erin lebeau

beautiful wedding!

2011-05-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

The wedding was fun & joyful & all the paper decorations we worked so hard on exceeded our expectations :) Of course the worst weather of the whole spring fell on the wedding day!! It was cold & rainy so there was no way they could get married under their tree, but the clouds cleared after the ceremony, enough to climb up & take some great pictures in it!! ....The whole ceremony & reception took place in the historic Albert Texas dancehall (near Luchenbach & just as gorgeous & a fraction of the price- it's the perfect venue & they were so wonderful to work with!) The wedding party literally danced down the isle to "Stuck On My Baby" by Anders Osborne --it was lovely! Here's a preview -I'll add more soon... Sending love out to all :)

Paper Flowers!!! (preview)

2011-03-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

This is the main focus of the wedding planning going on at the moment (and probably for the next few weeks.) When we get these done, I'll be able to breath..., before we move onto the next priority. All the bouquets & boutonnieres will be paper flowers & here is a little sample of the little lovelies ...the centerpieces on the tables will be something like this. ...So there is much to do!! Here's a photo of the happy couple :)

wedding announcement

2011-03-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

I've briefly mentioned that we have a wedding coming up in the family --it's my baby brother (ok he's 26, but still) --I couldn't be more excited!! I just love his fiance -she feels like part of our family already -& we are swimming in ideas & projects & general craftiness & PAPER FLOWERS!! sneak peeks to come, I promise --for now here's the artwork I made for their invitations...

sayin HI!

2011-02-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've been MIA for quite a while, but here's a little update to say"hey out there!" ...Sweety girl is in kindergarten now (as in public school ...sigh.) We finally agreed it would be the best thing for her. I'm still all for homeschool, but I never counted on having such a social child. She can't get enough interaction & stimulation. And I think it's much better for her to enjoy it now while she's little (& it's fun) than always build it up in her head & resent that she didn't get to try it. So the plan is to send her for a couple years & go back to homeschooling when it seems like the right time for our family. ...Little man is just as crazy as ever, trying to talk a lot more lately & attempting to potty train again (the other little guy in the pictures is a friend's baby we're watching now a few days a week-he's a punkin!)...My baby brother is getting married sometime this spring. It's going to be a very simple, inexpensive affair, whatever they decide on, so we're all trying to pitch in & help them pull it off. And since I like any chance to play at crafty/weddingy things, I'm excited! ...Not much else at the moment so bye for now :)

happy place ....iron&wine

2011-01-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

Hi ya'll! Had such a lovely day yesterday :) Got to go see one of my very favorite musicians Sam Beam aka Iron and Wine.It was a small, short & sweet show at the KGSR station studio to promote his new album coming out next week. He sang 4 songs in all & visited with the audience abit. My favorite thing about seeing him was just what a super nice, normal guy he was --doesn't seem like sudden fame has made him at all pretentious ...more like he was just another guy in the room. Went with husband :) we had a great time, lovely day.(geez i look tired or something...) The show was filmed & should be up on kgsr soon -I'll post a link when it is. Here's my new fav from the new album:

vote at spoonflower -rococo!

2011-01-17T16:09:00.000-08:00

contest this week was rococo! i've been wanting to do a print of just little frames for a while, so this rococo was really a fun chance to do that... there are so many wonderful entries to look through for this theme--so go enjoy voting! (and i'm so sorry i haven't been blogging for a while. i promise, friends, to post more about life soon :)

vote at spoonflower! (4)

2010-12-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

the theme was "time travel" ....took me a while of stewing over it to figure out my own interpretation, that it didn't need to mean some odd sci-fi thing, which i don't think i could do. for me it meant simply thinking of a period of time i've always wanted to travel back to & try to capture a quiet piece of it... sorry i've forgotten to post this, so you can only vote till thursday morning... hope all is well out there --had lots of company lately, so it's been busy & then we got a flu bug, so been cleaning up after sicky kids, but they seem to be feeling better...

vote at spoonflower! (3)

2010-11-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

Here's my entry for the contest "candles". Like most of my art in the fabric contests, it requires you to look closer to see all the little details... PLEASE Go vote at spoonflower!! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the change of season, wherever you are. It is crisply cool (mmm, cold) in Texas ...some friends are camping right now at our favorite outdoor spot & it is supposed to get below 20 tonight! I'm glad we're just going for the day tomorrow & not trying to sleep out there! brrrrr!

please excuse the mess...

2010-11-22T10:13:00.000-08:00

I'm wanting to give my blog a little makeover but can't decide which way I want to go... so please pardon me while I figure it out. In the meantime here's some designs I've been playing at for fabric over at spoonflower. This first one is for the next contest, theme "candles". And the bears (which I'm kind of in love with!) evolved from that. I've discovered if I paint only the actual objects in the design & leave the background white, it's super easy to color only the background & make a seamless repeat...

sign, pleeeease!

2010-11-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

I don't usually do things like this, but it's something that I feel is really important & I guess this petition needs more signatures pronto! You can hear more about it here ...he's doing an amazing job trying to get healthier food for the kiddos --enjoyed last season of his show so much & they're getting ready to film another one soon! ...So just thought I'd help in my own little way to spread the word...thanks ya'll!

sweety girl in ballet class

2010-11-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

Finally posting these ...she's been taking ballet/tap/gymnastics class for about two months now & really enjoying it! I'm so glad because I wanted her to start while she was still young to help with coordination & confidence ...& it gives her something to look forward to every week, which really helps with homeschooling! (thankyou marmie & ali aunt!!!)

conversation with cutest boy :)

2010-11-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

Blogger's Quilt Fest

2010-11-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't had any new quilts finished like would have liked, so my entry is my trusty ol' Amy Butler "just because" quilt. It was one of the first sewing projects I ever did, probably going on ten years ago. It's a great example of how a quilt starts to become like an old friend, worn & loved.

Now go check out all the amazing quilts & get inspired!

vote at spoonflower! (2)

2010-10-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Ya'll! I just wanted to post this project I threw together when I saw that the contest this week to design fabric over at Spoonflower was "woodland creatures" --how fun is that?! I had fun with this alphabet concept & coming up with something for every letter. I'm really pleased with how my art work came out... however, a bit of the concept gets lost in translation when its scanned to digital & seen on the screen. The color washed out a bit & I don't think all the detail that I put into it comes through. Like I've said, I'm really working on conforming my style more to the medium of fabric design. As it is, I think it's more suited for illustrating books, which would be lovely to get into also. ...Anyway, go have fun voting for your favorites (as many as you want!) This contest goes till next Thursday. (Oh, click on the image here to see a larger view.)

reading lesson

2010-10-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

Word on the page: a-t. ME: "ok let's sound out this word. what's your first sound?" C: " aaaa." ME: "good. what's your next sound?" C: "tt!" ME: "good! now let's put them together. sound it out." C: "rrrrraad!" ME: "honey, you're saying sounds that aren't even in the word. let's sound it out again." C: "rrrrr..." ME: "ok you're not even looking at the page. you need to look at your word to be able to read it." C: "rrr..." ME: "let's sound it out again. first sound?" C: "aaaa." ME: "good! next sound?" C "tt." ME: "good! now let's put them together." C: "rrrrr ....curious??" .....("aaaaaaaahh!" do you see why this is so frustrating? it's like a battle of wills every time we sit down to a reading lesson. but she is making progress. it's just hard to figure out sometimes when she's really not getting it or just being stubborn, um, spirited. thanks for listening. i feel better.)

at the park

2010-10-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

vote at spoonflower!

2010-09-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

...here's a follow-up to my last post. voting for "gourds" contest is up & running! (this is my first time entering a contest there & i have much to learn....) there are some really fun prints & you can vote for as many as you want!! (new contest every week :) spoonflowercontest

some art work...

2010-09-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

ok here's some things i've been working on lately ...(i've actually had a bit of an obsession: i really want to design fabric! so i've really been pouring a lot into developing an idea --but i'm realizing i just can't rush this, primarily cause i don't know enough about the medium yet.) so i've rediscovered spoonflower. i already knew about it, but i didn't think of it as such a resource for learning the medium (one of the only resources for someone like me.) it's a whole new ball o'wax to translate art work into something that's graphically pleasing & repeatable. so i'm starting to take advantage of this "design-your-own-fabric" site. it's a great way to mess around with your ideas to see what works or doesn't. so here's some pieces i did inspired by the "gourds" contest next week (there's a new theme for a contest every week & anyone can go vote -fun!) ....& here it is in repeat: so i wanted to do some sweet little prints to complement the main piece, so this is bird village, which i'm really happy with how it looks in repeat- more "fabric-y". ...& feathers, which i love, but need to work on a little more so it's a smoother repeat ..... .....& this is a totally different project. it's a banner i painted for the other blog -my side business with my friends.

...hello

2010-09-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

i just wanted to check in & apologize for being MIA for so long... my lack of posting is due to a.) our camera is broke (we just don't have much luck with electronics grrr) & b.) just not much to report. ....but i'll give a little update anyway. sweety girl is now a kindergartner -at home- & things are already more of a challenge than i expected. we're so bad about being in a good routine, so that doesn't help, but actually teaching this girl is not always going smoothly. she's extremely bright but just seems to have a bit of a block when it comes to letters & words. i don't know if it's stubbornness or that she just isn't getting it yet. we're persevering though. ....little man is still working on the potty training, but we'll have a good day followed by 2 or 3 frustrating ones, but i don't expect these things to happen quickly so it's ok. he has a new word though! it goes like this: "dehr-CHTT!" did you get that? it means "truck", of course :) ...i want to get back in sewing mode & make sweety girl some dresses & little zipper pouches for school, among other things, but can't get into that mode yet. i have been working on some water color projects, though, that i'll post soon. ....also want to motivate myself to get out & get my fall garden planted, (which first involves tearing out the scorched overgrowth & weeds weeds weeds from the summer garden) but the weather is just starting to turn, so soon it will be cool enough to want to be out again. ok. i'll stop there. see, i told you it wasn't exciting ;) just wanted to give a little shout ...out there.

peek at a project

2010-09-13T00:25:00.000-07:00

here's a little something i'm working on --i'll show the whole thing when i get to a scanner... (i've never done birds before, but i'm kinda lovin these little finches!) ...

happy place (this qualifies)

2010-09-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

um... amy butler does wallpaper now. i want some. any of it.

someone's potty training!!

2010-09-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

i've heard boys are notoriously tough to train, so i've been expecting the worse. but here he is, a month shy of two, and he's being easy peasy. we're just being very relaxed about it & keeping it fun. the baby sign for "potty" is a tremendous help, as he's not real big on the spoken word. in fact, this boy's been a little ahead on everything but talking. he says 3 words: mama!, bye bye & dad. oh well ...i heard a rumor once that einstien didn't talk til he was five. but don't quote me on that :)

We Made a Wedding Cake!!

2010-08-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

We had a "little" job this weekend. It shouldn't have taken too long, but since we're not too experienced with cakes just yet, we really took our time. But it turned out just lovely & we got a taste for so many other things we want to try! Of course we make everything from scratch & always the best ingredients. This buttercream is to die for -so luxurious & not as intimidating as I had thought. All said, it was a great experience --even if we're new at something, we really take our time at it till we get it right. Can't wait to get more orders & chances to perfect this sweet artform :)

happy place!

2010-08-12T18:33:00.000-07:00

i'm calling this new installment "happy place" --absolutely anything that is so funny, adorable or ingenius that i just have to pass it on. this video has to be the cutest kid in the universe -for real. i almost don't need to read the story, just watching her & listening is amazing ( "cro-co-dile" :) (but the story is too cool also.) ...& i think she should play audrey tautou's child double in her next film ;) and this one just made me crack up.... aren't we lucky our kids don't remember much for the first few years...?

Fairie Tree

2010-08-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

We come to this park to play all the time ...and still one day I noticed this tree for the first time. It's a beautiful tree, though seemingly average. But look closer ...

Isn't this just where you'd be if you were a little critter or, say, a fairie? (At this point I do apologize that my photos don't do it justice.)

.....I took a watercolor class when I was 16. Nothing against the teacher, but she was very conventional in her view of what was acceptable. She was only interested in teaching the proper technique, not in translation from the eye of the artist, & certainly not in breaking "the rules" a bit. The feeling i was left with was that watercolor was a very touchy & difficult media and that I just wasn't good enough. Isn't that a shame to feel that way about anything you're interested in? Especially when someone else has unwittingly caused you to doubt yourself? It's taken me 16 years to pick up a watercolor brush again & I'm having so much fun! I may not be very good from a conventional point of view but I'm discovering my own style. ..So please never let yourself or someone else tell you you wouldn't be good at something you'd like to try --do it for yourself & enjoy it :)

oooooooo! DUCKS!

CALLING ALL CRAFTERS!!!

2010-08-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

(All sweet, generous, wonderful crafters...)

This is the wee beginnings of something that could be beautiful :) Here's the story: My sister-in-law has a dear sweet little girl named Magnolia (she's known as Nola.) Due to severe mecomium aspiration at birth, Nola was left severely mentally & physically disabled. My sis-in-law is in her early twenties and has found herself the single mom of this dear child, now three years old. She is such an amazing mom! She sacrafices everything for that baby and her only goal in life is to make Nola happy & comfortable. But as you can imagine, after the stress & exhaustion of doing this for the last few years and without near enough financial help, this little family is in dire need of some support. So Nola's grandma, aunt & I are starting "Knitting For Nola", a community for crafters & anyone who can help in any way. Any little way you can help would be wonderful. We are mainly asking for handmade crafts of any kind that could be sold, the profits of which will go completely to Nola's care. Please read a little more here & I will be adding more soon on both blogs. I really look forward to hearing from all you out there with any thoughts & ideas. Thankyou for reading this!!!

a little sneak peak

2010-07-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

... at a just-for-fun project i'm working on.

Dinner Party

2010-07-15T11:05:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely little dinner party last night for some friends that just had their one year anniversary. Three good friends & I have a business doing dessert catering (it's still in it's infancy), so we love any excuse to play & work in the kitchen & try new things. All the food was wonderful ...I have been craving salmon mousse forever & was waiting for an excuse to try making it. This recipe was so easy & super tasty! Serve it with dill & capers & it's amazing. Awesome mojitos my brother made- with fresh mint & sugar on the rim -yum! These goat cheese, tomato & basil tarts on parmesan crust (once again from this yummy blog) were to die for! Julie made tasty summer squash soup with lemon creme fraiche & garden chives... & Sara made this heavenly chocolate cake with caramel & rich chocolate ganache. She had to put it together in a hurry & in a hot kitchen, but did a great job. We decorated it with fresh flowers. The cookies are my mom's secret recipe "Lottie's"' named after her grandma. They are the most addictive little almond cookies you will ever have. I get requests from my hubby & the rest of the family for these all the time! ...Very nice evening with some family & friends :)

My Baby's Growing Up

2010-07-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

My baby girl turned 5 today!! This is a hard one for me because it seems like 5 is the end of being considered a little kid. And if we weren't going to homeschool, she'd be starting kindergarten this year. Sigh .... I know it's something parents just have to get used to; I just can already see her as a teenager in my mind & I'm freaking myself out! No really, I am working on being in the moment & taking it all in. We don't celebrate birthdays (even though we do plenty of other fun things that make up for it!), but she had a great day because her bestest friend came over :)

They played together so good all day. Little sweeties.

Holy Bundt Cake, Batman!

2010-07-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

I'm in heaven at the moment...my own personal heaven; I'm pretty simple in my qualifications: 1. Kids are in bed. 2. Chocolaty Nutty Swirly SourCream Bundt Cake.

I'm on my second piece & it's 11:30 p.m... I've been thinking about it ever since I discovered her blog, but been too busy & didn't have a real reason to make a cake. But tonight I decided it was time & I didn't need a reason. And I do not regret my decision. Except that I'm a little sugar nauseous right now. But that will not stop me from getting a third piece.

hello!

2010-07-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

In case anyone's noticed, my last couple posts have not been so wordy... Baby Son thought our laptop was a George Foreman grill because after he pounded on the keys, he proceeded to smash his chicken into it & shut the top, for me to open & find later. He really did a number on it because the keyboard does not work at all -we can only use the mouse (I'm gettin real creative with copy & paste!) I'm using my brother's laptop right now & hopefully we'll have ours fixed soon...but in the meantime atleast I can still post pictures. ....Here's the prettiest thing I've made for dinner in a long while: Zucchini Gratin from this lovely yummy foodie blog my friend found. I've been so out of cooking mode for so long but there's a few more recipes on here I can't wait to try, so maybe it'll help pull me out of my slump...

...made with zucchini, yellow squash, fennel & thyme from the garden :)

2010-06-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

2010-06-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

day trip

2010-06-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

the kiddos & i went along with my dad on a little road trip to see a family friend on her wild little ranch ...along the way we stopped at fredericksburg wildseed farm & the kids got a wagon ride...

then to our friend's place. c was so excited to see the horsey...

...we took the back way home & ran into some critters on the road ...

thankfully i grabbed a project to doodle at since i did not have to drive (yay!) been wanting to try some freehand embroidery ~quite addictive

embroidery kit

2010-06-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

i put a little embroidery kit together for the sweetest girls i know; they've been sick, one with a chronic condition that's really kept her down for a while, & her sis with strep throat. i wanted to give them something they could enjoy doing while they're homebound & i know they like knitting. so i drew out some simple little patterns to get them started, made a little needle book out of paper & felt & threw in some hoops & floss. hope it keeps them occupied for a while...

two year knitting project

2010-06-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

...i say two year because it's been a year since i started the squares & i'd like to give myself one more to get this afghan done so i can be staring at it on my couch already! it's gonna be gorgeous ~super colorful & i've never seen a mitered square project i didn't like! the suprising thing about this is how easy mitered squares are!! if you're a beginner knitter & you want to break away from scarves, this is perfect. here's the pattern i'm using. would have taken better shots but little hands were in the way...

flutterbyes & flowers

2010-06-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

~~Butterfly, Butterfly, I'm glad to see you here Alighting on my daisies one by one! ~~Cicely Mary Barker (The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies)

morning glories in bloom

"moonshine" yarrow

white yarrow

baby watermelon

little watercolor project

2010-06-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

this is a poster i whipped up yesterday for my hubbie, garrett lebeau, to have something to advertise his shows with ...he's a really unique & amazing musician/singer/songwriter & i think he's finally getting some recognition in austin, after years of very hard work ...i'm excited that he's opening for charlie mars~ it'll be a fun show! ~~i know this little poster isn't the most incredible piece of artwork in the world but i had fun doing it & i think it turned out kind of neat-o. :)

brights & birds doll quilt

2010-06-07T00:53:00.000-07:00

i let C dig into my stash & design a little dolly quilt & this is what she came up with ~i was pleasantly surprised with the maturity of her palette choice (tho i do admit, i weeded out a few without her knowing.)

it was a fun, quick little project. i used a new method i came across for patchwork (when i can find the link i'll post it) it really is quite clever --just fuse your squares to interfacing & zip right through them, sewing in long lines instead of individually ~& no nesting or matching up! it's perfect for a small project like pillows or placemats.

love this bird print ~really wish i had bought more of it.

garden harvest

2010-06-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

such yummy things i picked from the garden this morning! so for lunch, i just sauteed it all up with some sausage, garlic & olive oil, (lots of basil!) served over penne & added kalamata olives & feta ...oh yummy!! garrett husband said it was the perfect dish :) & the kids ate it up pretty good too.

dressup drawings!!

2010-06-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

i love little projects like this --so quick & fun (& enjoyable for me too ...for some reason i have such a hard time "playing" when c asks me to. i'd so much rather color or read or make something~ but just "playing" pets or dolls, i have major a.d.d.) so when i saw this from made by joel via the crafty crow, i knew that's what we'd be doing during mr. man's nap today.

C wanted to make her princesses into puppets

..........& i had fun too! ~next will be the aquariam.

hey mom, take a picture!

2010-05-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

"mom, can you take a picture of me with my parrot?" "can you put it on your blog? .....right now?"

sew excited!

2010-05-29T08:46:00.000-07:00

i haven't bought myself anything in a long time ...but i've been swooning over this dress pattern for a while (it's even on my to-do list!) i'd also really like to take dottie angel's 'challenge of the utmost kind', wherein you commit to a whole year of only buying second-hand or hand-making items for yourself & your home. this should be easy for me because we haven't had money to buy things for so long anyway that handmaking things is becoming more of a delightful necessity. but, in order to take this challenge of not buying anything new, i first had to buy something new: this anna maria horner pattern. i think it's quite versatile; i can make long or short dresses with it & i'm also going to modify it into a top. anyway (yay!) it arrived yesterday, along with some joel dewberry fabric that was very on sale -all from pink chalk. it is already washed & dried, so hopefully i can hack into it at naptime today!!

garden shananagins & a sad cheesecake

2010-05-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

i left the hose on to soak some plants, ran in the house to check on the laundry & look what i came back to...

who needs a swimming pool? ....other garden news (doesn't take much to get me excited): i was beginning to wonder if my little eggplant would ever amount to anything as its been under constant insect attack & it's been budding but then the flowers usually fall off. well look what a surprise i got today ...

it's called 'fairy tale' eggplant- how sweet is that? .....& yet still on another note: learned this morning my cousins from wyoming are visiting & we all decided to have dessert at my house this evening. i've been wanting to try making this ricotta cheesecake that sounded divine. i went thru the pain of whipping & folding eggwhites (enough said) & was told to bake for an hour till set & golden brown. two minutes before my timer goes off, with kids screaming in the tub, i casually check to see if my cake is starting to gently brown, thinking i'd be early & this is what i see ... so sad. i hope i can salvage it.....

sweety girl's quilt

2010-05-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

I can restrain myself no longer!! I bought all this gorgeous fabric almost two years ago to make C a quilt for her big girl bed ...but, even though I wanted to dive right in, I put it aside, telling myself I better finish some old projects first. Well I have finished up a few, but not as much as I'd like; I just can't stand letting this adorable stash of yummies sit there anymore.

So I refined my vision in my head & started chopping away :) I love how it's coming along so far. This is not going to be a hurry-up marathon project, though. I really want this to be special, something my daughter will hopefully treasure for a long time (at this point in her little life, she'd be thrilled if I went to walmart & bought her a cheesy, bright pink "princess" bedspread! (shudder)) But I know she's going to love this & later on she'll be so thankful she got this instead. I'm adding lots of special touches like hand embroidery, applique & ric-rac; so like I said, it'll be a slow process.

....and here's the little dolly quilt I already made for her to match her future quilt ...

critters in the garden

2010-05-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

Look who I saw munching on my fennel today? Isn't he gorgeous? I forgot that I have read before that fennel is part of a butterfly garden to give the caterpillars something to eat. That's ok handsome, we only need the bulbs; just make sure you come back and show off your wings!

Also saw this shy little guy poking around. Isn't he adorable? I think he'll just have to have a whole family one of these days...

finished quilt & BQF entry

2010-05-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Well I finished the quilt I've been working on this week for my friends' wedding/first anniversary gift. Although I've been making quilt tops for a few years, this is the first good size quilt I've done from start to finish. I quilted it in a plain straight stitch on my trusty little machine, not free motion, so I could only do so much. But I'm really happy with it in the end; I love any of Amy Butler's fabric & this is her Charm line. I love making handmade gifts for friends & believe everyone should have a quilt that becomes an old friend the more you snuggle with it, wash it & love it. Next year I hope to enter something more planned out, but since I had just finished this I didn't want to pass up the chance to be included!

more of the garden

2010-05-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

this zucchini plant is a monster! he needs a name.

my little soil tester...

that's potatoes & watermelon behind him

quilting continued

2010-05-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'm determined to get this quilt done by this weekend so I've been staying up late working on it, which is not so smart. I can fall into this habit, since I crave my alone time so much, of staying up once the kids are finally in bed. I really pay for it ..& yet I keep doing it. And of course, if I focus on one thing, everything else goes to shambles; if I have a day in the garden, the dishes & laundry pile up; if I get into a project & try to keep up on the house, by the time I get back into the garden the weeds have taken over! Right now I have all of the above: dishes, laundry & weeds. And I'm not even doing a great job putting this quilt together. Like I said, it's my first quilt to complete start to finish -I usually just do the top. I might have started on a smaller quilt of course, but that would have been too sensible. But to cut myself some slack, this is what I have to work with:

a very plain, very old machine with no fancy quilting foot or platform or whatever else I would need. So I guess considering, I'm not doing too bad. It'll be fine. And I will try to make myself get some sleep tonight so I don't sound so whiney next time. Oh! But we did get our first zucchini out of the garden today & now we are going to go eat him!

...a superb lesson in procrastination

2010-05-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

here's lovely quilt i'm working on. it's actually quite beautiful. it's one of those projects i'm making for someone else that i really wish i could keep for myself. it's made from amy butler (my fav), i think the line was called 'charm', mixed with solid four-patch. it will be the first quilt that i'll be finishing from start to finish- yikes! when we lived in wyoming, i worked in a fabric store for a lady with a long-arm machine, so i'd just do the fun part of sewing the quilt top & then trade work for her doing the rest of putting my quilts together. now i don't have that luxery as it's quite expensive, so..... i'm looking forward to it though. the pathetic part of this story is that it's a wedding present for some friends that got married...a year ago. yep. when i didn't get it finished for their wedding, it got put aside, destined to be a one month anniversary present. then a 3 month. then a 6 month. now their anniversary is june 11 & i'm determined to present it as a true anniversary gift... i'll let you know how that goes ;)

a boy... & a quilt

2010-05-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd put up a few pics of this gorgeous boy ...this first one is from a few months ago; he found a Dove dark chocolate & sneakily popped the whole thing into his mouth, foil & all. He was not so willing to let me fish it out...

...he loves cars (makes the bbbbbbbrrrrrrrrr horsey lips sound every time he sees or hears something with wheels or motor) & mud & water & music (i.e. drums!!)

...here he is today playing in a box. Handsome little goober.

Been sewing. Quilt tops are coming along quite nicely.

love this kid!

2010-05-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Eating soft-boiled eggs at breakfast, my little sweety girl says excitedly, "Soon we'll be able to eat our own eggs, won't we mom?!" "How's that, babe?" "Because now we have eggplant in our garden!" ...adorable :) She does know where eggs come from, just a little confused about a possible second source. Ok, gonna hopefully get this boy down for a nap & get some more quilting done... Since I don't have a picture for today, I'll put up this from last October when C was a flowergirl in a friend's wedding. I made the wreath on her head from fabric flowers & leaves; also the little fabric flower on her dress to coordinate with wedding

colors.

a quiet creative moment

2010-05-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

...for mom & daughter. Little brother is sleeping, so C wanted to paint. I also wanted to take advantage of the alone time, so I set her up on the floor near my sewing table & had a little time to work on a project my mother-in-law commissioned me to do because she doesn't have time (like I do? haha) I love quilting & it's nice to put together a couple small quilt tops without having to put them together & bind them; especially since it's with such adorable fabric. They are for her granddaughters, sisters, so they're from the same fabric but will each be a little different. I'll post my progress soon ...my camera ran out of battery before I could get more pics...

we call her the snail whisperer...

2010-05-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

We had a good ol' Texas thunderstorm this morning! (I of course forgot to put out the garbage last night, so it was my first thought as I opened my eyes & had to roll away from the sleeping toddler quietly & then run to wheel the trashcans out to the street. I didn't mind though; it was a delicious, soft, warm rain.) The wet makes the snails come out, which are C's favorite pet right now, so she's been going around collecting them, while sonshine plays in the mud.... The garden is also enjoying the weather; I think some things grew 3 or 4 inches over night :)

i sewed something!

2010-05-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

I want to make many more dresses for my little girlie-girl, especially since she wants to wear them everyday. I just used up some fabric in my stash but i really love how it turned out so sweet & old fashioned, especially without the pants. I hate making buttonholes so I just made little ribbon loops instead (that gapping on the back view is just her moving, not my sewing.) ... I'm definitely no seamstress & there are a few puckerings on the bodice, but overall I'm happy with it.

peace and quiet ...what's that again?

2010-05-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

We are all sick with a cold, the whole little family. My baby son is full of such an amount of the yucky stuff, you can't believe it can fit into his cute little 19 month old head. So this morning, trying to have a peaceful breakfast ...son is running from his daddy, who's chasing him with a roll of toilet paper to clean up his nose, while big-sister sings a sweet little song for him that goes something like this: "You are a little stinker, you have a snotty nose. Nobody cares about you anymore ...when you cry." Ok, so not peaceful or sweet, but it made me laugh.

it's the little things...

2010-05-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

I'm working on being a better mom in the little things... like saying "Yes!" instead of "later", or "maybe", or "we'll see". i.e: "Mom, can you read me this book?" (in the middle of the day --I'm a big bedtime book reader, but while I'm trying to do dishes?) "Sure, sweety." -- "Mom, you said we could face paint! Can we now?" "OK, now's as good a time as any." --"Tag! You're it - now you chase me!" (just do it -it's good exercise.) I'm just trying to enjoy all these little moments that are all too fleeting ...someday they'll be grown & gone ...& I'll still have dirty dishes.

my garden in may

2010-05-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

...and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden. --Joni Mitchell I'm in garden mode right now. This is my first vegetable garden & I'm so dang proud of it.
(It goes without saying that its "organic." Isn't that the only way to grow a food garden?) I had a lot of help to get it going --my wonderful husband tilled the whole thing ( I tried & couldn't do it --it's hard work!) & my awesome brother built the raised boxes. From there it's been my baby & I'm out there every day. I highly recommend everyone have some kind of food garden for therapy -even if it's just some herbs or tomatoes in a container --something to get your hands in the dirt, to check on lovingly everyday or so to see its progress & feel so proud when you put something on your table that you grew yourself. I'm hooked now.