Me not happy. Want move, NOW!

Hi. Just found Black Widow number two lurking WAYYYYYY too close to our home. It was right inside the outside door. The first one was between the window and the screen, so there was no way that one was getting into our home. Kory and I went at it with bug/spider/roach killer. This one I found when my visiting teacher walked in and I immediately doused it in the killer spray again. THAT one could have gotten in my house. Now I'm freaking out slightly. The first one I think was male and harmless (apparently the males don't bite, or they're not harmful if they do bite) but this one I just found was a female--red spot on her tummy!! The females are dangerous. I officially want to move, now. Two black widows within about a week of each other, yeah, me not happy!

Since blogger won't upload my bridals from a few weeks ago, I now will go contemplate the best way to calmly tell Kory when he returns from his Young Men's activity that I would like to move.

Brilliant Idea

Okay, so I think I'm really going nuts! This sewing thing is getting slightly out of hand. But, as I was sewing another row for the Christmas quilt tonight, I thought "Hmmm.....wouldn't it be just adorable to make a school-theme rag quilt? I could even give it to Diane as a gift and a little brown nosing as well." So I hopped on the internet and found this one:

and then I found some on ebay but I can't get the picture on here. Anyway, I am IN LOVE with this fabric. So adorable!! I was thinking either solid Primary colors as in-between pieces or finding some cute apple print. Ooooh, wouldn't that be FANTASTIC??? Yeah, I'm a little nuts.

Sew what?

Hi! Official sewing has begun. After sewing 10 squares together, and picking out the seams on some to redo them because the thread got tangled, the first row of the quilt is done! It took me about 30 minutes, if that. Don't worry, I won't post pictures of every row I construct. I just had to do the milestone first row, then you'll get to see it when it's finished (without the binding) and then when it's officially finished (with the binding). Get excited folks! It's coming soon!

Woulda been...

I went to Airie's on Wednesday night to keep her company (and take advantage of her great and spacious living quarters). Kory was at a Priest's Quorum activity and Abram was at Bishopric interviews. Perfect night for us crazy girls to get together and attempt sewing projects.

I needed space to lay out the quilt squares and piece them altogether. That woulda been quite the picture. I don't think I could have captured the grandeur of the quilt-to-be. It was amazing. It's supposed to be approximately 56"x56" when finished...10 squares across, 9 squares down. Yeah, wild. Laying out the whole thing and trimming some of the extra fabric took about an hour, maybe slightly more. I wish I had brought my camera. For a while, I had Airie trapped at her machine. If she had moved her chair out even a millimeter, she would have landed right on the quilt! Don't worry, I let her out...eventually!! :)

Hours so far on quilt: 3.5-4.0

Quilt - phase 2

Still haven't sewn anything yet. The next part of making this quilt actually involves making sandwiches. Over 90 of them, to be exact. You put a quilt sqaure, tan flannel, and then blue flannel. Repeat...many, many times. :)

So, without further adieu...
First set of squares completed. Can you see the sandwich?



The next three pics are just some of my favorite striped blocks.
Aaaaand the second set of sqaures is complete. Check out those darling snowflakes and that to die for Charlie Brown-ish Christmas tree.
Sandwiching everything together takes a long time. Both the striped and non-striped blocks took me about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Total time spent on quilt: 2 1/2 - 3 hours

Interjection (the first rag quilt)

I decided just to put the pictures on here quickly and then take them right off the computer again and hopefully that will eliminate any problems from before.

This is my quilt that I made from my rag quilt class that Lynne just LOVED (see previous entry)!

Isn't it soooooooo cute? I took it out the other night and unfolded it and just looked at it. I love my quilt and don't know if it will ever be given as a gift.
Fairies!!
See my next entry for the latest on the rag quilt under construction.

Fun documentation (now with pictures)

So, as far as I know, my mother-in-law has no clue that this blog exists; I intend to keep it that way...at least until I'm finished with her Christmas gift that I started tonight. So, Lynne, if you know this exists...stop reading right now!

I thought it would be fun to document all of the labor that goes into this gift. I will try to post pictures, but am slightly reluctant to at the moment because of some problems with pics being on the computer. I will post them when I can.

About a month and a half ago I took a rag quilting class at our local fabric store, The Cotton Shop. That's my new favorite place to get sewing supplies and fabric. Anyway, Lynne (mother-in-law) saw my quilt and just oogled over it and LOVED it. So, when I was there with my own mother about 3 weeks or so ago, we were looking at the rag quilt kits and my eyes caught a new quilt that one of the employees had made. It was a CHRISTMAS rag quilt and soooooooooooo freaking cute! Oh my gosh!! Lynne immediately came to mind as my mom and I both oogled and ooooh-ed and ahhhh-ed over it. It was just fun and exciting. I immediately picked up the quilt kit and was willing to pay the $70 to make the quilt. When I went to pay for it, my mom inquired about a 20% off coupon to see if I could use it. The lady said yes and I said: "but it says no discounts on blanket kits." She said that only applied to the pre-made blankets you can crochet around. WOO HOO!! So my grand total was $59, after tax. It's just been sitting in it's plastic bag for 3 weeks. Then I got the feeling it will take me a while to finish this project and I think I am right. Tonight I pulled out the pre-cut squares and went through ALL of them and ironed them. That alone took me about an hour. But I couldn't be more excited about this project. I can't wait to give it to Lynne. Since it's a Christmas quilt, I get to give it to her early! Probably around Thanksgiving. :)

Hours so far on quilt: 1

Stay tuned for pictures and more updates.

UPDATE: PICTURES BELOW!

This is just after I finished ironing all of the pieces. The filler pieces aren't shown because you'll never see them anyway. They are just like the solid blue pieces, just tan.

This will be the outside binding. So, instead of having the outside edges be ragged, they will be bound like a regular quilt.
CUTE! Wait no! I would say beyond adorable!
There are many varieties of quilt squares. This one just happened to be on top! So, I'll alternate one of these striped border pieces and one of the pieces above.
This will be the back of the quilt. Just blue. Unlike my first rag quilt, this one will take longer because I have to pay attention to where I am sewing the pieces so I don't accidentally sew a blue piece to the front or sew one of the striped border pieces upside down. Ohhh, the horror!

This one is quick!

So far, so good. There will be days that are better than others, but overall, I think my kids this year already know how to behave better than my groups last year. The second grade Dual Immersion teachers are having one h*** of a time already! They come to lunch exasperated and ask me all sorts of questions about their students.

I miss my Hannah. She gave me a hug today at lunch. I only miss her when I see her--odd, but true. Though, I do have this year where Jennifer and Dani get so excited to see me in the halls when they are in Spanish for the week. Funny thing is, I know Jennifer will give me a run for my money but she is, overall, a good girl! Oh, and can I tell you that Hyrum and Max are wayyyyyy too cute for words? Oh their faces; I can't stand how adorable they are! Once Max learns to raise his hand, he'll be irresistable. May those two front teeth not grow in until second grade! ;)

The parents seem pretty normal as well. Hopefully that will last. I still have 170 more days to keep them happy. Wish me luck.