This just finished...

The first project that has been finished is that the new counter tops have been installed. Gorgeous granite countertops and the most beautiful, deep sink. I can't help smiling every time I look at them.

The second project that was finished is the quilt for my youngest.

I was unable to handle the mess that the counter top installation made of my kitchen and since I just finished my new sewing space. I decided to spend most of my time there finishing the quilting on this top. I am so thrilled with how the quilt turned out. Most of the fabric was selected by my son and the pattern was also something he had taken a liking to as I was surfing some of the quilting blogs that I read. There is a great tutorial here. He fell in love with the orange quilt and then decided to go his own way.

I love the backing. I had extra scraps so joined the pieces with a scrappy stripe.

My wonderful husband was kind enough to take the photos for me. So all in all this has been a family project!!

Transitions

Summer is almost over and I am conflicted. It has been a hard on all of us. But now we have to send the kids back to school and although they need to spend time learning and with their friends, I will miss them. August is vacation time, family time, time spent playing games and finding ways to beat the heat. Fast, delicious dinners from the grill and gorgeous fruits and vegetables. August is when we take our vacation and take the time to reconnect with each other. Long, lazy days.

But now we are on to school and September and what I consider to be the start of the new year. I know that it comes in January but to me the real start of the year is in September. New school supplies, new clothes, endless possibilities. So even though I am sad that summer is ending, I am uplifted by the newness of September.

So with September and the changes that have occurred in my life, I have spent much of these last two weeks, reorganizing almost every inch of my house. Cleaning out my kitchen to prepare for new counter tops and quilting. I will have finished pictures soon.

For now, here is an image of summer.

I love to sew!!!

A long time ago, before B and I got married I used to sew a lot. I sewed quilts and loved it. I went on vacation to MV and when I got back B had converted part of his house into a sewing room for me. He painted the walls the color of the sky in MV and it was perfect. I could sew for hours, listening to my music or watching the little television he put in the room for me. It was wonderful.

I forgot how much I love to sew! I had some major sewing machine drama but here are the results! Napkins!!!!!

I'm working on reducing the family's carbon footprint, and found this great tutorial online and here they are:

And with a little mood lighting! I can't wait to sew some more.

Oh, the tutorial is on this amazing blog sewtakeahike: linen napkins {a tutorial} I love it!

Hydrangeas and the Patio

I want to thank my husband and two boys for the best day yesterday. It was so nice to all be together and no one was in a mood. No one was fighting. There wasn't any tension. It was just a nice afternoon and evening full of good conversation and a lot of laughing. I know it sounds strange to thank them, but the way it rolls with two elementary school age children is that there is a lot of time spent talking about who is looking at who funny, who gets to walk with mom or dad, who got to ride on the cart LAST time (eye roll).

So yesterday we went to the plant store and to Home Depot and got a lot of things together so we don't have to leave the house today (Memorial Day) if we don't want to. We scored the best buy on hydrangeas, so we bought six! They are small and we are going to plant them around the patio. (So when I am having a bad day I can sit outside and pretend I am on the Vineyard). We also got herbs for the garden and petunias and zinnias for pots around the house. The nice part was that they boys picked out the colors that they liked and they worked together to get everything. We also had a long talk about what we want to grow and what works best for our yard.

It seems quite clear that we all would like a big vegetable garden but with our property that is just not going to happen. So we have to be content waiting another week for our first farm share and growing herbs....maybe a tomato....or a bell pepper...just how much room does a cucumber need exactly?

Starting Over Again!

Guess what? I'm starting over again. I have missed posting and wanted to get back into it. Mostly for me and as a record of the things that I create. I've been working on a lot of new things and will begin sharing them as soon as possible. Stick with it. There will be pictures tomorrow