just call me Hercules

I achieved something today that I have been working towards all year!

I started working out in the shop with the guys after Christmas.

I still do HiiT on my own,

but I was ready to move up to the big weights.

I haven't really had a specific goal that I've been working towards

for most of the lifts,

just my general always try to do more/better than before.

But deadlifts?

For those, I had a goal.

Progress has been slow.

Real slow...

But today,

I did it!

I deadlifted one hundred fifty pounds!!!

Go me!

Honestly,

that's probably not all that impressive for a woman,

but I don't care.

I'm so proud of myself!

I may have gotten a little misty-eyed 

at the end of my first set...

I wonder - what should my next goal be??

hit the road

Tyler called me mid-morning and strongly suggested

that I take the kids on a walk

because it was so beautiful out.

It is not overly, shall we say - refreshing - to walk with lots of children

circling around me on their bikes

so I wasn't terribly keen to take him up on his suggestion.

But

he usually knows what is best for me,

so after about an hour

I gave in.

I sent him the first two photos as we set off.

"Happy now?" 

I asked.

(Then I realized Jack was with us, and we had to bring him back home.)

The sun was shining.

It was warm, 

but not hot.

There was a slight breeze.

The unmistakable scent of honeysuckles filled the air.

They are more fragrant this year than usual, I think.

Even the privet smelled lovely.

(I don't recall the privet blossoms smelling nice.

Have I forgotten?

Or have I never smelled them? 

That doesn't seem likely - I sniff everything.

hmm)

Even the dandelions were pretty.

It's good that I listen to my man.

(Thanks, Love, for making me take a walk.)

coming down the pike

We gave the quilt to Matt and Marin right after the wedding rehearsal.

Needless to say,

they loved it

:-)

(Since it's almost time for the Spring Quilt Festival, I'm going to wait and do a full quilt post then.

Don't want to drive everybody nuts with two posts

practically back to back...)

As soon as I knew I was definitely going to finish it time,

and all of my remaining work was hand sewing,
which I do in the evenings,

I got started on my next quilt.

My first QAYG, which is proving to be quite fun!

The knowledge that by the time I have the top together, 

the quilt will be just about finished

doesn't hurt any either ;-)

sorry - it's a surprise ~ all you get is the back of the batting for now

Then,

 the graduation announcements started coming in.

We generally give a bit of cash,

but for the girls,

instead of putting it in a card,

I like to sew up a little pouch of some sort to tuck the $$ in.

It barely costs more than a card, right? ;-)

And it so much more useful.

And fun...

I'm not crazy about how the flap flips up the binding on the back.
I think next time I'll add a bit of length so I can sew it to the pouch just under the binding.

I used Svetlana's just released Anna pattern for this one

(I was tickled to discover it fits an i-phone (which the recipient happens to have) perfectly)

The pattern calls for fusible fleece,

which I used,

because, you know I am such a  rule follower...

It's a bit pouffy for my taste, so I think for future bags I will just use interfacing.

As soon as I received the next recipient's announcement,

I knew this was the fabric for her

(I hope I was right!)

I liked the binding bit at the top of the Anna pouch,

so used the same technique on my second bag.

I would have used the Anna pattern for it, too,

but I felt like that bike fabric needed plenty of space to shine,

so I just made the bag up as I went.

I used Noodlehead Anna's open wide zipper method to install the zip.

I use it on most of my pouches now,

but I think it works better on a bag without the binding.

I still have one more pouch to make.

The girl's mom told me she loves red and black,

which is just perfect, 'cause I have tons of scraps of both :-)

I'll use this pattern for it, I think.

This week, I've been muslining.

(Yes, that's a verb, why do you ask?)

I plan to take my TNT Lady Skater pattern and change up the bodice a bit (by adding a curved yoke)

for a coral dress with a lace overlay for the next (and I think last) wedding of the season.

(I think I may lengthen the yoke by 1/2 inch or so)

I added a bit of flat piping (which I won't be using for the real dress) for two reasons.

First, my whites weren't exactly the same color, 

and I'm hoping for a wearable muslin,

so I thought breaking them up might be nice

and secondly, I just wanted to try the technique.

I consider myself pretty careful with measurements and seam allowances,

and yet, 

my piping is clearly narrower in some spots.

I guess if I use piping on a for-real it-really-matters project,

I need to be a lot more careful

than my usual care-full-ness.

fabrics for the real dress, purchased in LA :-) :-)

Oh ~ have you heard that Cotton + Steel has a black and white line??

I sure could have used that a few months ago!

As soon as I saw  C+S B&W,

I said to myself, "I hope they did the kitties!"

I love the kitties / tigers,

and have put them in my cart several times, but the colors just don't seem quite right for my needs, 

so I've always passed on them.

When I found myself needing a few more fabric choices for my current quilt

(the one you only get to see the back of for now)

well, I just couldn't help adding a yard of this to my cart, too :-)

Lily is hoping for some scraps.

I told her good luck with that.

But then I felt bad, so I may let her have a piece. 

Maybe....

Linking up with Lee's Work in Progress Wednesdays ~ my favorite of the linky party places.

this guy

I am so thankful for this guy!

.

He makes me laugh.

He challenges and inspires me

and keeps me in line.

He's quick to help.

And everyone knows he's a good-lookin' kid ;-)

I love you, Bran!!!

(I'm pretty fond of his Dad, too :-)

flower girls, take 2

I'll (of course!) post more pictures when I get some.

For now, I'm making do with stealing photos from facebook 

the generosity of people who actually take pictures with the camera they remembered to bring.

When Blake and Taylor (cousins :-) 

saw the girls coming down the aisle,

they both said, at the exact same time, 

"They are so pretty!"

I couldn't agree more!

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 :-)