Back from the W.Va.

Side note: So, please remind me the next time I plan to go to West Virginia in the summer to check and see if there's a heat wave coming. My grandparents don't have AC still...

Aside from the heat, our trip was great last week!

The kids and I left Monday afternoon and came home Sunday afternoon. It felt we weren't even gone that long, that is until we got home and I slept in my own bed again. I love my bed.

We headed to the DC area where my Dad and his wife live, and stayed there for 2 nights.

We went to see the temple and the National Zoo while we were there. When we were at the zoo we went into the reptile house (AC) and my #3 guy was absolutely mesmerized by these little turtles that swam so fast. There just may be a turtle to join our family in the near future (his birthday is in August).

Then on Wednesday we made the trip out to West Virginia, to the town of Weston actually. It was so great to see my grandparents!! I haven't been to the farm in 3 years, and I forgot just how much I really love it. The only pictures I got was of these moths on Friday morning, there were about 20 of them on the garage, all dead. It was sad, the heat must have just been too much for them. There were a few lunar moths, so pretty.

Friday brought us back to DC, and through a very nice thunderstorm on the way home. The temperature dropped at least 20 degrees while we were going through it. Simply wonderful, I love thunderstorms.

What trip to DC is full without going to IKEA? So, naturally my brother and I went on Saturday. It was great to get out without the kids for a little bit, and that AS IS section is tempting...

Hopefully you all are doing well through this heat wave, and having a fun summer at that!

My First Mini!

Isn't it.... ok? I think I like it more in this photo than in person... so sad.

This was my first mini. I used the scraps from my Brick Wall Quilt. And, I did some swirly quilting, can you tell I'm trying to experiment with my free-motion foot lately?

I had a really hard time figuring out what to put on the back. I felt like everything either looked bland or didn't go with the front at all. I settled on a creamy yellow solid.

I made it to enter it with the other minis from the guild I belong to for our quilt show this October that will be raffled off. There is also a contest for those who enter, with 10 winners each getting 10 FQs.

Hoping I get to win!

I was, by the way, complimented on my binding when turning it in to the guild president. Thankfully I have fully converted to Amanda's binding method from Crazy Mom Quilts. I simply told my Pres. that I learned online. I love love a skinny binding, and fully machine sewn. Never.Turning.Back.

Loop de Loop Quilting - 1st Try

I am working on 2 quilts for a Church project that will eventually be donated to a local charity.

A very wonderful woman named Mrs. Millie has given me over 35 9-patch blocks and just as many 5 inch square. She is in her 90s, and I would also like to add that if not for her donations I would've been flying solo with this one. She is amazing.

I separated the 9-patches into boy colors and girl colors since we are only doing 2 quilts. I was already given the dimension guidelines, so they're ending up small to me. I rarely do quilts smaller that 50 by 60.

Here are some photos of the boy one I finished up about 2 weeks ago:

 

Regardless of the mistakes, I really like how it turned out! I also decided to try a new way of quilting with my free-motion foot.

Look at these loops. I'm so excited about it, and I really love the outcome. I was somewhat hesitant, worried I'd be spending some quality time with my seam ripper, but that was not the case. Definitely will be doing this quilting again!

Here's an in progress shot of the girl one:

In this photo, the diagonal rows starting at the upper left are all sewn, but the rows are not sewn together. I plan to add a white border that is the same width as the sashing, and a 3 inch sage-like green border. Still not sure what to put on the back or bind it with, need to look through the donate fabric bits.

What's your silly shopping weakness?

Now, this is pretty broad question, so let me explain.

I love school supplies.

I love to buy cases of said school supplies during awesome back-to-school sales, even when they are not on 'the list'.

I have been seen buying cases of:

-New Pencils
-Composition Books
-Pens!
-Binders
-School Activity Books
-Glue Sticks
-Construction Paper

and many more...

Who can turn down the deals? (obviously not me) And besides, those types of things will get used in a household of six.


Don't get me wrong, I can easily buy tons of other stuff too, but this is one of those things that just gets me all excited, almost giddy. Giddy like a 2 year old who picked her entire outfit on her birthday.

Supply shopping has always been my favorite part of going back to school.


So, like I said before, what' your silly weakness?