Teddy's Quilt, by Lexi, age 7

You guys!

I can hardly stand it!!

Lexi made this (16 x 20) quilt - almost entirely by herself!

She started it quite a while ago -

well before I began sharing the sewing machine,

when her only option was hand sewing,

of which she is not nearly as big of a fan 

as her sister and I am.

It often took days for her to sew 2 squares together;
she'd tire of it after taking just a few stitches.

Then, once they could use the machine,

she plumb wore herself out making gifts 

for her new cousin

and her precious niece

so she didn't do much sewing for awhile.

After a sufficient break,
every once in awhile,

the girls would pull out the machine 

and she'd do a little sewing

and eventually, 

she had rows

instead of pieces.

The last time they had the machine out, 

she'd sewed the first two rows together.

Wednesday,

she pulled the quilt out again,

and decided she wanted to finish it.

In no time at all, 

she had the other rows sewn together.

(I had already glue basted them and drawn stitching lines for her)

She pressed all seams to one side,

and noticed how much nicer things looked

when she pressed again from the front,

after pressing the back.

I trimmed the quilt

then we basted it together

with Warm and White

and the perfect backing fabric

 (that took 20 minutes to find. grr)

She was set on free motion quilting,

even after I told her straight line would be much easier

and reminded her that she was just 7 years old!

So,

 we talked about drawing out your quilting first,

and she practiced on several sheets of paper,

then told me she was ready to quilt on her practice sandwich.

After a half hour or so,

she was giving her brother FMQing lessons.

She practiced as much as she could,
and then switched threads
and went at it again,
'til she was satisfied she was ready for the real thing.

Thursday morning,

she woke up asking if she could sew.

Her bobbin ran out shortly after she started

(oops - Momma forgot to remind her to make sure you have a full bobbin)

so she got out the bobbin winder,

made a new one,

inserted it by herself,

and got back to quilting.

After she finished the quilting,

we measured the quilt and choose binding.

She thought 2 1/2 inches would be better than 2 1/4,

to give her more room,
since it was her first time,

so that's what I cut.

I taught her how (and why) to make a miter join

then she trimmed her join,

pressed it,

then pressed the binding in half.

I showed her how we leave a little section unsewn,

then we glue basted the binding up to one corner

and she sewed that down

then I showed her how to miter the corner

and she glue basted, then sewed
the next side.

And y'all, here is where she really blew me away;

She attached the rest of the binding by her self.

Mitering the corners and everything!!

Her corners are indistinguishable from mine!

Then she pressed the binding away from the front,

and I helped her press and glue baste it to the back.

I did one side and the first corner,
showing her.

We worked together on the second two,

me folding, her pressing 

then glueing and pressing again,

and then she did the last side and corner

without a lick of help.

I told her she could use a zig zag stitch,

like Rachel teaches thousands of (grown) women to do,

and it would be more likely to catch all of the binding

or she could 

very slowly,

do a straight stitch right next to the binding.

She thought a straight stitch would look nicer 

(that's my girl)

so she proceeded to sew on the binding

by machine

with a straight stitch

by 

herself.

Something her Momma has only done a couple of times

in 7 years of quilting!

She missed a few spots,

of course,

and I pinned them so she could re-stitch where necessary.

There was one spot that was only about 3/8 of an inch,

and I told her that it was probably okay to leave it,

but no,

she wanted to fix that too.

And just like that - her quilt was finished.

Needless to say, she is quite pleased with herself

and plans on keeping Teddy's quilt forever.

I am so, so proud of my diligent learner!

linking up with Amanda Jean,

and entering this quilt in the mini quilt category

at the Bloggers' Quilt Festival

(Lexi said that when she grows up,

she wants to be a sew-er

and make quilts,

and give sewing machines to people.

I told her she needed to find her own passions,

but that she could share mine

until hers are revealed :-)

Lex' ~ Momma loves you so much!
And I love your heart.
I am so proud of you 
and admire your dedication to excellence
(where it relates to sewing ;-) 
Now, if we could work on the picking up...)

Monday miscellanies

We went to the dairy today.

And of course stopped at the park,

and the rest stop,

to play.

The two hour drive home is always 

so much longer than the two hour drive 

to Claremore.

~

Laundry.

I can't keep up.

Last Wednesday,

we had eight loads 

stacked in three piles in the living room.

(they'd been accumulating for  a few days,

a few being folded,

more being stacked...)

I finally said enough was enough.

By day's end, I'd folded ten loads.

And Friday,

when kids cleaned their rooms,

they had filled the laundry hampers past overflowing.

I might have had a little fit.

~

Friday night was Taco Night with some friends.

The noise level was considerably louder

without the use of any electronic devices.

~

I decided what I wanted to do,

practiced,

and finished the machine quilting on my current project.

(I'd already finished the hand)

But I'm thinking maybe I'm not finished after all;

there is some pooffiness 

(not to be confused with puffiness...) 

that bothers me.

~

Sunday afternoons,

the kids (well, probably mostly - the girls)

leave their Bibles

and papers from Sunday school

 -and perhaps a sweater or shoes -

in the living room as they walk through.

More than once,

Momma has called out,

"I do not want to see

 any evidence that we've been to church 

in this house!"

~

Brandon got word this week

that he got another scholarship!

(we'd long ago given up hope for it)

Unfortunately,

we'd purchased all of his books using the credit card

(because there was no scholarship money to cover them;

so why would the school even let us charge them??)

so we lost the money for that this semester,

but next semester,

all tuition and books will be paid for.

:-)

~

We had a friend over Sunday afternoon.

Of course, 

her visit included a house tour.

She was excited for us,

and when I told her that sometimes, 

I am almost embarrassed by how big it's going to be,

she said, 

"Oh, I don't think it's too big at all!

I think it suits your family perfectly,

and fits the size of your hearts.

It blessed me so much.

~

Speaking of the house, 

we didn't accomplish everything we wanted to this weekend,

so 

somewhere this week,

we need to get caught up.

a revelation

Tyler has tried for years to help me understand this,

but I never really did,

until just now.

~

I had just the right color thread on hand,

but I only had 3 prewound bobbins of it.

I used  my little roller ruler thing 

and 'walked out' my quilting for a small section,

then multiplied

to end up with a guestimate of how much thread I'd use per row.

I added some yardage, 

and multiplied it by how many rows I had to quilt,

giving me

what I thought was

a pretty good approximation

of how much bobbin thread I would need.

By my calculations,

the 360 yards I had would be enough.

Except that,

it's not.

I sent my 2 local sewing friends an SOS,

but neither of them had any.

And we no longer have a Hancock....

And I'm on a deadline.
(Plus - I'm on a roll... ;-)

So I took another long shot,and texted Bill,

asking if, by chance, he had any time off today,

and he texted back "what do you need?"
and told me he was off until noon.

I called and asked if he would go to JoAnn's and buy thread,

and then mail it to me.

Y'all.

I just don't know that there are many step-dads

that you could ask to do that.

In just over a half hour,

he sent a text telling me not to open my package 

around the kids,

'cause he'd included a treat for me.

:-)

I told him he was my hero,

and he replied that his superpowers were recharged

by his love for family.

And I finally got it.

What Tyler has been trying to teach me.

People like to be the hero.

And it's good to give them the chance.

Thanks, Bill!! Thanks a heap!
I love you.

dinosaurs and a dinged up dreamy cabinet

We've finally found someone to do the siding.

Yay!

It's going to cost $1200 more than it should,

but that's still several thousand less 

than the other bids we've received.

(crazy!)

I guess we just have to find somewhere to save $1200.

It can happen.

 Right??

We went to look at siding samples yesterday,

and since we were already halfway there,

and the boys had been reminiscing 

about the fun they had when Grandpa Bill 

took them on a treasure hunt there,

 we went to the dinosaur park in Mountainburg.

It's just a small park,

and I was afraid it might not live up to their memories of it,

but they all had a great time.

We passed a shop that had an awesome looking cabinet out front

so we stopped on our way home to get a closer look.

Turns out is was a letterpress cabinet

(though unlike any I've seen in photos...)

It was dreamy.

The girls and I were squealing with delight at all the compartments

and scheming about what we could put in them.

When I found out how much it cost

$500 (!) 

all scheming ended

and we had to be satisfied with a few pictures.

the back porch has a ceiling

alternately,

GrouchButts Install the Back Porch Ceiling,

because that really would be more accurate.

Neither Tyler or I were feeling great,

and when we headed out to work Saturday morning,

things went from bad to worse.

~

This picture is a few months old - there is a door on the left where the tyvek is torn, and, of course, an actual porch.

We'd decided that our back porch

really needed a painted ceiling.

With the way it's sort of boxed in on the sides,

we thought a light-colored ceiling would reflect more light

and allow more natural light into the house.

(yada yada yada)

Basically,

we were a little concerned 

that our living room

might be darker than we preferred

if we went with the cedar in its natural state,

and there was no way on earth 

we were going to go to all that work,

only to paint it.

Bobby, 

the guy we're working with at Yeagers (lumber company / hardware store)

suggested car siding.

It's a tongue and grooved finished product made of pine

that has a V groove down the center of the board,

and two half Vs on the outside.

when the boards are installed,

they look kinda like beadboard, 

only more substantial.

We figured we'd like that look,

so,

we decided to go with it.

It'd cost 25% more than what our front porch cost,

(and it's half the size)

but zero prep work was required,

and let's be honest,

that was appealing at this stage of the game.

The car siding (that was supposed to arrive Tuesday...)

got delivered just a few hours before dark

Friday night.

Neither Tyler or I went out to look at it.

~

So.

We went out Saturday,

not feeling 100%,

but eager to get this job

marked off the list.

I took one look at that pile of boards,

and 

I

was

pissed.

There was not a pile of pristine boards on my back porch;

there was a pile of crap.

I was expecting a top grade 'finish' product.

What we got

was crooked and banged up,

had chunks missing,

cracks running through it,

and some were covered in mildew spots.

Brandon said, "Yeah.

Donnie (delivery guy) said we'd have to have Bobby replace some it."

SERIOUSLY?!

Then,

I was really ticked.

For the most part, we've been really pleased with Yeagers

and Bobby.

I feel like they're taking pretty good care of us,

and they are as appreciative of our business

as we are of their discounts and deliveries.

And to be fair,

if I were feeling great,

I'd probably have been pretty irritated,

but not thoroughly pissed. off.

Sick or not, though,

I just don't understand sending out a product

that you know 

is not acceptable.

And here's the thing:

there was no time for replacing.

We really wanted to get the back porch ceiling done Saturday.

so it was either use the crap boards,

or don't do the porch.

We used the boards.

(obviously ;-)

We had kids scrub the mildew

and we cut creatively

where we could.

We'll fill the cracks and gouges with putty or some such product

and we'll prime the ceiling

and then we'll paint it,

and in the end,

it will be just fine.

Pretty, even.

But it was not a happy process.

from the living room

But - hey, look;

we have a back porch ceiling.

from the dining room doorway

soft and subtle, by hand

After the basting debacle,

the quilt had to sit in time out for a bit

while I cooled off.

(Literally! That was a hot mess.)

Still undecided as to what the machine quilting should be,

I got started on the hand quilting Friday,

when the guys ran to buy a belt sander.

Every chance I got for the past week,

when I wasn't earning my Carpenter's Badge,

or washing things,

or feeding people,

or schooling them

(though, sometimes even then...)

I hand quilted.

ordinarily, I'd prefer my hand stitching to holler 'helloooo' but this quilt asked for a more subtle approach.
I generally listen when my quilts talk, so quiet and subtle it was, with golden mustard Gitermann silk thread.

All those snippets here and there 

added up

to almost 20 hours

and just a few minutes ago,

I finished the hand-quilting :-)

The back is nice (said in a Jamaican accent ala Cool Runnings :-)

I *think* I've figured out my machine quilting,

though I need more practice.

And I still need to figure out the thread...

My deadline is rapidly approaching,

so I'm glad to have this portion crossed off the list.

Linking up with canoeing Amanda Jean