Dog, Cousins, Rash, Rain, Quilt

My sweet baby 'Kissy Cheeks'

Will was cracking me up the other night.  To start, Will LOVES dogs.  He gets so excited whenever he sees them, & I think he thinks he's one of them. So, the other night, I kept asking him what the dog says & then "Ruff"-ing, so he'd know what to do.  He totally surprised me when he pointed at the dog (Toodles) & started barking at her.  He then got down on all fours & "ruff"-ed - a perfect 11-month-old impersenation. I can't believe how fast my baby's learning & growing up. He can also 'quack,' 'moo,' roar,' & 'baa.' He has also said his first word this week - "Ba" for 'ball.'

Playing w/ Grandma & Carter (one of Will's many cousins - they were born one week apart exactly)

Last night, my brother's family came over for dinner.  Will really liked that there was another little boy his age to 'play' with (if you can call trying to poke Wes's eyes out playing).

Say 'Cheese'

Will also got this weird rash on his back last night - any ideas what it could be from?  I'm nervous he's allergic to something I'm feeding him, but I don't know what it could be.

Last night, it started to rain - one of the first rains of the season.  It was so beautiful & it smelled glorious - there's nothing quite like the smell of freshly fallen rain. Will was also able to have his first experience playing in the rain.  He'd just barely finished getting ready for bed, but I couldn't resist letting him have his fun.

And this is what we woke up to this morning - isn't it beautiful?:

I also stayed up late last night and finished William's baby quilt.  I honestly never thought I'd finish this thing.  I started cutting out some of the fabrics when I was pregnant with Will, but set everything aside until one week ago.  After finishing my "Belle" quilt, I got a sudden desire to get this baby quilt done.  So here it is, & Will already loves playing Peek-a-boo with it.  Every time I tried laying it out to get a picture, he'd head straight for it, hence the series of pictures of him playing with my quilt . . . his quilt.

I finally just pinned it to the wall out of the babe's reach. I think this quilt may be my favorite one so far.

What We've Been Up To

Will has been spending a lot of time exploring the house.

Papa always manages to herd him back to the main part of the house.

Will likes to visit with Grandma & watch her big screen TV

He also likes to play in the tupperware cupboard & with the balls that Nana bought him.

I also managed to finish all of the squares for Willl's quilt & laid them out while Will napped. Of course he woke up soon after & went in for the kill.

the destroyer

How can you deny this kid - especially when he's so happy.

Completed Quilt Top

Appliqueing the circles onto the squares

Close up of the satin stitch:

Before squaring off the edges:

My finished quilt! (The pattern for this quilt is one of Amy Butler's free patterns: it can be found on her website)

Here is a peak at the next quilt I'm making: I've had this fabric for such a long time, just waiting to be made into a baby quilt for William:

Sneak Peak

A Work in Progress

After finishing my Christmas quilt top, I got excited to work on another quilt I'd started back in January.

A sampling of the fabrics for my quilt:

William playing with the scraps:

I was able to try out a circle rotary cutter for the first time, & it worked wonderfully - all my pretty little circles:

Christmas Quilt Top!

I started this Christmas quilt about two years ago & just couldn't get myself to finish it. Recently, I have been very inspired by quilting blogs (& Laurie, who finishes her quilt tops so quickly), so I decided to whip this bad boy out & finish the top within a week. Once determined, I get things done - I ended up finishing it in two days (granted, I had already done most of it over the last 2 years, but it probably would have taken me another 2 if I hadn't set a deadline)! Now I just need to buy the batting & backing & have this thing quilted (since I don't know how to do it myself yet).

William lounging on the lovely (if I do say so myself) quilt top:

I never want my quilts to end up on display in my home & treated with a "no touching" policy. I want them to be used & cherished by my family. Life's about enjoying!

Cool Cottons

Scott & I travelled up to Vancouver, WA to visit my brother & his family. While there, we went down to Portland to hang out. One place that I really wanted to go to was a fabric store called Cool Cottons. It was absolutely AMAZING - it had all of the fabrics that I love & can never find in any stores (except online ones). I seriously wanted to buy the entire store, or move to Oregon or Washington, so I could be closer to it:

The store was in an old house - so charming:

Look at all the beautiful fabrics - they had different color schemes in different rooms of the house:

The fabrics I got away with - (it's not the greatest picture since it was taken with my phone)

Now I just need to settle on a quilt pattern (& finish my other quilts before I can start this one, a rule set down by Scott, which I quite agree with)

Fabrics by: Amy Butler, Alexander Henry, Heather Ross, Heather Bailey, Lizzy House, & more

I really wish a quilting store here would start carrying these awesome fabrics - if not, I may have to open my own quilt store - the ladies who own Cool Cottons even gave me their business card & told me they would help me get one started & get hooked up with fabric distributors:

Side Effects of Said Kick in the Rear

This is a glimpse of a quilt I've been "working on" for about two years now. After having a project day & reading a bunch of quilting blogs, I'm finally re-motivated to work on my Christmas quilt. Hopefully I'll actually have it completed by this Holiday season.

And here's a glimpse of a bulletin board I started working on at the project day. I'm really excited to see how it will turn out - I'm pretty proud of my idea for it, but you'll just have to wait & see what what all that entails (which means I need to finish it).

A Kick in the Rear if Nothing Else

Today, I had some girls over for a project/crafting day. We ate muffins & quiche & attempted to work on projects while the kids "played." (If anything else, it was fun to chat & was a kick in the rear to get projects going that would otherwise still be sitting on the shelf.)
Some of the gals (I know, I should have asked everyone to look at the camera, but didn't want to interrupt their conversation.) - Kelli, Lisa, Crystal (& McKay), & TammySome of the little girls: Maddie, Haylee, & Kailee

Will & his new buddy, StewartTiffani & Catherine reading to Carson & Jaxon

All the kids playing nicely - they really did a great job together, but next time, I think I'll schedule a day or time when husbands can watch the kids. That way, the ladies can get even more done.

Dylan, Haylee, Kailee, Jaxon, Maddie, Stewart, Will

It was great getting together with some girlfriends to chat, get to know each other better, & break up the normal routine that involves just Will & me (when Scott's working, that is). I can't wait for the next project day (if anyone's interested in coming, I'd love to have you, just let me know).