A new fabric day is a good day!

I was so happy when the UPS truck pulled up last night! I wasn't expecting my Fat Quarter Shop package until tomorrow. Let's see what I got!

This is my first French General fabric purchase. Can't wait to make something with them!

Well, let me back up for a sec...remember the cat fabric I got for Annabelle's new quilt? Here it is, with a yard of Anne's (1/2 price!) Petite Maison bird fabric.

The cat fabric's pink was a bit hard to match. It's kind of a blue-based pink. So I decided to make most of the other fabrics match the yellows, oranges and reds. They are all Lakehouse.

Let's look at them one by one, shall we? Save the applause til the end, please!

I really love this one...all the colors in the quilt are here!

Happy yellow flowers

I know! The mango elephant fabric! *squeal*

Color's off, but it's a beauty

Sunshiney polka dots

This one is so cute in real life!

More of my favorite polka dots

Sweet little rosebuds

I adore this daisy print!

All together now!

This is the pattern again...

So now I'm off to do some pre-washing, pressing and cutting! Enjoy your day too!

♥ Jen

Chocolate brown

Mmmmm! Just pulled these Ghiradelli brownies out of the oven...they smell soooo good! Double chocolate!

Did you have a good weekend? Mine was very busy, but fun! Dave and I did a ton of gardening both days, adding new plants and putting down chocolate brown mulch. We finally found some furniture for the front porch...also chocolate brown! Here are some pictures of our handiwork.

Very comfy resin wicker...Dave found them at Home Depot. Rock on!

Weeping Crabapple tree

We still have a lot of mulching to do...both sides of the house, the other front bed, and a bed in the back...but we'll get that done during the week. You can see the big pile we still have by the garage. I do love the smell of fresh mulch! Then in a week or two we'll get our annuals in pots and such. Ahh, Spring!

Annabelle had three friends over on Saturday...they all stayed for dinner and two stayed overnight. Well, one did, the other girl got homesick around 10 pm so she had to get picked up. Luckily they included Mason and Julia (friend from across the street) in all their activities so they all had a good time. Annabelle and Mason were both exhausted yesterday though!

I'm hopeful that Bitsy will be back this week...Annabelle's fabrics will be coming in so I'm EXTRA excited to start sewing again. I think her quilt will be super cute! I can't wait to get started!

Have a great day!

♥ Jen

Saturday

What a boring post title, I know! The fact is that I FEEL very boring too...Bitsy is still not back and the only thing I've been working on is this stitchery.

Showing the progress would not be exciting...Gee, look, I added 20 more backstitches! Blah. I have another quilt planned though! Annabelle's been asking for a bigger quilt, and we found this adorable fabric at Fat Quarter Shop. It will be the "focus" fabric...

This is the pattern I'm going to use...

I had so much fun picking out all the fabrics to go with the kitties. I'll show those once they come in the mail.

Have a great weekend friends!

♥ Jen

Getting by

Hi friends! How is everyone? How was Mother's Day and the weekend? I told you I was going to visit my grandmother on Saturday...it was really nice. My dad was there, aunt and uncle, and a few cousins. We had a yummy lunch (with kielbasa...DELICIOUS kielbasa!) and had a fun visit. Grandmas' doing well...she's 91 and still has lots of energy. Truly one of the best people I know!

Ok, you got me. This picture is a year and a half old. I forgot to take pictures this time!

On Sunday, Mother's Day, the kids and Dave gave me really nice cards and stuff they made in school (well, Annabelle and Mason, of course). Annabelle's was so funny...she made a poem in school, where she had to think of three adjectives/verbs to describe me. The ones she chose were Caring, Shopping, and Sleeping. Ok, I can see the first two, but sleeping?! I'm always up at 6 and I go to bed at 10 at the earliest. She said she thought, well, everyone sleeps! LOL So later that day we did a little shopping and I came home and took a nap. I figured I might as well since I had the rep anyway! I wonder what her teacher thought?

Yesterday we got a weeping crabapple tree planted in one of the new beds in front of the walkway. It's got pretty little pink flowers on it...well, it did, it's "past peak" now. But here's what one looks like...

We've had frost the past few nights so annuals will have to wait to be planted. Can you believe that we had SNOW on Mother's Day? Crazy. It didn't stick but it was cold and windy...usually we go to a cute little lake town on Mother's Day called Skaneateles. We walk around, have lunch, etc. Not this year!

I have a "migraine hangover" today. I get migraines occasionally, only about 1 to 2 times a year. The aura/headache are no picnic, plus the next day I feel like I have an actual hungover. Only without the fun of the party the night before. I'm trying to work through it though.

Sears called, my sewing machine needs a new "PCB board," whatever the heck that is. It's going to cost $70 to fix. Oh well, it's got to be done! Can't wait to get Bitsy back, I miss her!

All right, time to get something to eat and do some weeding or such. Have a wonderful day!

♥ Jen

A little of this and that

Good day to you! It's nice and spring-like here...warm but with a cool breeze. Not good for the allergies though...I was coughing and  sniffling all night! Thank goodness for coffee!

Don't you love this cotton tape? I think it was made for me! You can order it here.

I brought my sewing machine in to get fixed yesterday. I really should name her...do you have a name for yours? Any suggestions? Maybe Sunshine...or Bitsy...or Ken (for Kenmore)? I naively thought they might fix it right there. Nope...since I took it back to Sears they have to ship it out for repairs, so it won't be back for a few weeks. I looked in the phone book for local repair places but I think for something like that you really should be referred, you know? Sigh. Well I have embroidery and fabric cutting to work on until Bitsy gets home. (That sounds good, right?)

Her empty cover on my dining room table

Before that, I struggled through making a bag for my grandma, who I'm going to see this weekend. It was interesting using a half-working machine but I got it done. These are Lecien fabrics (except for the back) I got on sale from Fat Quarter Shop awhile ago.

I stopped at Home Depot this morning after taking the kids to school. I'm on the hunt for an outdoor sofa. I cannot find one anywhere! The only one I really liked was at Target, but my sister-in-law told me that she has it and they get electric shocks all the time from it. I sat in the one at Target twice and got shocks both times. What is up with that?? Anyway I picked up a few paint chips from HD's new Martha Stewart collection.

Sorry about the distorted colors, I could not get an accurate picture. The first one, Sea Glass, is much greener than that, and the second one, Yellow Gerbera, is greener as well. I can't decide between a neutral and a fun color for the laundry room. Although I am leaning towards a fun color, a laundry room can handle it. What do you think?

Ok, it's time to make another cup of coffee, cut some lilacs, do the laundry, clean the downstairs, then the bathrooms. See ya!

♥ Jen

%@*&!

While I was drying my hair yesterday, I heard a big CLUNK from another part of the house. I looked out in the hall, and my son was just getting up so I thought it was just him jumping out of bed or something. Nope! The cats, in a bout of spirited tag, somehow pulled my sewing machine off the dining room table. It was sprawled on the floor in a pathetic heap. I thought it was okay...hey, the light still worked!...but a few things are not working. The needle/up down button, the speed selector, and it just doesn't seem "right." I tried to open her up but I think you need a degree in appliance engineering to do that. So I guess I'm going to have to take her to the "hospital." Sniff! I've never had her away from me!

Then I drove over a nail this morning and had to take my car in to get that fixed. Luckily it was only ten bucks. But still! Oh well, it could have been a lot worse, I guess!

I'm going to go pick some lilacs for a little pick-me-up. The day will get better now, I just know it!

♥ Jen

Landscaping Fun

Hello and Happy Monday! You know, being a SAHM, I really don't mind Mondays. It gives me a chance to organize and regroup from the weekend. Did you enjoy yours? The weather was quite warm here...85ish both days. The contractors came on Friday and lowered the column heights of the sitting wall one level, which is much better. Here are the "pre-plant" photos.

Here's the porch, close up...

Still with me? Good, and thank you! Let's take a fabric break, shall we? I got my red 30s bundle in the mail today...I love the mix of patterns and lines that are included. I can't wait to get them into my quilt (after prewashing them, being red and all).

This last one looks more 40s to me but I love it anyway...kind of "French General" ish...

We spent most of Saturday shopping for perennials and then planting them. Our favorite garden center was just loaded with gorgeous plants. Dave loves to garden...he had already scoped out the joint so he knew just what to show me. We bought a bunch and ordered a tree for the front of the walkway as well. Here is the front bed with the new plants...mulch to come.

Yes, I will move that security sign! LOL

This azalea will be so pretty when it's fully bloomed!

Another of my favorites..."Gold Splash" Euonymus.

And at the garden center I found this cute frame with tiles for your house number...isn't it sweet?

So phase one of the planting is done. We still have work to do around the wall, more edging, borders, etc. But it's coming along!

Well, if you made it this far, I appreciate it! I'm off to wash some fabric!

♥ Jen