin is the founder of the company Alabama Chanin, 

and one really doesn't think of either, 

without the other)

I've been super busy since it arrived April 7th

and didn't dare open the package,

knowing I wouldn't be able to put it down.

I kept giving myself little challenges

 - once you do 'x', you can look at your book -

but once I'd complete the task,

another pesky task would jump to the top of my to-do list.

I was really going to look at it after I filed the taxes Tuesday

(why did I wait til the 13th?!?)

but then I was just on a get-er-done roll

and decided instead to 

a) finish the quilting on Ties that bind!!

and

b) make and attach the binding!!!

(actually - I did that before I finished the quilting....)

Sunday,

Lily was sick, so I stayed home from church with her,

which meant - I had a bonus 3 hours!!

 

So I finally unwrapped my book

and read it - just like I did the others - cover to cover.

(it's my least favorite of the four, but we'll save that for another time)

And then, with Judi's FB post in my head,

quickly whipped up (and machine sewed) a skirt.

(took less than an hour from unearthing a fabric* remnant

to a skirt with a fold-over elastic waistband (albeit slightly wonky there at the CB)
and a pressed (but not sewn) hem! :-)

I cleaned up my (minimal) mess, 

dug through my floss,

and started embellishing by hand.

I picked up my needle and thread every chance I got

and by the time I went to bed,

I was finished with all three (not very straight) rows of handstitching

and all I've got left is the flower.

If all goes according to plan

(which is a big 'if', you know...)

come Friday,

I'll have a completely finished skirt to share.

And the shoes

that inspired my color choices :-)

Oh,

and on Sunday,

at 9:20 pm, central time,

I finished my quilt!!!!

(proper photos and post will come in a few weeks, after it's gifted)

Linking up with Lee

~

*while I don't pre-wash my quilting fabric unless necessary (meaning it's red. or black....)

I do prewash my garment fabrics before I ever even put them away,

that way, when inspiration strikes,

I don't have to wait to prewash the fabric.

our little slice of heaven

5 monkeys (and milk. but mostly monkeys.)

 

We made a dairy run last week :-)

picture swiped from a post in 2008! Where does the time go??

Fresh raw milk

from cows who eat real grass, in wide open pastures?

Yes, please!!

Eggs, with orange yolks,

not yellow

- from chickens free to roam -

are about the only other food

I feel as good about feeding my family.

I am so grateful to have access to both!

~

We stopped at the rest stop that has the tee-pee like structures around the picnic tables

and got a little exercise.

Josiah climbed right up.

Then everyone decided his pole was better,

so they wanted to try that one.

Turns out,

Josiah

was just better.

But everyone gave it their best shot.

Even me. 

I love you, my little monkeys.
(and thanks, Love, for letting us have yummy milk all these years :-)

behold, the end draweth nigh

You know?

I'm thinking I might actually finish this thing.

2 weeks ago, 

I wasn't so sure....

(And Tyler was considering grounding me from quilting, due to my negativity.

I was just deep in the throes of What  The Heck Was I Thinking?!

Incidentally, a freak-out stage I apparently go through on all major undertakings,

so should not be a surprise to any of us...)

a daughter-in-law and grandkids aren't the only recent additions to the fam :-)

All 'white-space' hand quilting is finished,

and all of the marking for 'white space' machine quilting is done!

I still have several plates to add a bit of quilting to

(both machine and hand)

and a few more to mark,

but I'd say I'm probably 50% done with blade quilting.

And probably 80 - 85% done with the quilting the white space.

I think I want to add circles of my favorite fabrics to those empty 16 pt stars / invisible dresdens

I added to help fill the white spaces.

I've decided on architextures cross hatch print in black for the binding 

and need to get that ordered right away.

I'm trying to get the backing for my next quilt figured out so I can order both together and get free shipping.

I'd really like to use lawn  - I think it'd be lovely for the handquilting I've got planned,

but I have 2 concerns:

what I want will cost $63.

which is a lot of cash for a back....

And,

I'll be doing a QAYG for the first time, 

and I'm wondering if my seams allowances will be too obvious through that thin (solid) cotton lawn....

(experienced thoughts greatly appreciated!!)

I may need to just order the binding by itself and pay the darn shipping...

look ~ they're playing the telephone game ;-) heehee

We have a super busy week,

with lots of extra stuff going on so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to get accomplished quilt-wise.

(kids have testing tomorrow - which means, in addition to everything else,

 my annual calculator shopping trip.

Why, oh why

can't I set the darn things aside every year so I can find them when we need them?!)

Linking up with purple paper-piecing  Lee.

And just maybe,

the next time I post about Ties That Bind,

I'll be able to share it at Finish it Fridays, too :-)

....off to the next thing on the list....

big exciting changes

Our family is growing by leaps and bounds!

TJ married Keri this past weekend!!

(and became a step-dad to a whole passel of kids)

(making Tyler and I grandparents to a whole passel of kids!)

and

Tony and Kacy are expecting a Christmas baby!!

Leaps and bounds, Baby

(said in the voice of Hodgins from Bones)

Leaps and bounds.

~

Congratulations to my boys!!

And my girls!!

:-)

XO